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The M.O.H series has died with this game. You play as a guy named Travers who is in the United States Airborne division. Basically, your character and the rest of his troops jump out of planes and into different WW2 locations and basically either destroy something or kill nazis. Theres really no "story" like the other Medal of Honor games where you feel that your character is doing something extrodinary (like in Frontline where you infiltrate a German base disguised as a Nazi with some Nazi papers). You get your usual array of weapons in this game ranging anywhere from the M1 Garand and BAR assault rifle to the Panzershrek, Springfield sniper rifle and MP40. However, each gun is terribly inaccurate and do almost the same amout of damage as each other. What do I mean? Well for example I will be holding a Thompson machine gun, I will literally empty and entire clip into one soldier and he will do. On the next victim I used the Gweher and it took me an entire clip to lay him out. You are also awarded upgrades to your guns such as less recoil or a scope if you score enough headshots and kills with said guns. However, most of the upgrades are completley useless since the aiming and recoil (even with the upgrade for "less recoil") is still atrocious.
Lets talk hit detection. Pretty much, no matter where you shoot a Nazi...he will simply shrug it off and run away. You could shoot him in the chest with a Springfield (which in real life would blow a huge gaping hole in his chest cavity), he'll stagger for a minute and then dive behind cover. This is EXTREMLEY annoying, and is actually one of the reasons a previous MOH game did so bad (anyone remember Rising Sun?).
The multiplayer is garbage. If your allies, you parachute into the action. Sounds cool right? Not when enemies snipers just keep picking you off before you hit the ground. It probably wouldn't be so bad if you could.. oh, I don't know.. shoot a gun while parachuting?! Basically, your a target until you hit the ground. Ontop of that, your allies and enemies aren't clearly labeled. So for instance, you'll see a character standing there with no name or anything above his head... you kill him, and boom you score a team kill because you had no idea. God, so lame.
Your allies AI is disgusting. They will just stand there and get shot at without doing anything. The best example I have of this is in the 4th level where you are fighting in the city - I had an allied troop taking cover in a ruined building.... with an enemy standing right next to him. Terrible.
And additionally, I guess the game testers must have been sleeping when they gave this game the thumbs up. On more than one occassion bullets would go right through the walls or cover you are trying to hide behind. LAMMMEEEEEEE.
Oh, and expect to have a screaming match with your TV. This is one of the hardest titles ever. You'll die over and over and over and over and over and over just to gain an inch of land and then have it taken away because the checkpoint system is garbage. Since your AI is so bad and there are clipping issues, you'll basically be fighting the entire Nazi army by yourself.
The graphics aren't next gen, and are actualyl a step down from what Call of Duty has set as a standard for the genre of WW2 shooters. Characters look choppy, the explosions are pixelated and sloppy, and the only thing good about the graphics are the environments & guns.
As for as music goes, this has the worst soundtrack in the entire franchise. I was deeply dissapointed with the generic war time music used instead of the epic chorus and strings usually used. And the fact that the theme song isn't even the same is heart shattering.
As far as I'm concerned, the Medal of Honor games are dead. This is just a terrible game all around, and its really sad because I'm a huge fan of the series. The sheer lack of effort in almost every aspect of the game makes this an untouchable title. 2.5 rounds spent in my Garand out of 10.
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video-games_xbox
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Haven't Been This Disappointed In a Long Time. Let me start off by saying that I love Dragon Age. I've played Origins at least 7 times and DA2 at least 4. I've read multiple books and love the world of Thedas. I enjoyed both greatly... but I have problems with this game.
It's been out for a couple weeks and there are still visual and audio glitches. I often see characters zoom across the screen while my Inquisitor is having a conversation with people. Music and battle sounds sometimes don't kick in. I've seen characters heads twitching in cutscene conversations. Speaking of: there are far less. In Origins and DA2 when you would have a conversation with someone to begin a quest, it would pull you into a small scene between the two of them. That is not the case with Inquisition.
There is no more radial to access all of your abilities and choose others that are not hotkeyed. Your ability isn't hotkeyed? You don't get to use it. They have also changed the hotkey switch button to left trigger, instead of right, because now right trigger is attack. A is now used for Jump, which is a mostly useless ability. Here, jump over boxes. Jump over this little rock. Because that is all you can do with it. In battle, jump is completely pointless. Despite removing the radial for using other abilities, they have now given you access to a "strategic" option. You can sort of pause the game and issue commands to your followers (you know. Just like when they had the radial for abilities) only now you have this super magical option to move forward time!!! Wow!!! Let's be real: I don't care. Give me back my radial. I need it for mages.
Inquisition is a very open world game. You go into an area and can spend HOURS running from here to there doing things (closing rifts, doing astrarium puzzles, finding shards, completing little missions) and I like the option to do that. However, the downside to that is the lack of plot involved. It seems like a lot of padding. You get influence points, exp, and power for completing missions and things like that. I'm 20 hours in and I've barely done anything in relation to the plot because I'm worried about missing all the little fluff things in case they add to the plot (you know, like in the other games). Like Dragon Age 2, you cannot speak to your followers at any time when you're out and about. In my experience, it seems like you have to be back at Haven. Even then, I've only had 1 conversation with all of my followers, and 2 with Leliana.
My BIGGEST issue with this game is that the text is tiny. I have excellent eyesight and I sit 3 feet away from my TV in my room and I can hardly read anything. The font is so small that the letters are poorly defined. This is problematic with the astrarium puzzles as well, because sometimes I can't tell if there's connecting lines between the stars. Would it really have killed Bioware to add a "text size" option?
Finally, last, but not least is my issue with continuity. I visited Redcliffe for the first time and it looks NOTHING like it did in Dragon Age: Origins. I understand that the Blight, the rebellion, and time have changed the city but the fact that it looks absolutely foreign is unacceptable.
If you loved Origins and DA2 for the gameplay and plot, be wary. When you buy Inquisition, prepare to spend an absurd amount of time running around to do what seems like nothing.
TIP: Multiplayer is obscenely boring.
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video-games_xbox
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No manual roster update/edit. First and foremost I would like to just get out there that the game is stunning. The graphics are "next-gen" worthy and is a major upgrade in terms of gameplay and mechanics. My problem isn't with the game itself but the features, or in this case lack thereof. I loved how the previous games, the owner of the game had full control of rosters, rotations, apparel, etc. Now unless I totally missed out on something here, I am unable to find any option to update player rosters, rotations, ratings, and editing apparels (sleeves, shoes, socks, etc). I thought initially, "maybe I'm in the wrong place," but after an hour of searching online for FAQs and help, I came away disappointed. If someone out there could show me the way to do this, I will gladly update this review and upgrade the rating. Otherwise, it's sticking as is. I used to enjoy being able to adjust rosters manually as soon as trades occur and the ability to move guys into active rosters. There are less option settings as well like save/load options, removing the on-screen free-throw help, calling time-outs are a hassle as well. So far, it's been an enjoyable game, that has moved in the wrong direction with user-friendly features. Now don't get me wrong, this is still an incredible product and an obvious must-have if you enjoy basketball. By no means is this a deal-breaker, but as a long time NBA2k fan and consumer, I found failing to include these tedious things to be quite agitating. Like I tell most people, it's the little things that make a greater whole. As a huge fan of this franchise, I expected much more, or at the least keep its old features.
I don't have much feedback on the other modes in terms of my player, my team, etc. other than the fact that I miss association which is now replaced by my GM. I used to enjoy playing association mode with my brother by controlling two teams. That is no longer possible given that it is a one-player mode. Ultimately, it's a game that falls short of greatness, due to its lack of attention to detail.
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video-games_xbox
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Great Concept but, to Ambitious for it's own good. Fairytale Fighters is a strange animal top to bottom it's a old school hack and slash with platforming elements
Gameplay:
This game is actually very slick and fun it's like a retro Arcade title (This is the type of Arcade game i could see being next to MK II and NBA Jam in a real arcade)
It's like Golden Axe on bath salt it's just flat out insane..... the death animation and some of the cut scenes are brave and unique
Graphics: the Art style should be a huge reason to pick this up
There hasn't been many games in the last 15 years that has this look
the developers mashed-up South Park with Claymation to get the over all style
and it works
Controls:
The controls are blah! they are not terrible but, they just feel off
you use weapons with the right analog stick
you pick up items with the left trigger you go through-your weapons with the L1 Button
the platforming is hit and miss (mostly due to the fixed camera angle)
The fixed camera also effects different range weapons you can pick up
at times it's hard to judge if you are able to hit your target
you'll miss more then connect that's for sure
The layout of the game is just very convoluted
your game hub is weird you are never fully sure what to do and where to go
The Save system also is flat out wacky (the game saves at various times but, there is No save file anywhere on your console (I guess it's built into the disc???) I looked for the file on my 360 HD then, the cloud, then the external HD and still couldn't find it
Once you get past the strange control layout and some of the minor problems
It's a real hidden Gem that nobody really talks about.....
The cover looks super generic but, it's Not a generic title by any means it's just tries to be to much and it kind of pays for it's own creativity!
There is more good then bad if you can just over look the weakness
If you love Conker's Bad Fur Day and South Part: The Stick of Truth check it out
9/10
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video-games_xbox
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Better than the previous in most ways. Played this last night for about an hour. Instead of a real work out I jumped around from activity to activity. I like all of the new classes they've added. I used Cardio Boxing a lot last game,(lost 45 pounds) and can see I'll be using the Hip Hop and Latin dancing often too.
The look and feel of this game is jazzed up a lot. The sterile white work out room is replaced by an environment that differs with what you're doing and at least in the classes, it changes as you progress. For example, cardio boxing is plain room with a flat floor when you start, but as you progress, punching bags drop from the ceiling, the ring pops up around you, etc. They're only decorations -you cannot interact with them- but its visually stimulating. That said, I found the stimulation a little distracting and missed a few moves!
The menu system is different, but not worse or better than what the first game had. I liked the titles of things previously. The titles were more descriptive to me, (Cardio Boxing Silver Part 1 Versus Cardio Boxing Learn it!) but I assume I'll get used to the new naming system.
I don't get how the initiatives feature works. When you start it, it asks you some questions about your fitness goals then highlights some exercises with flags and suggests a frequency and length of workouts. It told me to workout 30 minutes, twice a week for 4 weeks. But then I was lost. Am I supposed to pick and choose flagged items that add up to 30 minutes? I wish it would just launch 30 minutes of activities one after the other, but maybe I am missing a button.
I liked how the time and calorie info was presented in the previous version more. In this version instead of square on, it's shown in a front to back perspective that was hard for my old eyes to read at a glance. Also missed is the easy to find "how-many-calories-did-I-burn-today" number. If its in the game other than online in the Yourshape center, then I can't find it.
But overall, this game is everything its predecessor was and even more. The amount of content is overwhelming at the moment, and I had NO issues with it reading my movements. The differences are something a new player won't care about, and a original YSFE player will get used to.
=== 3 days later ===
I *think* the program works by just following the flags and doing any combination of the exercises to get to the total number of minutes over all by the end of the time period. For example, it said 30 minutes twice a week for 4 weeks --so thats 2 X 30 X 4 = 240 minutes. I did 27 minutes Thursday and 37 minutes today, so it now if you go back into where the program is set up it shows 64 minutes out of the 240 = about 25% (can't remember the exact number it showed me.) I'd prefer it tell me EXACTLY what to do, because for example, I will probably lean heavily on the cardio (easier for me) and ignore the arm strength training (harder for me) because its so flexible and doesn't force me!
But I finally tried the boot camp! WOW is all I can say, the first one yesterday was very, very tough but I made it through. Today's was REALLY challenging and I had to give up on several places (5 or 6 times) and then start up again after 20 seconds of rest. I was sweating like crazy, and def breathing hard, so I know its working me out hard. Can't wait to keep doing it till I can make it through without breaking a sweat!
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video-games_xbox
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Why... oh why... did they have to mess with a good thing. I've played... well obsessed over Burnout 3 Takedown and 4 Revenge and found them each awesome... heck my wife once she played them at my brother in-laws said let's get a big screen tv and an XBOX360. Seriously... that good of a set of games.
So we took a look at Paradise from the local video store... and were greatly disappointed. The open world denies you that quick bit of unrelenting rage that you can dish out on your fellow drivers in Revenge or Takedown. You start off with a horrible car that you constantly need to fix to even keep up with other cars in race events. The GPS map system has a lot to be desired since you can't plot new points like in GTA, and the map doesn't include the route. To navigate you have to wait for annoying "turn signal" flashes (that are out of synch with your speed by the way) to point the way, or memorize the routes (I don't see how this positively changes the gameplay experience by making an open world with fixed routes that you have to memorize btw). Needless to say- I found myself in last place in a number of races because of being turned too quickly down some goofy road that is in a 5 way intersection. Thus you can't just jump into the game and smash things here and there. You can't just exit a race when you do poorly - you actually have to finish it. There are no points for not winning. And from the limited amount we did play there wasn't the fun meters of death and destruction like takedowns and dollar amounts of damage.
I loved the previous versions head to head competitions for crashes with a single controller. I loved the way you could just switch off after a single event was cleared. This however is just long intervals since you have to keep driving back and forth all over the board to get to the new cars or hunting for cars that become available if and only if you take them out. Burnout Paradise lost it's value to me when it became an adventure game.
It looks really really really good... but it's not like it changes time of day, you can get out of your car or anything like that upon taking on a personality like GTA it is competiting with. The damage effects are almost pointless since you can lose a front axle but then drive away after the crash scene completed (seems a bit odd). I liked the previous versions with the events where you fly all over the world and compete - even if they are just a few variations on the tracks. Why screw around with a single city?
What happened is they took an arcade style game and turned it into a reality style game. I loved the arcade style. The reality style... that's what GTA's for.
Bottom line - Paradise makes you work hard for your fun. Revenge and Takedown allow you to pop in for a game of takedowns and punch out... quickly - arcade style.
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video-games_xbox
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Whats all the fuss about?. Here we go again. Ok I don't write many reviews but I had to just throw my hat in the ring on this one. (I reviewed Madden 13 also) First let me say that Madden has got to be the most passionatly reviewed game due to the love of football in this country. With that said, onto the review. I generally add 1 star to any Madden game because I do not play online so I don't have those unique problems with lag and such. One thing I noticed is that the graphics look worse than 13. Don't know why but gameplay is the main thing anyway so I can live with this. Franchise is back and owner mode in franchise is an absolute blast. So far I'm having fun with this mode. As you all know Madden 13 stripped down many franchise features that pissed off everybody but like I said, I play offline against the CPU so I did not experience those kind of issues. I was hoping that the passing and running games were as good as Madden 13 and to my suprise thay were, so I'm very happy about that. I had to play around with the viewing presentation cause it was way too far out and made it hard to see my guys downfield. The option to change the view is not in your franchise mode. You have to back all the way out to settings on the main screen and there are 4-5 choices. So I had to dick around with the different views to find the one I used in Madden 13 which was perfect. The zoomed mode is OK but I just could not get used to the kicker at field level view on punts and kickoffs. It was just too strange looking for my liking. I think I went with the standard view which looked similar to Madden 13. They also have wide view, and legacy and maybe another. So once you change the view then you go back into your franchise and the game will start with the view you last changed to. As far as complaints I have read here this is my take.
The speed of the game can be changed. I have seen only on a few occasions that the play looked like it was running in slo-mo. Also I have read that fast wideouts were being caught from behind by slower defenders. This can also be changed in the sliders. I have my difference set at 25. Use this feature IT WORKS!. Use the sliders people just like someone else had mentioned. If the AI offense is killing you, then turn up your pass coverage in sliders. I have found that the last few Maddens, the slider set is a constant adjustment to achieve the results that you want. I have the CPU sliders set way higher than mine cause I want to be challenged. This year the sliders have a great influence as compared to any other Madden I have played. Just minute adjustments can be seen immediately. Also on a final note: I have had no trouble getting pressure on the QB. You need to audible to the correct defensive play. Enjoy this game cause It's a good one. I was thinking that if this one was radically changed from the gameplay of 13, I would shelf it and go back to 13, but that is not going to happen and that makes me very happy.
One final thing to say: I loved the 2K series of football as much as anyone but the last 2 Maddens have surpassed it and it's in the dust now. Can we have that burial at sea now for the 2K football games?.
