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Buggy regurgitation of the first KOTOR. I am a huge fan of the first Knights of the Old Republic(KOTOR) for Xbox. This sequel succeeds in certain areas, but in others it leaves a lot to be desired.
I had to take my first copy of the game back. It jammed up so much that it was unplayable. My second copy is functioning much better. I made an earlier review of the game. I was so angry at the time because of the jamming, that I might have been unfair in my harshness. This review is much more accurate as to what the strengths and weaknesses of the game are.
PROS:
-Being able to break down items and build items is an interesting concept.
-The "influence" factor in the game is a great idea. If you treat your fellow characters well, they will start to be more "influenced" by you and they will move towards your alignment more(which can affect their behavior).
CONS:
-There are some really bad framerate problems. Things slow down and get choppy during fights.
-There are some very long load times.
-This game is VERY buggy. There are so many major and minor bugs in this game that it is unbelievable that it is a major release. This game screams "rushed to the shelves".
MAJOR BUGS:
-Some of the copies of the game seem to be prone to jamming up. I had to return my first copy to get another. The second copy functions much better. I read that somebody else experienced this problem. It seems as if a certain percentage of the games are messed up copies.
-There is significant lag when doing some things, such as scrolling in the menu system. It can take several seconds for the game to do what you asked it to do.
-My party members don't obey my orders on a consistent basis.
-The enemy AI is VERY bad and stupid at times.
MINOR BUGS:
-Sometimes characters will do messed up things(typing on non-existent keyboards, talking to non-existent people, etc..).
-There are a fair amount of "clipping" problems(being able to walk through solid objects).
-Sometimes your party members "teleport"(I have seen some members of my party disappear and reappear about ten feet away).
-The game will tell you that your journal is updated, but when you go and look it is not. You have to scroll through your journal listing options in order to get it to update. This is indicative of bad programming(the journal should update without have to scroll through your journal options).
-There are some instances when you can say the same things over and over to a character and thus get your alignment maxed out on the dark side or light side. Although, this cheat might actually be appreciated by a lot of people.
-If a cut scene starts, the second that it ends I get a picture of whatever was going on on my screen right before the cut scene started. A very obvious, cheesy, and annoying bug(as it disrupts the continuity of the story).
-There are countless other cheesy little bugs that any experienced gamer or computer programmer will pick up on and be annoyed by.
This could have been a very good game. But all of the bugs make it just an ok game. | video-games_xbox |
Challenging, Beautiful and Original. I orginally thought this game would be like a Metal Gear Solid clone with better graphics. To my delight, it has turned out to be better than MGS in every aspect. What always annoyed me in the Metal Gear games (otherwise fine games) was 1)The cheesy, unrealistic storyline (how can it be realistic when you have to fight a boss character every stage, or when the villain is a big robot?) and 2)The weak enemy AI.
Splinter Cell fixes both of these problems; the AI is very good (hard!) and less dense than in MGS, and more importantly, the game feels very, very real. The backstory is very plausible and up with current events (terrorism), and the action mimics real life as closely as possible (ie: a single bullet to the head is always fatal; there are no bosses that require 208 hits to die).
GRAPHICS: Amazing. The best I've ever seen on a home system. The atmospheric real time light effects are so beautiful I sometimes just look at them instead of playing.
SOUND: Again, amazing. Since much of this game is based on stealth, any sound you make can give you away. This game is so in tune with that fact that your feet make different noise depending on the surface you are walking on (carpet, wood, metal, broken glass, etc).
CONTROL: Very good, although at times the camera needs to be adjusted and at others the buttons don't respond as quickly as I'd like them too. This is not a reflex based game, so it's a minor gripe.
GAMEPLAY: Incredible. This game is old-school hard, meaning that most of us will have to replay portions of a level multiple times to get through them. It's never cheesy, though, and you can take different approaches to get by many situations). Stealth is usually the best and most suspenseful; crouching in the dark with a single round of ammo left, hoping that a passing guard doesn't spot you is an amazing feeling. The various gadgets (parabolic microphones, lock picks, fiberwire optics to peek under doors!) are great.
Overall, I can't recommend this game enough. It really redefines the stealth action genre. | video-games_xbox |
HYPE-DATSU. Metal Gear Rising: Back to the Revengeance honestly wasn't on my hypescreen until I started watching the Two Best Friends play it on Youtube. As soon as the first boss battle was finished, and Raiden threw Metal Gear RAY across the city, I was sold on it, and went out and bought it a few days later.
PLOT: It's convoluted, like all Metal Gear games. The villains' evil plan is outlandishly evil at points, and the overall storyline is kinda weak.
GAMEPLAY: Which is what really matters in a Platinum game. It has the usual Light Attack/Heavy attack mechanic that most character action games have. The Blade Mode mechanic is where the innovation kicks in. By holding the Left Trigger, time slows down, allowing you to cut enemies to shreds, and Zandatsu them for their repair unit/spine things to restore your HP and Blade Mode bar.
The boss battles are where the game is at its best. From a robot dog with a chainsaw to a cyborg who can detach his body parts at will to a 21st century ronin-samurai, the boss battles are second-to-none. Each one is enjoyable, and the music that goes along with them is amazing.
SOUND DESIGN: Pretty good. The voice acting is decent. Quinton Flynn, who plays Raiden, kinda Batmans it at points, going deeper and scratchier than he really should. The rest of the cast neatly fills out stereotypes (French lady with sexy accent, Phil Lamarr doing his typical Phil Lamarr voice), and they do a good job at it.
The sound effects are pretty good as well: The moo of a Gekko will haunt you for ages because they're so irritating to kill sometimes; the satistflying clang of a parry... It's good.
The music is also really good. It's a blend of metal/alt. rock and electronica, and it pulls itself off better than you would think. This is probably due to the way music is mixed. You see, at the beginning of a boss fight, the music is instrumental. All you hear is the pounding of drums and the shredding of guitars. But as you wear down an enemy, the music changes to its full, vocal form. The lyrics also compliment the boss battle by usually being about the boss. Like, "I'm My Own Master Now", Bladewolf's theme, is about a chained wolf, which reflects Bladewolf as he currently is.
THINGS I DON'T LIKE:
-The camera is bad. It's good in open spaces, but when you get into an enclosed space (i.e., 60-70% of the game), it freaks out. It can make parrying - a camera-sensitive procedure - harder than it should.
-There's a certain boss-fight that I won't go into details for, due to plot, but it just feels unnecessary.
-On that same note, another boss is just plain stupid. I was laughing during the entire introductory cutscene because of how dumb it was. The fight itself is... interesting and definitely the hardest in the game. But it's still just... so so dumb.
-The sub-weapons, for the most part, feel unnecessary. The only worthwhile one is the EM grenade. Red Phosporous and Jam Grenades (which apparently do the same thing??) are useless, and normal grenades do so little damage they may as well be useless too. Homing Rockets are only good for flying enemies, which are a rarity. Normal rockets, pretty much the same. They /might/ help with a boss fight, but that's just a crutch that will rapidly be knocked from under you.
-The Cardboard Box and Oil Drum items seem redundant. They're also stuffed into the sub-weapons category, which doesn't make much sense.
-The secondary weapons that you get from bosses seem poorly integrated. They take up your heavy attack slot, which kinda ruins some of the combos. As such, I've never used them, and just stuck with the HF blade.
-VR missions suck.
All in all, I'd recommend MGR to any character action game fan. MGS fans might be put-off by the focus on action, and shift away from plot. A friend of mine has brought up the point that Raiden's character is butchered in the game, but I didn't see a problem with it. Maybe fans who are more hardcore than I will agree with him.
I'd give it a solid 4-and-a-half stars. There's some replay value, but the game is pretty short. | video-games_xbox |
Statistical mess. Awhile back, I decided to convert from a console gamer to a PC gamer. I had a few exceptions. Sports games aren't released on the PC as often as the console, so I kept my Xbox 360 just for sports games. I wasn't impressed with what I saw of Madden 16, so I instead bought Madden 15. My last Madden was Madden 13.
My main gripe with football games is the difficulty or lack of. From the earliest days of sports licensed games (late 80s - early 90s), I've rarely found a sports game that is challenging, unless you set the difficulty very high. Then as most know, it becomes a game of frustration and patience as you watch computer AI opponents become with 12 foot jumping interceptions, being blocked by two players only to squeeze between them and get a sack ... two, three times a game. Madden was never my favorite as I preferred the NCAA football game. With no new NCAA games, Madden 15 would have to be my football gaming fix this year.
Sadly, any thought of a challenge disappeared during my first exhibition game. I'll never understand the "realism" other people find in these football games. In my first exhibition game, I used the Chicago Bears against the Detroit Lions. I didn't touch any of the sliders or settings (penalties, stamina, quarter length). It's my belief that the default settings and sliders should give the most realistic result. Sliders, to me, were there for when you had played 3-4 seasons and had gotten too good at the game to have realistic results. Settings, especially quarter length, was for stat lovers who wanted a little extra time to pick up their players stats. My first game result with default sliders and settings:
Chicago Bears 45 - Detroit Lions 10
Notable players stats:
Jay Cutler 14-16 passing, 286 yards, 2 TDs, 0 INTs
Matt Stafford 6-22 passing, 57 yards, 1 TD, 3 INTs
Matt Forte 13 rushes, 178 yards, 2 TDs
Jacquizz Rodgers 6 rushes, 84 yards, 2 TDs
Joique Bell 15 rushes, 12 yards
Bears defense 11 sacks, 6 turnovers (3 INTs, 3 fumbles recovered)
Total yards:
Bears 568
Lions 115
I don't think I need to explain how unrealistic these stats are. The worst part for me is the quarter length setting. If you look at the Bears QB and RB combined with the Lions QB and RB, there was only 38 passes between the two teams and 28 rushes between the two teams top RBs. To put some perspective on that, when these two teams played last year with the near exact rosters as I'm using in this game, those two QBs combined for 93 passes attempted and the two teams combined for 31 rushing attempts. That means in the real game the two teams ran right at double the plays as the same two teams ran on Madden 15. I'll agree that video game football is supposed to be a little more geared towards big, exciting plays than long drawn out drives, but to get the stats to match or even be close between Madden and real-life results, one would need to play 12 minute quarters. Just prorating the stats I had in the 6 minute quarters, that would have made the score Bears 90 Lions 20. Cutler would have had nearly 600 yards passing, Forte would have been over 300 yards. The teams would have nearly 1,500 total yards combined.
I adjusted the sliders making the game "harder". The only big difference I saw was the number of interceptions I was throwing. I was still rushing at will with any team and with any running back. Outside of turning the difficulty up to Madden level and adjusting all sliders to make the computer AI defense as good as possible, I was still carrying the ball at a 10+ yards average per rush. It's pretty sad when you have to spend the second half of the game making negative rushes just to lower your RBs yards per carry to a believable level. The pass defense AI isn't much better. I even tried making the game feel a little more challenging by intentionally throwing the ball out of bounds for an incomplete pass for my QBs stats and so my offense would have only two plays to get a first down.
It's frustrating when you have to play a game the opposite of how it should be played just so you won't feel like you're just wasting your time. If all this is a little confusing or hard to understand, I decided to play a full season with 8 minute quarters, All-Pro difficulty, all sliders adjusted to favor the computer AI opponent. This was the result:
Bears 16-0 in regular season. Won the Super Bowl.
Jay Cutler 6,008 yards - Broke all-time single season record by 600 yards.
Cutler 58 TDs passing, 7 INTs - Broke all-time single season passing TDs record.
Forte 2,673 yards rushing - Broke all-time single season rushing yards record by 500 yards.
Forte 31 rushing TDs - Broke all-time single season rushing TD record.
Jeffrey 2,217 receiving yards - Broke all-time single season receiving yards record.
To make all this even worse, the Bears also had these stats:
Rodgers the second string RB had 1,426 yards with 14 TDs, the yards ranked 3rd in the NFL and the rushing TDs also ranked 3rd.
Bennett the Bears Tight End had 1,729 yards
Royal the Bears #2 WR had 1,256 yards
As a lifelong Bears fan I can tell you those stats aren't even close to being accurate. It's more believable for me to say those are the least accurate stats possible. Needless to say, I put the game back in its case and it's not likely that I'll play it again. I would like to think it's just my general football knowledge that allows me to post these type of stats, but I do the same on all of EA's sports games including FIFA, and I've never even played soccer nor do I even understand the majority of soccer's penalties. I really believe these EA sports games aren't being tested enough. | video-games_xbox |
disappointing. there are 10 games here.since nobody else decided to name them all,i will.
1-archery.i liked this one.the physical movements are weird for what you are doing.but it is one of the funnest games here.
2-paint ball.i thought this one had the potential to be the best one on the list.however,i cant find a way to stop moving.also,the sights are hard to control.the just want to spin all the time.this one was ok.it takes both patience and aggression.
3-boxing.the boxing on "kinect sports" was way better.this one doesnt recognize flailing very well.also the opponent blocks a lot.another thing i noticed was the difficulty in landing body shots.it was very one dimmensional.
4-volley ball.once again,there is a way better version on "kinect sports".this one requires you to match up a circle below you to one for the ball to hit it.so a lot of times i was watching the ground and missed the ball.
5-figure skating.well this may be the hidden crown jewel in the whole set.i didn't play this one as i am a man.
6-fencing.it was called "kendo" in the product description.so i looked up "kendo" on wikpedia.it said it was about people beating eachother with sticks.so i pictured ecw's sandman and an island guy beating eachother down with singapore canes.it was a selling point.i thought it could catch the magic of a light saber duel.but no,after a very long intro,the match lasted about 1 and a half seconds.i swung.i hit.round over.this was the biggest disappointment on the game.
7-dodge ball.now here i was expecting a bunch of junior high kids pelting eachother in a riot of testosterone like when i was in 6th grade.but this was far more civil.
8-snow boarding.this was alright.just a race to the bottom of a hill.
9-tennis.i like this one about as much as i like real tennis,which i dont.i couldn't get the hang of the points system.why were the points going up and down?in partners tennis,the whole game practicly happened without me.my partner could totaly not include me and both sides just scored away.but when i did get one hit to me.my character responded like he was on thorazine.
10-skiing.there is basicly a choppy section,jump,choppy,jump,choppy.the faster you go,the more air you get on the jump.the more air,the more time for awesome tricks.this was the "sleeper" part of the game.it turned out to be my favorite.you do have to shake your booty a lot to gain speed in the choppy sections though.so get a nice vantage point behind any female players.
so,the game was slow.the loading times and intros were incedibly longer than any actual game time.the game on a whole feels generic and rushed.if you want a sports game that is way better for your kinects system,go with "kinects sports".i would reccomend that you do NOT buy this one.i know it sounds cool but trust me its not the exercise game you are looking for. | video-games_xbox |
Hell Hath Frozen Over. I purchased this game, as I do all my games these days, through Amazon. Release day delivery? Yes, please. I got it the day that it was released, and played into it quite a few hours before I had to take a break. Many other reviews have stated that it takes elements from other games out there, and yeah, they're right. But then again, as the song says, "It's all been done." I challenge you to find a game that's 100% unique anymore. That being said, on with the review.
Gameplay - 5/5
I've got no issues with this, at all. The control scheme is very intuitive, and there's no room for improvement, so far as I can tell, with one exception: when you've gone and lifted a car and used the aiming system to actually target a target, you end up being stuck in that targeting mode until you click out of it. This may jive for some people, but it just doesn't do it for me. That being said, all the buttons do what I'd logically expect them to do after years of playing other great games like Twilight Princess, the Jak and Daxter series, and so forth. The puzzles are quite challenging, the dungeons are labyrinthine as they can be (I confess: I actually had to Google my way outta one of them), and the level of interaction with the environment is perfect.
Transitions between combat and finishing moves are seamless: once you've done enough damage and press B, you move in for the kill at the end of the sweep of your blade. What's more, I absolutely love the way that Ruin (your steed) feels more like an extension of War, rather than a separate entity. More times than not, I've noticed horses in terms of gameplay become a tedious vehicle more than anything else. Not so with Ruin.
Graphics - 5/5
Even before the patch was released to address the screen-tearing issue, I had no real qualms with what screen-tearing there was. The scenery is beautiful, even when you're using the Serpent Holes to get from point to point (which I thought was a very clever method of navigation, vice choosing your new locale and insta-popping there). There's one fight in the game where the boss has a teleporting ability, and I'll say this: I was blown away. The cinematics were lovely, and I'll admit that at certain stages, I got more than just a little misty-eyed with what was going on. "Ruin... I won't fight you."
Sound - 5/5
Everything from the score to the labored breathing of Ruin as you speed through the Ashlands is masterfully done, as far as I'm concerned. The star-studded voice cast just adds to the awesomesauceness. Among the many talented voice artists are Mark Hamill (Luke Skywalker and the voice of the Joker) whom plays the Watcher and Phil LaMarr (so many roles to mention just one) voices Vulgrim the demonic merchant. Simply superb.
Replayability - 4/5
I can't give many games perfect marks here, as there's nothing that makes me want to come back and play it again once I'm finished. There are the achievements, sure, and maybe even the Abyssal Armor, but they don't add anything to the game, really. They're just something for trophy hunters to pursue, and well, that just doesn't do it for me. Be mindful, however, that like a movie or a book, I'll definitely be coming back to revisit the world of Darksiders from time to time.
All in all, Darksiders is a game that I'd recommend to anyone and everyone. For the first release of the new company, this is just downright beautiful. | video-games_xbox |
This game is horrible. I had, and quickly got addicted to, NBA Live 2006 for the XBox. When I picked up my 360, I thought, okay, now, which games do I really, really want to see in Hi-Def? So, I picked up the Big Three: Madden, Fight Night 3, and the, unknown to me at the time, one-star wonder that IS NBA Live '07.
I expected to lose, I realize that when a new game version comes out. But, you get used to the changes, adapt, and go on your winning way.
Not with this steaming dog turd.
Like many have said before, the camera angles make it hard to keep track of the action, and the computer just takes over the game. I've played it over and over again, even with teams ranked lower than mine, and the opposing team always makes almost all of their shots, and their players are faster than mine. I swear they run like they're knee deep in wet concrete!
The graphics are great, but who cares if the gameplay stinks. I was hoping they would change the foul shooting mechanics for this version, but no. So, if in some miraculous instance YOU get fouled instead of the other way around, don't plan on nothing-but-nets.
The three-point shooting is abismal, and defense is nonexistent. One of the things I loved in the game was stealing the ball, and cutting into a fast break. Not in this game. For some reason, you can't stay in front of your man, and if you lean in too far, and get dodged, your guy stumbles about three steps, and leaves his man open to charge the net.
And if you do get a fast break going, your guys are so slow, the other team is on your heels or have one or two guys at the net by the time you get there.
I bought the wireless version of 360, and actually thought it was a problem with the signal getting from the controller to the box.
Nope.
A lot of effort went into this, you can tell. It's beautiful to look at, but playing it will make you want to pull your hair out by the roots.
I actually went back to my old XBox and played NBA Live '06. Graphics aren't as good, but it's not graphics I'm paying for. The thing plays great. | video-games_xbox |
Long time Xbox "fanboy" dissapointed in the Xbox One. . I have been an Xbox "fanboy" for just over a decade. I purchased my first Xbox as a teenager in 2002, and in 2005 I purchased the 360. For 11 years I have been, for all intents and purposes, an Xbox "fanboy."
I, of course, couldn't wait to get the Xbox One. I got a bunch of gift cards for Xmas, and excitedly ordered it a few days after the holidays. When it arrived I was as gitty at age 30 as I was at age 19 when I first got one and as gitty as I was at age 10 when I first got an SNES.
That's where the goodtimes ended for me unfortunately...
First I was greeted with the "black screen" when trying to first boot up my new system. I had to spend just over an hour on the phone with MS support who had me do some "hard reset" process just to get the darn thing turned on.
After I finally got it turned on and downloaded the initial system updates, I quickly noticed my Dolby Digital 5.1 surround system (which works flawlessly with my Xbox 360, BluRay, and TV) was only putting sound out in stereo and just from 2 of my 6 surround speakers. I tried different Optical Audio cables and adjusting sound settings within both my receiver and the Xbox One. Finally in frustration I called MS support, again, to try and figure it out. At first the reps I spoke to had no idea what I was talking about, but finally after a couple transfers I got a rep who knew exactly what my issue was. He informed me that the Xbox One does not currently support Dolby Digital sound 5.1 or 7.1 over Optical Cables. He said he understood many gamers were upset this wasn't ready at release, and that a "patch" was coming sometime in Q1 or Q2 of 2014... (Q2 could be the end of June!!)
Yes, you read that correctly. The Xbox One does not support DD 5.1 or 7.1 over Optical Audio Cables. If you are like me and you have a nice surround sound system which only has Optical Audio in slots, you literally cannot play the Xbox One in surround sound.
The rep I was speaking with suggested I either play in stereo sound for now... or go buy a new surround sound system which has HDMI in slots... Gee thanks buddy!
At this point it was almost 4 hours after first turning on the Xbox One and I still hadn't played an actual game. It was pretty late so I went to bed and decided to figure it out in the morning. I had gone from being so excited 4 hours previously, to going to bed not having played a game, and feeling pretty bummed out about my first night with the Xbox One.
When I got up I Googled my issue and was surprised to find many other people in my situation, and to learn that DD truly is not currently available on the Xbox One over Optical cables, and even over HDMI cables it causes dialogue to be dropped from movies and video games. Go ahead Google "Xbox One Dolby Digital" and you will find many posts on MS's forums and around the web expressing the dissapointment and confusion about this. Especially when the product specs on the box say it supports Dolby Digital, when in fact it does not.
I feel as though MS was dishonest in this regard.
For a few days I played my games in two speaker stereo sound, and tried to enjoy my new system in spite of its short-comings. (and beleive me, I discovered more short comings, which I detail in my "pros" and "cons" sections below) After mulling it over I thought; "Hey this system is a disappointment so far, their customer service dissapointed me and wasted hours of my time transferring me, the more I read about others who bought a PS4 the more I wish I had one, maybe I should see if Amazon will allow a return."
Luckily Amazon is an AWESOME company, and allowed me to return my product for a full refund since it was within 30 days of purchase and they felt my reasons were acceptable.
I used the refund money to order a PS4. I can't believe after a decade I will no longer be an Xbox guy, but I'm excited to try the PS4. Also, I should note the PS4 currently supports Dolby Digital sound in ALL formats.
I guess that's all I have to say about my sob story. Here are some pro's and con's in addition to my little story:
PROS
---Better game lineup at launch over the PS4. At least in my opinion. The one thing I did enjoy about this system in my short time with it was "Ryse: Son of Rome." Honestly, games on both this system and the PS4 will probably be awesome. So to be fair the next generation of games if a definite "pro" for both systems. The graphical improvements on both systems leave room for much potential.
---Nice home screen interface. I liked being able to "pin" apps to my homepage.
---The controller for the Xbox One is very nice. It is essentially the same as the 360 controller, although a little smaller. I think they were smart enough not to change the much loved 360 controller too much.
---The Kinect voice commands were a neat feature. Even if awkward at times, I see a lot of potential here.
CONS
---Well... the knuckle heads didn't have Dolby Digital decoding ready for release, it does not function properly over HDMI cables and not at all over Optical cables. Sure, they will "patch" it eventually. But the 360, PS3 and PS4 support DD in ALL formats right now. I also feel as though MS was dishonest about it, since the packaging/specs claims it supports DD when it DOES NOT. If you have surround sound that uses Optical in cables, I would NOT buy this system at this time.
---Its HUGE!!! Why is it so gosh darn big? The PS4 is smaller, sleeker, uses less electricity, and yet has more powerful GPU output. So essentially the Xbox One eats up more electric power while putting out less graphical power.
---The Xbox One puts out less graphical power than the PS4 as mentioned in my previous point. Both systems have an AMD Radeon Graphical Processing Unit, however the Xbox Ones GPU has 768 shaders while the PS4's GPU is stronger at 1152 shaders. The peak GPU shader throughput on the Xbox One is 1.31 TERAFlops/s while the PS4 puts out 1.84 TERAFlops/s. Basically, the numbers speak for themselves and the PS4 can handle better graphics.
---Speaking of graphics... did you know that games like COD: Ghosts and BattleField 4 run at higher resolution on the PS4 than the Xbox One? Yes, once again you read that correctly, Google it yourself. There is a stark difference is the graphical capabilities of the two machines. IGN has a great article on this. Before release I had myself convinced cross-console games would look identical despite the Xbox One having slightly weaker graphical output... but now the proof is in the pudding. Games like COD and BF absolutely do run at higher resolutions, and look better, on the PS4.
---External HD expansion capabilities, which the Xbox One does not currently have.
---PSN+ is slightly cheaper per year than Xbox Live Gold. PSN+ is about $50 per year while the XB Live is about $60.
---The Xbox One has less RAM dedicated to gaming. Both have 8GB of RAM, but the Xbox One has 1GB of that RAM dedicated to its OS and ever-running apps/homepage. This just gives another slight edge to the power of the PS4 over the Xbox 360 when it comes to gaming.
I guess my novel is nearing completion. I give it 3 stars in the end. I think there is much potential to the Xbox One, 5 star potential even. But in my opinion it seems like it was rushed out. Also MS made some major fumbles early on as far as no disc based gaming and requiring users to be on-line at all times, sure they backed off of these ideas once they suffered a major PR backlash, but from the very beginning MS seems to have fumbled the Xbox One creation and release. Especially with this whole Dolby Digital debacle. However I think in time they will regain footing even though I'm disappointed now. I just found my whole experience so frustrating, I just felt I needed to jump ship to the PS4, and Im glad Amazon was so awesome about the return.
I wish MS the best with the Xbox One, I really do. I'll never forget the wonderful hours I spent gaming with their systems, and I will continue to use the 360 for some time I'm sure. But for now, I am going to become a PlayStation man. | video-games_xbox |
Mass Effect. To start off this review, I'd like to mention my love of the original Knights Of The Old Republic game on the XBox. I've played through at least 4 times. The second game was good too, but the story was lacking a bit in my opinion... Plus the boss battles at the end of the game were BAD.
Scroll forward a few years and we have Mass Effect on the XBox 360. Now instead of chosing a dialogue line that you wouldn't hear your character say, you get a dialogue tree as I like to call it. You use the left analogue stick to choose the line you wish your character to express. This was at first touted as being a fantastic new advancement, and in ways it is. The circle of dialogue shows a shortened version of what your character should say, and depending on whether you decide to level up your character's "Charm" and "Intimidate" skills, you can unlock more options.
My first run through, I created my character and was pretty disappointed in how slim the options were in many cases. The choice of hairstyles is piss poor and you are expected to choose styles ranging from "bald" to "not-bald-but-pretty-damn-short".
My character was known in his past as being merciless and doing whatever it takes to get a job done, including many, many lives, and this was noted by alot of NPC characters I met along my travels across galaxies.
You set out on a pretty boring tutorial mission on a sparse planet... It will be important in the long run, but once you get to the citedel Space Station, you will really start to get a feel for the game, and realise that the dialogue parts can be among the most fun you've had in a game. Nothing beats intimidating people to pay you extra for an illegal job that you just carried out.
Anyone that played KOTOR will no-doubt remember the amount of bugs that were in the game. Here you can certainly tell that this game was made by the same Developer. There are many texture pop-in problems and this can become quite annoying throughout the more you notice it. I also noticed slowdown during a boss battle and also during a large-scale on, where the frame rate dropped to under 10 fps, which is pretty abysmal in my book.
Other than these glitches, the game looks beautiful. The variety in species is stunning, and players that want to go into detail on them can do just that by listening to the Codex entries that you unlock as you go.
Side missions usually have the same formula on different planets, get to point "x" and kill everyone. Make it into base. Kill everyone. Find out reason for being there. Leave. Next planet of your choice.
I did a decent few side quests, and still beat the game in just over twenty hours. This disappoints me, as maybe it's just me being old fashioned, but I expect an RPG to be over 30 hours. The first time I beat KOTOR, it took over 40 hours.
Overall, the game has quite a few bugs, just like KOTOR, but also like KOTOR it is a magnificent game, and I can't wait for the sequel.
9/10. | video-games_xbox |
Ummmmm.....no. I must say I am very disappointed in not only Bioshock infinite devs, but my fellow Amazon reviewers as well.
My biggest problem with the game, which not all will notice or even have problems with, is the game saving. I surely hope this little save glitch was not put into place on purpose, but if it was, then it was a lesser attempt at hardcore DRM. Which makes me angry to NO end. When saving a game while playing OFFLINE, it screws up your xbox 360 consoles time and date info, basically resetting it, this in turn screws up the game saves because the auto save feature will not save because it either thinks you are trying to play the game before it was released, or it refuses to save over the game that has a later save date then the current time your xbox is displaying. IT makes it think the current save is more up-to-date then the one saving right now. I have now re-played an area of the game 5 times only now realizing that this was happening, also doing a google search confirmed the issue with many others having the same problem. So basically, you have to be ONLINE to successfully save your game. This. IS. STUPID.
Next, while I will say the game isn't bad, if it worked as it should. I still must say that I could only offer it 3 stars even if it did work perfectly.
This game should NOT have been named BIOSHOCK, it is wayyy different as far as atmosphere is concerned and the way the game progresses. When I think of bioshock, I think eerie settings and a sickening world. That is not how this game is, in fact this new land does not operate much different than our own world does.
The first bioshock games gave me a sense of desperation and desolation. As though not much hope remained and that the odds greatly stacked against you. Bioshock: Infinite does not portray any of those feelings. That is what makes me mad, they called it Bioshock just to feed off the Bioshock name. Just to make sure the game sold in huge numbers.
That aside I like the new powers. NONE of them feel like all the tired over-used crap like FLAME spells, ice spells, elecricity spells, etc. Everything there was original.
The Old bioshock games did a nice format for upgrading weapons, while that feature still exists here, it is not the same at all. When you upgrade a weapon in Bioshock is changes the look of the weapon and makes it look that much crazier and just makes it that much better to use it. But not in Bioshock: Infinite. Upgrades change stats and nothing else, which almost makes you feel like you are stuck using the same old weapons the entire game.
Next, what the hell happened to different bullet types? I mean HELLO?!?!??!?! that is what helped add strategy here. It added depth and originality. On top of that I was playing on HARD difficulty and had NO problem finding ammo and buying whatever I lacked in picking up, which was not much at all. And this is also with the fact that you can now only carry two guns at a time.... this helps make up the balance for the excess amount of ammo, but also makes the game a lot less fun. Remember, this was HARD difficulty. They dumbed the game WAY down and to me that just shows pure laziness.
I mean, you are telling me that in order to add the zip line things you sacrificed all this other stuff? While the Zip-lines did add a nice touch, I would rather not have them and have all the old stuff back that I mentioned above. Having the partner with you that helps you find extra cash, ammo, etc, is also a nice touch, but you can all ready find plenty of ammo and cash on your own. You can not get rid of a bunch of features that worked really well, and add one or two that do not add depth. They actually make the game that much easier.
I can officially say, if another "Bioshock" comes out I will not buy it. Especially since I probably won't be able to buy it used and re-sell it after I get mad at it because it will be on the next-gen consoles....Why in the hell are all these great games getting terrible new ones? Gears of war judgement???!?!?! Dead island riptide?!?! Resident evil 6?!?!?! and now Bioshock infinite?!?! God people lets stop releasing all this garbage!! | video-games_xbox |
The simulation mode and on-ice trainer are great for people like me who don't play these games . I'm going to preface this by saying: I have not bought an NHL game since 2003.
That said: I have been a long time gamer for quite a while. The simulation mode and on-ice trainer are great for people like me who don't play these games often and let you know what you need to do - and when. I LOVE the Be-a-Pro mode, and how you watch from the bench when you're not in play and you get feedback on what you're doing wrong and what you're doing right.
Playing on the easier difficulty feels like it scales sometimes. You can tell when the rookies are out and when the pros are in. My first game, TBL scored 12 times against the Maple Leafs in THE FIRST PERIOD OF THE GAME. I only scored three of those goals - so be aware of that. Playing on the next difficulty gave me a challenge instead of a GM-Firing event - but it felt like a very large step.
I find the AI to be troubling sometimes. It's very odd to watch the AI do circles looking for a puck near the net - it's like the AI is deciding that it's JUST barely too far for the goalie to cover, but too close to let the defenseman grab the puck - which can lead to easy goals. Periodically, you'll see goofy things too - like skating off for a celebration, contacting a player and stopping completely, then zooming past once he's out of your path.
Players look good - but very greasy - must be simulated sweat?. All behave well, and faces move very realistically. Killorn is spot on to reality.
Announcers - 6 games in - have a real passion of mentioning "the butterfly that they all learned in grade school".
Music selection isn't as good as I remember in sports games. I recall some good music blaring in the main menu - no longer. I also didn't notice an option to have your music playing here or there in NHL 16 - I don't see why that wouldn't be allowed.
I'd recommend the game! | video-games_xbox |
Greatly improved from old Gears. After a few days of post-launch playing, I decided to write a review for this game. I am a casual gears of war fan; I played gears one religiously (fantastically fun but flawed game) and gears two sparingly (moderately fun but seriously flawed game).
Gears of War, at the end of the day, is all about the multiplayer. If you are a single-player campaign enthusiast living in today's gaming world, I feel bad for you. As COD, Halo, gears and others have demonstrated, single player shootin' just ain't what it used to be. The gears 3 campaign serves up some decent fun, especially if you have some friends along for the ride, but it is short, rather forgettable and will probably be no more than an afterthought for most of you. Expect more of the same cheesy voice acting and ho-hum story from the previous games.
The good news: multiplayer is an absolute GEM and absolutely justifies the purchase of this game. Gears two multiplayer really left me with a 'meh' feeling. Horde mode was awesome, but competitive modes suffered from bad balancing issues, server problems and a terrible basic combat gamemode 'warzone' that only gave you one life per round. Epic always claimed this produced a high energy match, but honestly I hated getting sucker blasted by someone with host advantage and having to sit out until the next round.
Now, FINALLY, there is a team deathmatch mode. Each team gets a pool of respawns, and this works great to preserve that gears feel and still allow you to get back in the game if you took a quick shotty blast to the face.
The dedicated servers seem to be working well. I grade them at a B+ so far, because I have had quite a bit of trouble getting into ranked matches. Quickplay works flawlessly, but you are stuck with the generic character skins. Honestly, epic has no excuse for this anymore, given their terrible server history.
Finally the weapons: bigger and badder than ever. There are some new ones here, including some that will make you scream with rage and delight when you are smoking fools/getting destroyed. Things seem pretty balanced; my only complaint is the sawed off shotgun has def. taken a nose dive into the cheap end of the pool. This gun was only supposed to be an instant kill from melee range, but I have certainly gotten smoked from several feet away from with this thing. SLOOOOOW reload time, but still overpowered- look for a patch on this in the near future. Bottom line, Insane fun, 'nuff said.
All in all, If you loved the first two, buy this one no questions asked. If you didn't like the first two, give this one a rental! It might surprise you.
EDIT
After a much longer period of times hands on, I am forced to reduce to 3 stars. The wow factor has worn off, and some of the grime is starting to show. Multiplayer, while fun, is crippled by OVERPOWERED and UNBALANCED weapons. TOO MANY POWER WEAPONS on each map, and some maps that are so poorly designed that quickly gaining high ground is almost a certain win (sandbar I'm looking at you! Inconsistent shotgun damage and range, etc. Still lots of fun, but as people are starting to recognize the exploits, I'm starting to get reminded of gears 2.... | video-games_xbox |
OMG - If you are new to Skyrim, get this version. Okay, I admit that I am a little late to the Elder Scrolls and Skyrim party. I finally got my XBox360 last spring, and I started with Kingdoms of Amalur and Dragon Age Origins, because I have always liked medieval RPG style games. I suspected that Skyrim was probably going to be the best one for me, because of all the 5-star reviews, and also because in addition to RPG's, I also just like Vikings, dragons, Nordic lore, etc. in general.
Wow, Skyrim is everything I wanted and more. It actually exceeded my high expectations and re-set what I thought a videogame could do. I had read the 5-star reviews but was not sure it could live up to the hype. It did.
The graphics are great, and you can get lost for days in a beautiful Nordic mountain world. The first dragon I fought was the single coolest battle I've ever had on a video game. I got chills it was so cool. The character leveling is both complex and intuitive, you really do level up exactly those talents you use the most. I'm also enjoying the alchemy, smithing, and enchanting activities. I love walking new tracts of wilderness I've never seen before, looking for plants to harvest for alchemy potions, while hunting beasts and discovering new caves/dungeons/lore along the way. The archery is really enjoyable too. You can stalk prey such as cave bears or giants with stealth and arrows. I find that I'm gravitating toward an archery/stealth/mage build, with emphasis on destruction and conjuration spells. There are a thousand different ways you could take a character, though. I'm level 20 and in love with this game.
If you are wondering whether you should play Oblivion (or any other game for that matter) first, don't worry about it. Get this version and jump right into Skyrim. This is the best. You install Disc 2 on your Xbox360 first, then use Disc 1 when you play the game. It comes preloaded with Dawnguard and all of the other Skyrim expansions already set for your game, so your first playthrough will enclude the entire gamut of Skyrim locations, spells, monsters, lore, etc. Don't even bother with other versions, this one is the whole enchilada.
As much as I loved the combat and graphics of Amalur and the characters and plot of Dragon Age Origins, I am loving the entirety of Skyrim so much more. I love every hour spent on this game, and I find myself thinking about it when not playing. Get this one, it is the best. | video-games_xbox |
Not a game. I'm a bit of a hack guitarist. I have never had any kind of lessons or formal training. As a result I can bang out a few chords and play through a lot of chord tabs I find on the internet. I'm horrible at picking out notes, and doing solos but I'm actually not a bad rhythm player. I don't really have time for lessons, so I picked this up with the hope of refining my style, and learning at my own pace. Based on this, I think this works pretty well. This is not a "game" per se and it requires actual work/dedication. It's a pretty innovative piece of software.
Recommendations:
Don't use the stickers that come with the game to help you find the frets. This is a crutch and knowing where they are is simply part of playing.
Learn how to tune your guitar. A lot of the bad reviews here seem to be from people who are having tuning issues. I have no idea what they are doing, because built in tuner seems to work. I have used two guitars with this thing -- a solid body electric guitar (fender strat) as well as a semi-hollow body rockabilly type (epiphone 335 dot) guitar with zero issues. I doubt this would work with an electro-acoustic though, but I haven't tried. Trust me, if you want to play a guitar, you need to understand how to tune the instrument. The game's built in tuner works. Also, there are tons of smartphone apps that you can use to tune your guitar.
