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Some faults but still good. The graphics:Firstly i think these graphics are awsome. The girl dark elves skimpy outfit shows. The human armour glints and the moves blend nicely. I guess the only problem with graphics is the mouth movements although this would be stupid to complain about, as the point is to actually here or read the speech.
The sound:Sometimes i forget if theres even sound playing while im playing (there is) because im having fun with the battles. The main thing i love is when you atack with weopons. Ecspecially the special atacks.*Whistles*
Even with the intro the music goes with medieval theme. Also the cool cutscenes have an intense music track which i can only smile at. Although if youve seen the cutscene you can skip it.
The Controls:As some people say the controls can be challenging but I just keep trying. Infact they really weren't to hard...i guess some people just had a hard time...Infact the only one i had trouble with was the turning of my kick butt calvary.
Controls 2:I was just talking about battles and field control but when you have control of multiple battlions it gets a bit harder. Of course it also gets funner. It was ecspecially fun when i had my melle group fighting swords. My calvary charging
through the enemy lines from behind and my archers continuously launching arrows at the enemy. The game was truly at a climax battle right there.
The Strategy/Tactics:I loved this part! All of it from making sure the sun isn't in your archers/axemans eyes or making sure your calvary isn't charging into enemy spearmen/axeman. Also theres formations. Hold tight when being fired apon by arrows or
spread out when enemy catupults unleash crushing rocks, and i cant forget changing jobs of my units. Having mammoth like monsters rocked! Or why not turn your expierenced archers into mortarists.
So thats why i hope any serious rpg/strategy player atleast rent this game. Its worth it through my eyes. | video-games_xbox |
Xbox 360 console and controller both recieved in very bad condition. I bought this product about 5 months ago from EZ Corp. I DO NOT recommend this seller to anyone. My console came with the wires needed to hook it up and an extra controller. I have been having some issues with it lately that i cannot fix.
First, I want to talk about the controller. It was incredibly worn down when i got it and did not work at all. Most of the buttons were sticky and some didn't even work. The controller was VERRY dirty. I had to wrap electrical tape around the batteries before i put them in the pack so they would touch the metal connecters on both ends. Even After that, any movement i made with the controller and it disconnected and turned off. My wired controller broke (I wrapped the cord too tightly) so i completely took it and the one EZ Corp sent me apart. I rebuilt the wireless controller with parts from my wired one and now it works fine. But i had to do all that just to get a working controller, and EZ Corp said that the controller and xbox were in very good condition.
Now for the console. When i first got it, i set it up and got an xbox live gold account, viable for 12 months. It was OK until a couple of weeks ago. I started to disconnect from xbox live randomly. I looked up the problem and tried to fix it, but it did no good. Finally I fixed it, but just a few days ago, I started to disconnect from xbox live parties. While I was talking to my friends in a party I randomly disconnected from all of them and got the message "Can not connect to Xbox live party." At this point, you can imagine my frustration with the console. I tried fixing that too, making sure everything else worked, and I could not fix it. I even moved my Wifi/Internet/Cable modem closer to my xbox. This still did not help. My wireless connection with everything else in the house (computers, smartphones, ect.) is fine, so I know it is not my modem that is causing the problems. So I have pretty much given up on trying to fix my problem of disconnection from xbox live parties.
I did buy a used xbox, and If it was labeled to be in poor condition, I would agree with that. But my problem is that EZ Corp sent me a poor condition product when it was supposed to be in very good condition. I gave this product only two stars because EZ Corp sent me a faulty product. I am very unhappy with them and I will be rating this seller with a poor rating. I can't believe that they would sell me a faulty product, and i hope that this review persuades at least someone to just buy a brand new one. | video-games_xbox |
The best Action RPG on the console market. The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion is an epic, wide-open 'go anywhere, do anything' action Role Playing Game (RPG), and probably one of the best RPG's on the Xbox 360. In the context of open-ended 'go anywhere, do anything' games, Oblivion certainly takes the cake. With a whole continent at your disposal, a plethora of towns, cities, villages, dungeons, caves, and the expansive wilderness and mountains Oblivion is truly a massive world. And the best part is you can explore it all.
In keeping with the 'go anywhere, do anything' mythos, developer Bethesda crafted a totally non-linear game with hundreds of quests, missions and other distrations in additon to a main plot arc. If you so desire you could put off the main story and get lost in the myriad of side quests located in the game; and believe me there are tons of side quests, missions and distractions available to you. As far as the main story arc goes, its your basic generic 'save the world' story. It would have been nice to get a truly original story line, especially since the game is so huge and you can literally do what you wish.
You start off as a basic, generic character and the emphasis on leveling up and honing your skills is very high. Like most action RPG's the more you use a skill the better you get with it, and Oblivion tracks all your stats by the typical RPG means. When you start the game out you get to do quite a bit of character customization including how you want your character to look, what stats you want to start out with, what skills you want to focus on etc. The level of customization is very high. Following the whole 'do anything' theme you can literally create any character you desire, from the epic warrior, the powerful mage, the sneaky thief, assassin, wanderer, knight, the sorcerer etc. There are so many variations on each type that the options are limitless. As such, even if you do choose one class or character type eventually you can learn the traits and skills of every other class, which pretty much destroys any replay value and kind of breaks the realism of the game.
In addition to being able to be any type of character you desire, you can literally do anything you want. If you choose you could wander the world collecting various items and weapons, be a world class thief and see how much loot you can gather, be a traveling merchant, you can be an evil character and kill everything in sight. In addition to being any character you want, you can even choose to be an outlaw (which will happen if you get caught stealing or killing innocent people). If so, you will be constantly hunted by town and city guards and any official in the game. If caught you can either pay a fine, resist arrest or go to jail (where you can literally sit there and live out your sentence or choose to serve your time and get out). This adds to the overall realism of the game world.
Virtually every NPC is killable (save for important quest giving NPCs). There are hundreds of items and weapons to find, some rare and some not so rare. You can wield any weapon you desire, however depending on your current skill with the weapon you may or may not be good with it. This can easily be remedied by either practicing with the weapon or paying of training from the various NPCs that offer the training. The same goes for all the magic stats and skills, of which there are plenty to keep you busy. Alchemy is also an option which offers up plenty of time wasting quests and options. You can spend your time hunting down various ingredients to create potions, spells, enchanted weapons etc. You can create your own recipes for these, or you can search the world and find already created recipes; the choice is yours. There are also various books and bookstores scattered about the world, and from these you can learn the history of the game world and learn some skills, recipes and hidden locations as well.
Scouring the world in search of treausre is very fun, and it can take you to some really interesting places. Everything has a stat and everything has a skill that you can level up. There is literally hours upon hours of things to do in Oblivion.
As most RPG gamers know a good chunk of time is spent interacting with the various townsfolk and non-playable characters (NPCs) scattered about the game world, and Oblivion does not deviate from this formula. You will spend a lot of time talking to NPCs, as they hold much info in regards various aspects of the game. Plus they are usually the ones who hand out the quests and side quests. All of the dialogue is spoken, so you don't have to wade through lengthy pages of text each time you talk to an NPC. There is however one major flaw in the NPCs and enemies that is worth mentioning: Their Artifical Intelligence (AI) is rather shoddy. This is really nothing new since most video games have lame AI, but in an open ended game like this it really stands out, especially since during development Bethesda promised gamers a truly unique experience called 'Radiant AI' which basically meant that every NPC character would have their own lives with their own daily routines and wants/needs. The final product is far from 'radiant' as not all the NPCs have routines and wants/needs, and the ones that do are very repetitive. It was a promise that in my opinion is not possible in the gaming world yet. Also, NPCs will randomly talk to each other as well, however their conversations are usually worthless and very repetitive. Even still it is quite fun interacting with the various NPCs and their interesting personalities. In a change from previous Elder Scrolls games all of the dialogue in the game is spoken by real voice actors, but again this feature falls a little short, as spoken dialogue gets really old, as do the character voices. It seems Bethesda only used 4 or 5 different voice actors for hundreds of NPCs, and it gets really stale to hear the same voice over and over again.
The quests you will embark on in your journey through this amazing world are plentiful, however they all fall under either a 'fetch' quest (go here and get this) or a 'kill' quest (kill x NPC etc). This is a big problem in my opinion as the quests can get very boring and sometimes tedious. Some NPCs will have you going back and forth across the continent just to talk to some other NPC or to gather some item to bring back to them. This is made easy with the 'fast travel' system (any place you been before you can easily teleport to with the click of a button), however this also breaks the immersion factor. Alternatively you can choose to walk everywhere or buy a horse and take the long route (I prefer this way because it allows you to explore at the same time). You are also given a map and a compass with which to aid you in your adventures, however the developers designed them so that they basically 'hold your hand' the whole time. Important places and NPCs are easily found via the compass, which has red and green arrows to mark where you need to go. Coupled with the fast travel things start to get very easy and simple, which can be a good thing or a bad thing depending on how you want to play.
There are a few guilds and factions available to join, from the Thieves guild, the fighters guild, the mages guild and The Dark Brotherhood (assassin guild). This is where the bulk of the quests and missions come from. In keeping with the whole freedom aspect of the game you can join every guild. While this opens up many options for gamers it breaks the replay value since you can join every guild in one playthrough. Also it breaks the realism of the game world since technically you shouldn't be able to join every guild with the same character. I personally would have enjoyed it more if you could only join one or the other. I mean, if you are in the Mages guild or the Fighters guild you shouldn't also be allowed to join the Thieves guild since their core values and goals are diametrically opposed.
In addition to all of this there are also houses and a castle that you can eventually purchase and fully furnish, giving you safe havens to store your items and places to hang out.
Oblivion is a truly next generation game, and the graphics are a testament to that, offering up some of the best looking visuals on the Xbox 360. Oblivion pushes the systems hardware to the limit and the result is some stunning graphics. Trees are wonderfully detailed and rendered, grass and weeds, flowers, rocks, water and wildlife are all wonderfully animated and living.
In keeping true to the 'go anywhere, do anything' theme of the game, anything you can see you can exlore. This includes mountains, caves, forests, towns, villages, cities...everything! You can spend hours just wandering the countryside and climbing the mountains if you so choose, and the amazing graphics will stun you the whole time. Oblivion is a true next generation experience that will please action fans, adventure and RPG fans with over 100 + hours of gaming. And with the two expansion packs available in this 'Game of the Year' edition, the hours of gameplay are extended by at least 20 + more hours or so.
One major fault worth mentioning is that, since the game allows you to do anything you should technically alter and affect the game world, however only certain quests and actions do this. For example, the main story line quests will resonate through the world, which NPCs either commenting on your feats or your failures. However other actions do not. If you rob a store owner blind (and they do not notice) they will never mention it, almost as if it never happened, and they will continue to stock their store as such. This breaks the immersion factor. A store owner should realize that they are constantly being cleaned out, right? Also if you kill NPCs without being caught, no one will miss their presence, which seems a little weird, don't you think?
Another glaring flaw is with the town and city guards. They somehow have this magic ability to hear and see what you are doing even if they are far away from you. In some instances when you are robbing a house or killing someone they will magically know you are doing this, even if they are nowhere in sight! This gets very frustrating, and shows the true flaws in the games' AI.
In Oblivion there are many enemies, wild animals and rogue NPCs that you will eventually have to fight, and the combat is very fun. The controls follow your typical action adventure game: Right Trigger attacks, Left Trigger blocks, Right Bumper is your spells, Y is jump, B opens up your menu etc. All of the combat is in real-time, which further adds to the fun of Oblivion. All of the enemies are scaled to your current level, so as you level up the creatures and enemies get harder, this can be both a good thing and a bad thing.
All in all, Oblivion is a fantastic game that truly shows off some of the next generation of video gamings best features. It offers up hundreds of hours of gameplay and will certainly keep you occupied. Oblivion allows you to live out your fantasies allowing you to do, see and explore everything. There are some faults, but these shouldn't keep you from having a blast.
The Good:
Some of the best graphics ever seen on the Xbox 360
A wide open 'do anything, go anywhere' gameplay
High level of character customization and level grinding
Hours upon hours of quests and gameplay
Virtually unlimited options. Be a hero, be a villain and everything in between.
Many things to do, many things to see, many things to kill.
Some very cool quests at times
The Bad:
Poor AI
The majority of quests are rather simple (kill this, fetch that)
The go anywhere, do anything mythos allows you to do everything in one play through - thus killing much of the supposed replay-ability.
Much of your actions do not affect the game world.
NPC dialogue gets really annoying, and the lack of variety in character voices is all too lame. | video-games_xbox |
Quite good, but with a few flaws. The original Knights of the Old Republic was a superb game, one of the best I'd played in quite some time. So naturally I was very excited when I heard that a sequel was on the way. Now that I've played through it a couple of times (once each for the light side and the dark side), here are my thoughts:
The first thing that struck me about the game was how similar it is to its predecessor. The gameplay has been tweaked here and there with a few new variables thrown into the mix, but for the most part it plays just like the first game. The graphics may have been slightly improved in a couple of areas, but for the most part the look of this game is indistinguishable from that of the first. This is fine, though. I was hoping to see some better visuals this time around, but the graphics suffice, and the gameplay was solid to begin with, so why make any drastic changes?
One area in which this game falls short, however, is in the story. I do like the characters, the dialogue is well written, and there are certainly some interesting events to be discovered, but the overarching story was often vague and uninteresting. I sometimes found myself getting impatient in long exposition scenes because I couldn't bring myself to care overly much about what was happening. That never occurred in the first KOTOR. The ending of the game was especially disappointing in this regard. I kept waiting for the point to come where the plot would reach a level commensurate with the level of tension and anticipation that the developers were obviously trying to create, but it never came. The last couple hours of the game were sadly anticlimactic.
My other complaint is in regards to the game's difficulty, or more appropriately, its lack thereof. Even if you turn the difficulty setting to High, a decent player will find that there's not one point in the game that presents any real challenge. Your main character will have no trouble annihilating everything that crosses his path. The first KOTOR was too easy as well, in my opinion, but the problem is more pronounced in the sequel.
Don't get me wrong; it's still fun, and I certainly recommend it. After the brilliant Knights of the Old Republic was released to such wide acclaim, the expectations placed upon this game were very high, and the fact that it fell short doesn't mean it's not worth your time. It's a good game. It just could have been better than it is. | video-games_xbox |
Finally I can get my loot fix on the 360. I love this game, it's got everything I enjoy about a good level and gear fest rpg.
The Controls, are fixable though they are functional by default. (I believe that Gears of War, Fear, and Halo 3 have the best shooter type controls.) The one gripe with control that I have is the sheer amount of accidental grenade tosses that I've done so far. Fortunately my friend was no where near the blast zone except once. Otherwise spot on and good job.
My next gripe is the story seemed a little light from my brief time with the game but it might get better as you play.
Those two things out of the way, let's get on to the meat and potatoes of the review.
Characters, each character brings unique abilities and ability trees to the game. No Final Fantasy syndrome here. (Where every character ends up identical save for their limit breaks) There's a character that snipes, a character that beats people with his fists and blows *** up, an all around soldier type, and a psychic. You choose your character at the start. I kind of wish there were more aesthetic customizations at the start but that's a minor issue. Each character is also capable of leveling up specific weapon groups faster or does something unique with each weapon type.
For example the Soldier really shines in my opinion using the Assault Rifle, the Psychic girl on the other hand, only fires one round at a time using Assault Rifles. Not exactly the weapon for her to be using by any means. However, she gets a great deal of abilities which increase things related to her firing rate, and elemental properties of weapons. So she is better with the SMG (sub machine gun) type of weapons or pistols.
For abilities, each character has a variety of talent trees that they can gain abilities from. This is not entirely disimilar to Diablo II or World of Warcraft or many other games in this genre. It works, so don't fix it.
These talent trees, can create a very wide variety of play styles, making it unlikely that you'll run into someone that is the -exact same- as you. Each weapon group levels separately as well, which only further increases variety.
Speaking of Variety, let's talk about the weapons in this game. Oh my God. Each weapon falls under a specific weapon type (This is so you don't have 2.2 billion ammo types to lug around), within those types however there are countless (It's some where in the millions but you get the idea) build possibilities of each weapon. It's unlikely that you find the exact same weapon twice unless it's off of a boss. I have yet to have an exact repeat weapon. Especially since there are also levels of each weapon to increase the variety even further. For example, a friend of mine found Bone Shredder, an SMG with a scope, an accuracy booster and a recoil reducer. I found one I think was named Dragonfire, which shot flaming bullets and had improved damage.
You kill things, and take their loot. It's basically the new Diablo, but for the Consoles and for the modern age. I like to say this game is what happens when Halo has a baby with Diablo because that's alot like what this is. If you enjoy one, or the other category of the two named games you'll enjoy Borderlands. If you like both, you'll love this game.
The game is also filled with some quirky humor, and a great art style that I think more games should try to do. Cel Shading has really come into it's own on the 360. More games need to utilize it rather than trying to go for the "Super realistic" graphics which we all know from the PS2 and the PS1 before it, will become a little ugly to look at when we come back to play our "old" games in the next console stage. Better to go stylized. It endures much better.
I give the game five stars on a scale where 2.5 is average on fun factor, and four for overall. There's just a couple of niggling details which keep me from giving it a full five. | video-games_xbox |
The truth about NCAA 2007 for XBox 360. All of the reviews are correct. I just purchased my XBox 360 along with my first title, NCAA Football 2007. My fingers trembled with excitment as I set up my new XBox 360 and ripped open the package for NCAA 2007. I began wondering who would offer me scholarships, or would I just show up as a walk on. How would I do in the spring game? Would it be enough to make a start as a Freshman? How would the new "school" section be? Would I party too much or focus on nothing but football? The answer to all these questions.....DOES NOT EXIST. The only game modes that are playable is Dynasty and Exhibition. It was pretty upsetting. I got over that quick enough and then started my first dynasty game. I could not wait to see the Texas Longhorns come storming onto the field, but what? NO ENTRANCES?!? Ok that is fine, I can't wait to see Lee Corso and the gang in the pregame show, what NO PREGAME SHOW? I am absolutely dissappointed with this title. There are more features in my XBox NCAA Football 2006. I really don't understand how EA got away with this one. How can you reduce the amount of extras that are within a game when you make the next years release? It does not matter that the platforms changed. Also, I am not impressed with their idea of "nextgen". I got tired of seeing the same up close cuts after the first quarter. The replay system needs work as well. Overall, the game was put together poorly. Like the other gamers have stated, it is much like Madden NFL 06 for the XBox 360. Please take this review to heart and wait for next years release. Madden 07 should be a much better game to purchase. If you are like me and like to draft your player to the next level, just forget about it. There is no heisman mode on this version so it is back to creating your player with 99 across the board instead of watching him grow and then watching the draft in Madden. You may as well create a player in their as well. BIG DISSAPPOINTMENT!!!!!! | video-games_xbox |
One of the best RPG's for the original XBOX and in general. First let me start by saying this RPG is a western style RPG. What this means is that it does not work, play, or function the same as the eastern RPG'S like Final Fantasy. That being said if you're expecting a top down perspective, easy level ascension, and gear you can use right off the bat you'll be best served elsewhere. Morrowind is an open world RPG meaning that there is no fixed path, you're free to advance the story however you see fit. If you want to head right for the end of the main quest at level 5 you can, or if you want to explore, go tomb raiding, monster hunting, or do odd jobs for people you can do that as well. Weapon and spell effectiveness are determined by your proficiency in the weapon type and the school of the spell. For instance, if you try to throw a fireball and your destruction skill is at 15 chances are you're going to fail casting the spell. In order to raise your proficiency you have to pay for training repeatedly till the skill gets to a useable level for you, at which point you can use it on your own and it will level with continued use. NPC's while bland by today's standards are there and a good deal of them have stuff for you to do to earn gold or items. Depending on how much time you want to sink into the game it will last you between 3 and 100+ hours.
Now onto the good and bad of this port for the XBOX.
GOOD: The controls have been mapped extremely well to the controller and feel natural, everything is nice and easy to get to when you need it.
NEUTRAL: Load times can be an issue at times, this falls into neutral for one simple reason. This game was originally designed to be installed on the hard drive of a computer which has much faster data transfer and access rates than a DVD ROM drive. It's simply a necessary evil.
BAD: Bugs and performance. First off let me say that there were a lot of bugs in the PC version even after the patches and the GOTY was released. There are bugs, glitches, and errors in every game we play but open world games get the most of it simply because they're so big. Every error, bug, glitch that was not addressed in the PC version when the GOTY edition was released is present in the XBOX port. In the PC version however you could use the in game command console to fix certain bugs, such as getting stuck in a rock or npc's falling through the floor. The XBOX version does not have said console unfortunately. Performance wise let's make one thing clear. This game was designed to run on a PC with the minimum requirements being 128-256 megs of ram (depending on your OS), 500 MHz processor, 32 meg GPU, and 1 gig of HD space. Those are just the minimum to get the game to run with everything on low. Recommended was an 800 MHz CPU, 256 or more of ram, and a geforce 2 or radeon 7500. The original XBOX has a 733 MHz cpu, 64 megs of ram, and a custom built GPU by Nvidia equal to a geforce 3. While CPU and GPU wise the XBOX can handle it it does have an issue with its low levels of ram and the fact that all data must be accessed from the DVD. That being said there are some things you can do to offset bugs, glitches, and freezes.
#1: Save often, it's common sense but so many people forget to do this. Usually having two saved games alternatively saving between them once every 10 to 20 minutes is a good safety net.
#2: Perform in game cleaning. No this is not a joke and this is something else gamers tend to forget. Since the XBOX has limited ram to work with disposing of the corpses of the enemies and wild animals you kill will remove them from the game and take the load off the system.
#3:More cleaning. Dispose of extra junk equipment, items, and weapons that aren't worth anything by simply dropping them into crates, barrels, boxes and other containers scattered around the game world. Items dropped in these will decay and eventually disappear from the game. You will get a loot bag for your player items once the main quest gets rolling and you start filling up a room with all your hoarded goodies so don't worry about your own stuff)). Again the less junk lying around the fewer items the game has to load when you enter an area.
All in all the game is one of the better RPG's out there and is superior to it's successor "The Elder Scrolls 4 Oblivion". Morrowind is a nice trip back in time when games were made with quality and reverence to story, not physics and pretty HDR lighting. Remember when playing that all games have bugs but open world *especially massive open world* games get the most of them simply due to their size and complexity. Also remember that this is a not a quick fix ten minute game, don't play it if you're expecting instant gratification and reward. However if you want something nice and long to lose yourself in for a weekend and spend some time with your old XBOX then by all means dive right in. Remember to be patient, save often, clean up your in game messes, and for the love of all that is holy watch what beds you try to sleep in. There's no identification on them and if you sleep in the wrong one it will be reported as a crime. If you do this in your guild hall you will be expelled from the guild and have to pay a fine to a guard for breaking the law. | video-games_xbox |
Severely disappointed. When Fable first came out, I got it based on some videos and how it was like a normal RPG, but it has a moral system where you can choose to do either good or evil things, and your actions affect how people view you, both as a person and physically (really good people gained halos; really evil people grew horns). I love Fable. I love the game so much, I even upgraded to The Lost Chapters (which was worth it). When word of a sequel came around, I was ecstatic. Better graphics, guns, a larger world, etc. While I was upset it kept getting pushed back, I reasoned that I'd rather have a good game later than a crappy game soon.
And then it came out. I was caught up in school so I forgot about it until one of my friends kept going on about it, how amazing it is. He said he'd let me borrow it when he was done, but I was still buried in work so I didn't get around to it. Then it was Thanksgiving. Then it was Christmas. I don't think I got it until February. So I pop the game into my Xbox and start playing. Everything was really confusing because it looks like Fable, but it doesn't feel like Fable. From the get-go I could tell something's wrong. It's too flashy, too many new features. And the plot? You get shot and fall from a tower and somehow you survive? Yeah, realism goes out the window when you do.
So I get past the beginning of the game, and I'm bored. Whatever, sometimes the story needs to be set-up before it gets interesting. So I'm playing the game, doing the quests. Well hardly, all I'm doing is following the gold trail that leads me to where I'm supposed to go and sometimes killing people. That's seriously it. That's the game. As others may have mentioned, the game is shockingly easy. Your character doesn't die; when your health bar reaches zero, you fall down, lose some experience, and get right back up. Instead of having a plethora of spells, Fable II combines similar spells so there's short-range and long-range attacks in the same spell, which you change by moving the analog stick, or not. Lionhead took an RPG that had a good combat system into an RPG that's also a button-masher. Oddly enough, I couldn't find any armor in the major town you go to, just clothes. Because an expensive vest is going to help stop arrows.
Speaking of the town, you can take up odd-jobs around town to earn more gold to buy...things...you want...? I'm not entirely sure, but I took up blacksmithing, which was perfect because I wasn't satisfied being bored, I needed to be bored and frustrated as well. In Fable, you had a Guild Seal with which you could teleport to other cities or major areas, but you couldn't do it whenever, it took a couple seconds to charge up. In Fable II, you can leave whenever you feel like it, which makes some quests piss-easy. For instance, one particular quest I took up was an assassination, so I fast-traveled to where the target was, pulled out my gun, shot him in the face, and fast-traveled out. No guards, no want level, BORING. There is fast-travel in Oblivion, but you can't do it from inside a building/cave, and you can't when there are enemies chasing you, because that makes sense. Peter Molyneaux realized that nothing needs to be realistic, as long as it makes him money and it's his best game he's made (see also: Black & White, Fable).
I spent the entire play-time being bored and waiting for a good part to come up. "Well, I'll play a bit longer, SURELY something interesting's gonna happen soon." Nope. If you like the first hour after you get acquainted with the game, you'll probably like the rest, and vice-versa. One major problem of the game is that it tries to do too many things. "We'll have jobs, and a dog, and kids, and you can buy businesses, and we'll have guns, and the world will be huge, and it'll be AWESOME." Most of the one-star reviews are of a major glitch that happens near the end of the game, but I cannot imagine playing 2 more hours of this game, much less 20. If you liked Fable, rent this game before buying it, because you could probably beat it in that amount of time. | video-games_xbox |
Broken, Barely Functional; an Embarrassment to the Franchise. I gave "The Master Chief Collection" a single star because when it functions, it's amazing.
But the fact is, "The Master Chief Collection" simply doesn't function. This is a problem deeper than 'day one connection issues.' The entire game, from the menus, to the party system, to the network code, to the much-touted '60FPS' single player campaign, barely functions.
I've read a lot of five-star reviews, and hotly anticipated 'The Master Chief Collection" for weeks now. I've seen most focus on what the game offers, which is quite a lot, so let's break it down.
Updated Halo 2 Campaign:
If you're playing solo, this really isn't too bad. Occasional glitches aside, the updated graphics are gorgeous. The cutscenes by Blur are a dream come true. The classic gameplay and story are back, and a wonder to behold. If you want to replay Halo 2 single player in widescreen at 60fps, the game is definitely worth a buy.
That said, playing co-op is a mixed affair. The frame rate drops noticably, and inconsistently. Certain encounters are almost unplayable. At times, the game will lag and set each player into their own separate instance of Halo 2. Meaning one will be watching a cutscene while the other will be playing the level leading up to it. Inexcusable.
Like Matchmaking, online co-op is also fraught with trouble. Games lag out, and sometimes don't connect at all. Certain playlists skip mission, preventing you from earning achievements.
Halo 1 , 3 , and 4 are basically what they've always been. They look gorgeous when you can see them at 60fps. Worth the buy for single player.
Multiplayer:
This is where "The Master Chief Collection" completely fails. DO. NOT. BELIEVE. 343. They're focused on Matchmaking, but the problems with TMCC are much deeper. Features missing from the previous games include:
Custom Games:
- Inability to maintain teams from custom game to custom game
- Inability to maintain parties from game to game (usually, the end of a custom game will result in a majority of the party failing to reconnect to the lobby. If they do connect, teams are randomized).
- Inability to give another player "Host" status
- Various customization options removed from all four games.
- Glitchy start weapon option
On multiple occasions, the game has launched the incorrect map and gametype.
Forge:
- Many options have been removed from Halo 3 and Halo 4 forge, including:
- Ability to set Gametype Objects (flag spawn, hill spawn, assault spawn).
- Ability to set trait zones (low grav, high grav, no kill zone).
- In addition, the new File Share system limits who you can download from. You are now only able to download files from Online Friends.
Matchmaking:
Clearly, this is more of an issue than just 'day one server' problems.
- Connection to games continues to take from five minutes to an hour. Even when you connect, you may lose connection at any time.
- If you back out of one lobby (like "Team Slayer") and try to join another (like "Halo 2"), you lose your party.
- Parties are not guaranteed to be placed on the same team.
- Many games launch with multiple or unbalanced teams (such as 3 v 4 Slayer, or 2 v 3 v 2 Slayer).
- Players are given the option to boot other players from the game
- Players are sometimes given the option to vote on maps
- Maps will sometimes not load (Blood Gulch will be all white).
It's worth noting that these are not the only problems you will experience.
- I've also had difficulty with the Menu system, which was clearly half-assed (occasionally menus will be stuck overlaying other menus, rendering a restart necessary). You can even see the slider functionality that was trashed after mock-ups; most of the menus are navigated by the thumb stick until they are inexplicably not. As well, navigation is slow and laggy.
- 343 also removed armor customization, for all intents and purposes. Even when you choose what limited options they give you, the game usually refuses to load it. Most matchmaking gives every player the same emblem and armor, making it difficult to determine who is who on large multiplayer games.
Look.
"Halo: The Master Chief Collection" is best avoided. It was promised to feature all four games, with every multiplayer map ever made for the Halo series up to this point. While it arguably *does* feature that content, actually using and enjoying that content in any reasonably way is impossible. The issues are more than just 'first day' problems; they're deep, rooted in the game's design. There will be no easy fix for most of the problems, unless 343 rededicates most of their team to it for several months. What we have here is a game that was given an very large task and an impossible release date, and then promoted with as much airtime and programming Microsoft could buy. Unfortunately, the product is sub-par. It needed more time to cook.
With 343's track record, they're not likely to fix all the basic problems with "Halo: The Master Chief Collection." In the past, they abandoned support for Halo: Reach (after changing it entirely, and not for the better), Halo: Anniversary (after reducing the matchmaking to two, very limited playlists), and Halo 4 (without fixing many of that game's glaring problems) to move on to their next product. All three of these games were at least playable; the same cannot be said for "The Master Chief Collection."
"Halo: The Master Chief Collection" is a fundamentally broken game. While it has beautiful cut scenes and a functional single player campaign, be warned that if you venture beyond that, you're going to be disappointed. Were it not for the campaigns, I would outright call this game trash. As of right now, it is simply an embarrassment to the franchise.
Not worth your time. | video-games_xbox |
A Disappointment from the Original. I like many was excitedly counting down to the release of fable 2, I was a huge fable fan and play through the game several times to complete every quest and get every weapons. So when fable 2 was released I was excited to give it a try,
Unfortunately I found this game far less entertaining and challenging compared to the original. The same basic style of game is there, but it is the things that they changed that I didn't like, the major one is that you cant die in the game. It takes away all the challenge of the game, because no matter what enemy you face if you keep at it you'll beat them, if you run out of health you just get knocked out and bounce right back to keep fighting which eventually got pretty boring. The next thing that they changed that got to me was the way you control spells. They have this power up system to it so to get higher level spells you have to sit and charge them up instead of them being unleashed from the beginning like the original, also they did away with the magic meter which again makes the game easier when you can keep constantly dishing out spells and never run out of power. That last major bother for me in the game is the story, well not the story, but again the ease of it, I won't put any spoilers in here but there are no big boss battles anymore, or at least the are battles the seemed like boss battle but since you can't die they felt incredibly easy, especially the final fight with Lucien, way too easy.
Those are the major disappointments in the game for me, the rest are minor content stuff like the elimination of armor in the game, now all the clothing are just clothes like tunics and stuff, no cool looking armor which sucks in a game that is still primarily based on sword fighting, but those are just preference things that don't really affect overall game play.
Overall this game is disappointingly different from the first game so don't go into it expecting a lot if you enjoyed the first game like I did and you like a bit of a challenge in the games you play. | video-games_xbox |
One of the WORST purchases I have ever made, and a waste of your money if you buy as well. This is one of the biggest pieces of crap I've ever bought for a console, PC, or ANYTHING. I don't generally write reviews, unless I am extremely upset with a product. It's possible I may write a review if a product has gone above and beyond performance to such a degree that I absolutely felt I needed to write about it, but I'm not so sure that has happened to the degree I'd go on Amazon or wherever to write about it. THIS product needs to be reviewed to hopefully drive sales down enough that Nyko removes their head from their rear end, and starts to take notice.
It didn't take long after buying this product and installing it, for some terrible, LOUD, vibrating, possibly rubbing noise to emanate from it while it was in use. If I actually let the product keep running it would eventually die down on the loudness, but if it was late at night, and people were sleeping in another room, IT WILL BE HEARD! It's extremely loud. Generally for a quick solution, I would walk over to the back of the console, remove the power cable from the Intercooler unit, and then plug it back in. For some reason this would take care of the problem. Why Nyko, why would that take care of the problem? Why did it exist at all?
I checked the installation to make sure I had things installed as they should be, lined up where it was supposed to be, and so on. I could not find any evidence of user error, no matter how many times I doubted myself.
Eventually I started inspecting the fans themselves. Maybe they were rubbing. Well don't touch those things at all, because you will snap some fragile piece of plastic, from so many different choices, because pretty much ALL the plastic that has to do with the fans is extremely weak. Seriously, I barely pushed on one of the bigger fans, and a piece holding it to the larger unit, snapped. A toddler could put enough pressure on it with their fingers, to snap it.
As to how effective the cooling is, is hard for me to say. I bought this right about when I bought my Xbox. I hadn't had any problems with the Xbox, and this was basically my insurance policy to keep my Xbox cool. Eventually I may get around to buying another cooling type addition for my Xbox to ensure a long life, but I am going to have to do even more research on products for this purpose, and I will forever be skeptical of Nyko products.
Nyko, if you are reading this take note of that last line. I WILL ---FOREVER--- BE SKEPTICAL OF YOUR PRODUCTS. Even 1 faulty product, can place doubt in the hearts of your customers, FOREVER. Now I understand where forever may be a strong word, indicating that I can predict the future of all feelings and decisions I make from now until the day I die, regarding Nyko products, but I really am that confident in this regard. This product is REALLY. THAT. BAD.
BUYER BEWARE!!! | video-games_xbox |
An Attempt to Lure the Asian Audiences by MicroSoft. Ninety Nine Nights is a brand new hack `n' slash action beat 'em up game developed by Q Entertainment; the company responsible for the popular portable titles: Meteos and Lumines, along with Phantagram, the developers of the critically acclaimed Kingdom Under Fire series on the original Xbox, which Ninety Nine Nights unsurprisingly resembles.
It is difficult to talk about Ninety Nine Nights without mentioning the long lasting Dynasty Warriors series. While Ninety Nine Nights doesn't have the strategic elements that Dynasty Warriors so prominently featured in its latest rendition, it is apparent almost immediately that the storylines are much more inspired, and accompanied by some truly awesome looking cut-scenes. The strength of the fantasy humans vs. goblins storyline helps inspire players to play through the game.
Ninety Nine Nights allows you to play as 7 different characters, each of which feature their own unique storylines. Some stories such as Inphyy and Aspharr campaigns cross over, meaning you may end up playing the same missions twice but from a different perspective and with slightly different objectives. Other Characters - such as the rugged mercenary Myifee's story - are completely independent.
Each character's storyline includes around 6 missions lasting roughly 20 minutes each. At the start of every mission you will be given a choice of two groups of soldiers to follow you into battle, these can include swordsmen, archers and axmen. You can then command these soldiers as they engage the enemy. But make no mistake, it is you who will be doing most of the fighting, as your army serves as more of a distraction while you slice up your foes.