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video-games_xbox
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The Forza we've all been waiting for. My only real gripe with this game is the physics engine is still a hair off from where it should be. Real life counterparts are faster than their in game counterparts, I don't know if the testers for the cars in Forza ever got to study some of the current race cars and super cars alikes hero laps. It seems like the grip is just a hair low in Forza4 from where it needs to be. If they tweak the grip they'll be able to bury everyone I think. Some of the cars are still not accurate to their true to their real life counterparts (2002 Camaro and WS6 for example... seriously? who's 02 weighs 3500lbs? Mine weighs in at a sprite like 3280 with me in it. Maybe they got the most porked up optioned cars they could find??) Also, the cockpit view on some of these cars I think whoever did the driving and seating was a Midget. The dash on an 02 Camaro and TA do -not- take up half your view of your surroundings for example. Was the seat tester like 5'3"? Definitely needs work there still. I'll just stick with the bumper and hood cams.
My other gripe with car accuracy stems from the Cheat Cars. Sorry, Mosler doesn't make a world beater of a race car. If they did they'd have championships to their name. They Don't. I'd like to see them do actual testing with some of these cars so they can be embarrassed and at the bottom where they belong. (I'm still plenty quick in my R3 GT mind. it's just a gripe of mine that they seem to take it on faith about how fast some of the cars are from the manufacturer, when they aren't that fast IRL)
Track Accuracy, Laguna's cork screw seems much more newbie friendly than I remember it being it's like they stretched it out which is kind of a shame. Otherwise I've not noticed any other significant disparities other than Sebring seems abit too smooth.
Graphics, I'd like to see abit better shading on some of the cars, but this is easily the most beautiful that Forza has ever been. Tracks also look -much- better than they did previously.
Sound, This is where Forza really excels especially compared to Gran Turismo. V8s sound like V8s. Ferraris, Chevys, Fords, and Dodges all have their distinctive notes, and it really really is worth getting a -good- quality sound system to enjoy the sounds of Forza. The cars almost sound like you are near them in real life. (at least with my less than .1 percent distortion system) The chevy's have that distinctive make you cream your pants rumble at idle, and sound like they are getting ready to destroy the world when they hit 8grand. The Fords have that distinct raspyness, the dodges lumpy and loud, and the ferraris scream at full throttle. I can sit in a test drive and listen to some of the engines at idle and smile.
Controls, the controls are tight, fluid and intuitive. They are also customizable. Even the controller, as gimped as it is due to it's controller nature, is really apt in Forza4. I was surprised at the laps I could throw down with the 360 controller.
Car Selection. They pretty much nailed every performance car you can think of. Unlike GT which seems to think you need 12 different honda civics, Forza gives those lame sauce cars a passing nod, and delves straight into performance icons and doesn't hold back. There's a few they missed that were sleepers in their day, that no one knew about but overall they did a great job. I am still waiting on my caddy XLR! (the coolest caddy ever made also one of the best handling) and Mid 90s Elderado! (2 dr.. with the 300 hp Northstar)I'd also like to see the Olds Aurora as it was a pretty quick car back in its day. The chevy Monza also needs a place in the game (people just -loved- stuffing big engines in this thing). There's a few Fords I'd like to see added as well as a couple of Mercuries and a Lincoln. Also no 80s Monte Carlo? 550 Marenello? Wtf? heh. There's also at the time of this review a whole slew of DLC cars, however the ones I've mentioned thus far aren't there yet. If you like Old Muscle, New Muscle, New Sports, and Classic Sports cars it's all here. You'll find at least 15 dream cars in your car porn list in this game.
Tuning. Still no cylinder head replacement.. there's only so far you can port stock heads even with the marvel of modern CNC techniques. I'd -love- aluminum heads on my SBCs and fuel injection swap/upgrades on the classic V8s and that's just for starters. Tires.. I'd love to see a return of specific tire companies from Forza 2. I would also like to have Suspension swaps not just upgrades to the factory stuff, but I mean total replacement, like swapping in a C4 Corvette suspension into a classic Camaro, upgrading the trailing arms, panhard rod etc on an Iroc or later Gen 4 camaro and so forth. You can totally change the attitude of a car with a suspension swap and upgrade, Forza does a great job in this department otherwise but I think after 4 titles we definitely need to see the next step taken here.
Engine swaps are also more limited than you can do in real life considerably. I'd love to see more variety in engine swaps. (Like a return of putting the 427 LS7 into everything you want again -for starters-... Duramax Diesel swaps, stuffing Ford engines into chevys vice versa and so forth)
I would also like to see TCS adjustments. In Forza it's either on or off, but on most race cars you can actually dial in when the traction control takes over, and just how much intervention it performs.
I would also like to see more body kits in this game for the domestic's particularly. There's some really trick stuff you can get for the American cars, and you are just so limited in this game. (like the kit that turns your C5 into a Neo C1 corvette).
Online racing. Oh my god they brought back our private races. Thank you. So Very Much. The other game modes (ie not circuit racing) like Cat and Mouse are really fun (soccer sucks though.). Circuit racing is incredibly fun against other players and I still prefer it to anything else.
That being said, the game is incredible. Absolutely the best racing experience you can have for the consoles. They just need to take the next step, on suspension and engine swaps and then adjust the grip slightly. I would buy this for a friend, easily.
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video-games_xbox
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Great "Bundle" Pricing. I brought this controller for:
1) The color - the xbox comes with a black controller and I thought having another color would be a good way have a "mine" and "yours". The color is true to the pictures. It looks like it might be slippery, but it is not. You'll be able to grip it perfectly. The a, b, x, y letters are hard to see through the buttons, but frequent use will make that irrelevant. (I already remember which is the "B" button!) If you're own previous versions, the letters are in the same place. ^.^
2) The "Play & Charge Kit" - I love the rechargable battery. (Go green!) However, the controller must be charged by your xbox. So, your controller must be plugged into your system and the system must be on. I constantly forget to connect the controller so that it can charge when I'm using the other one. So, when company comes the controller is often dead and since they have to literally "Play and Charger", the controller loses the ability to be wireless for a time. I do wish I had the ability to plug the charger into a wall socket for times like those. At least we would not have to be right next to the system while it is charging. (The cord is not very long) You are able to instert two Double AA batteries into the non-rechargable battery case that is included, though. This way, it is still wireless, but now, the rechargable battery can not re-charge. (You are unable to recharger the battery when it is not inserted into the controller.)
One feature I love is that when the xbox is turned off, the controllers automatically turn off as well. This feature saves me the trouble of having to remember to turn off each remote and further drain the battery. The remotes also turn themselves off after a period of inactivity whether or not your system is on. (Great when you're playing Kinect games and not using them.)
All in all, this is a great buy if you want to add some color to your controller selection and not have to pay for the "Play and Charge Kit" separately. (Currently $15.09) And since some wireless controllers are $50 on their own, the controller and Charge Kit is a great buy for $50 together.
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video-games_xbox
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Real FEAR. Monsters I can do. Witches, bears, black magic, lunatics with machetes are fine by me. What I can't tolerate, no matter how comfortable my surroundings might be, is little girl ghosts. Worst still little girl ghosts with a massive cob on. Add a bright red dress and lank long black hair draped over a dreaded face - see The Ring - mixed with that little freak cloaked in a red rainmac from Don't Look Now and you've royally got me. Computer games are supposed to be about fun and full of joyousness, not grown men being obliterated by ghosts. What's the world coming to when a little girl craves to see such anguish in the faces of men? These are strange times, strange times indeed.
Bearing all that in mind there is one job that I wouldn't do for all the women on the internet - be a member of F.E.A.R. For those unfamiliar with such an unnerving acronym it means: First Encounter Assault Recon. These bad boys don't muck about with terrorists or rescue hostages from jungles and all the rest of it. No. Members of F.E.A.R. are elite soldiers trained to deal with situations that normal people just wouldn't be able to handle. So if there's a mean supernatural force of gargantuan proportions posing a threat to national security, who you gonna call? F.E.A.R. I'm not talking Most Haunted here either - Derek Acorah would be splashing his pants within minutes of playing this - sadly so was I.
Predictably you play the new kid on the block. You don't speak and your colleagues doubt you - although bizarrely despite being a part of a 'team' you spend the entire game fighting alone. They think you're not made of the right stuff, that under pressure you'll do a runner faster than Thierry Henry on speed. Very little about the plot is given away initially - you're a bit special - you're training results scored off the charts - there's some evilness to be dealt with and that's about it. Rather pleasingly one of F.E.A.R.'s strong points is the narrative, but more importantly how it is delivered to you. Where most FPS use cut scenes to move the plot forward F.E.A.R. is subtler. You'll hear whispers that suggest future events, characters will react to you in a certain way suggestion something isn't right. Messages on phones, note books and the occasional cut scene - however these never really feel traditional as they link seamlessly into the action, so much so that you barely notice that you're not in control anymore.
Within minutes of starting you're running down corridor upon corridor while being treated to the kind of subtle psychological scare tactics usually found in far eastern horror movies - glimpses of people behind doors, flashes of gore and evil innuendo. Similar to the excellent Condemned in atmosphere, F.E.A.R. tightens the vice on your nerves and builds tension like the very best horror movies. While the physics engine pales compared to Half Life 2, the world you're a part of is tangible - objects can be manipulated and you'll often mess your pants as inane objects are placed in your path as you run down dimly lit corridors. Such is the tension that you'll scream when you bump into an empty drinks can and it goes flying.
See through F.E.A.R.'s horror niche and you'll find a pretty decent shooter in there as well. Next-generation perhaps it isn't, but the lack of any slowdown despite the barrage of explosions and bodies flying mean that you can play a highly demanding PC game smoothly on the 360. F.E.A.R. has another trick up its sleeve in the slow mo feature - there is nothing original about it, Max Payne was doing the whole bullet time thing back in 2001. On the 360 however it's a different kettle of shrapnel - a visual spectacular that looks so good it could have been taken straight out of The Matrix. Bits of debris fly out, dust is thrown up and walls crumble as you blast your way through your enemy. The point being that when you're overwhelmed with enemies you can use your 'special abilities' to dish out the pain. The combat system is something to marvel at - going in guns blazing is going to get you capped and shooting from behind cover is equally perilous as the AI is such that they will flank you and pop you one before too long. In order to progress through the battlegrounds you have to combine the slow-mo feature with melee attacks as well unleashing a barrage of lead.
For all the explosions and slow-mo arse whipping F.E.A.R. remains a generic FPS. The AI is superb and the scary bits are nothing short of cinematic, but there is an awful lot of running and gunning. While this might not be a negative factor for an hour or two, the similarity between weapons only illuminates the lack of diversity on offer. F.E.A.R. is also a short game, but with the said lack of variety this isn't necessarily a bad thing - imagine one big kaboom as opposed to a peppered drawn out series of explosions. These days longevity can usually be found online anyway - F.E.A.R. offers an array of game types all familiar to the genre: capture the flag, deathmatch, etc.
However any frustrations that you might have with this will be easily overshadowed by the emotions it invokes within you. F.E.A.R. made me react like no other game can - one particular nerve shredding point literally forced me to involuntarily throw the pad from my hands - the glorious thing about this is that very little happened on screen, it was all about suggestion and even the world's greatest horror movies would do well to learn from Monolith's creation.
A game that fashions such primal fear and mixes it with an always-compulsive if a little generic shooter action can only be a positive thing for gaming. What's on offer here is sheer ingenuity in manufacturing an atmosphere that creeps right into the room you're sitting in - and that's playing it in broad daylight at three in the afternoon. If you like you shooting with a dollop of tangible fear, F.E.A.R. is for you.
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video-games_xbox
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Super Fun, but Definitely Challenging. This game is an absolutely addictive puzzle, but with the fun, engaging storytelling that can be expected from an Atlas title.
The plotline is a basic sort of love triangle. Our protagonist, Vincent, is contemplating finally marrying his girlfriend of several years, Katherine, however one morning he wakes up with the young, sexy Catherine in his bed. The event shakes him up badly, and he finds himself in an odd position... You can fill in the gaps yourself, I'm sure.
This was definitely a hard game; even on Easy mode, expect to get your thinking cap on. There are times when it can be frustrating, sure, but this is definitely one of those games where, when you finish it, you get a feeling of accomplishment. The story mode took me less than ten hours to beat on Easy, but I've already started it over: the replay value is pretty high given the different difficulties, endings and unlockable features.
The one thing about this title that absolutely pissed me off were a few of the controls. One of your abilities is to drop behind a block, but when you're actually back there the controls get reversed, and when you 'flip forward' they reverse AGAIN, occasionally leaving you in limbo for a few moments, forcing you to re-discern whether the controller's right is YOUR right or STAGE right. It doesn't sound like a big deal, but when you're doing complex block patterns, this sometimes happens multiple times a minute. Moreover, you're given partial camera control that ultimately proves pretty useless: you can't see much at all, and if anything, shifting the camera has always been detrimental in my experience (seriously, it's just confusing, but maybe that's just me).
Like I mentioned: this isn't easy, so it isn't something you can play half awake. If you're looking for a good challenge that's fun to play over and over again, with a decent plotline, I definitely recommend this title.
And by the way, as an aside, don't let the cover art scare you off; while there definitely is some adult content (discussion of sex, sexual themes, etc), there's probably more nudity on the PS3 cover than there is in the entire game. Ladies, it's not utterly vulgar and tasteless (which I was afraid it would be--I thought it'd be one of THOSE games with 99% sex and no substance, which is why it took me so long to pick this up).
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video-games_xbox
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JSRF, now discontinued. Get yours before its all gone. Jet Set Radio Future (JSRF) is a phenominal Xbox game. released when xbox was only 4 months old, Feb. 2002, it is already discontinued due to mediocre sales. however, do not let that phrase , "mediocre sales", affect your decisions of buying this game. it is excellent, but suffers a few flaws
Graphics:
The graphics of JSRF is "cel-shaded". meaning it takes on a "cartoonish" look. the graphics run at 60 Frames Per second, meaning that you will never notice choppy gameplay. however, there is one place called "The Garage" where the game slows down to about 3 Frames a sec. but that is only one place where slowdown happens in the entire game. overall, they are pretty solid. 4/5
Story:
Tokyo 2024. there is a business man named Gouji Rokkaku who is buying off the police, government, etc. causing much smack to be laid down. you are new to a gang called the GG's. there are only 3 members, but there will be more. there are many rival gangs, but their name will not be important until you play the game. as a member of the GG's, you gotta keep track of your territory, keep the police away and keep rivals from spraying graffiti in your place. there are many twists in the story. 5/5
Gameplay:
If you are confused about what you do in this game, you are a teen-ager in tokyo, 2024. you skate around with "roller blade" like skates. i think that they are magnetic, but that doesn't matter. JSRF is basically a skating/grafitti game. you skate around, covering rival gangs' tags and taking care of police men and police vehicles. the camera is in the 3rd person perspective, meaning there is a camera above your character's head. 3rd person games, usually have a problem with their camera and JSRF is no exception. however there is a camera reset button. there is no blood and the violence is pretty low. 4.5/5
Sound:
The soundtrack for the game is very appropraite. some may find this soundtrack of hip-hop, techno, and some other genres a bit repetitive, but i think it is excellent. 5/5
Fun:
This game is FUN!! although on your first run through the story mode, it is very difficult where you have to find all places to spray graffiti. after that, it is followed by a person representing the gang whose territory you just made your own wanting to battle you from spraying graffiti on your back, to flag collecting. and once your done with the story mode, you can unlock "Test Run" stages, where you can get extra characters. if you unlock every single character, then you will see a suprise of some sort. 5/5
JSRF is Fun, stylish, difficult, and discontinued, so get your copy now!
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video-games_xbox
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Poorly Designed and Not Worth The Time. I have so many complaints about this game that I cant even list them all. Basically the developers released a game they knew to be inferior and incomplete, just so they could have it as a launch game for XB1.
My suggestion is to keep playing BF3 and don't even bother buying this game. You will either be very disappointed or you will get so frustrated you will smash your tv and system.
I was able to get it for 25$, and even that was overpriced given how much aggravation I had to endure.
EDIT*
Decided I should list some of the many issues ive come across so that future buyers might have an idea what they are getting into if they buy this game.
Issues with Game Quality itself:
1. Game freezes extremely often, usually during gunfights or the levolution events
2. Game freezes when loading a map, also freezes more often when trying to switch from 1 DLC map to another DLC map
3. Multiple times the colors on a map are distorted making the game simply unplayable.
4. Loading maps takes an extremely long time. BF3 takes about 10 +/- seconds. BF4 - takes about 30-60 seconds depending on what map it is.
All of these issues are widespread across all platforms, and in general are the main reasons that this game has had bad reviews.
Issues with BF4 compared to BF3
1. The controls and feel of the game have been completely changed from BF3. Basically this game feels like COD and not BF.
2. Controls for infantry and vehicles have been completely changed and "dumbed down". Yes, you can switch to the old BF setup, but its not the exact same and is very annoying when you go to knife someone and end up crouching because you forgot the controls switch. On top of this, you are not allowed to customize the controls to your preferred button layout which would have been very easy to do by the developer.