Practice - Spend time away from the game learning the songs. Most of the tablature is available on the internet.
Pros:
You will really learn how to play guitar assuming of course you put the time in and take it seriously.
No hassle setup - plug and play
Cons:
The transitions and load times between sections can be annoying. They need to work on the overall user experience of getting around. Once you are playing, it's cool, but moving around can be tedious at best. My understanding is that the 2014 version has addressed this to some extent.
Conclusion:
If you are looking for something like Guitar Hero where you pretend to play guitar, you will probably be disappointed. If you actually want to learn how to really play guitar, and you are willing to put in the time, you will probably enjoy this. | video-games_xbox |
refreshing to say the least. I originally bought this game because it offers two free months of xbox live with it. This alone is a great bargain if you really want to try out xbox live without purchasing the $70 kit. I began playing it, and it was a whole lotta fun. I've become extraordinarily bored by first person shooters, because it is what the Xbox library is dominated by. Everyone's making first person shooters because they saw how successful halo was...Well, here enters Crimson Skies.
It's a third person shooter in a sense. It is more a dogfighting game than a flight simulator (it hardly simulates anything close to reality, which is a good thing!). Single player consists of an almost GTA-like storyline...There's a main plot, but you can go off and do your own thing (to an extent), too. As you go along, you earn tokens, and money, which are what you need to upgrade your planes. The single player experience makes this game rent-worthy, while the multiplayer (like so many other games) is what makes this a keeper.
If you don't have xbox live yet, that's fine. The game comes with an activation code that gives you two free months. You take 5 minutes to sign up, then you're off! You pick quickmatch, which automatically searches for an open game of the type you desire. You get in, and you pick your plane. Everyone checks in, and you're now beginning your first xbox live experience. You may be playing dogfight or team dogfight (equivalent to deathmatch or team deathmatch), flag heist (capture the flag), keep away or team keep away (you grab "the booty," and everyone else tries to kill you- basically kill the carrier). Or you might be playing the best of them all...Wild Chicken. This is a game much like football, but with a chicken. You start out on your team's side, and everyone rushes to the middle of the map where there's a chicken falling from the sky. The goal is to take the chicken to the enemy's base, through a set of four goal posts. You earn seven points for every chicken-score, and 1 point for every kill. Sound fun? You have no idea.
Instead of looking just in front of, to the sides, and behind you, you have to be aware of above and below as well. While this may seem obvious, you cannot truly understand its significance until you play. Because it has a light learning curve, the game is easy to pick up. This allows it to be a great party game, or just something you play by yourself. The single player is fun, but nothing compared to multiplayer.
*For those without xbox live: the game is a lot more fun in multiplayer if you have the headset (you can purchase it alone for about $30). the headset made all the difference for me, and got me hooked on xbox live.
ENJOY! | video-games_xbox |
If your serious about gaming, get these. Pros:
First off, my favorite thing about this headset is that it doesn't need batteries and doesn't need to be recharged. The highest volume on this is more than any person could ask for and I have no complaints. The audio is very clear and even though these aren't "rated" 7.1 or 5.1 they will let you know exactly where the action is going on in your game. For example in BF4 you know exactly what direction a plane or chopper is coming from before you even look. Being able to hear people move in a building your next too is a awesome plus. The ear cups on these are very comfortable and have great noise cancellation. The braided cables are a nice touch and look very cool with their xbox green trim. The Microphone quality in party chat is great however you will have to keep the mic positioned further away from your mouth then you might expect or else you may sound crackly to others in your party. This isn't due to a defect in the product though, this is just from talking too close to the microphone.
Cons:
A couple times while I was gaming my controller would disconnect from the console however the controller didn't turn off, then it would re connect after a few seconds. I have a feeling this is more due to the firmware of the controller and console though rather than the headset. I did update my controller and was running the latest March xbox update at the time. The console is still very fresh and has some kinks to work out, however if your looking to buy this headset your obviously an early adopter and are not new to these kinds of quirks.
These will require more juice from the batteries in your controller. I currently am using a rechargeable kit on my controllers (the ones bundled with the licenses energizer controller dock). This however hasn't interrupted any of my gaming sessions that are up to 8 hours long. However rechargeable batteries deplete so only time will tell if this will be more of a problem later. If your using double A batteries this shouldn't be a problem for you as those last much longer and are guna die on you during gameplay anyways. | video-games_xbox |
Lego's Games Continue to be a Fun Distraction from More Serious Games. I honestly don't know how many of these LEGO games I have played now. I have played the Star Wars games, the Indiana Jones games, the Batman games, the Harry Potter games, the Pirates of the Caribbean games etc. I lost count somewhere along the way. My latest brush with LEGO videogames takes me back to Jurassic Park. I am definitely a fan of the Jurassic Park films so I was really happy too see LEGO bring Jurassic Park into the LEGO game series and I suspected going in that this would be yet another entertaining LEGO game and that it definitely was.
All 4 games are covered here including the original Jurassic Park, The Lost World, Jurassic Park III, and the recent and successful Jurassic World. At this point, I don't think one needs to explain the game dynamics for LEGO games. I am fairly confident that 99% of gamers at this point have played at least one of LEGO's games up to this point. So people know going in what to expect gameplay wise. Jurassic Park does a great job at keeping the basic game mechanic fun and that of course includes running around as dinosaurs. You can play as 20 different Dino's throughout the game plus design your own. Given that the whole premise behind Jurassic World was basically creating a new dinosaur, not letting people design thier own would have been a big letdown, but thakfully that option is included.
Everything from past LEGO games is here as well. The collecting of characters, red bricks, gold bricks, etc. It defnitely takes some time to get a 100% completion with a LEGO game, but I have always enjoyed the challenge of reaching 100% completion and that definitely remained the case with Jurassic Park. The voice acting is done by the main Hollywod stars so that helps to give it that Jurassic Park feel. There was nothing earth shatteringly new with this game, short of being able to be a dinosaur, but I actually think that is one of the things people like about these games. They have introduced some new game mechanics here and there as the LEGO game series has progressed, but thier never anything that actually takes away from the games main game mechanic, that being smash everything you can while solving puzzles. You would think that mechanic would get boring by now, after so many different game releases, but it hasn't, at least not for me. Why it hasn't gotten boring yet is a good question, but its clearly the fact that the games main game mechanic remains entertaininig that has made this series so successful. If people had gottten bored with it, they wouldn't be continuing to churn these games out as they do and even if they did, people would stop buying them and that definitely hasn't been the case, on either front. Is it people's enjoyment of the movies? Is it the simple but entertaining game premise? Personally, I think its a liitle bit of both and that is why Jurassic Park was yet another very successful and entertaining LEGO game.
Bottom line - If you are getting bored of the main LEGO game mechanic then you should steer clear of this release as again, there is nothing earth shatteringly new here that redefines the LEGO games. If your like me and are still finding enjoymeny from the basic mechanic behind the LEGO games and you enjoyed any of the Jurassic Park films then this should be another no brainer LEGO game purchase. It was for me and I came out the other end thoroughly enjoying my time in the LEGOfied Jurassic Park.
4 Stars! | video-games_xbox |
Console Breakdown for the Casual Gamer. ***The scores in this review do not reflect my personal scores but those I feel will best aid a beginner or novice in the gaming world***
I am what you may call a gamer aficionado. I have been around since the NES release and have played them all including back dating myself to the Atari 2600. This review is intended to clarify some points for the more casual gamer, and will cover this and last generation of consoles by maker.
Nintendo - The first in my list because this is the first you will recognize.
And we will start off with last generation, the Gamecube. Gamecube was intended for children. And let it be known that it didn't disappoint. Gamecube has released some very solid titles, including Metroid, Mario, Zelda, and Smash Brothers. I know there are going to be comments made about this, but remember, this is for the casual gamer and the casual gamer will enjoy and appreciate the quirkiness of Smash Bros. without noticing the minor flaws. So back to the review. The Gamecube has maintained solid four-player gaming and has re-released a few titles (Zelda: Ocarina of Time) that will make it well worth the purchase. Not to mention the Gameboy Advance interface (Especially for you Pokemon fans) and the price. The Gamecube is by far the cheapest "new" console on market.
But the Wii, in addition to being the cheapest new generation (I refuse to call them next-gen anymore) will also play all the old Gamecube games (A feat X-Box missed the mark on). And for those of you who knew that your parents grew up on NES or just really want to know what 16-bit gaming was all about, the Wii includes an internet feature which will allow you to download all the classics you missed out on (read as They will charge you to play classic Nintendo games). There is a one time fee involved, so don't fret too much (although it's a little high for someone also shelling out around $50 a game for other consoles as well). The Wii is fun and innovative, and if you want to feel more involved in the game, Nintendo nailed it. The new controllers are completely motion sensitive without losing the function of an analog stick. The button systems are intuitive although a little frustrating (i.e. you point the controller just off the screen when trying to aim). Nintendo did a great job growing up.
The Bad - Although the cheapest in the bunch it is also the most difficult to find. I got lucky and bought mine just when it was added online. You'll probably have to ask when a store gets shipments in and trail the truck in from the freeway. Also, although the Wii plays all old titles, you'll still have to purchase "old" controllers to play them. The online is fun as well. Mii's alone are worth it. BUT, the store will frequently freeze unless your wireless internet is set up just right. (There is a connection for wired internet, but what do you need that for if the Wii has a wireless modem built in?)
The verdict - All in all, you'll be incredibly happy with a Wii and for a Casual Gamer you may not need anything else. All things considered: 5 out of 5 for the casual gamer. The joy of playing this fun console, the price and Wii Sports which comes included with the console far out-weigh the inaccuracies and glitches held within the controller and the fact that this little thing only produces picture in regular definition, not High-Definition..
X-Box - Microsoft threw it down when they teamed up with Sega to create what they hoped would be (and may still become) the ultimate gaming console.
The original X-Box was created to be very much a devoted computer: devoted to gaming. There were even computer mod chips readily available to enhance your playing experience and the hard drive was upgradeable. Granted the casual gamer would need a friend to do the changes and probably wouldn't even know the difference (except for the interface) unless that same friend pointed it out. Now this is a new system put out by a "new" company, so there is no backwards compatibility (you can't play any old games). The controller is probably the most comfortable (in my opinion) and the games are mostly nice to look at. There are some moments (Halo) when you'll even find yourself standing still in the game to stare at the scenery. Being a new system make sure you at least get Version 2 (I had a V 1 that heated up very quickly, but I kept the V 1 controller for my own comfort... it's bigger, my hands are big... enough said). But when it came down to it, Microsoft's online play was probably the biggest achievement. For the first time, there was an online community that eased the ability of online console multiplayer. Of course I'm referring to X-Box Live. Which lives and strives in it's updated version.
X-Box Live is a must if you want the X-Box 360. How else can you boast about your achievements? Which brings me to "Gamerscore". On the X-Box 360, Microsoft introduced Gamerscore as a method of getting gamers addicted to playing. And it worked. I can't tell you how many times PacMan ate three of the powerpellets and died making it to the fourth. But about the 360. The console sends picture in High-Definition. That's 720p HD by the way, not the 1080p Sony and Blueray are pushing. What does that mean? That means better, more realistic picture. But not perfect or "super-real" which is a term that has been used to describe Gran-Tourismo HD for the PS3. It means seeing your car splash through puddles, seeing skin stretch with joints bending and muscles flexing. And speaking of HDTV, The 360 will play HDDVD's, but only with a $150 driver. Otherwise, you'll be limited to the same old 480p. The 360 has focused primarily on the First-Person-Shooters, it seems, gaining some ground in Role-Playing-Games. Which leads me to say, for the casual gamer, This console could become a little expensive. X-Box Live has built an arcade in which (once again) you pay a one-time fee to play old games (as well as some new ones) off your console. Also, unless you're going to spend $35 every three to five games for memory cards, you'll have to pay at least $100 for a hardrive. The 360 plays "most" of the old X-Box games, and they are working on updating their software continually to try to add more. Another annoyance is that every game you play will download an update for it's online play, achievements and sometimes even patch an in-game glitch. This I am classifying as an annoyance because it 1) takes up memory and 2) isn't a one-time deal. Some games will have three or four updates the first time you play. But I have nothing to complain about as far as the interface, playability, and mid- to high- level games for casual and hardcore gamers. Did I mention the computer sync which will allow you to operate your computer from your X-Box?
The Bad - Although X-Box 360 is nothing to scoff at (unless you are a die-hard PS fan that refusing to acknowledge the PS3 is/will be a failure) it may be a little daunting for the casual gamer who wants a quiet, quirky, fun platformer. There are a few out there, and they do seem to be increasing in number (what with now trying to compete with the Wii) but the 360 doesn't seem to have anything mainstream that isn't full of glitches. Thank you Sonic The Hedgehog. The casual gamer will find him/herself in the arcade more often than playing a real game. The console heats up (still) quickly which means (once again) make sure you get at least a Version 2, and even so you may want a cooling unit (NOT NYKON). The console sounds like a jet engine. And I don't exaggerate. There is not doubt about when it is on or off. Everything is expensive (Thank you Microsoft). Games are $55 or more, controllers are $40, memory is $35 a pop, even arcade games are no less than $6 and most run $12 or $18. Microsoft even went so far as to maximize profits by ceasing production of X-Box games to focus on the 360.
The Verdict - This console is my second choice for Casuals. The 360 is certainly more grown up and you'll be able to grow up faster on the 360 than on a Wii, but unless you know someone who you trust to recommend games to you, you'll end up getting difficult games and miss out on the fun. Don't worry, you'll get your chance to be pwned! But if you jump out to Gears of War online Versus Match too soon, you'll just get slaughterer and frustrated and crawl up with BeJeweled in the Arcade. After all is said and done, the 360 gets a 4 out of 5 for the casual gamer. Make a friend at your local game store - someone who won't try to sell you a $60 game because it's `pretty' - and go out and get your game on.
Playstation - since it was introduced, it was Sega's only competition, N64 was old and Gamecube didn't bring back the following they had hoped. After Sega CD, Sega Saturn and finally Sega Dreamcast (probably the most under valued console of gaming history) Sega threw in the towel and sided with Microsoft to aid with the X-Box. Playstation has been loyal to fans and works backwards compatibility all the way back to the PSone.
But we will ignore the PSone and skip straight to the PS2. The PS2 has focused, it seems, in RPG (Role-Playing-Games). Try saying "Final Fantasy sucks" in a crowded room* without invoking both applause and anger. *I don't actually recommend this, and I assume no responsibility for those that do try and get beat up.* These RPG's span from the quirky and fun to the Dark and Brooding. So there is no sense in talking about finding something you'll enjoy (as long as you like RPG's). There are plenty of platformers as well. Although the PS2 has probably the best selection for the casual gamer as well as more of the mainstream titles, it's controller is the most uncomfortable and possibly the least functional. There are four "triggers" that are not pressure sensitive. This makes racing very difficult. I went so far as to change the settings to make the throttle the second analog stick. The PS2 is a horse. You can play for hours without fatiguing the console. Of course, most of the games are meant to be played for hours at a time. There are wireless capabilities, but it requires buying separate wireless controllers (the wired controllers are only about 6' long) which will have you connect a receiver into the front of your console. Memory is fairly cheap, especially if you find a sale (which happens frequently) and you don't mind buying third party (Not Sony). Sony is a name drop and you should expect to pay the price for it. Playstation has also included online play, but it is through ISP's (casuals should have their friends set them up to begin with), not through a community.
You'll notice I'm speaking about the PS2 like I have the new-generations of the other companies even though there is a PS3. That's because the PS3 is NOT for casual gamers. PS3 ended up in a "anything you can do I can do better" kick and offered up specs that far surpassed any console that has preceeded. But they paid the price. Or rather, you'll pay the price. The console has a base price of $600. Although it is the only console to offer 1080p High Definition picture, it is very difficult to find good games because, 1) There aren't that many games - it is very difficult to program for the PS3 - and 2) The games that do exist never live up to the hype. Sony has simply made it too difficult to publish a "good" game (read a game free of MAJOR glitches) on their new console. Leave the PS3 for the Playstation devouts. It is NOT for the casual gamer. So I return to the PS2.
The Bad - The PS2 controllers are slightly uncomfortable. You may want to get third party controllers and accept the fact that you'll have to sit no further than six feet from the console. The triggers (although there are four of them) don't have enough play to be effectively pressure sensitive. The online play is through ISP, which can make it difficult for a casual to get involved (I recommend inviting a friend over to help you out). Because it is last-generation, it produces picture in regular definition. There are upgrade wires (component and S-video) to improve picture quality, but it's still not high-definition.
The Verdict - The PS2 gets a 4 out of 5 for casual gamers (the PS3 gets a 2 out of 5). There is nothing that can be said that I haven't already. The PS2 is a great console, but lacks a few creature comforts that in this day and age, a console needs. No surprise as it is last gen. This console is going to be the cheapest, seeing as it is older. But with several updated models (Slim, Silver) and the capability to play DVD's without a remote, it will fit your entertainment area nicely. Although this console received the same score as the 360, I feel the PS2 will rank 3rd simply because the price simply doesn't make up for it's age. | video-games_xbox |
Sloppy play and lack of focus/direction drag this game down. This game has been in development for quite a while, and in some parts it shows and in other parts it looks like the game was put together in a week. Based on today's standards there wasn't really a lot that drew me in. The graphics are nothing the ps2 couldn't muster, and the music pales to the 16-bit iterations. The player models look really funny. Backgrounds are really still and boring, and no walls are used. A lot of the background themes do not relate at all to the series. Didn't mortal kombat 3 have crumbling stages? The sound effects are not mixed well enough together, but are passable. Player chatter is extremely weak, compared to other titles in similar genres. Speaking of fighters, if you ever play games like virtua fighter 4, tekken 3, and soul calibur this just doesn't live up to that, so that may be in your head. also, the animation is not a pretty sight to behold. The special moves are horrible, again the 16-bit versions upstage DA in this category. And where are the stables like sheng tsung's morph, scorpion's teleport, and others?? Also, the controls are not responsive to what you press until over a half-second. Gameplay is not balanced at all, the weapons are too strong. Performing moves overall seems sporatic. I also will say the story [stinks], endings [stinks], and game modes [sucks]. Konquest sounds cool, but all it is is just a repetitive training level...zzz..zz. And it floors me that midway omitted stage fatalities, something in mortal kombat ONE, and then decided to go with 1 fatality per person. They were wasting time trying to mimic other fighters mode's instead, instead the could of had hundred's of fatalities on the xbox's hardrive. Overall Mortal Kombat deadly allience isn't worth the money, anything noteworthy it does another fighter on the market does much better. | video-games_xbox |
Still cant get it right. I love Xbox 360 games. I love Xbox Live. The hardware, however, is garbage. I have never owned a trouble free Xbox 360 (I still have my original Xbox, and it works fine)and am having trouble believing that after all these years, Microsoft still cant get it right with these systems.
My first 360 just started having issues with over heating. A couple years ago, I sent it in due to RROD. Microsoft took care of it with no charge to me. Awesome. I've been waiting for a reason to replace my original 360 since it is one of the first- only 20 Gigs. So I bought the slim. I did not purchase it from Amazon but since I rely heavily on them for reviews and buy a great deal of stuff here, I decided to review here. I got the 250 Gig model (no Kinect). It is very quiet and was very easy to transfer all data from the old system to the new, via MS data transfer kit. No problems on day one.
Day two...woke up, walked into the living room and noticed the 360 was on. Shut it off, and about 5 seconds later, it turned itself back on! Never had this happen before. Long story short....It is so bad now that if I leave it plugged in, it will turn itself on and off repeatedly, chirping up a storm. Since I bought it, we have been able to play only once without it shutting itself off, then on, then off...see where this is going? Called MS and they claim they haven't heard of this being a problem. "Me neither", I said, "but when I Googled it I found that I am not alone." So now instead of the RROD, you get a machine that has a mind of its own, un-playable.
My advice to anyone considering a 360S is if you cant resist, and if you have a bunch of "stuff" on your current hard drive- don't transfer any of it until you plug in the new one and play it for a couple days. If the new one shows any sign of malfunctioning, return it- it will not improve with time. I'm still trying to find out if I can transfer data from my new 360 back to my old hard drive without losing any licenses, etc. Either way, I need to figure out how to get this new POS out of my house! I wish MS could build a quality product. | video-games_xbox |
40 minutes of my life that I will never get back. Luckily I decided to rent this game before I went and bought it. From the current reviews, one would think that this is unnecessary, but I have no idea what's wrong with everyone else.
From the start I was annoyed by this game because of the cut scenes. This, as I'm sure you all know, is a zombie apocalypse game. Very simple: badass hero, thousands of zombies, lots of weapons. Sounds good. Well,this game tries to have a story. There are 3 or 4 long cut scenes before you even start playing. And they're not interesting at all. Maybe it's just me, but I don't give a crap about Chuck's daughter. I just want to kill some zombies. Sometime's video game stories are good, like in Bioshock. That game has amazing gameplay, but the story makes it what it is. Then there are games like Left 4 Dead. Not really a story. They know that the action is enough. Nobody plays slasher zombie games for the story. They play it for the gore that earned it an M rating. Now, sometimes there are games with long boring cut scenes, but it's worth waiting, or skipping through them to get to the awesome action. But that was disappointing too. You play for like 2 minutes at a time, and then it's time for another cut scene! And mostly it's just walking through a crowed of zombies to get somewhere. And I emphasize the word 'walking'. Chuck moves soooo slowly! And he attacks slowly too. It's almost not worth trying to kill any zombies because it takes too long. The only cool thing is how there are a wide range of items to pick up that can be used as weapons. So i spent some time trying them. Used a baseball bat, a bag of trash, a cash register, and a bench. He just swings each item with the same motion over and over again. I decided to forget the weapons, it's not like you need one to survive. The zombies are like on Valium or something. They barely move. Left 4 Dead is intense and exciting, you always have to watch out because those zombies really come at you. The Dead Rising 2 zombies literally have to be right next to you to attack. Anyway, once I decided to drop the weapons and just weave through the zombies, i made it to the drug store that was my destination, and lo and behold: another cut scene! With terrible voice acting i might add.
So i really don't know why everyone loves this game so much, maybe I'm missing something, but I know I will never play it again. Swing and a miss Capcom. | video-games_xbox |
Take out the "Final Fantasy" in the title. Okay, This is just going to be a bottom line, to the point review. I have been playing the Final Fantasy series for years and have played just about every Final Fantasy game from FFI and even some off titles like Tactics and Crystal Chronicles. Now, when FFXI came out, I couldn't play it since I refuse to pay every month in addition to paying for the game itself. When FFXII came out, I had mixed feelings but it still had enough stuff in it to make me keep playing and even though it really lacks in story, it's not a complete waste. I still like a lot of it.
So here we are now with Final Fantasy XIII and I can honestly say, without a shadow of a doubt, this is NOT Final Fantasy! This is some random bare-bones RPG that someone made that is only a demo of a game. A shell of a game. That's how I feel about this. It's unfinished. This isn't the hard work of Square, the company Square who has always delivered 100 percent into the Final Fantasy series. This isn't the work of that great company who delivered the masterpieces like FFVI, FFVII, FFVIII, FFIX, and FFX. This isn't the company who put tons and tons of hard work into the towns and shops and talking to npc's. Final Fantasy doesn't make you buy items from a save point. Final Fantasy is about going to towns and going into shops and going up to the shopkeeper and buying the items. And this certainly isn't the company who really delivered with battling and gameplay. Fighting is no longer fun. There is no more fun battling enemies anymore. In FFXII, I accepted the A.I. but enough A.I.! I want to control all my characters!! It's not that hard to ask for, to want to be able to control all my characters in battle. Especially in an offline RPG.
UPDATE: I have to add something here that I also just found out. I found this on another site:
"This also echoes similar comments Kitase made earlier this month, when he said that it's "very hard to make games on PlayStation 3 in the same style as the games in [FFVII's] era had. Making graphics will take an enormous time." He explained that's also part of the reason FFXIII is more linear than past Final Fantasy games."
Okay, What you just read is completely unacceptable and just flat out laziness and stupidity! So because we have amazing graphics, the gameplay has to completely suffer!? I'm sorry but that's just total BS! Excuse my language but this is just completely irresponsible and unacceptable for a gaming company who has always delivered 100 percent in the main series, especially before FFXI released. Now, if I have to sacrifice gameplay for amazing graphics, then I don't want any part of it!! Just bring back the old graphics but I know for a FACT that if they can spend years on graphics alone, then they can deliver an epic FF in every other area! Come on! This is pitiful. Just downright sad and pathetic.
This is just shameful. For about twenty years, Final Fantasy has never let me down. But this game is just a demo, just a demo of another random RPG with the words Final Fantasy on the cover. If this was truly Final Fantasy, I wouldn't be rating it so low and having to write all these things. But it's true, this is no longer Final Fantasy. Everything I have loved about Final Fantasy is gone. Sure, there are chocobos but you can't even ride them until late in the game. The only thing this "demo" of a game has going for it is the graphics. That's it. Square are ripping all it's long time fans off and so many people are just buying into it. I will NOT give in to their less than capable work. If and when they return to their roots and give 100 percent of their time and effort into a true Final Fantasy, only then will I support them again.
I know that Final Fantasy XII was a big departure with the totally different battling system and removal of random encounters but for them to completely change everything that made Final Fantasy what it is, well, there's just no excuse. They just became lazy and are making money off of it. Even Final Fantasy X-2 had more effort and work put into it. Don't let Square make you a victim of their laziness. | video-games_xbox |
Buyer Beware. Let me start by saying that this game has created a lot of polarity among gamers. Some obviously loved it and gave it 5 stars, others gave it one or two. This is the first XBOX 360 game I have ever owned (and I own at least 50) that I just quit playing. It was caused by several factors:
The glitches: at one point I was trying to save two tourists in a shop, and no matter how many times I tried to get them to follow they would not do it. Eventually we just became overrun with zombies and as I was attacking them the sofa chair I was swinging clobbered one on the head and killed him. I just gave up after a while on the second one. Another glitch happened multiple times that would not allow me to answer the transponder. No matter which way I pushed on the D-Pad it would just keep dropping my weapon and not answer. Finally after restarting several times it started to work properly????? These are just a couple of the glitches I encountered.
Annoyance of having to replay long sections over and over. When low on health, zombies can grab you and deplete almost all your health in an instant, so when I got low on health I would try to find food or a save spot. It seemed like I was spending most of my time fighting my way to the various save spots, only to have to fight my way back to where I was, and often lose most of my health in the process and be back where I started. It's not that I'm averse to a challenge. I just finished Bayonetta, which most would agree is one of the most challenging games you can find, and I loved it. The more challenging the better. The point is that there is a difference between a challenge and what seems to be completely pointless. This game just seems like you're fighting you're way back through the same hordes of zombies over and over (oh, and by the way I really enjoyed Left 4 Dead) to try to accomplish missions that often expire before you can get to them.
Trying to save victims: One victim I led through the mall and every time we made it outside three guys in a jeep would mow us down. This happened over and over. I'm sure there's a way to defeat them, but I didn't have the patience by this point to try.
Boss battles that I just became too annoyed to beat. At one point early on you face off with a clown with dual chainsaws. Seems like a cool face-off, until he rips you apart before you can even put a dent in his health. I restarted numerous times and finally just gave up. I can't remember the last time I became this frustrated with a game!!!!
I can't remember a single game I have not finished, including original XBOX, computer games etc. which totals well over a hundred games. AND THIS IS THE FIRST TIME EVER I DECIDED I WAS JUST WASTING MY TIME AND I WOULD RATHER TAKE OUT THE GARBAGE THAN KEEP PLAYING THIS GAME!!!!! Very disappointing to say the least! | video-games_xbox |
Wonderful. As the title says, this game is wonderful. The world is vast, with several options for you. It is a free roaming rpg with a completely massive amount of quests. Everything is open ended, giving you time -- as much as you need/want -- to explore the game world or to complete and finish side quests.
There is a real time community as in, the villagers will wake up at approximately 7-8a.m. and go off to work or do whichever 'chores' they decide to do. Shop owners will open their shops around 8a.m. and will close sometime late at night. You won't be able to enter the shops legally to purchase any goods - and if you do, you'll be fined.
And speaking of fines, you have three ways in which they can be resolved. If you commit a crime, you can A: Go to jail and serve an equal amount of time for the bounty. B: Resist arrest. (If done so, the guards and possibly some citizens will attack you until you either yield or die.) C: Pay your fine. Murder, trespassing, theft, etc. will be tacked on to your fine.
You can own homes and can furnish them. You can also own a horse, or multiple horses. You have the option to join 'guilds' like the Fighter's Guild, Mage's Guild, Thieves Guild, etc. After joining a guild you can rise up in the ranks by doing quests and jobs assigned to you from superior ranking members. Eventually, you can take control of the guild and be the essential leader - also gaining an income of sorts if I'm not mistaken.
Throughout the world you will encounter enemies ranging from wolves and rats, humans and undead to mythical creatures and vampires. ****Spoiler**** You can contract the vampiric disease which, after set amount of time, will turn you into a vampire allowing you to feed when necessary and gain added atributes.
There are several, several skills. Blade, Heavy Armor, Light Armor, Athletics, Security, Sneak, Marksman, Blunt, Destruction, Mysticism, etc. which you will need to raise in order to gain levels.
In truth though, the game is amazingly put together with tons of features that I feel I cannot mention nor describe here. Definitely a must buy game. :) 10/10. | video-games_xbox |
Homefront Review (SP. Homefront (SP)
How the war was won in record time
Xbox 360
Played to completion on easy difficulty
The world has spun out of control. The US is now under the control of the Unified Korean nation. Taken down by an EMP from a "peaceful" Korean sattelite. You are Robert Jacobs, a military pilot eeking out an existence in occupied Colorado. You are soon thrust into the resistance, a ragtag group of ordinary citizens attempting to fight and take back their land. The fighting is inevitable, but is at an excercise in futility?
Homefront doesn't start in typical FPS fashion. Your first minutes with the game are spent riding a bus down the street of a broken and beaten america, viewing the many attrocities of local occupation. You will see beatings, children wrested from their parents, and outright executions. Of course this destiny is not meant for you, as you are soon rescued by the local resitance cell and are put on the run from the Korean army. Your an intergal part of their plan, the army needs fuel and your going to get it for them.
Once your done with the depressing opening you are handed a gun and the game begins in earnest. The gameplay itself seems like a slightly less polished Call of Duty. The controls will be immediately familiar to anybody who has played a recent FPS, RT to shoot, LT to aim down sight and RS to melee. Guns are your typical mix of assult rifles and sniper rifles with the obligatory shotgun and pistol. Although the shooting feels a bit loose the guns themselves are satisfying and varied enough to keep you from getting bored. The one thing that stood out as immensely fun and satisfying is targeting for your atonomous vehicle Goliath. Many times over the course of the campaign you will gain control of the missile targeting for Goliath. I can't tell you how fun it is to set the targeter on a group of soldiers and watching your vehicles roll up and and shoot a missle directly at them. It is definetly the most satisfying aspect of Homefronts gameplay and really makes the game interesting and helps vary up the shooting.
The story will take you on a trip to undermine Korean authority on the West Coast of the United States. You and your group of resistance members are on the hunt for jet fuel to supply the army stationed in California. In order to remain spoiler free I won't point out any specific setpieces but I can say with certainty they are excellent and will keep you going through the story at a good pace. One moment in particular Really put me on edge and as I watched it I honestly felt a uneasy, which I believe is a good feeling to get from a game. It was honestly shocking and I can't believe Fox news didn't take that moment and run with it.
Graphically, Homefront seems slightly mediocre in 2011. The games looks good but the overall texturing reminds me of a game that might have come out in 2008. The art style really makes up for it though as the enviorments capture suburban America perfectly, everything is laid out realistically. It doesn't feel like these enviorments are made for a game. Charecter design is fairly good as there are only 4 main charecters and they all feel disticnct and are backed by solid voice acting.
With solid gameplay and a fairly unique and touching storyline, Homefront slices out a niche in the FPS market. The ony thing that holds this game back from being top tier is it's length. Clocking in a just over 4 hours the campaign is far to short and the gameplay isn't good enough to make up for it. Even if you bump up the difficulty and scour the landscape for the games collectible newspapers, I doubt you could get more then 6 or 7 hours out of it.
Homefront is a game of the edge of greatness. Unfortunately the games length holds it back and plummets the games value proposition. Keep in mind that there is a full multiplayer which I didn't play but as a purely single player game it is just out of reach from the "short but sweet" section of games. If your into multiplayer this might be a game worth picking up. If you are looking for a good single player shooter then I would suggest either a rental or waiting for the game to drop to the sub tweny dollar range.
Presentation: 8.5
Gameplay: 8
Value: 4
Overall: 7.5 | video-games_xbox |
Loads of fun, great Kinect tracking, plenty of exercises for all different tastes. Your Shape Fitness Evolved 2012
Fitness Evolved 2012 really shows off the Kinect technology. It "scans" your body at the start to project a real-time model of yourself into the game. I was eating a bowl of ice cream at the start and I could see my avatar holding the bowl of ice cream in the game. It doesn't scan/render my head/hair correctly though and I don't have a funky hairdo. The tracking is nearly accurate all the time, I only had a few instances where it didn't seem to register my movements correctly in Zen/Yoga and brick breaking.
There are a lot of exercises in this game, some are broken down by difficulty and stages. There's even a personalized fitness program that recommends exercises based on what you want to achieve. You don't have to follow it, and can tailor it however you desire.
The running and jump rope games seemed interesting at first, but they're essentially games that require you to run in place (lift knees higher for more speed) or jump in place (coordinate with the footprints on the screen). The stomp it had an interesting premise but I had to be really coordinated and the calorie burn rate was minimal.
My favorite events are balancing a platform with boxes falling down (strengthens core muscles), brick/wall breaking, cardio kickboxing, and Zen energy. Cardio kickboxing starts off slow but it builds you up quickly and the full-speed exercises are a lot of fun. I was definitely sweating big time after each event and have felt improvements in my core muscles, legs, and arms. The Zen Energy combines Yoga with Tai Chi. The really great part about Fitness Evolved 2012 is the computer trainer. She will make suggestions in real-time and provide audio/visual cues on what to do next. Games like Just Dance 4 and Zumba Fitness Core may provide visual cues but it's not always that useful. Fitness Evolved 2012 is not just about matching the movements, but doing the movements correctly with assistance and practice, as well as using calories as a performance metric.
The core, abs, and other focused training events work exceptionally well. The crunches and other ab work that requires you to lie down on the floor somehow track accurately in Kinect. Although I do have a 8 foot space from the Kinect in my living room.
There's quite a few pay-to-play DLC in this game, including one that requires you to buy a Gatorade G02 bottle to scan in order to unlock. I won't be buying any of the DLC or the Gatorade because the existing events are fine as-is. I didn't see anything that made me want to go out and spend Microsoft points or money to purchase.
Remember to load the Kinect Playfit app for Xbox so you can get more achievements by burning calories, as Fitness Evolved 2012 is a compatible game.
Overall: 5/5 stars, my favorite fitness game for Kinect with many fun and useful training exercises. Cardio kickboxing and Zen Energy are my favorites! | video-games_xbox |
Lets take zelda and the matrix to the next leval. lets take zelda and the matrix and put those together and what do you have well guess go on
PRINCE OF PERSIA : THE SANDS OF TIME
the game is basically like zelda in weird martix like form the graphic are a great but not to great the sound is amazing the way you react with your parthner is really something new like in some parts of the game you will need her because she can fit trogh small holes and cracks but you don't play as her she is on her own I recomend you don't play the demo because it has a little i mean a lot of gliches that made me have a second thought of the game but any ways the game is not like the demo it is totally different trust i have a lot of games (im trying to help you just read more of my reviews i just found out how to right onlines reveiws on amazon now i right one every day or when i get the chance just email me if you want)
the game play is simple kick some zombie ass its that simple but really complacated when it comes to sollving puzzles but not as complated as ZELDA but it comes pretty close but if your dumb when it comes down to game solving mabey this game is not for you or it may take a while (but im not like that ladys !!!) well im talking about pushing blocks finding secret stare cases you know kind of like ZELDA
Fighting this game has some of the most coolest fight scenes (sorry matrix) im talking about running up your enmies and slashing them in mid air what is really cool that ive never seen in any other game is when a enmie knocks you down and you cant get up cause your surronded by enimies is they will diffinaly attack you yeah those bastards will count on it you can press the block butten and block yourself while your down with your sword (cool right ) there are many different combos in the game that will keep you guessing so you won't know what happnes next and there is plenty of them trust me
magic there is always magic if there wasn't there would be know game DHU there is rewind, fast foword, stop-super stop, freeze, and well i have not unlock them all you have to start off with rewind that is a power you need these other are just acceareies you can beat the game with only rewind but the only one ive unloced is (stop and Super Stop) yeah i know but its hard sorry
Ok the eniviroment is wounder full waving grass dust rubbing off wall when ran upon or hit with your and it leaves marks on wall when hit with your sword
well recamond this game to every one with a big inmagination or if you want to kick some zombies ass DHU
its worth the amount you pay for Ok good luck and take care and have fun kicking some zombie ass
From Neo in the dakr shadows of your internet | video-games_xbox |
Great deal/package with a few taints. After getting sick of typing out long messages on my TV with the controller or having to keep my laptop besides me to send messages. I finally took the bait and decided to buy the chatpad. My membership was about to expire as well so I decided to get this package since it came with both. I ordered this on the weekend. It was shipped out the next day and I got it the day after which was pretty fast. As you probably already know, you get a mic, 400 M$ points, a year's worth of Xbox Live and the chatpad. The mic is just your standard no frills Xbox headset. The codes are as described.
I believe the main reason for getting this package is the chatpad. Does it work well? Yes, it works VERY well and once you start using it, you will wonder how you ever typed messages without it. However, that is IF you can get it to work initially. It can be quite tricky installing it. Simply plugging it in doesn't do the trick. Due to the extra connectors not really fitting in, you will have to push it extra hard until you hear a second pop or sorts. Once it's in though, it works very well.
The keyboard is a 5 row qwerty layout with the number row up top and a dedicated Messenger button for you Messenger fans out there. If you're used to a computer layout, you might be a bit thrown off at first by the placement of the "backspace" key but you get used to it over time. The space bar is pretty big, no problems there. The "enter" key is a bit small though but not really much of an issue. On the bottom far right and left of the keyboard are colored "Alt" keys of sorts that allow you to input special characters like "%, $, @" etc.