The Fighting system in Ninety Nine Nights is relatively basic, but rather fun at the same time. You will find your character pulling-off these insane one thousand hit combos on gigantic groups of enemies. The combo system mostly involves pressing X and Y in the direction of nearby enemies, but as basic as it sounds it can be surprisingly enjoyable thanks to the satisfying sight of watching your enemies fly across the terrain as a result of your deadly blows. Ninety Nine Nights also features an RPG style levelling up system which helps give a little more depth to the mindless hack `n' slash gameplay. As you play, your character levels up and gains bigger and better combos, providing an important incentive for doing the best you can. Sadly few of the campaigns are expansive enough to make the most of the level up feature as they can often be completed within a couple of hours. Thankfully, as you progress through the missions they get more difficult, meaning you may decide to go back and play previous levels to increase your character's abilities. You can also pick up new items andweapons on the battlefield, which subsequently changes stats such as attack range, power and speed, but doesn't effect the style each character fights with.
Graphically Ninety Nine Nights can be very impressive in places. The thing which stands out most prominently is the epic amount of enemies on-screen at one time. A large battle often involves a few hundred well crafted characters, and looks very impressive indeed. Also, the cut-scenes are well animated and very pretty to watch. Sadly some things are less impressive, such as the annoyingly over the top distance blur and the occasionally choppy frame-rate.
On another note, the sound in Ninety Nine Nights won't win any awards. The character voices all sound particularly low quality and even crackly in places. The battle sounds are also rather comical. Unfortunately the music for the most part isn't much better either, and although there are some memorable pieces, most of the in game music will have you reaching for the custom soundtracks in no time.
Ninety Nine Nights is an interesting addition to the hack `n' slash action genre, but it could have been a whole lot better. Aside from the basic RPG elements and decent storylines, Ninety Nine Nights remains a shallow game with little to make it stand out. However, fans of the Dynasty Warriors series who could do without the strategy elements in favour of a stronger storyline may want to check this game out. | video-games_xbox |
like Zumba? You should own this fast-paced workout game. So after reading the negative reviews about the first incarnation of Zumba for Kinect, I was happy find that now people are saying that Zumba Fitness Rush is actually a GOOD game. I got a goldbox deal and with free shipping the game was mine for under $40, a great deal for something I can use to supplement (or in lieu of) the gym or other expensive DVD workout systems.
I have played it twice and my plan this week is to alternate the mid length class workout (50 min) with the shorter length (20 min) each day. So clearly I like it. Basically, if you go right into class options, this game has you moving, dancing, 'doing Zumba' from second one. Because I own the Zumba DVDs, I was able to jump in but there were plenty of moves that were brand new so it took me a few tries to catch up here and there. Kind of like Dance Central, you are mirroring the main character (various Zumba instructors that you'll likely recognize if you'd done the DVDs) and there are people in the background who are also doing the moves. One reason why I'm giving this game 4 stars instead of 5 is that the 'preview' of the next move that comes up on the right side of the screen is NOT a full picture of what's to come. For example the next move might be a combination of a side squat, a foot slide, and then a semi-complicated salsa move but all you see in the preview is the initial squat and slide so you're like whaaaaaaaa? when they go into the next part. Now because I've always wanted to attend a 'live' Zumba class, I took this all in stride and thought it was a good challenge to just follow and catch up. However, I could see people brand new to Zumba getting quite frustrated with this. The learn it/training options are also substandard when compared to a game like Dance Central, which breaks down moves song by song- instead with this game you get to learn generic Samba, Merengue, or Cambia moves that will definitely be useful but don't correspond to an official workout option.
Basically, my advice to Zumba people is- get this game now! For people who are unfamiliar, I would borrow the DVD from someone first or maybe attend some classes to make sure you like Zumba first. | video-games_xbox |
Halo Wars: Limited Edition = Best RTS to date. I pre-ordered this from my local video game store back in March 3rd, and now I decided to give it a review after several months of enjoying it.
Campaign [9.5/10]
The Plot takes place 20 years before Halo: Combat Evolved. The game starts with Alpha Base under attack by Covenant Forces, and from there, the story just keeps getting better. The Campaign is challenging, but it's worth it. Even if this Halo game's not by the epic Bungie Studios, it's still epic overall. Campaign has some units not im multiplayer, like the Rhino, and on tougher difficulties, enemies are usually stronger, along with the addition of more enemy units.
Skirmish/Multiplayer [10/10]
Skirmish is where you play on multiplayer maps against AI enemys.
Multiplayer is where you play against other people via System Link or Xbox LIVE on multiplayer maps.
Both of them are awesome.
In multiplayer/Skirmish, you build an army to destroy other armies, AI or other people. It's excellent because of the unique abilities and some AI in there hidden.
Now for the Limited Edition stuff:
Flaming Warthog & Unique Honor Guard Wraith [8/10]
These unique skins make the warthog and wraith look cooler, but they don't do anything besides give the warthogs a cool skin.
Halo 3 Mythic Map Pack [10/10]
I got Halo 3 Legendary Edition last christmas, and the Mythic Map pack adds more awesome sauce to Halo 3.
Sandbox is a super customizable map that is recommended for any game type.
Assembly is a covenant like map that is recommended for team slayer and king of the hill.
Orbital is a space station map that is recommended for infection and team slayer.
Other Limited Edition stuff [9/10]
There are other limited edition stuff, like a book, collectors leader cards, and a cool patch. These are all collectible and really cool to collect and have. The book shows how the crew of Spirit of Fire crew got together. The leader cards tell you all the multiplayer leaders bio's, info, and special stuff. The patch is not a magnet, and is really cool for halo fans.
Overall score: [9.6/10] | video-games_xbox |
Could have been much better. Its not a bad game but definitely could have gone with more time in the oven. In Assassin's Creed 3 you take on the role of Desmond's ancestor and Altair's descendent Connor; a half Mohawk Indian half British assassin who goes on to play an important role in the American Revolution. Honestly, Connor is definitely not a very interesting character. He comes across as wooden and very foolish as he seems to be a pawn for everyone who throws the word "freedom" around. As for the gameplay it leaves much to be desired. Sneaking is no longer as "fun" as it was in the other Assassin's Creed games. Enemies are everywhere and hiding places are very scarce. Combat isn't as fluid as it was in earlier games either. The story overall is very short as well. Probably one of the most annoying bits of the single player as well are the Desmond missions. Which really take away from the flow of the game as you are forced to perform boring missions with little to no information on what your supposed to do to begin with. The game is also full of bugs and little glitches. During fights you'll find enemies who start stretching around the screen as though they were made of rubber, bad enemy and ally AI, the occasional button command that doesn't work, or when audio doesn't seem to work properly. While its understandable that a huge game would have some hiccups there are other games that seemed to do it better. Red Dead Redemption felt a lot more bigger and more interactive than AC3 but didn't have any where near as many glitches.
Enough of the negative now, as there are some redeeming qualities to the game. Main one being the naval missions. They could have probably made the whole game about this and it would have been pretty good. In the naval missions you are put in command of a ship and engage in naval warfare against pirate vessels or the British navy. A lot of these missions are challenging and fun. While the main story is short there are still a lot of side missions that you can do which I found more entertaining than the main story itself. You can build up Connor's frontier estate by helping out other settlers and trading/making certain goods, which works like a 18th century version of Harvest Moon. There are all sorts of other assassination, liberation, and hunting missions that you can do in the country side or in the major cities. Graphically this game looks very good as well. Especially during the naval battles, and wandering around in Boston and New York really does give a pretty authentic look at 1700s America. In the end Assassin's Creed 3 is not a bad game but not as fun as it's earlier predecessors. | video-games_xbox |
Rock Revolution - Konami's Half-Hearted Attempt. There is quite a bit to say about this game, but for those who seek a quick answer, this is not the right game to pick up if you are looking for a long-lasting, satisfying rhythm gaming experience. I would immediately recommend the Rock Band series for that.
Let me begin with the good aspects and what this game offers. You get a hair above 40 songs for the total setlist, and every one of them is a cover, except for, I believe, two tracks which are master tracks. One of the most discouraging aspects was the lack of quality of these covers; luckily, I did not find most of them to be irritating, although I would agree some of them did have some poor vocal work, but not detrimental enough to discourage me from playing a song I would want to play. There is no vocal instrument to play with, just guitar, bass, and drums. There is a sound studio where you can use tools to build your own songs, a quickplay mode to just pick a song and jam, or the career where you have to clear groups of songs and challenges to advance, until you have cleared the entire career. About the best thing this game has to offer is those unique challenges that give this game an arcade-like feel to it. You have playing back a riff without a mistake, memorizing a riff and playing it back with minimal mistakes, the poison note challenge, and one or two others. There are few of them, about two of each throughout the career, but they were mildly interesting to do nonetheless.
Fortunately this game is extremely inexpensive due to its incredibly negative reviews abroad, so for the rhythm game collector and/or fanatic, it's worth picking up to see what it has. Despite having nearly 100% cover tracks, the songs that were chosen are overall entertaining and fun. Most covers are reasonable covers with some disappointing tracks here and there.
As for the bad, I'll try to sum this up quickly as there is not much with which to elaborate. There is no lefty-flip function for the drums, only for guitar. The bass charts have no hammer-on/pull-off notes. I only played two or three songs on bass but I will assume every song has only strum notes. (The Rush song, Spirit of Radio, had quick sweeps which would be intuitive to chart as non-strum notes yet they were not.) There are two small DLC releases and Konami has dropped support entirely for this game; there is no more DLC available. Due to the lack of quality and popularity, it is virtually impossible to play a random player online, unless you invite a friend who wants to play.
Anyone who wants to dive into Konami's wonderful past of rhythm games, look into the Bemani series games that are all in Japan. Beatmania, Drumfreaks, Guitarfreaks, and all related releases as each has plenty to look into. Sadly the only way to truly experience them is to resort to importing the games/peripherals which will not be further discussed in this review. I suppose they did not think such games would be successful in America and now that Harmonix and Activision have their long-running series in competition, Konami probably does not have an opportunity anymore to bring their games here.
In the end it is a shame Konami did not bring their existing series to the states; all we got was DDR. Rock Revolution, while having some amusing potential, feels like a poorly made game and was quickly abandoned. The other shortcomings I had come to discover about it only further hurt any chance it had at gaining any good reputation back. As previously stated, as an enthusiast and/or collector, be glad this game sells for incredibly low prices these days, as it truly is not worth much in terms of quality. Rock Revolution is completely inferior to both Rock Band and Guitar Hero series games and is, for the most part, wholly unacceptable to be considered a competitor to those two.
I would give this the benefit of the doubt and say a level 5/10 simply because the song selection was decent and because its present-day price matches its intrinsic value. | video-games_xbox |
Not a Zombie fan but I loved this game . I didn't buy this game on day one ( release day ) , I bought it after I had played Ryse , COD Ghosts , Battlefield 4 and Assasins Creed Black Flag . I just don't tend to enjoy Zombie games , but I know now , that I was mistaken about this game and should have picked it up earlier..
The Zombies are more of a distraction in this game than an actual threat.. Don't get me wrong , they will kill you and they are numerous , actually more is going on at one time in this game than I have ever seen before in a game.. There are huge hords of these things on the screen at one time all doing something different and not once did it effect the game play.. No lag , no screen tearing , no loading while moving from place to place.. This game has simply amazed me.
When I said earlier that the Zombies are more of a distraction ( In my opinion ), is because of the broader picture ( what is happeneing in the story and with the individual characters in the story ) The game actually has a really good story to play through and interesting characters to meet.. I thought this game was just going to be just a mad Zombie killing fest , thats why I held out till after I played the other games I mentioned above , and I couldn't have been more wrong.
This is a full blown RPG with many , many , many side quests to complete , personal upgrades , weapon crafting , and also automotive crafting as well.. This game has so many crazy weapons and vehicles to craft that I never got tired of it and am going to start the game over again since I have now beaten it and do it all over again.. Its just that good , that I don't wan't to stop playing it.. The only thing that will change this time is that I am going to play throught that whole thing in co-op with a friend..
I just can't recomend this game enough , Microsoft and Capcom have made a master piece out of a Zombie game. I NEVER would have thought this game would be as good as it is... This is a solid 5 out of 5 game plain and simple.. With the numerous weapons & vehicles you can craft this could be your Zombie killing dream come true.. | video-games_xbox |
First Impressions-- an Interjection. I'm only a few hours in to the game, but my experience is already so sharply different from what I've read online that I'm going to add my two cents a little early. I will address the two big controversies that are fueling a lot of misinformation: the Xbox 360 version's graphics and the linearity of the gameplay, both of which have been grossly exaggerated.
Playstation 3 owners are very disappointed that Square-Enix has given so much support to Microsoft lately, and FFXIII going multiplatform was to many an abomination to God. I get it. Really, I do. This happened about fifteen years ago when Squaresoft shifted support from Nintendo to Sony after giving us Final Fantasy I, II(US), III(US), Chrono Trigger, and Secret of Mana, all of which I played and loved as they were released. Nintendo was THE Square system back then, just as many feel Playstation is today. But times change. Instead of being grateful that FFXIII is MULTIplatform instead of a Microsoft exclusive, many Sony fans and professional critics have started a smear campaign against the 360 version that has gotten way out of hand.
The Final Fantasy XIII graphics for the Xbox 360 are inferior to the Playstation version. The CGI video is compressed and the in game graphics are of a lower resolution. The framerate and loading times on the Xbox 360 version are better than on the Playstation. HOWEVER, if you are running the game on a reasonable sized television, the graphical difference is NEGLIGIBLE. The game looks absolutely fantastic to me on my modest 36" LCD screen. On all the online HD video comparisons I have seen, I see NO DIFFERENCE AT ALL between the two versions, with the exception of a little more tearing on the character's hair from time to time (I only noticed this after rewinding about six times,squinting, and holding my mouth just..so). So the bottom line with the graphics is: unless you are playing on a very large screen TV and have an obsessive attention to graphical detail, the XBOX 360 and Playstation versions are graphically identical.
Now for something just a little more important: the gameplay. There is a lot of hate for the linearity of the gameplay, so much so that it's already cliche and the game just came out this week. Phrases like "Corridor RPG," "Like a tunnel," and "Mash forward and A, then repeat," are floating around. This is true for the first HOUR, as it was for FF VI and VII as I recall. After that the maps start branching out a bit more, and much later the game world opens up for exploration (as is commonplace in previous final fantasy games). Final Fantasy and Japanese role playing games in general have always been very linear in nature. FFXIII has been streamlined a bit to emphasize the narrative and action, favoring momentum over the illusion of choice. But the extent of this has been greatly exaggerated. After the first hour, the maps are no more linear than any other FF game since VII. They are more or less straight forward with a few little detours and dead ends with extra enemies and chests. It is true that there are no towns (on the first disc anyway), but there is a shop at every save point. It is NOT true that you can not level up or customize your characters. About two hours in you are introduced to the leveling system, to which you invest experience points for skills that build up XIII's version of the job system. The battle system is a lot of fun, and is essentially the old school Active Time Battle system that started with FFIV, but streamlined for a much faster pace. It is true that you only actively control one team member at a time, but it works.
Much has been said about FFXIII as a technological marvel. The graphics and art design are gorgeous. Fully rendered cut scenes take the place of virtually all in-game dialog (no text bubbles!). The game has a level of shine and polish rarely seen in video games, regardless of whether you buy it for the Playstation 3 or Xbox 360. But for all this advancement, the game still feels very traditional. Playing it doesn't feel much different from Final Fantasies of old, going back to Super Nintendo days really. I've been a Final Fantasy fan since the first installment back in 1987. I've watched the series grow, triumph, and falter. So far I'm very pleased with Final Fantasy XIII, and am excited to see what happens next. | video-games_xbox |
Unbiased as a negative review can be. It is very interesting to me to see the amount of 5 star reviews this game has. I returned it about 3 weeks after I brought it and got almost nothing back (from a store that gives good buyback deals) because, as one of the associates told me, "so many people are returning this game." Well, the shelves proved this. Many people have commented about the slick sounds of the guns and look of the game, which yes are great and they made the game fun to play at first. I haven't gone through much of the campaign, so realize that this review is really meant for the multiplayer part of the experience, being as that was the main reason I bought the game, to play with friends. I have played all the other Halo's online, aside from Halo 1, which I did system link, and I loved the experience each game had to offer. Halo 2 was the best in my opinion, and Halo 3 and reach were both about equal for me, awesome, fun games. Well Halo 4 was a sore disappointment. The game been altered to be more like Call of Duty in that you get ordinance drops, i.e. a care package for a score streak. Cool, right? Sure if you are getting lots of kills with them. Now be patient if you will and I will come back to these ordinance drops. I feel like every Halo thus far has been pretty dynamic in the types of players you run into, you get some people who sit and camp all day, some people who want to follow a buddy, some people who run around blindly after getting as many kills as they can and not worrying about dying, and others that are a mixture of being both cautious and bold at times. Ultimately the levels in the past games have worked great for this. The guy running all of the map can find enough people to pick one off from either long or close range before he gets killed generally. The campers get kills, and hide like little sissies, but if they never move, they don't get all the good power weapons do they? So, eventually someone can come in with a bigger and better gun and at least kill one or two of a group or campers, also the old maps were dense enough at spots but long and open enough at others (remember hang em' high, or zanzibar) where campers could get spotted and picked off from afar before they could get into cover. And the cautious, but sometimes bold player could generally do pretty well. Unfortunately the type of players in Halo 4 has been completely offset. My buddies and I, who do not play ridiculous amounts, but a fair amount, and who have played as a group since Halo 2, all noticed this. Halo 4 is filled with 99.9% campers. Well why, you say? I believe this is the fault of the map design. Also, before I go any further I should make a note that what I am going to call "team campers" is rabid in this game. So, we have two types of campers, those in the old games who sat in one place and those in the Halo 4 which either hide in a stationary spot, like before, or some small area, and also the "team campers" who refuse to leave their teams sides and sometimes move a little or just sit in a room. Well what is wrong with this? I'll explain. The levels on Halo 4 are pretty bad, no, really bad. There is not one special thing about anyone of them. On all the past games I enjoyed playing every level but 1 or 2, with Halo 4 it is the opposite. There is maybe 1 or 2 ok levels, not special, but ok. Here is the problem. ALl of the levels are very dense, and by this I mean that they are compact and filled with needless junk. They are not necessarily small (there are big team maps but these present many of the same problems I will go into) but they are tight, dense, dense, dense, with needless obstacles and a zillion little tunnels or paths and little places to hid behind. Now you might say, well once you learn them, they are not confusing; however, confusing is not the issue here. You can learn any of these maps and it will not help much. Now, back to why these compact, junk filled levels are a problem. SInce 99.9% of the people seem to either camp or team camp, here is what happens: you are running along and see someone first, you start shooting them, they immediately run to cover (around a rock, around a corner, down or up a tunnel) or maybe they shoot you twice and then run, well you follow and out comes the rest of the team from right behind the corner. You immediately die. This has happened too many times, almost every kill in a game in fact. Well, in the old games if a team was camping you could go and get a power weapon and kill a couple, or you could pick them off with a sniper from far away one by one, you could even jet pack on top of them in Reach. Not in Halo 4. Because the maps are so dense, to kill a team if you know they are camping, you must go right up face to face. Most of the time they will be hiding around the corner. Well lets say you have a power weapon, great, well not always. If one of them is using promethean vision they can all pop out from whatever corner they are hiding around a kill you before you can even get one. Many times they send out a scout who will peep around and if he sees you he'll shoot twice and then run away. Then, in comes the rest of the team and you are aced in a second. You see, the maps are so clustered, you can't get them from afar, so running head first is your only option. Now,you may say well just stick with your team, and yes this can work, but this is not how I like to play the whole time, which is what it would take. Who wants to follow their buddy and get assists the entire game? The other thing that team camping and the small levels help in demolishing a lone player, or sometimes even two buddies together, is that they enable the camping team to get ordinance packages quicker, and thus camp even more, and more effectively. Let's say you and your team a running together and you know where the enemy is roughly, so you run in on them. Now if they have been camping they probably have ordinance packages, probably two of them at least, well there is not much you can do. They will do the same thing, send out a spotter have him short a couple of you once and then wait. Meanwhile your health is low and maybe you got a couple hits on them so you think to charge, well for one if they have the corner, they automatically have the advantage, two if they have the corner and a shotgun or scattershot, or rockets, or even the explosive pistol, and their team behind their back, you are all screwed, and then follows that they will have more ordinance packages coming to them. The entire game is a cycle, every map, though they look different, is setup for camping, and plays the same. Literally 90% of my deaths came from me battling a single guy who then ran away and sent the rest of his team out. How do you defeat this? You can't circle around for different angle, because the maps are so clustered that they can always have a corner to hid behind, and therefore always have a team mate to come and bail them out. I encountered this scenario over and over again in every single game, and when I stuck with my team it was boring, and repetitive: hunt out the team camping behind the corner, a couple or you get killed, you kill one of them and by the time the battle was finished their dead had already spawned again and begun shooting you once more. As I said, worst maps in Halo 4 history and worst multiplayer. | video-games_xbox |
Almost. First of all, I've been a Sonic fan for as long as I have been playing video games. The first console I ever purchased was a Sega Genesis, and of course the first game I had was Sonic the Hedgehog. When Sonic disappeared for a while after the Sega Saturn failed, I was so happy to see his return with Sonic Adventure.
The game had several flaws and glitches, but most of them could be forgiven for the crazy sense of speed and amazing visuals. Sadly, after this step in the right direction, Sega decided to throw more and more characters our way, less speed, more glitches, and finally putting the nail in the coffin with Shadow the Hedgehog and even worse SONIC THE HEDGEHOG. I had given up hope after the 360 version of Sonic, but then came Sonic and the Secret Rings.
The game was finally a step forward after so many steps back. Again, the flaws were there, but at least for breif moments I actually felt the sense of speed that make a Sonic game fun.
Now we have Sonic Unleashed.
Once again, there are flaws. The werehog is obviously the main reason this game isn't the great revival of Sonic. Other than that, this game is mind blowing.
The daytime stages are incredible. Sonic is faster than i ever thought possible in this game. These levels are so well done, and are endlessly replayable. Even though the daytime stages are over in a flash, Sega has done an amazing job with attention to detail. I walked through many of them to see townsfolk cheering on the hedgehog, animals pointing in the direction you should go, and even the small clouds of dirt kicked up as Sonic moves along are great. In my opinion, these stages are the best in Sonic history, and have never been this fast, fun, or fluid.
Then the sun sets...
The werehog stages get old fast, and take too long to complete. The whole time i kept wondering when I would get to the goal ring so I could get to the next awesome hedgehog stage. Even though it's nice some parts of the night stages are heavy on the platforming, the camera and combat can become annoying.
The music is also worth noting. The cheesey rock songs from previous 3D Sonics are gone. Every song fits the level perfect, and the little changes in the village songs from night to day are perfect. The battle music in the werehog stages gets old quick though.
Now the boss fights. The Sonic stages are all about speed and have the player hauling towards the enemy, while dodging missiles and bombs. The werehog boss stages are more traditional. They consist of the player remembering little patterns, then throwing something at the boss, then proceeding to beat them up. Some require a short button pressing segment, like God of War. Nothing groundbreaking, but still fun.
The game's story isn't the best, but the cut scenes are done well. I just hope one day Sega quits with the "Dr. Eggman" stuff. If Sonic wants to call him that, then whatever, but why would he insult himself with Eggmanland?
Little gripes aside, this game is alot of fun if you are a Sonic fan. It's sort of like Sonic 1 and 2 mixed with Sonic 3 and Sonic and Knuckles.
The speed is there(Sonic 1-2), then the werehog stages are slower and more about platforming(Sonic 3/Sonic and Knuckles).
This is the best 3D Sonic game out there. It does have its flaws, but so did Sonic Adventure and Sonic Adventure 2. And those games had more problems than this one does. So, if you could get through the fishing stages with Big the Cat, or deal with Tails in a shooting robot, then I'm sure you can overlook the ridiculous werehog in this game. Rent it at least.
If they stick with the day stages for the next Sonic, we might have a game even greater than Sonic the Hedgehog 2. Nintendo did it with Super Mario Galaxy. Sega is long overdue. | video-games_xbox |
Horrible graphics with miserable gameplay. I am a longtime fan of the <a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Ace-Combat/dp/B000P297JS/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Ace Combat</a> series, but when the <a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/latest-incarnation-of-AC/dp/B0042GW7C2/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">latest incarnation of AC</a> diverged into a <a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Modern-Warfare/dp/B00503E8S2/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Modern Warfare</a>-esque melee I looked for an alternative. JASF should have been a natural: a game that's inspired in every way by Ace Combat. Instead, JASF is a complete mess of a game that Microsoft should be ashamed of approving for license on their console.
The immediate thing you'll notice is that JASF has all the graphic sophistication of an early PS2 title. It looks at least 10 years out of date and completely out of place on this generation console (even as an Arcade release it would fail the graphics bar). There is no detail whatsoever to any of the models, and the ground you fly over is almost always just plain dirt mottled with the same same tree over and over. The plane models, which should be any flying game's highlight, are poorly rendered and lack any ability to customize them. During gameplay this becomes even more pronounced since every explosion looks identical and trying to get your bearing with landmarks is fruitless.
Once the campaign starts things go from bad to worse. You are a "Western" pilot inexplicably sent to a fictional country to fly patrol along its border. This country was once unified, but now the smaller southern half where you are is being oppressed by the "godless heathens" in the north. While it would be tempting to want this to be Korea, it's structured more like a tiny Soviet country with rich oil fields. The last part is important because one of your first missions is to help ground forces take over the oil fields as a first step to "removing the infidels" from the country, "may the vultures feast on their corpses". The preceding in-quotes parts of this review are directly from the game, and are sometimes disturbing in their inappropriateness and their tone.
During the game, the voice acting will grate you (you have a sort of Ohio accent, while everyone else has some impossibly bad fake Russian-style ones). The CO is perpetually angry, while your character always sounds like he couldn't care less about anything. Whether you're flying a B-111, an A-10, an F-16, or any of the myriad of planes the sound is the same and, for the most part, so is the gameplay. The Amazon description says JASF has an "Easy" and an "Advanced" control scheme, but at least on the Xbox 360 there's only one scheme, and you can't change any of the buttons. The touchiness of the roll overwhelms the pitch and yaw controls, meaning it's difficult to turn the plane and you'll more often than not just end up sideways or upside down.
Fortunately the game is short, the AI is moronic, the missions are a breeze, there are frequent checkpoints for when you crash your plane due to the aforementioned poor controls, so you can finish this quickly and never have to play it again. All the while you will rack up about 800 gamer points just for doing stuff you must to get through the campaign. I tried going on XBL a couple times to play, but there was noone there. In theory the game supports 2 to 4 people online coop, but that would mean subjecting my friends to this game and I like them too much to do that. | video-games_xbox |
Great game - not perfect but a lot of fun. Pros:
Good Graphics - sweat looks like sweat, skin looks like skin, the game looks like the actual game.
MyCareer - Although the voice options are limited (I don't want to sound ghetto or ghetto-er), I actually kind of enjoy the silly dialog. The game is a lot more immersive due to the random convos from players and coaches, as well as your agent.
Offense - Once you figure out the controls you can do pretty well, even with an entry level player with no VC spent. If you drop some $ on VC though it makes the game more enjoyable... which is also a CON. I am sick of paying for a game and then feeling compelled to pay more money to get the most out of said game.
Gameplay - This game succeeds at making sure you play the game as it was meant to be played. Don't try and be the only man on the court or you will fail. If you distribute the ball and play smart, you will get plenty of chances to shine and will gain the respect of your teammates. Over all this game is extremely fun, and I have a hard time putting the controller down.
Cons:
Defense sucks. Normally not peoples favorite part of the game, 2k isn't helping things at all. It's hard to maintain position, and guarding even 'sucky' offensive players can be challenging. They could take me to the rack 75% of the time. The offensive players feel like they have a forcefield around them and they are covered in vegetable oil to boot. The best option is to play the lanes but don't sag off too much because they will drain the open shot. The only plus side to defense now is steals... they require some thought now and are much more rewarding.
Assists - Maybe it's just me but my shooting guard gets twice as many boards as he does assists. It's an ongoing joke that my passes actually lower my teammates shooting % because even though the pass could be right on the money, they still find a way to miss the shot. Even layups. Even open layups. But... they will then proceed to get their own rebound and jam it or lay it up. I'm just sitting there like "wtf man, my assist." I could have 12 passes leading to points and only 3 assists. It happens regularly.
Defense again - Who the heck designed the little coverage arrow thing? Transition defense sucks because it will literally tell you to guard everyone on the opposing team, depending on who is furthest away. This affects your rating because no matter who scores it was YOUR MAN and you ALLOWED INSIDE PASS and you also ALLOWED PLAYER TO SCORE. "wtf man, my ratings" Sorry it's international caps day. It's just frustrating playing the best you can in a given situation and then getting punished for it.
Illegal Screen - Anyone who played 2k14 will know what I mean when I say that Illegal Screen is the new Kicking... It gets called at least 8 times per game on 12 minute quarters.
There are plenty of cons, but don't let that fool you. The Pros outnumber the cons by a long shot, I am just too lazy to list every little thing. I would buy again. | video-games_xbox |
Call of Duty is back from near death of the franchise. I gotta admit, after COD Ghosts, I was skeptical of the Call of Duty brand as a whole, but I decided to give them a go one last time. If they didn't deliver this round, I was done. Let me tell you my friend, they DELIVERED. First the campaign is like being in a Blu Ray Action Movie, it is really well done and has Kevin Spacey of House of Cards fame right in the mix as the owner of Atlas a for hire military corporation. Let's get to the main reason everyone bought this though. The multiplayer is back people. The maps are absolutely gorgeous, the weapons are on point, and the exo suits. What are exo suits you ask, it's what sledgehammer decided to add to COD, to bring it back from near death, with the last game Ghosts, and thank god they did. You will be bursting about 40 ft up in the air at the thought of bursting up in the air, or you want a lil speed boost, boom you got it. I love these things. Whoever thought of this idea to implement in COD, should be made president of Activision IMO. Just don't question about should you buy this game, YOU SHOULD. I'm so glad I didn't go with my initial instinct and sit this one out. I give this one 5 out of 5. It's already came out with on DLC pack, Havoc and I love that also. My favorite map out of that DLC is Sideshow, it's an abandoned hotel, that's like an old carny hangout with those creepy clowns everywhere you look. There's even a clown that spits out multi colored bombs around the map, and you can pick them up throw them at an enemy and if one of his buddies is in the general area , they all get blown to smitereens. I can't wait for the next DLC to drop. I think it will be sometime in April. I play this game everyday, several times a day if you haven't figured that out. I take it serious too LOL. I love this game. I'm pretty sure you will too. Go ahead and grab it, you won't regret it ! | video-games_xbox |
Will meet the needs of a niche audience. This monitor works as advertised, providing a portable way to play your console or desktop PC games on the road. But it's not without its faults. Ultimately, this is a product you'll buy because there aren't any good alternatives, but there is lots of room for this product to improve.
Pros:
-Portable. The 15" screen size works well for portability while still providing ample viewing space. The integrated cover and stand is also a great idea, well executed.
-Convenient. Easy set up with HDMI in, so it works with a built-in connector on every recent console and most laptops and desktop PC's. Having the monitor powered by USB means no searching for another outlet or power strip.
-Flexibility. Works as a portable primary monitor for a console or PC, a secondary monitor for a PC, and a portable media screen with a Roku, Apple TV, or Amazon Fire Stick.
-Price. Yes, you can get a standard monitor cheaper, but you'll sacrifice portability (most monitors will include a bulky stand, and it's tough to find a good monitor under 19"). You're paying for the portability and compatibility of HDMI.
Cons:
-Screen Quality. Unfortunately, there is lots of room for improvement in screen quality. The 1366x768 resolution is comparable with lots of smaller TV's, but doesn't compare well to laptops of the same size. Colors can appear washed out - I can see different "blocks" of colors on this screen that appear as smooth gradients on my TV. The viewing angles on this screen are poor compared to most modern laptop screens - you have to position yourself directly in front of it. This can be a big drawback if you wanted to play games with other people on the same screen. The monitor works, but you'll probably get a lower quality picture than the TV or computer screen you're used to. I would absolutely pay more ($200) for an IPS screen at 1080p.
-No built in speakers. This helps with the monitor's portability, but the lack of speakers means you have to bring headphones or portable speakers, which could be more of a hassle. It's also a drawback for people sharing the screen to play multiplayer games, and if you want to use this as a portable TV/media screen. With low priced tablets that are thin, light, and contain their own speakers (even if they are not the highest quality), it's a letdown to not have speakers in this monitor.
This product works. It is convenient, and easy to set up. But most importantly, there are no major competitors that combine this level of portability with a standard HDMI connector and USB power. I would love to see more competition in this field, and I honestly believe that GAEMS has a good monitor to iterate on. If they follow this product up with one with a higher quality screen and built-in speakers, even for a higher price, it would be a fantastic product. | video-games_xbox |
The best sonic 3D game. After watching a lame video review on youtube from one of the worst lamest game reviewers of all (irate gamer) on sonic unleashed saying it was bad I was not convinced not one bit that sonic unleashed sucks, Infact that lame video review actually encouraged me to go out and buy that game and I loved it, And If anyone has heard of the irate gamer or seen his sonic unleashed review please don't listen or support him because he's a big phony and an idiot who mainly nitpicks instead of reviewing and can't get any his facts straight.
I hear alot of talk about this game being terrible and boring especially the night time levels, I completely disagree this game is so much fun to play even the werehog stages give a good feel of a hack and slash god of war style game play and I found that to be more fun than the daytime 100 MPH dashing levels and their more harder than the night time levels. The graphics are beautiful the game play is fun but I keep on struggling to press the right buttons for when the screen indicates what buttons to push and I keep pushing the wrong ones and I feel like im playing guitar hero on medium mode especially the plane and shamar day level.
I do admit this game can get pretty annoying and hard even nauseating while running aroung a hub world can give me a horrible vertigo and the camera angles are pretty horrible for when your trying to view your platform jumping and I think many game developers need to work on that before releasing their games and the controllers don't respond that great sometimes but it's not that bad.
I also heard A rumor that sonic colors was better than sonic unleashed, Are you kidding me?! Thats A total BS statement, I mean what are these fans smoking?! I think sonic unleashed was way better than sonic colors. Why? Because sonic colors is more for little kids who can't take a challenge while sonic unleashed is more for grown hardcore gamers who can take greater challenges and different varieties other than just dashing all the time. I played sonic colors and it's not as good as this game, The levels are short piece of cake boring and repetitive while unleashed has some amazing long challenging dashing platforming stages and a fun button mashing beat em up GOW style night time levels.
This game does have some major flaws but that doesn't mean its a boring unplayable game and this whole nostalgiac sonic VS current sonic from the ignorance of fanboys just makes me sick, This is a great sick game!
The verdict: 8/10 | video-games_xbox |
One of the best WWII shooters I've played. I just got this game earlier this year and am loving it! I'll discuss different parts of the game in their respective sections below.