3. The server browser menu has been completely changed, for no reason. The bf3 version was not the best but was easy to use and search through. BF4 is a different setup and in general is aggravating to use.
4. Customizing your player or vehicles when not in a match have been removed. You now have to join a server and start playing before you can access the customization menu and loadout. Epic fail in this regard.
5. The menus for selecting guns during the loadout has changed and is sometimes difficult to use. Absolutely no reason to change this from the last game.
BF3 was not the best game ever made, but it was and still is an awesome game. With some very minor tweaks and some additions BF4 had the potential to be an epic game. From the above list you can see that Dice decided to change many of the things around and in doing so, ruined many aspects of the game.
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video-games_xbox
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Mostly Great. It had actually taken me months to get this game because I was looking for it without the ugly Platinum Family Hits case, that shrunk the picture, and would look bad in my collections. I had already known that there would be terrible glitches in this, so when I finally bought it I expected the worst, but hoped for the best; it was somewhere in the middle, but more positive than negative. Yes, there were terrible camera controls that effected the game ever so slightly, and a few other things that it would have worked better if they had spent more time fixing it, but it didn't ruin my experience too much. The gameplay was good most of the time, and at sometimes got pretty cinematic such as in Crisis City, the interactivity of the rings, and Silver's ability to catch missiles, and send them back to the enemy. On the downside, you have repetitive homing attacks from Shadow, Tails 1st person ring toss, the sledding on White Acropolis that keeps slowing you to a stop if you don't have the left thumb stick pointed in exactly the right direction, and Sonic carrying the Princess, but these problems don't take up too much of the game, and can easily be overlooked for me (The last one really doesn't effect gameplay in a negative way, but it is extremely unattractive, and makes Elise seem weak).
The music is great, and really puts you into the mood of the story most the time. Not every tune is memorable but quite a few could easily become on the top my Best Sonic Soundtrack List that doesn't exist.
I really like the story and plot, which went very deep, and provides a lot for the brain to process. Many of the cut scenes could have been reconstructed to build deeper into it, and it would have helped even more if the end hadn't been spoiled to me beforehand (around the time I was playing Galactic Hot Dogs Island on Poptropica), but overall, the story couldn't have been better, and almost rivals Sonic Unleased in quality.
So, I really like this game, and if you could make me finding out about the ending beforehand never happen (;), I might be able to give it five stars.
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video-games_xbox
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Red Faction: Guerilla meets Nazi occupied France. FOR THOSE THAT HAVN'T PLAYED RED FACTION GUERILLA:
This game is a sandbox game where you can run around France and blow stuff up. Nazis are everywhere and you get objectives to kill this or destroy that or steal this or smuggle that. You can accomplish these things steahthily with a stolen Nazi uniform or you can do it guns ablazing. By doing so, you raise morale of the cities in France and people start to come to your aid and fight with you. The goal of the game is to rid France (specifically Paris) of Nazis.
Some examples of these things are hijacking higher Nazi official's cars, hijacking AA guns and shooting down blimps, blowing up bridges and Nazi barricads, or stealing goods or letting prisoners free.
You have a variety of weapons at your disposal to do what you need to. You can also hijack cars like in GTA and ride them around to get to where you need to go. A really nice feature of this game is that you can climb almost anything. It's a lot like Assasin's creed or Prince of Persia where you can climb things. Although definitely not as detailed but you get the point. You must climb buildings to get away from Nazis most of the time because the city is mainly just roads and buildings. There isn't much open farm land.
FOR THOSE OF YOU THAT HAVE PLAYED RED FACTION GUERILLA:
This game is exactly like Red Faction: Guerilla but its set during WW2 in Nazi occupied France. You play as a guy who is negatively impacted by Nazis so he goes on murderous rampage, just like the main character in Red Faction: Guerilla.
I would review RFG as a 5 star game, and so I gave this one 4. The reason is, there isn't as many destructable environments and the action isn't as good. Not to mention the graphics are somewhat more simple and so are the weapons and mods.
This game is in no way boring compared to RFG, it's just very similar with less overall excitement. The reason I still give it four stars is because the scenery is very nice. Also the plot is much better (RFG's plot sucked) and the voice actin is very good. The shading/shadows are definitely not as good as RFG but the textures are better.
Conclusion:
If you have played RFG, only get this game if you want RFG in a different setting (nazi france).
If you havn't played RFG, get RFG unless you are extremely inclined towards WW2 settings over futuristic sci-fi settings.
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video-games_xbox
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Disappointing. This game had so much potential and I had wanted to try it for years. This past December, after finally getting an original Xbox again, I couldn't wait to get my hands on it. Unfortunately, it was a pretty big let down for me.
PROS:
-The execution system is a neat idea and good feature
-The blue circles above guns if there is ammo and the red circles above guns if there isn't ammo is a GREAT idea (I am sure this may have been featured in other games in the past that I've never played, but this was the first I've seen such a feature in a game and I cannot tell you how many times I've wanted something like this in a game to save time)
-I like the third-person concept even though some people don't
CONS:
-While the execution system is good to have, it's dull and repetitive
-Clunky controls
-TERRIBLE graphics (this coming from someone who couldn't usually care less about graphics because gameplay > graphics always IMO)
-Lame story
-No open-world (not that they needed it fully like GTA or Saints Row or other games, but some sort of condensed version of this could've been cool)
I definitely won't say this was the worst game I've ever played by any means or that it's even terrible, but it's definitely not good. I gave it a whirl and now I honestly just lost any desire to play it. The story doesn't interest me at all. While not all Punisher fans probably liked the most recent movie in 2004, I loved it. I was hoping this game would at least capture some elements from the movie, but instead it seems like the story is just a jumbled mess. Also, nothing is more annoying than the same repetitive environments with the same pointless enemies, the same few methods of execution, and all this while trying to remember what the heck the controls are as they are very bizarre. For instance, you will often find yourself holding down two or three buttons at once whilst in combat and trying to change your weapon or re-load. Bottom line: Disappointing and I expected much more.
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video-games_xbox
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Best gaming experience, at leat for a while. The gaming experience with the XBox 360 is great, particularly the on-line play. Most games are being made for both the 360 and PS3, but there are still some, such as HALO that you have to have 360 to play. For on-line gaming HALO is one of the best. On the downside there are serious hardware issues with this system. Our system as well as other people we know of personally have experienced the 3 rings of death. This problem is acknowledged by Microsoft and they will provide you with another system if this failure occurs. It was quick and easy and no cost. You will be without your system approximately 21 days and they provided a 30 day free Xbox live card with your refurbished system. They also provide you with a 3 year warranty should your system suffer the 3 rings of death again. Warning though. You do not get your original box back, they send you someone else's system that they refurbish. The warranty does not cover any other issues, which there are many. After getting a refurbished system back (which had an older production date than the one we had sent them) it had another failure. Unreadable disk. This is apparently caused by 1 of three things, a lense proble, hard drive problem or a little magnet inside the harddrive that becomes detached so the disk won't spin. Needless to say they will not fix this free of charge. They request $100 plus to fix the problem and once again it will takes 3-4 weeks to get the refurbished unit back. After putting serious money into accessories and games we are very frustrated. Officially Microsoft states they have a low failure rate but won't publish their stats. Unofficially company's such as Best Buy and GamePro are stating their customers are returning 1 in 3 of every unit purchased. If you purchase be sure to pay the extra and get an extended warranty on this thing and even a second to back you up.
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video-games_xbox
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Better Than I Expected. Reading all these reviews, you'd think that the only monsters in the game are poo related, the only word spoken is "bastard", and that the game is a total cakewalk. This is not the case; well, mostly.
Yes, there are certain enemies that are shaped like poo, and the characters make allusions to this fact, but they only make up a tiny fraction of the monsters in the game. After reading that the design was done by Akira Toriyama the creator of Dragonball, the poo stuff makes total sense. Having watched Dragonball, I can attest that Blue Dragon is basically a Dragonball game minus the tails. In Blue Dragon, you play as three children on the massive quest to save their village after it is attacked by a mechanical monster. Along the way, the normal RPG qualities proceed such as picking up new characters, and acquiring XP and SP to level up themselves and their dragons, (more on that soon.)
Blue Dragon is a full turn based RPG in which you can see the turn order. There are also no random battles as you can see the enemies on screen. The children are able to use magic in the form of Shadows, which appear as shadows in the form of muscular blue dragons, which is assume is where the title came from. These Shadows are leveled up using SP, and in that progression acquire new skills. The Shadows also have the ability to change classes, which also changes the skills available. These classes can dramatically alter strategies used since you can change classes from a healer type to a mage type. And this is where I differ from the idea this game is too easy. Yes, this game is no Dark Souls , but in normal RPG fashion each boss has a weakness that must be exploited to win. Certain spells can be powered up, which is done by holding A when the meter appears. The longer you charge the more damage you'll do, but the longer it will take to cast. The meter displays how long it'll take in the form of turns. Thus you can choose to power up and cast after a certain character's turn, using that opportunity to use that character to power up your spell. This provides for a lot of strategy. However, if the wrong strategy is used, or the characters are the wrong class, be prepared to die. If You die, you must restart at a checkpoint, which are thankfully before right before the boss. I should also note that the Shadows do not come out of their butts as some reviewers have said, they are shadows at their feet.
I highly recommend this game. Is it as hard as Dark/Demon's Souls? No. Is it the most mature game ever? Perhaps not, but I don't know about you but I play games to relax and have fun. Is Lost Odyssey better? They are different games with different strengths and weaknesses. Why not get both? Since both games have been out for awhile, they're dirt cheap. I hope anyone reading this will find this review helpful.
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video-games_xbox
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The King of The Iron Fist Tournament is back... and better than ever. When I picked up the PS2 console on launch day way back in 2000, Tekken Tag Tournament was one of the two games I took home (SSX was the other). Throughout that console's lifespan, TTT would be revisited and played more than any other game in my collection. It was smooth, easy for friends to pick up, and just plain fun. Many an hour in college was spent playing that game with friends, where we would make combos like "Team Zoo" (Roger and Kuma) and "Geezer Patrol" (Wang and Dr. Bosconovitch). Never did I imagine that it would take TWELVE years for a proper sequel to arrive. Hard to believe... but it was worth the wait. If you're a longtime fan of the series, and were disappointed by T4, T6, and SF X Tekken... this is the game you've been waiting for.
For longtime fans, this is the definitive Tekken experience. The graphics are bright, sharp, and colorful, displaying the wacky world of the Iron Fist Tournament in all its glorious weirdness. The roster of characters is staggering, and contains all favorites... it's hard to believe that every one of these characters has its own CGI ending (albeit a short one)!
Most importantly, gameplay is TIGHT. The Tekken fighting formula has always been the best of all fighting series, in my opinion, with is relatively simple layout of left punch, right punch, left kick, and right kick. With those simple commands, there are hundreds of moves, combos, throws, reversals, and linkers for each character... I'm constantly surprised by seeing new moves that I didn't realize characters could do. The formula has been refined and tweaked to what I would call "Tekken perfection"... response time between button inputs and the character's response time is so fast, it's essentially telepathic. There is nothing sluggish or frustrating about trying to pull off moves, and even new players can pick up the smooth grace of fighters like Eddie and Lei in little time. And the commitment that Namco has displayed in showing such depth for so many different fighting styles is incredible- very few characters have a style that is similar to another. Some new elements have been added to the tag formula, encouraging more strategy, which will give this game even longer legs than its predecessor- which is a good thing, if it takes another 12 years for TTT3!
Perhaps most impressive is the "weight" that this game has. When you land a punch, it feels like just that: you're landing a punch. Likewise, when you take a body shot from a heavy hitter like Bryan Fury, you almost want to involuntarily flinch (especially if you have the volume turned up). Add to this the hilarity of occasionally taking on the role of a kangaroo, bear, or dinosaur, and you have classic Tekken goodness!
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video-games_xbox
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Great fun! Songs are no where near as good as the first one. Let me just start this review out my making this fact clear by saying i am a huge Dance Dance Revolution fan! And when i say huge, i mean HUGE! I can play for more then five hours in a row without stopping once to take a break. I can get an "A" on every song on the heavy difficulty. Now on to the review...
Graphics: The graphics in Dance Dance Revolution look much cooler then the first one. The arrows show off, a kind of 3d'ish look, which looks much better then the first one. Also, the character models are much better then they are in the first one. When i say better, i mean graphics wise. Besides those two improvements though, the graphics remain simplistic, although, that is how Konami intended it to be.
Gameplay: The gameplay is amazing in DDR 2. It is great fun, dancing all over your pad knocking huge combos off. If your good enough too, you can try and anticipate breakdancing on the dance pad. But thats only for pros... There is a huge song list for you to choose from, however it is no where near as good as the song list in the first Dance Dance Revolution Ultramix game, but it is still bearable.
Audio: Oh My God! Those annoying/stupid/inaccurate anouncers! I want to seriousely kill them! First of all, they will tell you to try harder when you are winning by over 100,000 points and second of all, ever three-four seconds, they will come out with some totally unecessary comment such as "Your giving me dance fever," or "shake it, baby shake it!" Like i mentioned before, the songs are bearable, but no where near as good as the first list of songs in the original DDR ultramix.
Online: The online is super fun, and one good thing in DDR Ultramix 2, is that they're are new gametypes which include Bomb, Attack and Quad which are all pretty self explanatory. The problem though with the online aspect, is that it will refuse to show you your rank, which i found extremely frustrating. Also, it can just suddenly freeze up on you forcing you to reboot your Xbox.
In conclusion, DDR 2 Ultramix is very fun, but if i were you, i would stick to the first Ultramix game due to the better song list and plus, you won't have to deal with restarting your Xbox Console every once in a while...
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video-games_xbox
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Beware of brokenness. I don't know how all these satisfied reviewers didn't notice the glaring technical glitches in Brothers in Arms: Earned in Blood on the Xbox. The game has so many problems that I've given up on it and will try and complete the game on PC.
I should start by saying that I loved Road to Hill 30. I found it to be a very competent game that ran surprisingly well on the old Xbox. But in this sequel Gearbox ratcheted up the difficulty and exposed many flaws in the gameplay balance. They also botched the programming for the system, resulting in horribly lagging sound and video that corrupts the gameplay.
Specifically, certain enemy weapons like MG nests and the German anti-tank artillery have been given improved range and accuracy. But the range and intelligence of the player's comrades has not improved. This results in a lot more foolish deaths due to AI mistakes than in the first game. And friendly armor is now totally worthless. Your tank commander cannot locate enemy gun emplacements before the enemy artillery zeroes in and begins firing. And sometimes your guy will announce that he's commencing firing while just sitting there and taking it. Cover doesn't work as well either, now that more Germans are armed with panzerschreks. Combine this with the restrictive pathing that too often doesn't allow flanking, and you end up running head first into enemy fire just trying to get lucky and finish the mission.
On the technical side, there are terrible problems with this game that I found insurmountable. Even with all the graphic options turned down, it's unplayable on many of the busier missions. The sound and video lag results in many deaths before you can even see the enemy. And sadly it seems to get worse the further you progress in the story. It hurts my ego to admit, but I just couldn't finish the game. Don't trust my words, read the EiB bug forum on Ubisoft's site. People with all years of Xboxes have problems with this game.
In conclusion, Earned in Blood may have been great on the right platform (PC I hope), but on Xbox it's just a hassle.
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video-games_xbox
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Very Disappointing. I purchased this game used and was extremely excited to play it, having only ever played MLB ft. Ken Griffey Jr. on the N64 previously. I figured I'd love to have a game that's so customizable and that looks a little better. I'm not one of those types who needs crazy amazing graphics like what you see on the new "The Show" games they've got on the 360. To me that's unnecessary. If there's any genre of videogames that should be carried by gameplay above looks, it's sports.
Now, granted, sports games are very difficult to make because people have vastly different skill sets, and designers try their best to appease everyone as best they can.
That being said, I actually would almost say I hated this game. And I gave it a good few attempts too. It is WAY too difficult. I played on the Rookie setting and lost the first 5 games in a row by margins of like 10 runs.
--Pitching--
I'm actually a decent player in real life, but I'm not a pitching strategist, I'm an outfielder, so they lost me with how difficult the pitching is. I went in as the Braves, and it pitted me against the Marlins first, and I kid you not, they averaged about a home run per inning. And I wasn't giving them meatballs. I'd pitch stuff in the so-called blue 'coldzone' and they'd still crank it into the upper deck. I was disappointed that there's no way to turn off the 'hit zones' for batting, but leave them on for pitching. I liked having them there so I knew where NOT to pitch for some of the better hitters, but I hated seeing it while I was hitting. More on that in the hitting section.