A complaint I have heard often is that it adds a bit of bulk to the controller. Personally, I don't really feel the extra weight. I have slightly big hands so that may be why. If you do feel weight though, you can simply unplug it when it's not in use. Another complaint I've heard is that it makes the controller lose it's sleekness. Hey, I say functionality over style.
Overall, I am happy with my purchase. One thing I do hope is that this thing is compatible with the controller of the next Xbox that comes out but that seems to be wishful thinking, eh? | video-games_xbox |
Too many corridors and stale content, lackluster story, and too much parity in multiplayer. Campaign: First of all, I feel like hallways and corridor-ish areas are overused. There are too many times where the path is narrow and and there's little opportunity to flank your enemies, so all you can do is barrel forward, group by group of enemies. For the swamp stage in particular, the environment looks very nice, but functionally speaking there are a lot of narrow paths. Open-ended areas do exist, but somehow they feel few and far between, and on top of that the game has a bad habit of making you do the same thing twice whenever you encounter them. In the third mission there's an open-ended area that takes time and planning to get through, and then you realize you have to go through another area with the same exact architecture and go through the same process. There's similar one-two repetition later in the game as well, which is strange considering it only has 8 missions compared to the usual 10. A shorter (?) campaign and yet it feels like there's more padding...? Odd. Overall, there just doesn't seem to be enough tactical depth to the level/area design.
The campaign also has too many obligatory vehicle sections; for anyone who's played multiple games in the series, these may very well feel like old news. Something that really irritates me, though, is that some of the vehicle sections aren't even designed for co-op play. During a Ghost escape sequence, walls and terrain are timed to shift according to the player in front, so everyone else will just keep on getting crushed or tossed into the abyss. The first time you get to ride an assault mech (the Mantis), there's only one of them, and it's not like the other players can be of any help because that entire section (almost, anyway) is just a narrow corridor designed to be blasted apart by the mech, not people on foot. In another section where you fly a pelican, the other players take turrets on the sides, but it's not as if the driver is going to charge head-first into groups of enemy ships, so those players won't have much to do.
The Forerunner weapons seem nice at first glance but ultimately fit into the same comfortable categories of pistol, automatic, rifle, shotgun, sniper, and rocket launcher. As for enemies, Knights (the Forerunner equivalent of elites) are perhaps the most annoying enemies in the series. In addition to their shields absorbing as much damage as those of Elite leaders, they often spawn airborne enemies (Watchers) that can smoke you out of cover, revive dead enemies, and provide impervious shielding to the enemies you're shooting. Mind you, Watchers themselves are extremely annoying to kill because they tuck in their wings and fly away as soon as you shoot them. It's perhaps the only time playing a Halo campaign feels like playing an exhausting multiplayer match, and that's not a compliment. The Covenant enemies behave more or less the same they always have, exacerbating the staleness you feel during vehicle sections.
The story seems to consider itself deep by virtue of not explaining anything properly, which I personally find frustrating. I want to be able to follow what's going on without having to consult something separate from the game itself. Most every major character you meet loves to speak in grandoise, vague sentences that tease at some sort of coherent backstory but never really deliver. Through it all, Master Chief's terse reticence is so overdone that he may as well be a silent protagonist at this point. You might take the stance that this makes you feel more engrossed in the story, as if you yourself are the character, but for me personally, it's boring and a missed opportunity to make the narrative engaging. There are parts where I feel Chief should say something, anything, but doesn't. I realize his transformation into a Spartan allegedly makes him less keen on social interaction, but to this degree...I think it's too extreme, especially considering pretty much every other Spartan you meet (in this game and others) doesn't share the same lack of personality. Cortana's performance (and the voice acting in general) is actually quite good, if a bit over-dramatic in spots, but it feels wasted on such a brick wall of a protagonist, and apart from Cortana's occasional dry remarks there's hardly any humor (e.g. Sgt. Johnson, rank and file soldiers) to balance out the range of emotions in the story.
One moment in the plot that really annoyed me was when the antagonist could have easily killed Master Chief but chose instead to monologue and let him live, tossing him aside. Of course this doesn't end well for him later. What is this, a Bond movie? In addition, the tension between Chief and the captain of the Infinity feels arbitrary and shoehorned to me. At one point Chief pointedly asks him for recon intelligence- when does he ever do that, mind you?- and gets a snide reply, and the whole scenario just feels out of place for me. Your mileage may vary, of course. Add to this such groan-inducing dialogue as "I thought you'd be taller" and "I understand what you think you saw" and I'm just not sold on the campaign in this game at all.
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Multiplayer: Just like in the campaign, many of the multiplayer maps- Adrift and Haven are the worst offenders- rely too much on corridors, which really aren't tactically interesting. Either you stand your ground or rush around the corner- that's it. Even Solace, with its high dividing walls in the middle, feels like a bunch of parallel corridors at times. In addition, I might be in the minority here, but I feel like the high level of detail and contouring in the terrain, walls, etc. sometimes distracts from the functional aspect of the maps. It's easy to get stuck on a bit of architecture as you're trying to sidestep or backpedal; grenades might bounce off of objects at an angle you don't expect, or even seemingly off of thin air if you throw too close to a wall's hitbox.
Maps tend to be fairly large and are mostly symmetrical. If you're looking for a small-scale, close quarters map like Midship or Prisoner, or maps with iconic asymmetrical layouts like Lockout, Ascension, Zanzibar, etc., you're pretty much not going to find that here. I suppose new maps added later on might introduce variety, but judging by this first set, I'm not really giving my hopes up.
There's also this sense of parity in multiplayer that makes me feel as though there's no way to gain an advantage through effective use of strategy. Want to sneak around and flank your opponents from behind? Well, they might have an armor ability that sees through walls now, so you could very well be out of luck. Want to rush the remaining opponents after killing half of them? Well, thanks to instant respawning in some playlists and the fact that everyone has the sprint ability, that might not be a viable option anymore. Want to interrupt the enemy sniper's flow by taking him out of zoom? Well, getting shot doesn't take you out of zoom anymore, so that's no longer feasible either.
The assault rifle is more or less on par with the battle rifle and DMR at close to mid range, even though automatic weapons require less precision aiming to score kills. You would think the battle rifle would be stronger than the DMR at close to mid range since the latter has a stronger zoom, but the battle rifle now takes five shots to land a kill instead of four, so...why use it? You'll never know what weapons people are carrying (depending on the playlist) thanks to custom loadouts that you can swap during the match and personal ordnance drops that reward you with power weapons after a certain number of points (?).
I suppose it's good that you have to adapt to the different situations these factors produce, but still, thanks to this sense of parity it never really feels like I'm improving. Rather, it feels like no matter how much I play I'll never be able to maintain an advantage against the opposing team, that it will always be something like a war of attrition or trench warfare unless there's a wide difference in how precisely players can aim (unlikely in the long run). This isn't something I've personally felt in any of the earlier games, and it's pretty disconcerting to me.
Odds are you'll join a match already in progress almost as often as you begin a new one, and sometimes it's not a big deal because the match has only just begun, but seeing as many people seem to ragequit when they're losing decisively, I've often been thrust into the losing side of a match I have little hope of winning, to clean up someone else's mess. One time I even joined a match that then ended within ten seconds. Never mind the fact that I often have to sit through loading screens as the match handles the shuffling of players and the assignment of a new host. In addition, once you finish a match there isn't any postgame lobby- you're promptly carted off to the next round of map voting before you can even see what you unlocked by leveling up or review your performance. Now, once you lock in your vote, you can't drop out of the match, so what ends up happening sometimes is that people get stuck with something like a 4-person match (until others join) because the others left after they voted. Oh, and the choice is still not randomized in the case of a tie vote. Another minor point, but you can't back out of the results screens with a single press of the back button like you could in Halo: Reach, so...overall, I'm left scratching my head at some of the interface decisions.
I can use Forerunner weapons a couple of hours into the campaign; why do I have to level up twenty times (amounting to much more than a couple of hours) to use them in multiplayer? It feels as though I'm unlocking things for the sake of unlocking things. Not to mention this will arguably create a barrier to entry for players who start a month from now and have to face opponents who can have any kind of loadout they want (unless the matchmaking system accounts for this?). The armor unlocks aren't much better- for many of them you have to complete commendations, which can take weeks or longer to accomplish. Even most icons have to be unlocked by leveling up. Call me cynical, but it seems to me like a contrived way to squeeze more commitment out of players.
Other unsorted points: To me, the addition of killcams in some playlists feels unnecessary and out of place because it takes away any effort required to infer your opponents' locations based on the nature of your deaths and the layouts of the maps. There are no lighthearted variety playlists like Multi Team or Action Sack, though these could potentially be added later on. I've personally experienced some lag/stuttering in multiplayer when going split-screen, and I don't think it's network latency.
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Other: Spartan Ops is basically a challenge mode of sorts where you do relatively short (maybe 10 - 20 minutes depending on team size) "rout the enemy" skirmishes on slightly modified versions of areas from the campaign. Part of me feels it's superficial, but part of me also appreciates that you can use your custom loadouts and that dying doesn't reset your progress to the last checkpoint. I do think it can be a nice alternative when you're playing with friends and not in the mood for competitive multiplayer, though whenever I've tried to use matchmaking to find a Spartan Ops game, the latency has been unbearable, to the same degree that Firefight matchmaking games were in Halo: Reach. The vignettes for each episode are a nice touch but feel more like they're merely providing context for the skirmishes rather than developing a story.
I haven't spent a lot of time in Forge mode in the series, so I forget if these are new features, but it's easy to connect pieces in straightforward ways because you can have them lock together at certain "magnet" points at the edges and corners. You can also duplicate pieces with a single button, which can save time. On the other hand, unless I'm missing something, there's no simple way to make and manipulate group selections, so if you decide later to redo or move large sections of your custom map, it may involve a lot of work. There also doesn't seem to be any kind of Forge World or empty map as of this writing, which feels a bit limiting. Definitely take my opinion here with a grain of salt, though.
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I wouldn't go as far as to say that Halo 4 is a bad game, but at the same time I don't think it was quite the kind of game I was hoping for, and the reasons I've gone through above leave me ambivalent as to whether I'll play much of it in the days to come. For better or worse, it certainly feels different than previous games, so I'd suggest making sure you're ok with the new overall feel of things before committing to this one. | video-games_xbox |
This controller is BAD. Decent replacements exist, however. Long story short: Buy the MadCatz controller as a replacement.
(...) The good news is that it's probably the only real thing wrong with this otherwise wonderful game system, that has impressed the heck out of me thus far.
It is NOT the worst controller ever made. That award is held by the Dreamcast. However, it's still pretty bad.
First off, it's heavy. I mean really heavy. One one hand, it feels very sturdy and reassuring..you never feel like this thing is going to break. But the weight will take a little getting used to. A lot of the weight, as far as I can guess, is taken up by the memory cart readers built in.
Then, there's the grips. I'm sorry, but these things are ALMOST as uncomfortable as the ones on the behemoth dreamcast controller. I have decent sized hands, and they still feel cramped from this thing.
And last, the button placement. BAD BAD BAD. Hard, oval little gems, placed in incredible skewed positions. The pressure points they create hurt, and it's hard to figure out which button you are pressing at any given time.
To it's credit though, the thumb sticks are rubberized, just like the PS2. This is a lesson Sega painfully failed to learn.
The MadCatz controller is great. It's pretty much the only one to return to the classic "square on side" position for button placement, as opposed to the "sharp diamond" everyone else has subscribed to. Plus, it's spaced a little more comfortably. I recently had a few of my friends over, and we did a side by side comparison (MadCatz vs. XBox standard.) The fighting over who got to use the third-party controller got pretty heated, before too long.
So definately get two controllers for this system. Just make sure they aren't ones actually made by Microsoft. It's a shame: As a system, the PS2 isn't nearly as good, but the controller pads are obviously artifacts crafted by the Gods themselves. | video-games_xbox |
First time with a Blizzard game. I don't think I ever would have bought this game on my own. Blizzard's series have never really appealed that much to me to be honest. From what I had heard and seen, they seemed much more focused on unlocking cool stuff as you level up than anything else really. A good friend of mine harassed me until I bought it over Christmas, and due to that I wasn't really feeling it at first. That was until I went and visited him over a long weekend. Once I got a feel for the game, I actually had a really hard time putting it down.
Atmosphere
The atmosphere of the game is spectacular. Sanctuary's such an over-the-top Renaissance Spain meets epic fantasy meets Dante's Inferno type of world that it's very hard not to get absorbed in. It's still weird to me how much pleasure I get out of reading the names of some of the demons/monsters/reanimated corpses that you fight, as well as some of the areas (Fields of Misery? Awesome.) The cutscenes are also so incredibly close to lifelike that it's going to terrify me if they ever look as dated as the original Playstation/N64 combo I grew up on looks today. The music as well, is very fitting throughout, and the atmosphere is bolstered by graphics that I find to be highly underrated. I think a lot of the games on this generation on consoles suffer a bit from too much of a contrast between life-like detail in some instances, and fuzzy, poorly rendered objects, characters or scenery somewhere else on the same frame. Diablo III sacrifices some of the finest details for a world that I think is consistently more satisfying to look at, and the 60 FPS frame rate helps everything run so beautifully smoothly. The Skyrims and Halo 4s of the world may have some more exquisite scenery and characters to look at, but the fluidity and consistency of the graphics (along with the almost complete lack of bugs) just about makes up for it here. This is also quite possibly the most graphic, gory game I've ever played, so if that's a problem for you, I'd suggest watching some clips on Youtube or something just to have a good idea of what you're getting into. But when it really comes down to it, when you're facing wave after wave of the hordes of Hell, do you want a bunch of standard gargoyle-looking things that fall over when they're dead, or would a bunch of grotesques that are sliced apart or explode to release more snakes/worms for you to fight be more fitting? Personally if I'm fighting Hell, I want to be as disgusted by it as the game will allow, and Diablo III succeeds here.
Gameplay
Like the graphics, the gameplay is surprisingly smooth, and it took a couple of minutes at most to pick up. While it's not just a button-masher, it's not exactly an incredibly challenging game strategically (at least not if you're a wizard or barbarian - the only characters I've gotten around to playing through to this point), but depending on which difficulty you set the game to, there definitely can be some strategy to it. It does get more fun the more powerful your character gets, and it gets exceptionally more satisfying as well. I personally think the looting system is pretty meh. 99% of the stuff you find you're just going to salvage or sell, and the stuff you do end up using isn't so much different tactically as much as it just makes you more powerful and look different. I do have to say though, when you've spent hours facing wave after wave of steadily improving enemies, it does feel pretty awesome for a while when you make a significant jump up in power. There isn't too much variation here in gameplay though. The harder it gets, the more enemies you face, and the more special abilities they have. After you get through enough dungeons, fields, or cities, you'll face a boss-type of character, and at the end of each Act you face a very powerful one. Rinse and repeat. But the reason you play Diablo is to lay waste to everything in sight, so really it's a winning formula for the game.
Replayability
I've seen other reviews mention that Diablo III doesn't have quite the replayability factor that older titles in the series do. I can't comment on that as I haven't played any others, but if that's true, that's pretty incredible that they can put so much content into one game, and it may explain why there's so much of a time gap between titles. While I quit playing the game as often as I did during the first couple of playthroughs, I do find myself playing it for a few nights at least every couple of weeks or so. It takes a decent amount of time to level your character all the way up (at the rate I play it) and there's always plenty of reason to keep doing so, so I'd imagine it takes a very long time to get stale. There are also enough character classes that I could literally take years to get through all of it. And whenever things feel stale, all you have to do is find a friend to play co-op with and you're right back into it.
Conclusion
In a gaming landscape that is becoming more and more filled with RPGs that are open-world sandboxes littered with sidequests that are often frustratingly repetitive and seem of little consequence, sports simulations that are losing their souls, and FPSs that in many cases completely sacrifice any depth or quality storylines for online play that is often average at best, Diablo III stands out as a sleek, streamlined blast from the past. It's bombastic, engrossing in its own design (if not necessarily by means of the story, which is effective, and decent enough but hardly memorable. But then again, that's all it needs to be), and incredibly satisfying no matter how many times you play it. There are so many nights I come home from a long day and the last thing I want to do is invest more energy into an in-depth story, or a game that's impossible to win without a well thought-out strategy, or be subjected to some of the bowels of Xbox Live on an FPS. Those nights, I just want to play a fun, satisfying game that doesn't require a ton of thought, and on every single one of those nights I reach for Diablo III. Most importantly, though, this is one of the few games on the market today that you can just turn on, and sit on the couch with a friend and play together for hours on end.
I wrote this review intending to give it 4 stars. This was because I have a hard time placing it up with the elite level games that are also able to effectively spin in an engrossing storyline, that aren't quite as restrictively linear, and offer the chance to have more freedom and require more thought and strategy. It also has failed to get me interested in either of the other series that Blizzard produces. But at the same time, Diablo III has a niche that no one else (that I know of) really seems to come anywhere near filling. It's just simple enough that it never gets dull, and it's geared so well toward co-op (but not so much that single-player's much less fun) that it's hard not to feel like you're over at a sleepover, playing all night like you could on the platforms of old and never get tired of it. Until someone else can beat that, this series will continue to get 5-star ratings from me, and will forever remain in my rotation of games. | video-games_xbox |
Best Rockstar game yet. Please ignore the reviewer that stated (repeatedly) that "this game is just like GTA IV... If you hated that you will definitely hate this." That could not be further from the truth!!
Red Dead Redemption is Rockstar's newest sandbox game, and it is a very good change up on the already popular GTA series. Let me start off by saying I have always been a huge fan of GTA games... until GTA IV. Tried and tried to play it, just could not get into it. Everything about it was wrong for me, and I know a lot of others felt the same. Sure RDR is very similar to GTA IV, yet everything about it is so much better.
Graphics are amazing, game play is easy to pick up and hard to put down, shooting system is improved, horse riding is intuitive, and hunting is a blast, just to name a few. This is GTA on steroids. Don't get me wrong, the huge cities and fancy sports cars were a ton of fun, but this is so much better. Set in the early 20th century, Red Dead Redemption takes place in the ever changing Wild West. Dusty old towns, bustling saloons, and family ranches are presented with such accuracy and clarity, you'd think you are back in the old west yourself!
Red Dead Redemption's scale is beyond HUGE!! The Wild West has never looked so good. There's a fullness to the sunsets that's so breathtaking you almost forget about the task at hand. The characters play a role nearly as big as the landscape, if not more. The dialog is smooth and witty, and the hometown feel of McFarlanes ranch only adds to the beauty.
There are so many side missions and quests, it's tough to get bored. From helping a stranded women on the side of the road, to tracking and shooting trophy bucks, there is truly something for everyone. Don't feel like shooting or riding around on your horse? Play some cards! Drink a shot!
Your thinking what I'm thinking aren't you? GTA on horses. Yes, but as you play on through the game you will quickly realize it is so much more than that. It's a nice change up in the video game world, and quite a surprise in the western genre.
Now I know this was a very short, somewhat random review, but I hope it provided enough insight to help you decide on the purchase.
***********UPDATE**********
I have gotten a few comments about my review. Some feeling that I have not experienced all the game has to offer, and should wait until I'm further along and write a detailed review. My review was an attempt to give a quick firsthand look, and to knock dead a few misconceptions. I believe all first time buyers need an initial review to help them decide to buy it or not. The game experience should be left up to each individual. | video-games_xbox |
Best Baseball Game In Ages. But, people are leaving out major, dumb things EA messed up on.
First off, the fielding. You can play with manual fielding, but you CANNOT manually dive for balls or climb the fence to rob homeruns. To me, that is flat-out pitiful. I get the feeling, they will change that for the next version. Also, as someone mentioned, the ball hardly ever goes into the fielder's glove, yet you still make the catch. Graphically, that's a downside. It really looks ridiculous when it hits their head & such. Also, many times that happens when the computer robs you of a home run. Which pisses me off as well. The fact that the computer has no problem climbing fences & robbing home runs.... not to mention diving for balls, wtf!
Also, you will not be able to stop sacrifice flies. Your throw meter doesn't come up until you have the ball in your glove. But, on double plays, you can do 'future' throws. Like before the ball gets to your turnover player, you can press which base you want him to throw to & how hard you want him to throw it, before he catches the ball. They should have installed that for sac-flies too. & also, double plays look horrible graphically, because the base runner does not disrupt the throw at all, he slides right on through your turnover player.
Now, for the people/morons who said it's impossible to hit home runs, walk, & steal bases..... They have no idea how stupid they are.
To hit a home run, simply press UP & the direction you want to hit it. If it's on all-star or pro, you will have to pick up the pitch quickly & if it's coming inside, pull it. If it's going over the outside, go opposite field. You can pull pitches on the outside, but you're less likely to hit it out. It's better to slap it opposite field. On rookie, timing is really all that matters. I hit home runs on pitches out of the zone when I played on rookie.
On all-star, the computer will throw balls much more often to try to get you to chase bad pitches. & if you can lay off those & work the count, you will get walks much more often. And, it will help you get good pitches to drive. Hey! That's like, realistic!
Stealing being difficult is semi-understandable. When I first started playing I did feet-first slides every time & stole 1 base out of like, 20 attempts, no joke. But, then I read the book & found out to press 'up' along with 'a' to do a head-first slide & now my steal rate is about 75%.... at least with my fast guys. A minor qualm I have is only being able to take 2 lead-off steps. But, that is enough. Make sure you take those 2 steps or you will not get the steal. If your player has a 70 speed or less, more than likely you won't be able to steal anyway.
I have absolutely NO qualms with the pitching. It's sick! & the first baseball game EVER MADE in my opinion where pitching is FUN & doesn't make me sick close to turning the game off.
A couple things they could add, like someone said, is better batting animations. Like, Sammy's hop, or Soriano's bat flip, etc. I remember the Triple Play series had players staring down home runs & I loved that. | video-games_xbox |
Gorgeous Wireless Controller For Playing Xbox One And PC Games. I needed a Steam-compatible game controller to play PC games and the Xbox One controller fits the requirements. I was going to order the standard black one, but then I saw this Halo version and bought itbecause I can be easily influenced by shiny things.
DESIGN
This controller is more than a shiny object, this feels like a futuristic wireless game controller. It comes in a matte silver/gray finish with hints of shiny blue accents, with laser-etched detailing [see photos] (Excuse the magenta lighting on my photos; it's not the colored highlight of the controller but my magenta lamp on the side). I even got a matching charging stand with two rechargeable battery packs as part of a promotion. The texture feels nice and non-slippery, and the none of the printing has worn off after hours and hours of gameplay.
PLAYING
I've never had an Xbox One controller before and this made a great first impression on me. I thought the button positioning was intuitive and comfortable to use, and the buttons themselves are accurate and responsive. My first game played with this was 'Resident Evil 4 HD Edition' on Steam, and this controller registers those last-minute button prompts quickly to avoid instant deaths. The texture on the directional sticks allows for great contact with your fingers to allow for accurate controls. The buttons press nicely and smoothly.
ACCESSORY NEEDED
Since I bought this to mainly play PC games, I had to get the <a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Xbox-Wireless-Adapter-for-Windows/dp/B00ZB7W4QU/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Xbox Wireless Adapter for Windows</a> to make it work with my PC. After you plug the adapter into a USB port on your computer and sync it with the controller, hit the white "X" button on the top of the controller anytime you want to be connected; easy peasy.
SUMMARY
This is a terrific controller that feels natural in my hands and very responsive in gameplay. There is also an alternate green Master Chief version which is just as sleek, and I might get it to match as its twin. These are certain to be sold out and become collector's items in the future. It's gorgeous, get two! Recommended. | video-games_xbox |
As close to a perfect open world game I've played. First and foremost I am not a multiplayer gamer, I don't go online and play cooperative or competitive multiplayer. If you are searching for a review regarding those aspects this is not the one for you.
Let me begin by saying that I have never played either of the previous Far Cry games. I say that because at least for me it can be daunting to play the most recent game in series without any knowledge of said series. If anyone shares similar reservations let me assure you that there appears to be no links or story elements carried over from previous Far Cry games. The story, setting, and characters appear to all exist in this game alone.
That being said these settings, characters, and the story are some of the most remarkable I've encountered in an open world adventure/shooter. Far Cry 3 is a beautiful game it's graphically stunning and presents you with a lush jungle full of amazing vistas and numerous ways to explore them. The jungle of Far Cry 3 is lush, beautiful, and dangerous. You can harvest elements of it for crafting or hunt and harvest for profit. Beyond that there is plenty to explore, collect, and side quests to complete which allows you to take things at your own pace. The characters are a fascinating array the deranged and everyday. Your character will walk the line between the two. This game has a lot of psychological and mature content both of which are done tastefully and to a purpose of enriching the story telling. As a mid 30s gamer I found it as engaging as almost any game I've played.
If you're not a shooter fan this is probably not a game for you. Thats not to say that you have to be addicted to Modern Warfare or anything of that nature to enjoy it. The chief gameplay mechanic is first person shooter, but this game is so much more than just that. Far Cry 3 also involves a series of upgrades and abilities unlockable thru leveling. These all blend smoothly to give you a number of options when approaching different situations. You can play this game in a stealthy manner or go in guns blazing and both are rather satisfying.
All in all I recommend this game to any player who enjoys an adventure/shooter in the vein of Red Dead Redemption, Just Cause, Mercenaries 2, Tomb Raider, Uncharted etc. | video-games_xbox |
Has most everything a sequel should be, little of what it shouldn't. The simple analysis of this game is as follows: Ubisoft fixed Assassin's Creed. Like Gears of War 2 and Fable 2, if the original was made this way, it would've made the eventual sequel several times better yet. Is it perfect? Of course not; there's no such thing as a perfect game. But it's really good. Does it fix everything the original game had wrong? Unfortunately no. But did it fix a whole lot of that? Absolutely.
One of the biggest problems of the original game was the sheer repetitiveness of its missions, and you can read any number of reviews on this or the original to get all of the details you'll ever need on that. Another one of the biggest problems of the first game was that the collectibles, flags, had no purpose. I am ashamed to admit that I was duped into taking the time and effort to find all of them, only to discover that I opened up some achievements and had a marker in the game that said "All (territory) flags collected." That's it. No bonuses, no new weapons, no new areas to uncover. This game has multiple types of collectibles and tangible, actual rewards for going for them.
Its two biggest problems are that 1) Ezio still has the problem Altair had of running up a wall that leads to nowhere instead of through the open doorway, or jumping towards yet utterly missing (or just away from) what anyone can clearly see is what you're obviously trying to get to, and 2) unlike the first game, the primary story cannot be replayed unless you start a brand new game, even though events in the game allow you to go back into the Animus after the story is over. Given Ubisoft's track record with such things, I for one do not expect them to make any effort in correcting either of these problems and I pity any who do. A third, minor problem is that the poison blade is worthless. It's just faster, easier and safer (for you as well as nearby civilians) to kill with the ordinary blade than poison.
But the story, the setting, the characters (especially Ezio) the new weapons, the missions, the enemies, the crowds, the evolving villa, everything I just mentioned is a huge step up. I guarantee no one will be able to see the iconic video game character Mario the same way after going to the villa for the first time. Leonardo de Vinci is hilarious. And meeting Bianca is also one of the most hilarious moments in the game. Which brings up another point; the first game was very serious; too serious. This game is still serious, but it sprinkles in a little humor to break up the tension every so often. And watching a group of guards drool and act like idiots for a group of courtesans never gets old. Never. You also get to learn about Ezio, who he is before the story truly begins, the love he holds for his family and thus how tragic his loss is, how he evolves as the story unfolds and why he becomes what he does become. And Desmond is a *tad* bit more dynamic himself. His actions in the game are a little more powerful than just stealing a security pen from the villain and reading e-mails. The missions are much more varied; there's even a coach chase and a mission with Leonardo's flying machine to boot.
The graphics are great. You feel like you're in Renaissance Italy, with all of the sights and sounds you'd expect. The music isn't the best soundtrack you'll ever hear, but it's still good. The voice acting is up to par as well. The controls can be a little aggravating sometimes but nothing that will make you throw the controller across the room in frustration.
Simply put, this game is amazing, and whether you liked or disliked the first, the second game is great. And if you never played the first game, no problem; the intro gets you up to speed. Definitely two thumbs way up. | video-games_xbox |
The Nitpicker's Review to Sonic Generations. WARNING: Contains gratutiously long paragraphs and multiple spoilers; reader discretion is advised.
What's Sonic Generations all about anyway? Your experience of Sonic's past. Which is no wonder why there's hardly a story to the game. Here's a different take on the nearly-non-existent story: why make a story when every fan has one of their own in their head? Each level and song is meant to induce our memories of playing those old Sonic games that are now probably collecting dust, then after this game is finished, dust them off and go right back and party like it's 1999. It's a different approach to keeping the Sonic franchise alive without really doing anything new in a way.
Does this mean I don't wish for more of a story? No, I would have loved to have more stages, more bosses, and screw that Time Eater...thing...it would have been cool to have a series of multiple bosses throughout a rip in time and space from a number of Sonic games with the two Eggmen coming after you simultaneously and - oh forget it; it's as if Sega's going to read this...
One thing I'm grateful for: Sega didn't leave out the PC for this game (well...Unleashed and '06 probably didn't deserve it). Hence I've spent 28 hours of quality time with this game before writing this according to Steam.
The game runs 95% smoothly on this configuration:
*AMD Phenom II X2 555 Unlocked to X4 B55
*8GB 1333MHz Ram
*AMD Raedon 6950 2 GB Video Card
*Other materials irrelevant to list
Contrary to that list, I'm NOT an AMD fanboy.
From a technical perspective, Sonic Generations for the PC is a pretty good port. Anti-Aliasing doesn't slow down and most of the time the game is stable. Out of those 28 hours of play the game crashed on me three times; once due to an overclock issue. Occasionally the game can slow down a bit and cause the controller to be semi-resposive and only the analog sticks will be operational at that time. For some reason it happens mostly when I'm in the hub and not in the game. Chemical Plant is notorious for slowdowns though. No overclocks or settings will help in those spots even with the new patch. The game also detected my Asus Xonar DX so I got 5.1 sound without really setting anything and the game sounds as flawless as a Sonic game gets.
To make the game autoconfigure my Rumblepad 2 from Logitech, I put an Xbox controller emulator program in the game's directory and my controller works perfectly. Sometimes things get complex when trying to keep the boost on and jump or duck at the same time.
Although the glitches are far and between, when encountered they are frustrating to deal with. Rooftop Run's mission with the snowboard is atrocious when the boost physics can be non-responsive in midair or sometimes when Sonic decides to go the wrong way when falling onto a lower or higher platform and you need to change directions. That said also when modern Sonic sometimes jumps sometimes (especially after a spring or say the rocket in Planet Wisp) Sonic is still facing a certain direction and you cant' change the direction he's facing in midair and have to wait for him to touch the ground before you can start boosting the right way.
Some textures are very HD such as the Green Hill Zone's terrain while some are very compressed, especially Speed Highway's signs, ugh. Aside from that the character textures and animations are well-detailed and very smooth. It makes me feel good to play this game in 1080 resolution albeit only a 23" monitor. Having 60 frames per second really makes the experience much more immersive and get a little lost in all of the details that Sega threw in there; you'll be speeding away with a Sonic Boom and never really appreciate a LOT of the details they threw in the background...until you stop that is, and what reward does that bring in a Sonic game? Nevertheless, each stage is meticulously colored and unlike a few of the past Sonic games I played, much more pleasing to the eye.
But what good is that if the levels are trash? Good news is, they're not. Bad news is...either they're too easy to roll through or maybe the ranking system is so laid back that even significantly longer paths in a level can still get you an S Rank. The difficulty sometimes seems uneven as some stages are easier than others at a first run of the level. It's said according to the game's help screen that Classic Sonic is easier than the Modern Sonic levels...Bull...I was able to catch S-ranks on the last four levels far before I ever achieved S-ranks on the classic stages...but hey maybe that's just me being a Sonic fan for only ten years? Oh well. I still find myself playing modern levels more as it's just plain fun to speed through a level and see how good your hand-eye coordination is and how consistently well can you execute Sonic's speed while getting the shortcuts (which is something I haven't wholly figured out yet).
Don't get me wrong, the classic stages are very fun, but certainly more difficult than the modern stages. The level design of classic Sonic are very well done and easily take any Sonic fan back into the good old glory days of the 1990s even with the most modern Planet Wisp stage. To me they provided the core of the challenge of just simply finishing the game's not-really-there story mode.
Supposedly the game has warning signs to let the player know if there's a bottomless pit, but later in the game I never noticed a single sign after Sky Sanctuary. Someone tell me where I'm wrong there because I probably missed some?
Then come three bosses...seriously...only three? Considering how much easier it is to take out Perfect Chaos and the Death Egg Robot, I wished for a greater challenge...then came Egg Dragoon...spent about an hour figuring out how to reach Eggman without dying (my fault, not the game's, OK?). The Time Eater boss felt like operating Sonic in a wormhole...oh wait, that's what it is because waiting for Super Sonic(s) to reach the Time Eater for more than 30 seconds was really slow and boring until you approach it and it "damages" you because that's really the only way you can actually take damage in that boss; most of the ill-conceived ordinance hurled at you hasn't a slightest chance of hitting you if you're boosting. "IT LOOKS LIKE A HOMING SHOT!!!!!!" everyone screams in your intercom while Sonic can just laugh is tail spike off wishing all of his friends would just shut up and let the experts do the not-so-best-boss-beating-ever. At least the new voices are very tolerable and I much like the new voice for Sonic though some of the lines (especially Charmy's) seem written from a 3rd grader.
Sadly, the only character that has worthy dialouge is - are the two Eggmen, simply because they're the only ones that really drive the story at the end. Surprisingly I actually share something in common with the everlasting villian of the Sonic series: I too like telling people what to do...uh...this review kind of gives that away doesn't it?
After that mess you'll be in for both treats and tricks with the missions that you didn't do (you thankfully only need three done in each "era" to progress). Doppleganger races can range from epic S-Rank runs to mere struggles to the goal (modern Planet Wisp race...ugh). I did love the blaring "Everybody's Super-Sonic Racing, try to keep your feet right off the ground," song playing...Cool shields from the past games are only part of the missions unless you use that skill set from the skill shop but definitely add to the playing experience. And finally the mission with Vector and the music note...I'm going to deviate from the pack here...I actually enjoyed that mission better than most of the races since it broke up the monotony of just going from point A to point B...and it was pretty easy to win.
Probably the absolute undisputed best thing about the game is the motherlode of nostalgia value found by collecting red rings and flying musical notes after you finish each mission. The artwork is interesting at least, and maybe inspiring for future Sonic games at best, while the unlockable music brings back a lot of the best of some of the worst Sonic games in history. It was one thing that I thought was always was a little light in the darkness of bad Sonic gaming. Oh and try combining Sonic CD's Palmtree Panic music with the Perfect Chaos boss and see if you can find the terribly awful irony there...
At the end of the day though, Sega made a good game. Not a great one, but one that I had the most speeding thrills with since Sonic R, the first Sonic game I played; that's saying something. For Sonic fans holding their breath for other guinea pigs to test the game for them...probably already have it right now. For everyone else there's my review so you know every little nitpickin' problem with it...fortunately none really makes a significant dent in the experience when you're rolling around at the speed of sound...and there's my exit..."trust me and we will escape from the city..." | video-games_xbox |
A phenominal achievement. First off, when Gears of War came out I did not own a 360. Once I did though this was the first game I picked up. I'd seen the videos, I'd heard the hype, now it was time to ask the question "does this game live up to the hype?" If you want to skip the rest of my review, the simple answer is a resounding "YES."
First, lets take a look at the storyline. Wait...there really is one there somewhere? That's the single biggest gripe I have with the game. They really don't flesh out the story at all. I knew what was going on simply because I'd been online and read the "history." In short, an enemy known as "the locust" came from underground and in one fell swoop moved the human race to the verge of extinction. Now the humans are making one last push to survive. Simple enough. You are a soldier who has been imprisoned for treason and the humans bust you out and reinlist you to help fight the locust. While the story isn't very deep at all after a few minutes of playing the game you will probably forget it. This is the biggest reason I gave this a "4 of 5" overall, but in the grand scheme of things it's not terribly important...as long as you have Xbox Live gold, but we'll touch on that later.
The game is very linear so you won't spend any time wandering around wondering what to do next. I guess it would have been nice to have it a bit more free roaming, but I still enjoyed it. The advantage is that it's less than likely that an enemy will come up behind you.
The big new thing in this game is the cover system. It's really simple and works pretty well. See a stationary (and sometimes not so stationary) object and hit the A button to put your back against it. You can see around the edges and even fire your weapons blindly. The system works pretty well with the exception that many of the actions you can take in the game require the use of the "A" button. It seems that other people have alot more problems with this than I do, 99.9% of the time it works fine. Once or twice it's hindered me but typically it isn't a problem.
Anyways, the cover system works pretty well. If too much of you is exposed you can still be hit, but generally if you're on level ground with an enemy he can fire away all day and won't hit you.
Graphically the game is just beautiful. The colors are dull but I think that serves to enhance the feeling of bleakness in the game. The human race is almost gone, what is there to be cheerful about? The textures are very sharp and the particles and blooms look great. This is easily the sharpest game I've seen on the 360, and one of the sharpest I've seen on any console (PC included).
The sounds are also great. I wish the main machine gun you'll use in the game, the Lancer, had a bit more grunt to it, but overall the sounds are fantastic. Grenades exploding next to you, bullets bouncing off your cover, it does a good job of immersing you into the game.
The weapons in the game, while I wish there were a few more, are all a good bit of fun, and all must be used a different way. You won't find yourself rushing anyone with the Torque Bow (basically a cross bow that shoots exploding arrows). The Lancer, probably the most used weapon in the game, serves it's purpose well: shoot from long(ish) range and if something surprises you switch to easily the coolest weapon in the game, the chainsaw bayonet. This death dealing device will (literally) reduce your foes to spare body parts in a matter of seconds, spraying the screen with bloody bits the whole time. It's almost shocking the first time you see it, it's just so...gross. But at the same time it's so...fun. I will give the nod to Epic for making this by far the most satisfying use of a chainsaw in any game I've ever played.
Finally, we come to the part of the game that you will spend the most time on, multiplayer. And my goodness is it fun! There are three different modes and typically I find myself playing the standard "Warzone" which is basically a team last man standing. The maps cover a variety of enviromnents and all are a pleasure to play. Also, one feature that you'll come to both love and hate is that often you won't simply kill a person, he'll fall to his knees. At this point you've either got to hit him a time or two more to finish him off or a teammate can revive him. The upside is that I've been saved numerous times when an enemy had to reload, the disadvantage is that my enemies can be revived. It is a nice touch though.