CAMPAIGN:
The campaign of this game, in my opinion, is probably the best part of it. It's pretty long, and will entertain you for a while. No, we're not storming Normanddy AGAIN. This time, we'll be in the Pacific Theater and Eastern Front. You switch back and forth between Pvt. Miller from the Marines and Pvt. Petrenko from the Red Army. The story is very good, and they did a good job of making it exciting. It starts at the Makin Island Raid in 1942 for Miller, and the Battle of Stalingrad in 1943. The graphics are very good, and we get to use some classic WWII weapons, such as the M2 Flamethrower (one of my favorites), PPSH, and M1 Garand. There are cool cutscenes in-between levels that sometimes show actual historical footage. There are 2 special levels, one where you drive a T-34 Russian tank, and one where you're a gunner on a PBY Catalina US plane. The campaign isn't too difficult, but it's BRUTAL on Veteran difficulty. You die in only a few shots, and the enemy throw tons of grenades at you. They throw so many, it's probably the hardest part of the game. I've played through almost all of the campaign on Veteran, except the notorious "Heart of the Reich" level, which few people have completed. If you're having trouble with a level, I strongly suggest that you look up a walkthrough on YouTube. A side note: this game is very graphic and the characters swear a lot, so if you want, you can change the graphic content to Restricted in the main menu. This is the first COD game where you can play campaign co-op, but I personally haven't yet because none of my friends have this. Something that's very stupid in my opinion is that you only get the achievements for completing the game on veteran if you play by yourself, so it doesn't really matter if you complete a mission on Veteran with a friend. Also, "Death Cards" have been added to the game, which are a lot like skulls in Halo 3. If you're not familiar, Death Cards are special collectibles that you can find in the campaign which unlock cheats for co-op matches, such as enemies not dropping their weapon at death, shooting explosive ammo, and paintball bullets.
MULTIPLAYER:
Of course, since this game is old now and lots of new CODs have come out, not too many people play the multiplayer anymore. It's pretty fun and I've played a few matches, but now there are lots of modders which pretty much ruin the game. If you don't know what I'm talking about, modders are people who hack the game so that they get a huge advantage over the other players (i.e. invincibility, flying, extra damage) so that they always win a game. Multiplayer is filled with them, and sometimes you just can't find a match without one. As I said before, since not a lot of people play multiplayer now, it isn't really worth buying this for the multiplayer.
ZOMBIES:
This is an awesome new gametype for this game. Unlocked after campaign completion, zombies allows up to four players to try to fight off an endless horde of zombies, which come in rounds. For each zombie killed, you get some points. Those points can be used to open doors on the map to get around or buying new weapons (you start off with a pistol). Each round, the zombies get harder and come in larger numbers. They come through barriers, which can be rebuilt for extra points. Only one zombies map comes with the game, but three more can be unlocked by buying the map packs for the game. This mode is extremely addictive, and is fun solo or with friends.
OVERVIEW:
This is a great game and is avaliable at a great price. Campaign and Zombies are your main modes to play in this game since multiplayer is not very populated. Thanks! | video-games_xbox |
Too bad it's broken. Private matches don't function correctly at all, and there is a very very long list of known bugs. If you're interested in this game, do yourself a favor and wait until a patch is released to fix it.
Some (not all) of the bugs:
1. The game crashes CONSTANTLY.
2. You can only play Forts in public matches.
3. In public matches, you can't kick players from the game, and you can't reserve slots for friends, so it can be near impossible to get your entire party into a game without having to quit and remake 10 times.
4. The floating worm bug? Almost every game a worm will float in the air after taking damage until it is his turn and then he suddenly falls.. if he takes damage or dies during the fall, you just had your turn wasted. Thanks!
5. The invisible timer on the landscape/map setup screen is annoying as well. If you're gonna restrict the amount of time I have to pick a map using this crappy system, at least tell me how much time I have.
6. When you trip off a mine while on the rope (not dropping anything), and another worm goes into the water, you will get detached from the rope automatically.
7. When editing a gametype, if you set the rope ammo count to infinite, it will be set to ten in-game.
8. When using lightning strike, it doesn't show the health of the resurrected worm.
9. In rare instances, the attraction magnet can sometimes attract mines and will not make them stay somewhere permanently. This makes the game never stop so that the next turn can go on.
10. Sometimes, the avatar from the game lobby gets frozen onto the screen. If and when it does happen, it happens to the host. New: It can also happen to clients.
11. I can confirm that this "sticky edge bug" happens. I've had it happen because I was going to slide off of a ledge, but a dud mine prevented me from going anywhere, and was slightly on top of my worm. I was stuck between the mine and the edge and the turn did not stop.
12. I've only had this happen once, but a holy hand grenade landed in a small puddle, it played the "hallelujah" sound effect, then disappeared (due to being in water). After that, it played the same sound effect after every turn. This was on a team forts game.
13. When a worm falls on a slanted/vertical area after the opponents retreat time has ended, it plays animation, calculates the damage then the worm falls again. It can't calculate until the opponents turn, thus making the opponent lose his turn. I've done this twice now, and it seems the factor in this glitch happening seems to be the fall height/retreat time.
14. The magnets, when repositioned (keyword "re") before a match, does not update the location for all players. The "aura" and the magnet are not in the same place, and sometimes the magnet graphic isn't even there.
15. When throwing a holy hand grenade, if it lands in water and manages to bounce it self back out to land, it will play the hallelujah sound, but not detonate.
16. When a crate drops and lands on fire, and a worm gets hurt by the explosion of the crate, the game will stall, and do nothing. It calculated the damage, acted like it was passing on to the next player, but it didn't. It just sat there. Similar to the effect when a mine meets an attraction magnet and doesn't stop. I've only had it happen once, and it is hard to replicate it due to lack of control where packages spawn.
17. Even when deactivated, the camera centers itself between a magnet and a metal object.
18. When restarting a game, any currently looping sound effects will continue to loop forever until that sound is heard again.
19. Even when a scheme is set to have more then one round, it sometimes returns to the game lobby anyway.
20. When a sheep lands directly onto a mine, it gets stuck. I've only had this happen once.
21. Save games have been known to reset/corrupt/delete themselves spontaneously. Everyone I know with Worms2 has encountered this bug. | video-games_xbox |
Disappointing. Resident Evil 6 is not a bad game, but it is a disappointment. I thought RE4 and RE5 were great games, and I was looking forward RE6 taking it all a step further. Instead it feels like 5 steps backward.
STORY:
The game is separated into four campaigns, each starring different characters in the RE universe, some new, some old. The stories are all intertwined and you don't get the big picture until you've completed them all. This sounds cool in theory, but unfortunately the problem this causes is that each story has a fuzzy intro and then you're thrust into the middle of a s***storm with no context. Throughout most of Leon's campaign, he doesn't even know where he is going or what he is doing, and the character keeps stating this. This left me baffled and uninterested for the majority of the game, and when you do get the whole picture, the payoff just isn't worth it. The other problem with the story is the lack of pacing. There is no attempt to build tension. The game just starts with tons of enemies attacking you and doesn't let up. There is no ebb and flow, no variation, no tension, and thus what could have been exciting is just grating.
GAMPLAY:
The controls have been revised for RE6, and unfortunately they don't work well. No longer are you restricted to standing still while aiming, which is a nice thought, but now aiming is imprecise and the camera is unwieldy. More often the camera is interested in showing you your character's shoulder than what's in front of you, and when you can see in front of you, aiming is loose and often you'll miss a shot that you'd swear was dead on. Movement feels awkward and correctly facing interactive elements takes a few tries. There is a cover system a la Gears of War, but it doesn't work well, and most of the time it's pointless. Overall, the controls feel broken, and this is the biggest downfall of RE6.
The basic concept of any RE game is to explore spooky environments and kill zombies while solving puzzles. The element of exploration is gone thanks to very linear levels with virtually no branching pathways. Puzzles are reduced to simply picking up a keycard and using it at the next door you encounter. Zombies are so frequent, as is ammo, that the game lacks any excitement. It's hard to be scared when you already know there are more zombies waiting around every single corner. This is the least scary RE game ever. And by "least scary", I mean not scary in the slightest.
GRAPHICS:
RE4 on the Gamecube was the best looking game I had ever seen on that console. When RE5 came out, it was the best looking Xbox 360 game of it's time, so I had high hopes for RE6's graphics. While RE6 isn't a bad looking game, it fails to impress. When compared to current games on the console, it's nothing special, and as a matter of fact, I don't think it looks as good as RE5. Character models are very detailed, but the environments look a little blurry and dull. Some monsters look good, while others just look like a pile of mush. Not what I expected from a series that has set the bar in graphics time and time again.
SOUND:
This time around, RE has taken a decidedly action-oriented direction, and the music reflects that. Ambient mood music is replaced with action-movie orchestral score. None of the music is memorable, as even as I write this I can't hardly remember it. Sound effects are pretty much the same gunshots and zombie moans that we've heard from past games, but I suppose that's expected. Overall, not bad, but nothing stood out as exceptional either.
OVERALL:
Considering how much fun I had with RE4 and RE5, RE6 was a let down. No longer is the game horror-survival. Now it feels like a poor-man's Gears of War. Chris' campaign is super action-heavy and feels like something out of Call of Duty. The game doesn't even try to be scary, the story is vague and confusing, the controls are wonky and imprecise, the camera is your worst enemy, levels are extremely linear, puzzles are stupidly simple, and there's no pacing to set the mood. Most of the time I was playing this game, I was not enjoying myself. I only continued to play out of obligation since I payed money for it. It's not a horrible game, it's just terribly bland. I can't recommend this game to anyone. There are elements I didn't cover, like the co-op, but they don't rectify the many problems plaguing Resident Evil 6. | video-games_xbox |
Don't get confused this is a FPS controller. I love this controller, I've been using it for about 2 weeks and I can tell you my opinions. I tested it with Halo Reach, MW2, CoD4, GoW, and several arcade games.
My impresions:
The controller doesn't feel cheap at all, I could say that is higher quality than the M$ controller. The grip of the controller is awesome and also the grip of the sticks, with the conventional controller I constantly rubber my thumbs on my pants because they slip over the sticks, not anymore. The tension of the sticks is a great adition, I use the left stick loose while in the right stick I have 7-8 steps of tension (I think there are like 25), I normally play Halo on sensitivity 7 and CoD on 5, I can't tell if my accuracy has gotten better but I can tell that there are more confortable and suits me better.
The multifuntion buttons are weird, they are to close of normal bumpers and I first made a LOT of mistakes, I find myself reloading instead of punching. After a couple weeks you get used and you can improve your gameplay in Halo Reach (doesn't really make a diference in CoD) because you can have the jump and the AL button on your left finger, this is really great, I've never use the jetpack on matchmaking because I use the bumper jumper setting, but now I can use it without a sweat. In CoD I used for sprinting (bumper jumper in CoD is too silly).
The hyper response buttons works great, they no need almost any pressure, works fine with me but I don't know with people who tends to press to hard the buttons, and the backlight is just cosmetic. I played the Hardcorps demo and they feel weird but in Megaman you can shoot a lot faster.
The D-pad is only for FPS don't work with plataformers, fighting games or sidescroll shooters, I think the best game for this D-pad is GoW.
The triggers are more sensitive and they can look silly at fist but if you get used to use them on the edge it realeases from pain in the fingers after LONG sesions of FPS gaming, I haven't prove it on FM4 but I don't think they work well on racing games, either way I use the right stick in FM4 for Gas/Break.
I don't like too much the position of the select/start buttons but really doesn't bother too much, I read that the people who plays Battlefield have to remap the select button.
In sum I can tell you that this controller is designed having in mind FPS, is a great controller for that but for other games maybe you'll prefer use the standard controller. Another drawback is that you cannot remap right buttons (RT, RB, R3) to the left MFB and viceversa. | video-games_xbox |
Not was I expected, but it's acceptable. Okay, first thing first....I must say I was quite disappointed with Madden 13 because I played the heck out of Madden 12. I guess I was looking for some vast improvements in the series. I truly believe EA Sports had good intentions, but sometimes they are ahead of themselves. The first thing I noticed was that there was no Franchise Mode but it was there hidden under another name. I'm not going to elaborate on this year's Franchise Mode because every other review has done so. Anyway, I am writing this review because if you are a loyal Madden fan then no matter what EA does, we as fans will still buy and complain about everything that gets a change. One thing I realize as human beings we are not fans of change but we will complain and still love Madden 13. So this review is basically to say I love Madden no matter what, because despite the drastic changes it is still a fun game. It has however changed more to please more online players. I am still truly a Madden 12 fan, I wish I wasn't so eager to sell it for 13 but that is what loyalty does.
If you have Madden 12 and have not purchased 13 yet, it's not a rush to purchase, maybe savor 12 for a while longer and wait until 13 drops in price during the holiday season. All in all, people will complain about every little detail but at the end of the day they will adapt and adjust and keep playing until 13 Madden 14 comes out next year...
***One last thing, this year seems to be a lot more challenging, I was blown away at how challenging its become. I almost questioned my ability to play on All-Pro, it's a matter of adjusting to some of the technical game changes. Like this year you have to wait for your receivers to run their routes and then the A,B,X or Y button will light up on the screen to let you know who is open to pass too. The disadvantage is, if you DO NOT pump fake the ball you will get sacked trying to wait for these guys to "get open"... makes it much tougher. | video-games_xbox |
Boring Angels. I was very disappointed in this release for the X-360. I was looking forward to a top-notch air combat game with amazing graphics, precision flight controls (not Microsoft Flight Simulator, obviously, but something *close* to Ghost Recon but in the air) a fantasic plot line and wild levels with surprises and challenges to keep me on the edge of my seat.
I will have to wait. In the meantime I have Blazing Angels, and feel an honest review might help others in my shoes, perhaps saving you the better half on a hundred dollars, to boot.
The air-combat is a joke. I think this needs to be said, and the sooner the better. There is a training section at the start, which is actually pretty fun, you fly an old bi-plane with touchy controls, it is probably the most realistic plane in the game, and I was looking forward to having to focus on keeping my combat aircraft airborne as well as trying to fight in later levels. Sadly, after setting the standard with the training craft (which you actually have to *try* to keep in the air) the planes in the rest of the game throw realism out the window. I actually had better luck ignoring things like "which way is up?" and found I can do an upside down barrel roll while shooting my machine guns without pause, performing a double loop and cutting the throttle off completely. The game seems to reward this sort of flying. Forget about realism, just jerk the stick and hammer the gas, it makes no difference.
The graphics are nice, but not stunning. There is little time to look around and enjoy the view, as the pace of this game is of the "next level there will be twice as many bad guys which are faster and tougher so get ready to hold down the 'shoot' button" style. The levels follow this theme for the most part, and where they deviate it is to have something frustrating like the "take photos of the enemy" level, where the mechanics of taking the photo are not explained and you can spend a lot of time getting frustrated, I did, at least until I went to the X-box website and looked up how to do this level there. I am unimpressed with a game that requires outside research of fundamental directions required to move forward in the game.
Finally, for the money I feel this game is a waste, it is not very fun, not original, and a dull experience.
Jim | video-games_xbox |
Major Disappointment. I am an avid soccer enthusaist, so when i purchased the Xbox 360 i awaited eagerly for the arrival of a soccer game worthy of the next Gen, Fifa however not only dropped the ball, but they stood on it, sat on it then let all the rest of the air out until anything fun about playing soocer on a console was flat and dull.
The first things I noticed was the lack of teams, the earlier reviewer was right, only 6 leagues, many countries have been left out much to my dissapointment, one of Fifas attributes was the fact it was licenced with all the leagues and teams throughout Europe and beyond, now we are left with a meagre 6 leagues, so immediately that killed a lot of my enthusiasm.
The gameplay still isn't there, the atmosphere feels very linear, not helped by only 4 camera angles, another let down...Then comes the skill levels, there is a huge difference between amature play amd semi pro, so much so in fact you'll be in limbo for a long time. The realism of players colliding is absurd as you find 2 players going for the ball at the same time simply bump off each other knocking them back a few paces, now call me cynical but i have yet to watch a soccer game were two opponents going for the same ball butt chests and take a few steps back before going back in...which actually leads me to my next point.
Tackling a major part of the game is devoid due to the fact every slide tackle you try to do will more than likely automatically give away a free kick or penalty 90% of the time, so that button is immediately withdrawn from my thumb as a useless tatic and addition, leaving only the X bottom to put your foot out the steal the ball.
The players likeness is left the imagination of someone who I can only assume has never seen any footballers in real life because most players don't have any or much similarity between the real life player and it's gaming counterpart.
The commentary on the other hand was great, Peter Brackley and Andy Gray cough up some good dialogue that isn't repetituve and one of the few points that actually adds to the game lacking nearly every other aspect of soccer.
There is no training mode to work out moves and practice special moves, which isn't really a problem cause there are very few special moves anyway and the spare right thumb control stick doesn't do anything helpful or special except stare lonely at you wishing it had a function in the game.
Overall this game has gotten worse over the last few years, but this years version has to be without doubt the worst yet. I have traded my game in already and I am waiting patiently on Winning soccer to make it's debut sometime in Feburary, from previous experience Winning Soccer has better gameplay, more moves and now it has more leagues than Fifa's poultry 6.
Please rent this game before buying, if after a few weeks your still playing it's probably for you and you can go out and buy it, but for all others a week is usally enough before you get to the point of sighing heavily hitting eject, getting back in your car with game in hand looking for a trade in.
Get back on track Fifa, you used to make really good soccer games, what Happened?? | video-games_xbox |
Console looks very nice physically. Controller is noisy (very clicky and distracting) and UI is terrible. Updated to note that Blurays don't want to work with this so I watch movies with my PS4 when I need a Bluray player. Also, due to Xbox One not allowing custom screen ratios, I'm unable to fully enjoy Watch Dogs 2.
I own PS4, Wii U and now Xbox One S. I've owned PS4 since a couple months after it's release but was never interested in the Xbox One. The console massive, ugly, inferior and not worth the price tag (or my money). The Xbox One S is worth the price tag and I've spent my money on it. This will be cross compared with day one PS4 since that's the best comparison I can make right now and that's essentially what I own to compare this to while staying within the current gaming generation. I own the older consoles but it wouldn't be fair to compare them with this.
Pros:
- They've beefed up the specs and hopefully graphics will look as good as PS4 now. PS4 graphics were always noticeably better so we'll see what the Xbox One S brings. I'm optimistic.
- The redesigned console is very very nice. The original console design was so stale but I really like the new design and I tend to go for white consoles and devices where possible so this all is right up my alley. The 40% smaller size is fantastic because the Xbox One S is now a reasonable size and looks nice in my entertainment center sitting next to my PS4.
- It's awesome that there's no power brick. It's all built in to the console. Sony has done this for PS3 and PS4 and yet 360 and Xbox One both had bricks. It's about time Micro$oft got with the picture and this is definitely a pro.
- The white controller looks very nice. I store it next to my white Dualshock 4 and they look so nice next to each other. The pro only applies to the aesthetics. There's also a major con listed below about the functionality.
- Turning on the console is snappy. Upon holding the Xbox button on the controller, in just a few seconds I'm right up on the homescreen. The homescreen is laggy but that's it's own thing. Start up is quick.
- Backwards compatibility. This is a great idea and I wish PS4 had it. So far only the Gears games I own on 360 are compatible so I need to re-read the list of compatible games. I have games with gold Mirrors Edge and ACC China downloading to my Xbox One today though which are 360 games compatible with Xbox One but they're downloads from the store.
Cons:
- The homescreen and menus lag sometimes. This is so weird. I don't have this problem on PS4 and Wii U. Both of these run flawless.
- Games sometimes don't even start up at all. I have Quantum Break and I'll click it to open so it'll show the two guys heads for a few seconds then crash. I click it a second or third time and it opens. PS4 and Wii U don't have this problem.
- Not enough AAA exclusives and not enough GOOD exclusives. Gears 4, Crackdown 2, Quantum Break, Forza Horizon 3. That's is right now. The Halo series is all that's left and it's terrible.
- Can't upgrade the internal HDD. My PS4 had a 500 GB HDD but I upgraded it to 1.5 TB. I asked for a 1.5 TB hybrid drive specifically for this purpose for Christmas so was able to upgrade the storage substantially. With Xbox One, the only reasonable option is to attach an external drive which albeit is better than nothing but Micro$oft should have given us the option to change out the internal HDD too.
- The new Xbox One S controller is simply terrible. The buttons are so clicky and noisy. It's distracting. My white Dualshock 4 is the best controller I've used in a long time. It is fighting for first place with the 360 controller which I loved (and loved the console) but this controller is awful. It's a shame because it looks so nice.
- The controller emits a slight buzz sound. It's not immediately noticeable but in a particularly quiet moment while my senses were keen playing Mirrors Edge, I noticed it and it was so distracting after that. Just loud enough to hear in quiet environments and greatly irritating after a while. Luckily, most times the game will be louder so you won't hear it but it's rather disappointing it's there at all.
- The user interface is awful. I can't find anything as a new user without spending so much time looking through menus. PS4 and Wii U UI is so much easier to use and navigate.
- Blurays don't play. I don't know why and I don't know of a fix. They work fine with my PS4 so this is an Xbox One issue.
- The UI in Watch Dogs 2 is too large for my screen. My Xbox One screen settings are fine for the other games I tried but because it doesn't allow you to customize the ratio and Watch Dogs 2 doesn't allow this either, I'm unable to see most of the mission objective, the lower left and lower right HUD. STILL waiting on Ubisoft to fix this and yet I'm nearly done with the game. Luckily I'm able to see the world fine so I just figure out what to do and I rely on other factors for things like how much botnet I have left (basically using up botnet until I can't).
Long story short, I wouldn't have purchased the Xbox One S if it wasn't for a few exclusives I want to play such as Gears, Quantum break, Sunset Overdrive and Crackdown (as well as games with mods). I will continue buying most of my games on PS4 and pretty much only buying Xbox One games that have mods on Xbox One but not PS4 (such as Fallout 4 which I have for PS4 so can't use mods) or maybe games that are substantially cheaper on Xbox than PS4. Otherwise, PS4 is a better experience overall. On the bright side, since I own all 3 consoles, all exclusives are now mine (insert evil laugh here). | video-games_xbox |
Save Your Money. I would urge all active x-box gamers to rent this game prior to buying so that you can save time, money, and frustration. While some of the features and options may be temporarily entertaining, the limitations and annoying factors will add up quickly and cause you to turn this game off in disgust.
Batting- The batting control for this game is about as frustrating and uncomfortable as you can imagine. No matter what batting option you choose, the timing and the set up will never fit your gameplay. You either hit a foul ball, pop out, or strike out...that's it.
Runner On Base- The controls for base running are ridiculous, and the player mentality/awareness is inconsistent and unrealistic. When you do finally get a man on base, be prepared to cringe as he fails to tag up (even though you didn't direct him to advance, ugh!) You will not score many runs in this game.
Annoying Comments: Derek Jeter and various old managers will screw up your timing by giving you a "helpful" hint right when you make contact with the ball. Seriously, a suggestion box will pop up in the middle of the screen and interrupt whatever is happening in the game. Even if you turn the comment option off, the comments will continue to appear. Very, very annoying.
Graphics: Overall, the graphics could and should be much better. The pitching and batting stances are nice, but these images are just a small part of the entire game. The crowd, homeruns, fielding, etc....these are just a few of the many areas that need to be enhanced.
Nice Things: I won't completely dog this game title, as the pitch control, the play-by-play announcing, and the stat upkeep is impressive. Unfortunately, those are the only nice things I can come up with.
Bottom Line: If you buy this game with hopes of purchasing a quality baseball title that is fun and competitive, then you will be severely disappointed. This is a one time rental only! | video-games_xbox |
Your Health Is Low. I didn't have a problem with the game freezing up my XBOX, and I'm sorry to hear it happened to (seemingly so many) others. The story isn't the best, and the inventory system is clunkier than the original. But a lot of improvement has been made. And you have to play it for a while to notice the better differences.
The good
There is no Mana bar anymore. If you are a primary Will user, this will be a godsend. No more having to worry about how much juice you have left. If you have the spell, you can use it as much and often as you want. I loved that. To extend on this, Magic is better balanced against melee weapons, so you don't feel like I did in the first one, that the spells were a nice addition, but not typically too practical in a difficult fight.
The game has a fairly complex economy system. Much more complex than I've seen in any other game. You can buy nearly every building in every city. There are exceptions...but not many. And when I say that, I mean it. You could probably count the buildings/structures you cannot buy on one hand. Which leads to the next thing I liked: When you rent out houses or buy vendor stalls and shops, you accumulate wealth without having to work for it. And, as is normal, you can regulate how much you charge. More than the town average will corrupt you, less with make you more pure.
After the main quest, there are still jobs and quests available that take a while to complete. I've probably put a good 30 hours into the game, and I still have a lot that can be done.
You four-legged friend. I think it's the coolest addition to the game. He will help you somewhat in fights, he will sniff out treasure for you to dig up, and he will growl when you approach an enemy, before you see them. As well, he/she has a number of expressions to compliment your own...which are adorable.
The graphics are really great. They are similar to the first game in terms of coloration and...well, Fableness. It's colorful and there are lots of ambient noises out in the open.
The leveling system is improved by default. Since in this world 500 years after the first, the Heroes Guild is utterly destroyed. The Chamber of Fate is the most intact piece that us left. But this means that there are no experience portals for Skill, Will, and Strength. So as soon as you build up enough experience, you can immediately go to the Abilities section in your options and upgrade you skills.
The music is pretty, and similar to the first. It's a perfect compliment to the environment. No long explanation needed. It's just well used.
The Okay
To be honest, I was disappointed in the guns. The rifles/pistols/crossbows. I didn't find them as evenly balanced against all of the others. They are nice from long range, but I didn't find them as useful as I found the bows in the original game. Not bad by any means, but I think if they caused more damage in relation to the other types of skills you possess, I would have used them more.
The "free roaming." On the back of the box it's said that "Roads are for suckers" accompanied by a picture of someone hopping a fence. Well yes, this is possible. However, what is not possible is multiple paths to the same destination. There is more substance -around- the roads, and there are more caves, but you cannot, for instance, leave the road and go up and over the mountain to get somewhere faster.
The new mapping system. I remember about a year ago, Peter Molyneux told us all that the original Fable was too easy. You could play the game by looking only at the displayed Mini Map. And he was right. But their solution? Now instead of a Mini Map, you have a glowing golden trail to follow. You -can- turn it off, but to be honest, I didn't really see this as a solution. It's just a different version of the same thing.
The bad
The story, I have to say. It's not that great, and it's not actually that long. But, I suppose I couldn't expect something on the scale of Oblivion or Lost Odyssey after the first one was so short as well. There were really no twists. The beginning really had me intrigued, with the box and such. But then it kind of went exactly how I expected it to go. There was no...substance, to any of the characters. Except between you and your dog. At the end of the game one of the characters calls your characters the best friend she ever had...and it's meaningless. You don't spend that much time together, and are absent for a long time. You don't know that much about them.
The Inventory system. Like the last game it is nicely divided into subsections. Weapons, Clothing, Food, Potions, Trophies, Books/Documents, etc. However, when you choose, for instance, to consume a potion that will give you more Strength Experience, it closes the menu and you go back to the game. So if I want to lose weight by eating celery, I have to press Stars>Items>Food>Celery. And then repeat it. It just gets to be a hassle. I wish you could do what you need to do, and then unpause the game yourself.
Weight. If it's your first playthrough, you will probably, like me, end up overweight. I didn't even realize it was happening, because when you first play through you probably don't have that much money, so you buy whatever will heal you. This seems necessary because, 1. If you get knocked out (killed), you get a new scar, and 2. Potions and Food are a lot less plentiful than in the last game. So when you get badly injured, you eat whatever comes up on the D-Pad. There are lots and lots of things that can make you fat. Cheese, meat, pie, some beers. The only normal item that makes you lose weight is celery. The ONLY. It took me about 5 hours of interactive game play to finally get back to even with my weight. Sleeping for weeks at a time to give the produce vendors time to restock on celery, buying and eating it, sleeping again. It got tiring, very fast. So my recommendation to you if you haven't bought the game yet and are reading this...stick with potions, apples, and carrots.
(Too long didn't read? The game is worth your $60.) | video-games_xbox |
Not as good as it could have been. In my review of the videogame for Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, I asked EA to quit killing their games by concentrating more on getting them out by a certain date rather than focusing on the quality they end up being. I had a little bit of hope that the delay of Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince would lead EA to keep working on that movie's videogame. I was hoping they would make the control work better, on integrating story and game better, and do away with the jarring transitions from the last game that kept ripping away the immersion factor.
Well, here we are six months after the initial release date and we are left with probably exactly the same game we would have gotten six months ago. While the initial hour was much better designed that Orders mess of an intro, things quickly devolve into the same trial of 'go here, mix this potion, fight this duel, trigger this cut scene' that held back the last game from greatness.
Again the main shame of all of this is that EA and their developers obviously spent a great deal of time making an accurate representation of Hogwarts. Somewhere along the way they just simply forgot to add the life and energy to turn this lavish environment into something worth exploring beyond the scope of just making your way to the next mission.
There are crests to find and clubs to join, but none of this really goes far in making you feel like a true member of the Harry Potter universe. Instead you are really just a casual observer with little to no control over the events taking place. The biggest offender is Quidditch, which sounds like an awesome addition until you realize that all you do is fly through rings over the course of a scripted flight path. Boooorrrrriiiinnnggg!
While Hogwarts itself is a site to behold, even if the 360 version simply feels like the Wii version in a better resolution, where the game truly looks butt ass ugly is the character designs. Words cannot begin to describe how awful most of them look.
I did have a bit of fun playing this game... OK maybe 'fun' is not the right word. If I am going to tell the truth, I am enough of a Harry Potter fanboy that even this meager offering of the Potter universe is enough to make me feel like I got my $50 worth out of this game, but I seriously doubt that most will feel the same.
At this point I think the only way we will ever see the epic Harry Potter videogame that could be made, is when the movies have finished releasing and someone can make a game free of sticking so drudgingly close to the movie's script. If a developer took this code, fixed some control issues (really, calling what this game offers 'targeting' is an affront to the word), was given freedom to expand beyond just the key scenes of the books and then took some more queues from the Rockstar game Bully then I think we could have a truly great Harry Potter game. For now all we get is this- a game that is destined to attract only the most loyal of Harry Potter fans. It might be enough for EA to make a profit off of, but surely more effort could have landed them a game that branched out beyond just the Potter faithful... it might have made them oodles of cash as well. It is just too bad that EA does not see things that way.
From [...] | video-games_xbox |
Stress at work? How about stress in a game. Before anyone trolls me or tries to correct me, this is my opinion for the game. I will start by saying that I played this for about an hour. I have a stressful job to begin with. This game is the epitome of stress. It's chaotic and ultraviolent. It starts off a little slow... But the transition is quick. It goes from slow to full throttle in about 5 seconds, and stays at full throttle for the rest of the game. It's like driving a nice scenic route on the California coastline, but at 200 mph. So you miss the scenery, you miss the immersion, you just hold on for the hell of holding on.
It could have been more immersive. But the immersion is lost immediately. There are carnival games you can play and people to talk to in the first bit of the game. First bit being the first five minutes. However as soon as you pass through a certain gate, the mayhem begins.
The enemy AI is erratic at best. You're under attack from quite literally everyone. Police. Firemen. Gun turrets. Religious Zealots. And everyone has a gun. Why you're under attack is silly. You're the Anti-Christ. You get a pistol and shot gun and everyone else has either an assault rifle or a flame thrower. You're basically screwed from the get go.
There is no map. So you don't know where you're supposed to go. There is no sort of radar so the enemies have the upper hand no matter what. They outgun you in strength and numbers and you have no idea where they are. I get that some people may be into that sort of thing, but frankly I found it to be stressful and frustrating at best.
The controls are janky as all hell. You aim your gun by clicking the joystick you move with. So you either aim by accident or move while you're trying to aim. There are no sights on your guns either. So you basically shoot from the hip even if you aim.
Apparently you have psychic powers but using them is usually the result of pressing the wrong button thus using up the psychic powers and not having them available when you need them. I kept pressing the button that usually used for aiming (in EVERY OTHER FPS) only to find out that I've used up my psychic powers and now I can't hack that gun turret that's shooting me in the back.
They gaming itself was so shallow that I didn't even care about the story. So don't ask.
So I know a lot of people might read this and say that I suck at the game. In my opinion this game was just poorly designed. I played the first two Bioshocks. They were ok. They weren't great, but they were passable. This just pissed me off. I'm sure if this game came out 15 years ago, or for that matter 10 years ago, it'd be a great game and a classic at that. This was just a stressful heap of garbage. | video-games_xbox |
Fails To "Evolve. You would think that with the 128-bit era of Xbox, PS2 and Gamecube that we should be reaching the peak of Gameplay, but as of recently what were getting instead are games that, granted, amazing looking but someone forgot something: the game. To be honest I shouldnt have necessarily been thinking Turok would be a great game. The first two Turoks for the Nintendo 64 were well done, but far from perfect, and Turok 3 basically [wasn't good]. So the track record was far from perfect, but still there was no crime in wishingI suppose. But ultimately Turok is a bad way to start off the fall, its one of those big name, big budget games that looks promising, but ends up falling way too short.
For fans of the original series, youll find your typical Turok gameplay has remained unchanged, from the Tek Arrows to scaling vines and the terribly out of place platform jumping areas. Now this style worked for the Nintendo 64, but Acclaim should try evolving soon to join the rest of us in the new millennium. The biggest problem here is that the shooting just isn't fun period. Blasting lizard men, baboons and dinosaurs gets about as fun as stacking blocks in Tetris, its all the same. The weapons have been seriously downsized from the other Turoks, theres maybe about 10 weapons to choose from and all of the classic military weapons have been ditched, theres one machine gun, and the shotgun and pistol completely [aren't good] so you won't even use them. There are still the bows and arrows, axe and your space age weaponry that amazingly rips the space/time continuum in half or something, but cant kill the powerful enemies, if you're into that kind of stuff. I prefer guns and lots of them.
In fact the only new element to the Turok series is the flight levels where you hunter rides a giant winged dinosaur and blasts everything in sight. I would maybe applaud it if it had been before Panzer Dragoon, Star Wars: Rogue Squadron and Sky Gunner. I bought a FPS damn it, I don't want to fly, I want to shoot, and the problem here is 25% of the game is flying! Again, this is the only new feature in Turok; this is the exact same game youve been playing since 1997.
The more and more I played Turok hoping hood things would result, the more I was disappointed. Acclaim promised genius enemy and partner A.I. and instead we have the biggest group of idiots in the world. Even on the back of the box they claim enemies take cover and establish strategic positions. Well a perfect example of this was when I shot at an enemy he ran in circles numerous times then dropped his gun and ran away, I guess he figured if there wasn't a hiding place within 3 feet hes doomed. Another enemy who heard my gun shot started climbing up a ledge making him the easiest target in the world. Im not military mastermind but isn't it a little dumb to climb something when someones shooting, a place that offers no cover and manoeuvrability?
And when you finally do get allied soldiers, they try to be like Halos marines, but instead their most brilliant move is to run straight at an enemy and wait until they're in two feet to begin firing. In fact this is the worst A.I. Ive seen in a long time, these enemies need to go back to kindergarten to learn basic movement like run when someones shooting and maybe also learn not to drop their weapons and flee like so many enemies do here.
Turok is the first flop of the season and is going to fall off your top games to try list like the leaves of fall. Its something that couldve been great could have utilized technology. Also funny is the aging gameplay system despite the games title Evolution perhaps they should check the dictionary. It would be in best interest of first person shooters everywhere if Turok would go extinct. | video-games_xbox |
Fun, fun, fun 'til Daddy takes the TNT-bird away. While I am not a racing purist, I enjoy the playing most racing games on the Xbox and PS2 and, as of just over a week after this product launched, I am 87% of the way through this game (I've completed the game, but have yet to "perfect" every race).