--Hitting--
This is where I was very disappointed. Now I'll go ahead and admit I probably just suck way worse than the average guy who sits down and plays a baseball video game, BUT... that's why designers put difficulty settings on. If the Rookie setting was actually not horrifically difficult, I may have been able to ease into it and catch on, but as it is I couldn't tell. The biggest problem I had with the hitting system is not the hitter's eye. The color flashes so quickly it's a wonder it helps anyone at all. I was frustrated when I read all the reviews from dudes who complained that it made it too easy. I think some of it is that I'm used to the circle/pitch locator system that MLB ft. Ken Griffey uses on the N64. That worked tremendously well because it's challenging, but you can still see what you're missing and you have a way to improve as the season goes on. Maybe I'm spoiled by it. Maybe a realistic baseball game is supposed to be very difficult. I don't really care. I wish they had included this feature on MVP because I honestly thought it was so intuitive that that must be the standard most other games use for their hitting. If they had included that feature, I probably would be giving this thing a 4/5 because I'd be able to improve. I bought this thing to sit down and enjoy playing a video game, and at times it made me so frustrated I had to just turn the thing off and leave the room.
--Fielding--
This was by far the worst aspect of the game, and the one that left me speechless at how unintuitive it was. There were times when the ball would get hit directly to a certain outfielder, and I'd start moving the control stick toward it, and then it would inexplicably switch to the other fielder, leaving my guy standing there like an idiot watching the ball go over his head. And this happened like 3 times per game. So the other team would get triples on things that should have been outs. There's nothing remotely 'fun' about that at all. On a more pleasant note, I did like the throwing meter; that was a very good, intuitive feature, and it worked well.
--Things I did like--
The ONLY redeeming features in here are the degree of customizing you can do, the immense size of the game (managing a major league team plus 3 minor league teams for 120 years is just mind numbingly awesome), and the mini games. And the only redeeming mini game was the hitting one. This was actually arguably worth the $5 by itself. I loved the hitting in here because it showed at least which side of the plate the ball would come in on. And the vortexes/ramps/cutouts were well thought out and simulated the actual hot spots on the field very well. I liked how they integrated those things with the point system. All good things to say about the hitting mini game. The pitching mini game was stupid. I liked the idea, but it didn't work. I'd hit the middle of a huge chunk of colors, and it would say I missed. I don't really know why that is. The home run contest was ok, but I thought it lacked a lot of the satisfaction in hitting a home run since the camera never showed where the ball ended up. It stayed on the batter the whole time.
Maybe this game is worth your time. If you've played a lot of games like it, and are good at them, you'll probably love this game for its features. I did not. The Rookie setting not being easy enough, plus the counterintuitive fielding, plus the inexplicably difficult pitching and hitting left me craving a better experience.
I'm just glad I only paid $5 for it.
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video-games_xbox
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A Review for "The Rest of Us. Let me start off by saying that I do not consider myself either a hardcore racing fan, nor a hardcore Xbox enthusiast.
First, a bit on my background (I'll try to keep it short I promise ;)
My first racing game experience was when I played PGR 3 for the Xbox a few years back. I had borrowed it from my friend just for the gamerscore (lol sue me), but it turned out that after two weeks of nonstop playing I was vastly piqued by the racing genre. I searched around on the Internet for a game that would satisfy my desire for a more involving, difficult, realistic, and lengthy game than PGR, and I ended up getting Forza 3. I was in love with that game for soooo long. Previously I could've cared less about cars, much less know their names, mechanics, engines, etc. but I quickly began to unconsciously pick up real world knowledge about cars from playing Forza 3, so that I would call out the model, year, manufacturer, and cylinder count of nearly every semi-interesting car on the street. Forza 3 was an amazing game, in which I believed everything was perfect; so, naturally when I heard Forza 4 was coming out, I pre-ordered ASAP.
Expectations:
As stated above, I thought that Forza 3 was perfect in every way, from painting, (which I spent hundreds of hours in) to physics, models, and tuning. All that I really expected and even wanted from Forza 4 was MORE CARS to play around with! So, my expectations one could say we're low, but in a good way.
Results (3 sections)
***Graphics
The graphics I get on my HD 41 inch Sony TV with HDMI connecting it and my Xbox are easily the most beautiful and stunning console graphics I've ever seen in a sim. I'm more of a PC gamer, but this game (even with the limitations of the Xbox) looks just as good as I would imagine it on my gaming rig. The cars pop off the screen and the immersion is intense. The sound of an Enzo Ferrari's engine revving in anticipation of launch is gripping and ultra-realistic. I thought that the graphics in 3 were fine, but Forza 4 knocks it out of the park! And the light reflections, my God, are STUNNING. Finally, you get a cockpit view in every car and if you have a kinect (this is it's only use for me now lol) the game will even mirror you're head movements while driving! Amazing.
***Multiplayer (HUGE upgrade, prob the best IMHO)
To me, Forza 3 was a 100% single player game. Of course I would take full advantage of the auction house, but I don't like racing competitively with people that I don't know. I don't know why, maybe just too intimidating, but I'm definitely good enough. So, the big surprise for me with Forza 4 was the multiplayer which COMPLETELY altered how I view Forza. With their new rivals mode, you race ghosts of other, live people to try and top their time in the leader boards, and T10 will give you quite the chunk of change (as much as 150K credits) for beating a "Rival" depending on how high up they are in the boards. In stark contrast to Forza 3 where winning online would give yourself only like 300 credits, this is a huge leap. Plus, Turn 10 keeps it interesting by making the rival challenges fun and, well, challenging! Plus, I don't view it as competitive because I'm not actually racing a person, I'm racing a recording of a person. Of course one can still race in lobbies and such much like Forza 3, but I personally believe that "Rivals" mode is the definitive experience
***CARS!!! CARS CARS CARS!!!
THIS is what most people buy racing games for, and with competitors out there offering huge amounts of cars (I'm looking at you GT5), can Forza really stand up and dethrone them with its smaller assortment of cars? In a word, yes. The people at Turn 10 have always been THE BEST at modeling their cars, when you look at other games, and compare the same car in one of them with Forza 4's it's obvious which one is superior. That, however, is only in terms of graphics. What about spread? If a game had 900 cars, but eight hundred of them were nissans, hondas, toyotas, and fords, would people be happy? Probably not, especially if there were only six Ferraris. This, thankfully is where FM4 soars above the competition. As I am typing this review, there are 28 Nissans, 17 Hondas, 17 Toyotas, 31 Fords, and *drumroll please* 32 Ferraris. What's that he said, MORE FERRARIS than FORDS?! Yes, what a strange concept? Furthermore, all the cars in the game are cars that people would WANT to drive. Sure there are the mandatory hatchbacks, and SUV's (like 25 in total) for people who are just starting on a budget. But, more importantly, there's the Ferrari 458, Shelby GT500, corvette stingray, Aston DBS, Lamborghini Gallardo, the list of GREAT cars goes on and on. There's so few "filler" cars that it's remarkable. That being said, don't worry you Nissan '71 Skyline fans and fans of similar classic ultra-tunable cars and the such. If it's your dream car, it's probably in FM 4. Who knows, maybe you'll even find a new one? Plus, there's the constant stream of DLC that comes out the first of the month every month until FM 5. The only gripe (for many it's a major issue but for me it's just a gripe) that I have, is that there are no Porsches in the game due to Porsche's exclusive contract with EA (that terminates soon). However, knowing how much the people at T 10 love the community, there's likely to be a free Porsche DLC that will come out when that contract expires.
Conclusion
Forza Motorsport 4 is a great racing sim that pushes the limits of gaming hardware. It IS the cutting edge racing game, and if you're in the market for one, you should definitely give Forza's wheel a spin. I don't really play Xbox that much anymore as Battlefield 3 is sucking my life into the PC, but every day I spend at least an hour driving my dream in Forza. Forza is pretty much the only reason my Xbox gets turned on, and I'm completely proud of it, and wouldn't have it any other way. For someone upgrading from 3, don't hesitate in pricking this one up, especially if you enjoyed 3 as much as I did! Plus, there's sooooo many features and pluses that I didn't talk about, like how GREAT that groovy menu music is! Then there's auto vista (overrated but still cool for sure), drag racing updates, and the pure VOLUME of content! Weeks in of an hour or three a day on average and I'm only 3.7% complete!!!!!! 3.7%! That's AMAZING, especially because I'm not making it up, that's what the statistic tracker says! Omg, I love this game.
See you on the track, heck join my racing club!
The PicoPro Club
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video-games_xbox
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concept is there...but fell short of expectations. This game was such a disappointment..I wanted to like it so bad because of it being made by the same company as some of my other fave games (gta , red dead, etc) but it was not like any of the other games rockstar puts out. the story line is there, with the cool detective and crime scene things, but the game itself it so repetitive. there were more bad things about this game than good. ill start off with the good.
good:
graphics - the graphics aren't the best rockstar has came up (not comparable at all with the more recent gtaV) with but still pretty decent.
music-this kinda goes along with graphics, but the music was pretty cool. along with graphics you really feel like you're in the decade that the game is set in. the only complaint i have about the graphics/picture part of the game is that sometimes especially in certain rooms/places/crime scenes it would be SO incredibly dark you couldn't see anything at all , let alone the clue or criminal you were looking for. I had to adjust the brightness under the settings , and that still didn't help.
bad:
repetitive-a thousand cases that end the same way, person ends up dead because you weren't quick enough or guy gets away because you weren't quick enough and you fail the case. when you make it to Hollywood (i think that's the northwestern part of the map) the cases tend to change a bit. but when you are working the homicide dept. EVERY single case is the same. you find a naked or partially naked dead woman and then search the crime scene and etc. its really strange. but that's just me, i like some variety in video games.
game play- this is a very general statement when i say this, but sometimes the case/mission would either be way to easy to complete (see other comment about finding clues and such) or it would be stupid difficult. by that, i just mean that when it comes to chasing criminals either on foot or in a car, you're always a thousand times slower than the person you're chasing. this is probably not just this game that is like that but this was an annoying aspect about this game. 95% of your time is spent chasing someone that seems to run or drive at breakneck unrealistic speed. this brings me to another important part of the game: the cars/driving. ANNOYING. i love that the whole theme including cars and music is all about the 1940's decade, but the cars and the handling/driving mechanisms surrounding the cars are not in any way similar to GTA driving. the cars in this game are so clunky and handle so poorly that it makes it hard to drive around without hitting another car in the game (none of whom seem to stop at stop signs or red lights, btw) or a pole or a person or something. then of course, when you hit something (which is easy to do, your partner usually yells at you and when possible (like if you're pursuing a person and you're trying to be stealthily about it) you automatically fail because you hit something. not always but it happens enough to be annoying.
the load screen- the time spent looking at the load screen waiting to play a case or waiting to get to a certain location is completely ridiculous. i feel like i spent more time waiting for the mission/case/etc to load than i spent actually playing the game.
overall, this would be an ok game if it didn't last as long and didn't use 3 different cd's. i don't get why you would have to have 3 cd's worth of the same repeat cases. sometimes, certain quirks about the game really annoyed me. like for example, at times the game made it easy for you to pass a case or find a clue because the music would get loud and the controller would vibrate. at first i thought this was a cool feature , but then it became all to easy to search a crime scene or place in 5 seconds and not really enjoy doing it. not realistic in that sense. on the other hand , there were some cases where it was so easy to fail something. (see comments above about driving poorly and failing a pursuit easily). i really wanted to love this game because detective/police stuff is cool and i love rockstar games but this just fell short....
p.s. this review is entirely my own and does not mean that others won't enjoy this game. this is my personal opinions and ramblings and probably not the best grammatically but i get my point across :)
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video-games_xbox
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Unoriginal Deserves Neither Hate Nor Praise. If youve played all of the Call of Dutys prior to Advanced Warfare, then you're either going to be displeased as it doesnt necessarily up the ante in any significant way, or quite satisfied as the core formula that youve grown to love is still the same, with some slight revisions to lighten the experience. Its really a matter of perspective, I for one liked Advanced Warfare, but nothing more than that. The story was forgettable at best, the characters were laughably done, the mission structure is still banal and archaic, and certain frustrations that have plagued the COD formula are still present and haven't been addressed. The Exo abilities and other added flare are nice additions, but don't really bring enough to the table to truly innovate and expand on this aging franchise. Are we at the point of surrender, to the point where Call of Duty will never do anything to vastly change its ways? Yes the multiplayer is fun, and the Exo Survival coop mode is excellent, but neither can be deemed as game changers and are relatively derivative. I, myself, am content with the current direction of the Call of Duty franchise; as long as it continues to remain on top, it will do little to change its core formula. I like the Call of Duty games, but at this point, there is no real reason to annually buy this franchise. Perhaps Ill skip a few entries and then jump back in for a slight, refreshing experience, but even then Id be hard pressed to find something that truly captivated me. Advanced Warfare will be known for its fantastic presentation value, superb work done by Kevin Spacey, addictive cooperative mode, and gorgeously rendered cut scenes, but I don't really see die-hard COD fans nor disbelievers truly remembering this game, let alone it being their favorite COD title. Black Ops III will be released later this year, and I wouldnt be surprised if majority, if not all, of my personal qualms noted here will remain extant. Advanced Warfare is a decent game, at its very best, a good one. Its fun, but unoriginal and deserves neither the hate nor the praise.
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video-games_xbox
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Previously on Lost. Regarding the TV series: I loved the first season, but they lost me by the end of the second season. So while I haven't been keeping up with all the mysteries and minutiae, I was intrigued enough by the idea of actually playing a game among the characters to send $60 to Amazon on the day it was released. And I was hoping to spend some quality time with Evangeline Lilly.
Unfortunately, there is just so much wrong with this game, so many annoyances, and so much that is utterly STUPID. If not for the lure of the easy achievement points I would have stopped playing on Day 1 instead of Day 2, which is when I actually completed it with 900 points. And take note: I'm talking about Monday and Tuesday here. Work days. And I have a day job.
Can I do a bulleted list?
>> Watch out for invisible walls! There are lots of places where it looks like you should be able to walk, where, in fact, you cannot.
>> As you walk around, there are things like coconuts and papayas and fuses and beers on the ground, and it would benefit you to be observant and collect as many as you can for bartering purposes. But the game designers have made it difficult for you to direct your gaze downward and keep it there. Take your thumb off the right stick, and your eyes zip right back up to the horizon. This is particularly annoying when you are trying to stare at Kate's chest.
>> With all these beers everywhere, it's easy to see why so many castmembers got busted for DWIs.
>> Despite the big beach nearby, this ain't no "sandbox" game. If you stray too far from the one allowable trail, you may find yourself being auto-restored, without warning, to some earlier save point waaay back there before you barely escaped that smoke monster by ducking into a cluster of banyan trees, which, apparently, smoke cannot penetrate.
>> Immediately after you complete an "episode," you have to sit through a "Previously on Lost..." cutscene that shows you highlights of what you just finished. It's amusing the first time, but afterwards, eh, not so much. It's particularly annoying if you *die* in the next episode before the first autosave point, because you WILL have to sit through it again when you restart.
>> There are multiple puzzles where you have to solve electrical engineering problems, placing the right fuse with the right impedence in the right socket, or (I'm not kidding here) passing IQ tests. These are actually pretty challenging, and stand in stark contrast to the extreme stupidity of the rest of the game.
>> After you pass an IQ test and are allowed access to a computer terminal, you might be presented with a really stupid menu of options, i.e, press "A" to send a Ping, press "B" to play a voice message, or press "C" to deactivate the reactor. And if you press "C", there's no "Are you sure? Warning! You are about to deactivate the freakin' reactor" confirmation step. You could be a legitimate Dharma employee who simply hasn't had his coffee yet, and you could totally ruin the initiative just by fat-fingering one keystroke.
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video-games_xbox
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Oddly Engaging. This has got to be one of the most depressed/ing games I've ever played. What little hope there is is in constant struggle to even exist - there is a perpetual bleakness to this game. And it all focuses around one element.
A man trying to save his daughter from certain death.
That's the theme, the motive, the driving force behind this game... and it's horrifically beautiful. If this were a book (which it is in portions), this would easily be worth 5 stars based on writing and the feel of it all. Unfortunately, NieR fails to achieve "GREAT GAME" status thanks to just that - the gaming portions.
The controls are good... with how fast the main character moves, it's hard to notice any real fluidity to the movement. It all seems pretty jagged... like everything has a hard angle to it. The combat is very fast and there's a lot [generally] going on at once - sometimes overwhelmingly so. The tightness of the controls don't let you completely forget about them, but they're not in your way at any point.