One thing I find a bit annoying about the multiplayer is the game's most fun item, the chainsaw bayonet. It is a 1 hit kill, and if they start it they WILL finish it. If it connects you are dead no matter what. I wish that EPIC had made a way to either escape or have it not kill you if they didn't completely finish sawing. It is simply TOO powerful.
Overall the game is an absolute blast and I can see myself playing the multiplayer for months to come. The game is extremely well designed and will leave you with Gears of War fever. Does the game have flaws? Yes, every game has a few. But is the game great enough to overlook these flaws? Easily!
So do yourself a favor and pick up a copy of this game and get to it! I don't think you'll be dissappointed.
*warning* This game is NOT for the young or innocent. The game is extremely violent and the language is very rough. If you are mature enough to handle that though then nab it! | video-games_xbox |
Bringing the battle home. Battlefront was a great idea. Take all the best battles of the Star Wars movies, and drop players right in the middle where they can team up against each other in squads feel like they're a part of the movies. That game was good. This one is better. Pushing the Xbox about as far as it can go graphically (and even farther on the awesome 360 where resolution is greatly increased), this time around not only do you get to be in the battles from Star Wars, you get space battles and play-time as heroes and villains like Luke Skywalker, General Grievous, Han Solo and Princess Leia. And don't forget Darth Vader and Boba Fett.
You can play this game online, but for me the real reason I bought it (and bought it again after foolishly selling my copy) is that when you play split-screen on a big screen, there's just nothing like it. With up to four people playing at the same time split-screen, you get the instant reactions of your team-mates and the kind of fun that only comes from being in the same room. When I first bought the game a friend and me started playing one night, and ended up staying up until 5 a.m., despite his having to catch an early flight that day! Just one more, just one more. And then at about 3 or 4 a.m. we happened upon the campaign mission of the blockade runner from the beginning of A New Hope. We looked at each other and said "It's probably going to just be a few guys in the corridor, not like in the movie". Then the mission started, as Imperial Storm Troopers we both ran around the corner...and we were both killed immediately in a gigantic hail of blast-fire and thermal detonators. We re-spawned and again ran around the corner guns ablazing... and we both died immediately again. Some would call it cheap. We thought it was awesome. We kept up our insane assualt, finally making it past that corridor and taking on the rebels throughout the ship. And then my friend had the option of playing as Vader. I watched as he cut through Rebels with his light-saber like a hot knife through warm butter. Yeah, that mission was awesome.
As I've played the game, I've found that many of the missions are almost as great. There's the swamps of Degobah, the rainy exterior of Kamino, and the boiling lava of Mustafa. There's space battles that let you fly a Tie Advanced or hop into a Clone Transport. There's all kinds of awesome units like Dark Troopers (who have a shock gun and a jet pack), Clone Troopers with gattling guns, Bothan Spies, and Droidekas. A lot of units are from the previous game, but they're all great. There's lots of modes to play, from the turn-based conquest to the Several Campaigns, to the great multiplayer modes.
Naturally the controls are perfect, making aiming easy and precise. Of course if you're a PC gamer you'll argue till everyone is asleep from boredom about how lame a console controller is compared to a mouse and keyboard, but if you're a hardcore gamer of every system you may reach the opinion of myself and my comrades that it's better to play with a wireless controller on a couch than a mouse and keyboard on a desk. I actually have my PC and game systems rigged to a 22 inch screen I use for everything from watching movies to 360 games, and still prefer playing with the 360 controller because it's so comfortable and easy for me (and I care more about having fun than about getting the high score in a shooter).
Battlefront II might just be the most fun multiplayer game in existance for the Xbox with the widest audience. I mean, everyone loves Star Wars. Right? | video-games_xbox |
A ton of destruciton but not much else. I have been a red faction fan ever since the first game for the pc. I loved the sequel as well. The destructibility in those games set the standard for destructible environments in my opinion.
I was excited to hear about another red faction coming out. I was worried when I heard that it would be a third person shooter instead of a first person one like the last two. In some ways my fears got put to rest after playing through the game, but others were only realized.
I start out by saying that this game is fun. Right when you jump into the singleplayer game you get to experience the awesome destruction you can create with game's impressive destruction engine. At first you just have a hammer and some charges. You first just learn how to take away the base supports for some buildings and then watch them topple under their own weight. Its an awesome sight to behold. Especially since the buildings are structures that you could enter and explore beforehand. This is what the game does extremely well. It puts plenty of tools in your hands and pretty much just lets you loose on the enemy and their base structures in a good sized open world.
Yes, there is a story campaign set in this world but that is where this game starts to falter. You see, this is just one of those stories that just gives you context for why you are blowing the crap out of everything. You just go to a mission starter and then a guy tells you what to go and demolish. That's fine by me, however since destroying things are a lot of fun.
The fights are pretty intense in the game. It can be fun but sometimes they get pretty frustrating. If you stir up enough trouble with the enemy they will just send endless waves of guys to take you down. It can get to be you against one hundred. Your health does regenerate but if you can't get anywhere without enemies to let your health regenerate you experience a frustrating death. This is one of those games where you get in, destroy, and get out as soon as possible.
That being said, it is the biggest problem toward the end of the game. The story gets kind of dumb and the missions get frustratingly hard. You pretty much just get sent on a bunch of suicide missions toward the end of the game.
The game runs well and looks pretty good for an openworld game. There are a few bugs here and there, but nothing too bad.
If you are a fan of the other red faction games then you may or may not like this game. The story is a let down and doesnt live up to the standards of the previous games. There is a ton of fun to be had, however, leveling huge structures to the ground. Its some of the most destructive fun you can have in a game. | video-games_xbox |
Good Job Square.. good job. Lame title i know. I already wrote a review for the Ps3 version and even though i never bought the 360 version. people don't give enough credit to this version mostly because of the lower HD quality. ITS STILL HD! Looks better then some of the other games out on the current consoles! This game still looks beautiful with the 360 as i compared both versions with a friend with the same 40 inch sony plasma tv. There is no major difference as people claim! While i agree & urge you to get the PS3 version not everyone can go out & buy a ps3 or will for just this game. 360 owners can enjoy this system as well as Ps3 owners. You might notice a much bigger difference if this game was ported to the wii. Heck, if Square really wanted to they could have made it for the Wii too. It would still look awesome! Maybe just as an upgraded PS2 graphic engine.
Now to the game itself, people complain whine & complain about the linearity in this game the story is too boring, maybe you just cant follow it right. Square came out with worse FF games then FFXIII. Try FFXI.. its online... possibly only. Yeah, huge fail there Square FF was an RPG not MMORPG. Didn't even get to play that game. It costs money to buy the game then it costs money just to PLAY IT! Try, FFXII.. story was just too short.. as apposed to the 10-12 hour long FFX story, FFXII was only 5 hrs long. (My hours til end of the game. FFX: 70 hrs FFXII: 40)
FFXIII: 72 hours. (i didn't time the story scenes this time)
For the people who thought this game was a complete snore, try the story for FFX. It took me 3 times to watch the story before i finally got it down (a friend had to point out a few things about the story). I was actually impressed by FFXIII's story, something i haven't seen since FFVII. It wasn't a love story like FFVIII or FFX (although FFX was a bit more religious/culture based) FFXIII is centered around fear, despair & umm.. betrayal? Well i think it hints that i thought it had more of the elements from what FFIV, VI, & VII had. Which makes those games my favorite ones. I did take a vacation when i played this one so i understood the story alot better then when i was playing for 3 hours per day or every other day (depending on my schedule). Although now that im at the end i feel like i need another playthrough just to get that feel again & to rewatch it incased i missed something (well most likely non important). I finally understood the I'Cie & all the other meanings.. well did for awhile but now i need to play it again haha. Which to me adds to the replay value. I loved this story & to me it was memorable. It only took Square 13 years & several games to get the story to that classic FF feel. At least thats what i noticed, although i think most people who were fans of older FF games probablly spent too much time crying over the linearity.
(a little minor spoiler here)
Ok onto the gameplay, those who think this game is not an RPG is not following the storyline. There are no towns, no people to talk to because your on the run. Hmmm, if i was a fugitive where would i hide. Maybe a town? No.. coudln't do that because if i did i would be caught. If you bothered to play through half of the game, both characters you are switching back & forth DO GET CAUGHT IN A TOWN! The first town they go to as well. It was so damn predicable too. I was thinking wow, they're fugitives on the run they'd be stupid to go to any towns. Sure enough they did & they got caught. The gameplay looks so gloomy, you feel trapped like your in a linear path (which litterly you are in).. well i looked on the positive side of this.. you only got one straight path that is so narrow i even felt claustrophobic. Again.. that's Square's genious for you. The characters in the game felt claustrophobic too, or felt trapped rather. The whole world wants them dead, Lighting & the others feel like there is just no escape, no where to run. Well.. infact Square must have done an amazing job then. I got my $90 worth. If you don't like watching movies or don't really get into them then this game might not be for you. Square has always done awesome FF games & kid you not.. even they did excellent with the other games as well. I just really hated the junctioning system in FFVIII. Really badly. I wanted to take Squalls gun & shoot the junctioning system.
Again, when playing through the first part of the game i felt like i was in a school full of nerds. The junctioning system seems like a math thing where you just have to draw the right amount of magic when & where while the strategy guide tells you nothing on magic hoarding. Well.. um maybe it does? But still found it awkward & more annoying then the materia setup. At least i understood how materia worked. I even found a limit on how much you can carry. Hint: Yuffie only steals a set amount.. if you hoard lots of good materia she will only steal part of it, i found this out 2nd time i played through i didn't have any materia 2nd time through. The first time i bought every kind of materia for every character in my party. 2nd playthrough i didn't do it as much.. realized that Yuffie can only carry so much or steal so much.
Anyways, i was on the floor laughing at the guy who thought the music for FFXIII sounded too much like elevator music. Even funnier, there is a part in chapter 11 (depending if you explore like crazy) where the music is elevator music!! I felt out of place.. like lost.. lol maybe i got to a section of the game where supossably the characters felt lost? Ha either that Square just added that track in just to amuse people. Anyways this game is amazing! It's different.. but amazing! Some may find this game boring or too linear but umm yea thats your call. For those who don't think this game is an RPG, go back to lerning school. Or look it up in the dictionary. If you still don't think this is an RPG then i don't know man, if towns & people & non linearity is a must in RPGs you won't like this game much. For me, RPG's are stories that your playing through to get the feel of the character. If you understand the story somewhat then you might get a feel for what the character might be feeling. That's a true RPG game in my book!
Its just a matter of opinion (you'll see a bit of a rant in the comment section below) | video-games_xbox |
Great gameplay mechanics, questionable inventory/leveling, forgettable story. There's a lot to complain about in this game, but I find myself consistently being able to look past the glaring flaws to have fun anyways. The gameplay mechanics feel fantastic... all the top-notch hallmarks of Halo FPS are there (excellent weapon balance, satisfying headshots, punchy firing mechanics), and the classes all feel different enough to open up different styles of play. The pure gameplay is fantastic.
Once you get outside of that, however, the design choices range from questionable to lousy. Once you've hit about level 10, you start trading upgrades (instead of stacking them), with no clear sense that you're actually trading up. Once you hit level 20, you start leveling up by maxing out items, which allows you to find better items (through random item drops, no less) then rinse and repeat. It definitely starts to feel like a deliberate time-waster, like Bungie is trying to spread less game out over more playtime. The orbit map adds a completely unnecessary load screen (to a game with excessively lengthy load times already). The story feels inconsequential, and I frequently found myself feeling like I was simply progressing to the next checkpoint and killing whatever was there. The enemy types often blend together. The world-building feels somewhat half-assed (especially compared to fantastic efforts like the Mass Effect series), and the ground-laying Grimoire cards can only be accessed outside the game. Peter Dinklage (who is fantastic in Game of Thrones) sounds bored and confused, often reading his (admittedly poorly-written) lines with the gravitas of a middle school theater student.
And yet... despite all those complaints, many of which would sink most other games, I still find myself coming back to this game and enjoying it. If you're prepared for some of the game's flaws and don't expect the greatest thing since sliced bread, I think there's a lot to like and enjoy in Destiny. | video-games_xbox |
Dead Rising Island. There are two types of zombie stories: the kind where emotion, realism and idealism are on display causing you to make moral choices with real consequences (think the Walking Dead episodes on Xbox/ Steam) and then there are the massive hoards of zombies that only exist for your dismembership pleasure where your only goal is to make bigger weapons to decapitate and destroy your unfortuntate fellow humans. This game is the second one. Which totally sucks considering the emotional trailer that was released ahead of time.
If you've played Dead Rising 2 you've played this game except this game is on an Island (city, resort, jungle) instead of a mall (mall, city). You have tons of gofer missions where your job is basically to go from here to there and back again for a few bucks or a prize. Rinse and repeat. This is a cheap way to make the game longer and add so-called depth to the game. But is it really adding anything when you get quests like this one: a (fully adult looking) woman (in a bikini) talks like a baby and asks you to save her teddy bear from a bungalow nearby. WTH?!
Some other noticeable defects in the game:
-You collect money all over the island then use that money to upgrade and repair weapons. Who you are giving the money to is not explained. Why you would pay in currency that is defunct to fix weapons doesnt make sense. Why not have to collect parts to fix your weapons? Money?
-The "story" doesn't exist. This game isn't touted as being a pure survival story like Dawn of the Dead or something where your only goal is to survive. This game is all about moving towards some kind of goal. The problem is that you don't know the goal for most of the game. Instead you'll spend hours and hours collecting juice from a gas station, fixing a kick butt armored car A-Team style (and then never using it again), checking out a downed helecopter only to find that you really only found a bunch more mini quests.
-The enemies rank up with you so no matter how awesome you get you never really see the benefits of your new abilities other than in the new ways you can kill the zombies. On the other hand, you never are too far below the ability of any enemies so killing them basically becomes a button masher without worrying about skills or rank ups or anything.
-Because cool weapons (valued at maybe $500) cost $1000 or more to repair if you use them you have to either 1) use a bunch of crap weapons because you don't want to bust your awesome one, or 2) spend a boat load of time finding money.
-Cut scenes sometimes show all four of the playable characters but you never meet the other three characters or play along side them unless you play online. Why not simply make custom cut scenes for each character?
-Zombies that explode, that bulldoze you (rams), and that are toxic may be interesting in the game but don't (in my opinion) fit in to the zombie story. Maybe there is one huge zombie in the world that happens to be in a straight jacket and tries to kill by running you over. I get that. But 50 giant zombies all in straight jackets in one city? Overuse of the boss. Some zombies could have become toxic if they worked at a waste plant or something but then they'd all be at the plant not all over the place. Why a zombie would blow up (ala Halo) doesn't make sense.
For all its faults the game is a simple diversion that you may enjoy. I did for about 10 hours before I realized nothing new was coming. Now that the game is super cheap it may be worth it to you. For me, I'd have been very disappointed if I had paid more than $5- 10 for this game. | video-games_xbox |
An exceptional headset. After owning the headset for the last month I can honestly say it's one of the best headsets I've ever owned for the value. There are a few things I should note, though:
- You must use a USB 2.0 port, NOT a 3.0 port. If you use a 3.0 people you will be talking to will receive a recurring static sound that is particularly loud.
- It does come with a driver disc. However, it is not completely necessary for the installation. In fact, after installing the drivers, I received a blue screen that was related to bad drivers. So if I were you, I would find the drivers online or not installing them at all. The only thing you will be missing out on is "magic voice" (a voice mixer for your mic).
- It is a very large headset. After owning and using the Steelseries V2 full size for roughly six months, I felt that it was too tight for my head. So, seeing how many people were saying that this was a large/heavy headset, I went ahead and bought. Upon putting it on, I realized that it was just the slightest bit too loose. Not so much that it slides off my head when sitting up straight, but if I were to look directly down or basically anywhere that would put it at an <90 degree angle, it could start sliding.
- It is not heavy at all. I was reading a lot of the reviews, and there seemed to be a trend with the reviews: it's heavy. Well, let me tell you that it is not heavy at all. If you want to make sure, take 61 nickles see how heavy it is. Then imagine the weight distributed equally on the very large headset. Trust me, it's not that heavy.
Other than the stuff I listed, it is very comfortable, has excellent sound quality, and has a very good, unique mic (If you noticed from the pictures, the mic does not have the traditional design with a covered mic. The mic is surrounded fully by plastic with a small hole at the very end of the mic that receives the voice. This actually eliminates a lot of ambient sounds.)
The contents of the box include a case for your headset, a poster, a doorknob hanger, and a driver disc. | video-games_xbox |
This is the best they can do. I think its hilarious how some people are trying to compare this game to the N64 wrestling games, it doesn't come close and is actually not a thing like those games, I mean not even by a mile, so I just have to say w t f? to those people who think this game is anything like those N64 games, obviously they have never played them and are just copying someone else's review because they have nothing original to say, so everyone stop trying to compare all stars to much much better wrestling games such as No Mercy, WCW/nWo Revenge, WCW vs The World. and WWF Wrestlemania 2000.
I actually prefer SvR over this game, all stars doesn't quite have the roster size I hoped for, the moves are beyond "over the top", they're almost silly, which is not a good thing, the "water ripple lighting effects" and the "colored light trails" I call them, that happen when you do certain moves, are kinda gay looking to be honest, hardly any match types, and the camera view is a little too zoomed in, in singles matches, overall this game is a major letdown.
Don't be fooled by bad reviews comparing this to N64 games, in reality this game is just like Wrestlemania: The Arcade Game and WWF In Your House for the PS1 and Sega Saturn, just a newer updated version. I didn't like those games and no one I know liked those games, they were crap and I don't like this all stars much better. So know what your getting into before you buy it, if you liked Wrestlemania: The Aracade Game and WWF In Your House, go for it, but if you didn't like those games, (seriously, who the hell did like those game?) then your not gonna like this one much.
3 stars is what it deserves from anyone with half a brain, so-so at best, a decent fighting/arcade game, and I only rated as high as I did because it gives a decent challenge, which is rare in a wrestling game, if it was easy to win matches I would have given it 2 stars. THQ needs to give up on making wrestling games and someone else needs to step in. Make me a new updated version of No Mercy or WCW vs the World, make it so I have control and can move around during entrance and can beat on a guy with a chair if I wanted after the match is over and I'll be one happy son of a *****. | video-games_xbox |
THIS GAME IS SIMPLY AMAZING, BUT BEWARE THE HIDDEN ADDITIONAL COSTS I love . THIS GAME IS SIMPLY AMAZING, BUT BEWARE THE HIDDEN ADDITIONAL COSTS
I love the Graphics and the detail of the World itself... i am from Italy and i have personally been in the areas where the Game is situated, they are not identical, but i can really tell where they got inspired from when they designed the Virtual World of FORZA HORIZON 2.
THERE IS A DEFECT WITH THE GAME THAT UPSET ME
Maybe i am a bit old school, but i hate having to use the Analog Steering, and with all the numerous Control Layouts available, there is not one that has the Steering performed by the Digital Cursor ever worse there is not an option to customize the Controls... that is very upsetting for such a greatly developed Game.
The Game is structured well, the Credit Prizes are well proportioned and give you good amounts that allow to purchase upgrades or purchase new cars without too much hassle which keeps the game more fun as i can often Change Cars... ONE ISSUE: WHY CAN'T THEY ADD AN OPTION TO SELL CARS???
NOW LET'S TALK ABOUT THE REAL PRICE OF THIS GAME
I am very happy for this purchase, yet i have to say that after paying $45 for a Game, i got a bit upset when after winning a few Races and going to the Dealership to buy a Car (an Alfa Romeo 4C) i found out that to get certain cars you have to Purchase an Additional Car Pack wich costs an additional $20
So the Game now would cost $65
This is what made it 1 Star... i find it unacceptable that after Purchasing a Game i need to purchase parts of it as i play... i would understand the purchase of an actual Expansion of the Playing World that includes new RaceTracks and new Cars, but instead to get to the Storm Island you need to pay another $20, and there it goes another star
So now the Game suddenly costs $85... NO LONGER WORTH IT
So i am playing with what i have, but a 5 Stars Game rapidly dropped into a 3 Star Game
it's still a Great Game, but poorly priced! | video-games_xbox |
Its about what I expected. The console comes loaded with features and if the xbox 360 is any indicator on how the platform will grow over the course of time, I am hoping to see great things developed for it. The launch line up is really good, If you want a cinematic experience and experience what this console can do I would suggest Ryse: Son of Rome. Despite the reviews for the game being all over the place the voice acting is awesome and the graphics are some of the best I have seen on a console. That's important because its only a launch title.
The Kinect is cool however one of the main reasons that I purchased the xbox one over the ps4 was because I hoped that in the future Kinect would bring some cool new ideas to gaming. Fortaleza project or Illumiroom.. so far apparently illumiroom would be too expensive for the average consumer so I am hoping they put the camera and all its features to good use for games. At the moment the voice commands do make some things more convenient. But I did not pay the 100 extra dollars for a little convenience. I have a gaming PC for ultra high end gaming and I am hoping the Kinect can bring something unique to the table.
I am disappointed with the GPU the xbox one decided to use. I am not to concerned about the cpu in fact I am quite happy they chose to use 8 smaller cores than 4 beefy ones hoping that developers finally start to utilize the extra cores in PC's and consoles alike.
The PS4 just has a slightly to marginally better gaming machine but lacks the network and possibly the software to match up in the long run. Its a tough decision for gamers to choose in my opinion.
Major factors
Xbox one controller I like more.. I think.
I like more exclusives that the xbox brand has
less powerful GPU-main component for the visuals you see
Slightly faster CPU than the ps4.
The interface and the cloud/network is superior to what Sony has.
Some of this is opinion, but there are cold hard facts. Only time will tell if I made the right choice. And one final note I am not sure I like the xbox one controller more than its predecessor, mainly to do with RB and LB buttons they feel more clicky and less comfortable to use than the 360's but its not a major issue. I would like some more time with the new PS4 controller now that it has trigger buttons. | video-games_xbox |
Still the best for kids. While very similar to <a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Just-Dance-Kids-2/dp/B0058SHO5I/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Just Dance Kids 2</a>, and borrowing from last year's <a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Just-Dance-Disney/dp/B0088I8M0Q/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Just Dance Disney</a>, there is some fine-tuning worth recommending. First, JD2014 has a more intuitive (and forgiving, for little ones) menu. Second, the time needed to hover your hand over an item to select it is also quicker, which is mostly good but occasionally leads to little ones picking the wrong things.
The playlist sports a good mix of pre-tween music like <a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Selena-Gomez/dp/B0057UVMNM/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Selena Gomez</a> and younger kids favorites like <a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/The-Wiggles/dp/B003UAL0UQ/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">The Wiggles</a>, so there's still a great variety to play with. For the parents, there are songs like <a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Footloose/dp/B003YNUSCK/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Footloose</a> and <a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Shout/dp/B0059CNB8W/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Shout</a>. None of the songs are really 2013/2014 hits (a lot of Radio Disney 2011 and 2012 songs), though Ubisoft's previous M.O. is to make newer songs will be available for DLC.
What really makes JDK the best choice for younger Kinect dancers is the drop-in and drop-out functionality, since we all know little ones are known to wander away on a whim and the game will keep right on playing for the other player (as opposed to most dance games, like <a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Dance-Central/dp/B002I0K3Z2/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Dance Central</a>, which will pause until the player is back in the field). You can also set the dance difficulty to ridiculously-simple (my 3yo and her friends) up to moderate (my 8yo and company). At its most difficult, JDK is nowhere near as challenging as Dance Central - and that's a good thing for kids.
Ubisoft took what was already a great game for the kids and made it even more kid-friendly. Kudos, and I highly recommend it! | video-games_xbox |
Could this be the revival the franchise has been needing for so long now. As a WWE nut, the closest me or anyone really could get to being in the world of the WWE is through the SmackDown vs RAW games and it's creator content. Since the "2006" game, however, the franchise has been dwindling steadily downhill, with the game getting worse and worse and worse every year, by THQ either taking out content such as match types or wrestling moves for custom movesets, limiting players abilities to do things like give Created Superstars attributes without going through a whole song-and-dance routine, or by simply not giving us enough of what we want, like a full WWE roster (jobbers and midcarders, included). Last year's game was so cheap and barebones, I didn't even keep it. And a lot of people were just as unsatisfied, as well. This year's game's "Gimmick" seems to be all about the user-created content. "But isn't that weird?" you might ask, considering that the games have *always* had this. What makes things better this year? ARE things even better?
Well, I can tell you that while still not where it needs to be, especially for a 2010 game, WWE SmackDown! vs RAW 2010 is a step in the right direction and a (slight) improvement over last year's game enough so to be an improvement. Great, no. Not by a long shot. But good... meh, I guess if you compared to "2007", "2008", and "2009". It seems pretty much impossible by now that THQ and Cory Ledesma (the guy in charge of the WWE SmackDown! vs RAW video games) will give us what we truly want. They're very much strict on letting us players actually customize whatever we want or do whatever we want. Every year we're forced to play "their" way and to do things by "their" rules, instead of having full, unlimited customization, access and gameplay. But at least 2010 gives us more than what we've had in the past.
STORYLINES/SEASON MODE
As far as storylines go, the Road To Wrestlemania is back. And it's pretty much the exact same thing. That sucks, I guess, depending on if you liked last year's RtW storyline or not. It's more of the same thing. You take a specific WWE Superstar through a storyline, that leads up to Wrestlemania and them winning (or not winning) the top belt. I guess this year, they tried to give you more choices and options in the mode, resulting in alternate paths in the Road to Wrestlemania for one guy. The problem is, if you're NOT a fan of Cena, Edge, or Randy Orton, playing through their mode (to complete the game and unlock things) can be quite the chore. It's only as fun as your personal preference to the superstar.
GM MODE/STORY DESIGNER
Next, there's the STORY DESIGNER. At last, I can finally say General Manager's Mode is BACK! Only this year, it's named the "Story Designer" and allows for more imagination than what the GM Modes of past games offered. Okay, so it's not *technically* GM Mode. But it works similar to it, minus the nitty-gritty details like budgets, injuries and superstar morale. You can edit and create just a lot of unique WWE scenarios using this new Story Designer. Type in dialogue, and watch your superstars say it on-screen (through words, not actual voices, even though that would be so cool!) Customize the camera angles, choose your cast and watch it play out on TV. There ARE some limitations; some ignorable, some outright insane. The biggest one being how restricting they are with your Created Superstars. You can only use them a few times in any given story, and cannot mix genders in storylines that aren't romantic based. This very sadly means, no creating your own alternate WWE Universe with an entire roster of your own created WWE Talent. Yes, you will have to use John Cena and the real superstars the majority of the time because you're very much limited with Created Superstars in the Story Designer. At first I didn't know why they did this, but then I've figured out it's because you can export your created stories onto the web. So what that means is instead of being able to use your created people an infinite number of times, they instead only allow you to "clone" them, up to ten times per story, so that it's possible to export them off your game without affecting your "real" created superstar. I'm pretty sure there wouldn't be nearly as much limitations on them if they had just decided you'd rather record them and post them on YouTube than actually exporting them off the game, itself. Yeah, this sucks big time and it's annoying, but if you can get past that, you really can create your own WWE Universe (you'll just have to stick to using the real-life WWE Superstars and the small number of preset animations given.)
CREATE A SUPERSTAR
The Create A Superstar mode (unoffically referred to as 'CAW' or 'Create-a-Wrestler') is somewhat beefed up now and you can create more than ever before. Unfortunately, THQ still motion scans all of their superstars in the game, meaning no matter WHAT you do and how hard you spend editing your superstars, they'll still look like phony, created digital people with detection issues rather than the realer looking WWE Superstars. The 3D Objects help make them look "less fake" but they still only look "less fake" and not actually "real" even if you're trying to create someone real and not 'The Joshinator' kid from the TV commercials. The problem with creating superstars is that there seems to be some kind of psuedo-realistic limitation to how much stuff you can put on one guy, due to the 3D limiations of the technology. You're given "points" to spend on clothes and objects, and the more points means the more complicated the superstar's wardrobe is, which of course, means restrictions. 48 points seems fair enough, but the major issue is that hair can take up to 32 out of those 48 points! Yes, just the hair! (If you want a guy to be wearing a fancy business suit, you'd best make him bald!) Also, the Hairstyles in this game still suck, as they ALWAYS have! Unless you're creating a White male age 18-30, don't expect any good hair choices here. Even women's hairstyles in this game are limited. Maybe they (incorrectly) figured not too many people make created divas?
I should also point out, there is a HUGE problem with creating Divas. The good news is, they can compete in most any of the formerly Male-only matches. The BAD news is, no more Divas against Superstars! No more Women vs Men. Why, man?!? This sucks, for sure! I can understand real WWE Divas don't fight Superstars too often, but this KILLS Created Superstar-Diva interaction, which is really the true fun of these games. But maybe THQ did it to be more realistic? Or perhaps to cater to the PG-WWE audience that has plagued WWE for the past year and a half now? I don't know, but it blows. The "no intergender matches" and "ten created superstars per story" are the two biggest issues in this game and those two alone take away one and a half (if not two) whole stars from this game's review. It's THAT bad.
Oh yes. Addding stat attributes is now much easier than before. Mostly, all you do is have Created Superstars compete in matches and they earn "Experience Points" in that way. You can then use the points to boost whatever stats you wish. And this works even if you don't play with them yourself, and let the computer do all the work for you, while you watch TV. Of course, the irony in "cheating" by letting the computer earn the points for you is that you'll have to make sure they'll be put into a match type they can win, despite their weak stats, like a two-on-one handicap match, for example. In fact, doing handicap matches is a good way to boost two created superstars points, at once. Another way is to have them fight against another created superstar whose stats are even lower than theirs.
Create-A-Finisher is also back. And this time, you can do diving finishers. I have to say the diving finishers are a lot more fun and creative than the Front Grapple finishers (I only make striking finishers out of them, such as punch combos) but ultimately, using the premade ones that already exist are probably better, as again, Create A Finisher most of the time, will only let you create most moves that already exist in one way or another, anyhow. So even IF you create your own custom powerbomb, there'll probably already be a move like that or similar to it in the game's huge animated moveset. The only fun really that you'll get out of them is by getting to name your finishers. Or, if you can pull off something totally bizarre and truly unique using it.
ENTRANCES & PRESENTATION
The Highlight Reel Create-An-Entrance is back now and this year, you can actually MAKE entrances with it now! Go figure. What really surprises me is how User Friendly the Highlight Reel is. No, you don't have to know AfterEffects to make your own, cool entrance video. You DO, however, have to fish for footage during matches, though, and save them for later when you actually create the video. It'd be a lot simplier if you cold just make whatever match scenario you wanted IN the mode, instead of having to get footage now, and edit it later. But I'm not really complaining. The Highlight Reel IS cool and actually adds more replay value overall to the game. The more creation modes, the better the game gets, overall, and this helps, big time.
The Create an Entrance options are still more of the same, though. Most are just recyled animations of former WWE Superstars or older, outdated animations of current ones like Randy Orton's old Legend Killer one, or Chris Jericho's Y2J Pose entrance. The names for Created Superstars are long gone now, sadly. Why?!? No more "Chris" or "Christina", but instead you now get 'The Superstar' and 'Thunder!' That sounds fun! (Not.) THQ, please bring back actual names for our Created Superstars! I very much dislike my guy having to be called The Prince.
Overall, the graphics are still bad (for 2010) because we've now got games that approach photo-realism in the way they look. SvR '10 does not look even remotely close to "realistic." Most the time, I don't care about graphics in the games, though. But what really makes the presentation stand out this year is the *attention to detail* in realism. While the Created Superstars still get the shaft as they've always have, the overall look tries to recreate the feel of a WWE Match as realistic as THQ can pull off. This includes camera angles, WWE copyright logos at the end of the show, and commercial breaks between events in Story Designer (Minus the actual commercials, of course). Even the Heads-Up Display, which shows you your health and all, has been redone so that it's now just a shadow halo under your Superstar. Overall (bad graphics aside) it tries to re-create the real WWE TV feel as much as THQ can pull off, although I'm sure they'll do a much better job in the future.
MATCHES
I don't know how many actual new matches there are available seeing as I ditched 2009's game, but the look, feel, and the play of the matches have all been improved! The Royal Rumble and Superstar Scramble are just two of the matches which have been upgraded and enhanced for a better playing experience. Also, Divas can now participate in the more extreme matches, as well. Sadly, as I sad before though, the option of females versus males has been eliminated! That sucks balls for any create-a-character fan! Half of them created are female, so that's quite a hurdle to overcome in match diversity and all! I should also mention, the blood mechanics have been reworked. It'll start from a tiny burst-open gush of blood, to a full-on red shower. Blood will also splatter on the mat and other superstars, as well. Sweat is also included and will glisten a superstar or diva in and after a match. It's more realistic, this time around.
GAMEPLAY
The gameplay is pretty much the same, more or less. While a total rehaul of all these ancient old moveset animations would be nice, it's at least progress to see some new animations in there amongst the same old ones we've been seeing for the past ten years or so. The countering is now done with one button, instead of the Counter Strike/Reversal Grapple situation we've had for forever, now. The only problem with this one button system is, they've seemed to work in a rule that you won't be able to counter all the time, now. Even IF you counter it, perfectly. Roughly one out of five times, you won't have the ability to counter a move, even if you manage to hit the button with perfect timing. I guess this was added in to make sure people don't over-abuse the system and give grapples and strikes an actual chance to connect sometimes (what with one button countering almost making things much too easy), but it SUCKS when you can't counter, even if you DID counter with perfect timing. Esepcially against the computer on Legend difficulty. And you also can't counter some things at all, like certain enviromental grapples the computer does on you, or the ever-so-dreaded "ground and pound" punches you'll NEVER be able to counter. Never-ever-ever! If a computer opponent starts bashing you in the face while you're on the mat, you'll just be utterly helpless to do anything to stop it, and you are at their mercy for ten strikes to the face (which can KILL all your momentum, by the way.) I HATE it when they do that, SO SO much!!! Of course, they can counter it effortlessly, literally before you even start hitting them, even if it's set on Easy! You'll almost never make it to the full ten punches you can do up to. Most of the time, you'll be lucky if you get four in.
OVERALL
WWE SmackDown! vs RAW 2010 is NOT a perfect game. It is NOT the Nintendo 64 "WWF No Mercy" killer, nor is it the "No Mercy" of our time. I would even say, it's still not as good as the best SmackDown! vs RAW game, the 2006 edition. However, it IS one step in the right direction for THQ and us fans. The game franchise has been on life support for years now, and in this year's installment, we finally get a glimmer of life breathing back into the once-stale "SmackDown! vs RAW" game franchise. The game has a LOT more replay value when you add in Story Designer, the Highlight Reel, Create a Finisher, and the kinda-tedious, kinda-fun goal of leveling up all your Created Superstars and Divas, even if you have 30 of them like me.
I think that this year's game, will very much be Hit or Miss. You'll either love it to death and call it "the best SmackDown! vs RAW game ever"! Or you'll be like me and still feel somewhat jaded about not having that "Dream Game" we've been waiting for, for literally years. On the creative side, No, you will not be in control of your own "WWE Universe" as they claimed you would be. But The Story Designer definitely brings you somewhat close to being your own Vince McMahon, if you have the creativity and drive. The Create A Superstar limitations are what hurts Story Designer very much though.
But if you want to know, put quite simply, if this is a WWE SmackDown! vs RAW game you should buy? I say... BUY IT. But maybe not for anything over fifty dollars. Wait for the price to maybe drop, first. It's no "No Mercy" killer, but it is one of the best SmackDown! vs RAW games in years. The Story Designer, Highlight Reel, and Create Modes will keep you playing long after you complete all the Road To Wrestlemania storylines in your first two weeks or so. Which is a lot more than what SmackDown! vs RAW 2009 could say. | video-games_xbox |
I wanted to love this. This games is so close but so far away. I am enjoying playing it but that is marred with constant frustrations and annoyances.
The game will lockup on you. Generally while loading, but occasionally at other times. You will have to stand up and walk over to your Xbox and hard reboot to get going again. This happens so frequently that it is to be expected amongst a party that someone will drop and be missing for a bit.
Installing the game to the hard drive greatly mitigates the lockup problem, though not completely.
Sometimes the frame rates in this game drop so low that it becomes unplayable. Specific areas on some maps are especially challenged in this regard, so much so that they must be avoided during game play.
There are glitches in the saving of progress. I had to re-start a chunk of the campaign in order to move forward because something did not save correctly the day before, when I was seconds from the final cinematic. My friend lost all of his campaign progress to such a glitch and now will have to restart the entire campaign in order to complete it.
Server browser and matchmaking is old school. Find a server manually and jump in, let your friends know which one so they can join you, hopefully there is still space. The filters are not effective and show full servers when you say you want 1-5 open slots only. Once you are all on the same server, just pray their is room on the same team and squad. Why you cant create and join as a squad is beyond me.
Textures are very dumbed down. I suspect this was the way to make the game scale from Xbox 360 to Xbox One. Use low quality textures and then you don't have to tweak the polygon count as much. I expect this game to look much better on Xbox One.
Many maps are too large for the team sizes. It is clear they were constructed for the epic battles to come on the Xbox One platform. But the maps feel empty on the current generation.
This game punishes the beginner. After the first week I was ready to snap this disc in two and never play it again. The weapons you start with don't kill flies let alone your opponents. The sites are poor and your equipment options lacking. Meanwhile you are having your head repeatedly popped by some clown not even a pixel tall on top of a tower a mile high with a 40x scope. With some persistence you start to get some functional weapons, but it is a slow road, when competing with kids that are able to play full time, and have now unlocked everything. There was no concern for balance in this game.
Vehicles are a constant frustration. A good pilot can dominate an entire team. The weapons you have to stop the vehicles are only moderately effective. It literally takes a team to effectively take down a vehicle. I.E. one man sighting with another shooting to score high damage hits, or multiple players firing rockets at the vehicle. The veteran players driving these vehicles will disable the inexperienced driver in seconds. A tank takes about 5 rocket hits before it is disabled unless it is being repaired, in which case you cannot reload rockets fast enough to out pace the repair. Perhaps as I rank up I will unlock some amazing vehicle stopper, but for now they are a threat that can really make the game not fun at times. Your first attempt to get even by flying a helicopter yourself will quite likely end with the helicopter upside down in flames in seconds.
So that all said this game has alot going for it. The maps are unique and open. There is a wide variety of multiplayer modes. There is a wide variety of weapons. It really isn't terribly too hard to get your team together on a squad, but it does take a couple rounds on a server. It is very fun and rewarding to a tactical team that works together. The campaign is very well done so far.