This game features a beautiful new remake of the graphics engine specifically for the Xbox 360 and 10 more crash junctions than Burnout Revenge for the original Xbox console, but a graphics handful of additional single-player levels is not the reason to buy this game. EA has added some serious "Next Gen" features to this version of Burnout Revenge, including "Live Revenge" and "Save and Share." The former keeps track of all of the players that take you out online. When you meet up with one of these rivals again, they'll be highlighted just before you begin a race with them. Likewise, if you've taken out someone who is in the current race, you'll see that they're "gunning for you." This significantly ups the ante for playing online and creates an incredible adrenaline rush as you must either dodge an attempt for payback or seek out your arch enemies for revenge. Likewise, the Save and Share feature allows you to record up to 30 seconds of your single-player races and forward them to the people on your Xbox Live friends list. These friends can download and watch the clips while they have the Burnout Revenge disc in their 360.
But when it comes right down to it, Burnout Revenge is all about destruction. EA has improved all of the facets of what makes the "Burnout" series so exciting, and pumped it into a great title for the Xbox 360. This isn't just a "better" version of Burnout Revenge for the original Xbox, this is a title designed for the best gaming platform currently available. If you already own the original Xbox title, you might buy this version if you really enjoy playing online (because of the new "Live Revenge" feature), or want to send clips of your biggest and baddest crashes to other 360 users.
The average racer will spend about 25 hours just completing all of the races. But to earn all of the achievements, you'll be playing much longer. You must earn a 5-star rating on each and every race to obtain 100% completion, and a number of achievements require that you perfect each category of race. Also, there are almost a dozen achievements (245 of the 1000 gamerscore) that can only be earned online.
Finally, there are 79 cars to unlock, which can be earned by obtaining a medal in certain races, performing "signature" takedowns in different parts of each map, and completing the challenge sheet of each level.
In short, this game will keep you busy! The variety of racing, crashes and traffic attack modes provide much more entertainment value than a normal racing title and the incredible work put into the 360-exclusive features make Burnout Revenge an excellent game to add to your "Next Gen" collection. | video-games_xbox |
Not a AAA game. And that's OK. I see a lot of unwarranted negative reviews for this game, which troubles me since, by and large, I've had a lot of fun with this game. Some people out there apparently have sky-high expectations for new games, and expect every one to have the polish of a Grand Theft Auto V, Far Cry 3 or Batman Arkham. But not all games have mega-million development budgets, and they have to make do with fewer resources to present an engaging game experience for players.
If you're a Spidey fan, Amazing Spiderman 2 pulls that off.
Regardless of what others say, this game has many of the same mechanics of the first game -- and a few major improvements (so if you liked that game, you'll likely like the new one more.) The big improvement is that web slinging must now attach to a building (instead of thin air), which makes web slinging through the city 10 times more fun than before. It's a web mechanic we haven't seen since 2004's Spiderman 2 on the PS2, a game that many remember fondly as the peak of Spiderman gaming (but which actually is an pixelated mess and almost unplayable now -- I recently popped it in a PS2 and was shocked by how bad it looked.)
The combat mechanics are similar to Arkham; though not as good as Arkham, the Spidey animations look good. The main missions are repetitive and nowhere near as engaging as bigger-budget games -- a lot of missions are built around a stealth mechanic that at least makes game play interesting. The bosses are OK, but not show-stoppers.
All the collectibles that you liked in the first game are back, and as fun to collect as ever.
My only real beef with the game is the Hero/Menace system, which basically requires you to do a lot of busy work to take care of six different kinds of crimes/emergencies to maintain a Hero rating. If your rating dips too far down, which happens fairly quickly, you become a Menace, and a crime task force begins hunting you down and erecting electrical barriers into your web swinging path. While I've enjoyed playing through these side missions, I've had my fill and merely want to swing around the city, having fun and collecting those 400 comic books. But the Hero/Menace system means I'm constantly being hassled. (Hey Beenox, if you're listening, send us a patch that gives us a way to turn this sucker off!)
All in all, though, I've had a blast with this game. Like I said, it's not a AAA game - and it was priced as such. Most paid $40 or $50 for this game brand new -- and many received two free movie passes to the Spiderman movie. With those passes, my cost for the new game went down to $35. That's a heck of a lot less than I paid for the last Arkham game and GTA5. And worth every penny! | video-games_xbox |
Was Expecting so Much More. I was really excited when I got this game. The Sims 2 port for PS2 was terrible. I love Bustin' Out, so I thought that the ported games were finally getting back to the good stuff. I was wrong.
I think the problem with this game is that there's almost too much to do. While the new features for socializing and visiting the town are nice and all, I never really got into it because of the other "demands" the game makes on your time. By the time you go to work, skill build, and come home, there's no time to go out and do anything. After a while, it just becomes super repetitive and yucky. I played the game for many hours, and I left feeling like I accomplished nothing, with no sense of satisfaction whatsoever...
The loading times are abysmal. Want to check on your at work? Load screen. Want to do anything that is outside of your house? Load screen. Want to save? Looooong load screen. I felt like I watched the game load more than I played it after a while. The controls also leave MUCH to be desired and are extremely counter-intuitive. Initially, I started a family with three people, and the controls to toggle back and forth between more than two Sims were so irritating that I deleted my family and went back to two people.
Additionally, there were other really big deal breakers for me. I hated that you could only have one family per save file... I didn't like feeling boxed into one household. I hated that you couldn't buy practically anything for your house, or you would get the "overload" glitch and things would randomly start deleting themselves... I mean, isn't the point of the sims to be able to buy a huge house and put a bunch of stuff in it? I bought one of the bigger houses. I didn't even do anything ridiculous. I just tried to remodel the kitchen by replacing the fixtures. I got the overload glitch... I got disgusted feeling like I couldn't do anything creative, or the game would freak out.
I also noticed random glitches with saving your game. I think the problem might just be that there was too much of a rush to get this to a port. Some games should just be played on a PC, and sadly, because of some of the technical problems present, I think The Sims 3 is just one of those games. | video-games_xbox |
Dante's Inferno... Worth a shot. Dante's Inferno is a twisted game published by Electronic Arts and developed by Visceral Games. This game is loosely (very loosely) inspired by the first part of Dante Alighieri's Divine Comedy. The story follows the main character Dante as he descends into the pits of hell to save his beloved Beatrice. Dante fights his way through all 9 circles of hell in his quest to save her.
Circle of Art
Wow. If you are squeamish or take offense at things easily this is not the game for you. The developers at Visceral Games did not pull any punches when bringing the creations talked about in the Divine Comedy to life. You have everything from breasts with tongues popping out of the nipples to infants with blades for arms. Each circle of hell has a disicint look and feel. The creators really do a great job of making you feel like you are a small piece of a gigantic world. You also really get the feeling you are descending deeper and deeper into hell.
Circle of Difficulty
This game has four difficulty settings. Three are available from the start with the forth unlocked after completing the game once. This is my first complaint about the game. I play most games at the middle difficulty setting first to get a feel for the game. At the middle setting with Dante's Inferno, I was constantly frustrated with the length of the battles and the difficulty. So I quickly dropped the setting down the to easiest. Now the game is so easy my 9 month old could dominate. Everything takes about 2 hits to kill on easy. I mean I don't really even need two hands to play. So there really isn't a middle ground here and that is sad.
Circle of Frustration
Camera angles. 90 percent of the time they were great and helpful. The other 10 percent however, makes you want to chunk the control straight through the TV. There are several jumps I can think of that appear to be the most simple jump ever but I had to reply those areas probably 10-15 times because of the angle of the camera. On those parts, I never knew where the hell I was jumping to. When I did finally pass those areas I felt like it was luck not skill that allowed me to succeed.
Puzzles. I'm all for puzzles in a game. All for it. But when you are giving no direction as to how to solve a puzzle that just pisses me off. Most of the time I dreaded when a puzzle came up because I knew I was about to waste 20 minutes trying to figure out the location of some obscure lever I have to pull to start some other Rube Goldberg-like machine.
Save points. Are we really still doing this, game industry? Really? Why can't I save where ever the funk I want to? Why do I have to find some naked Beatrice statue in order to save? This has to stop. When I'm done playing, I just want to open up a menu, push save, and turn off the TV. Not keep playing for another 20 minutes, solving some dumb puzzle I don't care about. The more frustrating part is most of the time you can actually see the save but can't get to it yet. It's like you are in your own circle of hell.
Circle of Lopping off Limbs and Blasting the Faces Off Enemies With a Cross
The fighting mechanic overall is excellent. One button controls your scythe and one controls your cross (distance weapon). The triggers and bumpers serve basically as modifiers and blocking/ countering buttons. This works really well and makes the combat feel really solid and tight. Unfortunately, like I mentioned, the difficultly comes into play here. On easy you can't really get a good combo meter going because the enemies are weak. On medium you can't get one going because you get knocked down too easily.
Circle of How Long is This Game
The overall play time for me to complete one run through was about 8 and a half hours, which is respectable for a hack and slash type of game.
I would be remiss if I didn't mention the likeness to the God of War series. I don't see this as a bad thing at all. The God of War series is epic and renown and until now no one has come close to matching the game play found there. I think this game is a great ramp up game for God of War III coming out in just a few weeks.
Verdict
Overall, this is a solid game. Not a must play, but an enjoyable ride all the way through despite its many short comings.
Oh and Lucifer looks AMAZING.
[...]. | video-games_xbox |
Not Bad, But THQ Needs More Improvements. I haven't purchased a wrestling game since the the first WWF Day of Wreckoning for the Gamecube, and before that I used to play all of the THQ wrestling games for the Nintendo 64. I'm reviewing this game based on personal experiences while playing the game.
When I first received WWE Smackdown Vs Raw 2010 in the mail I was quite excited from all the videos I'd seen on youtube and reviews i'd read about how in depth the Create-A-Wrestler (CAW) system is. In fact i'll start with the CAW system.
Create A Wrestler System
When I first entered the CAW screen I felt overwhelmed with all the options I was confronted with. Sizings, logos, types of body part adjustments and accessories. After about 15 minutes of messing around it wasn't very difficult at all though, it was the typical THQ CAW mode. It's very limiting in a few areas. You can't choose your body size, your height affects your weight (weight class) for instance. You can pick your body TYPE but they don't offer many. Like if you wanted to make an authentic Yokozuma for instance, this system won't allow you to. All the "fat" characters you try to make, end up looking very husky yet powerfully strong. Very disappointing I must say. Also you can't make a very round face, if anyone of you have a very circular face, you won't be able to make yourself to the "T" in this game. Also the forehead adjustment actually adjusts the scalp. So everyone you make's forehead will always have the same area of space. The only setting I noticed that affected the actual forehead was the depth setting. There is a problem with cheeks as well, I was trying to make someone with puffy cheeks, it's not gonna happen in this game. They only go so big, and once again, you always end up looking muscley. If I went in depth about the restrictions of the CAW system this review would be several pages long, so I won't go that in depth. Overall I give it a 3 out of 5, it's pretty authentic, you can get people to look pretty close to like they do, but there is always that one thing that you are trying to fix but can never get right to make it just perfect.
Entrance Music, Titantrons, Announcements,Etc..
This is awesome, you can use the music you saved on your console hard drive and use it for your own custom entrance theme! I really REALLY like that feature. I always hated having my character coming down the ramp to stone cold or the rocks entrance. The actual superstar wrestlers music is totally authentic and very high quality, there is no crackling or static. Fireworks sound very good as well. And the announcements are very VERY authentic sounding. You can select from a variable cornucopia of city's and states to set as your characters hometown, and besides the superstars names, you can pick about 20 or so other names to be called when you enter the arena (ex. The superstar, The disaster, etc..). So you'll hear the name you select to be called, your hometown/state, if you're holding a championship title, all that sort of stuff you'd hear on a real wrestling tv show, like the type of match and rules as well. Also the ring & surrounding area will be set up for the match you're pursuing. The actual superstars have their own authentic titantron just like on TV, it's the same exact ones they have when they wrestle on TV, no animation, pure video. You can make custom videos for your CAW as well, utilizing the highlight reel. After every match you have the option to watch certain highlights, you can save them and use the create a highlight reel to make a custom video that you can later use to make an entrance video. Which is pretty cool if you ask me. However the only problem i've encountered is that you cannot edit in any way shape or form, downloaded CAW from the XBOX Live network, even entrances or music, which stinks!! Like I have Bret "The Hitman" Hart, and cannot use his actual entrance music that I have on my PC because the game bars you from selecting them in the Create an Entrance Video screen, you'll just hear a bonging sound if you try to select them. Very disappointing indeed. The entrances are really cool though, you can customize from a HUGE variety of movements, camera angles, lighting, effects, and fireworks. It's very customizable, of course you cannot make your own entrance movements etc, but there are so many to choose from you really don't need to. You can also choose 4 signs the crowd will hold for you as you wrestle, they are pre-made, there are LOTS of them, some are locked at first too.
Crowd.
Crowd is absolutely phenominal, the first 3D crowd i've ever seen. They hold signs YOU pick for your character. Up close they look like crap, but when you wrestle or when the camera angle changes to show the entire colluseum, it really looks amazing. They'll snap pictures and flash at just the right time, during finishers/signature moves etc. They chant so many things, they boo, they cheer, they get excited when you do certain things. The crowd, is the best i've seen in any game, ever.
Ring, Props, Wrestlers.
The ring looks very authentic, customized of course to the arena you're battling in. If you're playing a TLC match or cage match for instance, during your entrance you'll see all the props in place as you would on TV. The wrestlers look very authentic, as do the finishers. The finishing moves do a slow-motion, black and white, crowd camera flashing thing that looks just EPIC, very cool, will make the hair on the back of your neck stand up it's just awesome. Everything looks really good, graphical wise this game gets a 8/10. And it gets an 8 because with all the technology the developers have now a days, they could of done some more things to make it look as good as say, fable 2 or assassins creed 2.
Playing The Actual Game.
Gameplay and controls are pretty straight foward once you get used to them. Took me about 30 minutes of playing to become accustomed to the Type A default control setting, although there are a few to choose from. There are many matches to choose from, every type of match that is available in the WWE is presented well in this game. Now with that said, it doesn't mean the gameplay is the best ever made. There are many glitches, unfair situations, and AI trouble with this game. In fact, i'd have to say it's probably the most frustratin wrestling game i've ever played. The N64 versions were actually much more fair and realistic, sadly. For instance you cant put your opponent onto a table in the table match, you have to use a predetermined finisher for the table, it's usually a lame finisher as well. If you toss your opponent onto the announcer tables, it doesn't mean he/she will remain on it. The characters get pushed around on the tables like it's some sort of ice skating rink. For instance if you do a grapple on the table, the characters will slide and might fall off the table. In my opinion, the table should be an area that you can fight in without worrying about going to the edge and just floating off, I mean game makers can do so much in this new era we're in, yet THQ and Jakks pacific cannot get their wrestling games right after making them for WELL over 10 years. The gameplay is either too hard, or too easy, there is no in between, even with all the balancing tweaks they offer in the game options. The career mode, is extremely frustrating, for instance, I was playing for the past 4 days and had my character overall to around 70, for some reason I logged on today and he was back down to 45, I always save and never turn the system off during gameplay. Stuff like that will upset you during the gameplay. Also the ladder matches are extremely unfair, another instance where I was just playing Rey Mysterio about 10 minutes ago. A 20 minute ladder match ended with me losing, after giving Rey 4 finishers (including his own), numerous KO hits to his face with the ladder, and even interference finishers. How did he win you wonder? Well in the ladder matches in this game, when you hit top, you hold the LS or RS button up to reach, a red suitcase appears and as you hold the suitcase image will deplete red and turn black, obviously showing you how much further you have, it would take about 1 minute or so of continuous holding to reach and win. I had it down to the very bottom, maybe another second when Rey reached the top of the ladder and fought me, he tossed me off, reached up for a second and won. Yes so it doesn't matter who reaches, the suitcase reach status image will deplete and stay at it's percentage drained no matter if it's you or your opponent reaching. So you can get it all the way down, then he can climb up for a microsecond and win, really unfair, and kinda stupid I must say. The glitches are just numerous, I mean you have to wonder, did the developers test the game before they released it? It's a really shotty display of finalizing a game, either that or just pure laziness. The wrestlers AI is horrid, they are totally overpowered, they will reverse so much during career mode it's not even funny. I don't think i've gotten a strong grapple move off during career mode yet, it's really lame. And my settings are on difficulty normal, and i've had to lower the AI reversal rate because it was getting too ridiculous, long store short i lowered it down to about 15% in all AI reversal areas, and they still reverse just about every strong grapple. Also the road to wrestlemania really blows. You have to choose either a CAW or something like 4 or 5 current wrestlers that the game tells you to. So you can choose from like Edge, Ortiz, etc. Really lame, i'm an old school wrestling fan, I don't like some of these guys, I never liked edge to begin with, am I supposed to like him now because he is the Champion? Hell no I wanna choose Rock, or Stone Cold (which by the way you have to buy Stone Cold in the online store for 80 microsoft points because these theives didn't include him with the basic game unless you pre-ordered it, which then you get a one time use code to enter to get stone cold). I haven't played any online matches so I cannot comment on that portion of the game. I'm assuming it'd be pretty cool playing with someone across the country/world as a tagteam or one on one. Sounds awesome!
Overall i'll give this game 3/5 stars. THQ has been on the right track for years, they ALWAYS lack the final push when they make their games though. They always forget to include those 1 or 2 cool things that will put the game over the edge. In this case they must of forgot to test the game because of the huge variety of bugs that are in the game. I mean hell offer an update or something to fix the game, I haven't seen one yet. If you're still wondering if you should buy this or not, first, look at the date, if it's close to 2011 just wait, a new one will come out, maybe they will fix some of the stuff. 2, if you really cant decide, just get it, it's like $29.99 now, plus with amazon's free super saver shipping it will be $29.99 total cost. Hope this helped, I've had this game for 4 days roughly and can honestly say i'm glad I bought it. I look forward to playing it, but after about 45 min or an hour each session I usually get pissed lol because the AI isn't as good as it could be, like I said earlier, the AI is too overpowered.
EDIT 5/22/2010:
Found this link for SVR 2011, Maybe this time they'll get it right, we'll have to wait and see([...]). | video-games_xbox |
It has Giant Enemy Spiders. Earth Defense Force 2017 is actually the third in a series by the name of Chikyuu Boueigun. I'm guessing that EDF was labeled/numbered 2017 in the US to avoid any confusion, being that it's the first of the series to see the light of day stateside. With that being said, EDF is really one of it's kind. The game's practically a homage to bad sci-fi horror films from the 1960s. It contains all of the qualifications of a grade B sci-fi flick. Over the top storyline, bad acting (obviously deliberate), breathtaking monsters (Giant Enemy Spiders and Ants!) and cliched heroes.
Why is EDF such a good game you ask? The game is just so darn fun. EDF 2017 spands over fifty stages and with these stages lies nonstop shooting action. There will rarely be a moment when you find yourself scurring to find an enemy. You aren't bound to the limitations as you would be in other third-person shooters, because in EDF, you can start a mission with any two weapons in your weapon inventory of your choosing. Weapons you discover in later stages and difficulty settings are kept in your inventory forever for any stage you so desire. You're practically able to play the game any way you'd wish. You can also choose to use vehicles (during stages) as well. Granted that the mission has any looming around.
There's a good variety of enemeies and EDF doesn't hesistate to overwhelm you with them. Most instances, you and your allies will be surrounded by monsters from all angles. Truth be told, there is some occasional slowdown, noticably with excess enemies on screen at once.
To make a long story short, EDF is just an all around fun (and hilarious) game. It's the perfect game to play after a long evening to burn off steam and doesn't require a big learning curve. So you can have a friend tag along and be playing alongside you in no time. It's a just a shame that EDF didn't ship with any form of online multiplayer component (could have been magnificent). However, the funfactor here is just too grand to pass up. If you're looking for a pleasuring non-highprofile title that doesn't try to take itself too seriously, then EDF is where you'll want to be. It's a game in which everyone can play and enjoy and sells at a low retail price (that practically everyone can afford). A refreshing breath of fresh air. | video-games_xbox |
A very nice game with a few things to address. First thing this a very good deal if you buy it from amazon at about $29 us. Second this game has some annoying issues. The first and most odvious bug is the save system since the game only offers one save slot during the entire game and no checkpoints or quick save available. This can be very frustrating cause it is a time-based game, and if you take much time doing any sccop mission or just wandering around killing zombies, and just cant get to the next main case file on time this means you have to start the game over. Eventhough you can always choose to continue playing, the main case files to be resolved will be lost so you can still keep playing around doing scoops and chopping zombies but without any sense in my point of view. Also, the aiming system for fire waepons is very poor. So just consider this inst into the shooter genre but rather into the action adventure. However not everything is wrong with this game since it is extremely fun and addicting. The stupid puzzles from the RE and other capcom series have been taken out which is great. Therefore what the final result is that this is an entire action aventure game with neither any puzzle solving nor really horror sequences. This game is rather a bit disturbing with a lot of blood, gore blended with humor and some dismenbering. The graphics for this game are quite good and next gen, though it is nothing you haven't seen before. The computer controlled AI of the game is quite decent when it has to do when the zombies and even the bosses, however is horrible with the mall survivors which you can often choose to save to gain PP(Prestige Points) for more skills. At the end and despite the issues that can be encountered during the game, this game offers a good deal of replay since everytime you choose save and quit, your current staus will be saved so when you start the game over Frank will be more skillful. I would recommend this game to buy for anyone who has enjoyed the RE series or action adventure series. Trust me this game despite being silly at times is tons of fun. Great purchase for me......it came from amazon in exellent condition and totally sealed and new. | video-games_xbox |
I'm all about the Legends, and this game is loaded. I'll keep this short and sweet
For years I would have told all my friends, the only 2k you'll ever need is NBA 2k12 or maybe 2k13. I think those were the best sports game ever made in video game history. Well, the greats will eventually fall, and we had them fall this year. 2k16 is the most amazing sports game on the planet. If you're on the fence or haven't played b'ball in awhile, I'd say pick this game up now, especially if you like nostalgic.
I don't know why people are complaing so much ,I see they are saying they can't get into some modes. I understand their pain, but I also understand this game has millions of players trying to get online at once, so give the modes some time, they will tweak and patch hopefully!
I've been playing this series since it started on the Dreamcast. It's had it's ups and down and I'm all about Legends, and if you love Legends, you NEED To buy this game. 2k11 introduced the Legends, it was pretty bare boned on that game, you basically only had the starters. A the game progressed over the years, the Legends grew. 2k12 was loaded, had Chris Webber on the Kings and you had Golden State with Richmond! While we don't have the Kings or GSW from the 90's this year, what we do have are some fine additions from the 90's and 2000's era! Mavericks, Warriors, Raptors, Timberwolves, Celtics, Pistons, etc...
It has all Legends you could want (for the most part) and you can waste your life away playing with just these teams alone . They added 14 new legends teams (many from the 90's and 2000's) which is a nice addition. Kareem is back on the Lakers with his goggles of glory, hook shot and all, Dr. J in tact, Jordan of course, Bird, Nick Van Exel on the 90's Lakers, Rick Fox, Isaiah Rider, and many players that were missing on past 2k games, are here. The legends were a bit neglected in the past games specially in 2k15. Jordan didn't even resemble himself in 2k15, let alone 2k14, their faces and even their signature shots seemed to have disappeared! But the problems with the legends has been addressed in 2k16 and for the most part, (MOST look great). Larry Bird's crazy hair has finally been fixed..
2k16 is all about personality, you'll notice the differences with every team you pick up and play with. You'll notice the subtle details and differences of a 1986 Jordan compared to his moves and style from when he played in 1998. The gameplay has been tweaked, and while it took me about a day to get the controls down, I like what they did, and this game is the most realistic basketball game on the planet. If you like depth, and realism, look no further.
Presentation is back in order, got a good sountrack, decent halftime and post game stuff and signature highlights of the players is back. The game modes are loaded up and there's plenty to do in this game. But if you're like me, you'll have no problems keeping busy with all the offerings. | video-games_xbox |
Good hockey just got Great. IT'S ONLY $20!
Last years 2k4 took great steps to incorporate real hockey presentation with smooth game play. The effort was more than noteworthy but something was lacking. This year the 2k series seems to have picked up steam and has made necessary changes while adding new features that make this game more than enjoyable.
IT'S ONLY $20!
First off, for the causal hockey fan, this game does everything it can to keep things simple. You have your speed burst, poke check, shoot, slap shot, and check buttons when playing. The difficulty has been started of at almost too easy but never worry, there are many settings you can tweak to adjust to your level of play.
IT'S ONLY $20!
The advance users can use a more advanced control scheme. From pinning your opponent to the boards, catching air borne pucks, dumping the puck - you name it, this game's got it. You can even switch to a player not controlling the puck and call for the pass!
IT'S ONLY $20!
Game play this year seems the same pace it was last year with only a few gripes to voice. First the face off animations are awesome but right after dropping the puck the game seems to move in slow motion for second - and not on purpose. Goalie animations are mediocre at best. Come on, butterfly means putting your pads where u can see the whole face, not at an angle. Either motion capture is in experienced or animation department is a little off. Either way, there are just not enough save animations for the netminders. Other than these two nit-picks, the game is smooth as butter, or cream, or your favorite drink...you get the picture. Player animations are awesome, fighting is a lot more realistic with the new fighting engine, and scoring goals top-shelf never felt better.
IT'S ONLY $20!
Modes of play have changed allowing users to participate in mini party games which are just a blast! Exhibition, Franchise -which now has minor league teams with scouting, Tournament, Quick Game, and Live play will also keep you glued to your TV for hours. Even if you don't feel like playing any games there is always the more than welcome Skills Competition.
So hey - if you ever buy just one hockey game this year or any year please make it ESPN NHL 2K5. After all it's just twenty dollars. That's it. And, at this price tag, it's more than a steal - but don't feel guilty, this game just rocks.
P.S. I pray for the NHL season this year. They better come to an agreement. I NEED my hockey. | video-games_xbox |
Review of the Tekken 6 Stick. A couple of months ago I made the poor decision of buying 2 Tekken 6 bundles (one for each console) so that I'd have a cheap stick for a tournament. I realized fairly quickly that this was a bad decision. The stick is (of course) made of knock off parts, no real Sanwa here. That being said these parts are ESPECIALLY low quality. My 360 stick's buttons are actually feeling sticky (despite nothing ever having been spilled on it) and my PS3 stick feels like it's been worn out (it's super loose). These parts seem to break fast. Then comes the battery usage. In two months these things have eaten through 36 AA batteries, I wish I was joking. The PS3 stick is a bit better on battery than the 360 stick for some reason, but it has much worse wireless reception. Both sticks use 2.4 GHz wireless, which is standard for Xbox 360. However, PS3 natively uses bluetooth, so the PS3 stick connects via USB dongle. This isn't too big of a problem from less than 5 feet away, but anything more than that you pretty much need to be line of sight or the stick will not respond. Playing across the room with some game cases in front of the dongle I actually lost a match because halfway through a combo my stick stopped responding. I did my research to see if anything could be done about replacing the parts and it turns out that you can't even mod this thing without some significant work. The buttons are soldered onto the PCB and have to be desoldered to be removed. Sanwa buttons will not fit in their place unless you use a dremel to sand off some plastic tabs. Even once the buttons are made to fit the holes in the PCB are too small, so you would have to drill into the PCB to make the holes wider. Once the new buttons are in you can try to replace the stick, but that of course requires you to cut and sand down the case in a few places to make it fit properly. If you want an entry level stick you should either mod a MadCatz Street Fighter IV SE stick (if you can find one) or buying the new MadCatz Brawl Stick. The Brawl Stick is just as easy to mod as the SE fight stick (Sanwa parts are literally just drop in replacements with no soldering required) but the stock parts have been improved (you may even be able to tolerate them). If you have to have the best stick I'd just get the MadCatz TE stick, with Sanwa parts built in it's miles ahead of this piece of crap. | video-games_xbox |
The Best Game of the Year. OVERVIEW: Great gameplay. There are new enemies, a whole new set of maps, dual-wield, and new challenges to face in this game. It's not a redux of the old game by much. The storyline is much more complex than the first Halo, especially in exploring cataclysmic events taking place in the Covenant Hierarchy. And there are long cutscenes developing these stories, as well as sidestories of human characters other than the Chief.
X-Box live is full of people and plenty of action if you like that sort of thing. It seems pretty good at matching players to skill levels. As in the first Halo you can do system linkage. BUT, I got a second X-Box, hoping to play the awesome campaign mode on a separate screen with my pal, only to find out that campaign mode can only be played on a single X-Box, split screen only. I find that incomprehensibly dumb. How much effort did they put into designing a wonderful, awesome, incredible campaign mode, only to skimp on the multiplayer aspect? Hey Bungie -- please fix that in Halo3 ok?
COMBAT:
Swordplay is a skill in its own. If your target is close, you can use the right trigger to make a lunge attack. This can even allow fantastic changes in direction in midair (including straight up), but watch out, it could also send you right over a ledge. Still, it's VERY gratifying to take out four elites in close quarters.
Hunters were a joke in the first Halo. One magnum bullet in the back would kill them. This time they're not easy. And if you thought the Covenant Elites were bad, there are new, deadlier variants in this game. But then there's Brutes..
VEHICLES:
Covenant vehicles now get a boost of speed with the left trigger. There's a few new vehicles, and now you can drive just about every vehicle you encounter, like the Covenant tank. There's new dropships -- as ever, you cannot fly a dropship.
All vehicles take damage -- you can shoot the turrets off of a dropship if you have heavy weapons -- amd damage shows physically rather than with a damage meter.
The Banshee no longer hovers. Try to stand still, and you sink. Also, the more damage it takes, the faster it will sink if you try to hover. You're supposed to barrel roll and flip, however, which keeps you aloft and HELPS you dodge and strafe. GREAT!
Halo 2 is definitely a faster paced game that asks you to rely on the skills you earned in the first game, while learning new ones. I'd recommend it to anyone in search of a sustained adrenaline rush. | video-games_xbox |
an expected combination of MW2 and Black Ops. There are many things you should consider before buying this game, and there are also many things that will impact how well you enjoy this game.
First off this game is not anything new to the COD franchise. For the most part you can think of it as a MW2 expansion.
What's different? Well I believe Infinity Ward, and Sledgehammer Games took all the negative feedback from both MW2, and Black OPS, and tried to "fix" them in this game.
~Changes
- Quickscoping returns (sniper favorite)
- Grenade Launchers, and Rocket Launchers are SEVERELY reduced in damage from MW2
- No end game killsteaks "nuke"
- Smaller "less open" Maps
- No Stopping Power - Lightweight - or Danger Close (no more running around super fast knifing everyone)
- More Balanced killsteaks (yet they still messed up read further)
- Added in "Survival Mode" like Black Ops Zombies but much less enjoyable.
- New Killsteaks split into Assault, Support, and Specialist)
- Gun level up feature
- theater mode (like black ops)
~POSITIVES
-fast, fluid 60FPS Gameplay
-Snipers are perfected (if you liked sniping in any cod, you'll like this game)
-Instant matchmaking, and fairly good connections. (not much lag)
-Some of the killsteaks are very fun (juggernaunt, osprey gunners, reapers, assault drones)
-Survival Mode is fun for a while, and enjoyable with a friend
-Cheaters/Boosters are being dealt with, so no more boosting lobbys.
~Negatives
-Not very much "new content" you'll feel like you are playing MW2 all over again
-Campaign feels exactly the same as Modern Warfare 2. I've played a few levels, and was bored.
-Unbalanced weapons (some weapons and classes are overpowered compared to other weapons, Type 95, PP90M1, Striker)
-Feels like MW2 and Black Ops, so it lacks replayability if you've already played previous cods.
and what I dislike the most ->
-Support Killstreaks was a HORRIBLE idea, your killsteak doesn't reset when you die so even the worst players will be calling in uav's, and stealth bombers every game killing you over, and over, and over...
~FUN
This is where it'll vary from player to player. If you are GOOD at COD you will definitely enjoy this game more than someone who isn't very good. If you are not good at first person shooters, you will likely hate this game.
Also, keep in mind this game is almost an exact copy of MW2 with parts of Black OPS included, if you liked those games, you'll likely end up enjoying this one as well.
~Pro Tip (for anyone seeking an early advantage)
Use Hardline PRO (killsteaks require 1 less death, and every 2 assists = kill)
Then use assault strike package - UAV, Care Package, Predator Missile
You will be gettting a killsteak every 2 kills, 3 kills, 4 kills, and then it will repeat at 6kills, 7 kills, 8 kills, and so on. Easiest way to keep a UAV up on your team at all times.
~Final Review
MW3 isn't much different from MW2. If you still think MW2 is fun, then this game is for you. If you lost interest, or you are a bit tired of MW2, or Black OPS, or just not good at shooters, then stay away from MW3. it's not anything different, more of an expansion pack than anything. (think of how Halo: ODST was to Halo 3) | video-games_xbox |
Total Garbage. I need to start in on the AI. It is s%$#. They have weakened it so that zones are useless and all the defensive players meet at the center of the court for tea and completely forget to play defense. Defensive players do not understand the concept of jumping when an offensive shot is put up. (I guess the AI doesn't like its contract??!!)
Dribbling the ball is like trying to find higgs-boson (look it up). It almost doesn't exist. The basketball is basically a greased pig on this version and good luck holding on to it.
Passing is unbelievably slow and stupid. Why stupid? What player you know, even a 5 year old, can't throw the ball "up"? Players actually throw the ball straight ahead as if other players don't exist. If a pass is tipped or stolen, offensive players forget what sport they are in and think they can't pick up the ball or run down to recover on defense. Fast breaks galore.
If you try to steal it looks like your player is trying to do the harlem shake and he has to move 10 feet in 1 direction if you even look at the steal button the wrong way.
The game should have been called NBA 2k3pointshotLebronWantsYouToThinkThatBasketballIsSomeEpicGladatorialSport4. It isn't. The stupid intro of him needing a shower is utterly stupid and who cares really?! I want to play a game not hear you whine about how hard it is for you to make millions a year. Boo hoo, I didn't go to college but I can buy an island because I am like 7 feet tall. Douche.
The 3 point shot has been reinstated as the layup shot for this game. 75% of the points you MUST score to win will be 3 point shots. Believe me, they are easy to hit. As a matter of fact, about 99% of 3 pointers, even contested, will go in. The one that does miss, the ref will stop the game and check the game ball to see if there is "something wrong with it".
There are small, very small, good things about the game. Player movements and interactions are very realistic. Not robotic and weird like previous versions. But that does not make up for the 3pointapalooza this f#^%fest is.
This game is, literally, a trip to hell and back......then you have to go to work when you get back....and your job is nailing a train spike through your own skull!
Be warned! Playing this game can lead to throwing your 360 out of the window. So nail them shut before you play so you won't have to buy a new machine. | video-games_xbox |
FOR SUPERSTAR MODE PLAYERS. I'll get right to it
CONS IN SUPERSTAR MODE
-as a linebacker i am going to be rated around a 90 in my first year and i only have 15 tackles
-i will be a 99 by the middle of my 2nd year (if not the end of the first year) and will have less than 25 tackles for my whole career. not much comes my way (and im on the packers) so i cannot get many tackles
-the way you gain points for your player is ridiculous. you get points based on what the whole team accomplishes during the game. i once got 72 points for making it back to the line of scrimmage a bunch of times in a game. that is stupid. games in which i barely win or goes to overtime i get well over 300 points. in games i dominate and win big i get around 150 points. that is stupid. im convinced the people that make these games don't know much about sports.
-as a WR you don't have to catch the ball. you just have to run and when the ball gets there 90% of the time the computer catches the ball for you. lame
-you're lucky if the instant replay reel lets you watch a full clip of a 10 second QB sack
-WHEN SIMMING TO YOUR NEXT PLAY WITH YOUR SUPERSTAR ON THE FIELD THE COMPUTER DOESNT SCORE FOR YOUR TEAM!! right before halftime or near the end of the game the computer will just run and play and not kick the field goal before half or worse yet won't kick the field goal to WIN THE GAME!!! you will see your team get up to the 4 yard line and run plays and never kick a field goal to score points or win. happens all the time.