The voice-work is great. Outstanding, even. Kaine is one of the most unique characters I've ever seen, and her voice actress does an incredible job bringing her to life. Overall, as a cast, this is a great crew.
The graphics... well... they're alright. Barely. The styling and graphical power of this game really reminds me of Resonance of Fate. Neither are great graphically, but neither of them need to be. These two games are story/gameplay driven. They don't need to wow your sights, 'cause they wow your mind. (SUPER CORNY)
The overall gameplay elements? There are a lot of fetch quests. A lot. A. Lot. Back and forth and back and forth and back and forth. Luckily the soundtrack is outstanding enough that you forget that you're traveling to the same places over and over. The dread of going to-and-fro is replaced by an anticipation to hear that great music in the next area. On a separate note - it takes a bit to get into this. The intro does a great job setting the theme and getting you hooked initially, but the next few hours are very standard. The game does very little to keep you hooked until a little ways in.
Overall, this is an outstanding book turned good video game. If you're looking for a good action/rpg with a prevailing theme of despair, look no further than NieR!
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video-games_xbox
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Wrong direction. I needed another guitar for Rock Band/Guitar Hero-night, and wanted one with a slider-pad just like my old one. The only way to get one was buying a Guitar Hero 5-bundle. I figured, how bad could it really be? <a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Guitar-Hero-III-Legends-of-Rock/dp/B000TGDHW8/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock</a> is excellent (as far as single player games go), but <a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Guitar-Hero-World-Tour/dp/B001ABP95E/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Guitar Hero World Tour</a> was actually pretty weak; some songs were good, there was customization, but it still felt headed in the wrong direction, away from the joy of music and into the realm of "more is better".
You've truly gone and done it now, Neversoft. Yes, Kurt Cobain makes an appearance, that's pretty cool. Sure, Johnny Cash is in there too, for new users to go "oh, it's Johnny Cash, how awesome". And yep, there's an Iron Maiden tune, which could be worse. But the rest of the game (meaning music, which is what constitutes 95% of a music rhythm game) is all drivel. It's a sad mishmash of music for people in their 40's and 50's (bad), indie rock (worse) and the current hits from popular bands (worst). Even if they've chosen a very few decent bands, the song selection is just terrible. Not a note that warrants fun, excitement, feeling, nostalgia, enjoyment! I haven't even made it through the game yet because I just dread what's coming next, it's just hard on the ears and hard on the eyes. Challenges don't help much when the music is this bad, nor does "party mode" (although it's a nice idea) when nobody wants to play the music. And who was the genius that said "let everyone play on guitar, a four guitar band, a four bass band, four vocalists or diddo four drummers"? That's atrocious! It shows you're just making a hollow "anything goes"-game where anybody can do anything without giving thought to the music, challenge, synchronicity or joy of playing in a BAND. What would it have been like if Paul McCartney one day said "screw it, let's all play drums on all songs"?
Yes, you can customize your game and player to see fit, which is always good, and yes, the graphics engine still looks alright to my eyes, but this and <a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Guitar-Hero-Warriors-of-Rock/dp/B003N5ZXU6/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock</a> proves that Neversoft just think of games as cool toys of the week instead of an enjoyable, rewarding, lasting, challenging, immersive and REAL music experience, as Harmonix are boldly moving towards with music "non-games" like <a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Rock-Band-3/dp/B003RS8HG6/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Rock Band 3</a>.
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video-games_xbox
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Like a record baby. This is the same award winning Halo formula. It has really never been hit or miss for this series just love or hate. But after 5 games it is getting a little stale.
Halo Reach has a great story from beginning to end and I love how they mix up the gameplay throughout. And the ending is just something I have not seen before in a game (great work Bungie). That being said, I am into the FPS genre for multiplayer not the story so when I picked up Reach i got right into it...
The multiplayer game is solid the new armor abilities add needed variety and the armor unlocks/customization is a good feature to put in any game(they really should have let the player color each piece of armor individually though). The daily and weekly challenges are are a stroke of brilliance but are overshadowed by the fact that the only thing you can do with your credits is change your armor (the level restrictions don't help either). I like the lobby voting for maps and game types (I get the game type that I want to play 8 /10 times), and since they put Swat into its own lobby I'm even happier.
I wish people would not compare Halo and COD. For one I am terrible at Halo multiplayer (since the retraction of dual wielding) compared to the noob slaughtering domination that I ooze in COD even with a semi-auto weapon. The way you have to play is completely different from one to the other even though they're in the same genre, and each one deserves its own respect rather than flaming fanboys of one or the other giving 1 star ratings.
On the length of the game...
First why are you complaining that the campaign takes 4 hours? The game costs you $60 a movie ticket costs what $12 and lasts around 2 hours but it doesn't have multiplayer, you can't watch it again, and you can't bring in your own food!
Also, just because you died a lot and had to restart doesn't make the game any longer! It is like watching a move, rewinding the same part 20x, and saying that it was longer.
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video-games_xbox
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A Great Concept Flawed Beyond Redemption. It's like Square and Microsoft brainstormed every possible way to ruin a strategy game and still have it be sorta fun.
Concept: 9/10
The Last Remnant is turn based strategy game set in a fantasy universe created by the masterminds who created Final Fantasy. You play as a young adult named Rush. Rush's sister has been kidnapped by villains that want to use her innate magical abilities to take over the world.
You can access areas through a World Map. There are towns where you buy weapons and equipment, or even craft your own. There are also dungeons and battlefields where you fight enemy Squads and Bosses.
You advance through the game by fighting turn-based Battles.
You hire Warriors, Mages, and Leaders and form them into several Squads.
The number of Units in a Squad = the number of attacks that Squad gets per round. (Each Unit attacks per turn.)
The Squad's HP is the combination of the Units' HP. As long as the HP is above 0, ALL of the Units in that Squad can keep attacking. If the Squad's HP = 0, all of the Units in the Squad die at the same time.
You can issue commands to the Squads during the battle, like "Charge", "Heal", "Attack with Magic"...
After the Battle, all of your Units are resurrected and improve based upon what they did during the battle.
In a Battle, you cannot retreat, and if you lose, you must return to your last Save.
Sounds Awesome... now here comes an avalanche of flaws that ruin the game.
Technical Art: 1/10
Square licensed an old version of Unreal before it had streaming. As a result, there are Load Screens everywhere! The game also is hindered by the most slowdown that I've seen since Aladdin fought Jafar on the SEGA Genesis. Textures and Bump-Maps constantly pop in and out whenever characters or scenes are rendered. It's incredibly distracting and makes your Xbox 360 feel like a PC with a 9 year old graphics card. However, you can avoid most of these bugs, by installing the game on your 360 Hard Drive and playing it from there.
Gameplay: 2/10
During Battles, when you give orders to your Squads, you only get a few options per turn. These options seem completely random. There are many times when a Squad is at Full Health and you get an option to Heal them. However, when a Squad is low on HP, sometimes the Heal Option doesn't show up, causing you to lose a battle. There are other times when you fight an enemy and you're thinking, "My Poison Gas Attack is perfect for this." But it doesn't show up in your Command List. Whoever thought of taking the Player's Options away in a Turn Based Battle Game was a good idea, is clearly insane. Too often, you are forced to make bad decisions because the options you want just aren't available when you need them most.
Even when you do get the commands that you want, sometimes the characters "REASSESS" and ignore your commands and do something different. If your Squad's Leader gets KO'ed with a spell, it's called a BOTCH and the AI takes control of that Squad.
It feels like the game is doing everything possible to take control away from you in a game where the fun is supposed to come from you commanding your army. As long as the AI is good, this usually isn't too much of a problem...
AI: 3/10
At times Allied Squads join you. You cannot give them commands and they act on their own. Sometimes, they attack enemies for 20 points of damage instead of healing one of your Squads, restoring 2000 HP! The AI is so bad, you'd swear that Leroy Jenkins hacked into your 360 through your live account and he's controlling the Allies.
BOSSES: 2/10
Because of the AI and Gameplay issues, the Bosses feel incredibly cheap. Also, all of their Health Bars show up as ???. You have no idea how many HP they have. When they are close to death, their Health Bar flashes red, but that's the only hint that you get. Bosses attack hard enough to take out an Entire Squad, or Charm them and make them fight on their side. If you have 3 Squads, and the Boss decides to Charm all 3, you lose! There are times when you don't get the commands that you need to win the battle at the times you need them, causing you to die.
QUESTS: 4/10
Most of the Quests are of the dungeon crawl variety. You gain access to a dungeon and fight to an objective with an AI companion. Most of them are ok, and some are horrible. One Quest in particular has you running through a barren desert for 12 minutes, touching posts. The only way to Identify them is to touch them and if you touch the wrong one in the wrong order, you have to start over. It's got all of the excitement of your Gym Coach making you run 3 miles in real time.
ART: 5/10
Slowdown aside, the art is very dull. The lighting is very dark throughout the game and colored lighting is pretty non-existent. Everything looks dull and drab, like you're watching the game through a dirty window. The Character Designs are interesting, but lack the Style found in the Final Fantasy series. Another issue arises when your army fights another humanoid army. The characters in the battle look nearly identical, so it is really difficult to tell who is who. When you see a guy swing an axe at an identical guy and a 1000 appears above the injured character, you don't know whether to cheer or panic.
WRITING: 3/10
If you're looking for an epic script, look elsewhere. The dialogue in this game is as epic as 2 third graders talking about their lunchables. The lines are delivered like the actors are in a breakfast cereal commercial where the first 5 ingredients are Sugar.
Rush's Battlecry, "YEAH, Everybody is getting HYPED!" He says stuff like, "Yo Dave, whassup?" "Yeah, No Prob. Whatever..."
Another annoyance is that the team reversed the Critial Hit Dialogue, so when your characters critical hit the enemy, they say what they would have said if they had gotten critically hit. If you do 5000 damage to an enemy, your character is likely to grumble, "Aww shucks."
BROMANCE: 0_o /10
Homophobes beware. The first major NPC that you speak to is an aging bartender at the Tavern. He calls you "Cutey" and hits on you. In all fairness, your character is feminine and he's wearing leather chaps as a fashion statement. Later on, Rush meets Dave, a flamboyant magistrate, and they get along better than any other two characters in the game. In one scene Dave gives Rush a flower and they gaze into each other's eyes. Normally, Rush replies with a nonchalant "whatever" to the other NPC's but if Dave says something, Rush says, "Aww, I can't say no to you." If the enemy surrounds you, they can attack with a "REAR ASSAULT" and Rush says, "They caught us with our pants down!" So, after a while, the game starts to feel like Brokeback Kingdom.
ECONOMY: 1/10
Rush is the only character that you can equip, and it seems like once you buy a decent sword, there's no reason to get another one until Disk 2. The game has a crafting system, where you can make things for Rush, but the parts are so rare, it's not even worth searching for them. Also, 90% of the items that you can create are the same as items that you can buy. Your NPC's equip themselves and manage their own gear. Sometimes, they'll ask you for something in the inventory and you have the right to refuse. But if you refuse, the NPC just becomes less effective.
The Game is Rated M for Blood, Language, Violence and Suggestive Themes (between males)
Overall, the game is at least 50 hours long full of Quests and Side Quests. At times, the game is fun and the cutscenes are pretty good. Your Characters do improve after almost every battle, so it does feel rewarding. It's a semi-decent way to kill time in small doses. But, the lack of control that you have over your army is incredibly frustrating and the homosexual undertones as well as the juvenile dialogue can get on your nerves.
If you're dying for a turn based strategy game for the 360, and don't mind playing it from your hard drive... and all of the stuff I just wrote about doesn't bother you... Buy this game.
Avoid this game if you hate Slowdown, Bromances, Bad Art, Load Screens, Dull Quests, Awful Dialogue, or if you actually want to control your soldiers in a strategy game.
Note: There is also a bug that prevents you from getting 200 Achievement Points when you finish the game.
If the flaws that I mentioned above are just too much, but you still want a strategy game, check out the Fire Emblem series for the Nintendo Systems, the Total War series for the PC, or King's Bounty for the PC.
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video-games_xbox
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Awesome game. A lot of people say this game is like having God Of War for the 360. Well... the game has a similar gameplay but definitely the storyline is way different. I read the Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri and let me tell you, the game is way more enjoyable if you read the book first. So from the book's perspective, this game is a very good approach. Of course the game does not cover all topics from the book but still the main thing is there.
I personally like all these hellish and demonic themes. Dante's Inferno portrays in a good way all this inferno world. There are scary parts like when you arrive to the Limbo and you meet these babies with hooks instead of arms... and when you hit them, you listen them crying as newborn babies... damn... this is scaring. You see also people trapped in the walls, all of them mourning and crying. So in a way this game depicts the experience of being in hell, for sure a terrible place. There are putrid corpses all around, blood and fluids, impaled people, and a lot of satanic environments. I just love it :)
There are interesting things in the gameplay such as collecting souls and exchanging them for new abilities, once in a while and after certain combats you get some sorts of magic and from time to time you find people that must be absolved or punished. Depending on your decisions through the game, your virtue or evil will grow, allowing you to reach new abilities for each mood.
Yesterday I was playing and I came to a point when Beatrice, Dante's wife, was being kissed by Lucifer in an spectacular cinematic. God ... this game is dark... very dark.
If you play it fast, maybe you'll see the game falls short but I like to take my time to see every detail on screen... so for me the game's length is fine. The bosses are hard to beat, so you'll have your hands busy with this game. The colors, sounds and graphics in general are amazing.
The game is definitely worth its price. I recommend it if you like dark themes and of course if you are a dedicated gamer. Don't think about the God of War thing, you'll enjoy this game as much as you have enjoyed your GOW.
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video-games_xbox
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A great alternative. After months of searching for a DualShock 3 alternative (mostly out of curiosity), I picked up the Power A Air Flo Controller for PS3. Inspired by the claims of zero dead zones, I was optimistic about the purchase. Here's what you need to know if you're on the fence -
PROS
-Snappy, responsive analog sticks are concave and easy to grip
-Concave L2/R2 triggers feel great, have a nice resistance
-The D-pad feels good and works well for menu use
-Stylish color scheme and design
-Xbox 360 stick layout for those who prefer it
-Comfortable size (for me), and the air vent indents provide extra grip.
CONS
-A SMALL dead zone exists with the right analog stick. For those unfamiliar, a dead zone is the radius within which you can move the analog stick without any response on screen. A common plight with third party controllers, large dead zones can negatively impact your aiming accuracy in first-and-third-person shooters.
-People with small hands might have trouble gripping the Air Flo, which is considerably larger than the DualShock 3
-Controller is wired, not wireless. I don't care, but some of you might. Cable is decent length but may require and extension for large room setups.
For what it's worth, the Air Flo controller's dead zone is MUCH smaller than other dead zones I've noticed in third-party controllers like the Power A Pro EX Wireless. I tested it mostly with Call of Duty: Black Ops, and I found that with a little adjustment period I could perform at near-normal levels against bots.
Bottom-line, I like this controller. If you're looking for an Xbox 360=shaped alternative, this is the best product I've tried so far. A small dead zone might hamper your enjoyment for twitch shooters like Call of Duty, but the controller will serve you great otherwise. In fact, I actually plan on using this controller for all future Call of Duty gaming, simply because the L3 (click left stick) button feels MUCH better compared to the DualShock and Sixaxis controllers. Call of Duty's sprint function has ruined three of those for me.
Any questions? Leave in the comments and I'll be sure to respond. :) Have a good day!
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video-games_xbox
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Atmospheric, unusual, and visually striking. Prey is a beautiful looking game. The graphics, which are based on the Doom 3 engine, create a stunning world in which to play. Whether it is the gross bio-sphincter door-holes, which gleam wetly at you, or the glowing interdimensional portals, or the vast sci-fi dyson sphere you are trapped in, it all has an immersive visual quality that will draw you in and keep you there.
The music is also top-notch, with a dramatic, emotionally rousing soundtrack by composer Jeremy Soule (Icewind Dale, Oblivion, Guild Wars).
The premise of the game is workable: you are Tommy, a Cherokee garage mechanic who gets abducted by an alien spaceship along with your grandfather, girlfriend, and other fellow humans from around the globe. You are one of the few who escape from the clutches of the aliens and are able to roam inside the huge alien space vessel. With the help of weapons you pick up, and supernatural powers you discover that you have, you set out to defeat the powers that are keeping you prisoner and go back home. This seems kind of simple and weird. Yet perhaps the story can be interpreted as having to do more with oppressed peoples fighting their oppressors in general, about retaining human dignity in the face of dehumanizing manipulation, than about just fighting aliens. In that light, Prey is saying something pretty powerful.