To give some perspective, I am an older gamer. I grew up playing Doom and Quake. Eventually I graduated to Rainbow Six. I was strictly a PC Gamer, but got tired of buying a new video card with every release. Finally I decided to move to console. I enjoyed the Rainbow Six games there until a very excellent game came out, Modern Warfare (the original). Two unfortunate things happened though with this release. First they ripped off so many features from Rainbow Six and stole the fan base that the Rainbow Six franchise died. Second, Infinity Ward party ways with Activision and Activision reheated and served the same soup six years in a row calling it revolutionary each time because they added another vegetable to the soup. It was still vegetable soup.
So I have been looking for a new game. Something a bit more tactical, where I can join my friends and compete against others and it matters that we are working together. I tried BF3 but was late to the game and couldn't get into it. I really had high hopes for this game and while it is enjoyable, the lockups, terrible frame rates, low quality textures and general unfinished quality of the game mar the experience. I guess it was just that important to beat COD by a week, that they shipped unfinished. | video-games_xbox |
Great Case, Great Price. We ordered this case for a trip we are taking. We wanted something small to put under a seat on a plane. Not only do we plan on taking it on a flight but most of our family members are gamers so when we go over to their house we always bring our Xbox with us. Originally when we started taking out Xbox to our families' houses we transported all the items in a plastic bag, then a backpack, and then finally we made our own carrying case from a duffle bag and some foam. That was great but still to large.
Pros about this case:
- Very small and Compact
- No Xbox Logo (Didn't think about this until I read another review but it really is great. I don't want to walk around with a big Xbox logo on me.)
- Great price (We paid the $29.99 for it and I would pay it again.)
- Tight secure fit for the Xbox (I'm not concerned with the Xbox moving around)
- The internal case that can be removed has Velcro on 3 sides not just 1
- Love the fact that the game disks are hidden behind the internal case (Extra protection from them sliding out)
Cons about this case
- There is not a designated location for a second controller (There are 2 of us who game so anytime we go somewhere with this Xbox we always bring both controllers. The second controller could fit in the external front pouch but this bulks up the size a bit too much.)
- No room for Turtle Beach gaming headsets (We have 2 REAL gaming headset, not those cheap ones that come with the system. The headsets would not fit in the front pouch or inside. We actually had to carry them separately. I suppose the cheap ones headsets would fit fine in the front pouch.)
Additional Notes
- We do not have a Kinect so we use the internal pouch for the power cords. I like that better then the elastic pouch up top but the power brick would not allow the room for the Kinect to be placed inside.
- No flaws if this was for a single gamer.
- Even 2 gamers this is fine if you don't mind the second controller going into the front pouch or if you are like me, we actually put both controllers into each internal elastic pouch because we don't have a Kinect and our power cord could be moved.
- If you have gaming headsets that you don't want to carry separately consider a different case. | video-games_xbox |
You DON'T want to spend money on this game. Okay. Usually I buy these games every year and play them, despite their flaws and such. SvR2006 was the greatest in the series and from there, the Smackdown vs RAW series has spiraled into awfulness like the flushing water of a toilet bowl. And speaking of s---, Smackdown vs RAW 2011 is probably one of the lamest games yet.
2007 had glitches and bugs in it, and a flawed new control style. 2008 improved the control style, but got rid of all the moveset moves, had a boring as heck story mode, and was ultimately boring. 2009 was the worst yet, with GM Mode GONE from the game entirely and no replay value, whatsover. And 2010 managed to breathe a little life back into the series with the okay Story Editor mode and improved gameplay and Create features.
So if 2006 was a (9/10), 2007 was a (5/10), 2008 was a (6.5/10), 2009 was a (4/10) and 2010 was a (8/10), what does that make 2011?
Well, let's see... the so-called "revival" of General Manager's Mode as "WWE Universe Mode" is anything but cool. It's like GM Mode or Story Designer, but with absolutely NO control over almost anything! You can't choose who will get to fight for championship title contenders, no matter what, and you can barely customize the matches. Even if you do, though, the game will ignore all attempted rivalry and storyline development, anyways. It only does what *it* wants. You can try to make a storyline, or use your own Created Characters (which the game never counts as being significant) and the Mode will just go, "Yeah, that's cute. Now step aside and let the grown-ups do their job." Any thing that isn't randomally generated by Universe Mode pretty much doesn't count. This might be forgivable if it wasn't the main part of the game! Universe Mode completely replaces Exhibition Mode. So, all the choices are more-or-less permanent, seeing as all decisions made in the previously "consequence-free" exhibition mode will now affect everything thing else. And you have virtually NO control over it! How fun is that? Why would they think it'd be cool letting a computer generate random rivalries and storylines that the player has almost no control over? Was this mode meant to work this way?
The gameplay is indeed different. They tried to add in a new physics/mechanics engine this year, but the game still plays similar to before. Only thing is, the wrestlers move so badly! I don't know exactly what they did, but the superstars and divas now move really slowly and wooden. The feel of the gameplay is far less organic and fluid than it used to be. While I give them credit for pulling off a good counters/reversals system, it just feels like you're playing with stiff robots, the entire time. Everyone moves so slow and un-organic. The pool of moves has been stripped down, once again. Just like in 2007 when they decided to switch over to the control stick format, all moves have been once again scrapped. I can understand why THQ does this every year, as they must not have enough disk space to keep everything. The problem is, the moves they *do* keep are always lame. They always get rid of the cool or not "WWE approved" moves and keep the same 16 different DDT's or Suplexes. This time, though, they didn't even keep those! I will give them credit for trying to expand the overall wrestler moveset and add in new options, like new Turnbuckle moves, but it's just too bad they had to get rid of a good 25% of their old grapples and strikes, most of which were some of the best and unique moves the game had to offer. I guess they figure Create A Finisher will replace those. Speaking of which, they added in a new Turnbuckle Create-a-Finisher option. But as it always is in it's first year, it could use a lot more improvement. We're just NOW getting to some decent options for the original Front-Grapple Created Finishers.
In other Create Modes... Once again, the Create a Superstar options have been scrapped. While 2010 had some okay clothing options for Male created superstars, females basically had nothing to wear besides a few skirts and tights. Well, don't expect any improvement, here. And as always, the hair options are terrible and are only designed for Caucasian men and NO ONE else. I truly, truly wish they'd just come up with a Create A Hairstyle option, cause it's really hard to make some decent created superstars/divas when the hair choices are so limiting.
In Smackdown vs RAW 2011, the roster is simply terrible. Probably one of the worse they've ever done. Of course, one with common sense would know you'd have to unlock some people, but even including that, the roster is still horrible. I can forgive them for all the missing people, if a lot of them weren't PURPOSELY left out, only to be charged for a price later on as Downloadable Content! And this WAS done intentionally, as the game actually includes them in it, but doesn't make them usuable until you go online and actually buy them via "WWE Fan Axxess" (which you can't do unless you buy the game new, AND have online access). Are you freaking kidding me, THQ?!? You left out Layla, Chris Masters, Nexus, the NXT set, and everything else just to CHARGE people for them? And you won't even BOTHER to make Alberto Del Rio, Daniel Bryan, Alex Riley, Jillian Hall, Kaitlyn, Naomi, more Legends, and countless others that OUGHT TO BE Downloadable Content superstars? We get you're losing support and customers THQ, and need to make money. But doing this only proves *why* you're losing all your support and customers for this game franchise.
The Road to Wrestlemania stories are just the dumbest. It seems ironic THQ would state they want their 'Smackdown vs RAW' games to be as realistic as possible (which is why they banned female on male violence in the games), and yet, they purposely limit their roster to be as small as they can get away with, and also give us a Road to Wrestlemania as dumb as these. Especially the Versus Undertaker one. It's so hypocritical on so many levels. In fact, EVERY Road to Wrestlemania in this game is pitiful. I can remember when SvR 2006 had storylines so good, they later actually became REAL WWE storylines! (like the ECW angle.) And now, we get cartoonish crap that even the real WWE would call stupid. At least SvR 2010 they had an actual Created Superstar sotryline in it. This game doesn't even have that. (And yes, I'm aware a created superstar CAN challenge The Undertaker, but it's not an original storyline made just for him.)
Overall, this game fails on almost every level to any of those that came before it. A few things, like Ladder Matches and Create A Finisher, have been improved, but as always, it's one step forward and two steps backwards. Of course, THQ can always get away with this, as they'll always have their little kids and handful of adults who'll buy and praise the game, no matter how cheap and lazy a job they did in making it. Kinda like the actual WWE, itself. At least the real WWE is losing fans and supporters for a reason, though. The real WWE ONLY wants to appeal to little kids and no one else, hoping to re-create the 80's or possibly spur the next "Attitude Era" in a few years or so. So at least they have their excuse for what they're doing. Smackdown vs RAW however, has no excuse for a game this lazily made.
I'd have to give this game a (4/10). It's SvR'09, all over again. For every good game we get that introduces Story Designer, we get a two bad ones that gets rid of GM Mode, and then introduces the far-inferior WWE Universe mode. Please, do not spend money on this, and let THQ know that if they want to still keep getting support, they're going to have to do a better job than THIS. Send them a message and tell them that lazily made games won't be tolerated, anymore. Some people will always continue to drink the THQ-aid, but maybe if enough people stopping buying these poorly-made titles, THQ will actually put in an effort to make a GOOD Smackdown vs RAW game. Because "2006" and "2010" are only two out of seven good SvR games, and that's when you clearly know they just don't care anymore, at this point.
THE RIGHT:
- New improved countering system
- Create-a-Finisher (Front Grapples and Diving)
- Match Creator
- Fixing the CAW limit in Story Designer (though it still has glitches, like the game confusing created Superstars for Divas, and vice versa)
THE WRONG:
Just about EVERY thing else. Including, but definitely not limited to:
- WWE Universe mode
- The weak roster
- The blatant DLC greed/ripoff to customers
- The piss-poor soundtrack (which if you try to mute, will also mute Entrance music as well)
- The VERY annoying continued Sexist Gameplay, which is perhaps one of the worst things aout the game. Does THQ/WWE really have zero respect for women? | video-games_xbox |
E" Model Best Xbox 360 Ever. I got this for my stepson for Christmas in 2014. We got it at a local retail store on a holiday sale for $25*. It came bundled with a wireless controller, 2 games, a cheap headset with mic, the power supply, power cord, and all the cables needed to get it going on your TV. There was also a free month of Xbox Live, which you needed in order to play games. They had one with the optional Kinect, but it was almost $100 more.
For those who aren't familiar, the Xbox 360 is Microsoft Corp's venture into the console gaming arena back in 2005, joining the already wildly successful Sony Playstation 3 console that otherwise owned the market. Like Sony's online community, Microsoft's Xbox Live paid subscription online community linking Xbox owners together where they can buy apps and games, receive Microsoft software updates and patches, and do multiplayer. All you needed was an Internet connection and pay Microsoft $60 a year for "Xbox Live." The original was buggy, and later versions suffered from a hardware flaw that caused the console to overheat (Red ring of death) and in some cases completely lock up. Unless you did some major surgery to fix it, your Xbox became a paperweight. The later versions fixed that problem. This is the newest 360, the "E" model, following the 2010 "S" model. The 360 "E" brought about some welcomed changes. One was a change in hardware. Mircosoft offered the 360 with or without a hard drive. Ones without the hard drive had 4 GB of user storage for user profiles and whatever games could fit. It's better to pay the extra $100 to get the 250 GB model.
The original Xbox had a processor based largely on Intel's "Coppermine" Pentium III CPU's. The new "E" iteration has a 3-core CPU made by IBM based on PowerPC, codenamed Xenon with a separate graphics processor. The "E" 360 has a SoC, with the GPU and CPU integrated on a single PCB. The CPU runs at 3.2 GHz, and can run 2 threads per processor core, so it's a lot like Intel's Hyperthreading tech. The first Xbox had a Nvidia graphics processor. The 360's graphics processor is made by ATi (now AMD). The power supply is external, and the power brick is big and heavy. It has to be to run the 180 watt Xbox.
It runs "silver" disks (not compatible with Bluray) from the optical drive that will read DVD's of all kinds (DVD-R/RW), CD's of all types (R-R/W+/- MP3, etc.) and the game disks, so you can watch movies or listen to music on it. For connectivity, on the back you get a full-size HDMI and a component video out (yellow, red, white) that's set up as a 3.5mm jack terminating in the composite plugs that go to the TV, a lot like a video out for an older digital camcorder. For the record, you're going to want to toss those out because it works best with the HDMI. The max video resolution for the 3 plug output is only 480i and both signals are analog, not digital. HDMI funs full HD at 1080p with digital audio that's a lot better. It's odd that Microsoft didn't include an HDMI cable...why wouldn't you include a $5 cable in a $275 console bundle? It's like the $600 printers that don't include ethernet cables or USB cables. Sheesh. For the audio, it comes with support for 5.1 Dolby Surround. There is no digital audio, just the standard 2-channel from the composite. For digital audio you need to run the HDMI.
The bundle comes with one wireless controller. It runs on the 2.4 GHz band, and you get good connection up to 30 feet. It runs on 2 AA batteries and boy does it use batteries! If you use it a lot, a set of batteries will only last you maybe 3 weeks. I use high capacity rechargeable and still only get that much. The battery back detaches from the back, and it's not very durable. Mine is held together with duct tape and super glue at the moment. Older Xbox controllers work just fine...plug them into the USB in front.
The 360 has both a RJ-45 fast ethernet (10/100) or WiFi 2.4 GHz. There's also 4 USB 2.0 ports. 2 on the front for controllers or other devices, and 2 on the back. The software features are endless. Microsoft transferred a lot of it's Windows genius to the Xbox. When you sign up with Xbox Live, you go to the Xbox Live user interface, which took some getting used to, but is overall a nice layout. It's arranged a little like Windows 8. You have access to Microsoft's Xbox Live app store where you can get access to online game marketplace to buy games and DLC's, apps for Netflix, Hulu, Nickelodeon, YouTube, and others. There is also a weird rendition of Internet Explorer built in that lets you (somewhat) browse the web. It's nothing like the desktop PC equivalent though, but good enough to do basic stuff. The sad part is you need to subscribe to Xbox Live Gold to use it all for $60 a year. Sony's Playstation Network has been free since inception, but I hear that's changing soon...
Gameplay is good. Audio is good, and graphics are good too in HD. Now for the record, for those folks throwing down the argument that PC's game better than consoles...well you're right for the most part. Yes, you can game in 4k on a PC with multiple monitors and have amazing frame rates and audio quality, but you're going to pay for it. The Xbox One costs around $400. A PC that can game in 4k, or even 1080p will run you twice to three times that much, not including the monitors. So if you want to game, but don't want to spend $1200 on a gaming PC, get the Xbox One. It's amazing. Even the 360 is good on games in HD. I have no issues with the video quality or audio quality. The 360 will play the older previous-gen Xbox games, but for the older games, some won't run in HD. My Star Wars Battlefront 2 only runs 480i even with the HDMI cable. You won't get HD until you get into games launched around 2007. Watching YouTube and Netflix is nice too. HD videos play well, and on a nice HDTV it's a great experience! I have noticed that it does get hot when playing games like Minecraft. Nothing real bad, but it was alarming at first.
As far as the game selection...there are tons. If you can think of it, it's probably an Xbox game or been ported to Xbox. There are games on disk and games for download. The bundle came with Halo 4 and Tomb Raider. As a side note, the most profitable game franchise in history, Halo, debuted on the Xbox. The rest is history.
So now that the Xbox One is alive and well, is it worth getting the now year-old "E" 360? I think it depends. If you haven't got the extra $150 or so to spend, then get the 360 with the 250 or 320 Gb hard drive. If it were me, I'd keep saving and get the One. It adds all of the stuff missing from the "E" 360 and competes well with the PS4. The bummer is you can't play older Xbox games on it, but Microsoft has a fix for that in the works I hear...
Pros:
Versatile: plays all Xbox games (except One)
Great gaming performance
Plays CD's and DVD's
Full size HDMI output
4 USB 2.0 ports
WiFi
Lots of options for apps, Internet, and social media
Came with Halo 4 and Tomb Raider
Nice user interface
Cons
No digital audio (optical) option
No Bluray drive
Got real warm during games
Didn't come with HDMI cable
External power supply is bulky
Need to sign up for Xbox Live Gold to use games and apps
So that's the Xbox 360's newest (and last) iteration. Microsoft says it will stay on the books until 2016, so if you've got one, enjoy it white it lasts. Would I get one? It depends on how much money you've got. For $280...no, because soon the One will come down enough in price and with Microsoft unlocking it soon so it will play all Xbox games, I see no point in getting one at that price point. Otherwise, it's a great box that will keep you entertained until the cows come home. | video-games_xbox |
Best/Worst Video Game Ever. ORIGINAL REVIEW:
I'm only about 2-percent through the game, but that 1/50th sample has me hooked. It expands on all the strengths of the previous 3 games (and, yes-- 'Arkham Origins' is emphatically included in the canon, based on what Rocksteady put in the GCPD Evidence Room), and adds a pretty cool racecar/tank into the mix. The graphics are gorgeous, gameplay mechanics are great, and the open world you get to explore is vast and varied. So far, it's everything I expected it to be, and then some-- and I came to this with the highest of expectations.
My only only complaint is that I can't decide if I want to fly above the city or race through the streets in the Batmobile-- they're both just too much fun.
Oh, and I didn't get the First Appearance Skin promised in the product description. It did come with a code for the Harley Quinn content, but no First Appearance Skin.
UPDATE: Thanks to Carrman217, I found the code, which had, in fact, been emailed to me by Amazon. I use that email to buy stuff, though, so it's flooded with spam and I never check it, and it never would have occurred to me to look there for the code. Thanks, Carrman217.
UPDATE 2: As noted, my initial review was from when I was only 2-percent into the game, so I hadn't made it to the upgraded batsuit/grapple gun yet. The game really takes off after that-- figuratively and literally.
LAST UPDATE: This game sucks. The first 50-60 percent deserves 5 stars, but I have no idea how the guys at Rocksteady thought getting blown up in the Bat-tank over and over again getting chased by a giant drill or a swarm of indestructible tanks would be fun for anyone-- especially when we all bought it so we could "be the Batman." Batman doesn't spend all of his time in protracted tank battles. If I weren't already umpteen-many hours in, I'd take this stupid thing out and throw it away. Since I'm already invested, though, I'm still at it, but I kinda' wish I never bought it right now. It's ridiculously, stupidly, senselessly hard. Which, I suppose, is fine if you're some kid who never goes outside and thinks being really good at video games is an accomplishment, but for normal people, it's supposed to be challenging enough to be fun, not tedious and frustrating. If they ever put out a 'No Batmobile'-version of this game, I'll be happy to play it instead.
(REALLY THIS TIME) FINAL UPDATE:
I was perhaps a bit harsh in my last remarks. I still hate that stupid Bat-tank and it's boss battles. If not for that, this game would get 10 stars out of 5 (I know-- that's impossible. But, I love it that much, sans Bat-tank). Great story, awesome, expansive world to explore, gorgeous graphics. The game mechanics are a smidge below 'Arkham City,' but still good. | video-games_xbox |
Glaring flaws outshine technical virtuosity. Much of this game is a technical marvel. The graphics are beautiful. Environmental effects such as rain or blowing sand at Laguna Seca look better than in any other "racing sim" (I'm looking at you, Gran Turismo). The overall gameplay is logical and what you would expect. There is a career mode that you progress through. Doing so earns you plenty of credits and freebies, so you can separately enjoy the free play side of this game. Unfortunately, three glaring flaws just keep shining through. These flaws are bad because (a) they ruin immersion; (b) they make the game un-fun; and (c) they could easily have been avoided by the developers.
Flaw 1: Grid starts. All the races start with all of the cars parked close-together on a grid. The game developers wanted to include a realistic model of tires warming up, so when the race first starts, all of the cars have cold tires and no traction. So for each and every race, immediately after the go signal, there is a half-lap of non-stop and out-of-control bumper cars, with millions of dollars worth of racing cars smashing into each other and spinning each other out as an absurd consequence of the developers' absurd insistence on ignoring the consequences of their development decisions. Even if you consistently win every race, your best bet for the first half lap is to hope to bounce around between rows of other cars and not spin out too much until the digital tires "heat up" and the pack spreads about a bit. Needless to say, this would never be seen anywhere in the world of real racing. It is the number 1 reason why I can't recommend this game.
Flaw 2: the sound design is atrocious for at least two reasons. The cars sound good at one level, but the developers insisted on trying to be realistic, so apparently they included every possible mechanical sound that could conceivably happen (never mind that in a real race, your helmet would muffle most of these). So there is a cacophony of random bings and clanks--sure, they're probably realistically coupled to something that happened with a car near you, but it's distracting and unhelpful, especially when coupled with the second reason that the game's sound design is atrocious--the music. Some low-rent, generic movie score music is always playing (unclear if the developers want you to think it's playing through the car stereo, or if they sacrificed realism in favor of the game having a score). But the score music is unappealing and intrusive. It's most noticeable when it random changes intensity and tempo, so suddenly you're listening to timpani drums out of nowhere when you need to be focusing on the track. The score music does NOT integrate well with the game. They should have gone with "radio stations" or some other model.
Flaw 3: The microtransactions are integrated into the game in an offensive manner. I am not criticizing the very inclusion of microtransactions (even though they mostly suck and seem to reveal a company that lacks the courage to make what they think is a great game and sell it a price that is fair for the game). Buy here, the microtransactions are present in a really crappy way. A number of cars and race tracks are not included in the game unless you pay extra for them. HOWEVER, those cars and race tracks are fully visible in the menus as options. So you go to pick your race track and once you do, then the game prompts you to enter a method of payment. Somebody at Microsoft or Turn 10 should be kicked in the cuevos for that one.
These three flaws are so egregious, I am unable to overlook them and endorse what is otherwise a technical marvel. | video-games_xbox |
Amazing Launch Title, Day One a Gimmick. This game is amazing. The graphics, the game play, the drivatars (discussed later). Just about everything about it is great.
I like that with Forza it is very easy to earn credits to accumulate more cars and upgrades. It always felt in Gran Turismo that it took so long (especially since you had to take those very tedious driving tests). This game just gets straight to the point.
The graphics are amazing. The best thing I have seen on the Xbox One so far (I also own BF4 and DR3). Whenever you finish a race it shows you all angles of your car so you can see the damage. You can even see the paint from other cars you hit. It isn't perfect (I flipped a car early on and it looked just as damaged as me rear ending my friend's car) but it certainly is a very cool addition.
The game really takes advantage of the rumble triggers of the new controller. Whenever you drive on the hazard line on the side of the road it legitimately feels just like it does when you drive on it in real life. It also gives me that real life feeling of when you lose traction. My friend and I play online a lot and as you play Forza creates a "drivatar" that mimics your tendencies. The more you play the more the drivatar learns. Instead of racing against AI cars you are actually racing against other people's drivatars. Every day you login you actually earn the credits that your drivatar won for you while you were away and it was racing. That means you get to buy more cars and more upgrades just for logging in (assuming your drivatar was used).
What I don't like about the game is that if you upgrade your car to a new class by buying parts (e.g. Class B to Class A) you can not reverse this without paying to downgrade it and then paying to upgrade it again. This prevents you from being able to race your car in different class races. I feel like if you have the parts you should be able to tune the car to whichever class you want. Small complaint considering how quickly you accumulate credits to be able to buy new cars in different classes.
My main complaint only applies to the day one edition. I was excited to see that with the day one edition you received extra cars for the same price as the regular edition. The gimmick is that those cars only become available in the game. You still have to save credits to purchase them. I thought I was getting a leg up on others by starting with three extra cars but in reality I had to earn those just like any other car.
In conclusion Forza is great and in my opinion the best game at launch. If you are into racing games you should really enjoy this. Similarly if you want to show off the graphics and surround sound of your next gen system this is the game to do it with. | video-games_xbox |
Great Diversion. There's little left to the imagination with the Midtown Madness series. Released in its first two incarnations on PC only, the games were already well-known for their original, free-roaming style of gameplay, their wide selection of real world automobiles and their revolutionary use of online play. This was one of the earliest games to allow players to leave the pre-set race tracks and obstacle courses to explore an entire virtual world on wheels, complete with working traffic systems, interesting jumps and stunts, and pedestrians. I'm surprised it took the series this long to make the transition from home computer to consoles, but the third chapter in the ongoing series was worth the wait. It's a vast improvement over chapters one and two in every area, and though it does have its faults, I'd consider it to be one of the Xbox's strongest original titles.
The storylines themselves are, honestly, very overwhelming and incredibly cheesy, but that slowly becomes part of their appeal. Every single character you interact with is a crazy, super-exaggerated parody of some sort of culture, be it French, American or anything in between, and the voice acting reflects that more than anything else. The unifying sense of humor between all the different stories is a bit too cartoony for my taste, but occasionally delivers a good laugh or two. If you're looking for a game with the realism, grit, grime and atmosphere of Grand Theft Auto, you better move along because this ain't it. If you've got your eye out for a squeaky clean, sometimes amusing, lighthearted adventure that won't lose you any sleep at night, this is your ticket.
The controls employ your standard racing setup, basking in the glow of the strengths of Microsoft's controller design. The triggers are your gas and reverse, respectively, and are pressure-sensitive which makes all the difference when you're trying to set the proper speed for taking a turn or lightly brake before pulling a fancy Hollywood U-turn. Both the left analog stick and the D-Pad can be used to steer, but you're out of your mind if you use the D-Pad. Unlike Sony's classic dual analog, Microsoft's S-Controller was born to handle racing titles, and my hands never cramped or suffered throughout my experiences behind the wheel of MM3 (which is something i most certainly CAN'T say about my marathon sessions with Gran Turismo 3.) Even the extra "click" functions of the Box's two analog sticks come into play here, and clicking the right stick will bring up a translucent full-screen map of the city and your location, overlaying the game screen itself which is still in motion. It really gives the feeling of keeping one eye on the road while you quickly check the map in your passenger seat, and often leads to similar results. I've driven headfirst into some nasty situations because of this map, and I love it that way. Very nicely done.
Though not particularly original, the graphics of MM3 are still quite a sight to behold, and deserve special mention without a doubt. There's a nice visual theme running between the cutscenes, (which are few and far between) the loading screens, the main menu and the in-game HUD, and the car / building models themselves are fan-freaking-tastic. There's no question in my mind they were setting out to flex the Box's muscles in a big way with this one (thus the inclusion of both 480p High Definition and Dolby Digital 5.1 support) and in this regard they were quite successful. While I won't go so far as to claim the vehicles or environments trump those seen in the previously mentioned Project Gotham 2 or Gran Turismo titles, they do give both a healthy bit of competition. The sheer visual interactivity of tiny elements of the scenery especially caught my attention.
Almost as an afterthought, the sound is also an impressive example of what the Box can do when it really sets its mind to it. The use of Dolby Surround is more effective than you'll give credit for at first, sending the sound of squeeling tires, angry horns, screaming pedestrians and scattering change from one side of the room to the other as you wildly spin the wheel. There's no doubt in my mind that this is an example of some of the best use of ambient noise in a video game, and it aids the entire package immensely. The in-game music is nothing worth remembering, no doubt, but never really gets in the way and is negated due to the inclusion of custom soundtracks. There's really no excuse for a racing game to ship on the box WITHOUT this feature, since even the greatest tunes can get old after an hour of solid racing, but it's noteworthy all the same.
All in all, this is a game I'm happy to have in my collection. It didn't force my jaw to the floor in utter disbelief when I first caught a glimpse of the visuals, it didn't blow me away with unique, revolutionary new gameplay methods or stun me with a totally original concept. Put plainly, it is what it is; a solid, straightforward adventure game mixed with a solid, straightforward driving game. The single player story mode isn't anything to write home about, but I can't think of a time at any point in the future where I'll grow tired of playing the online modes and trying to erase my old land speed records offline. This is a great example of a game that never takes itself too seriously and is meant as a diversion, a way to kill a couple hours with pure, unadulterated fun. It isn't perfect, but it's good enough. I'd recommend a purchase without a second thought if you're Live-Enabled yourself. | video-games_xbox |
Halo 3 - The long awaited ending to a remarkable series. I must admit when I first heard about Halo: Combat Evolved back in 2001, I didn't know what they were talking about. Throughout two years I have heard just hype after hype after hype, forcing me to think "overrated". When I finally got my Xbox and Halo along with it, I strapped into FPS mode and began going through the story of Halo I saw what they meant. It was a beautiful game and wonderful storyline that bound together perfectly...though it didn't hook me. It took me a solid two-three months to beat it, not because I didn't like it, but because I didn't see what was absolutely great about it.
Years past and same things happen with Halo 2, I beat it in a two-three month span. But then, like the gamer I am, I couldn't wait to play Halo 3, for closure on what was going to happen. I got Halo last Friday and after a weekend away from the console, I beat it within a week of buying it. Halo 3 is a thrilling conclusion to an amazing series that continues to push the limits on what we call "Perfection". Halo 3 in my opinion, is the pinnacle of the series, a shining beacon atop the pyramid of the series. Wonderfully orchestrated score, loving every second of the piano bits and the overture.
I can say without a doubt that this game, is a must buy. This series is a must buy. I can say though that it will be years for another great FPS to come out for Halo will shine on for many years to come. From the very beginning to the very end it will keep you on the edge.
The ending, however, robbed me of emotion, for words cannot describe it. You must see it. There is no more a fitting end than the one Bungie gave it. Yes as I have stated before it robs of emotion, for you are speechless when you watch it. But any other ending, would have seemed cheesy, or just been terrible. It is the yin to BioShock's Good Ending Yang; what giveth you emotion, it must be taken away.
I have never been a Halo fanboy. I've never been a big fan of the series (More of an Final Fantasy guy), but this ending game was just what I needed. You are doing yourself a disservice if you don't buy it. | video-games_xbox |
Already one of my favorite games of all time. I just purchased this game a few days ago and I can't put it down. It is somewhat a variation of Speedball Brutal Deluxe.
At first Deathrow may seem to be shallow game. But after you understand all the nuances of it you will find there is a depth of strategy and skill to it. You need to be aware of your teams strengths and weakness' as well as your opponents and play the game accordingly.
The controls couldn't be any simpler. But it will take a few games until doing the moves that make up the player control become second nature.
There are two basic camera views to choose from. Sports and Arena view. Sports view is wide angle view that gives you a good view of the overall arena but with the sacrifice of the incredible action and deeper graphics that the game offers.
The Arena view is a just behind the player in a 3rd person view. This view really puts you in the action and allows you to take in all the great textures, lighting and hitting that goes on. This view takes a lot more practice to get comfortable at but the payoff is well worth it. Despite one review earlier you can simply press the right trigger button to swing your view directly to the disc or the opponents goal if you are already holding the disc. If you want you can even hold this button in most of the time and you will always be aimed at the disc or the opponents goal.
You can also use the D-pad to change your teams overall strategy to 1 of 5 settings on the fly. Full defense, mostly defense, neutral, mostly offense, full offense. I am constantly changing this during the game. If 1 or more opponents are 'locked down' for a few moments I will quickly switch to full offense to take advantage of the situation as an example.
The graphics are very well done. They may not be HALO 2 quality, but they get the job done.
5.1 sound helps put you right in the middle of it all. You can hear the hits and taunts all around you.
Lots of options to play the game you want. From turning on/off passing and shooting guide lines to power-ups to game length to turning off the lockdown option so you can beat the living hell out of anyone that dares to get in your way. There is even a multi-disc option!
System link up to 8 XBOX's!
The only 2 major cons to Deathrow are no online play. And the only option they left out of the game is an on/off for the profanity. Yes Deathrow has profanity...A lot of it!!! But not only is it in their to add flavor to the game, it actually has strategic use. For example; You can taunt the goalie until he comes after you allowing a teammate a clear shot. If the goalie is a lot bigger than you taunting is the clear option. Not trying to go toe to toe with him. So this is a title best not played around the kids. There are some teams that speak in alien tongues so you don't actually have the profanity if you need to play with the kids.
I can't say enough about this game! If you like high action games where skill and strategy make a huge difference on whether you win or lose you can't go wrong with Deathrow.
Deathrow may not be for everybody. But it is an incredibly entertaining well thought out game. If you have a few friends to play this with, you better have a lot of drinks and snacks on hand because you will be at for a very long time. =) | video-games_xbox |
Resident Evil 6 - Not much of a step forward, but still a great game. After waiting all year for the release of Resident Evil 6, and hoping and praying that it wouldn't be another dissapointing 4 hour long campaign like Resident Evil 5 was, I was amazed to see so many negative reviews before I decided to take a chance a purchase it for myself. Before purchasing the game from Amazon, I went to several gaming websites and read foul reviews from both the official reviewers and the users and felt that Resident Evil 6 was going to be another let-down (even though Resident Evil 5 recieved stellar reviews, most undeservably, when it came out).
Resident Evil 5 wasn't a terrible game, but it lacked pretty much everything that makes Resident Evil, well, RESIDENT EVIL! Plus I was able to beat it all the way through in just a short few hours, and it didn't really have any replay value to speak of, unless you enjoyed replaying it over and over again with someone online that had their weapons beefed up to the point in which there was absolutely so challenge. I would give number 5 a whopping 2 stars at best.
So, like I said, I decided to purchase RE 6 despite the slew of bad reviews, and I'm glad I did. The bad reviews describe a game with clunky controls, an over-use of quick time events, and a bad story. Here's my take on it. First let me squash these little bugs.
1: The quick time events are actually few and far between when you really get into the game (playing it for more than just the first 10 minutes), and even when they do occur, I never felt like they "stole the action" away from me, and they were all quite brief. For me, they simply just added an extra tid bit of gameplay here and there.
2: Any twelve year old girl could master the controls with ease. Anyone complaining about clunky controls and the fact that they are hard to manage must have just started gaming yesterday, because I found the controls to be very easy to grasp and fun to use with new additions to melee combat.
3: No Resident Evil story has ever been good. PERIOD. We come to shoot at zombies and other grotesque mutations. PERIOD. That's always been the way it is with Resident Evil.
Now onto other things. The graphics haven't improved much since the last installment, but they are still very good, and provide great environments to fight your way through. The monsters look good as well.
The thing I love most about this game is the amount of content. With 3 initial campaigns, and Ada Wong's campaign added to the roster once you finish the first three, Resident Evil 6 has more content than almost all of the previous games combined, and each campaign is highly replayable. So far I'm at 32 hours and counting, and expect to get much more out of this game. Previous games were always fun, but left me feeling ripped off after beating them in 4-6 hours (with the exception of RE 4). Capcom has finally decided to give it's users some bang for their buck, and for me, it is much appreciated.
Another thing people have complained about is the fact that the game a more linear than Resident Evil titles of the past. This much is true, but is easily overlooked by everything else the game does right. People also complain about the intense amount of cutscenes, which I personally kinda enjoyed, but to each his own. The game still functions pretty much like RE 4 did, only now you have the luxury of moving while aiming; a big plus in my book.
Another thing that I found to be awesome was the return of ZOMBIES! FINALLY!!! They brought back the very thing that drew me to the first Resident Evil games in the first place, and even though the Zombies only appear in Leon's campaign, it's still a great thing. And just to make myself clear; when I say ZOMBIES, I mean the living freakin' dead! Yes, you could technically say that the enemies in RE 4 and 5 were zombie-like in nature because they were more or less mindless drones bent on destruction, they weren't the classic Romero Zombies that I love so much. Even though they only dominate Leon's camaign, which is the best of the 4 in my opinion, it's enough to please me to know that the living dead have at least made their way back into the story like the oldschool games.
Yes, of course the game doesn't have the same slow-paced spooky atmosphere as the first 4, but I pretty much expected that to be the case even before the slew of bad reviews written by jaded people with bad taste. There are still plenty of intense moments, and the action is just plain fun.
Overall, this game is just what I expected it to be and a little more with the overall length. To each his own, but for me, this was a great addition to the Resident Evil genre, and continues to be as I still continue to play it. | video-games_xbox |
The underrated Xbox game of the year. I've been looking forward to Alan Wake for awhile ever since I got to see tech demos of the game engine on video. I was disappointed when the PC version was being shelved indefinitely. One of the reasons why I got the 360 was because of this game actually.
With that being said I was IMMENSELY disappointed when I saw the new Alan Wake trailer. My initial impressions were, "Man this thing is going to be a Halo 2 all over again"... that is, having an awesome pre-release video and come launch time the developers sucker punch the storyline and sucker punch you as well. But oh boy was I more than wrong.... I won't reveal the storyline but there are tons of stuff you can find out about it on your own... but trust me it's better not to look at it because you'll be quite surprised and impressed with the story. It's THAT good!
Alan Wake plays itself like a movie. Or rather, a TV show. Quite a good one at that. Very linear and highly scripted. The voice acting is fantastic and there's never a dull moment. From the crazy cool NPCs to the downright psychotic- everything is just right. When you move around the world it tells you EXACTLY where to go. For some people this may be annoying as heck. I enjoy it as I can concentrate on playing the game rather than solving ridiculous puzzles/navigating mazes that require a strategy guide.
Some people have complained about the controls. I personally think the controls are fine. The combat is quite intense. You'll find that this isn't your run of the mill "run and gun" shooter. It doesn't take a lot of skill- which is good because that means the learning curve is quite short, but that doesn't mean it's easy either. It's more about reflexes than anything. While 3 enemies may be easy you will find that 6-7 can be quite overwhelming if you're not careful or quick. It's an interesting system. You can't injure the creates just by shooting at them- you have to shine your light at them for some time. After that then you can shoot and kill them. If you adjust the intensity of your light it also momentarily stuns them. But watch out! your lights have a battery in them that recharge slowly overtime or in an emergency you can load fresh batteries for instant juice. You will never run out of ammo or supplies. Overall it's a very well made combat system.
Before I leave this review, there's one more thing I want to highlight which are the graphics. They are absolutely amazing. The textures leave something to be desired, but devs have to work with the Xbox 360's memory limitations. It's the lighting though that makes this game really stand out. At some parts of the game it looks nearly photo-realistic. Crysis? Doesn't even compare. It's that good and yet a little creepy...