-you have to fight for control of your own player. if im supposed to blitz but know i cannot get past the lineman i will go to another spot but when the ball is snapped my player is forced in that initial blitz direction and throws me off for a second or two and ruins my momentum.
-kickoffs returned for touchdowns is still a little ridiculous. simming you might get one or more scored on you every other game. so even if your defense is good the computer will find a way to get you.
-every kicker can hit 50-55 yard field goals without fail. i have played about 20 games in SS mode and have maybe seen 1 missed field goal. just lost in overtime to a 50 yarder that cleared the goal post by a mile and was right down the middle. unreal. too unreal.
-its playable but flawed | video-games_xbox |
Relieved. As another reviewer mentioned, I was hesitant on buying this game. I was so excited for unity and I did play the whole story through however, it was not the best representation of the AC series at all. The developers were on to something as far as the mechanics and the spruced-up-look and movement of the characters in Unity goes. It all looked much more realistic then past AC games but as everyone knows the glitches were annoying and unplayable at times. Also the story itself was non captivating. After playing it through I never wanted to put the cd back in my console ever again because the entire idea of the franchise seemed played out and dull. So, naturally I was more than skeptic to buy syndicate. I actually decided that I would not purchase this game because I assumed that it would be a monotonous continuance of the previous pile of junk that was Unity. The only thing that changed my mind was my utter devotion to the series. I couldn't just walk away without giving it one more chance and I figured the industrial revolution would be a cool backdrop with amazing visuals if nothing else. Well, it is safe to say that the developers of AC are back on track. Is the story good? You bet your sweet ass it is! Are the characters lovable? Charismatic? Dangerous and just overall friggin cool!!? Yes to all of the above. The scenery is beautifully laid out and London is a massive playground with gorgeous buildings to scale. The new skill tree is awesome as well as the equipment upgrades though, maybe a bit sparse in the grand scheme of things. The line launcher is very useful and a welcome addition to the usual arsenal. I am genuinely hooked on this game which hasn't been the case since Black Flag or Brotherhood. The Jack the Ripper DLC looks pretty amazing as well and I can not wait for its release. Previous DLCs have proved to be a waste of money and time so I hope this one is different. It's also important to mention the ability to switch back and forth from Evie and Jacob. Both characters have special talents and neither one is more fun to play than the other in my opinion. I definitely suggest buying this game in if you are a fan of the franchise. It has improved on the shortcomings of Unity while staying true to the things we love about AC2, Brotherhood and Black Flag. Also forgot to mention AC Rogue. Remember this one? It kind of slipped under the radar because it released for 360/PS3 at the same time of Unity's release but it was definitely a decent addition to the line up. Playing as a Templar was a really nice change of pace. Anyway, AC Syndicate is cool and fun so give it a shot. | video-games_xbox |
Traveller's Tales must be stopped, no matter the cost. Authors note: My three star review was based on first impression, after completing a large portion of the game I would like to be able to change my review to two stars, but their system will not allow it.
When I saw the first released footage of this game my jaw dropped. The visuals looked incredible; ultimately the final product lived up to that hype in the graphics department, but fell short everywhere else. The problem is, once you get past the visuals and the overall feel the game creates of being a giant robot able to Transform. Once you get past that the entertainment value drops quickly and then, well then the game deludes into a repetitive nightmare that will haunt gamers. When it's good, it's ok. When it's bad, it's a bore and it's a lot of repetition that often requires luck and not skill to complete.
As with so many movie titles before it Transformers is throw away big screen to game adaptation. The problem is with movie games like Chronicles of Riddick the bar has been set a lot higher. With this game once the "wow" factors wears off you get past the very entertaining aspect of: running, climbing, bashing, transforming (worth two or three hours of bliss) once you get past all that there is a very medicore, linear game that is often redundant and often more annoying that challenging. While there is no difficulty selection, I found the game to be about normal. It's not that it was too difficult in spots, it's that the challenging points were not overall very fun. In fact when there is no skill or puzel to solve (when you're ability to complete a mission is based 50% of luck) it's a very, very unpleasant gaming experience.
When you're a fan of specific characters and you're starved for a good TF game you have a choice to make. You make decide to play the game and just enjoy it with "fan blinders" and toss it up to another half-add movie game. Or you can be critical and compare it to the best games of its type around. If you go the later path, you will absolutely HATE this game. Transformers: The Game is essentially a third-person shooter (e.g. God of War) with absolutely zero: puzzle elements, weapon upgrades or compelling combos. It's missions not only lack depth, they lack any coherent store line. One would almost pass it off as another boring piece of movie tie-in "flare" aimed at kids, except most intelligent kids won't have the attention span to keep retrying the dual missions this presents.
For the Transformer fan determined to make it through the game (sense who knows when we'll get another) this will often be a excruciating journey, void of fun, void of anything you remember about the characters as a kid. You may be thinking "this guy probably hates everything" and that's not true. I've submitted a review of the novelization of the upcoming movie which this game is very loosely based on and the book did make me feel 8 years old again, the movie is going to be incredible. But this game will, in some ways rob you of your childhood memories (yes, it is that bad). As tempting as it may be to touch this title, I say stay far away from it.
Regarding the review title. Well, one group of individuals is responsible for this mess of a game (IGN.com called it "a mess" to great amusement, they are spot on). That group is an independant game shop in the UK called Traveller's Tales. They were the hired gun to create this game and they appear to be so ashamed of it they do not even list it on their official website (Google it).
How many poor movie games do we have to play before gamers say ENOUGH. Game publishers like to put as little money as possible into these type of games, because their assumption is that the movie brand will sell the game without the game needing to hold any weight.
If you're tired of spending sixty dollars on a game only to get it home to find a half-baked smoking pile of.... (you get the idea). If you're sick of it, now is the time to act. We have a major blockbuster film here (from all early reviews a very very good action movie) and another very lackluster game trying to pushed at us.
If you have purchased the Traveller's Tales version of the game (this includes the: Wii, PS3, PS2, XBox 360 and PC versions) and feel the same as I do, let's do something about it! Let's boycott Traveller's Tales by refusing to buy their upcoming Lego's Batman title. No doubt the Batman title will be a much better game than Transformers as Traveller's Tales has had it in development a bit longer and it's more along the lines of what they traditionally do. But we can't let them purposely put out a piece of garbage like Transformers: The Game and then expect us to forget about it and buy their other great titles.
The bottom line is, when you load the game up you're going to love it at first, when you realize how much more it could have been and take the fan blinders off you'll be left disappointed, possibly angry. | video-games_xbox |
A step up in just about every major way. I don't like reviews on a lot of those game sites - I'm convinced that they get paid off. (lol) So here's my honest and rather in-depth look at Madden '09. (minus the online leagues, which I haven't done much of, as I'm not a fan of the setup) Long, I know... this is for those that may be considering buying the game - owners probably already have their opinions on it. Madden-ites undoubtedly already love it.
So... Madden '09. Basically, superior to '08 in every aspect, even if only a little bit. Still an improvement, which we haven't seen in this series from year to year in awhile. Definitely not the huge jump that '08 was from '07 - mainly because '07 was God-awful and '08 was rather good - Madden '09 is a game of more subtle improvements and tweaks than a complete overhaul. But after 20 years of this, I guess they figured they were better off leaving the core gameplay alone. Seems to work for the most part. Here's a breakdown (as I see it) of the main areas: Graphics, Sound/Presentation, Gameplay, and New Additions
GRAPHICS - Outstanding. Again, more of the 'tweakings' are what gets noticed by myself when I'm playing. Take the players - many more body types. Distict body styles for the different players... everyone appears to mirror their real-life counterpart even more accurately than last year's version. The separate hand and head physics are very nice: they act independently from each other, so the reactions to the plays still plays very fluid, but much more realistic. The ball no longer magically goes from a yard away from your receiver to safely tucked in his hands in a matter of one frame (for the replay junkies). Everything is nice and smooth. When your player gets hit, watch as his neck snaps back or around as he gets smashed. It's a little touch, but one that adds a great degree of realism. The crowd looks great, and very energized - to the point that they will remain in the stadium cheering like it's kickoff time even when the home team is trailing by 49 points in the 4th. Oh well... And some of the player faces - notably those of the players on the sidelines and (surprisingly) your kicker when he's kicking off - they look kinda scary. Like those things from `I Am Legend'. If you get a chance, look at them. Freaks you out for a second...
The biggest thing graphically for me this year is the field itself. Might not be a big thing to some, but the field looks absolutely great this year. It actually looks like you can feel the grass give way beneath your players... in inclement weather, watch as the field (and your uniforms - very nice) gets destroyed. See footprints actually being left in the mud and snow as you play. I love it. (though suprisingly, tackles and dives/slides seem to leave no evidence... hmmmm.) EA definitely took great strides with the weathering effect... maybe a tad too much for some. It can get pretty sloppy out there, almost to the point where it's difficult to tell the teams from one another. My only teeny gripe with the field - it's the same throughout... everywhere. Every field doesn't look the same. Especially in DOMES. (duh) But here, every field, whether it's Soldier Field or the RCA Dome, looks identical. But whatever, that's just picky. The stadiums for the most part look identical to their real-world counterparts... the lighting and textures are flawless. Very few issues noticed... an occasional jagged framerate during kickoffs is the one I've seen, not that frequently.
SOUND/PRESENTATION - Outstanding. Or... Outstanding, compared to what they've offered in the past. However you want to look at it. One of the first things you'll notice when you put the game into the 360 is (drumroll please) Mr. John Madden himself. Wow... imagine that. After he introduces you to the Madden Skill Test, you only hear from him sporadically throughout the game - asking his advice for plays, viewing halftime highlights (the selection of highlights is sometimes retarded, just so you know...) and post-game. This is probably a good thing. The presentation is SO thorough this time, you may actually feel like it's a bit TOO much. There seems to be a menu or graphic flying across the screen at all times. Thankfully, a few (such as the audible and pre-snap menus) can be turned off. TV-quality graphics throughout, definitely. The broadcast duo of Cris Collinsworth and Tom Hammnod, while not as brilliant or fluid as the original duo from the NFL 2K series, are roughly a billion times better than the AM-Radio announcer Madden has had the past few years. Collinsworth is by far the better of the two. Though hardly filled with emotion and (often) believability, their commentary is pretty accurate, and they delve into specifics quite frequently. Occasionally they get it laughably wrong: One play, I returned a punt with Devin Hester and got about a 28 yard return. Collinsworth said: "This guy won't win too many foot races, but he sure made their special teams look slow." Not sure how many foot races he'd lose, with a 100 speed rating and a sub-4.3 40-yd dash time... Anyway. If the play is substantial enough, it'll get reviewed through the new "EA Sports BackTrack" - where the play will be broken down by C.C., complete with fancy graphics and animated arrows and zoom-ins on specific players. Very nice touch... not necessary, by any means, but it adds to the realism of the game. As far as the soundtrack - very Madden-esque. Rock, mixed with some Hip-Hop. Still no option to use your own music from your hard drive - that annoys me.
GAMEPLAY - Tried and True. It's what you'd expect in Madden. And let's be honest, is there anyone out there that is really playing THIS Madden as their first? Some of the minor tweaks to this year's game: slightly smoother gameplay... you can more or less chain together jukes and other highlight-stick moves to avoid tackles, and it looks more fluid and lifelike than previous editions. One minor upgrade than has a huge impact is your QB having to actually slow down/stop to plant his feet to throw - a la real life. I mean, you can throw on the run and all, but you won't be nearly as accurate as you would be had your QB planted and then thrown that 40 yard bullet pass. And it actually takes a step or two (or several, depending on the weather) for your QB to stop after running - no more magical sprints-to-dead-stops. Takes less than a second usually, but that time in the pocket (as another reviewer mentioned) is precious and in limited supply, particularly on the harder difficulty settings.
There are also "Rivalry Games" this year... (yawn) A slant on the Rivalry Games of NCAA, this is basically anytime your team plays a team in its own division. (If you listen to Collinsworth before every game, it seems that you have a rivalry with just about every team in the NFL.) The computer jacks up it's intensity a good bit for these games, so be prepared - doesn't matter who the home team is.
Several new animations add to the overall feel of the game and add to the gameplay experience. Players celebrate with each other, help other players off the field, start little pushing matches, etc. FG missed short? You have a shot at running it back. You even have the ability to control your own endzone celebrations this year. Nice idea, but this is probably the weakest in action. After the TD, run to one of the glowing areas on the field and hit the appropriate button (usually Y) and your player will do some various celebration. Using the other buttons may net you some surprising results, or at least an achievement you weren't expecting. (hint hint) The glowing areas near the crowd usually involve jumping on the wall (Lambeau Leap) or doing some monkey-thing that is just dumb-looking. Incidentally, celebrate near that wall, but NOT on the glowing area, and your player will 9 times out of 10 celebrate right through the wall, disappearing completely off the screen. I'm sure EA didn't notice that. It's not a huge thing, but one that, when it happens, is COMPLETELY noticeable by everyone playing. And on a personal note, the `Slam Dunk' celebration was just done in a piss-poor fashion... come on EA, is that what we have to look forward to with NBA Live 09? I'll pass... Many of the other options you've come to love (or loathe) are here again as well: audibles, coverage audibles, bluffs, new smart routes (Have a route that puts your receiver just short of the 1st down marker? Adjust so that his route takes him a little deeper... YEARS overdue), etc.
Some may complain about the game difficulty, mainly the run defense and the computer's insane QB accuracy on the higher difficulties. All I can say is: get better, or tweak those settings. It's how the game was made, and the kind folks over at EA obviously believe that EVERY professional QB has the ability to go 28 for 30 in the wind and snow. (?!?!) XBox Live Gold members can play in online "leagues" and obviously ranked/unranked matches, or chill/conversate in the lobby. The main catch with being a Gold member is this is the ONLY way you can get those roster updates many were desperate for. Giants fans wondering why Shockey is still there, Strahan too? Jets fans DYING to see Favre in that Green and White, with Pennington down in Miami? Get your Live account up and running.
*And for you Achievement Hunters out there, this may be one of the easiest 1000 points that you've ever gotten. Aside from the team-specific ones, I got all of the achievements in ONE GAME. Come on EA... I'm not even into those, but at least have them difficult - like they have to be done on All-Madden or higher - or SOMETHING. Wow...*
NEW STUFF - Ehhhhhhhhhhhh... Good in principle. I already talked about the BackTrack thing. Last year brought Madden the Weapons system, which I loved. Still here this year, but obviously not the focus. This year's game gives us the A.D.E (Adaptive Difficulty Engine) and the Rewind feature.
A.D.E. - Okay, in theory, this is supposed to monitor your play throughout the game, and adjust the difficulty in the major areas, tailoring it specifically to your abilities. (or at least the abilities that you've shown thus far) So if you play and you get torched for 380 yards passing, but you manage to get 280 yards rushing, the AI will beef up your pass defense, while boosting the computers run-stop ability. (and when I say BOOST, I mean BOOST. They'll pull 20 people on the field, some with assault rifles, and the heaviest-set cheerleader on staff to stop your running game) My problem is that this engine evidently has problems telling the difference between times when you are very good and the when computer is just dumb. Since the engine takes the results into account, not HOW the results occurred, several drops by the computer, errant runs out of bounds and such all can lead to you looking (to the A.D.E.) like more of a Madden-God than you may actually be. Your Madden IQ score may jump, but the game difficulty will as well. So for those of you out there that are putting all this weight on that Madden IQ Test, remember it's "ON THE FIELD" that matters. My IQ Test was 771 the first time. Took it on the field, nosedive to 710 after the season-opener against the Colts. (NOT the team to face if your pass-D is a little shaky) I have it up to 768 now, after playing some more and getting used to the tackling a bit more. The My Skill difficultly level is cool for me, but the option is still there to tweak the settings - either All-Madden, All-Pro, Pro or Rookie... or turn the bars all the way up. That's right - past All-Madden. I generally play on All-Madden, with the Pass D turned up to full. Anything higher than that - for me - and the Rush D just gets to the point that it's not even fun, but I have to kick up the Pass D or I can still pick the CPU apart with too much ease. So find what works for you... don't get caught up in "Ego-playing" and end up not having fun.
REWIND - This was the addition I was probably the most skeptical about, reading up on it on IGN. After seeing it in action, I can see how it can be useful... I can also see how it will rarely be used for it's intended purpose, and why it's not available online. Contrary to belief, this was SUPPOSED to be a way of letting you go back, see what you did wrong on a play, and giving you one chance to do it over, this time - obviously - LEARNING from your mistakes and hoping for better results. What I've been seeing though is that this has turned into a means of eliminating those "WTF?!" moments that we're all familiar with and sometimes upset us to the point of controller-throwing/pet kicking (Don't kick your pets): The defender makes a leaping grab to pick off your otherwise perfect evening passing the ball, or you fumble a punt return on your own 17 yard line and have it returned for a TD... REWIIIIIIIIINNNNNDDDD!!!!! That's basically what happens... the play does a mini-VCR rewind back to just prior to the snap, and you have a do-over. You can set it so you have one, three, five or an unlimited amount (that's just sad). I wish you could have two - one each half - but I generally play with one, unless it's a tougher game, then I'll set it for 3. Many times I won't use them, but with what I call "EA Football 4th Quarters" still in full effect, it's nice to know they're there if I so choose to use them.
In the end, I think this is the best Madden yet, or at least as good as any previous Madden has been (not sure exactly what that's saying for the franchise) - DEFINITELY the best for the 360/PS3. Still not ready to hand over the title of favorite football game ever from NFL 2K4 and 2K5, but this is as close as they've come. With the advances of all this "Online Updates" and such, we may be getting to the point that it's no longer intelligent to pay $60 for minor tweaks and roster updates. Some would say we've BEEN at that point. (lol) This does feel more or less like an updated version of '08, and honestly I did pick it up since it was an `Anniversary' Year thing. But that doesn't stop this from being a pretty great game on it's own. People that love Madden will get this - most likely already have. If this is one of your first times at Madden, this is about as good a game as any to start with. Pretty user-friendly, and gorgeous to look at. A few more minor tweaks here and there and EA may be flirting with perfection. **Note** I have not had the 'freezing'/'glitching' issue that many have had, that apparently has people highly disappointed with this game, so I can't comment on that. I'm not a huge Madden fan at all, but have been playing them since 16-Bit days. (see my review of '07 and '08) But good is good. Overall I give it 4.5 out of 5 stars. | video-games_xbox |
This game needs SERIOUS improvements on the Xbox One. I first purchased this game on PC a long with Premium. The experience on the PC has been fantastic, no issues what so ever. However, a few of my friends purchased the Xbox One version so I figured "Well hey the PC version has be amazing, why not just purchase the Xbox version too.". Big mistake there. This game is no where close to what I would consider ready to launch on Xbox. My first issue, there's no way to build a party or squad prior to joining a game. What ends up happening is you have to wait for one of your friends to join a game, then everyone else can find their server in MP menu. Very inefficient considering once the first person joins, the lobby size generally changes and not everyone can join. My next major issue is that EVERY SINGLE server has a waiting queue. Even if the server has 10 open slots, you still have to wait in a queue. Some queues extending to 10 person wait. It makes no sense. The other issue with that is, once it actually starts to load it will more than likely crash and you have to go wait in line again... My other problem is, if I pay for a premium membership, it should roll over to other consoles/devices. If I'm already paying a large sum of money for this game, it should be used across platforms. Especially with the terrible experience im having with the Xbox version. Another major issue is chat in game. If you're not in an Xbox Live Party, you will not hear anyone else in your squad, the lag in the in game chat is awful. Main point with this being, DO NOT BUY THIS GAME ON XBOX. EA was so incredibly careless in launching this game so early with its bugs. Yet another reason why I'm extremely close to never buying another EA game ever. Just wait for TitanFall and move on from this. Im only giving this 2 stars because once you manage to actually get into a game, it freaking rocks. Again though, Im usually so upset by the time I get into a game that Im exhausted and want to go do something else with my time. | video-games_xbox |
Fulfilling, meaningful open-world experience. First of all, I would like to say that I am not a big Grand Theft Auto 4 fan, nor am I a Rockstar fanboy. That being said, I absolutely loved Red Dead Redemption.
Main Campaign
The Red Dead story is very deep and rich with character development. Cut scenes provide the framework for the actions that John Marston must take to help his family. While at times they seem long-winded, the context provided is well worth it. As you become more invested in John Marston's character, the story will have more and more impact on you. Story missions are relatively shallow in that there is a lot of repetition (go there, kill the dudes), but this did not bother me at all because the gameplay is satisfying and the story telling is well done outside of your control on John.
Side Content
The one thing I underestimated before playing this game was the vastness and quality of the side content. There are challenges, stranger missions, gang hideouts, and bounties to be captured or killed. I saved the majority of this side-content for after I completed the main story and I ended up more than doubling my play time. There isn't much more to say about this without creating a wall of irrelevant text, so I will instead offer my vote of support for the expansive RDR side content.
Gameplay
Gameplay is similar to Grand Theft Auto 4 with numerous improvements. My favorite changes are: no more health bar on your character or your enemies and the dead-eye mechanic. The removal of health bars curbed a lot of the tedium that came with the combat of GTA4. This was replaced with one-headshot or 1-4 body shot (depending on location) kills for most enemies and a regenerative health system for John Marston similar to modern shooters like Call of Duty. When you start taking fire, blood splatter will appear around the edges of the screen and the overall tint gets darker and more red until an eventual death.
Riding a horse feels a lot different and cumbersome when you first start, but it quickly become more fluid and natural. Now I actually prefer riding a horse to driving a car in GTA.
Online
My experiences online have been limited, but overall enjoyable. There is a range of free-roam, deathmatch, capture, the flag, horse racing, and co-op missions that provides good variety for any gamer. My favorite activity has been clearing out gang hideouts with other players and while I haven't tried the free co-op DLC missions, I'm really looking forward to them.
Cons
My main frustration with this game is the long-winded animations for skinning animals, gathering plants, and picking up/putting down hogtied characters. Some of the more tedious collection tasks are weighed down even more with these senseless unskippable animations.
Achievements
You either love `em or hate `em, and if you don't care about cheevos, you probably don't need to read this section. I personally love the achievement system and I included this section of my review because Red Dead's achievement list was meaningful to my experience. After completing the final mission, less than 300 of the 1000 points were unlocked. To unlock the remaining 700 points, I was guided into content that would have otherwise been completely hidden to me because I (a) didn't know about it or (b) simply ignored it the first time around. The moral of the story - if you like popping achievements, this game is perfect for that. | video-games_xbox |
Good product (UPDATE: great product. I purchased this item as an alternative to the FPS Freek. I recommend watching the YouTube instructional video on how to install. After watching it, I had no problem installing the sticks and Dpad. The instructions included with the item leave much to be desired. But the video makes up for it.
Ok, short and sweet.
Good
- easy to install (took me 10 minutes)
- the stick height is adjustable
- they are made of metal
- the Dpad joystick is an excellent idea, and seems like it would be perfect for fighters
- the taller stick provides improved accuracy just like the FPS Freek
My game of choice is Battlefield Bad Company 2; a game with touchy aiming. It took me a few matches, but as soon as I got used to the increased stick height, I did notice I was pulling off some very good shots with ease. Also, as advertised, the Dpad joystick makes it super easy to access the grenade launcher (left on Dpad) and ammo pack (right on Dpad).
Bad (not stuff that should keep you from buying the product but, stuff worth noting)
- the sticks are made of metal which is great, but the lack of a rubber grip means your thumbs will slide a little more
- I noticed my thumb was running into the Dpad joystick when going for the select button (something I see myself getting used to though)
- the instruction sheet included is kind of a joke (just watch the video)
Overall
I recommend these. I plan on buying some rubber grips to put on thumbsticks. Once I do that, I think they'll be perfect. Also worth noting is I had the left stick raised to it's maximum height, and I found it a little harder than normal to press down on the left stick to sprint while pushing forward on the stick to run forward. However, I lowered the left stick to the medium height and that fixed the problem. So, all that really only show is one of the great things about this: it's customizable. I have the left stick on medium, and the right stick on long. Also, if I got tired of my thumb hitting the Dpad joystick when I go for the select button, then I could just remove the joystick and make it a normal Dpad.
So, buy these. I was kind of wary of the FPS Freek product because of customers reporting that they ruin the rubber on their thumbsticks. I really can't give a comparison beyond that because I've never used them. All I can really do is comment on the quality of this product. For the shooter fan(or fighter fan who doesn't have enough dough for a good gamepad) who is looking to get the edge, this really is a must buy.
UPDATE:
So, I've had these for about two weeks now. I love the Dpad toggle stick. I have both sticks raised to their maximum height (blue and black spacers). And I went ahead and purchased the fusion and domed grips from the modsticks website.
Don't buy the domed grips, the fusion grips are the superior. Way better than the stock grip too. In fact, I think the manufacturer should just scrap the stock grips and make the fusion grips come standard with purchase. I find that my thumbs no longer slip while using this product with the fusion grips.
Another thing I'd like to comment on is how smooth these sticks are.
EXAMPLE:
I play Pinball FX 2 on XBLA. This game has an adjustable ball launch for each table. You adjust the power of the launch the right thumbstick. These sticks allow more precision than the stock thumbstick. With the stock thumbsticks, I found it difficult to adjust the power to a precise level. With this product, I have very little problem adusting the power to what I want. It's just smoother. I'm sure people who play that game know exactly what I'm talking about. It's kind of hard to explain.
Great product. | video-games_xbox |
some bugs and some stages very hard. I would mention some details about the game which other people haven't mentioned. I would say there are a few bugs in the game, at least to me. I will call them the "off-fence bugs". In the stage of "Guan Yu's Escape, at the last gate I knocked the last genenal Xiahou Dun off the cliff and I couldn't find him no more. His position is still on both the radar and the map but he is down in the hill and won't be able to get back. So I couldn't kill (reach) him and was unable to finish the mission because the gate is closed without finishing him.
Other situation of the bug is at the fence of the enemy camps, i.e. where there is gate captain, when you knocked out a general or officer off the fence, you can not get the meat bum or items from them. You can see the item but cannot reach it. It's in the other side of the fence which you can not cross.
Some details:
It's better not to play with the commander. If you use Sima Yi or Zhuge Liang and just sit at your HQ, you will be finished by your enemy soon. Your computer allies are stupid, in most situations they stay intact and will be eliminated by the enemy. You have to finish all the enemy officers yourself. There's certain way to finish every stage. I tried different ways in playing Yi Ling and Wu Zhang Plains in Difficult mode. But either lots of my allies died or I ran out of time to save my commander Zhuge Liang. In Wu Zhang Plains I simply went to Sima Yi directly and finished him with trial and errors (use arrows, Musou charge, run, etc). I only knocked out 3 enemy soliders and killed Sima Yi within 10 minutes. The process is very hard and my bonus is negative. So I believe each game you have to follow certain ways of play, in order to get good points.
BTW, when I finished the hard mode with Guan Yu, his attack bar and defense bar are full and I unlocked the "very hard" mode whic I do not want to try. With all the difficulties and generals you can play this game for ever. | video-games_xbox |
Sonic is back and for once this is a good thing. I've been a Sonic fan since I first picked the series up all the way back on the Sega Genesis and recent Sonic games have left alot to be desired. In fact the last Sonic game I truly sat down and played was Sonic Adventure 2 then after that the series sort of tanked out as if Sega had no clue what fans wanted from the series. Game after game tried to recapture the magic that made the earlier games so great yet time and time again they failed to achieve. Now we have Sonic Generations, celebrating 20 years of Sonic, but is it celebrating the right years?
I'm here to answer that question with a huge YES. Sonic Generations does a fantastic job at bringing both classic Sonic (the one we all know and love from the Genesis era, pot belly and all) and modern Sonic together in one of Sonic's best adventures yet. Gone are the gimmicks of past games, there are no talking swords, were-hogs, or pointless side characters to play. In fact all the main gameplay is done as either classic or modern Sonic with the side characters playing only a minor role here.
The storyline is fairly basic, an unknown force has started tearing through time and has capture modern Sonic's friends, scattering them throughout time and they must be rescued by completing each stage. Everything opens with a wonderful romp through Green Hill Zone as classic Sonic before cutting to modern Sonic as he celebrates his birthday (apparently classic Sonic forgot it was his birthday) with his friends. However things don't go exactly as planned as the party comes under attack by this new enemy. At first even Sonic doesn't appear to be too thrilled about running off on another adventure as everyone gasps in horror as the monster appears though Sonic simply gives a heavy sigh before his friends are kidnapped.
Each zone allows you to choose whether you play as classic or modern Sonic with Act 1 being a classic Sonic level and Act 2 being for modern Sonic. In order to advance to the next zone you only need to complete one Act however every three zones there is a boss battle. Each boss battle is opened by collecting three keys from challenges for each of the zones you just completed, however in order to open these challenges you must beat both Acts. I know a few of you just groaned at the thought of being forced to play as modern Sonic but I'm here to tell you that the modern Sonic levels are actually good! Yes you heard me correctly, Sega has finally found a balance that works incredibly well for our blue hero as the levels are all about speed and top notch platforming. You'll see the camera swing behind Sonic as he speeds down paths, blasting through enemies and bouncing from spring board to spring board before flipping over and giving you a retro 2D perspective that again works rather well for our modern hero.
Sega has done a brilliant job at building each level, bringing back multiple paths and requiring split second timing if you wish to take the best path possible. Numerous times I found myself making mental notes of where I would need to jump next time or a better way to navigate through an area. Nothing is quite as rewarding as zipping through a level at top speed without slowing down and navigating through obstacles as if it were easy. Both classic and modern Sonic feature amazing level design and at times you can see where the two different Acts cross paths. More than once I noticed areas that I had seen as the other Sonic and it was interesting to see the 2D take on the newer zones and the 3D take on the older ones. The game is made up of nine different zones, each one taken from a specific Sonic game ranging from Sonic 1, 2, 3, Adventure 1 and 2, Sonic Heroes, Sonic the Hedgehog, Sonic Unleashed, and Sonic Colors. You start off with Sonic 1 and work your way through time until you reach the most recent games.
One thing that I instantly noticed about the game was the humor though some of the fans out there might not get it if they haven't been with the series for the last 20 years. For example in the Chemical Plant Zone (from Sonic 2) Tails makes a comment about the pink water making him nervous for some reason, a younger fan might not get the joke there though I remember plenty of times desperately seeking air as that pink water filled the stage around me and the surface got further and further away. Another one that made me chuckle was modern Sonic commenting on how familiar Green Hill Zone was but Tails had no memory of it because it was before he joined the series. At times the game even pokes fun at some of the missteps Sonic has had along the way such as when Tails comments on how weird this adventure is only to have Sonic come back saying weird is what they do but this is fairly normal with no talking swords, were-hogs, or aliens (though you do use the wisps in the Colors stage).
The hub world I thought was fairly interesting and worked as almost a mini level. Each Zone starts off colorless and lifeless with the side character frozen as a colorless statue in front of it. Beating one Act brings back some life to the zone as color is filled in thought beating both acts brings back the side character and completely restores the stage unlocking the challenges that go along with it. Everything is set in a 2D view though you can switch from classic to modern Sonic with a tap of the button, also each version of Sonic has their own set of challenges you can complete.
Now the challenges are the first area I feel the game really stumbles. Most of them aren't overly interesting, sometimes having you pair up with a side character or race against them collecting items, rings, or whatever. Personally I found them to really ruin the pacing of the game as you go from blazing through zones to suddenly engaging in a rather pointless contest. However there is one redeeming quality here that I quickly found myself skipping all the other challenges to go for. The Doppelganger races are perfect for Sonic and they fit the mood and pacing just right. Whether you are playing as classic or modern Sonic each zone as a Doppelganger race which pits you against a ghost Sonic (same version as you) and your only goal is to beat them to the end of the stage. Doppelganger Sonic however isn't perfect, you'll see him make mistakes, take damage, and not always pick the right path. That isn't to say these races are easy by any means. A few times I found myself nearly neck and neck coming up on the finish line or missing a platform and suddenly ghost Sonic is right there with me. Doppelganger Sonic sometimes fights enemies where it makes sense though you'll often see him slip by them and this is a tactic you must adopt as well in order to keep up. Overall I found these races to be incredibly enjoyable and really saved me from having to complete boring tasks in order to advance the game.
The other area I felt the game stumbled was the boss battles or rather the lack of them. There are some pretty memorable boss battles with Dr. Eggman throughout the years and I felt this was a missed opportunity by only including four boss battles overall and three mini boss battles for chaos emeralds. Some of these fights are over pretty quickly as well and don't really offer much of a challenge, while others (especially the battle with Silver in Crisis City) are pretty fun and definitely play to the strengths of the game. Another thing is the chaos emeralds are basically handed to you as each boss battle gives you one and you only need to truly collect three on your own by battling Metal Sonic, Shadow, and Silver. Again another missed opportunity by not including the bonus stages that really test a gamer's skill in earning (keyword here) these emeralds.
There are plenty of collectibles to earn here with over 50 songs to unlock (each unlocked song can be played instead of the usual zone music) and alot of concept art. It wasn't enough to get me to tackle all the challenges, which is where bulk of these are earned, though it was pretty cool to see these included. Another addition I didn't bother with much was skills, which can be purchased from an in-game store and give you a way to customize your Sonic experience. Whether you want to start with 10 additional rings, land on feet after taking damage, run up hills and such faster, or other things like that you'll find these little perks here. It didn't take me long at all to purchase them all though and I didn't really in much of a need for them outside of giving myself a few extra seconds to gather my rings after getting hit and increasing my speed in water and going uphill. Each skill has a certain point cost and you have 100 points total to spend for equipping a skill. This was a nice addition but not something I spent that much time with, I basically bought them all and equipped the ones I wanted then never looked back.
Now I did play this on PC (purchased via Steam) and the graphics are top notch, the stages look amazing, and on my system the game didn't slow down at all. However this is simply a port of the 360 version as Sega didn't even take the time to change the in-game key prompts which display the standard 360 controller inputs. The cut scenes looked slightly grainy and not nearly as clear as the gameplay was, but that is only a minor complaint on an overall great package.
With gameplay that is amazing for both Sonics, level design that gives Nintendo a run for their money, and only few minor missteps it is hard for any Sonic fan to go wrong with Generations. This is truly a return to form for our hedgehog friend and hopefully Sonic Team uses this as a template moving forward with future Sonic games. Sadly there are no plans right now for classic Sonic to return in future games, but that is ok though. At the start of the game I favored classic Sonic but by the end of it I was always going for modern Sonic and finding his levels to be pretty intense and very enjoyable. If modern Sonic has levels like these in future games then Sonic Team has successfully brought me back to the series I used to know and love. I'm giving Sonic Generations an overall 8 out 10, this is a great package with only a few minor stumbles though I wish the overall adventure was a little longer and featured more zones from Sonic's past. Happy birthday Sonic, it has been an interesting ride these past 20 years though this gives us alot to look forward to and hopefully it will be another great 20 years ahead of us.
Final Score: 8 out of 10 | video-games_xbox |
Little effort compared to the pc originals. I have a bit of bias against civilization revolution. My friend Alex is a big fan of the Civ series so like any good mate I thought it would be a nice gift suggestion.
If you enjoy turn based resource management, battles, and forming lucrative social alliances throughout many historical time peroids it may seem like at first Revolution provides that in spades. The visuals are nice and crisp with a lot of character. Believe me when I say Civilization has never looked better than it does on the 360.