The gameplay boils down to getting from point A to point B, with puzzles and enemies blocking your path. Simple in principle, but fun and novel in execution. Especially with the unique weapons, gravity-altering mechanics, portals, spirit-walking(you leave your body in spirit form to bypass certain obstacles), and wall-walking.
In summary, this game provides a very unique experience with many memorable moments. I'm glad I got this game.
About the Limited Collector's Edition: the extras included are a nice metal case, two small pewter figurines, a free download of the official soundtrack, and an "Art of Prey" booklet.
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video-games_xbox
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A Step Backwards. I have some sympathy for Bioware on this one. Mass Effect was such an amazing, nearly perfect game that surpassing it was an effort almost automatically doomed to failure. But what surprises and disturbs me is how Mass Effect 2 seems to have intentionally fumbled that effort by taking much that was great about Mass Effect and deleting it on purpose.
At a surface level, much remains the same. Dialogue choices and discussions are very familiar, and you can even import your character from ME. Many of the same wonderful alien races and locations can be discovered, and you will delight in seeing familiar names and faces pop up from time to time. But under the hood is a vastly different, and in many ways inferior, FPS/RPG.
1) Combat. The combat system has been completely overhauled -- and many would say weakened. Instead of infinite ammo weapons that have an overheat limitation, you effectively have ammunition in the form of "heat sink" cartridges that you need to replace or your gun won't work at all. In other words, you can't just wait for a gun to cool down -- you need to find a new "heat sink" clip. Did the laws of physics change between ME and ME2? This seemingly subtle change has massive ramifications on your combat styles, since you can't simply blast your way through areas. You'll find yourself running out of ammo at inopportune times, or randomly changing weapons to guns you hate or that are inappropriate for a particular fight just because you basically ran out of ammo. I have no idea why BioWare thought this was a good idea. Perhaps it stems from the use of "heavy weapons" with extremely limited ammo -- after all, why use anything else if you had an infinite ammo rocket launcher. But why not just limit the # of rockets you can carry? The net result of this is that you will use weapons like the sniper rifle less often, because if you can only carry 10 sniper rifle bullets, it's a waste of time trying to take down fast enemies. Basically, you're back to counting bullets like in a WWII shooter, rather than relying on ME nanotech to mill microscopic rounds off solid ammo blocks. Perhaps the Geth's true plan to enslave the universe was to trick everyone into using horrible, backwards weaponry.
2) Similarly, most of the cool equipment is gone or drastically reduced. Instead of collecting different suits of armor or guns from shops or enemies, you find different pieces of armor that you can mix and match, or the occasional new gun. But you only find new armor or guns occasionally -- after 15 hours of gameplay, many of my allies are still using basic starting weapons. Armor is also rare. Instead of picking exciting new armors and guns and customizing them with shield generators or ammo types, you have a very small array of items to choose from. The entire loot gathering aspect of the game seems gutted. While you may occasionally be able to research a 10% bonus to all sniper rifle damage, for example, that seems a poor exchange for ME1's dozens of sniper rifles and customizable features. No longer can you add frictionless materials or extended barrels or toxic rounds -- you'll take whatever the gun gives you and like it.
3) Your combat HUD has also been altered. Instead of seeing at a glance the shield and life levels of your buddies, there is a small picture display at the bottom that shows their faces. For some reason. It is very difficult to tell if they are injured or in trouble, and often you just find out the hard way since it is hard to monitor your own health and worry about any random status displays from them at the same time. Again, there is no reasonable excuse for this change. Another annoying combat change is that when sprinting (but ONLY sprinting) your character usually takes cover automatically when approaching something. At other times, you have to use a "cover" button. But the same cover button is also the "vault over" button. So often during a heavy fight, you will sprint for cover and inadvertently try to take cover at the same time, resulting instead in you just leaping over the cover directly into enemy fire. It's maddening.
4) The one gripe most people have about ME is the APC land rover, and how boring it was to drive around empty planets looking for mineral deposits or crash sites. I'll give you that one. However, ME2 somehow managed to replace this tedious exercise with something even worse: planetary scanning. With this horrible mini-game, you use a circular scanner to actually rove a planet's surface looking for mineral deposits or anomalies, which you find when your scanner readouts spike or the controller starts shaking. However, even with an upgraded scanner the entire process is TORTURE. It takes 10-15 minutes to do a single planet, and you can actually run out of probes and have to fly off and buy more. Why could you spot anomalies and minerals from space in ME and see them on your rover map, but now you have to look by hand? The entire thing is like pulling teeth -- I am honestly at a loss to figure out why anyone thought this was a good idea. It's like something out of a Star Trek game from the late 1990s.
5) Character growth. You don't earn EXP for killing things anymore. Think about that. Instead, you usually (but not always) level up once at the end of each "mission" -- but sometimes if it is a side mission you get a whopping 125 EXP instead. The entire thing is idiotic. Combined with maybe 1/2 the number of skills from ME and you are left with an extremely reduced RPG element that skews the game far more towards the FPS side of the scale. Mass Effect gave you EXP for things as mundane as opening boxes, while ME2 barely even notices when you shut down an entire factory filled with murderous assault droids. It's amazing how this makes you feel like you are just wasting your time with most missions. And things that mattered a lot in ME are pointless now. An actual conversation I had with Captain Anderson went basically like this:
"So, want to be a Spectre again?"
"Sure."
"...Congratulations."
Whoopity doo. Similarly brief and unsatisfactory interactions with the comrades you saved the freaking galaxy with in Mass Effect have all the feeling of cameos of people being written off sitcoms. I think we can all agree that Wrex rocked Mass Effect so hard we'd all happily play a 200 hour side mission with him, and yet in Mass Effect 2 he spends the entire game sitting in a chair. Literally sitting in a chair!
6) Locations. Remember the Citadel in ME? Pretty cool place, right? Well, in ME2 you can explore only a tiny fraction of it. One level seems to consist entirely of Captain Anderson's room. So too in many of the other locations -- there is almost no map divergence; you basically just run in a straight line from start to finish, with a few corners or stairways thrown in. I honestly don't know what happened here. In some places you feel like you're entering a giant maze or space station, but almost always you find out the maps themselves are tiny. Another frustrating addition is the fact that levels and missions often end extremely abruptly and without warning, keeping you from collecting equipment. Always, always, always pick up any equipment or open any chests before you move on to the next room, because every door or computer terminal could actually be the end of the mission, which teleports you back to the ship and prevents you from exploring anything else. It's also painfully obvious whenever a fight is about to start, because you'll see a relatively open area with a bunch of boxes and low risers for you to hide behind.
7) Graphics & code problems. ME2 is as pretty to look at as ME, but I don't remember graphics problems with ME. In ME2, I've seen people's heads on backwards, rapid fire facial tics, and even characters stuck in walls. Also, the "resume" feature on the main menu is extremely buggy. I've had it ignore recent savefiles and instead start me at a point 4 hours earlier in the storyline. Save yourself some headaches and use "Load" exclusively. Also hard save often; the autosave is relentless. I've actually had it autosave while loading (with both indicators popping up on screen at the same time). What this means is that if you "resume" and through a bug end up loading an old save file, the autosave almost always simultaneously overwrites your recent save with a copy of that old save file. So unless you carefully manage your files, you can lose hours when your autosave gets overwritten.
All in all, ME2 is a step backwards. If you gave the two games without any context to someone who has never heard of them, odds are they would think the original ME is the improved sequel. After experiencing the lobotomized combat system, deleted RPG experience point system, scarce loot, and reduced maps of ME2, I can't really argue.
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video-games_xbox
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Great Attempt at Real Football. In football, the Quarterback cannot see the the entire field from the XFL Camera, correct? So why should the person playing the video game? Backbreaker puts you on the field. You now ARE the Quarterback. You have a blindside. You have people in your way. You have to react to what the defense does and find the open man. Then you have to put the ball where only your receiver can get it.
This game is a fantastic first attempt at a new type of football game. It doesn't have the bells and whistles of Madden, but it has the gameplay that a lot of us have been dying for. If you're satisfied with Madden's gameplay, then you may be impressed by this. If you love Madden's gameplay, then maybe this isn't for you. If you can't stand Madden's gameplay, then this IS for you. Everything is physics based - can't stress this enough. That means the game tries to be honest. Diving through players is a rarity. Players getting locked up in animations is a thing of the past. If you're running around an offensive lineman to sack the QB, no longer will you get pulled or sucked into a blocking animation. No more "no look interceptions" - but there are plenty of interceptions and they feel honest.
The "pick up and play" is a bit misleading, because this takes a lot of time to get the hang of.. If you try to play it like it's Madden, you'll throw pick after pick. Nothing in this game feels pre-determined. Sometimes in Madden, it feels like you had no chance on a play. (The tackler just bounces off the QB, and its not an animation.. or the defender spins around at the last second to go into a blocking animation instead of just continuing on to sack the QB)
I would recommend this to anyone who feels like Madden is just a roster update each year. In Madden 11, the whole locomotion thing? It's here. And here, it's combined with actual physics so that you DO plow over defenders if they're not in a good position to make the tackle. Some are complaining about how each player "weighs the same" - meaning that if a 300 pound player and a 150 pound player ran into each other at full speed, they would just each fall over on impact. This is Bull, this is fiction that just isn't true. Not once has my running back plowed over a nose tackle in this game. And meanwhile, over in Madden, nine times out of ten Darren Sproles will perfectly block Shaun Rogers. Madden is ten times worse in this regard.
And regarding the lack of NFL license? It's not difficult to get around this. Just do a google search or two and you'll have all the teams and players that you want. You'll even be able to make the conferences and divisions. It took me all of 15 minutes to set this up.
Franchise mode lacks, but to me, the gameplay makes up for it, and really what's important? Being able to set the price of hotdogs? Upgrade your stadium? Or have a game of football that tries to be honest and not just animated? The camera angle is fine, but it would've been nice to be able to move it around on replays. No saving replays. But again, this is all just bonus that they seemed to overlook in favor of making a kick*ss FOOTBALL game.
I'm sure Madden 11 will have all new animations of fans playing cornhole and the referees running out with the measuring sticks, and that's fine. But I'll take FOOTBALL over that extra crap any day. And for the Madden die-hards, guess what - Your franchise mode sucks too, why? How many times have you gotten a player injured for the season and had to release a completely different player to replace him, because the injured reserve does nothing? 4 years now and Madden still doesn't have a working injured reserve list in their franchise mode. But you can put nice TVs in your stadium.
I totally recommend this game, it is a great new choice of how to play video football, in a world where we should have options. We should not just be held hostage to one game. Whether you love Madden or not, you can't disagree that point. We SHOULD have options. We should be able to have the god awful NFL Blitz back. 2k Sports should be able to make NFL 2k11. 505 should be able to release Backbreaker NFL. This whole exclusive license thing is horrible. And until we get legit new football games like this one, we're going to be stuck with one type of game.
Gideon summed this up best - "Madden is the fancy restaurant and atmosphere, Backbreaker is the actual steak dinner." Thank you for reading.
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video-games_xbox
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it got old pretty quickly. Largely a rehash of the original in . Fair. For me, it got old pretty quickly. Largely a rehash of the original in a different locale. Nice that it has some sections somewhat near coastal water, but you're blocked from getting too close (unfortunately). And there are significant portions of the map you're blocked off from that you apparently have access to in the XB1 version. I don't miss the annoying cut scenes with rivals from the original, but I do miss the attractive female Festival attendees - they're pretty much completely MIA this time. And instead of Ms. Hart from the original, your race adviser in this sequel is a guy. As before, the towns are largely lifeless ghost towns. The opponent AI is a bit too aggressive for my taste - it often feels more like demolition derby than actual racing (which basically applies to all Forza titles I've tried - 3, 4 & FH1). And the traffic is always getting in the way, especially at the most inopportune times. In case anyone from Turn 10 reads these reviews, if there's going to be another sequel (at least for the XB1), I would suggest:
Add some life to the towns. You can keep the pedestrians behind guard rails to avoid any carnage if you want, but give us something to break up the sterility of the towns.
Also in the vein of visual interest, how about optional billboards that we can customize with our own ads, photos and video clips? It would be especially cool if we could save a library of ads, photos and video clips to the game's save data on the hard drive, and have the game randomly change what's displayed on each billboard.
Avatar modifications.
The option to turn off traffic in Free Roam.
Additional competition types: Custom (we set the parameters), Elimination, Endurance, Time Trials, etc. EA's Real Racing 3 has an interesting mix of types - reviewing their mix might spark some ideas.
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video-games_xbox
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Poor installment in an otherwise fun franchise. Preface: I thoroughly enjoyed Resident Evil 5, my first entry into the series, enough so that I immediately purchased Resident Evl 4 from the game marketplace when it was released. Both games were exceptional, and I didn't mind the emphasis on action whatsoever. That said, I am a long-time fan of the survival horror genre also. I've played nearly every Silent Hill game since Silent Hill 2. I understand what a survival horror game should be like. Resident Evil 6 is undoubtedly neither a survival horror game nor a quality action game. For starters, this game has little-to-no resemblance as a survival horror game at all, so just go ahead and get that out of your head right now. The only similarities come in the fact that occasionally you'll run out of supplies such as ammo and health. Unfortunately, the game also fails as an action game and here's why...
For starters, the copious amounts of monotonous button-mashing and joystick-rotating is enough to drive someone insane. In the first campaign, you'll frequently stumble upon dead people laying about the ground. This is annoying in-and-of itself because your character trips each and every time, but what makes it worse is that many of these enemies reanimate and grab ahold of you, prompting one of many tedious button-mashing events to break free. This scenario isn't always caused by slumbering dead people, however. In fact, almost every enemy is likely to grab ahold of you at some point, and in addition to the headaches caused by these enemies grabbing ahold of you, the game frequently forces you to do mundane button presses like slamming x or b repeatedly to swim away or run away. The reason why I bring up the fake asleep zombies is because they represent a broken element of the game. After being grabbed by a seemingly dead enemy one too many times, I decided to shoot the next one I saw in the head a couple times to make sure it was dead. I watched as three of my bullets went straight through its body and struck the floor below the zombie. I figured it was safe to walk by after that. Wrong. The zombie didn't reanimate until I walked around him regardless of how many times I would have shot him. It's moments like these that make you question whether or not this is still a AAA game, and I assure you it is not, but not just for this small reason.
A greater flaw than the immensely annoying button-mashing gameplay mechanic Resident Evil 6 loves so much lie in the bosses. Resident Evil has been known to have boss battles that seemingly end once only to have that same boss return from the dead as an even bigger, badder, uglier monster than before. Resident Evil 6 takes this concept to another level. In Leon's campaign, nearly two full chapters, which is the equivalent of two hours or more of gameplay, you'll fight and re-fight the exact same boss for what seemed like six different times. I can think of four distinct encounters with him off the top of my head, but I'm sure there were more. At the conclusion of each, you're almost positive he won't return, but he does...and then he returns again. This wouldn't be such a bad thing if it weren't for the fact that each boss battle boils down to boss cliches such as shoot the big bad ugly thing in its glowing orange spot and then punch it in the face while its down or goad the big bad ugly thing into the exploding barrels and then set him ablaze. When you mix poorly designed boss encounters and a painful repetition of the exact same boss for two full hours, you've got a recipe for annoyance, which is a theme of Resident Evil 6.
My third major complaint that I'll explain in detail is that many deaths in this game come as a result of random, unavoidable events. I don't mind difficulty. Dark Souls and Ninja Gaiden are a couple games that come to mind that I thoroughly enjoyed despite their difficulty. The reason they are still fun is because when you inevitably die, you know it was because you simply weren't good enough. In Resident Evil 6, you will die many times simply because the game isn't good enough. Random scripted events pop out of nowhere, resulting in unavoidable deaths far too often. For example, a car accident bursting out of a side alley blindsides you and before you know what even happened, your dead. An ambulance races down the street and slams into a gas station, exploding everything, and before you know what even happened, your dead. A tank shoots a car on a bridge, causing a large explosion filled with toppling vehicles hurdling toward you, and befoe you know what even happened, your dead. In these moments the game takes the controller out of your hand. You are no longer responible for your character's well-being. Instead, the game is, and it forces death upon you in cheap, infuriating ways that will force you to restart from your nearest checkpoint. This is a game-breaking, fundamental flaw that you can't overlook.