Well worth the $50. If you're skeptical I suggest you rent this game or borrow it from a friend. You won't regret buying this game though! | video-games_xbox |
Utterly Fascinating. I've been playing video games for nearly 20 years and never has a game so utterly captivated me that I beat it in two days. NOTE: I did not play any other Bioshock game and thus had no expectations whatsoever. That beings said, here's my review (1-10):
GAMEPLAY (7): I'm a big fan of FPS, and this one was pretty solid. Nothing spectacular. My biggest problem was getting used to aiming with the right stick because I'm so used to aiming with the left trigger, but that's just a I play CoD too much thing. The weapon selection was nice and varying. The enemies did seem a little too easy at time, especially when combined with Vigors. It would have been a little better if there were more "boss" fights rather than just hordes of easy to mow down grunts. Yet overall fairly fun and versatile FPS.
GRAPHICS (10): The graphics (as even people who hated the game pointed out) are breathtaking....period.
CHARACTERS (8): There really aren't too many other than the main protagonist (Booker), the main antagonist (Comstock), the girl (Elizabeth) and two side characters (the Luteces). The rapport between Booker and Elizabeth is very cute and Elizabeth's character development is very interesting as well. As a female gamer, I really did love how they portrayed Elizabeth. She was in a literal sense a damsel in distress, but is also very helpful, intelligent, determined, and sweet. The mysterious Luteces' exchanges were also very entertaining. In a nutshell, the voice acting is top notch so the characters really come to life.
STORY: The story behind Bioshock Infinite is not for the young, overly sensitive or those who do not enjoy abstract thinking. I am actually one of those people who DOES NOT enjoy abstract concepts (most philosophical ideologies go way over my head), but something about this story made me want to understand. The "whos", "whys" and "whens" made me want to rap my head around the twisting plot. Anybody who is a fan of H.P Lovecraft will likely enjoy the story very much. And yes, the ending is rather...strange...and complex. However, if you don't understand the end try reading the explanations of the ending online; I found it helpful. Warning, you will probably run into several "WTF" moments during the storyline. Just take a deep breathe, go with it, and know that you have resources to help you understand things you may not "get" at first.
That's it! Happy gaming :D | video-games_xbox |
Good for chat audio. I'm not sure what to make of these. I wanted a high quality single ear phone to chat in xbox live while relaxing in bed, but I couldn't find much so I settled on these. I used this with the Microsoft stereo headset adapter and without changing anything out of the box I was getting xbox one menu/game audio and chat audio in the headset, and the menu/game audio was terrible. Static, distorted slightly, like the volume was too high, but it wasn't loud at all. After playing with all the settings between the in-line (on cord) mic/volume, the MS headset adapter controls, and the xbox mixer settings, I finally figured out it was the headset adapter controls that were allowing menu/game audio and chat into the headset. Holding down the button on the adapter with the icon of a person got rid of the menu/game audio, so it would only play in my speakers, not my headset. That doesn't explain why the audio quality was so poor. For chat, I didn't hear any audio problems.
What I like:
- They feel solidly built.
- The earphone padding isn't real thick but it felt good to me.
- The microphone can be bent and moved any way you want it.
- The microphone can be swiveled back or forward to wear on either side of your head.
- In line mic mute switch and volume dial on cord.
- 90 degree 3.5mm plug.
What I don't like:
- The side that has no speaker is slightly hard, I'm wondering if using for long periods might make my head a little sore. Might need to add a little strip of padding.
- The volume isn't real loud. If someone has bad hearing or worse, they might have a problem hearing others, but it's perfect for me. You just can't crank the volume up to where it's "too loud". Maximum is about normal level.
- I wish the cord on the earphone was plug-in style and not hard wired. I wrecked my original headset by pulling the cord out of the controller adapter.
I would say if you want to use these for chat, they're good. If you want high quality game audio, I'd get something else.
UPDATE 4/4/17:
After using these for many hours for chat audio only I really like them. I still can't vouch for game audio since I don't use that in the headset. The chat audio is great, and the microphone is plenty loud to other people. | video-games_xbox |
Post Apocalyptic Awesomeness For Your Gaming Pleasure. TL;DR Some server issues and minor adjustments/fixes need to be made, but this is one hell of a beautiful MMORPG shooter that will keep you occupied for a very long time. If you like 3rd person shooters with loot progress and you like post apocalyptic lore, get this game.
I'm now invested over 100 hours into this game from the open and closed beta all the way up to final release. The developers did a fantastic job recreating NYC and it shows in all the little details you'll find along your journey to save humanity. The visuals are absolutely beautiful on all platforms, even if they aren't up to the 2013/2014 E3 trailers. PRO TIP: On the Xbox One go into the "Visuals" menu under settings and turn Neutral Lighting to Yes, then adjust your brightness up to about 60% or so....thank me later (This may work on PS4/PC as well).. They really shine on the PC if you have the right hardware. I purchased this on my XO solely because of peer pressure, but I don't regret it. This game pushes these consoles to their graphical limits, but still maintain a solid frame rate and are fully playable even with multiple enemies and players on screen. This is a fantastic achievement considering this isn't a console exclusive.
I've played lots of games and have ground my way up through many an MMO, so I'm sure this game will eventually tire on me, but for the time being I'm having a blast exploring all the nooks and crannies of NYC and the Dark Zone brings in another way to extend the time with this game.
If you're looking at this review you probably already know what the game is about, so I won't bother explaining that. Here's a quick list of pros and cons.
Pros:
-Runs and looks great on any platform of your choice
-Super detailed landscapes make for an immersive experience
-Matchmaking works well right out of the box
-Single Player, Multiplayer Co-op and Multiplayer PvP/PvE make it compatible with all sorts of players and play styles
-Story line is one of the better ones I've seen in an MMORPG
-First year of DLC's are already planned
-No pay to win micro transactions
Cons:
-Limited build types for different play styles
-In game voice on Xbox is NOW WORKING :)
-Lots of bugs that are being exploited and used to farm high level gear
-Some bugs, both game breaking and otherwise that will be addressed based on the record that Massive has with other issues
-Dark Zone can be a little overwhelming and frustrating for under geared players
-Frame rate drops during 4 man missions or when lots of effects like fire and explosions are on screen.
**3/28/16 Update - Still playing a few hours a day with friends. Team play is an absolute blast in this game, be it in the Dark Zone killing some rogues or trying to extract some high end gear OR challenge missions and trying to get yourself some Phoenix Credits to purchase yourself a sweet sweet blueprint. I'm at 177 hours played in the last few weeks. My wife has about 35 hours under her belt as well and while the end game doesn't really exist yet, I'm still having a blast just running around with friends and gathering up better weapons and gear to prepare for the incursions that are coming out very shortly(via a free update that hits ALL platforms simultanously).
There have also been lots of complaints and a few fixes implemented since the original release that have addressed multiple issues with the game. The Dark Zone is a much more dangerous place as going rogue doesn't cost you nearly as much XP than it used to. I find this to be a good thing and it makes for a much more beta like experience in the Dark Zone. This is good and if you don't enjoy it, there's always PvE for you across the gate. As with any loot based RPG/MMO, there will be several different adjustments to loot rate drops, quality, RNG, etc before the developer and players are semi-happy with the end result. Remember, you can never make anyone happy and you will hear from both camps on why the game SHOULD be one way or another. However you play it, just be sure to enjoy it! | video-games_xbox |
For the not-so-serious Gamer. For those that want your basic review and don't take your games to seriously... this is a fun, interactive "puzzle" game and that's what I enjoy about Tomb Raider. I enjoy the challenge of having to figure out what to do to solve the puzzle and move forward in the game. With that being said, if you haven't played Legend, not only will you be lost storyline wise but you'll not have the experience of what Lara is able to do.
Maybe it's because I'm not a serious gamer that I found this one difficult in the sense of controls. I don't have that much experience with multi button or stick moves so I found it hard to multitask. The camera is a bit tricky to use and very limited on where it will "look". I found if I didn't line Lara up perfectly with where I wanted her to jump to next she'd fall, or the camera would try to "fix" itself and you'd wind up jumping way off. I played Legend with a bit of difficultly to maneuver Lara (I only play on "easy") so with the new moves she's able to do in Underworld, I had to reteach myself what to do and when.
Stuck? Look everywhere for a solution! Move your camera around, look for ledges, things you can move or grapple too. That was my biggest issue when I got stuck, I wasn't looking hard enough. By the time you figure it out (it may take 30 minutes, so be patient!) you'll find yourself saying "oh jeez, it was right there the whole time!"
A few other things...
Awesome graphics! Lara and her surroundings are very life like, it's like you're watching a movie. Her new moves are great but take some time getting used too. Monsters/enemies are good and CREEPY, like the giant spiders that gave me the chills! They are repetitive like in Legend; you'll see and fight the same ones over and over in different levels. You don't talk to Zip and Alister throughout the game like in Legend, which I found to be both good and bad. They were able to give you clues but now you have to go to your PDA for clues. However, your PDA gives you multi clues and I found them to be very useful and borderline cheating! Lara can get "stuck" in the graphics like another reviewer mentioned, a lot of jumping around will get her out. Saving is tricky too, especially since mine was a used game and the previous owners saved games were still available. Just keep track of where you saved your last game.
All in all a great edition and continuation of the Tomb Raider story from Legend! I highly recommend it, even to the not-so-serious gamer!
P.S. Amanda must have had her tattoos "removed" because they are all gone in Underworld. Just one inconsistently I noticed! =) | video-games_xbox |
The Honest Truth sans Technical Details. Before I review the system from my own personal, and relatively lucky experience thus far, I ask you not to try and compare PS3s and Xboxes. They're completely different systems (internally and externally), and both happen to deliver. It's like comparing apples and oranges. Both are different, but both are also delicious fruit. If you can't try both, then read all you can, research, and then decide what you want out of your system before purchasing a product. These companies fight for dominance and profits, and it's not for the sake of the consumers.
Personally, I purchased my system to be used as a gaming device, not as a complete multimedia solution. Occasionally, I download HD trailers from the marketplace and listen to music from my IPod, but I have a separate upscaling DVD player, an HDTV (not the 1080p kind), and I don't care much for HD-DVD or Blu-Ray.
Those were my wants and I knew how much I had to spend to get them. Thus far, and on that front, the 360 has impressed me very much, mainly with its visual output prowess. It's much more powerful than the old Xbox and it shows in how it renders shadows, lighting, and other effects. For example, you can see sweat on characters in certain games! It's all eye-candy, but isn't that what new systems are most admired for? Sure, you can read and compare all the numbers you like on polygons, pixel fill rates and other specifications but they don't mean anything at all in the end. You have to see the games and how they perform on your television to be impressed, or disappointed. After all, surround sound is nothing new, and neither is chatting with friends or online gaming, but HD gaming was around only scarcely until these new consoles came out.
One of the great benefits of Xbox Live service this time around is it lets you download game demos for certain games so you can try before you buy. It's a lot of fun, and given the price of games these days, very useful to have. Alternately, you also have the option to download and buy arcade games, with classics like Frogger and Pacman, among a sea of newly redesigned HD arcade games that look and play great. Arcade games are a great way to kill some time without putting a disc in.
While it's true that a lot of people have had issues with overheating and crashing due to red lights of death, I have only had to deal with the occasional freezing in-game. It's more of a nuisance than anything else. A reboot helps to fix it. If I had a dime for every time my PC froze on me I'd be rich by now. Also, it's a huge mistake to place the system on a carpet either vertically or horizontally. It vents from the bottom, from the side, and from the back as well, so it needs room to breathe and dissipate heat.
I've had my system for about three weeks, so the freezing may be the root of a bigger problem, but the warranty on all Xboxes has been extended to nearly a year, and should something happen you can get it repaired. Not a lot of electronics have such a long warranty period and it eases a lot of worried minds, including mine, to have that service.
One other gripe I have about the system is it tends to be a bit noisy. The fans are loud, and when you put a disc in, it comes close to what a Dreamcast used to sound like, although it's a little more forgiving. Not all consoles have this problem. It depends on what DVD drive is installed in your 360, and there are about four different types they use. Unfortunately you never know what you'll get, much like a box of chocolates.
The Premium package comes with the hard drive, the HD cable (don't forget to flip the HDTV switch on it!), a wireless controller, and a very cheap headset that I absolutely abhorred. I could hear nothing from it. The hard drive has only 12GB available when you boot up your system. Most of it is for system use, and other junk comes preloaded so make sure to clean it up a bit. A few 900MB demos can steal a lot of space really quickly and you'll need all you can get out of it.
You should also invest in a quick-charge kit along with a few rechargeable battery packs. The controllers eat through batteries even without the rumble feature activated that it's not cost-effective to buy batteries in the long-run.
In the end, don't take anything at face value when it comes to buying any system. Read all you can about them, every review (positive and negative, from unbiased sources), and see if you can get your hands on one of the kiosks and try them out before you buy. Your consumer wallet is a precious thing. You work hard for your money so know exactly what you want before you commit.
Happy shopping and enjoy your game system! | video-games_xbox |
A strategic game to enjoy especially in Co-Op with friends. I have played this game with friends and alone for many satisfying hours. I especially enjoyed the online co-op capabilities when playing the campaign/story mode. My understanding is that the game will allow you to play up to 4 players in campaign online mode. I can confirm that it plays great with 3 players. You'll enjoy this game if you like trying different strategies to accomplish an objective. You will not succeed if you don't prepare and plan effectively. This game is not for the run and gun folks and I doubt that they will enjoy it for long.
In the game you are fighting terrorist in Mexico, Hover Dam and Vegas casinos, etc. You will have a great time and will be surprised how well done the levels are. The levels are actually more interesting and exciting than the levels in R6Vegas 2, in my opinion. The perfect combination would be to have the R6Vegas levels playable in the R6Vegas 2 game because (I have to admit) the R6Vegas 2 game engine, weapons, playability is definitely superior. But it's worth buying R6Vegas at the super low Amazon price, it's practically a gift. Trust me, you don't want to miss out on this experience. I have purchased additional copies of this game for friends and relatives because it is so much fun to play.
The biggest complaint that I have is the random spawning of the enemy. I hate it when you clear an area or room, only to be slaughtered from behind by some newly spawned enemy 2 minutes later. It's an older game, but it still looks and plays well. When playing in the single player mode your team AI is pretty good once you get used to the commands at your disposal and focus on more effective tactics. The enemy AI can be fairly smart at times when they sneak up on you, flanking you from the sides and rear. You will die often and have to replay some battles, but you will enjoy the challenge and learn to use your team, weapons and resources more effectively. And when you achieve victory over the terrorist you will earn achievements, higher rank, etc. What more could you want than to kill terrorist and save Vegas! | video-games_xbox |
The Perfect FPS. This is the best FPS game ever made. I've owned or played many of the FPS games on the Xbox 360, and this is the one I constantly go back to. This is a FPS made for the adult Xbox player and many of the people I play with on Xbox Live are in their 30s, 40s, 50s and even 60s. This is not a "run and gun" game like Halo or Call of Duty, at least not in Terrorist Hunt. R and G will get you killed in a heartbeat and is one of the primary reasons the "kiddies" stay away.
This game requires skill and patience as did the original Vegas but in my opinion it is not as difficult or as frustrating.
I love the ability to kick players in a game I'm hosting. Don't ever lose that ability! The ability to host your own game and select the map is also madly missing from many FPS today! Demand it from developers! There's nothing that sucks more than being stuck playing the same stupid map over and over again because you can't host! This is not a worry in this Game!
Hugging a wall and shooting around corners is a perfected design in this game. Other's have tried to come up with their own method of "hugging a wall" and failed. Ubisoft got it right in R6V and it is still great in this sequel! Other developers need to take note and copy!
I've played this game for a few years now and seen several changes for the better... Keep in mind during my review that I mainly play this game in Co-op terrorist hunt on Realistic High setting so some of the particulars of the review will reflect that setting in the game.
Several reviews on here have mentioned several bugs that have not existed in this game for some time. The spawn of terrorists in front of you has been gone for well over a year.
This game is a massive improvement over the first Vegas game. Several reviewers on here have apparently not noticed the gaping huge differences!
First off the ability to allow others to join in progress during a game is a fantastic feature but you can still turn it off if you wish. Also you do NOT have to wait for someone to join your host game before you can launch it as you did in R6V. Start the game and play the map as others join!
Every kill adds points towards your leveling up! Unlike the first game, in this one, whether you're playing offline single-player or in ANY mode online, your adding points towards leveling up. Your teammate's kills, add points towards your leveling up. Truly, a team oriented game!
You can run now!
You can select 2 primary weapons to carry as well as your pistol now!
You have at least one respawn in terrorist hunt unlike Vegas 1 where 1 life was all you got.
Weapons are a little more varied than in Vegas 1 but Ubisoft, seriously, add a 1911 sidearm already! A few less HKs and a little more variety. Seriously, only one AR/M16 variant?
Several new maps have been included. We'd like to see many more, even if it's just the rest of the maps from Vegas 1. Thanks for the bonus Comcast map! It rocks!
Map selection in multiplayer is far superior in this sequel. The host merely needs to select change map and select the new map from a drop down list unlike the squirrely map queue we had to create in R6V.
I love that the map packs are free downloads for both R6V and R6V2! | video-games_xbox |
Everything is better with bacon. Much to the chagrin of Paula Deen, this game cannot be improved with the addition of butter. The Orange Box includes fresh, new flavors along with a few old favorites. None of them are artificial or watered down.
Half-Life 2 is a nicely crusted rye, beautifully marbled and toasted to perfection. Moist, never dry, and good enough to eat on its own. We all know it, most of us have had it before, and few of us dislike it. It's not totally like the pumpernickel that came before it, but most agree that it's better. It was so good to start with, no one had to jazz it up for the new crowd.
Episode 1 is a pretty decent sauerkraut, and truly reflects the point. I mean, I like it. It's good. It's not perfect, but the sandwich isn't as good without it. It's salty and sour with just a hint of sweetness, improves and aids the overall taste and moisture of the meat and condiments, and really tells you just what kind of sammy this is. It can be had on its own, but I wouldn't recommend it.
Episode 2 is the premium cheese that you spent ten minutes deciding on. It had to be just right, and when you took bite one, you knew it was. This could be consumed alone, right out of the package, and no one has to tell you what the brand is. I'd eat blocks of Episode 2, it's almost as good as the bread. It really cuts down on the acidity of Episode 1 and would make a killer grilled-cheese with Half-Life 2. It really ties the sandwich together.
Portal is the best meat you've had in ages. You know you ordered top-shelf pastrami, but you weren't expecting it to be this good. It's so good, you need another just like it, maybe sneak a few on the side. If no one is watching, might as well just grab a handful and stuff it into your mouth. It just goes too quickly.
Finally, bring the whole thing together with a great beer. Team Fortress 2 is the Sam Adams of video games. Maybe it isn't good for all occasions, but that doesn't stop you from ordering it everywhere. It goes great with this fine Reuben, washing it down and capping off this already satisfying meal.
Sure, bacon would have been nice. Fries or chips would have been better. Maybe the cook could have finished it a bit quicker, or the waitress could have been a bit more prompt with your refills, but it's still awesome. All I know is that if Episode 3 lives up to the expectations, it will be worth the wait for the sides. | video-games_xbox |
The Best Halo Game. **Spoilers** The best Halo game of the series. Halo 1-3 consisted of pushing back the outbreak of The Flood, while Halo 4 takes us down a darker path. Encountering the Prometheans and one of their commanders, The Didact, become the major enemy of the game.
I like Halo 4 over its previous predecessors because it really gives light on the story. Halo 1-3 had major loopholes in them for people who did not read the novels, and I was left to having to read online forums to fill in those gaps. Halo 4 helps keep a solid story going. There are times where I was wondering about certain facets, but as the story progressed, it shed light on those questions that felt unanswered.
Halo 4 is a solid 10/10, and is the best FPS I have yet to play. The soundtrack is marvelous. The graphics engine 343 used really showcases what the Xbox 360 is really capable of - it reminded me of the CryEngine used in Crysis 1&2. I never noticed a drop in framerate, and the Xbox 360 never once froze during the hours of gameplay. The controller mapping took some getting use to. While the main buttons were still the same, a few of the extra ability buttons were changed around. I did not play Multiplayer since I do not have a paid Xbox Live! account. Aspects of the story reminded me of Dead Space - Dead Space had the Marker, while Halo 4 had The Composer.
Put it simply, the game contained elements that I had never seen Halo use before. Master Chief gains suit abilities that reminded me of when I played Metroid Prime, and the enemy models used were similar to the ones seen in Metroid Prime as well. One of the suit abilities obtained was the Promethean Vision, which was a heat tracking visor for the suit - awesome, loved using it when I could. You also get a chance to pilot a robot, which reminded me of MechAssault from the original Xbox.
Finally, and I said it before, the story is what really allowed this game to blossom. I had the chance to see the true relationship between Master Chief and Cortana. As Cortana begins to lose her sanity, I saw a side of Master Chief that he was concerned about her and getting her home safely before the damage was beyond repair. Cortana becomes the pillar of morality in the game, which is ironic because she is an AI - it made me recall the novel "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" Cortana perseveres and remains faithful to Master Chief while talking about how bad everyone has treated him over the years and how he deserves more credit than what has been given to him. Master Chief is a creature of war; he does his duty with no emotion, but I saw him become emotional in Cortana's conflict with herself. It gave tones of a love story, only it was platonic and transcended levels of transhumanism. The sacrifice that she makes to keep him alive is what makes it all the more touching.
All in all, Halo 4 can stand on its own two feet just fine, but those who have played 1-3 will have a deeper appreciation for the storyline. I read articles that this is the first game of a new trilogy of Halo games (5-6 will be released on the Xbox One), so I am looking forward to playing those when they are released, especially since 343 Industries kicked major butt with this release. Most games I've played with multiple sequels have a tendency of a gradual decline, but this game sets the bar to a whole new level. | video-games_xbox |
Fun & motivating, perfect for beginners & intermediates. As a mom of two small children, I was excited about Yourself Fitness. Gym memberships are expensive, and it's hard to squeeze a run in after a hectic day. TaeBo - which I'd used with fantastic results for over 3 years - had gotten a little boring, and I was looking for something different.
Yourself Fitness features Maya, an interactive "personal trainer." Having done a bit of personal training myself, I'll admit that Maya is fairly typical of trainer-client interaction. She's encouraging when you need it, and admonishing when you need it. Example: if you skip a few workouts, Maya will remind you that consistency is necessary to achieve your goals!
The first time you work out, Maya takes you through a brief workout designed to measure your fitness level. After keying in your height/weight/etc., she takes your resting heart rate. Then she has you do jumping jacks for 2 min and takes your heart rate again, to measure your intensity levels. She then tests you on lower body strength (bodyweight squats, up to 40), upper body strength (modified pushups) and core strength (crunches). Based on the measurements, Maya will recommend a focus - upper body, lower body, cardio, etc. Whatever focus you choose will be incorporated into each workout (for example, if your focus is cardio, every workout will have some cardio; if your focus is flexibility, every workout will have a little bit of yoga).
The workouts are fairly basic moves, nothing too complicated or fancy, but also fairly effective. If you're confused about how to perform a move, you can click a button to get a model illustration (this pauses your workout). The illustrations are useful (I've been weight training for 2 years and it was interesting to see a different perspective on things like plie squats). Some of the weight training seems to move a bit fast: Maya tells you to go "slow and controlled" on a bicep curl, but she's curling faster than frizzy hair on a humid day. The rest times between sets are good (and necessary - don't skip those rest times, your body needs them). One note on the cardio/weight loss: they're fairly interchangeable, but the cardio is superior and incorporates cardio weight training at the end (weighted lunges, etc.). Both work for weight loss but in my opinion, the cardio option gives a better workout. You can raise or lower the intensity for just about any exercise with the click of a button.
At the beginning of your workout, Maya asks how you're feeling (not too good, okay, great) and incorporates your mood into the work - if you're feeling great, she might amp it up a bit. After each section of your workout, she asks how that section felt to you (too hard, working it, no sweat) - and adjusts future workouts based on your answer. About every 10 workouts, you will do the "Fitness Challenge" - a repeat of the first workout you did to test your progress. The results are measured in the progress section, which shows your weight, strength, heart rate, etc. on line graphs. You will also be given the option to change your daily focus at the Fitness Challenge based on Maya's recommendation.
Some other things:
*meal plans & recipes (didn't use them, they looked pretty lame to me)
*meditation garden
*times offered are 15 min, 30, 45 and 1 hour
*equipment options are ball, heart rate monitor, step and weights - your equipment is incorporated into the workout. I have a weights and a ball; the weights are almost always used, the ball occasionally
The music .... well, the music. It's OK, nothing special. At different levels (depending on your workout consistency), you're awarded new music preferences. I like Techno and House, but the salsa and 80s sets are fun, too.
The settings are interesting: a dojo, an urban gym (complete with helicopters flying around outside the high-rise windows, occasionally pausing to apparently watch Maya in action), an alpine retreat - outdoors in what looks like a Colorado lodge, a desert retreat, and the beach retreat - outdoors under a huge thatched umbrella next to the beach (this is the last one you "earn" and is definitely my favorite).
If you're just starting out in fitness, Yourself is fantastic. I wish I'd one when I first started out - probably would have saved myself some injuries! Intermediates will enjoy the change of pace YF offers. If you're an advanced lifter or cardio junkie, YF will work as a good motivator. Remember to increase the weights as you get stronger; if you're always using 10lb weights, your progress will be limited. Lifting heavier *will not* bulk you up; it will make you stronger and leaner. The cardio is not high intensity, it's more like low- to medium-intensity for a longer duration. I prefer high-intensity cardio, so I generally use YF for weight training and core work, and then do HIIT (high intensity interval training) on my own.
Overall, it's a great program and a wonderful idea! | video-games_xbox |
Meant to be looked at, not played. This game is too pretentious.
Honestly, I went into El Shaddai wanting so much, and maybe that's the main problem. But when reviews say that this is the epitome of an amazing Japanese game, I would assume anybody should be disappointed after being promised that and then presented this game.
It's not that the game is bad- it just isn't good. At it's core, El Shaddai is a button masher through and through. It appears to be intricate and somewhat distinguished at a glance, but when you get down to it, all the game is- is tapping the X button with the occasional tap of Y if you're feeling extra fancy. This is a common flaw of "Great Japanese Games!" and is something I was hoping we'd be through with by the year 2011. There's three weapons in the game that act like rock/paper/scissors to the enemies you fight, and you have the 'fun' option of stealing them from your enemies when you need to win. It's cool the first time- that's it. Eventually it becomes a tedious required prompt that gets less and less cool with each thievery the game forces you to commit. There are some 2D parts of the game where it becomes a platformer of which you have to navigate through a two dimensional plane in order to get to the next area. These parts are neat and all, but overall they are forced into the game and controlling the character during them is annoyingly finicky. The game has one difficulty- annoying. It seems regardless of if it's on veteran, rookie or less of a rookie (normal)- you're always being bombarded with attacks that damage you immensely or just merely interrupt your combo. There's no real threat of losing because if you lose all your armor (Tribute to Ghosts 'n Goblins) you literally mash as many buttons as possible to revive yourself. Every now and again you think things are going to get fun when they make you fight a boss- but you're forced to be quickly disposed of only to repeat this again and again.
Another bad choice I chose to highlight by spacing down a line is that there is no HUD to be spoken for. This is ridiculous. In a button masher, a bad combo can mean the end of you- so instead of let you know when you're going to die by a life or percentage meter, you are given the device of stripping and bloodshot. Yes- if you get damaged significantly, you lose armor. When you're only in jeans, you'd better run. When you are wearing poster board gauntlets you are godly. And as you lose armor the screen is bordered in red. This means your eyes hurt... or you're dying. Probably dying. It would appear that after you beat the game, if you were such a masochist that you'd like to enjoy this incredibly linear game again they allow you to unlock a HUD and use it in game. This is just a stupid decision in game design altogether. I mean- why did anybody think to make this an Easter egg? Dumb.
Rather than make this super tl;dr I will sum the rest up quickly.
The story is a rather contorted representation that follows the book of Enoch. There's plenty of arm twisting changes made that just feel juvenile overall. As an atheist, I love seeing new portrayals of religious works (since they are typically some of the most radically insane teachings that exist) so it has at least that much going for it. But just as an example of the overall immaturity of the design; a man named Lucifel is talking to God on a cell phone wearing sunglasses and all black. Let me try and guess who he is and what he's going to end up doing later on, eh?
The game is gorgeous to look at, though it seems there's only a few really long levels in the game; meaning all the levels look the same with the added few different pallet swaps. There's a million chapters, but it's just all one level within every hundred or so. The 2D parts are, once again, neat. Running up what looked like a huge stained glass window depicting all the fallen angels is one of these levels, and it was merely only done for the spectacle. This is why I said the game is pretentious. It adds this sort of "Hey, look at me. I look good, don't I?" attitude to everything it does. Where as at it's core, the game is merely a very colorful cel-shaded mess. The attacks sometimes take up way too much time for the low amount of damage they do and stealing a weapon gives you enough time to crack a beer and drink half of it. There's typically one enemy in each level that gets thrown at you 30 times and then a boss who looks exactly like every other boss, which has a head depicting the pyramid with the all seeing eye on it from the back of a dollar bill (If you don't get that, go find some money). They all have a specific head underneath that the game decides to show for two seconds before going back to being nothing but a color swap of the last boss you fought.
In the end- I feel as if this would have been a really cool short digital film, but as a game it has too many flaws to stand steadily in this day and ages lineup of carbon copied first person shooters and crappy horror games. Every so often I take a risk in buying games- this was that second risk I took this year. I see myself playing it through once, then letting it collect dust and remembering why trailers should not sell a cynical person on a video game. Rent it, unless you are in dire need of a reason to glue your finger to the x button of your controller. | video-games_xbox |
How the mighty have fallen. Supreme Commander 2 is a title that while moderately entertaining, bears little resemblance to its predecessor. Gone is the complex economy, depth, and industrial feel of Supreme Commander while it has been replaced with a more generic economic model and more "cookie cutter" units.
The argument might be made that all that was removed was simply "extraneous" or elements of the game that went widely "unused." The "solution," as given in SupCom2, is to remove all tech levels and replace it with a "reserach" system which applies instantaneously and either passively upgrades the 2 to 3 units per type (land, sea, air) or unlocks another unit or experimental. If variety is the spice of life, this game feels considerably more bland.
There are a few positives: If you had trouble running the first game, (I didn't) this one is considerably easier on hardware. Maps are considerably smaller, models are less complicated and more "cartoony" and buildings are generally less interesting to look at - but it does run very well.
The campaign/story, something many were looking forward to with the introduction of Square-Enix as a publisher, is of the quality one might expect from a low-budget imported anime you'd see early on a saturday morning in the US. Maybe it's just not my style, but it's generally cliche-ridden and making it beyond a few missions became hard to do. I'm certain that you can peruse YouTube for clips, but for me they were absolutely cringe-worthy.
One cannot help but wonder why removing most of what made titles like Supreme Commander and Total Annihilation was of importance to the developers, but it's possible the whole franchise will reap what they have sown in this "kid brother" of a release.
If you don't mind an RTS that is, aside from a strategic zoom and a basic amount of throughfulness when it comes to automation, you may enjoy this title. If you preferred the depth, scale, variety and economic/base building system of Supreme Commander (1) as I did, this game is resoundingly disappointing in comparison. It can still be fun, but only if you can bring yourself not to care about what features and elements have been stripped out of the game.
I honestly think more thought may have been put into Command and Conquer 3. | video-games_xbox |
One of Atlus' best games yet; a serious game-of-the-year contender. Catherine is one of the most unique games that I have had the distinct pleasures of playing in a very, very long time. Made by the Atlus Persona team, the same people that brought you the critical darling Shin Megami Tensai rpgs <a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Persona-3/dp/B0014CN2H6/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Persona 3</a> and <a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Persona-4/dp/B001C6GVI6/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Persona 4</a>. Catherine may have the same awesome style and uniqueness that those games had, but it is an entirely different beast of a video game, one that combines several unlikely game genres into one. In Catherine, you have a puzzle game, a dating simulator, an arcade game, and a few other minor things that all add up to a dynamic, changing game.
The story in Catherine is by far its greatest aspect. You've probably read the general premise of Catherine many times, but I'll put it simply here now. Vincent is a 32-year-old who is struggling with where he wants to go with his life. He's been dating a beautiful, responsible girl named Katherine for five years, who wants the relationship to get more serious through marriage and settling down in a family and he doesn't know what to do. Commitment scares him. To make his situation worse, he wakes up one morning next to a blue-eyed, blond bombshell named Catherine who only desires fun and thrills, and she wants him all to herself (and threatens to kill him if he cheats on her. She's crazy...). While struggling to make a decision about where his life is going, Vincent has to deal with the fact that he has supposedly cheated on his girlfriend (he doesn't remember anything about his nights with Catherine). On top of that fiasco, every night Vincent is plagued with a nightmare that he shares with many men who are in eerily similar circumstances to his in the city. If he or any of these poor, middle-aged saps with commitment/faithfulness issues die in their nightmare, they are found a dead husk in the morning, and the intrigue just grows from here.
Whew, it's sort of hard to pack all of the essential information about the premise quickly, isn't it? Trust me when I say that the story only gets more fascinating and gripping from there, and it goes quite far by the time you finish the game. Every single character in Catherine is exceptionally well-written, likable, and excellently voiced. I found myself loving pretty much every main, supporting, and secondary character, as well as the fringe ones you never quite figure out the mystery behind. Also worth special mention is that the characters grow and change throughout the game because of the events of the story, lending a sense of real growth and dynamic realism to the writing. How many games do we play and the characters stay static despite all of the life-altering events that happen to them in the story? Catherine's characters are so realistic and well-written. There are also eight different endings, with three of them being "true" and they're all equally spectacular. I know I will really sound like a broken record by the time I'm done here, but I honestly cannot praise the writing in this game enough. It is worth mentioning all on its own and really goes a long way to making this a five-star game.
It's rare you play a game that encourages such introspection and really makes you meditate on your own values, beliefs, and what is right and wrong like Catherine does. How many video games tackle issues such as cheating on your significant other, what constitutes betrayal in a relationship and who really is at fault, whether freedom or order are more important in life, the value of committing to someone you love that may not be your "soulmate," and the list goes on and on? More importantly though, not only does Catherine tackle these sort of deep themes and subjects, it does so with extreme aplomb, without ever once resorting to the typical Japanese/Anime tendency to be preachy and shove a certain viewpoint down your throat. That's a huge plus for me. It's very mature, neutral, and well-grounded. I bow to Persona Atlus Team for their incredible writing and focus in this game.
The art design is spectacular as well. I personally enjoy anime myself, in part because of my wife's influence, who loves it so much. The game features cinematic portions handled by Studio 4C, a reputable anime studio, and they are all awesome. This game would easily be my favorite anime if it were a TV series, and the series were like the cinematics. Catherine's in-game graphics are awesome as well, detailed despite being in the anime style and are truly a sight to behold. The character's expressions are priceless and really do a fantastic job of conveying their inner feelings without feeling overwrought like many animes tend to do (this also includes the awesome voice acting). The daytime environments, mainly the bar, really scream detail and have an awesome charm to them that puts you there. In the nightmare world, the graphics are suitably creepy and bizarre without being totally off-putting.
All of this also extends to the sound design, which really compliments the uniqueness of the visuals and story. I already praised the dialogue writing in the game, but it would be all for naught if the voice actors didn't do a good job. Well, worry not, because they do fantastic. In fact, I know for a fact I've heard all of them in anime series before, so they're clearly veterans in this style. Normally, anime entertainment can really turn that "cheesy knob" up to eleven in the voice acting/dialogue and sound design departments, but Catherine's fictional universe and characters feel just as real, down-to-earth, and relatable as games like <a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Mass-Effect-2/dp/B001TORSII/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Mass Effect 2</a> do. The soundtrack can't go unmentioned either, as the eclectic combination of classical music, smooth jazz, and awesome rocking tunes add up to what is my favorite soundtrack of the year (up there with <a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Portal-2/dp/B002I0J9M0/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Portal 2</a> and Bastion, at least). As of right now, the first-printing of the game comes with its own soundtrack, which is awesome. Thank you Atlus, for spoiling us even further!
The gameplay is really strange in Catherine, but works very well. The nightmare levels are essentially block puzzle games, where you have to push, pull, scoot, climb on, link, etc, blocks in order to get Vincent, who is clad in boxers, has sheep horns, and is holding his pillow, up the nightmare block tower to avoid falling to his doom. On occasion there are boss levels which ramp up the already challenging, intellectually stimulating puzzle-play up to even more adrenaline pumping highs. This game is not easy by the way. Even on easy, it will give you a run for your money. I'd recommend playing on easy your first time through just to get the most out of the story. Later, up the difficulty and playing the game to get a higher score is an addicting blast, and very reminiscent of run arcade games. In between nightmare levels, Vincent can talk to other men, who all appear as sheep, about their problems, attempt to encourage them lest they die and disappear from the game altogether, and learn new block-puzzle techniques. It's all extremely well done. The pacing in Catherine is fantastic. Much like another exceptional puzzle game, <a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Portal-2/dp/B003O6E3C8/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Portal 2</a>, Catherine introduces new mechanics nearly every level rather than just making it arbitrarily harder, and this keeps the game feeling wholly fresh throughout the entire experience. I never once grew bored of any gameplay mechanic and was equally entertained throughout the campaign, and I really have to praise Catherine's developers for this.
The day-time sequences comprise of Vincent drinking at the bar with his closest friends. From here, you can receive and answer texts from both Katherine/Catherine, drink and hear fascinating trivia about your drinks, talk with your awesome friends, as well as visit with others in the bar, choose various tracks on a jukebox, to to the bathroom to look at sexy, scandalous pics from Catherine, and even play a retro styled arcade machine meant to help you get better at the game's block puzzle gameplay. All of these are very well implemented. Like other Atlus Persona Team games, time is a factor. A customer may say totally different things depending on when you talk to them. Some time passes by, maybe the alcohol has loosened their tongue and made them more open to share details with you. Most bar patrons are familiar sheep from your nightmares and have complex problems that you can help them through. You can actually save these peoples' lives that way, and some may even die and disappear from the bar and the dreams if you miss them even once or miss a critical cue. This gives the game a sense of consequence and impact that really makes you care about the world. It also gives the game a beautiful sense of realism that is missing too often from games. You can't make a wrong decision in the game, you can't manipulate the morality bar, and consequences of your actions stay until the end, of which there are eight different ones. It's awesome.