However the problem is alot was taken out. Alex can complete a whole campaign in roughly an hour and a half. (And by that I mean literally beat the game) A glaring flaw is unlike other Civilizations that continued on after the space age that is the point where Revolution abruptly ends. On top of that there are no story driven missions revolving around famous historical characters. The only difference between a choosen leader is that it gives you slightly different unit types and a few unique options on how to utilize resources and social skills.
Honestly I'm a little mad at Sid. He seems to have underestimated the "intelligence" of X box 360 gamers. To me it does not matter what the genre is. If you can beat a game in under 2 hours something is seriously wrong, especially if it is suppose to be an in depth turn based strategy game.
If you can snag this game for cheap by all means do so otherwise save your money and rent it over the weekend. For those that enjoy stream lined simplicity Civ Rev might be up their alley but if you are a true fan of past Civilization games do not expect this one to hold up to your expectations.
Pros
+Nice comical graphics with people that pop up and talk in a Sim-ish like language.
+There are a few more modes and multi-player options beyond the core game that can add a bit more enjoyment.
+The game is easy to learn.
+If you have just a bit of time to kill before going into work or taking the kids out to the ball park it is an easy game to jump into and jump out of.
+Somewhat educational and a friendly game for all ages with hardly any violence or profanity
Cons
-Much shorter than the original Civ games. You can beat the main campaighn in under 2 hours.
-The game abruptly ends after the beginning of the space age. In other Civ games it continued onward after man-kind reached the stars.
-The leaders do not have personal story lines and self tailored mission objectives as they did in past Civ games. The only variance between each leader is certain unit types and socializing options. Sadly these little alterations are so obscure you will not notice them much.
-The game feels rushed as if it is a "toddler training edition" of the Civilization series instead of an actual true sequel. | video-games_xbox |
Nice headphones for gaming and casual use. Part 1:
I own both a 360 and a One so I bought these headphones because I was told they would work with the Xbox One as long as you had the Xbox One headset adapter so I bought these instead of the 4 Shots which only seem to work for the Xbox One. I purchased the adapter from Walmart because I was too impatient to wait for Polk Audio to send me the adapter which they send free because these are essentially the same headphones as the "4 Shot" which are for the Xbox One except for some hardware exclusive to the 360. When you purchase the adapter you have to upgrade your xbox one controller which is where the problem arose for me. The upgrade wouldn't begin for some reason freezing at the screen showing the percentage of the upgrade that has taken place but never actually starting. After numerous attempts I was frustrated and didn't feel like waiting for the additional mic that was being sent in addition but seperately from the adapter which was supposed to correct the firmware issue plaguing the 4 Shots to come in the mail so I returned these. As for sound, I never tried them with my 360 as I was initially buying them for the One but thought it was a better idea to be able to use them for the 360 should I choose. I did use them with my iPhone to listen to music, play games and watch movies in which case I have to say they sounded great. I've never spend this much on a pair of headphones before so I cant say how they stack up against other brands in the same price range but the little spring loaded mic hidden on the left headphone (originally meant to be the mic used for gaming) is pretty cool and allows you to talk on your phone without removing the headphones from your ears the same way a pair of buds would work. I don't have a really big head or at least I don't think I do so they are quite comfortable and offer a good seal around the ears blocking outside noise.
Part 2:
I now have the 4 Shots, which in my opinion sound great when used for gaming or pretty much anything. They are the same headphones as the Melee which is why Im still reviewing the feel/sound of them but still makes me wonder why they just don't have one name for them and sell the attachments that you need separately or in some kind of bundle. They can get a little warm in my opinion depending what the climate is like where you are wearing them. I would recommend getting these headphone but if you plan on using them for gaming but want a nice pair of headphones that can be used with your phone as well. | video-games_xbox |
Much better out there. There's much better out there for your money, in single and multiplayer. The unique setting is wasted on hackneyed lines and concepts. About 20 minutes of gameplay earned me 7 minutes of:
Grizzled Veteran: Why don't they stand up and fight!
Compassionate but Tough Chick: You have to understand, they're scared!
Grizzled Veteran: A sorry excuse!! Arrg!
The first time the banter spat out I cringed a little at the corny and forced dialogue I wouldn't accept from Saturday morning cartoons as a kid--it didn't take long to realize this WAS the game. I wasn't exactly surprised after the melodramatic bus ride in the beginning where soldiers shoot and kill parents in front of their small child who then whines, while the soldiers just stand there like statues. I'm sure this was supposed to be chilling and frightening, but again the delivery made it such a forced message. It was the adult, wartime equivalent to a moustached fiend cackling as a damsel lies tied on the tracks.
Aiming down the ironsights is a mess, in my opinion. At any range but super-long, you're equally likely to succeed hip-firing, and there was only one scope that actually helped the aim out. The AI obviously does not suffer this disadvantage however. Luckily, if you ignore what they tell you to do manage a way to come from the side you will butcher most of the enemy coming at you.
The "sprint" option is just awful. Your body animations sure improve, but your actual coverage of ground is laughably similar to walking. It feels kind of like that scene in Harold and Kumar when Harold is in that fantasy world--only, you know, not full of pot humor. Bullets ARE your weakness though.
The multiplayer is better, and had greater potential, but still falls short. The levels are very large, and the fact that there's always at least two vehicles out makes for some fast paced chaos. But the already mentioned drawbacks impair the fun of this. And the plus of a huge map is also a drawback when you spawn without a vehicle. Character class creation is a bit confusing at first, but once you get it down it's pretty innovative. The only problem is the innovation isn't needed. Just a silly added step to activate your class abilities, I feel.
There's a lot better out there for you. Yes, I am a Call of Duty fan, but by no means a COD Fanboy. That's why I bought this game. It looked awesome, I really wanted it to be good and replace COD for a while in my gaming. I played for a little over a week, and one day I sign on and my buddy sends me an invite to play Black Ops. It was unbelievably a more enjoyable experience. I went to Gamestop that night and sold Homefront. | video-games_xbox |
Fun and replayability through the roof. I got the Forza/Marvel:UA two pack when I purchased my 360 and never bothered to play either for the longest time. A couple of years ago, shortly after the first Thor movie came out, my girlfriend was browsing my games and said she wanted to play this. We sat down and were both instantly hooked! I can't believe what I had been missing. Despite gaming for about 20 years at that point, I had never really played any game with RPG elements. She, coming from a Warcraft background, had to walk me through the RPG elements, and I had to help her through the combat aspects. It was great bonding time over a great game. The graphics on this game are nothing special, but the fighting and RPG elements are both fantastic, and the replayability is through the roof! We played through the original twice, learned that we needed the gold edition to get the extra characters, and have played through three additional times since.
The variety of characters is exceptional and each provide their own challenges and advantages. Wolverine and Deadpool (he also has an amazing assortment of attacks. Playing with Deadpool almost feels like cheating) are great for when you are first starting out because of the health regen, Thor and Hulk both have some incredibly powerful attacks, and Cap and Iron Man provide some excellent range attacks. There are so many characters that it is almost a problem. Despite playing through so many times, there are still people I would like to play as that I basically haven't touched.
On top of all of this, being able to play co-op with up to 4 players is really nice. If somehow you have managed to never play this game, do yourself a favor and jump on this game! I would advise starting with the regular edition since it is so much cheaper, but if you really enjoy it and decide you want the additional characters, the Gold Edition is worth it! | video-games_xbox |
Finally, the third time is the charm. I hadn't expected much from Farcry 3. I didn't care for the original, it had it's features, it simply wasn't a well put together product. The second one brought a little more polish, and had a lot of very interesting and fun aspects, however, it's story and direction was uninspiring, or, in my case, unfollowable (I eventually got lost, and so did my interest in playing any further). Finally came Farcry 3, and I waited weeks, if not months, to give this game a go - I was not disappointed!
The story is pretty well done! Similar to modern action games like Uncharted 2, there is a lot of little things, action sequences, that keep your interest.
The graphics a great! They kept the ability to cause forest/plains fires, though I had wished they spent more time on this - the fires don't get as raging or dangerous as they were in Farcry 2 - just a minor annoyance.
There are plenty of side quests and collecting, and it's well implemented in that you can locate on the map the general area where something is located.
The weapons are well done - all feel pretty different, and unique. Though the bow is the show stopper! Best bow implementation I've ever seen!
There is a crafting system, which I wish they had spent just a little more time with. As it is, the effects of your potions/medicine are too minor, for the annoyance of gathering supplies to produce the goods. Others might have more luck/fun with this, in the end, there were only about three potions/medicines I wanted to make - the final ones.
The game feels a good length. At one part I had thought the game might be nearing the end, when in fact, it was only about 70% complete.
Check points are very well done! You don't really have to repeat too much running around, they check point you right outside your mission area.
There are tons of different ways to dispatch a set of enemies, often you'd even have more fun redoing an area than the first time.
My biggest complain would be that I would have liked to see a little more time spent on the leveling perks, the crafting, and the car driving kind of sucks. However, it's hard not to have high expectations for the next release. Hopefully they remain true to this new engine/system, and we see more goodness come from these developers. | video-games_xbox |
Supreme commander 2. As every other avid Supcom player, i awaited this release with baited breath. Some of the changes did not bode well with me and after i played the demo it didn't leave much of a good impression, but being a patient person i waited untill the full release to make a judgement.
I'm glad i waited and ignored the nay sayers.
Supcom 2 improves on where it fell short in the original, the major being performance issues. The old Supcom and Forged alliance would slow to a crawl even IF you had a very powerful pc after 30-40 minutes of game time (most notibly in skirmish/multiplayer against 4+ people). Supcom 2's performance is staggering, a full on 8 player match with units all wizzing around blowing the merry hell out of each other is fluid, crisp and frantic.
The experimental tier has had an overal, with some very nice new additions, they are no longer the uber game enders they once were though as they are now more focused into a specific role, with gives players a more tactical edge. My personal favourites have to be the UEFs Noah Unit cannon and the Cybran Magnatron. There's nothing like having a battery of unit cannons (that can produce and store 21 units each) all firing off at the same time into an enemy player base, or having several Magnatrons push and pull an enemy army into a death trap. These new experimentals bring in new tactical thinking and strategic possibilities which makes each match you play (skirmish or online) different and fun.
No two games are alike due to the new research system that supcom 2 uses to 'tech up' the tiers. In Supcom 1 and FA you'd have to mindlessly upgrade your buildings and economy structures which had games ending up being the player who reaches the highest teir first wining. The new research system forces you to think about how you're going to go about your match. Are you going to use air? Land? Each tree demands you focus on that one aspect you chose as most games seldom last beyond 30-40 mins (unless you have several really good players) and the fact research points come in quite slow would make spreading points into all the trees a very poor decision.
The economy change is something everyone feared and is something i'm still getting used to. The same system that made Total annihilation revolutionary (aside from being 3d and allowing you to command massive armies) has been done away with for something more 'standard'. However, it's not really like the standard you'd find in Starcraft, C&C as you don't need harvesters to gather resources. The mass points and power generators are still there in Supcom 2 so only the way you pay for your units has really changed. Paying for units and buildings is now more strategic as you have to make the decision if you really need another research station or you'd rather pump out the same cost in tanks, unlike Supcom 1 and FA where you could chuck an entire base down and just spam units until you needed to upgrade your factories. To me the change to the standard resource system will be for the best, and anyways in a late game you'll be pulling in so much energy and metal you'd prolly not even notice the system was that different to begin with.
And the last point i wanna touch on is the graphics. I really don't see what the gripe is with people saying the graphics is poor or 'worse than Forged alliance'. If you put a screenshot together of an army from FA and an Army from Supcom 2 all with max settings you can see that Supcom 2 has a much better 'feel' to it, and i believe thats partly due to the new landscapes. The landscapes in FA and Supcom 1 are bland and flat, it doesn't have that feeling of being a landscape. In Supcom 2 the landscapes have personality. They look and feel alive. Zooming right in you can see the very detail on the trees, massive cazams that seperate great landmasses, large scaffolding that suspends a huge arena over a seemingly bottomless abyss... Although the maps themselves ARE smaller than the ones in FA and Supcom 1, they more than make up for it by being more memorable, more assessable and more beautiful.
To summerise, this sequal is NOT Forged alliance or Supcom 1, this is Supcom 2. Its an entirely different game which has fixed previous faults and opened its arms to a wider audience. It's faster, it's sexier, it's more strategic, it's more tactical, it's more experimental, it's more fun. | video-games_xbox |
One of the Best All-Around Driving Simulator Experiences. This game landed in 2008 and it still holds up next to the likes of next-gen's (Xbox One) Forza 2 and Playstation 4's Driveclub. Like Forza Horizon 2, it has appreciable physics, deep car modifications including paint layers, wheels, custom body types, etc.
This game has weather, and it has day/night cycles.
The races are lovely, the cars are lovely, the graphics are, and the sound is.
Ignore the storyline except to unlock things. It's pretty bad, but fun enough if you dig that; however, I reccomend turning off the people talking while you race, it's horrible. Set the sound to mostly atmosphere followed by dim engine sounds. The atmosphere sounds of this game are wonderful, the sound of L.A., the sound of rain, the sound of pavement, and heat.
Every car has multiple views, including in cockpit and this is one of a very few games which allows you to even change the interior of the car. You won't see that on any next-gen Xbox One or PS4 game.
The soundtrack is wonderful and varied, but you should turn if off, only to turn it on when you want to cruise, listen to the stereo. But during racing I just want pure race, and what happens is, you're following these cars, catching up, and it's extremely dramatic, Rockstar has always understood the use of blur and vibration, and you're watching that Chevy that you're creeping up on, but there's also a turn coming up.
But you know your car so well, and the game connects you to it, so well, that you respond appropriately, nail the turn and flash past that guy, you look back and see him flounder to a pole, he didn't judge the turn as well as you did, and you never hit him.
Allows for self-narrative, open-world gameplay. Excellent, time-tested game design. My nephews from ages of 10-14 still love this game, it's that good that old people like me and kids can both like it. | video-games_xbox |
Disappointed. I'm really disappointed with this game. Disney could do much better after 2 years for developing this game. First of all: what figures are made for? Unlike Skylanders, golds and upgrades are not saved on the toy itself. All characters of a particular world (eg. monsters university, pirates) have THE SAME powers and actions in their respective world. Come on, this is ridiculous and this does not make any sense for me. Different characters doing absolutely the same... In Skylanders game, for example, every figure is unique, which means that each character has its own power and weapon. Every upgrade, level and golds are stored on Skylanders figures themselves. If you want to play Skylanders game on a different console, you can do it with all upgrades of the character that you are using for. However, in this Disney Infinity game, different characters (eg. pirates) do the same actions and have the same weapons (as well as for different monsters on monsters university world, for example). Again, there is NO particular skill/power/weapon for each figure. And again, nothing is saved on the toy itself. So, why should I buy different figures? The figure toys are really well made and they are good for collection only (this is why I gave one star). Since the figures do the same, they don't worth $13. The truth is: Only one figure is necessary for each world. You can play different stupid challenges if you have all of them, or you can open a portal with all 3 figures belonging to a particular world. I'm gonna carefully think if I'll buy new figures for this game. I played a total of 15 hours so far, and I'm trying to understand why this game really needs toys for putting on the base/portal. What is the advantage of buying different figures if they are almost equal on their respective worlds? If you want to play with your friends, remember that no upgrades were recorded in the toy figure itself. For Disney Infinity, if your friends have the figure already, you can play using all information previously stored on their video game consoles, not in figure (for me this is very stupid because your Disney figure is not "personalized" with your upgrades options, as Skylanders is). | video-games_xbox |
Simply the best RPG that has to offer. Rarely has a game been this engrossing, so open-ended, so beautifully and visually conceptualized. Fallout 3 is a rare gem in and of itself, lending to it's stunning production values with HD graphics that are rich in detail and variety(with the inclusion of downloadable content) with Art-Deco inspired architecture with the Cold-War paranoia of the 1950's and superhero comics and sci-fi TV shows and movies. In fact, some of the mutant creatures in the game are homage to classic sci-fi movies such as the Creature from The Blue Lagoon. But they are viciously aggressive so it's best to utilize various tactics and brain power to take them down; though it is highly probable that sheer luck can sometimes say you.
But that's not all that Fallout 3 has to offer. The world of Fallout is huge a lot of things to see and do and explore. You'll run into a lot of colorful characters along the way on your travels throughout the Capital Wasteland, as the world is aptly titled. And in deed, it is a wasteland with burned out ruins, polluted water(thanks to a great nuclear war) and radiation. But there are some small pockets of civilization that are not as bad off as the rest of the wasteland's inhabitants. So all is not bleak in this scorched earth.
Making this epic journey all the more engrossing is the voice acting and it is really superb. The talents of Liam Neeson and Malcolm McDowell are not to be sniffed at. There interactions with the player and other characters make the game an even more enjoyable experience as you play, mainly due to the many missions that you can take throughout the course of the game. That is not to say that the game is without it's faults; though well-crafted, there are various glitches to be found such as characters freezing in place and some visual breakup as well. There are times when the game just simply freezes for not apparent reason; forcing me to reboot several times which caused me to become frustrated more than once. But that should not deter you from picking this game up and enjoying the hell out of it for it is a well-made and enjoyable game.
So in the end, Fallout 3 is simply one of the best games ever made in this day and age of video games. With multiple objectives, incredible visuals, wonderful 1950's alternate Cold War atmosphere with sci-fi trappings, stellar voice acting, and seemingly endless exploration, and outcomes depending on the choices you make, this is one game that you should not pass up. It's an experience that you will never forget for years to come. | video-games_xbox |
Great Game, One of the Best From its Time. YAY NAZIS!!!! I say yay because that means I don't have to feel bad when I murder their faces.
Story
The story begins with the main character, Sean, a champion race car driver, in Paris recounting a series of events that has lead him to this little pub, being hunted by one of the countries most powerful Nazi commanders. While having a drink, a mysterious man approaches Sean, offering his help to rid Paris of the Nazis once and for all, but the dangers involved could risk the lives of everyone Sean holds dear.
Graphics
The games graphics are grainy, on purpose, to give the feeling of dread and doom (which is understandable, it IS Nazi infested Paris). While in Nazi territory, the environment loses all color, becoming black and white, the citizens are downtrodden and fearful.
As Sean takes down key points held by the Nazis, color slowly returns to the area, allowing him more freedom to explore and climb various buildings without being attacked by Nazis.
Controls
Controls are easy and simple to learn. Driving, which is notorious in games for being poorly made, is also simplified so that anyone can master it in a few minutes. Certain areas of buildings (rails, doors, windows, alcoves, etc) are highlighted by a small shimmer that allows the player to climb them to access the rooftops of buildings (ala Assassins Creed), however if caught by Nazis, they will open fire, knocking Sean down.
Sean can equip a numerous number of guns, ranging from pistols, shotguns and even rocket/grenade launchers (these will give your position away faster, but are a lot of fun). Gunplay uses a more over the shoulder style (similar to The Mercenaries), but you can also stealth kill if you wish to be more elusive.
Voice/Music/Sound
Voice work is done well, Sean (who again, is Irish sounds like an Irishman), citizens have a French accent and the Nazis sound German. What stands out is the music, which changes depending on the situation (in dangerous territory, it's somewhat depressing), when in friendly territory, is more friendly. If Sean does something suspicious/illegal, Nazis soldiers will come after him and the music takes a more dangerous turn.
Other
There are many, many, MANY objects to destroy (in fact, if you're an achievement whore, this may be a painful grind, as there are easily 600 things to destroy), luckily, the map shows the location of where these things are (although not always ground level).
There is a plethora of hidden areas for Sean to discover, and more vehicles then one can count (which, if you bring them to one of the many garages you eventually unlock, you'll be able to drive them at any point in the game, and this is also an achievement).
Overall
This is a fun game if you like open-ended games and/or collectibles, and blowing s*** up. However is can get very tedious for achievement hunters.
8.5/10.0 (4.5 STARS)
Pros:
- Destructible environments
- A very large play area
- Very fun exploratory game
Cons
- Can get repetitive
- Numerous amounts of weapons, cars and destructible objects for achievement hunters
- Straightforward game | video-games_xbox |
Played CoD since throwing potatoes in the first one, what the hell happened. So much potential wasted. This could have finally turned it around but failed. Allow me to explain for those of you who actually care about the series like I do. I'll try to be brief, but really explain why this is another flop in terms of quality from Black Ops II. We've all known there have been some absolutely terrible releases of CoD (Advanced Warfare, Ghosts, and MW3) and this one is not quite as bad, but it's really really close.
Single player - Wow, what the hell is going on here? It doesn't have near the story telling or movie like polish of the prior games, but the 4 player co-op and slight customization is it's saving grace. That's about it. It's a very convoluted story that you will lose interest in very quickly and basically have fun with it only if you've got a buddy or two to play it with. There were no really tense moments and nothing near as memorable as the endings to the prior black ops series or modern warfare series, so I'd say 2/5 overall.
Zombies - Boy, things sure have gotten a lot more complicated and a lot shorter than in the prior versions. I mean, the map size is great, but the game has gotten so unbelievably cryptic in doing things in the right order it's just not as fun as it was. It's just so cryptic, like an old Nintendo game, seriously! When you have to YouTube what to do, just to start opening up parts of the map right at the beginning, something just isn't right. The Zombies are much stronger and more in your face than before so you don't last as long, and the one map does get dull after multiple deaths alone and with friends at well under 10 rounds every time. It's not awful, just disappointing with how stylish it is. I'd give it 3/5 while you're playing it.
Multiplayer - Here it is, the real meat of the call of duty series, and how do I put this? It's like looking at a picture of a delicious cheeseburger you've been really hankering for, for a good long while. The plate comes out and it looks great, then you take a whiff and it smells...off? You open the bun and the meat is rotten with the cheese not included at your base price. Yea, it kind of sucks. Now that my awful analogy is complete let me explain. The beta wasn't really that terrible since most of us knew the connection issues would be mostly patched up by release, and the gunplay what was really mattered. Well... gun balance is horrible. Submachine guns outclass all other weapon categories in this game aside from one, Sniper rifles. I'll explain later. SMG's now range like Assault rifles, hit as hard, and fire as fast as LMG's, so why use anything else to run and gun? Lame. Couple these with Wallrunning, Jetpack jumping/hovering, and jet sliding... and you now have the cluster**** that is Black Ops III gunfights. What a mess. An absolute mess for players over the age of 12. Actually no, even my 12 year old nephew thinks the movement mechanics are stupid, but not as stupid as Advanced Warfare's. Nevertheless...
I hate the movement mechanics. I don't know who is clamoring for more jetpacks, and more parkouring with guns. WHO ARE THESE PEOPLE? It just makes the gunfights look ridiculous and makes me disorientated with the amount of jumping, bouncing, and hovering done while aiming down SIGHTS? WHAT? Yes, there is nothing like someone aiming down sights while flying around the map using just the right amount of boost to barely be on solid ground. My head hurts thinking about it. Plus the constant boosting to every objective non-stop... It looks so much worse than players just, I don't know, running?
Specialists - F******************************K. Destiny rip off to the max. SO DUMB. Get ready to have female soldiers waving their finger in your face at the "winners circle" nonstop since they have the best abilities. Get ready to see instant Death Machine's, invincible players (aside from the head), insta kill weapons that spam relentlessly with explosive damage, and wall hacks built in as abilities. WHY?...
Snipers - You almost did it Treyarch. You almost had a game that could be playable with normal guns like in Black Ops 1. You almost made it tolerable, and then, then you buffed the Sniping 10 year olds. If it's one thing that makes me put down a game and say no, no more, it's quickscoping. A built in auto aim exploit that makes bolt action sniper rifles a one hit insta-kill at any range. The exhaustion of listening to every player character on my team in ground war yelling, SNIPER, SNIPER, SNIP-, SNI, SNIPER, every second. It made me put down Blacks Ops 2. Wow, I can't believe it's back and worse than ever. Getting the jump on Snipers and getting 3 of my 4 shots needed to kill in by my gun, and then they pop me like a white headed zit instantly. I, I can't believe they let this exploit back in utterly destroying any balance or immersion.
Summary - The game had so much potential. As it stands now, it's a mess. It's not total garbage like Advanced Warfare and Ghosts, but I regret dropping 60 bucks on this everyday. Save your cash, and if you "have to have it", buy it used or later on for no more than half the price, seriously. Call of Duty has become just like the worst kind of abusive relationship for me... but, maybe next time will be different. | video-games_xbox |
Garbage Beyond Words Can Describe. This game's a pile garbage! The developers claimed that they wanted to create a game that lived up to the true innovation of real-life backyard wrestling. Well if this game's any indication of what backyard wrestling's really like, forget it. I rented this game the other day from my local video store. After playing about 5 minutes horrendous gameplay, I soon felt that I was ripped off out of the money I paid to rent this garbage (thank goodness for rentals). Here are some major downfalls of BW:
The character models are poor.
When characters talk, the mouths don't even move.
Computer AI is extremely cheap.
Computer has almost 99% perfect accuracy when picking up & throwing weapons from a distance at you, they almost never miss.
Create-Character-Mode is cheap beyond cheapness.
Replay value isn't great (after unlocking all the characters after one sitting, what's the point?).
Especially creating characters. The worst part of the game. Fans of WWE Create-a-character modes will be woefully disappointed. The player can't even create a character from scratch, all they can do is select a pre-made character and mobilize their stats and fighting style. You can't even develope the character's costume. All you do is choose a costume that has already been made (imagine playing a fighting game as your favorite character and choosing a different costume for them to fight in, that's technically all you can do). There aren't even many move to choose from for your character. Yes the game does have it's strong points such as taking full advantage of the X-box's custom soundtracks system, and there are some nice videos to watch in the media room (some of which have to be unlocked). However, is it really worth playing through, just for videos? What's worst is that the game doesn't even play like a wrestling game. It plays more so of that as a button-mashing fightng game. Take it from me, there are plenty of better wrestling games out there (I really feel for those who poured out their fifty bucks of hard earned cash on this title). And to those considering buying BW, avoid this title at all costs. Even WWF RAW is better! | video-games_xbox |
A great example why consumers should not crowdfund a game 2.5/10. My first home console wasn't the Playstation,PS2 or Original XBox
I've been playing video games since 1983/early 1984 my first two home consoles were the Atari2600 and the Original NES
I've played a lot and i mean a lot of video games from consoles to actually going into Arcades and spending countless quarters on a Arcade cabinet
Calling 7 Days to Die a game is like calling The Human Centipede a horror film
It's far from a game it's ambitious yes but, it's also a mess
The developers should be called out for selling this
Where is the quality control?
Where's the gaming community outraged over this???
No Man's Sky got attached but, this don't
Where's online petition calling for a class action law suit against the developer
Somehow this gets a pass and shrugged off
How to make quick cash in today's video game market......
Zombies cause that's something that's never going to get tired and old
Even better set up a pyramid scheme to have the suckers aka consumers/gamers finance the game
I put 90 minutes into this game i would've had more enjoyment watching paint dry
Concept: It's a simple concept rip-off elements of Dead Island, Sate of Decay,Fallout, & Minecraft Poorly
You get 7 Days to Die
Controls are terrible I thought State of Decays controls were off and centered around a mouse and keyboard
Boy was i wrong this game has no business being on consoles
The port wasn't adjusted or changed up for a controller the control scheme and layout are so complicated and over blown
Instead of it being simple like in Dead Island where you loot and change up/craft weapons at a workbench you can do it on the fly but, it's extremely complex the menu system stinks everything is so bloated and unnecessary
To quote Andrew Dice Clay playing 7 Days to Die with a controller is like masturbating with a cheese grater...Slightly amusing but, mostly painful.
Graphics I'm not a Graphics wh@re I can go back and actually play retro/vintage games and see the beauty and art in them
In the last 10 years on social media anytime you see any type of console talk you always have that jerk-off troll with the same tired line
"PC Master Race"
For all the Uber PC Fanboys why is this game excepted???
The graphics are terrible it looks like a Dreamcast or Gamecube title
I'll go one further all the PC fanboys were grifted into financing this piece of garbage
Which is a great example how many PC trolls are hypocrites this game isn't Ultra HD it's late 90's looking
It also has lots of bugs/glitches
Fun Factor: This game is not fun it's a convoluted mess it's boring, unappealing and should be a wake up call for consumers/gamers to stop crowdfunding from these shady developers
If you want fun Zombie games pick up State of Decay, Dead Island Collection, Dead Rising 3, Dying Light, Zombie Army Trilogy, Deadlight, Zombie Driver HD, and Zombi each one of those games run circles around this one
If you must play it rent it first
If you must own this game buy it used it's not even worth $20.00
MS gamer tag Duckman 1979
Without a doubt one of the worst games I've ever played 2.5/10
There are better ways to waste your money donate to no-kill animal shelters,donate to cancer research, of your local firehouse, Police Station this is enabling a terrible business practice | video-games_xbox |
Too Human: released too soon or too late depending on how you look at it. Story:
This is what I got out of it since I didn't finish the game:
The aesir are the protectors of the human race, unfortunatley they are fighting a losing war with the machines, which are the left over war machines of the einhander(which lost to whatever enemy that they were fighting) that are fighting anything that gets in their way (think Star Trek: Borg or the scifi series berserker wars by Fred Saberhagen). All the aesir can do is fight the machines to a stand still which apparently is causing their world to slowly be consumed by winter. In this backdrop comes Baldur who suffered somekind of accident that badly injured him and killed his wife. He is convinced that there is a new threat lurking out beyond the "wall". He is soon proven right and soon discovers a third meance that may mean the end of the aesir race if not stopped.
===========
If the above is a bit confusing and vague, then hopefully it gives an idea of trying to make out whats going on when actually playing the game. Now on to the game. I think this is what happens when a developer trys to take all the games that were popular over the last 10 years (with a heavy emphasis on diablo) or so and mashs them all together. When it works it works, when it works great Baldur is walking, air juggling death machine that that smashs through anything and anyone that gets in his way. Unfortunatley when one of the bits that didn't mash quite right pops up it knocks down the whole house of cards. Just about all of the issues have been mentioned else where, in great detail with with much description so I'll let the reader go find them, elsewhere. My main complaints with the game are the pacing, the dungeons and the controls. The pacing is more or less the story mentioned above, to me there was no real reason to want to go to the next dungeon or to want to go onto the next cut scene. If your going to copy Diablo then at least figure out what made the formula work and why people still play the thing. The story may not have been the most orignal or the greatest, but it made sense and finding out what happened next fit perfectly with finding a ton of interesting loot. Secondly the dungeons, for starters the ones I played all kinda looked the same, go down hall fight small monsters and then go into a big room where you fight a lot of small monsters and a couple of big monsters and then repeat until you get to the end where you fight a really big monster that is a nusiance to beat. Don't worry though you can't really die, it takes you more or less 30 seconds to respawn. This may not sound like a long time but when you keep getting killed because you get swarmed it adds up. Which brings me to the controls which lead the player to seeing the valkeryie slowly come down and slowly go up alot. If baldur is being nice to you then the sword work (mark of kri)and the gun play (DMC)actually work togther to make a fairly enjoyable combat experience. The problem is that pesky camera issue some game makers get and some game makers need to get. The actual problem is that the player does not control the camera. You have a choice of near, far, close and hit the Left Bumper if you want to spin the camera in the direction being faced by Baldur and if you happen to hit an enemy in the opposite direction of you have fun shooting or slicing air unless your lucky and the auto target decides to work. My usual luck was that I would knock the enemy in the air and the halfworking auto target would miss that and I would shoot up the scenery. Also there does seem to be an emphasis in this game for co-op, one of the pop up tutorials even says some of the bosses are better taken on with another player. All in all I had to give up on this game around the time Loki escapes just because the dungeon following that brought all of these issues to a head and had me banging my head against the wall. If you like diablo and don't mind dealing with a wonky control system and/or you have someone to play this game with in on-line co-op mode then you might get a good time out of it. Everyone else should rent before buying, I'm glad I did.
Graphics: Great
Story: Would proably be interesting if it made some more sense, apparently at the end there is a shocker/cliff hanger
Controls/Camera: Hopefully they will make sure this actually works right when they release the sequel. This is soupposed to be a three parter. | video-games_xbox |
Best yet in the skateboarding genre. Get ready for a totally new breed of the Tony Hawk experience - Tony Hawk's Underground. Play as yourself, not a pro skater, and make your way through a plot-twisting, true-to-life story that takes yo...u from unknown local skate punk to fame and fortune as Skater of the Year.
General/Summary:
Yay first review.
Anyway This is hands down the best THPS ever. They have gotten everything down on this one, even a story, but anyway lets get to the review.
Gameplay:
Well gameplay has been tweaked a lot and had a lot stayed the same. You now got a story to folow along with. instead of playing with a pro-skater you create a guy and give him a name and everything and now your in a story. You play a run-of-the-mill jersey rat hoodlum who has a lot of talent but doesnt know how to get off the ground with his skateboarding. Plus you got a freind, Eric, who keeps getting you into trouble. Its kind of like THPS 4 where you can free skte till talk to a guy who gives you something to do. So you start from the ghetto to(as far as I got) the pros in San Diego. But not only do you get new tricks you also get new options, one of those is walking, another is driving a car which is alright but kind of a pain in the A$$ to drive those but the missions involving them are kind of fun. But the walking is kind of cool since now its easier to get into smalller places and you can get onto roofs better without having to do a huge combo. plus, they still have secret tapes. and one of the best things of all, you can now hit people. Some people might not find it great but it gives something to do when I get frustrated with a mission.
Graphics:
Graphics are alright. Nothing stellar but they get get the job done.
Sound:
Sound is really great, acting is very well done plus, when you crash your guy says something like "ow my knee". but their soundtrack kind of sucks since its all rap.
All in All this game is totally stellar and in the top five of the best Xbox games ever. | video-games_xbox |
Comes in a lovely shade of fail. For the better part of an entire year, I was hyped up to this game. The announcement that there would be no Knockouts was the only thing that soured me a bit.
Then I read a Midway Q&A session on IGN.com regarding the game, and almost every response Midway gave either consisted of "No, this game will not feature that" or "We hope to include that in the next game!"
Missing a lot of things though it may be, Midway showed just how much fail is in this product when they spend an opportunity to hype it up by basically crapping all over it and all but telling us "don't buy this yet---it's only the beta version of the sequel coming in four or ten years~!"
Then the game itself. The graphics are good, but what game isn't these days? You can't give a game a pretty rating just for graphics alone---imagine how Final Fantasy: Spirits Unleashed would have been received if the graphics of the movie were considered a part of how good it was.
Even then, the graphics look nowhere near as good as the now-apparent pre-rendered screenshots plastered across the internet. I absolutely could not tell that James Storm character was supposed to be James Storm, while for the most part, all the wrestlers look how they're supposed to, but don't break the barrier of shock and awe. They are more in the league of Smackdown vs Raw 2007 or 2008.
That said, compensation appears to be made for the above-average graphics, by immense cuts in game content. 25 superstars is no real big deal. When all those superstars have the exact same generic taunts and the same puddle of moves to pick from, THAT is a big deal. A bad big deal.
The controls are a sloppy and contorted mess. Arguably this could be from a several year-long accustomment to the controls in WWE games from Day of Reckoning to Smackdown vs Raw 2008, but either way, it's simply not very functional for the R button to be for running, and for the strong-grapple button to be on the opposite side of the controller from the base grapple button itself.
The controls are designed in such a way that it will take a very long time to grow accustomed to them, much less to master them. Maybe this is due to my clumsiness and retard-fingers, but even I was able to get over the switch of L button for blocking strikes, R button for blocking grapples in SvR07 after a transition from WWE Day of Reckoning 2 (where it was the other way around) within a short while of gameplay. As such, when you are thrust into the ring early on, your only chance of winning is the basic punch/kick/basic grapple until you can figure out how to do more complex maneuvers without the computer utterly destroying you while you stand around stupidly.