In addition to these three complaints, there are tons upon tons of others. For example, one boss in specific requires you to actually lose. Yes, you have to lose in order to advance the game. After fighting this boss for 30 minutes, I finally gave up and figured the game was glitched. Truth is, I hated the game so much at this point, merely four hours into the game, that I wanted to commit virtual suicide, and so I stood in front of the boss and awaited my gruesome death with excitement. Then, as I was about to die, Resident Evil 6 switched to a cut scene and ruined my otherwise perfect suicide. If this doesn't exemplify how bad a game Resident Evil 6 is, I don't know what does. The game was so broken that I wanted to kill myself, yet I couldn't even commit suicide because the game is broken...
Honestly, I could give you many more reasons why I thoroughly hated Resident Evil 6. The context sensitive button presses of x+a at certain moments require inhuman timing, the dialogue is laughable, and why do I need two people to open a common door anyways? I would be typing all day if I were to detail each of my complaints. I do feel as though many of the positive reviewers for Resident Evil 6 have to be bias in some way, because I find very few redeeming qualitities in this game, and I've been playing games for a long time. If I were to list a few of the game's strong points, I would say that it gives you a fair amount of bang-for-your-buck at around 20 hours of gameplay, the graphics are fairly good, and the story is above average, but not nearly as good as people make it out to be. I assure you that these positives do not come even remotely close to compensating for the negatives. If you insist on giving the game a chance, which I strongly advise against, be certain you rent it or borrow it because this is one game I most certainly wish I had not bought for the full 65.
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video-games_xbox
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Good value for your money, excellent product. I purchased this bundle late last month, It arrived on time, no problems whatsoever. This system is amazing, more so now that the NXE (New xbox experience) update is out, the interface is extremely user friendly and there's so much to do without even putting in a disc. From streaming video and music from your pc to your xbox, downloading game demos, creating and customising your avatars, checking out and previewing upcoming games, movies, trailers... just to mention a few things. It'll keep you occupied for quite some time.
For me the 60 gig hard drive is adequate, you really only get 48 or so gigs and change, but that's the case with computers on a whole, so no real shocker there.
Anyone who would've done any research at all would know about the RROD (red ring of death) problem that has plagued the 360 since it's release. The good news is that Microsoft has made some adjustments with the latest batch of 360s that actually looks quite promising. Just make sure your system was made during the last quarter of this year. My system runs rather quietly, I was quite surprised at that after hearing about the 360 being the noisiest system around. It does hum, but not to the level where it distracts or is even noticable. Straight out of the box I've laid the system horizontally and mounted it on a stack of video cassettes so it could "breath" properly and receive adequate ventilation, it even has a dedicated fan on at all times. This really is a system that needs to be cared, so before your purchase put some plans in place to ensure you receive the longest life out of your system.
The games are actually quite nice, Kung fu Panda has a surprisingly deep fighting system... for a childrens' game. The game is alot of fun and the animation is amazing. Lego Indiana Jones is good too, although, in my estimation, to fully enjoy the experience (and the cut scenes) you might need to be a fan of the films. It's pretty straight forward fun for everyone.
Overall I give this system full marks. Being the first out of the blocks when compared to the other two, It's amazing that it holds up so well so many years later. Definitely worth the price.
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video-games_xbox
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At first disappointment, but then majorly redeemed. This has more detail than most of the models used in-game and for pre-rendered cut-scenes (at least I think they were pre-rendered). First, I was really disappointed by the battery compartment: it requires a screwdriver to open, it was hard to fit batteries into, and then it just didn't work (thanks to Amazon's review community, I got it fixed). I then looked at it to evaluate whether I'd still feel overall happy with a broken lancer replica (and what would be the chances I could even get a replacement). I noticed the hand hold was curved, but in-game it was rectangular. I noticed the barrel didn't stick out over the bayonet, but in-game it seemed to. So, I left a rather negative review. I noticed the bar that covers the ammo magazine doesn't cover the full length. Now, looking through the book that came with the CE of GoW2, I noticed that there are at least four different lancer models in use (just looking at barrel length and hand hold shape, complexity of sights change frequently also). While this may not be the lancer configuration used during multiplayer, it does seem to be the one used for cut-scenes, and is just generally the more practical one. The good points are too numerous to mention, but I've gotta try, considering. The blood spatter is fantastic, as it seems to have been applied in multiple layers, creating what I'd imagine to be a far more realistic effect than could be achieved via a single application. The cosmetic bolts used across the frame are sometimes real screws made to look like the fake bolts. The texturing used on the hand hold and grip make it almost feel like it's made of different materials. The ability to remove the ammo magazine, and to use the sliding handle are both nice attentions to detail. I'm glad they made this product, and I hope with the increasing trend of collector's editions we'll see more products like this.
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video-games_xbox
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awesome Halo1 goodness in a fresh package with new features. If you ever loved the original Halo game or if you were curious about the Master Chief, you have to get this game! The new graphics and sounds are just awe-inspiring. Everybody has heard that you can easily switch graphics back and forth but until you try it out, you don't realize how amazing the new graphics are and how quaint the original graphics were. You can either use the controller to switch graphics via the Back button or use Kinect by saying "remastered" or "classic". It's not just Halo at a higher resolution like the PC version was. This version has all new textures, new skeletal models, more polygons, more color, etc. For example, some wall may have a flat gray surface in the original graphics but then in the new graphics, it's a wall with textures, cylindrical tubes (looking like industrial piping), more color, etc. All the sound effects and music were redone (you can check the comparison videos on youtube from the developers to hear).
I won't go into describing the entire game and will rather cover the stuff that most people are glancing over.
A feature I always wanted to do online but couldn't before is the co-op campaign. Now you can do the co-op campaign over Xbox Live or via system link. In the original Halo game, you could only do splitscreen co-op campaign which means you had to have your friend come over and you had to split the screen in half. They didn't even allow co-op over system link back then. Also, the multiplayer in the original Halo was extremely barebones (you basically had deathmatch and capture the flag).
They've added skulls to find around the map and it's pretty cool searching for them.
They've added terminals into the game to tie Halo1 into the other Halo games and to give hints at Halo 4. These terminals are advanced versions of what was seen in Halo 3 and are only available when playing in the Remastered graphics. When you play with the original graphics, the terminals are static backgrounds.
The Kinect features are very very cool. There are ZERO INSTRUCTIONS FOR KINECT which is kind of sad. Luckily, the game uses controls from Dance Central but it took me awhile to realize this. In addition, you have to be connected to the Internet in order to download the update to get the Kinect features. The Kinect features do not come on the disc. Once you have installed the Kinect update from Xbox Live, the Kinect features are always available such as when you're offline. Unfortunately, the Library and the Analyze feature are Kinect only but if you really want this information, there are other ways to get it (just not within the Halo game).
As indicated in the video (but not described completely), when you say "analyze" you enter an analyze mode where the screen turns blue. anything that shows up as orange can be scanned. Analyze mode looks cool and looks like the thermal sensors of the Predator. so you point your reticle on the orange object and say "scan". it will then be put into the library for you to browse and read information about the object. You'll be scanning multiple weapons, characters, various types of enemies, ships, vehicles, etc.
When you're at the main menu, you can go into extras and then select Library. Once in the library, you can enable Kinect mode. At which point, you navigate the objects just like Dance Central. you raise your right arm up and down to go up and down the list of items you scanned. Then you swipe across your body to load the object description. you can rotate the object around, scroll text, etc. To get back to the list of scanned objects, you swipe your left hand just like in Dance Central.
Apparently, you can go to the library directly from within the game but I didn't try that.
For the voice commands, they're really cool.
The first benefit is you can change your settings inside the game without having to go to the menu/settings page. So if the level is too dark, you can say "brighter" and immediately see the changes. If you want more contrast, you can say "more contrast". If you want to turn off subtitles, you can say "subtitles off". Note that the settings has to be enabled before the cutscene begins so you can't say "subtitles on" once the cutscene has already started an expect to see the subtitles while in mid playback.
Saying "reload" is not useful. mainly because when you are shooting your gun, it won't reload with the voice command. You have to stop shooting for it to reload as far as I can tell.
"Grenade" is also not really useful but it's neat and more responsive than "reload".
Now the useful voice commands are things like "flashlight" and "change weapon". I actually much prefer saying it than pressing Y for changing the weapon. It's very responsive and just as responsive as pressing Y (in contrast to "reload" which has a little lag and the stupid have-to-stop-shooting) in my opinion.
I didn't try commands like "pause" but that seems useful (though I think I'll stick to hitting the start button for that).
The "Analyze" feature is uber cool. Even in the heat of battle, I was turning the feature on and scanning things as I was fighting. It makes it like an adventure game or RPG.
In the box, you get a single Anniversary disc which contains everything. So you do not need any other Halo disc to have a full experience. In addition, the game comes with a code so you can download the Anniversary maps into Halo Reach. That way, if you own Halo Reach, you can have all your maps with 1 disc. Similar to importing your Rock Band songs all into one collection so that you don't have to worry about multiple discs.
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video-games_xbox
|
Pirates Perfected. Sid Meier's Pirates! For the Xbox is a updated version of an old pc game. The updated version was originally created once again for the pc but is now ported to the Xbox with some changes from the original. Pirates! is according to Gamerankings.com the 780th best game overall and the 134th best game on the Xbox scoring a overall average of 83% from game ranking sights, but it is still definitely one you should not miss.
There are a large variety of activities to be done in Pirates!. After the game shows the opening movies and you pick the settings for your game you are left with a single ship and the whole world to play in. There are a variety of missions you can go on, but none of them are required. You can seek out pirates to kill for fortune and glory, participate in cannon battles between ships, loot cities, have sword battles, search for buried treasure, or marry the Governor's daughter.
The graphics in the game are quite good and change depending on the situation. If you are in a sword fight or dancing at a ball the graphics are detailed in a mixture of realistic and cartoon style. During the bulk of the game you look at a above head view of your ships as they sail the seas. The only disappointing graphics are when you chose to attack a city; I think they could have done a better job then they did on that part though it may be true to the style of the original game.
There are a few differences between the pc and Xbox versions of the game. All of the differences are good ones in my opinion. The dancing sequences which I found almost impossible on the pc are now much easier. The pace of attacking a city was greatly increased; in the pc version it could take an hour or more to siege a city. There is an optional chain of quests randomly assigned that can be seen as an optional storyline. You do not have to spend hours on land searching for treasure anymore; if you try to land near the treasure you will automatically find it. And finally the sword duels have slightly altered controls for the Xbox controller making them slightly harder.
Sid Meier's Pirates! is a fantastic game. Unlike other games that you can beat and get tired of this one has no real ending; as your pirate gets older he gets worse at everything he does so you have to decide when to retire. This is a fun addictive game that will keep you coming back for years to come. Sid Meier himself said on G4 TV that this was the game he got the most mail over the years to remake. Give it a try and you may be sending out email for a new version in a few years.
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video-games_xbox
|
Great Value, almost perfect. Honestly this is the only racing wheel ive ever had, but i can say without a shadow of a doubt, that it is a very solid and very capable piece of hardware.
The Wheel: The wheel is rubberized, so those with sweaty palms like me don't have to worry about the wheel slipping during a turn haha. The only really bad thing about the wheel is that its a little too small, but the paddle shifters definitely override that small fault with the product. Also, the Stick shift is a very nice addition that i don't see with too many wheels on here, but it sadly only works with sequential shifting, but i don't think they're are any console games that support any other kind. Also, it says it has force feed back, but even turned up all the way in Forza 3 and Test Drive Unlimited 2, you only feel a slight vibrations coming from the middle of the unit. The paddle shifters work A and X when hit in reverse, and A B X Y Select and start are all on the inside of the wheel, and the d pad is located where the horn would normally be.
The Body:It had a nice solid heft to it, but is sadly too plastic to not use the next nice feature: The pull down rubberized leg holders. You set the wheel on your lap in the grooves, pull the pieces from the interior onto the outside of your legs,and you are set to be as rough and as comfortable as you want sitting in any kind of chair, but if you have a table set-up there are 3 suction cups in a triangle formation on the base
The pedals: They have a very nice pressure resistance that isn't too resistant, but doesnt take too much to press down, but there is no throttle. Also, unless you are on tile, the rubber stopper feet make this slide around on carpet, so you're doing to need something to push the pedals up against. Also, they are wired with the type of computer cord that screws in, so you have no need to worry of accidently unplugging the pedals while racing.
Overall: Unless you truly fidget with the settings to get them to your liking, ive only seen exceptional performance with this wheel when it came to Test Drive Unlimited 2, and i see this as mainly being an Arcade wheel, more than a sim wheel because of slightly lesser sensitivity and bad force feedback. Although for the price, i would highly recommend this for immersion and overall fun.
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video-games_xbox
|
Decent Controller, Though Delicate and Pricey. I had the controller for about 2 months before it stopped working. I used it for playing games on my Windows 7 PC, mostly.
When I plugged in the USB, the Xbox ring would flash once and the device would be recognized as "Unknown Device". No amount of driver updates or driver list selects would work to fix the problem.
Now, hold the phone. I can explain this malfunction as user error.
After a long while of letting it sit and collect dust, I decided to open the rascal up and see what might have caused the malfunction.
I opened the controller to discover that the four wires (blk, wht, grn, red) soldered to the connector from the circuit board had become detached.
Because of how expensive this controller is, I would disconnect the USB cable frequently and store it in the provided Razer storage case, thinking it would prevent damaging the cable and connector on the controller. While this may be so in many cases, a problem arises when RECONNECTING the cable to the controller. I realized that I must have twisted the connector too much after it became fastened with all threads from the cable connection piece. There is little inside the Sabertooth controller housing to prevent you from twisting the connector inside the controller, potentially causing critical damage by tearing the wires from the controller's circuit board.
With that being said, I suggest that once the Sabertooth's cable is fastened and is working, DO NOT REMOVE IT AGAIN unless absolutely necessary. You must exercise extreme caution when twisting the screw of the cable to fasten it to the connector without damaging the controller inside.
Otherwise, I enjoyed the controller for various games on PC. The joysticks are outstanding, as well as the buttons with their arcade-esque click and the responsive triggers. The D-Pad, while precise, takes some getting used to (especially for fighters on the X360). Its a little stiffer than most D-Pads and requires a firmer press to register.
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video-games_xbox
|
Not dead but maybe on life support. I was pretty disappointed with this game. The premise sounds good sort of like Indiana Jones meets Lara Croft. Instead it's kind of clunky basic shooter game that's been done too many times to count. The graphics are merely so-so. In a story very reminiscent of an Indiana Jones movie, Lee Quartermain, Alan's grandson, is hired to help a group of archeologists find an ancient relic which can bestow great power. The group ends up running into Nazis who are after the same treasure. They must fight undead mummies and other creatures to survive and end up traveling from Antartica to a South American jungle. There are some puzzles added in to, I suppose, increase the interest of the game but I found them either extremely simple or completely illogical. The notepad feature in the game is supposed to offer tips to Lee based on the information from his grandfather's diaries. The drawings were poorly done and often were incomprehensible in my opinion. Points are earned for finding treasures whereby Quartermain can increase his health, stamina or combat abilities. There's very little to the adventure other than moving through ancient archaeological sites, finding treasure and shooting either mummies or Nazis. All, of course, leading to the final showdown for the sought after artifact. I really don't understand why this game is rated M. Other than the shooting, there is nothing else that would warrant a mature rating. A Teen(T) rating would be more appropriate and would probably have made me less likely to have paid the full pre-release price for a game that is sure to quickly get discounted. I'm going to rant for a second and say that there have been very few really good Xbox 360 games that have come out in the past 6 months. I know there are a few exceptions. Obviously, they've been putting all the effort into launching the new Xbox One but we loyal longtime customers who want to keep our 360's shouldn't have to suffer. I've got high hopes and a pre-order for Dying Light coming out soon. As far as Deadfall Adventures, if you want to try it, I'd definitely recommend waiting a month or so for when it will probably come down at least 50% in price. Or, if you haven't played the latest Tomb Raider, just get it instead. It's much better than this cartoonish attempt at an adventure game.