For me personally, I think Catherine is a definite game-of-the-year contender. It's a game that executes all its different styles of gameplay, even those I don't normally care for, so well that I enjoyed every single second of my time with it. I played this game all the way through my first time in two gaming sessions, and took about 10-12 hours. My wife was huddled up next to me the entire time, her attention firmly fixated on the story at hand, while giving suggestions during difficult puzzle sequences. Any game that bings me closer to my wife always gets an extra thumbs up from me. I know for a fact she loves Catherine just as much as I do. I would eagerly play through the puzzles trying to get a high score (something I normally don't care about), just to devour more of the (dare I say) near-perfect story. Catherine is a game with a story so good, you just have to experience it for yourself to see what I mean. This game addresses deep, complex issues without ever sounding preachy. I love that. Instead, it just presents a very realistic story with multiple endings, some of the best writing in any video game of recent memory, all while being an extremely fun cocktail mix of excellently-implemented video game styles, all of which has an insanely high amount of replayability. I know this review is pretty much wall-to-wall praise, but in this case, it actually applies. Catherine is amazing. Buy it, take in the awesome story, and welcome to the awesomeness of the Golden Playhouse! | video-games_xbox |
Worth a shot. I will have to admit; I got this game and played it right away. Started it on the hard difficulty and had a blast, died within about the first 5 mins of the game. Somewhere towards the middle of the second level I was fed up with dying so I lowered the Difficulty, to my disappointment the game became so easy I was able to beat it within a few hours. Compared to the previous Ninja Gaidens on normal Ninja Gaiden 3 was just laughable.
The only weapon you have is the ninja blade no others available till DLC comes around, you do still get the Bow and shrunken to aid you but those are useless unless your aiming at the targets that you cannot melee.
All the enemies are the same damn types over and over again with the same move types it get repetitive. The bosses are with no challenge what so ever and some of the bosses repeat leaving you with the urge to say "again" one boss is so stupid he ignores you and trips on his own feet (You'll know him when you fight him)
Your ninpou is reduced to a single one that eradicates all the enemies on screen and restores some health. You have a ninpou gauge that fills as you fight and depletes to restore your health after you clear the wave of enemies you're up against leaving you with nil for the next group.
No additional Items such as potions like in the original 2 ninja gaidens, no collectables to increase your health gauge, no talismans of resurrection so if you die you start at the check point. No muramasa so weapon upgrades have gone by bye, instead you are given upgrades as the story progresses. The story makes no sense
Blood is still present, but no hacking off the limbs of your targets which was a great addition in Ninja Gaiden 2 and change the fighting style of all your opponents.
If you are looking for a Ninja Gaiden like the previous two, you are out of luck here, instead This is a new ninja Gaiden with pure hack and slash in mind with added modes that remind you of the original two as you level your customized ninja in select missions featuring enemies from all three ninja Gaiden games as well as a multiplayer mode with team based and free for all action.
Now the verdict, Ninja Gaiden 3 is worth a try if you are looking for that hack and slash type of game, The extra modes are what make this game worth the effort but I would not recommend it for the story mode. | video-games_xbox |
Great idea - poor execution (The Darkness - XBOX 360. I have a feeling that The Darkness needed about 6 more months of play-testing and bug fixing. This game comes from the development studio that made the excellent Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay so I know they have the potential to do much better. The gameplay idea, graphics and storyline are really good but everything else was poorly or not fully executed. You spend the first part of the game starving for ammo, yet you are required to shoot out the many, many light sources in the game. Early on you can control an eel-like dark tentacle to perform stealth-kills and solve simple environmental puzzles yet too often the darn eel drives like a bus, refuses to bite an enemy and disorients you by climbing up walls. The main reason to destroy light sources in the game is because the light drains your Darkness power, yet you have no way of knowing how much Darkness power you have at any given time (same for your regenerating health) and you will often have your powers drained unexpectedly at the worst times. Another major fault lies with the targeting system and poor hit detection. There are plenty of glitches where you are clearly hitting an enemy or light source yet the game does not accurate detect the hit. There is also a problem with your aiming snapping to light sources - there are many in the game and this makes it even harder to register a hit on an enemy when your reticule keeps moving to a nearby light. Later, you gain a power that helps you snuff out lights but it is also a hit or miss affair. It's hard to feel like a dangerous, possessed hit man when you can't even knock out a light with your flailing tentacle. Also, there are many situations in the game where you will be unexpectedly killed with no feedback given to let you know what you did wrong, tell you if you are damaging an enemy, or to provide you with any clue as to what you should be doing. Overall, this is a game with an enjoyable story and graphics if you can get past the frustration and lack of fun in the gameplay. I give this game credit, at least, that I was motivated to suffer through the glitches in order to finish the story. One thing that strikes me as strange, though, is that the main character never shows any surprise or shock about being possessed? He hardly acknowledges this major development. | video-games_xbox |
Fun with firearms. Crackdown is a delightful diversion. While it doesn't take more than a few hours to complete, those few hours are packed with plenty of fun and firepower.
Using sandbox gameplay as a base, Crackdown's recipe pits you as an "Agent" fighting crime in the gang-overrun Pacific City. Your superhero-esque powers allow you to run and jump through town, climbing buildings and pounding bad guys. The weapons you acquire range from puny pistols to rockin' rocket launchers. My personal favourite was the Firefly, whose five-round "clip" of seeking missiles allows you to make quick work of massive quantities of gang members.
We're all familiar with open-world design by now, but Crackdown puts a few spins on the concept to keep it fresh. First, cell-shading makes the characters and objects look like comic books come to life. Second, your character's skills advance through use. For example, when you defeat gang members by brute force your strength improves while shooting them augments your skills with a firearm. Even your driving skills are enhanced, resulting in better handling and performance. You can also gain skill points through activities like road & rooftop foot races and collecting orbs hidden throughout the city. One other nice touch is that as you take out gang leaders, there will be a noticeable decline in their strength and presence. Even the achievements are amusing- my personal favs were Body & Car Juggler (keep a body/car suspended in the air using explosives) as well as Body Armour (attach 5 gang members to a car using the harpoon gun), which is available via downloadable content.
While the innovations used in the game give it a little bit of spice, they certainly aren't mind-blowing. The game also has a few minor flaws, but nothing that seriously impedes your gang busting rampages. The only major drawback I noticed was that the game felt a little short. Overall I would definitely recommend PLAYING the game, although renting may be better than buying. | video-games_xbox |
My Kid's Favorite Kinect Game. I've had a Kinect now for a year and I've purchased and my family has played most of the big name games, like <a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Kinect-Sports/dp/B002I0JBVY/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Kinect Sports</a>,<a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Sesame-Street-Once-Upon-A-Monster/dp/B004OCK9KG/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Sesame Street: Once Upon A Monster</a>,<a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Kinect-Disneyland-Adventures/dp/B0050SYYTK/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Kinect Disneyland Adventures</a>,<a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Kinectimals/dp/B002I0J8RQ/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Kinectimals</a>,<a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Fantastic-Pets-XBOX-360/dp/B004UC5PHC/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Fantastic Pets (XBOX 360)</a>,<a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Dance-Central/dp/B004I5EE46/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Dance Central</a>, and so on, and by far the game that the kids (ages 2 to 12,) have enjoyed the most has been this one!
The music is catchy and appropriate for kids of all ages and there are dances for the very young (just to get them moving) and the tweens and teens (with more difficult moves and faster beats.) Some, like the never-get-it-out-of-my-freakin'-head Gummy Bears song, are loved by all ages.
Also, the game is forgiving so if your (or your kid's) skill level is low it doesn't flaunt your low score and it never makes rude or degrading comments that are all the rage in some games.
There are also statistics for your kids that parents can monitor (if you want to know how many hours your kids have played or what songs they play the most, etc.) which is helpful if you aren't monitoring your kid's play time.
Multiplayer is a snap: the second player just jumps right in before any match. Only two can dance at a time, so you'll have to rotate them if you have more children or visitors.
The game isn't without "flaws" though. (I call them flaws, although the developers most likely decided to go this way on purpose.) For example, there are long beats in Just Dance Kids 2 where there is no indication on the move timeline what dance move is supposed to be done. In Dance Central, for instance, you always know what move is happening and what move is coming next because of the moves queue that is constantly flowing on the side of the screen. In Just Dance Kids 2, you see some of the dance moves queued but not all of them and there are gaps in the notification where I guess the game assumes you know what to do next or that you should just continue the same moves.
Another big "flaw" for me is that there is no visual feedback of whether or not you are making the moves. In contrast, Dance Central shows your actual body on screen, visualized with the dance avatar, showing your correct moves (highlighted green) or incorrect moves (highlighted red.) In Just Dance Kids 2, what you see onscreen throughout the song is basically a music video of three kids dancing the moves that you are supposed to mimic. But you get no indication of how you messed up on a move. You just get a red X or "Ok," "Good," or "Perfect" bubble up by your name at the top of the screen. This works for kids who are just moving around and having fun, but it's not that great for older kids (or adults) who want to get the moves right.
Finally, as of this writing I haven't seen any downloadable content for the game. Unlike the other dance games, this one has its out of the box songs and that's it. I'd love to see more content from other children's programming (Backyardigans please!)
All in all, this is an addictive, fun, and age appropriate game that kids love. If you have children and a Kinect this is a must have game! | video-games_xbox |
Xbox Live is a necessity for Xbox 360 owners. Xbox Live is Microsoft's online service for the Xbox 360. While Sony provides this online servuce for free at the moment for the Playstation 3, Micorsoft has put a MSRP of $49.99 on their online service. Though recently, retialers have been discounting these cards $10-20 off so keep your eyes open for a good deal.
Xbox Live's main function is that it allows you to play the games you bought online, if the feature is included. For instance if you bought Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, the single player campaign is only 6-8 hours long. Pretty short for a game that is costing you $60. With Xbox Live, you can now play that game against people all over the world for 100s of hours if you like. In essence, Live can extend the life of a game pretty dramatically.
Another cool feature is the access to Microsoft's Marketplace. Here you can buy Xbox Live Arcade games like Bejeweled, download demos of games released or soon to be released for free, rent/buy movies, buy DLC content for you games, etc.
Also Live has a ton of community features like Facebook, Last.fm, Twitter, friend list and voice chat. Voice chat is great because while playing a game, you can talk to your friend without having to use your cellphone minutes. You do not even need to be playing the same game to chat which is great. Just pick your friend out from friend list and start chatting.
While Live is great, there is a major problem that parents should know. Every game played online has voice chat enabled. This can lead to some players being complete jerks where they will use foul, vile language that is not suitable for kids. I guess some players find it funny to talk like sailors, but it can get very offensive. Now I play mostly Mature rated games so I assume this is not a problem for kid games, but it is an issue that parents need to know. Always be sure to check the ESRB ratings found in front of games before buying.
Live is a great feature that is definitely worth paying for so keep your eyes open for when retailers like Amazon have these cards on sale. See you online. | video-games_xbox |
GAME CHANGER. As an older gamer (45), I have been playing since the Atari age and have used controllers from almost every console out there. OEM controllers are designed with the mass market in mind and rarely fit my hands comfortably (I Have long fingers 10" from tip of thumb to tip of forefinger when splayed open). I frequently experience cramping or fatigue when playing for any extended length of time or being pressed hard by enemy fire.
On a trip to my local electronics store last week, I noticed Kontrol Freeks Phantom series controller stick extenders. I was skeptical about the claims of improving my gaming but, they were on sale so, I figured I could try and return if they didn't work.
My normal look sensitivity on a scale of 1-10 is usually around 3-5 (old man slow) which is the default for most FPS games. One of my boys plays at 8/9 in FPS and usually has more success at multi-player and single player than I ever have.
I installed the Phantom extenders and dove into Destiny to test them out...... WOW! That is a good word to describe what I think about the Kontrol Freek products. It did take a few minutes to get used to the extended sticks and with the look sensitivity on 3, i felt like I was in slow motion. I adjusted the LS up to 6 and was surprised to find it still seemed too slow to me. So, I jacked the LS up to 9 and soon found I could Kontrol the aiming with much more Kontrol than I've ever had.
To sum things up, I've settled on 7/8 LS and my multi-player skills have basically doubled in less than a week. The longer range of the stick allows me to aim much smoother and faster than ever. I ordered and received the Kontrol Freek Vortex today and I love that it has the long and short extenders and the protruding long extender is even better than the cupped Phantom I started with. The stick just roles with my thumb instead of my thumb dipping into the sticks pit.
I LOVE THIS PRODUCT!! I would definitely recommend this to gamers with longer fingers and to older shooters that may be a little slow on the draw (look speed). Great job KF! | video-games_xbox |
Good homage to the classic slow paced stealth, but the major lack of polish on the action really drags it down. All in all, I got what I was expecting from it; A slow paced stealth game where lurking in the shadows and learning patrol routes coupled with quiet knife kills trumped attempting to gun down the entire Nazi Regime in open combat. It really paid homage to the stealth genre, and as a huge fan of that genre, I enjoyed this game immensely. However, while I knew what I was getting into, it seems most critics and most gamers did not, and they either expected a different type of game, or they expected something as great as Splinter-Cell or Metal Gear Solid. Obviously, they got less than they bargained for. However, just because popular vote says this game is "Bad" does not make it so. The game, as previously stated, is slow paced and methodical. It takes patience and some amount of cunning to conquer this game, as it allows essentially no room for error; which is how it should be in a stealth game, and that is just how I like it. Action is no go in just about any situation for several reasons. Firstly, Violet Summers (who is based on a real Brit spy from the era), isn't made of steel, nor is she clad in Kevlar or any armor at all for that matter. Secondly, the gunplay is slow and sloppy. Any attempt at a firefight with the Nazis is quickly shut down through their sheer amount of firepower and quick movement speed, which is notably faster than Violet's ability to aim. This is how it should be in a stealth game (minus the sloppy gunplay of course), and this lack of ability in a open firefights would not be a drawback to the game, had it not on several occasions forced the player into doing that exact thing. These situations, where the game decides to stop letting you play like it is meant to be played, and forces sloppy shooting segments onto you, are frustrating and sometimes overly difficult. However, when you resort to using a suppressed pistol for quiet kills, the gunplay is fine. It is also worth noting the aiming crosshair is far from precise, and making shots count proves difficult if you aren't at point blank range. Another drawback that breaks some of the immersion is the shear stupidity of the AI. I mean, the Nazis are literally as stupid as a rock. They're fine when they are patrolling around, but once they get a hint of your presence and start looking for you, they're intelligence is laughable. Don't get me wrong, this coupled with the immensely satisfying knife kills makes for great fun. But it really breaks the immersion and takes away from the serious tone the game radiates. They're stupidity really shows when the horrendous firefights take place. They're certainly stupid, but they simply know exactly where you are all the time in open conflict, regardless of whether or not you're hiding. If you do manage to survive the ridiculously difficult onslaught of Nazi drones, you can return to stealth. They simply return to being patrolling robots, dismissing the idea that there ever was a leather clad ninja with A knife gutting their comrades. Another complaint, but is a subjective one, is that the game is extremely linear. I don't think there was a time that offered more than one route. Maybe there was some very small variations, but for the most part, you can only slink through a level on one path. Again, this is subjective and open to preference. Another subjective complaint is that it is a rather short game. I completed it in one sitting at one point, as there is an achievement for finishing the entire game in under 5 hours or something along those lines. For some mind boggling reason, there is only one game mode, which is the campaign. They could have at least added a mode that let you go on Nazi hunts, or something similar, but SouthPeak apparently ruled against that. Despite all this bad, there is a shining light that saved the game for me, besides the slow pace and dedication to lurking in the shadows. The setting, atmosphere, and theme really shine through and offer some major originality. The narrative/Story is pretty solid as well, but doesn't offer much that is memorable. Essentially, the game follows Violet Summers, a British Spy sent in behind Nazi lines to execute a list of Nazi Generals and HVTs. There are also some missions that are pretty unique in their objectives, such as finding and making sure several of her captured fellow spies successfully consumed their cyanide pills. If they didn't, or were unable to, she is to do the job for them, whether they agree to it or not. The game manages to pull off a good amount of believability with the era, and the voice acting is solid. Nobody is going home with an Oscar, but it holds up well.
All in all, Velvet Assassin is a good homage to the slow paced stealth reminiscent of the original Splinter-Cell and other titles, and it is likely it would have done better both financially and critically had It been released a decade ago, but it simply does not keep up with modern titles, and suffers because of it. I personally enjoyed it for the homage, coupled with the theme, atmosphere, and very satisfying stealth kills. However, anyone who likes action mixed in with their stealth will find this game horrendous. It is worth a weekend of your time if you have the patience, but if not, you can easily find something better.
I give it a 7 Violent Nazi Knife kills out of 10 patrolling Nazi robots. Side note: I think Game spot's review really nails the game down pretty well. Check it out on Youtube. | video-games_xbox |
Check Your Expectations at the door. Fable is quite possibly the biggest let-down in video game history. A game in development for more than 4 years with monumental goals... that aren't there. What was billed to be the most in-depth RPG ever, turned out to be nothing more than a simplistic hack-and-slash action game with a plot that rivals the depth of Super Mario Brothers.
Perhaps the reason I disliked the game so much was because of what it was supposed to deliver and then failed miserably at doing so. It's very hard to see what in the world took this game so long to produce. The graphics are par for the course for consoles of this generation, the story is so meager and basic that it's practically non-existent, and the gameplay is nothing more than swing your sword to hit an enemy.
Fable was billed to be an epic combination of the Legend of Zelda, Star Wars: KOTOR, and Morrowind. Fable smashes them all together in a viscous mess that embodies the best qualities of none of them. The free-roaming lands of Morrowind are replaced by small maps connected by paths on an extremely tiny world, especially by RPG standards. The good vs. evil gameplay and character development of KOTOR is boiled down to the most basic component here - you can be good and everyone loves you, or you can be bad and everyone hates you, but it doesn't impact ANYTHING in the game. The story, which is just slightly more involved than "save a princess from a castle", doesn't differ whether you choose to be good or evil.
For the most part, the game consists of a very long series of errands and nothing more. You'll find out some yawn-inducing plot points along the way, but you'll have to make sure you deliver a package or pick some apples before anyone will tell you anything. Your character has absolutely no development and never speaks. If this is to add to the realism of putting yourself in his position, it doesn't work, unless you really are a mute with no personality.
This game has so many flaws that I don't have enough room to go into them all. Fable is a victim of its own high expectations, and the end result doesn't live up to them at all. I've heard that the game should be reviewed based on what it IS, not what it was SUPPOSED to be, but that's very hard to do because there was so much hype. If I review it solely on what it is, then I would still be disappointed - as far as sword-slinging action games goes, this breaks no new ground whatsoever and is nothing more than a 3-D Legend of Zelda with less story and none of Link's and Hyrule's charm. If you're looking for a fun and in-depth RPG on the Xbox, play Morrowind and KOTOR instead - they both have flaws, but still succeed at everything that Fable tries to do and fails. | video-games_xbox |
One of the best-written chapters in the Saga. Originally billed in 2008 as "the next chapter in the STAR WARS Saga", The Force Unleashed not only adds to the story of Anakin Skywalker (much like Shadows of the Empire did back in the mid 1990's and the original Clone Wars multimedia project from 2003 to 2005) but changes the way that fans of the Saga will look at the events in Episodes 4, 5 & 6. Clear-cut example: the story's focus (many details of which got the green light from George Lucas himself), especially in regards to the timeline (until recently, the 19-year arc between Episode 3 - Revenge of the Sith and Episode 4 - A New Hope, better known as "the Dark Times", was off-limits where the Expanded Universe was concerned).
That said, TFU (which casts players in the role of Darth Vader's secret apprentice) does an outstanding job of closing out the prequel trilogy (hunting down the last of the Jedi in accordance with Order 66) and setting the stage for the events of the original trilogy (forming the Rebel Alliance). Spoiler alert concerning that last detail: it turns out that the formation of the Rebellion was a plot orchestrated by the Emperor to draw his enemies out into the open so he could eliminate them; he actually didn't believe that the organized resistance would one day topple the Empire.
Now, before you start shouting "BLASPHEMY!", hear me out: having the Sith orchestrate the Alliance's formation makes perfect sense story-wise, given the galaxy's state in the wake of the Clone Wars:
1. The Empire's power is on the rise, but there are still worlds out there that need to be brought under the Emperor's heel.
2. Palpatine has plenty of opposition in the Senate, much of which want to see him impeached.
3. At least a hundred Jedi slipped through the cracks of Order 66; the most prominent among them being Yoda, Obi-Wan Kenobi & the newborn twins Luke & Leia Skywalker (to name a few; this game has your character hunt down the battle-hardened General Rahm Kota, the droid-maker Kazdan Paratus and Council Master Shaak Ti & her Padawan Maris Brood.
On to the game itself: I'll admit that the targeting system could've stood a bit more refining before release, but I've learned to roll with the punches, so to speak (one glaring problem: the duel with Darth Vader on the Death Star - every time he got me in his Grip, no amount of jamming on the "B" button could break me loose).
The graphics quality and material physics engine, to be honest, surprised me (very high-quality since this was the first game developed internally at LucasArts in collaboration with Industrial Light & Magic, Pixelux Entertainment & NaturalMotion).
As befitting a Star Wars adventure, the music exceeds all expectations (the original soundtrack having been composed by LucasArts' own Jesse Harlin & Mark Griskey and recorded by Jeff Marsh conducting the Skywalker Symphony Orchestra; the final in-game score also uses John Williams' material from 1-6).
In short, as a STAR WARS fan, the game didn't just meet my expectations: IT BLEW THEM RIGHT OUT OF THE WATER! | video-games_xbox |
Come now people...let's drop some of the bias please. OK.
Background: I am not a Grand Theft Auto fan. I'm not clouded by this game, nor does this game "own me". The only GTA games I ever beat were San Andreas (because it was just too well done) and Liberty City Stories on PSP (because it was the first PSP game to allow custom soundtracks which made the game all the more fun). I bought this game for one primary reason: I know it'll get banned, or severely edited, and I want to make sure I have an untouched version.
If you want the quick and dirty, skip to the very bottom.
I decided to actually give the game a fair chance to see what the hype was about, and from there, decide whether or not the game was worth every penny I spent.
I did buy the special edition from Amazon, pre-ordered the day before release date, got it today as I should have. I was very impressed with the packaging and the speed with which I got the game; I noted some others didn't have the same success, so I feel fortunate. Let's go down the list of special goodies, in order of worst to best (IMO).
SOUNDTRACK: OK, there's over 200 tracks in the game, yet we get a 16 track CD. Mind you, I wasn't expecting to get a full box set of songs, but why bother with a soundtrack at all if it's not going to be more than this?
ARTBOOK: Very nice, but I couldn't help but feel underwhelmed. I mean, I look at art books like those of Persona 3 and Growlanser and then I look at this and wonder if Rockstar understands how to truly wow its customers. It's not bad at all, just not as great as I would expect. I mean obviously a lot of art went into this game, so when I see just three wireframes of Liberty City I have to ask myself where the rest of the drawings are.
DUFFEL BAG: It's not what you think. It's actually quite small, and thin. Probably would suit storing stuff when you go to the gym or something. I wouldn't rely on it for much.
KEY CHAIN: It's a key chain, nothing special. Letter "R" and a small star. Good quality though, nice build, better than the one that came with Growlanser for sure, but not as nice looking.
LOCK BOX: Yes, someone with a bit of strength could pop this bad boy open with a butter knife, but so what? IT's a cool addition and a really nice concept. (FYI, that's why the box is so big, it barely fits in there)
LICENSE PLATE: Amazon says it's exclusive to them but is it really? Dunno. It's nice though - if California weren't so Draconian when it came to vehicles I would put it on my car.
Negatives are the lack of a "Making Of" disc: hopefully they'll put those clips up for FREE on Xbox Live - then this is a moot point, and, as usual for GTA games, a very lacking instruction booklet.
As for the game I'll just go through the various complaints people have and see if I agree or disagree. How's that?
POP-IN: Agree. It's not bad and it's not a deal breaker, IMO. In fact in the time I played the game I didn't notice it all that much. It's really when you're going faster than the loading engine can keep up with, which isn't often considering most of the cars are rather slow and the traffic is dense enough that you can't speed through like you could with the other GTAs.
JAGGIES: Agree. Again, not too bad and not a deal breaker.
BLURRY: Agree. It's not as bad as people are making it out to be though. Like in Lost Odyssey and Kameo where the entire background is blurred and it has a realistic feel to it, this is more subtle. It's not a filter, it's more like the textures start out degraded and then slowly improve as you approach various things in the distance. It's NOT that big of a deal, only videophiles would even notice, really.
FRAMERATE: Agree. Again, not that bad, and not nearly as much as Lost Odyssey. There is just some slight stuttering that occurs at times, it's noticeable but not a deal breaker.
MUSIC: Agree. The selection of songs was poor this time around. I pretty much keep going back to the jazz station because it's the only one I can really tolerate. If you're open to indie music you'll probably find some things you like here. Also there are some big name artists with little known songs (that aren't that great), i.e. Nas, so if you're open to new types of songs from established artists, you'll find some good stuff here.
GRAPHICS: You know, I don't know why these got a 10. Not to beat a dead horse, but I can think of at least 4 other games with better graphics just off the top of my head: Bioshock, Lost Odyssey, Gears (different art direction, I know), and Fight Night Round 3. It's not the city, the city is fine...it's everything that's animated about the city: cars, Niko, characters, bikes, etc. Even trees don't look that great. And it's often hard to make out certain objects like when there's a fence or something. Additionally, the text on the cell phone is a dark font which is hard to read against the navy green background when you're more than 5 feet away from the screen (which you should be to keep from getting nauseous while playing).
OK ReV, so what's the good news?
The good news might be your bad news. To me, I like a game that sticks to a formula. Some hate that - some love games to always change. GTAIV sticks to the tried and true formula of the past PS2 games, with one small twist: Now you've got choices. You can make decisions on whether you're going to help or harm someone, save or desert someone, etc. So in a way it's taking the concept of Fable and slapping the GTA world around it, if you can envision that. Don't know if I care for the choice part yet, but it does keep things lively.
Everything else you love about GTA is here to the n'th degree. I'm sure you heard about the fact that you can now do more...uh...'more' with the hookers, plus the various engines for gunplay and weapons have been improved. Sadly, it's a LOT more difficult to control both Niko and the various vehicles. With Niko, he now walks by default, and you have to hold A to get him to jog (what was the default in the previous games) and tap A repeatedly to get him to run (what was hold A in the previous games). With the vehicles the buttons seem to have been switched around or made less effective. I had a very difficult time just steering in the city, and I still haven't been able to power slide around corners. It told me about handbrake controls, but I could swear I could do it with just the regular brake provided I was at the right speed, before. I actually failed a mission because of that.
So, in summary:
- There are things you will need to get accustomed to. Some things are different, some things are the same. Some things were improved, some were a blatant step back. It's anyone's ball game whether you'll truly enjoy the game for yourself or not. One thing's for sure...no matter what reviews come out, no matter what reviews get posted here, and no matter what a stripper tells you, THIS IS NOT A PERFECT GAME. It's a good game with its flaws, just like any other. If you can accept that, you'll want to buy this game. | video-games_xbox |
My pick for RPG of the year. In the special features of the Lion King DVD, they mentioned how they felt they were the "B Team"; the team that's making that other movie whereas most of the concentration and excitement was on Pocahontas. I'm not saying Dragon Age is the B team and that it's going to eclipse everything but it's kind of weird to look at Dragon Age: Origins in that in a little over 2 months we'll be getting the highly anticipated "Mass Effect 2" which many people are saying it's going to be Game of the Year for next year, let alone RPG. Strange analogy to compare to M-rated RPG's to kid friendly movies but I bet a lot of people are looking at this game as one of 2 things: they're excited for it if it only weren't for Modern Warfare 2 being released the week after or the second thing which is this is what will tide you over till the big game comes out in January. Well what a surprise to find that it's actually a fantastic game and my pick for RPG of the year. Why not Demon's Souls? Mainly because this game is actually fun to play whereas the other game is fun but the learning curve might make people just give up right away. When people talk about getting their 60 dollars worth well there's more than enough content here to justify the price so it's definately worth checking out.
Story: In the kingdom of Ferelden, an event known as the Blight happens which threatens the whole land when creatures known as darkspawn rise from the ground and wreak havoc on the populace. Ancient, highly revered warriors known as the Grey Wardens have been the defense against this danger, even when a creature known as the archdemon arrives on the battlefield. You can play as one of 6 origin stories which range from the son of a king, an elf who uncovers a mysterious mirror or a mage living in a tower practicing their magic. Eventually you'll meet party members who'll aid you in battle as you gather your strength and numbers to vanquish the Blight and the darkspawn.
Graphics: A commmon thread on message boards is "sign here if you think the graphics suck". Well they don't suck per se but compared to other games, even in Bioware's catalogue, it might not astound. While from an art design standpoint the game's gorgeous with some really cool and even stunning locales, the actual visuals themselves might underwhelm and I even notice the occasional hiccup such as textures that flicker during conversations and screen tearing but as someone who doesn't mind playing an old school Playstation or even Nintendo 64 game on occasion, the graphics never bothered me one bit. One petty thing is that the designs for the characters in the Sacred Ashes trailer look downright awesome whereas in-game they look off. Leliana, the redhead badass in the trailer, now looks almost...innocent and the guy with cornrows (Sten) looks oddly fatter in-game than in the trailer.
Sound/Music: One thing you can't fault Bioware on is voice acting and here they are spot-on. From some great character work, especially by Morrigan (her VA also did Uncharted 2's Chloe) to general NPC's, very rarely do I find an outright badly voiced character and it's one of the few games that I actually want to hear the dialogue as opposed to Mass Effect where I'll admit I pressed X a few times to get to my dialogue selection bit. Music as well is awesome with some epic orchestral scores and if you got the Collector's Edition, the soundtrack's on the DVD (which can be added to your iTunes/Media Player via file copying). Sound effects in battle are alright though I love the loud boom you do when you do a Shield Bash.
Gameplay: Now one thing I have to mention is I've never played Knights of the Old Republic so I can't say if it's similar but basically what this game is boils down to characters see enemy, press A to start attacking. But holding the Left trigger will bring up a radial menu where you can switch between party buffs, magic or special attacks, make potions, check your inventory etc. Your X, Y and B buttons can be mapped so they activate a specific ability you want with a second menu providing more space, giving you 6 quick access abilities. It's not a bad system and works fairly well though it can get chaotic during the battlefield with not only your 4 characters but I've ran into at least 7 or 8 other characters to fight. Taking a page from Final Fantasy XII is where you can set your tactics, or if you want "if x/then y" situations where character AI will automatically perform certain actions should you program it in. Example, curing if someone's low health, automatically turn buffs on but how about casting an area of attack spell if you have a certain amount of enemies bunched together? The benefit that FF XII didn't have is that these tactics are available to you right from the get go as opposed to being bought or found though your slots and how much tactics you can program is limited.
Like any RPG you got to have customization and there's a ton in the game and it starts right from your choices as a dalish elf can have different conversations and most likely even quests not available to say a noble dwarf. One thing I will say is the the character customization, my bane of RPG's lately, isn't that bad though for some reason I still can't make people look how I want them to look. Past this you can specialize in a specific class such as mages opting to become a shapeshifter or a healer whereas warriors and rogues can have their own classes as well and then there's abilities which can involve general attacking, archery, whether or not you'll dual wield or just have a sword and shield combo. And how about customizing the quests? Indeed like in Mass Effect but moreso here, what you decide to say can influence the outcome of quests and characters so for example in the first town you go to (Lothering), there's some basically "toll collectors" who want you to pay money you most likely can't afford so you can decide to fight them to a point where they'll pay you and run off...but in a different run I said I was a Grey Warden and they just let me pass. And if you want to get your freak on you have 4 romantic options and figuring out how to get on their good side and subsequently them on your bed side is quite fun though keep in mind, try to romance 2 at once and you'll get confronted. So jealous, they are.
For those interested, I got the Collector's Edition and this is just to detail what's in it: you get a cloth map (complete with unsnipped thread still hanging off the sides, a neat touch), a bonus DVD which includes a making-of documentary, trailers for the game and Mass Effect 2, the soundtrack and wallpaper for your computer. The big addition is 3 download codes: the Blood Dragon armor which sadly requires a high amount of strength to even wield so it'll be awhile before you can wear it, the Stone Prisoner quest involving recruitable character Shale as well as in-game items. It's a cool collector's edition but I just put this here since more people'll read the regular version reviews than the CE's, I bet.
Does it have some flaws? Well aside from the aforementioned love-it-or-hate-it graphics, the game can get somewhat hard if you're not really paying attention and for those after achievements, Dragon Age, like Mass Effect, requires multiple playthroughs not just for the opening origins (Magi origin took me roughly 2 hours, rest were less) but you got to get not only the warrior but the mage and the rogue to level 20 and that might be awhile, in addition to 4 endings, 4 romance options and you better be in it for the long haul. If you are though, there is so much stuff to do in this game that it gets crazy. I don't know if it'll eclipse Oblivion's reported 200 hours but you never know. Question is, how thorough are you? | video-games_xbox |
The Best Gaming Headset Currently Available. I am a huge gamer, I play around 2-3 hours every day (usually PUBG with my friends) and whenever I play I either use my Surround system (Pioneer System with KeF speakers, $1,000+ system) or headphones, usually any I can find that are comfortable. This usually was fine for me until I got tired of my team mates not being able to hear me or vice versa, and not being able to pin point where sounds are coming from.
So, I decided with a little bit of birthday money maybe it was time I finally invested into a pair of excellent gaming headphones. I looked everywhere, for hours looking for the perfect pair and finally I landed on these or the A50's, I realised then that I would have to pay more money for a feature I don't even need (wireless) thus, I decided these were the best bet. (Wired has ZERO problems with cutting out, hissing or being off sync, so in a way the A40's are actually better than the A50's)
I looked around and was able to find a pair on the used -very good page of GAMINGUSA for $99, I simply had to try them for over half off.
I received my package yesterday morning and I was actually surprised that all they did was tape the actual Astro box closed, they didn't use a packing box. "Oh boy, here we go" I said expecting a mess on the inside. I was pleasantly surprised to see everything was completely unused and untouched. It was perfect in every way and included everything!
Setting up the headset was a breeze, plug in the headset to a USB on the back of your Xbox One (I have the Xbox One X so there is plenty of USB's if you don't have one you can plug it into most newer TV's or just a simple phone charger you can buy at pretty much any store for under $5) then I plugged in the Optical cable on the back of my unit and my Xbox. The Xbox found my headset and assigned it and I was on my way! One thing to make sure of is you have it set up to Bitstream and Dolby in your sound settings. Most of the one Star reviews are because they didn't follow this direction.
I plugged the A40's into the Mixamp and WOW is all that can be said. The bass is booming, the mids are clean and the highs are crisp. The best thing about them is how easily I can pinpoint any sound in my vacinity in PUBG, making the game much easier in every way.
Should you buy them? Hell yes, there is NO BETTER headset out there right now, Turtle Beach can't even touch these in the sound department. I easily pick these over even my Surround system for gaming. | video-games_xbox |
Crackdown, minus story, plus multiplayer. Crackdown was never intended to be a game that relied heavily on story telling. It wallowed shamelessly on its grinding, its overblown violence and explosive pryotechnics. But whats come down the tube wrapped in the same packaging with a #2 on it is so... ordinary.
Graphics are original Crackdown, with some additional cel shading on your player character, literally. 3 year old graphics, coming out of a develop that should still be sitting on a pile of gold from the initial games success. I've seen Oblivion mods that put more effort into improving backgrounds and other graphical elements.
Gameplay is the formula you love. Jump, hit, and shoot like a superhero. The only problem is they've apparently decided that the only thing missing was areas that could be turned into a crater with a single stray shot. You have to spend five minutes clearing explosive barrels so that you aren't sent pinwheeling into the sky after 45 barrels all explode simultaneously. And while you're flying through the air, twenty enemies with semi-auto rocket launchers and pinpoint accurate grenade launchers will aid you in your sub-orbital flight. Again, otherwise, crackdown 1 gameplay. There are some new mini-games, but its basically go here and kill everything that moves. And some gratuitous finding missions. While those are as annoying as they ever are, they've at least made the concession that they're are fairly easy-to-spot markers to let you know something is nearby.
Probably the most annoying thing is the announcer. I like me my achievements, but when you're getting one every 30 minutes, and having it all but rubbed on your face, its loses anything resembling a feeling of achievement. "Your first agility orb? Achievement!" "You fired a new weapon? Achievement!" "You managed to operate a toilet unaided? Achievement!"
Story is where is game runs straight down the tubes. After an opening cut scene, they is nothing in the way of briefings. You have one target, not the normal gang dossiers, and otherwise, one mission: kill stuff in this location, and move to another location. Not surprising, but when you're performing the exact same actions and just changing backgrounds, with nothing backing it up, it starts to feel like quest grinding.
Overall, Crackdown 2 is a clone of the original with pieces removed. That alone makes it a massive disappointment. So little effort was put into this to make it almost insulting that it took 3 years to complete. Apparently the thought was that removing story and making virtually every action warrant an achievement would gloss over the fact that all they did was add a multiplayer function, but what comes out it just a time waster. It may be just as much raw fun as the first, running, racing and blowing up stuff to your hearts content, but it feels like a empty husk of something that used to be great. | video-games_xbox |
Room for improvement. This game is ok. I have no real hand eye coordination, like my kids do, to play rockband, and I usually just sing with them. I like it, but its all rock songs and not too many to make your voice shine. So I was excited to see LIPS. I liked that there were more "singy" songs like Umbrella, Alicia Keys, etc. Plus the price was really great considering you get the two mics too. It was a pretty decent time with the songs, but there is a lot of room for improvement.
1- The Mics are harder to sync up than it says. As another review said, the hard part isn't really syncing them, but knowing if they are hooked up or not. The blinking lights when setting it up are not different than the blinking lights when it is set up and just on, so its hard to know if you actually synced it or not. Finally we got irritated trying to get the light bars to do what the instructions said and just tried it-sure enough they were synced. So who knows. It was def not a good time doing though lol. Lots of frustration.
2- As another reviewer stated- it is kind of hard to sing the song and make sure you are on pitch. If you already know the song, then you do great. But if you need help finding the pitch you are kind of SOL. The words display underneath and then above them there are pitch bars, but unlike rockband it doesn't really do a good job of indicating how much higher or lower you need to sing to get on target. You have to know the words to watch the pitch too, bc if you don't it is just too hard to read them on the pitch section. The words are all broken up etc and unless your brain thinks that way it is kind of hard to "read" the words all broken up like that. At least while trying to sing them.
3- When playing or singing with another person it is kind of hard to tell who you are. It took us a few min to figure out who was red and blue and where they were on the screen. It is also hard to sing with another person bc if they are not good singers or get off pitch, it is hard for you to find your own. (not the games fault)Especially if you are not very familiar with the song. It is hard to hear the computer sing over their singing and you are pretty much lost.