The moves actions in-game are indeed fluid, but only for as long as the opponent is standing. As soon as they are knocked down and fail to immediately come back up, the fluidity is broken. As far as I can tell, there is absolutely no way to pick your opponent up when they've fallen---only to stomp or punch them, drop elbows or whatever other thing, or do ground grapples involving the exact same arm locks and such.
The "fluid" motions as well must be fluid if you consider just how slowly they come about. The controls do not react immediately, and once you've set about trying to perform a punch or a grapple, there is no going back. As such, if you're lightning-fast on your button mashing like I am, you'll be angered to no end by how sloppily your character tries a meek little punch, only for the enemy to back away quickly, then come right back up and hit you while you're still recovering from throwing that first punch.
Midway apparently HAS reason to brag about how "fluid" their grapples are as well---there are only about two or three of them the player can perform! Compared to the dozen or so that can be done in the WWE equivalent, the game pretty much only needs one button and two directions on the analog stick to fluidly perform the exact same suplex or jawbreaker or hurricanrana quickly and efficiently.
Counters are apparently the only area where the uniqueness of TNA's in-ring talent is on display. Amazingly, the moves are all very ordinary and basic, whereas the counters show off some of the most insane, unique, and innovative maneuvers TNA wrestlers can do. Counters.
The sound is terrible. Obviously something like sound isn't really of big importance to a game that does it right, but in this game they've really done something wrong for sound to get mention. The audience has only three or four noises they make---and they are NOISES, because this crowd never quiets down or gets louder---the generic white noise of screaming, a gasping sound effect used millions of times in various movies and TV shows for the past hundred years, and slightly noisier, but no more louder, cheering. The punch/kick sounds are comical in nature, sounding like something you'd hear in Street Fighter II or Final Fight for SNES.
I COULD have given the game a two or even three star rating if not for the crux of the massive bag of issues this game is; the fact that the opponent will seemingly always be better than you no matter what, always.
I started the game playing as Chris Sabin vs Shark Boy, and in said match, I was very new and experienced. I tried a balanced workout of punches and kicks first, followed by experimenting with grapples, and trying to figure out how to do other grapple moves. Not only did I utterly fail to do anything but snap suplexes, but because I was kicking the crap out of Shark Boy with only the most basic of moves, he easily countered some of them, built up a full iMPACT! bar, and performed his finisher and pinned me for three.
The next match I was AJ Styles vs Rhino. This bout went even shorter, as despite the fact that we both battled each other equally, my pins barely made two, whereas Rhino's one pin got me at 3 in less than 3 minutes.
Then I go to story mode, where the most damning thing happens: I spend a good 15 minutes utterly destroying this obese clown named "Benny" or some generic name like that, with 80% of all strikes and moves in this match being done by me on him, and I grab him up in my finisher and pin him, and he kicks out. After a more sustained and concentrated beating, not only does he kick out AGAIN, but he manages to pull off his finisher on ME and PIN ME FOR THREE! After getting in almost NO offense, he somehow BEATS ME!
This happened THREE TIMES IN A ROW! After finally beating him somehow, I move on, and THE SAME THING HAPPENS! I squash my next opponent, and yet they perform enough moves on me (seven moves on me out of 6000 on him is still enough to get you a full iMPACT! bar) to perform his finisher and beat me.
UPDATE: This only seems to get worse as you progress in storyline, as bigger-name stars are even bigger jerkasses to beat, as in one scenario where I LITERALLY squashed James Storm (as in, got over 90% of the matches' offensive moves placed on him), and just because he managed to counter 10% of my moves, HE is able to get a finisher, hit it on me, and pin me for three. Trying to break out of a pin by wiggling the control stick is such a frantic ordeal, I've cut the skin of my palm just trying to keep an opponent down for a pin by wiggling the control stick. Or rather, smashing it back and forth wildly.
This is pure BS. When you're pinned, the game gives you a motion of the analog stick wiggling back and forth in order to break the pin. The only problem is it doesn't tell you WHICH analog stick this is, and "wiggling it gently" is as effective as not wiggling it at all---you have to ram it back and forth as fast as you can.
And so, Midway releases to us a Beta test of a future release. And it is a great many things; and many of those things are what was once just a verb, but has now become a noun as well: Fail. | video-games_xbox |
Really good concepts but WOW. Man I waited 1 year for this game, I thought this might be the fps game that I will play all throughout the summer since I need a new fps besides the usual Call of Duty and Battlefield games. I really tried to like this game but this is probably the only game I ever regret buying ever honestly and let me tell you why besides the lag problem at launch that will probably drive you nuts. First I will start out with the flaws and after I will tell you what I really like about the game.
Cons
-Obvious lag (really? and at launch)
-Guns feel too similar to one another, no variety
-Attachment add very little to gun stats
-Single player is repetitive when you do the exact same thing online
-Lack of other game modes such as team or solo death match, king of the hill, or anything besides the objective mode they offer
-Unlocking guns and attachment in challenge mode instead of gaining it through xp online (does not make no sense whatsoever)
-You can only unlock skins when playing online
-Horrible map design, too many choke points and rendering the so call S.M.A.R.T movement useless
-Too Linear, every match they will tell you what class you should be instead of letting you choose (you can but majority of the time no one in the entire team will play a class that is vital to completing the objective) They would be better off following Team Fortress 2 footsteps
-All in all i feel like no matter if its single player, online, or the challenge mode it just all feels exactly the same
Honestly I really wanted to like this game but some flaws were so obvious I don't understand some of their unusual decisions.
Pros
+Customization, there are so many parts where you can easily make your character unique (probably my favorite thing about the game)
+The S.M.A.R.T movement is very easy to use but sucks because the maps don't really take advantage of it nor build around it.
I can't think of anything else at the moment of it being positive but will update if it does get better but I played all day since it was release and it's already starting to wear on me. It gets stale way too fast especially when you can easily unlock almost everything in an afternoon. I suggest you rent it first instead of wasting the 60 dollars, this game is seriously not worth the full asking price. Again I was really looking forward to this game and play almost every fps that comes out. This game just makes me angry and sad. I hate hating games with potential especially when this game has a really good concept but went super lazy with poor decisions on executing it. | video-games_xbox |
A Must for Simpsons fans. This game is all that a Simpsons fan could possibly want. The game is based around strange things going on in Springfield. There are crop circles, strange surveillance vans and giant wasps which roam Springfield.
Level 1 begins with Homer in Everyday Nice Springfield. It's sunny, and features common landmarks like Kwik E Mart, and the School as well as the Simpsons house and Power Plant.
Level 2 is with Bart and is set in really the centre of Springfield - more the industrial side. There, you can visit Moe's, the DMV and the Jebediah Statue. As well as driving on the Matlock expressway!
Level 3 is with Lisa and is by the lake, or sea whatever. There is a sunset, and you can go in the lighthouse, and observatory and the Comic book shop too!
Level 4 is like Level 1, only with Marge - and it is at night. Here- you can also go in Mr. Burns Mansion and also Barts Room.
Level 5 is with Apu and is similar to Level 2 only once again with different l;andmarks.
Level 6 is with Bart, and once again is like Level 3 however features more places like Mr. Burns Office.
Level 7 is known to be the best by most people. It features Homer in Everyday Springfield like in Level 1.
There are 7 Collector Cards in each Level. If you get them all, you'll unlock a mini racing multiplayer game - but don't be fooled because they are not good.
You can also buy new special clothes and vehicles for each character on each level using coins. To get onto the next Level you have to Complete Missions, howveer you can skip them if you fail them several times, as some are quite difficult. But - if you just want a roam around Springfield, you can do that too! tHERE IS a bonus mission on each level to unlock a bonus vehicle also, and three races on each level - which are hard but will earn a bonus vehicle.
On each level there is also a bonus vehicle hidden. Like a rocket car, a Monorail cart, Nightboat, an ATV, A Monster Truck, a Pink Cadillac etc. if you're a Simpsons fan you'll love the gags - but be sure to love thoroughly because they're easy to miss!
PS, Graphics are pretty good, and each level is a lot bigger than you would expect!
AND FINALLY - in my opinion - the best thing about this game is all the realistic dialogue and music. It really feels like you're in Springfield! | video-games_xbox |
Good wheel for the money. Context- I spent the last 2-3 years with a Fanatec CSR on FM4 and was waiting for an affordable wheel to jump up to FM6. FM6 is the only game I play. So this review in many ways is a comparison between the two wheels. Overall, for the price, I am happy, though I am wondering if I may be more satisfied by jumping up to a Fanatec CSL.
Pros:
- Physical setup was super easy. Plug and play. I have a bootleg cockpit setup and all I had to do was drill new holes for the pedals.
- Configuration was relatively easy. Took a little trial and error, but I got it to where I'm almost not thinking about the wheel while I use it (which is my indicator of a good wheel)
- Overall precision and control is pretty good.
- Build quality is surprisingly good. The buttons all look and feel good, the metal paddles feel expensive, and the main wheel grip is great.
- Force feedback at 100% is strong enough to probably break wrists/fingers. For me that is useless; I dialed it down to 10% and it gives me enough feedback at that level. I've driven everything from Hondas with "power steering delete" to Ferraris on racetracks in real life, and I've never driven anything with the level of kickback this thing has at 100%.
- Former Fanatec users can save some money by getting an adapter that will enable the use of Fanatec pedals.
- Lap times dropped by about 2-3 seconds with A class cars around most tracks compared to controlled. Looking at telemetrics this seemed to be due to more precise braking and steering inputs. Naturally your mileage may vary.
Cons:
- Wheel is a little smaller than I'd like. Haven't checked the diameter but I'm pretty sure my CSR is bigger. Personal preference.
- No thumbwheel for advanced camera view change in car customization/paint mode/Forzavista in FM6.
- No bolt holes for mounting, and existing bracket hangs low, interfering with my knees when I work the pedals. May have to adjust my rig.
- Pedals feel really cheap (they had to save money somewhere)
Compared to my Fanatec CSR:
- CSR has better mounting system
- CSR has smoother, more nuanced feedback
- CSR turns smoother
- CSR has nicer pedals
- TMX has much nicer feeling wheel
- TMX costs half the price
So in summary, I definitely recommend this to anyone looking to make the jump from a controller to a wheel for the first time. However for my fellow FM4/Fanatec players you might not be satisfied. I only got this yesterday so I will give it a couple of weeks before making a final verdict, but initial impressions are good. This is a great wheel for the money. | video-games_xbox |
As mature and objective a review as you'll find. So much has already been written about this game that reviewing it at this point seems unnecessary. However, as an exercise in hindsight, especially with <a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Final-Fantasy-XIII-2/dp/B003O6EBRA/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Final Fantasy XIII-2</a> a month away as of this writing, I hope you will refer to this review if you want the opinion of someone who has played through it twice and read just about every piece of criticism there is about this game. Whether you're just tired of Lancers and racing cars on your 360 and want a new experience or curious about the game because it's cheap now, please read on.
Let's get this out of the way first: the first 25 hours of the game are linear and story-driven. You'll be walking through alot of hallways and corridors and the story, told through the perspectives of each party member and via flashbacks, is one that will either hook you or lose you completely. This linearity is often cited as the biggest failing of the game, and it is if you want an immediately open-world experience. The developers took a huge risk in front-loading the game with exposition, and you'll either love it or hate it. How this linearity affects the gameplay and battle system is that you'll feel on-rails for this first portion of the game, as each party is pre-determined, as is how you level the party. The battle system is pretty complicated, so the game rolls each element out to you piece by piece. Let's get two things straight about the first 25 hours: just clicking auto-battle will not work past Chapter 3, and anyone who tells you otherwise didn't play the game enough to make an accurate critique of it, and it gets pretty hard towards Chapter 4 on through Chapter 10 (the Sazh/Vanille chapters, where you control two "specialists" in a party with no real power, can be tough, and some of the bosses are just about impossible if you can't figure out what to do). There is minimal grinding in these first hours, but you will have to basically fight every enemy put in front of you. There is very little money as well, and you don't really have to do any inventory management beyond equipping the best you currently have (mostly HP enhancers). In fact, it is advised that you hold on to absolutely everything you get and sell nothing except the items that have no use besides being traded for gil.
So basically, everything you've heard about the first part of the game is true, but whether or not that's really a bad thing depends on how much you hate linearity and the feeling that you're being "guided" by the game, as well as how much you get into the story. Again, this was a gamble by the developers, and the negative reaction to this and the subsequent changes in the sequel show that they've learned that modern gamers, for the most part, don't enjoy feeling like they're having their hands held. What I will say is that, since the plot is basically about fugitives on the run and trying to escape, this highlights the linearity even more than other games like Gears of War and Dead Space, that are just as linear but somehow aren't as "in your face" about it as Final Fantasy XIII.
So after you get to Chapter 11, to what might be your surprise, the entire game opens up in this epic, vast, beautiful, and daunting way. You choose your party, get to level them as you see fit, and set about leveling up in this absolutely gorgeous, lush, verdant environment. This is where you truly learn all the ins and outs of the battle system and how the game works. Again, I know it sounds ludicrous that a game takes 25 hours before you finally get to PLAY it, but if you're an RPG fan, you will LOVE how the game opens up at this point and joyously spend hours upon hours leveling your characters and learning the battle system.
So that's how the experience of actually playing the game is. One last note is that, if you want to get to Chapter 11 but just don't give a crap about the story, you can skip every cutscene, and doing so gets you to Gran Pulse in about 18 hours.
Now, the whole game looks great, arguably the BEST-LOOKING CONSOLE GAME OF THIS ENTIRE GENERATION, but it's when you first get to Gran Pulse that you really understand just how beautiful Final Fantasy XIII is. Take the pre-rendered cutscenes from the last generation, say Final Fantasy XII, enhance them to HD resolution, and you have what this game looks like IN-GAME. Now the actual cutscenes on the 360 definitely are compressed and don't look nearly as good as the PS3, but unless you're comparing them side by side you can't really tell.
Musically, the game is also just about perfect, with only some unfortunate bossa nova/jazzy stuff to lower the score. One other thing: this game has possibly the greatest RPG battle theme of all time. After countless hours I still love hearing it every single time.
To complete the presentation critique, the voice acting is almost uniformly superb. Yes, even Vanille, whose unfortunate stigma is more a case of cultural differences than a lack of quality in the acting (some things just don't translate well from Japanese to English, and chirpy, happy-go-lucky girls is one of them). It simply must be said that Ali Hillis' performance as Lightning is one of the most iconic in this generation of gaming, right up there with Nolah North as Nathan Drake in the Uncharted series and Jennifer Hale as FemShep in the Mass Effect series. She makes Lightning one of the iconic, unforgettable Final Fantasy characters of all time, bar none.
I feel it's especially important to devote more time discussing the battle system. The ATB/Paradigm Shift system is a menu-based, turn-based take on real-time action elements. This game is about speed, something you're graded on after each fight, and about understanding each role and choosing the right paradigms. The combat is fast and very strategic, as you will NEVER be able to simply overpower enemies after the first few chapters. Everything is about staggering enemies, which opens them up for more damage, and this is accomplished by attacking with melee strikes, chaining with magic, de-buffing, and even luring them with your tanks/damage sponges (called "Sentinels"). Each party member has three roles initially and each role eventually opens up for all members, though some roles are just better than others in terms of what skills they learn and how effective they are. Also note that the game is over when the party leader dies, which can frustrate you if you're not used to that.
Combat can get really hectic, hard, and frustrating for anyone expecting a regular turn-based system where 80% of the combat is attacking and healing. You cannot succeed in Final Fantasy XIII without doing some serious homework on what each role does, experimenting with paradigms, learning each enemy's weaknesses, and utilizing ALL ROLES (damage by itself is never going to win). As far as speed and strategy goes, this system is probably the ultimate evolution of a turn-based system before <a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Final-Fantasy-Versus-XIII/dp/B000ZK9QBY/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Final Fantasy Versus XIII</a> comes and probably takes the core series irrevocably down the path of real-time action systems forever. As mentioned, there are real-time action game principles that you have to respond to onscreen, such as being able to interrupt an attacking enemy mid-animation if the timing is right, or being interrupted yourself and having to re-adjust. The battle system is essentially a traditional turn-based system on overdrive, and you can think of it as one "turn" in this game equates to several traditional turns. If you take the time to learn the system and love RPGs, you will LOVE this system because, once you master it, it just feels great to earn five star ratings and beat enemies in a fraction of the time it used to take you. It's also unbelievably cool to look at, which is a given since the developers specifically wanted to re-create the battle aesthetic from <a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Final-Fantasy-VII-Advent-Children-Complete-Blu-ray/dp/B001YYQ9SS/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children Complete [Blu-ray</a>]. It must be said that, by any and all measure, the game does a poor job of explaining in detail what all the roles do and what you need to win. The basic instructions you're given are simply nowhere near enough to succeed, and it's up to you to experiment and see what everything does. A great example of this is that nowhere in the game's vast datalog/glossary of terms did I find definitions of what each buff/de-buff does, so if you forgot about Shield, Faith, Fog, etc, you're going to have to figure it all out yourself. Thankfully, you are not punished at all for dying, as you re-spawn at the same location after each defeat with no consequence, ready to re-shuffle your party and paradigm deck and go from dying to defeating the same enemy in two minutes.
There is one HUGE downside to all of this, and if this is an issue for you rest assured I'm doing you a favor by urging you not to buy this game: you never have time to directly choose any specific action. Your job is essentially to manage health bars, stagger bars, buff/de-buff statuses, and enemy actions, and shift paradigms when necessary. You have to set up moves in advance essentially, knowing the next three paradigms you will use before you even get there. You really don't have the time to choose anything but the auto function each turn no matter what role you're in as party leader. What this means is that, as the player, you are more or less tasked with developing strategies and plans of attack than any actual sense of "control." Even in non-action games, there is still a connection when you choose "attack" from a menu and watch the character perform the action right in front of you. That direct connection between player and character is just not there in Final Fantasy XIII, and if that sounds like it's an issue for you, trust me when I say you will hate this game.
In conclusion, the big talk these days for gamers is that Japanese games, and specifically JRPGS, are dead. Square Enix took a huge gamble in Final Fantasy XIII to stave off extinction, and it's obvious that the reaction has been mixed. This game is, if anything, choked full of perhaps TOO MANY ideas, changes, evolutions, and aspirations. They tried to revolutionize and save a genre that is dying, and how successful they were depends on your personal tastes as a gamer. I hope I've given you the relevant information, so please comment and I will respond. | video-games_xbox |
Worst Kinect Game I Have. I have almost all of the Xbox Kinect games, including Kinect Sports, Motion Sports and this Sports Freedom, so I know what to expect from these games. This one is the worst one I have. The menus are difficult to navigate. In many, you don't see the hand on the screen to tell you where you are pointing, so its hard to tell what you are selecting until it it starts the acceptance spins. The game froze up on me once. It just locked up and I could not navigate out.
Game play is surprisingly poor. Kendo, I thought would be fun, but it is so unresponsive it is ridiculous. You wait and wait for the match to start and then you swing once, hit the opponent, (or the opponent hits you once) and the match is over. Then you wait for the next match. It becomes tedious in the first game or two. I changed the setting to three hits, but it wasn't much better. The swinging of the sword is a full second behind my hand movements. I have to hope that my opponent will be there when the swing begins.
Paintball was the first game I was interested in. Whoever decided that the camera panning and the cross hair and the firing would all be done by one hand made a huge error. It is difficult to navigate and shoot. To hide behind something and try to hit the opponent is frustrating because of the lack of control. I was forced to run into the center of the battle to line up people to shoot. Again, the shooting was a second behind when I lifted my arm, so the response was too slow.
I tried volleyball to compare this game with kinect sports and it pales in comparison. With the response time so far behind, it is a guessing game as to when you need to swing or make your shot. I can't see anyone preferring this Kinect game over the others out there, and there aren't many.
I tried this with other people playing and they did not like it. The controls were too unresponsive and the game controls unintuitive. Making friends use the tutorial was pointless. By the time they learned the game, they already didn't want to play.
I like Kinect and many of the games,including Kinect Sports but not this one. I would avoid Deca Sports Freedom entirely, even Motion Sports is better. At any price, it isn't responsive enough to be anything but frustrating. | video-games_xbox |
OK, MY EXPERIENCE WITH TOY FACTORY (BAD maybe even not legitmate but covered there tracks the feeling i got. THIS IS JUST ONE PERSONs personal experience let that be known and that this is my 100percent honest and true experience. Ok I ordered a xbox 360game Dec26th aprox. 2am. They advertise normal shipping at and don't quote me because honestly am not going to waste my time looking up dates and times and this and that for a 20game from a shady company that shouldnt be allowed to sell on amazon. Anyway i order dec26th Here is THE MAIN ISSUE, withing 48hrs of my order i decided i didn't want to wait and went on amazon my order appeared stating it had not been shipped and the cancel order buttom was yellow and allowed me to click it. I did this took my directly to toy factory website where i had to directly submit an email to customer service requesting my cancalation, i did this again aprox 30hr after order and got a generic auto response stating "something along the lines we will get backs to you" I then write another email later that day again no answer. 72 hrs go by check amazon and my order had been shipped. I contact seller and keep getting auto response. POINT BEING NO CUSTOMER SERVICE, I NEVER HEARD ONE WORD FROM THIS COMPANY. i filed an official complaint and amazon refunded me. AMAZON YOU ON THE OTHERHAND EXCEED YOUR WORD AND ARE JUST THE BEST AND MOST LEGITMATE ONLINE BUYING SITE ON THE WEB. I never recieved a call or email or message i used both amazon and funfactory directly went thur all channels to stop order but after amazon refunded aprox. JAN 20-25th i got the game by that time i had bought and beaten the entire game from gamestop. I beat games in 2 days tops anyway. because of the pawnshop law i couldn't sellback both copies and just now logged into account orders and noticed all this pending stuff basically it looks like amazon or funfacty want an explanation. So, in the end amazon stood true to there buyer garentee. Sadly i cant mail back there game mainly becuz when i went sell them back early feb gamestop would not buy two so i gave it to a kid in the store. Amazon, in a way i feel bad because they sent the product but then again they never emialed me back once and i tried to contact them 2 weeks straight almost eveer other day.
Please don't hold it agaisnt me as i have been using your site more and am coming more familiar with all the tabs and this you offer, | video-games_xbox |
Addicting Magic. Just as you have heard its exactly the like card game "magic";Nevertheless its super fun, you may even become addicted. With Video games the word addicted isn't bad, Apparently; It means the game must have something that can draw a person in and keep them interested. The most absorbing ,and intriguing parts for me were finding\locating all the cards,Messing around with my "decks".
At first you might be like huh?..Especially if you've never Played the real "Magic card game".
I say give it time;Either way, fulfillment is what you'll get.
Their is more then enough helpful information. Every question you may have is answered and explained right in the help menu supplied on the disk. Its one of those games you get a pen an paper for,To remind yourself of the little things. Like what character gave you the most green cards,Spell cards, etc. I found myself jotting down the best spells and creatures, What map/land was easiest/hardest. Also what deck helped me to gather what i seek.
You get to create a bunch of decks,Packing them up with whatever you wish. From neutral,earth, water,Air,Fire,items,Tool- s,Armor,scrolls,Spells
(single-target)(Multi- target)cards. Changing book covers and naming them keeps everything in order. Also it keeps records & stats of how you did on each map. You unlock new clothes such as hats,weapons,capes,etc;As you play more and more an defeat different Characters. Who you also get to play as after defeating them. You may re fight them again and again to unlock more things.
Culdcept Keeps you and throws you off many times, Example:By randomizing the characters on the maps,just when you thought you had it down. Leaving it not so predictable and easy. I remember getting p1ssed off more then a few times with a couple of the characters, but that just makes you want to play more.
I personally can't say enough about this game ,Their are many different lvls of play ,an Thinking involved. Its all about Strategy and does require Patience. Ran outta room lol | video-games_xbox |
A disappointment. There is so much wrong and annoying with the gameplay that it cancels out any of the fun elements. First, the server does NOT SAVE you where you left off, which is highly annoying! I should not have to replay one area multiple times because it does not put me where I actually ended. Second, the aiming sucks---and I mean really sucks. One of the things about Rainbow 6 that was fun and challenging at the same time was the aiming---you had a small dot that replicated what it is like to "really" aim and fire at targets. This game totally fails. Your actual aim dot is at least a full inch to the right of your gun which makes it VERY hard to shoot the enemy when things get hot. I spend time trying to find the sight--which really just should never be an issue (for instance, Fallout 4, Destiny, Borderlands have reliable sights). Third, you cannot crouch! At all! Sure you can hide behind stuff, but you cannot sneak, cannot crouch--all you can do is hide behind something, stand up and shoot, then hide again--which is not the same as being able to shoot from a crouch position. Fourth, to be fair I am not a fan of 3rd person shooters---the angles are terrible and there is no precision. Why they made this game 3rd person I do not know because it is very annoying. The angle wobbles all over the place and tries to position you in ways you do not want. Deadspace is 3rd person, one of my favorite games of all time, and it has much better view controls than The Division. It would be nice (Like Fallout 3 & 4) if they gave you the option to be either 1st or 3rd person. It is easy in the Division to get stuck behind doors, walls, cars, you name it. Fifth, one dude with a baseball bat can kill me with ONE swing but I have to empty a clip into him before HE dies!! WTF?? I hate games that do that to players--it's disrespectful.
There is really no "post-apocalyptic" feel to this game at all. The images do not really set up any apocalyptic feel and it's not like you can't find health or ammo. The missions are pretty standard and the screen is just too full up with stuff. The graph with the health and ammo is literally right in front of you --bottom center screen--all the time, which is very annoying. And story?? What story--there really isn't one. You just go into random buildings
and shoot people. Overall, a disappointing and annoying game to play. | video-games_xbox |
Basic notes. I have played Myst, Riven, Exile, Revelation, and End of Ages. I have old Power PC Macs and have had no problems running these games at all. Please be aware that these old Macs also allow me to run both Native OS9 and Classic OS9. The original Myst does not run very well under Classic but runs perfectly under OS9. Do not despair, the Myst Masterpiece Edition runs flawlessly under Classic, a much better choice for those who can run Classic.
Exile, Revelation, and End of Ages all run flawlessly under OSX.
I run both OSX 10.4.11 and OSX 10.5.8 with either ATI or NVIDEA cards. G4 and G5 PPC 2 GHz machines with 4GB Ram or more with ATA or SATA hard drives.
I cannot comment on game performance issues with PC's.
The problem is with Myst IV Revelation XBOX version.
I purchased the new Xbox 360 250GB and followed all the instructions for playing original Xbox games to the letter.
The Xbox Myst Revelation game will simply not run on the new Xbox 360. I am currently attempting to resolve this issue.
I suspect that since I use HDMI to connect my Xbox 360 that the Xbox machine simply does not have the code to convert Myst IV Revelation into digital HD.
With regard to the games themselves you must be aware that the first three Myst games were simply gather clues and use the clues to solve puzzles, really quite entertaining.
The first three games were 90% puzzle solving by deductive reasoning and 10% mathematical solution.
Myst IV Revelation is 75% mathematical solution and 25% deductive reasoning and puzzle solving.
If you enjoy solving mathematical puzzles this is the game for you. (some are VERY complex)
If you enjoy just solving puzzles, you may find Myst Revelation quite annoying compared to the first three editions.
You must also be aware that Revelation does no supply you with a return linking book once you have solved a puzzle and this is completely opposite to the first three editions. Basically you can drive yourself crazy trying to find the elusive missing linking book even though you have already solved the puzzle. If you have played previous versions of Myst, this major alteration in game play can literally drive you insane.
I have not played End Of Ages enough yet to make an informed comment.
Overall I would rate the Myst games as a wonderful diversion to daily stress and far more entertaining than Kill, Conquer, Fight, Destroy, Dominate, Blood, Guts, Gore, and Die games that pervade the gaming industry and brain wash our youth. | video-games_xbox |
Most practical application of Kinect up to date. Lets get the so called "negatives" of this game out of the way immediately:
- "You need a lot of space" So many reviews on gaming sites usually criticize the fact you need a lot of space for Kinect games. Duh! Isn't that the whole purpose of Kinect? It tracks the whole body. Besides if you are a good ball handler it surprising how little space you actually need.
- "You could break something when dribbling the ball in front of the TV, Kinect, XBOX, expensive China set (you did not remove) etc..." Theoretically yes. In practice I don't think this will happen a lot (if at all). Ball usually slides down and just bounces off low if you lose a handle. "Around the world" move has a bit of potential to let the ball flying high, but if you take the common sense precautions (remember to hide the China set) you should be fine
- "Dribbling the ball is a laud activity". Yeah. True. I guess if you live in apartment above someone's head or your family members disapprove you might not be able to play it. Which is really a shame. As I said below...niche market for this one.
- "Could have more tracks, "story mode", more moves/tricks, more game modes when compared to the top rated rhythm games of today." As far as I am concerned it's a miracle this game was approved considering the niche market and the fact a lot of people will simply dismiss it due to fact they think it's ridiculous to dribble the ball in front of the TV. The game is really a rounded up completed product with nice set of features for v1. Looks nice, sounds nice and plays beautifully.
Gameplay is fluid, detects all the moves without issues, and has a nice progression. It's simple. You dribble the ball and try to match balls that arrive down the track. Each time the on-screen ball hits the specific area your ball needs to bounce of the floor from corresponding side/hand. If you miss a bit you get less points, if you miss a lot... no points. There are special moves that range from simple crossover (switching dribble from one to another hand) to Backward Hopkins (between/behind the leg dribble that is controlled with the same hand that started the dribble). You can see a couple of upcoming moves in lower right. There is a timeframe box that represents the time window in which the move needs to be executed. There is a nice "shadow representation" of player and some other stuff, but everything is pretty much easy to get and standard for any rhythm game. Once you get into it it's really a pleasure to play and figuring out some combinations is really fun and challenging (depending on how good initially you are)
There are 3 levels of gameplay: "Rookie", "Pro" and "Baller". Each level is a bit faster paced, introduces new "moves" (I believe that 6 moves are available on rookie initially, 4 new added on Pro level and 2 new on Baller.
Each mode has the same 30s songs on disposal. Each song has it's own level (easy, medium or hard) base don rhythm and move combination, so you can look at it as 9 different levels of difficulty).
Difficulty levels ramp up nicely and the absolute beginner should be able to play and enjoy Rookie/easy combination. My 7 year old son got bored playing that, and the only problem he has is that the ball we are using is too big for him to dribble between legs etc...but we just started 3 days ago.
Baller/hard is actually fast paced and hard and even better handlers should have at least a bit of fun in learning the game - since moves are going to be natural for them.
The rest of the game is done nicely, there is nothing spectacular, maybe unlocking the full version of songs (all are initially short ~2:30 minutes ones) in "store" for points earned is worth mentioning. As I said, it's a small miracle this game was made at all and I cross my fingers they will somehow decide to support it in future with updates and new versions, but considering how weird it sounds I don't know if enough people will dare to try it.
This is really the first video game I know of that has ability to actually teach player real life practical-applicable team-sports skill. You WILL learn how to dribble, or improve your dribble with this game. That is unless you are a pro/collegiate player, but I believe it's probably fun even then.
This game is ideal as a learning tool, for a party setting or even for sport clubs (although the only multiplayer available is a standard turn based one).
If you like basketball, Kinect games, sport games or simply want to play a hidden gem with a twist you will want to try this one.
And remember - Yes, you will need to DRIBBLE THE BASKETBALL in front of the TV. That's the point. Give it a chance use some common sense and enjoy! | video-games_xbox |
Welcome to Liberty City. Lets skip all the video game politics and ethical diatribe, Grand Theft Auto IV is some serious fun. That is, if you can handle heavy satire, hours of enjoyment, and a massive city as your personal playground.
For its very first foray into the next generation of gaming, the Grand Theft Auto series goes back to a wholly different Liberty City. Modeled after New York City (catch the funny play on names like the GETALIFE building), Liberty City is a living, breathing world that is detailed like never before. In fact, one of the most impressive aspects of GTAIV is its realistic portrayal of human beings. Of course, there is a huge layer of stereotyping and satire involved, but as far as their actions and movements go, everything feels so real that it is quite hard not to get sucked into the game.
For the 4th installment in the Grand Theft Auto 3D universe, Rockstar trimmed the fat and injected more realism and emotion into the game. Gone are the heavy handed quasi-RPG elements of 'San Andreas' (I kind of liked them, but oh well). Planes are also gone, as are bicycles; GTA IV feels more like GTAIII, eschewing most of what 'Vice City' and 'San Andreas' brought to the table, much to the chagrin of many fans. I think this is a good thing. Instead of a mish-mash of half baked concepts and ideas thrown together, we get a very focused and in depth game with a variety of options. The Story lines in GTA games have always been lacking, but GTAIV aimed to change that. It did.
You are Niko Bellic, a foreigner seeking resolution and the American Dream. You come to Liberty City and immediately find yourself in the midst of crime and betrayal. I'm not going to say anything else about the story other than it is actually really good! The dialogue is really good, the voice acting is really really good. Ever since I got this game I have been completely engulfed by it, absorbed into the world of Niko Bellic and Liberty City.
Like in 'San Andreas' your character has his own voice, his own emotions, motivations and mannerisms. Niko Bellic feels, acts and sounds like a real person. He gets angry, he gets happy. And the really cool and nicely done cut scenes show off all of this. In fact, this game would have been a snore fest had the main character been a cardboard cut out or a voiceless murderer. Giving the main character a true sense of purpose and identity is what makes this game a very enjoyable experience. You get a grip of what Niko wants, and you can really connect to him. That is something that is unfortunately missing in most of the games flooding the market today.
Your in game cell phone plays out like your menu. From your phone you can contact friends, get work, get to the options menu, take pictures, and access the multiplayer feature. Its a neat way to hide a menu, and it can actually work as a phone as well. You can call the police, the fire dept and the paramedics. These can work to you advantage if you find yourself in a jam with the more seedier folk. Being chased by some gun totting gangsters? No problem, just call the police, and they will take care of it. But make sure you are not shooting when they arrive, or they will probably chase after you.
Friends play a crucial role this time around, and to be honest you will spent most of your time pleasing your friends. They will call you wanting to hang out. Chill with them enough and they may even grant you special favors (i.e helicopter rides and gun trafficking). Ignore them too much and they will lose respect for you and may even start to dislike you. They also have various side quests for you to tackle. Your friends have their own personalities, their own attitudes, beliefs and interests. Rockstar did an awesome job fleshing out each character. However, there is a downside to the whole friends business, they never leave you alone! They always seem to call you right when you are in the middle of a mission. It can get really tedious at times trying to satisfy both friends and a girlfriend, but hey thats life. And GTAIV certainly does feel like a second life.
One thing that GTAIV does borrow from 'San Andreas' is the dating sim, which has been drastically improved. Not only do you meet various woman through the main story line, you can even go online (yes, this game has an in-game internet!) and meet people online. There are a host of things to do with your date as well, such as bowling, comedy clubs, strip clubs, dining, pool, darts, and drinking. You can even get intimate with your dates, which results in a semi-funny cut scene (no they don't show you anything).
Hookers are still in the game as well, and I still have a heck of a time using and abusing them. Which leads me to another fun aspect of GTAIV; playing the game how YOU want to play it. Sure during missions you have to complete the objective, but outside of missions the city is your playground. You can pretty much do anything you want, within the limits of the game. As always, you can go on killing sprees, see how many stars you can obtain, see how many police you can kill etc. These can sometimes be fun, however you have to take the violence with a grain of salt. Its a video game. Remember that.
Graphic wise, GTAIV is definitely a step up from its predecessors. Is it true next generation graphics? Not really, but for the sheer size and scope of the game they more than serve their purpose. Details is where this game shines. From murals painted on buildings to the glitz and glamor of Liberty City's equivalent to Times Square, everything is heavily detailed. Every time I play this game I am amazed at how realistically detailed the city and its inhabitants are. Kudos to Rockstar for such a fine job.
Not only are the graphics a definite upgrade from its predecessors, but the A.I is much improved. Pedestrians act more realistic, answering their cell phones, on their daily routines, drinking coffee, causing trouble. You can even spot civilians getting into shootouts with the police, or resisting arrest. The pedestrians and enemies in GTAIV are some of the smartest and most realistic in the series, and part of that has to do with the new physics engine used for the game.
Dubbed the 'Euphoria' engine, this powerful program causes every single object in the game world to react to real physics laws. This means that every single character in the game moves with a realistic sense of weight. Get hit by a car and your body will go ragdoll, smash into something head on in a car and watch your body fly through the windshield and onto the pavement. When you shoot someone their body reacts to the specific spot where the bullet hit them. Overall the new physics engine is something to rave about, and I am willing to bet we will be seeing that engine in use in the future (Star Wars: Force Unleashed will be using the Euphoria engine as well).
The combat has been greatly improved as well, though the auto aim is still rather annoying. Thankfully you can now toggle the auto aim on/off. The new cover system, similar to Gears of War and even more so Metal Gear Solid 4 really adds new life to the combat. Being able to duck behind virtually any object and wall in a heated battle is a godsend. You can even peek around corners and fire. There are still times when the whole ordeal gets a little clunky, but its a much needed improvement over the previous GTA titles.
At last, we come to the most interesting aspect of GTAIV, the multiplayer. For the first time gamers can roam the immensely detailed streets of Liberty City via Xbox Live. You and some friends can start a Free Roam game and do whatever you want. You can reign terror on the city, have death matches, races. Quite literally, you can do what you want. If the Free Roaming gets boring, you can always join in on a Ranked or Unranked deathmatch and the even more exciting Team Deathmatch. I have to say that team deathmatch in the sprawling Liberty City is epic! You can even have up to four or five teams battle each other at once!
If online shootouts aren't your fancy, you can take to the streets, racing style. Since the courses all take place in the streets of the city, there are no designated paths that you are forced to take. You can get through the check points any way you want (except backwards of course). And if you decide to give up you can always work towards making the other drivers lives very miserable by setting up roadblocks and causing all kinds of trouble.
Speaking of online, one of the coolest things about GTAIV is the level of developer support it will get. Rockstar have already promised gamers some downloadable content this fall. As to what it will be is anyones guess, but suffice it to say the the options are literally limitless. They could do anything from add new missions to new sections of the city. They could even add new weapons, stores, songs on the radio, and a whole host of stuff. This is most beneficial to the gamer, especially if this content is cheap or free. I am very excited to see what Rockstar have cooking.
Oh yeah, one more thing. The radio, as always, rocks! On it you will hear the classic talk show radio stuff that hilarious, and a multitude of music that spans across all genres and styles. Some songs you will recognize, and others you may not.
Grand Theft Auto IV is THE controversial game of this generation,. and in many ways it is also one of the best GTA titles in the series. With endless fun, endless options, an amazing A.I and physics system, and a whole host of missions, side quests, friends and relationships Grand Theft Auto IV brings the GTA series to the next generation. As always, this game is rated M, as this is a very violent game. But there is always a tinge of humor to every action taken. | video-games_xbox |
Horrid Multiplayer Ruins Game Experience. Maybe I bought into the hype machine, maybe I got my hopes up, maybe I'm over reacting, but if there is a Forza Motorsports 4, put Dan Greenawalt on a leash. When he gave his E3 2009 presentation, he made claim that the love of cars "led his team to create the definitive racing game of this generation". That's a big claim to make, but he obviously believes it as he makes the statement numerous times throughout the presentation.
What bugs me the most though, is Mr. Greenawalt and his team seem to have forgotten what "definitive" and "racing" mean. Now to be fair, and perhaps to show that I'm not totally harsh on the guys at T10, they have definitely done some great things with the game. The livery editor is top notch, creating vinyl groups is superb, the game looks great, the cars sound good, roll overs are nice, and the amount of cars included is great too. However, none of that adds up to "definitive racing game". Yes, the physics are improved, but Turn 10 seems to have been extremely willing to disregard those improved physics in exchange for mass appeal. The fact that rewind, auto-brake and other assists are there don't detract from the game at all, in fact, I welcome them. What bothers me though, is that Greenawalt's crew has taken away things that made Forza 2 great, and then had the audacity to flaunt the game as a "definitive" experience.
For example, if you go to a race in the single player mode and turn off every assist, crank up the difficulty, simulate damage and tire wear, and manually shift with a clutch (a nice addition), you can double the amount of money you earn. However, you gain no additional XP. Yes, if you put on all the assists, autobrake, full racing line, no damage, easy difficulty and auto shifting, you get the same amount of experience points. Which at this point you have to ask yourself, where do you gain more experience? Learning how to control your digital vehicle with nothing but your own skill and luck to save you? Or by holding the right trigger down and staying on the multicolored racing line?
Again, T10 says it's the same thing. The guy who sweats and plays through an endurance race seeking out that crucial XP with the difficulty as high as it will go, gets the same amount of XP as the kid who probably drools on himself. The idea of accessibility is great, more fans in the community is good. But don't handicap your more experienced fans.
It should be noted that the extra money is nice, you get to go out and buy some nice new parts for your existing ride, do a little motor swap, make your Focus AWD, all sorts of cool stuff. Or maybe you want to go out and buy a nice new car. The new menu system is much sleeker than Forza 2, but as you go looking for a new car, like a Chevrolet Corvette ZR1, you can't. Unless of course, you spent an extra $20USD on the Limited Collector's Edition to get some perks which includes access to vehicles and tracks. Which, is annoying, frustrating, and, worst of all in my opinion, a disservice to DLC (NOTE: I bought the LCE).
DLC, in my mind, is meant to be a supplement down the road to extend the life of a video game. What Turn 10 has done is intentionally water down the Forza 3 experience to profiteer off of a special edition. How so? By intentionally leaving cars out of the finished product and by knowing that some people will spend more to buy these "left out" cars and, it will put pressure on those who would not normally spend the extra money on a special edition game to do so. If you want to compete with your friends and take in the entire Forza 3 experience, you almost have to. Otherwise you may be left out of the competition if you don't have a specific car to compete with. So for 79.99USD you get a complete game. For 59.99 you run the risk of not being allowed to compete in certain races, or you don't get the joy of designing a sweet livery on what could be your dream car. All for stuff that was designed concurrently with the game, and made available at the same time. Not later on down the road to keep the game more interesting and have a better chance of competing with a pending rival game release. Instead, you have to cough up 20 dollars for stuff that should have been included in the first place. It's especially frustrating because these cars effect the level of competition in the game. It's not as if buying the LCE unlocked things that were of no consequence to the core of the game, cars and racing are THE core of the game. T10 could have offered special liveries pre-loaded on the USB drive that came with the LCE, and that wouldn't have changed anything with the core of the game.
And since we are on the topic of competition, let's get to my main sticking point. Forza 3 has failed at bringing an online racing experience that exceeds what Forza 2 accomplished. Turn 10 has decided, in the words of Che, "reset" the multiplayer. Gone are the searchable lobbies set up by fellow racers and in is a match making system that doesn't work. Say you wanted to race people in R1 cars around Maple Valley for 10 laps, but no one was on your buddy list. Instead of going in and making the room and playing a little of the waiting game, instead you have to go in and hope that the matchmaking system will put you in a room that is racing at Maple Valley. And even then, you only race for 3-5 laps. No options are available for the user to change. Had this been an added feature, it would be great. You'd be able to jump in at anytime, adding to the accessibility, while the "hardcore" would still be able to seek out whatever type of digital racing heroin they so desire. Instead, you must rely on your friends list and people you've met to set up private rooms exactly how you want rather than being able to search for likeminded individuals.
And that's why I don't have faith in what Turn 10 has done with Forza. The accessibility is welcome, but not at the expense of what is already established. I feel that more has been done to enhance the commerce of the Forza universe than the core of the game. The livery editor is easy to use, works rather well, and selling tunes as well as vinyl groups and designs are great for the community. But the fact that the Single player side doesn't properly reward those who compete at a higher level compared to those who rely on assists and the multiplayer is nowhere near what Forza 2 brought to the table, just shows that Turn 10 chose to focus on making an excellent e-commerce and art appreciation game rather than the "definitive racing game" Greenwalt promised at E3. Racing is competition, and in order to make this a "definitive" competition, Turn 10 would have to do some major repair work on the racing.
Update 11/03/2009: I have been playing the game with some frequency for the past week since the launch. Quite a few of the more expensive race cars in the game that you can afford only after spending some time with the game have non-working interiors. Hopefully a patchable item, but it's apparent that the game didn't receive a thorough enough testing. Bugs are going to happen, but this is a pretty easy to spot thing. Also, while the aforementioned multiplayer isn't nearly up to the caliber that was delivered with Forza 2, the matchmaking lobbies don't contain all of the classes. The lower ranked classes, the ones you start out with, are not currently represented in the multiplayer hoppers. This forces players to choose cars that aren't designed or tuned by them. On the same topic of tuning for multiplayer: Making tuning changes in multiplayer lobbies is not permitted. You can load a tuning set if you have one for a car that you own, however you can not modify anything for that set up in the lobby. This makes another feature that is sorely missed from Forza 2. Missing also is system link. One of the comments on this review spoke of owning two xbox 360s and two copies of Forza 2. Unless both copies of Forza 3 are hooked into an XBox live gold account, they can't play against each other, even in the same room. Other missing features include: The ability to choose your hired driver and the amount of money paid out to them, and the ability to paint brake calipers.
It's also worth noting the severe restrictions of the auction house currently in place. A vinyl group can not sell for more than 10,000 in game credits. This is an attempt to control the economy of the game, per Turn 10. This unfortunately also works against the idea of spending long arduous hours making designs for vehicles and selling them.
And yes, I understand that some of you disagree with my 1 (now 2) star rating. Forza Motorsport's biggest strength was it's robust online experience. Now through intentional efforts to control that aspect of the game and make it more accessible, they have driven away a large portion of the dedicated fans that kept the community rolling and interesting 2 years after the launch of Forza 2.
Update 11/06/2009: I have been banned from the website for the game by Turn 10 or one of its representatives. | video-games_xbox |
Remember Noble. Remember Reach. Halo Reach is the prequel to the entire series where you play as a Lieutenant code named 'Noble Six'. It is also the most recently released entry and it shows wonderfully. This, as of right NOW (see the date above; Halo 4 not out yet) is my absolute favorite Halo game. I'll try to explain my reasons in 4 parts: Graphics, Gameplay, Characters, and Story.
Graphics: This is easily the best looking Halo in my small opinion. The environments just pop off the screen, as you go over hills in the beginning, bypass mountains in between missions, and jump from building to building in the New Alexandria mission. The one thing I especially love most of all is surprisingly, the weapons. The Assault Rilfe's HUD (and the HUD in general) and look are really polished, and each weapon has great detail to it. I personally love the Energy Sword, but I really don't see that much difference between Reach and Halo 3. Overall, the game is just stunning to look at. (5/5)
Gameplay: OK, there is ZERO difference between how you can play the game and every other Halo. (Other than the fact that there is NO FLOOD which is my number one reason why I love this entry the most. I HATE the Flood and the fact that 4-player Co-op is here) This includes FireFight like Halo 3 and ODST so you Halo 3 buffs know that this is a major plus. I don't write about multiplayer because of two reasons; 1.) I'm awful at it, but it is the single greatest multiplayer out there. (Including Call of Duty and Battlefield) with the variety of modes and maps; and 2.) I consider myself a single campaign player so I like that type of game better but PLEASE DO NOT allow that to make you feel I'm being biased (reference reason 1.) The final thing that is left is Forge. Again, you Halo 3 buffs know what I'm talking about, a Halo 3 original, this mode is actually better here due to it having its own dedicated world cleverly titled (not) 'Forge World' and other maps and its easier building menu system. (5/5)
Characters: Each character is well designed, voiced, and each personality is nicely made. The cutscenes show just how awesome the graphics are but I wanted to have this part under Characters because their armor, faces, and movements are very well programmed. (I love Carter's armor and Jorge's voice, however everyone else in Noble gets on my nerves) These characters provide great additions in the Halo universe and each one is relatable in some way. (5/5)
Story: Without a doubt, this is the most compelling game in the Halo saga. I was moved after each mission starting about halfway through. If you haven't played this game, I will not provide spoilers but you have no heart if you don't feel. Every mission is filled with more and more importance to the entire Halo mantra as you go along. By the end of the very last mission, you know how Halo 1 starts, and it gave me a sense of wonder. Bungie bowed out of Halo with grace to 343 Industries and they left their last mark on the game that made them the powerhouse that they are and made me replay Halo. (5/5)
Pros:
+ Story is unmatched in all of the Halo games.
+ (Personal) No Flood
+ Visuals are nothing short of stunning.
+ Best multiplayer a game could have.
+ 4-player Co-op possible
Con:
- Only one tiny thing that I guess only quirks me and me alone, is that Forge has a limited amount of money you can use. If you play with a lot of people in Forge, it will go quickly
In summary, as I stated, this is my absolute favorite Halo with the best graphics, story, and environments (Not characters because if anyone values these characters over Master Chief, the Arbiter, Sgt. Johnson and Cortana, I apologize but you need a brain scan). If you consider yourself a gamer, you need to own this game. No arguments about it. (10/10) | video-games_xbox |
Great, well balanced game. In summary, Fable 2 is the game its predecessor should have been. This is not to say that it's perfect or that it is a game for everyone, but for all intents and purposes it is much improved over the original and delivers on most of what this sort of game should.
Like the original Fable, Fable 2 takes place in the dark fairytale world of Albion. Unlike the original Fable though, Albion is now less of a serious of small areas separated by loading screens and more of a cohesive world. There are still loading screens, but the areas are large enough that most quests take place within a single area, as opposed to half a dozen in the original game.
Fable 2 is very much a game about choice and consequences. This is both its greatest strength and greatest weakness. These consequences play out on both small (buying the local tavern and lowering its prices) and large (impacting the development of an entire town over decades) scales, and the result is that the game world has a thorough, if not quite entirely complete, feeling that it is dynamically changing in ways that most games never even attempt.
Of course the downside to these choices is that you also have the choice to simply not make the choice at all. So unless you're being a completionist, you're bound to miss some of the game's content, and small group of people are even going to miss most of the game's content as they burn their way through the main storyline in a matter of hours, seriously diminishing their enjoyment of it in the process. So I would recommend going into this game in the mindset that you'll get out of it what you put into it. Take your time to explore the game and you're likely to find plenty that interests you.
Visually the game is quite appealing, and maintains the somewhat dreamy, cartoonish look of the first, complete with excessive use of lightbloom. The framerate stutters from time to time, but while it may annoy some it's nothing that should seriously impede your enjoyment of the game.
Combat seems simple at first, you'll use only 3 buttons. However, it's quite a bit deeper than it initially appears, and while you can button mash your way through Fable 2, it's much more enjoyable if you learn the nuances of the controls (for instance, lightly tapping X, holding it, mashing it, and holding it while tilting the control stick will all perform dramatically different attacks).
In the end Fable 2 more or less sticks to the concept laid out in the original Fable, a rich fantasy world that your character interacts with and effects on multiple different levels. So while Fable 2 hasn't really extended that vision any further, what it has done is realized it in ways that the original game fell completely short on. So if you found the concept behind the original Fable interesting but the execution lacking, I would definitely say that this is the game for you. | video-games_xbox |
hella fun. pretty much what most of the others have said here is true-- the island is incredibly vast and gorgeous, the play mechanics are extremely fun, the controls are a mixed bag, and the save/checkpoint system sucks *ss. all that being said, just cause 2 is SO much fun.
the grapple/parachute combo is genius, insuring that you can go anywhere... ANYWHERE... in this island nation. there's a sense of wonder that comes over me every so often as i realize just how awesomely accessible everything is in this game. like when i parachuted from a mountaintop stronghold and just floated for awhile and eventually came to the island's airport, all the while marveling at the lush and abundant scenery. it's not at the drake's fortune 2/resident evil 5 level, but for a true open world this massive, it's close enough.
i haven't had quite the problem with the controls that others have had, but i can see what they're getting at. the automobiles especially are a bit "floaty". but flying is intuitive and a lot of fun. and as i've said, the grapple/parachute combo is genius. you can climb mountains, highjack cars and helicopters, travel from a to b, parasail (with both boats and cars), take down enemies, destroy landmarks, etc. etc., all with that seemingly simple mechanic. it's the highlight of the game... well, after the island itself.
i don't really care for the drop/pick-up weapon system (like in halo). i usually like the stick with one or two or three weapons, stick with those, and upgrade them. to me, that's really fun, and you really get to know each weapon. i was especially frustrated when i paid for a machine gun on the black market, then bought a sniper rifle, and when i went to pick up the rifle, the only option the game gave me to switch with was the machine gun i JUST PAID FOR. very frustrating. maybe that's how weapons systems work in open world games, but i don't like it.
the save system does suck. when i first started playing, after the first couple of missions, i just wanted to wander around destroying stuff and enjoying the scenery. i would just go off in a direction and get to know the island. but, every time i died (which was often-- it's easy to get caught off guard by a huge number of re-spawning enemies when on foot with little to no ammo ), i would start again at this same mountaintop stronghold. over. and over. and over again. it got really, really annoying. even when you save in the menu, it saves your progress, not your location. did i mention that it sucks?
all in all, this is a great game. sure, the story is minimal, and the voice acting is terrible-- but i found myself enjoying the cheese factor rather than resenting it. but with such a huge world to explore, and seemingly endless ways to get around it, and seemingly endless stuff to blow up, i'm not complaining.
go ahead, jump into the world of just cause 2-- and grapple with it's awesomeness. | video-games_xbox |
This will kick your . Let me start with that I used to be in the Navy, and was in real great condition, and when i got out, so did my belly, lol.
So after a few years, and trying all the fitness "games" out there on the wii, gameboy, playstation, and Xbox, i would have to say the UFC Trainer is the only one that shows promising results! This is the only trainer that after the first day i was sore, like hit by a bus sore. They really get you moving, and you really feel the workouts. Its hard to explain how not having fun is a good thing, because its not fun trying to exercise, but its fun in the way that you feel good, and you feel good about yourself.
Doing the exercise with the kinect is the only way to go, for people who have less then 6-10 ft to work with you may want to wait for the Nyko Zoom to come out because they really use the longer end of the range for most works outs. The nyko zoom would cut your range down to 2-5 ft for those with limited space(like me).
The only issue im running into right now is do to the limited range i have, sometimes it doesnt detect my lunges(which is the only exercise i had issues with detecting). Some people have been complaining about the game pausing, i never had it happen. For those with limited range, sometimes when your doing workouts on your back the kinect will loose you, by simply tilting the kinect down a bit resolves that-a quick fix until the zoom comes out- that will help with most routines.
Finally the most important thing is that this thing keeps you motivated! With most games after a week, i start goofing off with it, seeing if i can trick it. Since the Xbox has the kinect, you really need to do the exercise correctly, it isn't forgiving, which is a good thing, plus the trainers are motivating.
For those of you serious about loosing weight, getting fit, bulking up, or all of the above, this is a good way to go. OH it also has an option to incorporate peripheral, eg: resistant bands, dumbells. | video-games_xbox |
Heavy Drama in the Zombie Apocalypse. This game is pretty good, but don't even think about paying $30 for it.
Concept: 8/10
This is a heavily dramatic story based game where your decisions affect the other characters. It's the zombie apocalypse and the survivors in your group are tired, hungry, scared, and desperate. You must be the voice of reason and try to keep the peace. You won't be able to keep everyone happy and you won't be able to save everybody. These consequences make your decisions more dramatic. There's also a bit of gameplay, which requires evading in the right direction, some exploration, some shooting, and some button mashing.
Story: 8/10
As you can tell by the cover, Clementine is the main character. You can enjoy this game without playing Season 1, but if you do play Season 1, it adds quite more to the experience.
Clementine, an 11 year old girl, is with a couple of survivors from the first game. They're scavenging for supplies and trying to evade zombies when repeated tragedies and hardships strike. The goal of the game is to progress through the story, while trying to help the characters around you.
The first game was done better and the decisions felt more meaningful, but this is still a good adventure with very memorable scenes.
Gameplay: 6/10
This is a dramatic story based game, so most of the gameplay just requires you to listen to the other characters and make decisions on who to help or what to say. Things can spiral out of control rapidly, so it is important to try and keep members of your group from going ballistic. It's the zombie apocalypse, so do your best.
There are some hiccups in the technology, where the game lags at times. It may play a scene, then stall for a couple of seconds, then resume. This is pretty unacceptable in 2014.
There is a bit of action gameplay where you actually have to evade or kill zombies, but is very simple. The meat of the game is the dramatic decision making.
Graphics: 7/10
It is cell shaded like a graphic novel. It doesn't look great, but the style is consistent. It does feel like you are playing through a living comic book.
Sound: 8/10
The voice acting is well done, the SFX punctuate the action, and the soundtracks create suspense or a feeling of dread.
Maturity: M
There is violence, gore, and swearing. Clementine, the main character, shouldn't play this game.
Replay Value: 3/10
This is a 5 Chapter adventure and after you complete a Chapter, you can replay a previous one and make different decisions to see the differences in the story. The gameplay is exactly the same and there's no way to speed up the adventure, so it will feel VERY repetitive.
Overall: 6/10
At this price, the game is too expensive. The game takes 6-8 hours to finish and it is extremely linear. Wait until the price is $19.99 or less. It's a good adventure and fun while it lasts. Some of the scenes will stay with you, too.
Buy this game if you love The Walking Dead.
Buy this game if you loved the first game and want to follow the adventure of Clementine.
Rent this game, it is available through Redbox, if you want to blow through it in a day or two.
Avoid this game if you want action gameplay like in Resident Evil.
Avoid this game if you need good graphics. | video-games_xbox |
could have been better. Since this the game was created by two developers, I will be reviewing the single player and multiplayer separately.
Single player:
1. Story- technically there is no story. instead, its a series of conflicts viewed from the perspectives of different soldiers. you play as two tier one operators and an army ranger. The mission structure is disjointed, but by the end of the game the characters will come together for a satisfying conclusion.
2. Gameplay- MOH is your typical first person shooter. you move from point A to point B, shooting your way toward the end of the level. one thing I like is the occasional break from the running and gunning. with some stealth missions, a sniping segment, and a gunship level, you have some variety. the AI isn't the brightest. enemies won't take cover, and sometimes your teammates will stay one spot, preventing you from moving on to the next portion. Hard mode will provide some challenge, but its nothing compared to MW2 or halo:reach.
3. Presentation- Graphics is hit and miss. the lighting effects are good with the proper shading effects, but the environment and characters look a little dated. Cutscenes are nice with good voice acting, although the script falls on the heavy-handed side of things. As for the in-game sound, it hits the mark. from the sound of oncoming mortar fire to the explosions of an air strike, the audio definitely put you on the battlefield.
Multiplayer:
I'll keep this short since the gameplay is similar to bad company 2. The maps are smaller but have more detail and there is a learning curve to madness.you earn points in battle via kills/assists. the points can spent on rewards like air strikes and armor-piercing ammo. when you realize this isn't call of duty and you learn how to traverse the maps, you'll have a good time. but there are a view problems. sniper rifles are overpowered. add the fact that there are no killcams, and camping happens very frequent. all of this leads to the biggest con in multiplayer: spawn killing. hopefully this will all be fixed in a patch. the MP is not meaty in terms of weapon upgrades. you'll unlock the standard red dot sights, ammo types and extra weapons. after that, you receive weapons the opposite forces start with.
Closing Comments:
the single player is nothing you haven't seen before, but it has its moments. the MP is basically a modified version of bad comapany 2, but its still fun. if you're looking for something to hold you over until black ops, MoH is not a bad choice. | video-games_xbox |
Excellent Hardware & Very Good Deal. The release of Modern Warfare was highly anticipated, and I pre-ordered my copy months ago. I also caught of glimpse of the Modern Warfare console and thought wow that is really cool looking and actually a great deal. I ordered it and received it Saturday from Amazon.
Console: The console is the black elite (matte) color with a nice gray accent on the top, some small gray graphics and lettering on the face plate, and a large "2" on the bottom (or left side if your stand yours up). One thing I liked is the removal of the chrome disc tray for a solid black one. The console looks really clean and nice, not overwhelming like the Halo console, or retina burning Resident Evil 5 console.
Accessories: This is what makes the package such a bargain, while it still lacks an HDMI cable, it makes up for with a nice list of other stuff. First the standard copy of CoD:MW2, a black elite wired headset, two black elite wireless controllers, a huge 250gb HDD, and an ethernet cable. On top of your standard issue power "brick" and standard composite audio/video cables.
Extras: The hard drive is initially eaten up by arcade game trials (at least 15), game videos, and some older themes and gamer pictures. After deleting everything, and transferring my saves, content, and gamer profile I'm sitting at a comfortable 227gb. My only issue with the console package was it didn't include any Modern Warfare 2 glitz and glitter on the inside. I purchased the MW2 premium theme, which looks very cool, however I felt it could have been included with the package. Not a deal breaker by any means but its the small things ha ha.
After opening this up (even the box looks awesome) I must say I'm 99.99% thrilled to have this package, with the .01% being the lack of a theme or some other sort of MW2 items, again I'm just being picky. If you don't own a 360, even if you don't play shooters or MW2 for that matter, this may still be your best package deal. I will throw in though once you try the included MW2 game you might just be hooked! | video-games_xbox |
A console MMO. If you wanted to play an massively multiplayer online game such as Everquest it could only be done on the PC. There have been some games that have been tailored for consoles but most of these games have fallen short. Bungie the developers behind the best selling Halo series has come out with a MMO that is only available for consoles called Destiny. But will you fulfill your Destiny or just go off and play another game?
The setting of the game takes place after a golden age as mankind has moved forward in every way and has set out in the vast reaches of space. Colony after colony was established until a mysterious event called the collapse now has mankind teetering on the brink of extinction. The only saving grace was a giant white sphere which has been called the Traveller which has saved mankind for now.
You will take on the role of a guardian and can select one of three playable classes. There is the Titan which is a strong class that relies on heavy armor and even heavier weapons, The warlock who wields powerful grenades that simulate magic and the Hunter who uses stealth and accuracy to take down powerful opponents. Each of these classes has two sub classes allowing you to further refine your playstyle (for example: the gunslinger is a hunter subclass that will give you faster reload time and stability).
The game takes place in various locals such as the Earth, Moon, Mars and Venus and every location is breathtaking. You start the game off in an abandoned Cosmodrome somewhere in Russia and this is where the graphics and gameplay will start to draw you in. The first level will show you how to play the game giving you pointers on how to shoot, run and jump. From there you will go on harder missions either on your own or with friends.
Gameplay is similar to most of the FPS games that are out on the market today. You will learn how to move and shoot using the controller and find out what weapons suite your play style. Not all weapons and gear are created equal however as some are better than others and you might find a rare piece of equipment. All gear is color coded similar to Borderlands as white is common while gold is exotic giving you massive damage bonuses or other abilities.
You can play with your friends or go at it alone in most of the missions that are in the game or you can try your hand in the Crucible. This is the PVP part of the game that puts you on a team and in one of six game modes from skirmish (team deathmatch) to control (capture points). One of the advantages of participating in PVP is the chance of getting rare items. However, if you are new to this game be prepared to die.. alot.
The only problem I can see with this game is that it is online only. Meaning if you do not have a stable internet connection or you do not have a subscription to XBox Live or Playstation Plus you cannot play the game. Even the solo story missions cannot be done offline as it needs a connection to the internet to play those missions. The base game has around 40 to 60 hours of play and there are DLCs that are already available but you either need a season pass or purchase each of them separately.
If you are a looking for an unique IP that has great gameplay, jaw dropping graphics and a killer story look no further than Destiny. For more information about this game head over to [...] and get ready to fight for your future. | video-games_xbox |
Not exactly a "new" experience, but renewed fun. Playing the keyboard, at first, feels much like playing one of the guitar peripherals.
You're pressing buttons, now you can use any finger, and both hands, and don't have to strum, but the experience is much the same as on the guitar.
Each song uses only a set number of keys (a span of ten white keys) - as the song starts, you can see which keys you'll be using.
Very quickly, you'll move to higher difficulties, where you start playing chords on the keyboard. At that point, it becomes significantly more fun, and starts feeling like you're doing something different. When you're comfortable there, the "hard" and "expert" difficulties, it moves which keys you're playing on, so you need to use a larger span of the keyboard. At this point playing the keyboard feels quite significantly different to playing the guitar.
I should mention that the Rockband 3 songs let you play the keyboard in either "normal mode" (five colours) or "pro keys mode" (proper keyboard notes, with black and white keys) mode. I expect people would be playing in pro keys mode, otherwise it's just a replacement for the plastic guitars, and not much else.
On any older songs imported from other games, you can still use this keyboard, but you need to play the guitar or bass parts, using only five keys. Even then, I tend to sometimes use the keyboard, usually to give my hands a break when they start to cramp from the guitars.
When playing imported songs I have more difficulty playing expert mode on the keyboard than the guitar, due to the fast notes & chords being structured for a guitar. When playing Rockband 3 songs set up for a keyboard, I don't have this difficulty.
Of course, the learning curve of playing pro keys is a lot higher than playing the five-button peripherals. This is good, it keeps the game interesting for longer, and lets you learn to play the keyboard. Win-win! | video-games_xbox |
I really really wanted to like this. I was looking for something different. The OEM Xbox 360 headset would always become uncomfortable after an hour or so
of use for me. The foam/sponge "ear-speaker cover" would bother my ear and the hard plastic opposite end would dig into the other side of my head.
I had been looking all over (including in Japan) for a cool headset. I didn't want one that also played the sound from the game (ie. stereo or 5.1 audio),
I have an audio system for that, I just wanted a better communicator headset for talking with friends.
I saw this on a "popular game review site" and immediately went and got one.
I opened it. It felt like quality plastic and rubber. It had a durable feel to it. I was excited. Heck, I could even drink and not have to move the mic.
Perfect, right?
It fit a little tight around my lower neck, but I could deal with that. The ear pod was a little big and was deeper than say a traditional iPod ear bud.
It wasn't super comfy personally, but again, I could deal with it.
Problem #1
I plug it into the controller. The plug didn't fit super tight and it did that static thingy in my ear which made it seem like the connection wasn't all there.
it felt 3rd party-ish if you know what I mean. I was expecting it to kinda plug and lock in there, but it felt too loose for my liking.
Problem #2
So I connect with some friends. They say I sounded bad, too much static, so I looked closely and noticed that it came with the mute switch turned "on" (default setting? really?).
But if the mute was on, why could they hear me?
So I switched the mute to "off".
My friends said I sounded fine with the throat mic. I was actually surprised they said they couldn't tell the difference between my voice
with the Mad Catz product and the OEM Xbox headset.
Problem #3
My friends sounded drunk/inebriated. Their voices sounded horrible. I switched over to the OEM Xbox headset and they sounded fine. The ear piece had
horrible audio. It sounded like cheap equipment.
So basically the only good things are I can drink with it on and I sound OK, but the other issues were too much for me.
I can't express enough how bummed I am that this product isn't that good.
Oh well, I will repackage it up and return it.
The search continues. | video-games_xbox |
More Than Just an Update: An Overhaul. I see a lot of reviewers dismissing MW3 as just a small update, the Madden 12 of FPS so to speak. In my opinion, this is not the case. The fundamentals of the multiplayer have been changed and the story that was started in COD4: MW has finally been resolved.
While the maps seem similar, the weapons are mostly recycled and the graphics haven't gotten an update there are a lot of changes that make this a completely different feel from MW2. The kill streak rewards are the biggest change, and not only are they different, they've completely changed the way a match can play out.
There are now 3 different types of kill streaks: Assault, Support and Specialist. Assault is the standard; you kill, you build, resets when you die. The other two are completely new and have totally changed the feel of the multiplayer experience. Support counts kills over the course of the MATCH. Death no longer stops your kill streak growth bonuses, meaning that you can earn the top tier kill bonus on every match (if you accumulate enough kills). People are no longer punished for a cheap death or a stupid mistake, and can help change the course of the match for their teammates without camping off in the corner hoping people stumble by.
The third type, Specialist, is even more unique. It unlocks perks as you kill. This means that after a few kills you can have MORE perks active instead of only three, making you a far more formidable foe (so long as you know how to USE the perks). Once people figure out the sheer options they have for multiplayer, believe me, you'll be noticing a serious difference.
As for the single player narrative. It's semi-interesting but is a bit rushed. You're after Markarov, he's a bad guy, etc. etc. I just wanted to see the end of the campaign and I got it. Hooray.
The final part of the game, Spec Ops, is more fun than it was in MW2. The missions are a bit more varied and the new Horde mode is a ton of fun (especially if you enjoyed the Gears of War horde mode). It has a lot of varied enemies, from dogs to vehicles and has its own in-game system for upgrades, it's fun, trust me.
SUMMARY - I think this is a worthwhile purchase. There are enough changes throughout to make it into a new take on an old formula. The killstreak changes alone make it so I'll never be going back to MW2 multiplayer. The burning question: is it better than Battlefield 3? It's DIFFERENT. I love Battlefield 3 but Modern Warfare multiplayer isn't designed to be a direct competitor. It's claustrophobic, over the top, and fast. You don't run across the map to kill someone, they're right around the corner. | video-games_xbox |
Improved Play but too closed scope. As an avid fan of the original Army of Two (A2), I appreciate the improvements to upgrade system, sprinting, grenade throwing and custom mask making. Since it is a co-op game by heart, one needs to know that this game splits the screen vertically, not the customary horizontal split. This does take a period of adjustment become accostumed. The story line and mortality choices you must make as a team are great additions, along with mock surrender and hostage functions make your choice of attack sneaker and more exciting than simply blazing away. Co-op snipe is more fun since you can paint your targets and actually save hostages from execution...a very sweet function. There are some definite improvements...But,
I detest the vertical screen split. I like the horizontal split from the first game.
I dislike the entire story line being unfolded Shanghai alone! I missed the diversity of environment we enjoyed from the first game: Iraq, Aircraft Carrier, China, Miami, ect. Working for SSC in the first game and being betrayed gave the game a global feel...a true elite merc feel. I dislike fighting under the same urban, dilapilated backdrop.
As you may have guessed, I am a story-driven gamer. It does not have to be a Prime-rate BioWare storyline for me to appreciate the character development of a game. But, I felt story was much better in first A2, than this one.
I also dislike the primary weapons of the game...it is too bais to shotguns (auto, or semi). I'm a SAW man. I was sorely disappointed with the ineffectiveness and wasteful for shooting in this game. (I think shotguns are cheap weapons, but appreciate my partner having one :))
Overall, despite the storyline, screen split, lousy primary weapons, I still enjoy the game because I still believe in it function as TWO PLAYER third-person shooter---I only wish and challenger the developers in the next CO-OP game to consider more than simply aggro and CO-OP sniping/shielding, but advanced tactics; such as, making better use of demolitions, sniping through walls using thermo, options to climb anywhere to rappel.
Recommendations: Advance mapping (comes with a purchased upgrade) use satellite to detect enemy positions. Plot points place on a MAP--this allows you to (delayed) attack from one direction and your partner (climbs or jumps or rappels or charges), more melee weapons (as very potent secondary weapons).
A good game to play with your friend. | video-games_xbox |
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