I would say this is fun. Especially at a party or something. But if you are really looking to sound good singing or have fun by yourself unlocking achievements etc, then this game probably isn't it. It is almost better to just get rockband and play solo. I might look into downloading some of the songs that I already know and like to sing though. I will also check into the karaoke revolution thing I keep seeing in the reviews.
I say it is worth the price though just to get the mics. | video-games_xbox |
I love the look, easy to place the onto charging pad, just a bit too easy to bump off. I bought this item from my local big box seller on launch day and have to say I like how it charges but I wish it had a way to secure the controllers into the unit.
When you get the chargers it looks pretty nice I like the way it looks in my entertainment console. The batteries are NiMh and they kind of look like they took 2 batteries and taped them together (which I'm more than fine with) kind of like wireless landline phones.
You get a new backplate that has a hole in it for the contacts on the batteries to hit the contacts on the stand. The first time I put it on it took me a few tries to get it to fit right but the second controller was much easier. The batteries do come pre-charged but I really can't tell you how much since I synced the controllers then put them on the charging base to charge.
The base lights up green when they are fully charged and red while charging. You have to slide them in just right to line up the holes but it's fairly easy since the clear hook has a notch that you line up with the Xbox button on the controller, so as long as those line up as you are putting it in you will have no problem.
The cons:
Nothing holds the controllers to the base except for the clear hook, if you have kids and they run around and you don't have the base in a secure area the controllers could very easily get knocked off of it. I normally wouldn't care but since they are new and cost $60 each I want to prolong their life as much as I can.
If a battery pack goes bad after a year or two will I have to buy a whole new base unit to just get a new battery? I am not giving it a minus on stars for this point since I haven't researched this much but I think I will. It would be nice to just buy new packs and maybe that is an option I just don't know.
I took the one star off due to how easy it is to bump off the controller. I can't tell you how long they last since I've never had any issues with long gaming sessions and I put them on the base daily so they will last you all day. I do perfer this over the play and charge kits MS has since it is much cheaper to charge 2 controllers since you don't need to buy 2 play and charge kits.
If you have any questions please ask I can probably answer for you.
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Edit: like I said in the comments you can't charge via usb port, you must use the base.
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Edit 2: After using this for 3 months and a few marathon gaming sessions I can say the battery life kind of stinks if you are using your chat headset. Each pack is rated at 20 hours of useage but when I have my headset plugged in I get maybe 10 hours of usage. I haven't tested it with just controller since I am usually always chatting with friends as I play. It's a good thing there are 2 so you can swap out the one when it dies. The batteries do charge quickly though.
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Edit 3: The patch MS pushed out that shows battery life will not show that the batteries have a full charge. On my console it shows up as 50% for hours of gaming so if you see that do not worry it's just their software isn't reading the battery correctly.
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Edit 4: Before a year was complete the batteries were not holding the charge and I had to move them around to find a spot for them to charge so I threw them away and went to regular rechargeable batteries (white Amazon brand). The top spot never worked and the bottom you had to put it on then pull it off and skew it a bit to get it to charge. | video-games_xbox |
Transformers: Dark of the High Moon Studios. High Moon Studios' War for Cybertron was probably the best Transformers game ever made. It's only real competition for the title was the PS2 Transformers based on the Armada series. If you took everything special about War for Cybertron and stripped it down to its basic gameplay mechanics, you'd have Dark of the Moon.
High Moon Studios decided to use an element of play that really bugged me about the control in Revenge of the Fallen. Namely, the need to hold down a trigger button to stay in one of your modes. Since they added a "stealth force" mode, that is now your default transformation from robot mode. To transform to a vehicle, you have to keep the left trigger held down. But wait, there's more. To steer, you use the RIGHT analog stick, WHILE holding down the left trigger. To boost, you hold down the right bumper, and to use your e-brake, you hold down the right trigger button. Don't worry too much, because you'll spend most of your time in stealth mode.
Forget spending a whole lot of time in robot mode, as you'll just die faster. Even on easy, this game is no picnic. To artificially lengthen play time, swarms of the exact same Bayish Decepticlones (to borrow a term from the Transformers Armada game) keep coming at you. Along the way, more Autobots will join your fight, but you'll hardly notice them having any impact. The most use you'll get out of any Autobot is Ratchet, who will heal you when your health meter is low. As per usual in a Transformers game, if you can find a safe hiding spot, your health will regenerate automatically.
Unlike previous games, there are not two separate campaigns. The game assigns you a character; you can't even pick from a roster. You'll start out as Bumblebee driving through generic earth environments. The graphics are sufficient but the backgrounds obviously lack detail. As you'll spend a lot of time "scooting" around in stealth mode, it probably won't hit you until you go to vehicle mode just how wacky the driving physics are. Whenever your vehicle hits something it bounces off of it like the object was made of jell-o. For more laughs, press A to jump and watch as your car hangs in the air as if the game went into slow motion. Again, everything reeks of a hurried effort to slap this game together. If you're itching for a Transformers title and haven't bought War for Cybertron (which a lot of people skipped out on), please do the honorable thing and buy that title instead. | video-games_xbox |
Fun but missing something. First I want to highly recommend this game for you if you want to play it together with friends. My wife and I play it and we have a great time with it. (And of course it's easier with more than one adventurer.) So many games alienate you from your friends and family because you play and they don't. This one encourages team play. I wish more Xbox adventure and RPG games had this feature (Fable with friends would have been the bomb).
I wish there was more customization of your characters. Your choice of adventurer is limited to four: a dwarf cleric, human fighter, elf mage or halfling rogue (I think I remember the rogue correctly). You don't even get to chose gender. No choice of different faces or hair style to personalize your adventurers. No race choices. Nothing. Your appearance does change when you buy new armor, etc. but one of the things I like about D&D type games is getting to feel like your character is a real person and you know them. Modifying his/her appearance is a lot more fun.
I wasn't satisfied with the camera choices. In order to play effectively, a god-like view from the maximum distance is best, but then you don't get to see what the monsters look like. Up close you can enjoy the visuals, but you get a much poorer understanding of your environment. I don't know how I'd change it, but I keep thinking of other games that give you the best of both.
The challenges of the game were fun but not impossible. This isn't Ninja Gaiden! The improvement of your equipment goes at a decent pace, as does your level-up from experience. I'd like to have seen more sould shards. You find these special gems throughout the game and they improve the look and power of your weapon. There are exactly twenty and you need twenty in order to achieve the perfection of your weapon. What this means is, you'll be unable to find some and you'll complete the game with your weapon only 3/4ths upgraded (I only got 50% upgades the first time we completed the game). A little unsatisfying not to ever see it in its final form.
All in all, a lot of fun, especially for you and a friend. I hear the game studio has been closed down recently. I sure hope we see more games like this in the future. | video-games_xbox |
Please save time and aggravation for yourself. Read my review by a cheaper quality for 75% less. I've had nothing but issues on this set. Static and interruptions every 45 seconds per minute. I don't really write many reviews, because I carefully review everything I want to buy before I purchase it having an expectation of that item. Sadly even if I did my research on this I would have probably felt swindled in the long run. Overall this would be everything I wanted in $150 purchase at the time. I didn't buy on Amazon but did at best buy and can furnish a receipt if needed. Wireless was a big thing for me. The lack of dolby digital I didn't seem as a problem until I realized you can literally get a $20 turtle beach headset DXL1 made for the xbox 360 and buy a $6 adapter
(http://www.amazon.com/Xbox-Headset-Controller-Adapter-Headsets-One/dp/B00MG73JV2 ie=UTF8&psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o07_s00)
that will make it work for the XBOX 1. Though it's wired. This less than $30 headset out performs this POS anyway of the week. I get frustrated just thinking about the money I wasted on this. My issues with this is for every minute it is on I either hear static or it cut outs 75% of the time. Much like other people. I even made sure to see my xbox wasn't over heating and moved it around for more airflow. I even put that adapter on the side of the xbox. No dice!!. I did contact turtle beach and had my headset returned and replaced 2x already. I've only owned it 4 months. I will give them a B for customer service because at some point in the emails which I still have . They forgot who they were talking to. First they asked me if I updated the earphones? Then I find out the upgrade was not MAC compatible. I sent it back. They sent me a new one. Same issues. Second time I sent it back they informed me they upgraded it for me and ran a performance check. I'd love to know what that was. (Yup it turned on.) Send it to him. I even asked if I could just send this waste of money back and pay the difference for a better quality one. That question was completely ignored. I'm at the point that it's not worth my time. Seriously DO NOT purchase this headset. Take the option I mentioned earlier and just buy the wired one. Save $100+ and aggravation. Get better quality and never have to deal with their customer service. If anyone doubts my issues I'll forward you my emails from the company. Again I don't write many reviews but feel this needed addressed. If I were to put a price on this for it's lackluster of features. You're paying $100 just because it's wireless and the other $30 because it's turtlebeach. Never had an issue with them as on my Xbox 360 I owned a PX28. Well this took my outlook of turtlebeach to a whole new level. I'll always question their product from here on out because of it. | video-games_xbox |
Shadows of the Damned Review. Suda 51 is back with his latest creation. This time the game has found its way on the XBOX360 and will have you playing the part of Garcia Hotspur, Demon Hunter. After another successful outing Hotspur comes home to his hot girlfriend only to find that the current bad-ass in Hell, Fleming, has decided that he's had enough with Hotspur's murders and steals away the girlfriend. This leaves Hotspur with only one choice, he must journey into hell and rescue her. The problem is that there's going to be a lot of really pissed off demons between him and Fleming. As you play the game, however, I think you'll find that Garcia Hotspur doesn't mind having to mow down hundreds of demons.
Graphically this game looks good. It kind of has this old Transylvanian feel to it, and it really works for the game. There's also the darkness mechanic which gives you a difference perspective, while you're trying to survive, and introduces a vital puzzle piece to the game play. The different demons that you have to face off against are spot on for what I'd envisioned walked around in hell. The best character design though has to go to the bosses that will crop up from time to time to really give you a challenge. The in between levels load screen reminds me of a Castlevania-esque approach. You'll see the level and you'll see your character walk from one area into the next on a map, which for some reason just screams Castlevania to me.
Now the sound is where there might be a problem for some people. The dialogue is not for everyone, and sometimes its a bit over the top. There are some parts where you just have to shake your head, and there are other parts that might just have you laughing your ass off. The music keeps with the theme of the world and doesn't really blow you away, but it definitely adds something to the game.
As you go through the game you're going to find that your controller is going to be able to do more and more. That's the wonders of unlocking gameplay at a pace so that the gamer can get comfortable with the other controls first. I will tell you this, the light shot is your friend, so don't forget about it, that is all.
So you are the bad-ass Garcia Hotspur. You've got a chip on your shoulder because this punk demon has taken your girl, and now its time to bash some heads. This to me definitely got me hooked and I had to know where the game would go, and did it go. The overall game was solid, sure there was a couple of hiccups here and there, such as a bit of lag when trying to save the game while you're running around, but overall there wasn't too much to complain about. I will say that it took me a bit to figure out how to take out some of the stronger demons, but once I found out what the universal weak spot was, that became just a bit easier to handle. Now let's take a second to talk about the guns. Your main gun shoots bones, and so to keep things simple the gun is called the Boner. You'll soon find that you'll be adding a machine gun to your arsenal that shoots teeth, and that will be called the Teether. Now the real interesting thing about the weapon system is the fact that you're not having to tote around those weapons and having to reach into a bag to switch them out. Your good old floating skull, ex-demon, Johnson actually changes into all the weapons that you'll be using. To make like a bit easier every gun you'll have will be color coded. So if you check the color of Johnson's "glow" you'll figure out real quick what gun you have equipped.
There's some puzzle aspects to this game that kind of remind me of trying to find the red key to get into the next room in Doom. You'll have to keep your eyes peeled for an eyeball, a brain, and a strawberry. There will be doors that will require one of these items to open up, sometimes its required to get through the level, other times you'll just want to use them to unlock ammo stashes or the wonderful red gem (which allows for upgrades). There's also another puzzle mechanic, though, this one deals with having to be in the darkness to destroy a "sensor" that will open up a door, which is usually described as covered in demon pubes.
This game definitely is for the more matured, and maybe slightly demented, but this game is good. I really enjoyed playing this game from end to end, and I think there's room for a second game in the series. Sure there was moments where I had to wonder why I was playing this with some of the over the top parts, but overall I just couldn't put the controller down long enough to really contemplate that kind of thing. If you like what Suda 51 has done in the past you're not going to be disappointed with this game. I have to give this game a 9.3 out of 10 | video-games_xbox |
Challenging Fighting Style. Good graphics. OK Story. Overall GOOD GAME. This isn't a simple hack and slash. You must use a but of strategy and patience when battling enemies. Casual gamers will complain this game is too hard. It gets rather easy after you learn how to fight and upgrade your armor. I found myself cutting through enemies like butter about half way through, but in the beginning it took some getting use to, and enemies will seem to overwhelm you at first.
If you've played games like Ninja Gaiden, or Dark Souls, you know that the enemies demand respect. You cant run in and just start mashing buttons like you were playing Devil May Cry. You must use some skill, which isn't hard to learn if you just take your time.
With that being said, Im actually on my second play through. Im really enjoying this game now, especially that Ive gotten some really good armor, I can really stand up to some of the bigger enemies with no problem.
This game is a dungeon crawler with no mapping system. Complete old school. But no worrys, the areas aren't hard to learn. It was actually fun getting lost and stumbling upon secrets here and there. After a few visits I started to know the areas by hard for the most.
You loot chests, find scrolls and earn xp from killing enemies, that adds up with a multiplier the longer you wait to upgrade. If you die, that xp is in the area you were killed and you have to go and retrieve it before it disappears. That I don't like much, but its not a big deal if you gamble your xp right. If you're about to fight a boss or area you're unsure of, then stash your xp at a check point.
The graphics are good, but a bit washed out looking in some areas. The music is absolutely beautiful. The story, however, is lacking. Or maybe I just missed some things. Its not the best, but not the worst. There are side quests and other characters in the game that just really feel like they were thrown in. Like the woman for instance. Shes the ONLY woman in the game, and she appears to have an important role, but really just ends up being a shadow for your footsteps.
If you liked games like Darksiders, Ninja Gaiden, Dark Souls, Zelda....this game has all of those elements mixed in one from the dungeon crawling, to the challenging fights to the xp upgrades and adventuring.
I recommend this game. Im currently on my second play through and loving it~ | video-games_xbox |
Solid game with unrecognized potential. This is a very solid game. I have to say I am pleased that somebody finally did an open world game based in the old west. The scenery is simply breathtaking, as is the audio. From bullet richochets to some awe-inspring thunder, the game really delivers on those levels. The graphics are great aside from a few small things. For example, hair and beards look terrible, but otherwise its very pleasing.
I like the main character. Being a Rockstar game, I really expected them to make him a total cliche, but he is actually a personable chap.
I haven't quite finished the game yet, but the length seems to be pretty good and the multiplayer options are pretty nice, although I would have liked to see them tied to the single player game a bit more. You end up doing the same things over again in multiplayer for your challenges, but not a big deal.
The Cons:
Some graphical glitches and freezes.
Poor autosave feature.
I would also have liked it to be more of an RPG in terms of being able to "build" your character. There is no leveling of any kind, and no way to make build your character around your style of play.
Quests seem pretty few and far between for the first half of the game, but after you hit Mexico they really pick up.
Lack of instruction on many things. Dueling is one example.
The way that they kick the game off was pretty, well, stupid. Marston goes to the fort and tries to get the guy to turn himself in. Fair enough...but when the guy says NO, Marston casually goes for his gun and gets shot. If our hero is really that stupid, perhaps he shouldn't be our hero?
Quests seem very disconnected and random. Its not a huge deal, but after playing some of the other RPG's like Mass Effect 2 and Dragon Age, it really made it stand out.
One other complaint I have is the "bounty" feature in multiplayer. There is no progression of effort to take your character down like we saw with the GTA series. For example, it doesn't matter if you have a bounty of $20 or $2,000, they really don't try any harder to take you out. Also, when you are in a posse, your bounties go up individually rather than collectively, which I found odd. So if you have a big posse of 8 buddies and you want to hit the $5,000 mark, you are in a for a very long wait because you all have to share the guys they send at you, which like I said never increases.
Enemy AI is laughable sometimes, especially in multiplayer. The idiot enemies will pile up outside the wall of a town and just sit there like morons.
Overall a great game that was a long time coming and I applaud Rockstar for doing it. With a few tweaks on the next installment they will truly have a legendary game. | video-games_xbox |
Great, but held back by glaring flaws. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare is a first person shooter and takes place in a fictional present day/near future setting. You will spend your time in the single player as a U.S. Marine and a British S.A.S. commando. The game is very similar to Call of Duty 2 and I'm guessing other CoDs, you can carry only two weapons, health regenerates, ammo is picked up by walking over it, and is rarely a problem for the common weapons, melee is now an instant kill knife instead of the current weapon, armed grenades can be picked up and thrown again, and special grenades are now flash bangs or smoke, I believe the level chooses for you in singleplayer.. Sprinting is also in the game where you are able to run faster at the cost of having your gun lowered. Equipment such as night vision, C4, Claymores, and rifle grenades are also in, but all the time. You can also shoot through "thin" walls, but it's not always easy to tell what you can shoot through.
The single player is fairly good, has great views, textures, but still has the locked in feel from CoD2. CoD2 used bushes and razor wire to create barriers so you couldn't leave the area or to make you flank a defended area. CoD4 still does this, usually with small boxes..., hedges, and more razor wire. There are certain main characters that can't be killed in the game. This is obvious as the S.A.S since nearly the whole team is invincible and will only stumble when being shot, which does a great job at killing the realism. Another problem with the game is never ending enemy respawns. In CoD2 the enemy could respawn and continue to rush you, but they would eventually run out of soldiers at some kind of respawn limit or timer. In CoD4 you have to advance and stupidly charge the enemy at times, solely because the enemy will continue to attack with more soldiers. This is especially annoying on the TV station mission when you are in the open office room, close quarters. Instinct would say to hold up at the entrance with a shotgun as the enemy will most of the time charge, however they will keep coming, forcing you to charge forward to a specific point, to end the infinite respawns. If dead bodies were persistent, you would probably find nearly a hundred on the floor in just that room. Single player should last around 8-10 hours. I do not recommend playing on Veteran on the first playthrough no matter how good you are at FPS games.
Multiplayer is a whole other story. LAN/splitscreen is different from XBL. On splitscreen you choose from a list of premade classes with different perks(bonuses) and starting equipment. Offline you can have 4 players on a 360/24 for LAN games (according to the box), map/radar always shows your enemies location, at least by default on local play. Multiplayer is good and you are missing out if you don't have XBL or a group of people to play with. There is no lean in the console version.
XBL multiplayer is much different. Only one person can play per 360, no splitscreen option. There is a radar/map that helps a lot for new players. Friendly Fire is OFF by default, and there are no true skill playlists, so you get matched up with the best and the worst. Radar works based on sound, if someone shoots a non silenced gun, they light up. Killing sprees (3,5, and 7) earn you UAV(enemies location for 30 seconds), Artillery strike (you pick the area to bomb) and finally a friendly helicopter. Your can choose your own perks and weapons, sadly the game runs an exp leveling system that hurts new players for a while by locking them out of most of the weapons, perks, and even playlists, and it can take a very long time to reach the highest level, 55(levels are earned by experience points, not true skill(halo), and cannot be lost...unless maybe you are team killing). The game allows 18 players, but the main playlist is 12 players, 6 vs. 6. The exp system is not used in offline multiplayer.
Bottom line, Call of Duty 4 is a good, if not great game that is easily worth its current used price (around $15), but it is not (by default) a real military/tactical game with the regenerative health, perks that change a weapons damage/abilities (like shooting through walls) from person to person, and the respawning in the single and multiplayer. If you're looking for a real military shooter on 360, I would recommend GRAW2 instead(with a LOT of space for the DLC, which is 3+GB after paying 800MS points($10), or 1+GB for just the free DLC). This modern warfare themed shooter is still good for what it is, but it's no military shooter and punishing players with an unlocking system and lack of a true skill playlist can put new players off. | video-games_xbox |
View some web screenshots/ clips first. Then if there's any chance that you might get used to the graphics resolution etc, risk buying the game for its other great merits. (Notes on "used" copy alternatives below.)
I have played each of Elder Scrolls I through V. III (Morrowind) lastly.
Notable Cons, III relative to IV/V:
-- Tolerance for the now-dated rpg graphics resolution is a personal thing. Myself, after the first hour, I wasn't sure that the other game aspects would make up for it. But after several hours, I got used to the graphics, and was pleased to continue. More on that below.
-- More dreary countrysides even than Skyrim, but no worse than the Plains of Oblivion.
-- Dark lighting of interiors, as others mention, with no in-game gamma adjustment. This is rather independent of the resolution. [very vague SPOILER...] Some rare or difficult game features can help a bit, if you want to google such.
-- Dialogues have to be read mostly, rather than their being spoken.
-- The list of dialogue topics does not highlight which topics were viewed in their entirety before.
-- Rendering stutters a bit more than IV/V, e.g. when walking fast. (More below.)
Pros:
-- The music kept me playing, until I got used to the graphics again. Skyrim music is more ambitious, but revisits the main Morrowind theme, and hearing that again is like going home.
-- Variations on the many renowned rich options for game play.
General:
I could not play the "I" or II graphics nowadays. Bethesda made I and II free for the PC, if you want to try those. Morrowind environments are stylish in their simplicity when well lit. But not as good as IV/V of course are characters and dark interiors.
Free web resources about Morrowind are abundant. E.g. if you like "factions", there are more than in Skyrim. More Marksman weapons. Tips/hints, walk-throughs, glitches, cheats. The advantage of not being the first players of a single-player game.
I played on an Xbox 360 "E". The official Microsoft 360 hard-drive is required, for emulation of the original Xbox ("Xbox-0"). I believe other comments, that the net 360 result is better III graphics than on Xbox-0, and the fps is just as good.
Price is a consideration, and you can compare used copies. Often those may be missing one or both of the paper map and 48-page Xbox manual. How important are those papers?
Free web info actually is a lot more extensive, if you are comfortable with it being online only, or with finding and printing parts out. Tastes vary. But especially if you have not played IV or V yet, the manual can be a comforting overview. Or you could pay ScribD for a legit .pdf of the PC-version manual. [The manual (and in-game) button references are to the Xbox-0 controller buttons.]
One superb online map can be zoomed to high resolution, Google-like. But to get a paper copy, you would have to cut and paste color printouts, to reach even the size and resolution of the glossy included map: 18"x 21". For a map guy anyway, the included paper map is a nice offline reference.
Just two 360 tips here:
You can HOLD "Y" while scrolling inventory lists, for more info on each small icon. But one does get used to many of those icons alone.
During game play, the controller can get turned off automatically, due to being idle or losing power. Reconnecting a controller later resumes fine. However do not use the controller's "guide" button to ASK to disconnect the controller. (The button with the big Xbox X on it). That crashes the 360, probably interacting with the emulation software. If necessary, instead remove the controller batteries, or if wired, unplug. Cheers. | video-games_xbox |
An Ode to the Original Combat Evolved. By now you probably know this game is a huge disappointment to anyone who is an original multiplayer fan. I'm offended that this is called an anniversary edition. I have the anniversary edition of Jurassic Park and the whole thing is a remastered version of the original movie. It's not like the first half is JP1 and the second half is JP3 like this games two parts seem to be. I'm only going to address the mp side of things as the campaign has been improved upon. I also understand that at some parts of this review, I fail to completely compare certain aspects from H1 to HR, especially in the level design section. As a preface, the games weaponry, movement capability and level design should all compliment each other to create the pace and fighting distance for the game. In H1 the pace was comparably slow. The fighting distance was medium to far range. Shotguns were not all that effective in most scenarios. In HR, it seems like the pace is too fast, the distance is too close, and the levels are small and compact. By fighting distance I mean, you could have pistol wars at 100+ yards. Nothing like that has occurred since save it be a sniper war.
First off, I need to tell you my demographic as it will be necessary for the illustration of this review. I'm a 22 year old casual gamer. I don't go to tournaments, not a part of any community, club, or team, (because I don't feel the need to be part of something that really isn't something at all: for example, there's more to life than video games and all the clubs and fanboys they produce) and I don't play video games very often because I'm tied down with work and school. I used to play this game with game types like shotguns on chiron, snipers on hang em high and blood gulch, TDM and CTF without radar (gaydar), and rockets on boarding action and longest. When I heard they were making an anniversary of this game I was excited because I expected an exact replica of the game except with better graphics and live capability. Well that didn't happen. The point is to show how pinnacle halo 1 was to video gaming and how far we've fallen from original simplicity.
Now there have many quite a few revolutionary fps games that have come out like golden eye on N64. If you disagree, it's probably because you are a pathetic 12 year old who thinks reach is the best game ever. Halo 1 was very simplistic yet exquisite in its design. The simple strategies present are all dependent on the players mental capacity more than his physical ability to use a controller. Here are the reasons why the series got progressively worse.
Weapons: You were started with the pistol and assault rifle for a reason. The pistol was deadly at medium to long range and could still be used at close but was extremely difficult to get someones head when they're 10 feet from you drilling you with an AR. If you were in a close quarter fight and both ran out of ammo in their pistols, rather than reload, you'd switch to your low powered, inaccurate AR to finish him off which left you with a sense of near helplessness but you kind of loved every second of it. I couldn't stand when they took it out for one game only to have it resurface later (and even then they modified it to a 32 bullet, slower firing, more accurate weapon).
Grenade choice was simple. Frag or sticky. They both exploded and did damage to an area. As the games progressed
The introduction of the carbine and covenant sniper was ultimately worthless as they have the same function as another weapon in a slightly tweaked manner.
It would flip flop back and forth whether you could dual wield the needler.
The legendary halo 1 pistol was lost to an eternity of the piece of crap battle rifle which in spite of its three round burst, still takes 4-5 bursts for a kill. And for those that complain about the whole 3 bullets to kill someone, both combatants had the same capability to do that. In halo 2 and 3 you could dual wield a plasma pistol and a magnum for nearly the same effect so why change it? (The effect is a quick kill). The purpose of this 3 bullet kill was to set the range for the game. You can roll through people like you can in Reach with a shotgun. You have to take corners carefully and not be exposed.
Every weapon had pro's and con's of equal value. In CE the plasma weapons were extremely useful against shields as well as having a slowing effect on the target but they did very little damage to health while the bullets were useful vice versa. So if someone had an overshield, you could easily dispatch him from behind with a plasma rifle but not a human weapon. With a plasma weapon you could dance around his immobile body and bash him in the back but the plasma also depletes the shield quickly so even if you die he's vulnerable until his shield recharges. The risk however, is if you try to take on someone from the front with a plasma rifle and they had a assault rifle or pistol, you'd lose almost every time.
The sniper rifles and shotguns in that game were given to both teams at equally challenging places to get to. In hang em high, you had to drop down to a pit to get them and usually you were bait to anyone with a pistol and good aim. If you had the Reach weapons, that wouldn't even be a concern.
Health: The only good thing halo reach did was bring the health aspect back (and i say that loosely as it only has 3 levels it can be at. full, half or almost empty. Your health will charge back to the nearest so if you lose 1 bar, it will come back to full.). Halo 1 required the gamer to think about his actions when he had low health. When you played the campaign and couldn't find a health pack, you took things slow and it was twice as hard to proceed. In MP you were extremely vulnerable as it would only take 1 sniper shot to kill you thru a full shield. Sometimes you had to go out of your way (or sometimes along the way) to find a health pack, and even then it blinded you temporarily which was beneficial to an opponent. If two people go head to head one with a plasma rifle, the other with an assault rifle, the person with the plasma rifle will win because its slightly more accurate and it depletes shield faster.
Movement: Movement was simple in that no one could move faster than someone else while running. You had the same speeds, so there was no sprinting away from battle like in reach. You had very limited jump and when you jumped you floated and side-to-side movement was restricted. Halo reach has certain strategies that entail no real skill, just video game produced advantages disguised as "skill". For example; jetpacks quickly get you to a higher location and the action roll shotgun technique leaves no room for the victim to stand a chance. Because the jump was so low, shooting a rocket at someone was more difficult to hit them, or around their feet and if you were really close to someone, you'd usually kill yourself as well, but with a jetpack, that is not the case. Movement was made so that you had to cut corners very precisely to catch up to someone. If you tried shooting them from behind, there was a good chance that you would win but they could also get away and go through a portal and kill you the second you stepped through.
Level Design: The game had equal but different bases. Blood gulch for example, the blue base had that steep, triangle hill to the right of the base which was extremely exposing and a small crevice in the far back left to hide in. Red base had a huge hill with plenty of cover behind it. Both sides had a cliff wall to follow along, one with a cave, the other over looking the enemy portal exit. The red portal exit was not exposed to the cliff cave because of that hill in the way. If you wanted to camp it, you had to move further along the cliff wall to a more exposed position.
The portals in this game were quite possibly the most genius of all though and I'm sad to see that they've all disappeared as the games progressed. In chillout, both portals (excluding the 3rd portal that leads to the elevated ledge) led to a slaughterhouse. The red base to blue base portal was handy but often times you would die because the exit is on top of a platform and away from cover. The courtyard (or whatever that place is called) portal to red base portal was an absolute nightmare. If you were playing Team Deathmatch and someone you were shooting at ran into that portal, you wouldn't just barrel in there. You had no idea what kind of hell you'd be walking into. You had to judge the person you were chasing. Is he the clever kind or the bold kind? Is he going to stop and back up behind the exit and kill me the second I step thru or is he ready with grenades and an assault rifle? Should I walk into this portal backwards or forwards? The anticipation of what you were going to find on the other side of that portal was an adrenaline rush, and my personal favorite feeling. If you were playing CTF and you ran thru that portal, you had no idea what kind of hell you were going to walk into. I remember playing CTF on that map with 16 players. You could walk into that portal and as soon as the red team sees the blue of your armor, that room became a hellzone for everyone. We've all walked through that portal knowing with a certainty that we were going to die but we were going to take as many people with us.
Ladders were also strategic. You're vulnerable going up the normal way and going up backwards is a pain but you could still do it to be ready for what was on top. In sidewinder, you had a sniper on top so you could see partly of what was on the other side of the portal, but you never knew if someone was camping that exit with a rocket which was conveniently placed up there. Now all these great devices have been washed away with single direction air lifts. There's no strategy behind them, you go in and up and come out 1 direction so chasing prey is always the same mindless nonsense.
Vehicles: Simply put, don't give the enemy your tank.. EVER. The vehicles are indestructible so you have to be responsible with them. It's moderately difficult to take the driver of the tank out with a pistol, but it can be done. The rockets in this game have no homing nonsense so you actually have to lead the vehicle and pray you hit it. In halo reach, there's enough ways to destroy a vehicle they almost become obsolete. (Miniguns, homing rockets, barrels shot thru air lifts, grenades, rocket pods)
Ultimately Halo Combat Evolved is the best multiplayer game ever. This game is the only one where people would haul 3 of their 50 pound tube tv's to a friends house, along with the massive xbox, 4 wired controllers, a network router, and like 200 feet of cat-5 ethernet cable. I learned how to cut and crimp my own ethernet cable for this game when i was 15. This is the only game where 16 teenagers would cram into a 1200 sq foot home, or put 4 people in 4 separate tiny college dorm rooms that can barely hold the 1 or 2 people already living in them. It's the only game where we have had people put their tv on the kitchen table or on in the hallways because there is no more room for a tv. This game was perfect in its design without internet play because of the added excitement from being in the room with your teammates, and only a room away to go fight the team that just beat you. I remember people yelling with joy as they spent the last hour trying to capture that one last flag on blood gulch and the enemy team yelling at their inferior teammates.
This game rewarded you for being good and punished you for being bad with the respawn time modifier you could put in place. So in order to cap a flag, you had to first punish the enemies so they won't respawn around you and if you were down, you had to give it your all to catch back up. Nowadays video games just cater to people that suck. Cod had death streaks, bf allows you to revive people that got shot.. in the face, Gow introduced the sawed of shotgun.. enough said, halo 2 and 3 have no health, just a shield that recharges and all you have to do is.. nothing. You're a 1000 pound android with strength and aim assisting augments, who is born and bred to kill and you can't hold two dinky smg's steady, or fire a pistol without losing accuracy? wtf. In halo 1, the inaccuracy was not based on your character, but rather the characteristics of the weapon itself. The weapons were high caliber or had a high rate of fire and had little to no kick. The reticle showed the weapons limitations, not yours as a cyborg.
As far as
-Original MP fan | video-games_xbox |
Do Not Purchase Buyer Beware. This review is for PC owners.
I've spent two days trying varying configurations attempting to figure out what is wrong with these headsets. I'm going to save you the trouble of trying to figure this out yourself.
As a consumer you expect that if you're spending a good sum of money for merchandise that you expect it to work correctly out of the box. Going against my better judgement after having read numerous complaints about the Astro A40 with Mixamp I decided to roll the dice.
First and foremost do not purchase the A40 headsets for the microphone. The Microphone originally produced a transistor radio quality sound and it was intended to be that way. Unfortunately, Astro does not come right out and tell you that. So if you're looking for a headset with mic to produce Youtube video commentary DO NOT purchase these. If you're curious as to how poor the microphone sound quality is do yourself a favor and search "Astro A40 mic test" on Youtube and you can hear for yourself.
Do not take the advice from others claiming that the mic quality is acceptable, or that the sound quality is great. Having read those reviews I have to wonder if those people had blown out their eardrums long ago. I've played games for a lot of years and I'm an IT professional so I know the industry well and the difference between good hardware and bad hardware. The Astro A40 with Mixamp is GARBAGE.
Pros:
Padded ear cups
Option to forget the Mixamp and to plug directly into your sound card or higher quality mix amp
Cons:
The problem is the Mixamp. The headsets by themselves are fine and I would consider them to be pretty good quality when plugged directly into a sound card. But when paired with the Mixamp you get a varying degree of performance and quality issues. There is an inherent design flaw with the Mixamp though I cannot pinpoint exactly what it is. The Mixamp does not play nice with other sound devices on your PC and it will behave strangely such as not working sometimes, or certain features not working, or displaying quirky habits only after a couple of hours of use.
There have been a ton of complaints online about constant popping sounds coming from the ear cups. I discovered that the problem exists with the optical connection between the Mixamp and the sound card. I used 3 different sound cards testing the various setups. 1 of them is an older SB dating back to 2005, the other two being slightly newer with one being a SB and the other being a RealTek.
All of them have optical ports and the popping anomaly occurs with the two oldest cards only. The brand new card I bought was a Sound Blaster Z which did not have this problem. There is some kind of compatibility issue that the A40 Mixamp has with them. Yet all three cards have absolutely no sound anomalies when paired up with various other optical devices. It is something specific concerning the A40 mixamp. So if you have an older sound card I would not purchase this item or be content with just using the USB connection and not optical (you lose all of the features of the mixamp using USB). With USB the sound quality is just okay. Connected directly to the sound card the playback quality is fairly decent but not stellar.
Another problem is that there is a constant hissing sound in the background when using the Mixamp. What the Mixamp does is it boosts the Gain which creates an ever present hissing sound. You don't notice it while there is sound playing, but when there is a pause or you're switching songs in iTunes it just hisses at you until you restart sound. I own 3 other pairs of headsets with built in amplification and none of them do that and they produce superb quality audio. You can dial down the volume on the Mixamp but doing so means you're also dialing down all of the audio you do want to hear to the point of straining.
Also, it's either Windows or the Mixamp that doesn't like the other. When I first set it up it was playing nice with the sound card and I could switch back and forth between the Mixamp and my 5.1 speakers no problem. It seemed very convenient at first until it stopped working 2 hours later. What happens is when you try to switch between the Mixamp and the 5.1 speakers is that the speakers star to reverberate and echo and it increases in volume and frequency until you either turn them off or switch back over to the Mixamp. You remove the Mixamp from the equation and the speakers work as they should. Basically, it's some kind of feed back though it's perplexing as to how it's happening since there is no active microphone or other speakers for the 5.1 to bounce against.
There are other problems I have identified relating to the Mixamp that negatively impacts the performance and quality of this setup. But in a nutshell this is a DO NOT BUY. I will reiterate that the headsets sounded perfectly fine when plugged directly into the sound card. In fact, the overall sound quality is better when you bypass the Mixamp all together. You get richer tones and clearer sounds.
I would say that buying the headsets alone if you're intending to connect directly to the sound card or to a quality mix amp is okay. The headsets are fine on their own, but when combined with the Mixamp it becomes a headache and a nightmare.
Also, you will have to look into buying a separate microphone if you're intending to do any type of audio commentary. I don't even recommend the microphone for home gaming because the quality is just awful.
Do yourself a favor and stay away from the headset and Mixamp combo. I rated this item 2 stars because at least the headsets are okay when not used with the Mixamp.
Also, if you have a large head they won't fit you. I can tell you that if your hat size is 7 3/4" or greater these won't fit comfortably. | video-games_xbox |
A great baseball game except for. Except for the ball popping into the fielders glove from about 4 feet away. This game almost got five stars except for that annoying glich. When a ball is hit to a fielder the ball will be about 4 or 5 feet away and all of a sudden it is in the glove.
The Good:
This game is really fun to play with a tremendous amount of features that should make any baseball gamer happy. The graphics are awesome, from the players faces, fans in the stands, the intros, and all the animation. The play by play is the best it feels like you are listening to a game on TV. A couple of new features, one is the ability to go to the mound for a visit, when you do this a box opens and it shows you his pitch count, who is up next, and a message from the pitching coach telling you if he should be left in or pulled and if your player in the pen is ready. A cool little feature is when you ask you bullpen to warm up a player you hear a phone ring, the added realisms like this is what makes a game good or great. I also enjoy the realism of the umps, the ump behind home plate yells out strike or ball, the field umps pull their hand up hard and yells "Out" or swing the arms and yells "Safe". The next great feature is the franchise mode, you have low and high minors, contracts, injuries, trades, and much much more, let me just say it is very deep. Finally game play is simply amazing.
The Bad:
The only thing that I would say is bad, is the interface when you are in the gm screens, I think it is supposed to look like it did a few years ago when everything was done in handwriting. All of the stats and info looks like it was written by hand, and even though I give the game designers a low five for creativity it does make it hard to read.
The Ugly:
I told you already at the top of this review, this quirk needs to be fixed.
Finally:
This game is much improved over last years installment and will give all baseball fans an enjoyable season. | video-games_xbox |
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