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video-games_xbox
|
Sometimes what you fear the most is the fear you can't forget. Thirteen years ago, Resident Evil cemented itself as a pivotal title in the survival horror genre. After years of sequels, spin-offs, and certain imitators, Resident Evil 5 is here, like it or not. The story takes place a decade after the disastrous outbreak in Raccoon City. The Umbrella Corporation no longer exists, but bio-weapons are now being sold on the black market to terrorists. Not taking any chances of another biological incident, world governments have formed the BSAA (Bioterrorism Security Assessment Alliance). Chris Redfield, now an agent for the BSAA, is sent to Africa to investigate a possible attack. If you've played Resident Evil 1 & 4, you know that it starts off as a routine mission that quickly becomes a nightmare. To start off, a lot of the mechanics are similar to the fourth game in many aspects from the over-the-shoulder camera angle to the combat system. The merchant is gone, and now you buy, sell, organize, and upgrade in a black market screen that pops up after you die, restart, or finish a chapter. One thing that's also new is co-op where a second player can join in and play as Chris's new partner Sheva Alomar online or offline in the room with you. Although I've not played single player, word is it's very crucial to find a second player for co-op, otherwise single will be a chore with the partner AI not being very reliable. The game also features beautiful graphics, unbelievable enemies, and certain characters fans should be familiar with which keep it all very interesting. For those commenting on the controls, this is not Call Of Duty or Gears Of War where you can run and shoot. Not saying those games are bad, I love them. But this is Resident Evil, the stand and shoot aspect of the controls have actually been around since the first game. Anybody complaining has probably never played a Resident Evil game. One thing is kind of a pain is the inventory screen which does not pause the action when you open it. However, this was in Dead Space as well, so I shouldn't complain because that's a great game. Nothing here should turn you off from giving this a try. Anybody looking for a great followup to Resident Evil 4 should be pleased.
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video-games_xbox
|
Not that buggy. This game is not that buggy if you don't count the few glitches that seem more like just a part of the game design than an actual "bug/glitch"...
This is mainly in regards to the issue of changing your POV and then looking back to the same area and seeing cars missing etc that had just been there moments before. It seems like they just designed the game to have this (or more likely just didn't add in the details like following the different vehicles progress until it left the area that you could see "without you moving").
I do not get any cases of the game freezing at all, nor any other glitches of any type (other than those few things that you barely notice and don't really affect much in the game). But any game is most likely going to have some small "bugs"...
My issue was not with the game itself but the Special Collectors Edition items. Or more specifically, ONE item, the 512 MB USB thumb drive.
The one I got shows up as blank on EVERYTHING I try to connect it to, no matter what device or OS used. It also shows it as being only 8 MB in capacity, not the full 512. When attempting to access it, it might say that it is blank or just needs to be formatted before use, but I get errors when trying to even format the thing. It is an "unknown filetype" as well.
I actually contacted the company (THQ) for support in trying to replace the device (just the USB thumb drive as everything else was fine) and was told that they could not do this, that they did not have any in stock and that I would have to contact the retail location that I purchased the Special Collectors Edition from to get a replacement product.
Kind of a hassle, but I emailed Amazon today and asked about this (even though I have already opened and even "used" the poster included etc). I asked if I could get a new product and just take the USB drive and send the rest of the new package back to them with the old defective USB drive, and they gave me a new order (currently processing) and told me to return the old one.
I guess this means that I am allowed to do this, though I do find it kind of stupid that I have to go through all of this just to replace the defective USB thumb drive. Also, that the *whole* product that I return (whether it is mostly new or even my old order items) will end up getting labeled as "defective product" once returned just because of the USB drive...
Very silly, but I want that USB drive, grrr. I just wish it was 1 GB in capacity like the UK version is (in their Special Collectors Edition set) instead of just 512 MB...
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video-games_xbox
|
Ah-mazing. **UPDATE: The original product review follows this update**
Since I wrote my original review, I have played all the way through the single-player game once (and am starting a second play-through). I had read and heard a lot of complaints about how the game ends, but I honestly do not mirror those feelings at all. I feel like the game gives you at least two or three different options for your desired closure to the story. The options you get at the end are directly tied to your "Galactic Readiness." If you want to have a "happy" ending, then make sure you take the time to develop relationships (not necessarily just the romantic ones) and make sure you spend the time on the side missions. They are cruicial.
**ORIGINAL review follows**
Mass Effect 3 (ME3) has not disappointed. The graphics are even better than they were in ME2, the sound has been adjusted to be even better as well. I definitely suggest playing this game with surround sound and some decent bass. But, don't let my love for this franchise sway you one way or the other. Let me attempt to give you a rundown of the newest and final iteration of the series:
* Single player
o FANTASTIC storyline - just 3 hours into the game and I already have an idea of some upcoming plot twists that I am extremely eager to see
o Cinematics even more seamlessly integrated into gameplay and therefore the game itself plays even more like an interactive choose-your-own-adventure movie than before
o Mostly the same game mechanics as ME2 but there are some changes
o Improved cover system - largely resembles the Gears of War (GoW) cover system. In my opinion, this is definitely an improvement
' You can easily maneuver from cover to cover, as well as "quick kill" enemies that are just on the other side of your cover. The environment becomes even more integrated into gameplay and tactics
o Improved character customization: this has become a hybrid of the ME1 system (too many options) and the ME2 system (too few options)
o The same powers/skills we all loved from the original games with some improvements (keep in mind that outside of the demo, I haven't had a chance, yet to completely explore all of these improvements) - an example is that the Engineer can now deploy not only attach drones, but a turret sentry as well; but each of the character classes had similar class-specific updates to the skill trees
o Some new squad members to accompany your familiar team members - this gives the your team afresh feeling as well as familiar feeling
* Multiplayer (So far the vast majority of my multiplayer experience is with the demo. I played the multiplayer demo for probably 20-30 hours)
o There is nothing here to compare to previous games because in ME1/2 there was no multiplayer (MP) feature
o All cooperative gameplay - no competitive multiplayer option
o Teams of 4 go up against various enemies that are encountered in the actual game - you go through 11 increasingly difficult waves of enemies
o You gain critical War Assets for completing MP games - if you survive all 11 waves, you get more War Assets and a higher readiness bonus
' Even though MP is absolutely OPTIONAL to the single player storyline, it does benefit your single player playthrough by more quickly increasing your galactic readiness
o You level up your individual characters and character classes in MP just like you level up Shepherd in the storyline - but you have slightly fewer powers to level up
o All that I have left to say about MP play is that it is a TON of fun and the fact that there is a bonus integrated into the single player story just makes it all the more rewarding
* Collector's Edition - I have heard some people say that the Collector's Edition (CE) isn't worth the $20 extra, but I disagree and here's why:
o Tin case - probably worth $4 or so
o Downloadable content: character appearance packs, Shepherd appearance and accessory pack, N7 weapons packs, etc. - worth probably about $4-ish, each = at least $12-ish
o Digital downloadable soundtrack - probably worth at least $5 on iTunes or even more(?)
o Lithograph (it's small) - about $5
o N7 velcro patch - $2.50
o Early access to a surprise DLC mission - $3-$8 (depending on how intensive the DLC turns out to be)
o DC Comics miniature-sized comic book bridging the gap between ME2 and ME3 and following Aria from ME2 - $2.50(?)
o Art of Mass Effect 3 book: ~$10
o That adds up to: $44 on the low end, $49 towards the higher end
So, you're paying $20 extra for about $40-$50 worth of stuff. Not only that, but all of it is very nicely polished and extremely well presented.
All in all, I would say at the least the basic game is well worth the $60 price tag, as I expect to play through it multiple times, not to mention the practically endless fun to be had with the multiplayer function. And, I would also say that if you're into collecting video game stuff, or getting more for your money, then the CE is worth it as well.
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video-games_xbox
|
Huge TotalA & SupCom1 Fan, but I hate this new version. I'm a huge TotalA and SupCom1 fan so I was so excited to hear that SupCom2 was coming out. I couldn't wait to get my hands on this game. I pre-ordered it and was waiting anxiously for it to arrive.
But then I played the demo...and all that changed.
One of the first things I noticed was the economy changes. And they are most definitely not for the better. In SupCom1, you could effectively queue up an infinite number of buildings and units. Of course, when you queued up a lot of stuff, they would all build slower, but managing the economy was the fun of it. If you wanted something to be built faster, you could always throw a couple of engineers on it and essentially increase its priority. Man, that was just a great concept and made the game so much fun! But in SupCom2, they for some reason decided to just throw that great concept out the window and replace it with the "so easy a caveman could do it" system where you can't even start building something until you have ALL of the resources collected already. And say goodbye to queuing up a bunch of buildings or units. Now you'll spend most of your time just sitting there waiting impatiently for the unit cost indicator to turn from red to green instead of performing more important tasks. All I want to say over and over again is "Why"? Why would they get rid of one of the coolest features of Total A and SupCom1? WHY!!!!??? While this new economy system may be easier for elementary school kids to understand, it is now only fun for elementary school kids. I'm so frustrated!!
The next thing I noticed was the research tree. Instead of there being 3 levels of factories, you now upgrade all of your units via the research tree. Once again, a new feature that changed a system that worked just fine to begin with. I actually really enjoyed the old way of upgrading units (by building higher tech factories) and building better buildings (with the higher tech engineers that come out of those higher tech factories). Wow..again another total fail.
Also, as was said in the other posts, the fog of war seems to be gone, which was pretty fun in the older games. And the unit/structure line-of-sight seems really strange. Some of the map seems to be revealed and visible, but other parts are shaded just a tiny bit, which makes it very difficult to be able to tell where your units can "see". Most of the combat occurs when the enemy units are just radar blips (but I guess is why they add the line-of-sight upgrades to the research tree, but it's really annoying nonetheless). And who knows the actual range of the radar structures, as the radar line-of-sight marker doesn't seem to match up with what's actually being displayed. It's all very awkward.
Needless to say, after I played the Demo for a few hours, I was so turned off by these so called "improvements" that I went and cancelled my pre-order. I'm sorry, but I can't support this terrible remake of what used to be a great game. I really love Total A and SupCom1 and I'm really disappointed with these new changes. Other than the fact that it contains an ACU and lots of explosions, this game should not be allowed to take the name "Supreme Commander".
I'm going back to play SupCom1 and I recommend you skip this game and do the same.
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video-games_xbox
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Solid but repetitive RPG. Id give this game an overall score of 7/10:
Character: The game starts off with some pretty nice character design, although many of the options are pre-built, such as the base facial structure. This is fine with me, as I really don't need the precision of character design like in Fallout 4 where you can change their eye and nose shape. Choose from a list of about 6-10 currently unlocked items for each group, with about 2/3 of the items to be unlocked later in the game (or paid by microtransactions). Side note: I did not find the micros to be in any way intrusive, as almost all the items are cosmetic and do not affect actual gameplay. You can also unlock a free gun in Ubisoft Club, so I don't see any reason to spend extra money on weapons or items with micros unless you really want.
Progression/ Items/ Interface/ etc: Weapon customization is pretty straight forward if you have played COD/Battlefield or most any game where you are able to modify bits and bobs of your guns, and of course there are more micros for gun skins (cosmetic), but as far as I know all the attachments and most of the guns in the game are unlocked by normal progression. The skill tree is pretty easy to understand, with even locked skills telling you exactly what they do and letting you know in what situations they would be for. The overall game map is quite nice, letting you see the overall hierarchy and your progress when you zoom out completely, which is very nice considering you have to use the map quite a lot. One of the stranger aspects of "leveling" is that you actually have to find skill points in the form of medals or other items, and you use those skill points with 'resources' to level up a skill, so needing two separate resources to level is a bit different from your standard leveling system. The skills do add quite a bit to your character, but I also think you could relatively fly through the main story of the game without too much leveling if you wanted as long as you were patient.
Co-op/solo: This is a bit tricky because I've had various experiences with different play sessions. First off, single player gives the impression that the companion AI's are useless and don't help. In my opinion, most people who believe this don't understand how important "Sync Shot" is. This basically puts an icon over an enemy's head with a corresponding number (player 1 has a 1 above the head, player 2 has a 2, and so on) and is essentially the most useful aspect of playing solo. Leveling up this skill is tremendously helpful if you simply don't want to play with another person, and I think this throws a lot of people off the game for it being too hard or unresponsive. The AI's are not very helpful unless you use sync shot.
Now, for co-op play, I really had a lot of fun. If you have a friend or two who you can talk to and coordinate with, the game becomes very fun and enjoyable especially on higher difficulties. The sync shot ability is also helpful here, as if you want to play with a stranger and not use a mic, you can put icons over someones head that will flash until the other player has their gun trained on them, at which point it stops flashing and becomes solid. IMO, this is a handy way to do co-op. Any player can also physically be at any point on the map they want at any time, giving a great feeling of freedom.
Gameplay: Having finally beat this game 100%, I can say that while I had fun, the game is extremely repetitive. As I mentioned before, you need resources to level, such as Gas, Medicine, Communication tools, and Food. You can obtain these by finding random boxes around the map, stopping convoys, or doing side missions such as stealing planes or helicopters. And you do this many many times in order to get all the resources you need. Also, many of the core missions revolve around you attacking some base/outpost/house, so you really have to enjoy the stealth/shooting mechanic of the game. Later on you can have the ability to get an explosive drone or call down mortar fire, but since most of the harder areas require a fair amount of stealth, it becomes very repetitive. I suppose that getting some game lore and hearing audio files helps the collection bit of the game(Notes, legends, etc), especially since they give you ratios of the items you have discovered for each area right on the game map, but it becomes a chore. This is the main reason I gave 7/10, since I think they could have varied a lot of the activities you do and made it a bit more diverse. The overall story is pretty nice too, even if the overall plot is pretty obvious. I also want to mention that one of the voice actors (I believe it is Mark Holden as Boston) feels very stale and some of his voice acting is just downright awful and totally broke any immersion I had.
Overall, this is a fun game, and what you feel in the first 5 minutes of the game is what you get for the rest of it. To me and my friend, this game feels like a mix of GTA/Farcry/Just Cause rolled up into a spec ops vs cartel sort of environment. However, the game also gives you as much as you put into it, which is nice considering people like to play games differently. I also have not played very many previous Ghost Recon games, as I know many fans dislike the different direction they went with the series, but I have played a LOT of Ubi games and this feels like it too. I would say if you enjoy open world games or FPS RPG style games, you should give this a shot.
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video-games_xbox
|
halo. here we go here we go...the ghetto jam is about to begin...THIS GAME SUCKS AND BLOWS all at the same time. When i first started playing the darn thing i thought to myself, hey this is kinda fun. Let me get to the point. This game should have ended after the swamp level and before the library...at the library level that stupid construct kept laughing and and going and going and going and going and going and going...kinda annoying hey. I kept thinking to myself the game was dragging on way too long. Its like watching a movie where the interesting part was at the beginning, and you keep waiting for the end and two hours later...the end. Watch the movie sideways, you'll know what i mean. The only purpose for dragging it on was? so you could shoot more evil dead people? what a joke. I borrowed this game from a friend...tommorow i'm sending him a pile a dog crap in the mail for fair trade. on second though i'm keeping my dog crap and mailing hime back the game.
Lets talk about the enemies...SUCK! the AI is stupid, so to make up for stupidity they just throw about 1 million evil dead monsters at you.
How about the weapons...SUCK! no variety, slow, and and ability to hold only two? what numskull thought this was a good idea. Here's a game concept...lets make a game where your weapons are interesting your variety is huge and the weapons themselves are fun to shoot. I ended up using the first weapon i had throughout the game because all the other ones sucked. I tried to care about getting to the end in this game but i felt like the japanese lady on dude where's my car...and then? AND THEN?....and THEN... a n d T H E N. how about just end it already. I wanted to take one of those cheap rocket launchers from the game and shoot myself but then i thought...no, i'll just use the alien gun.
My advice to microsoft...stop mixing prozac with viagra...and then do the world a favor and don't ever make video games again. No, i'm serious, don't ever make video games again. You people suck...stick to microsoft flight simulator...which no one plays anyway. well this is the end of my review...but first...let me talk about something else for an hour...no really this is the end...wait, oh no something has gone horribly wrong...now we have to run 2 kilometers to meet with the drop ship...oh no the drop ship has been chased by aliens...have to run 3 miles back the way you came...only there are aliens in the way...oh now the ship's not going to make it...now we have to get in a lame vehicle and drive into as many obstacles as we can. but wait we only have 30 seconds left. but the drop ship has blown up. oh no! now what do we do...lets do it all over again because its FUN? wait, i remember going outside was pretty fun and fresh air...i can't beleive i wasted my time on this game...i think i'll go outside now...but wait oh no the door blocked by fire! i'll have to go through the garage...but wait..oh no! the garage is 2 kilometers long and i only have 2 seconds...oh no! my alien mom is chasing me...
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video-games_xbox
|
Not bad, but missing that Fable feel. I would've rated this a 3.5, but since you can't I rounded down.
MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS
What I liked:
- Less scarring. In the original it was much too easy to get scarred up early on
- Buying real estate (and not having to keep running back to collect your profit)
- The option to be a woman
- Having kids (although I could've lived without seeing them pick their noses and rear ends)
- More expressions
- Naming my family... too bad they were just "nicknames"
- Everyone having names and their own likes/dislikes. Made it more personal
- No more aging when leveling up (Not enjoyable to have to decide to be old and strong or young and wimpy)
- The "loose" citizens. Yes, my character was a ho
- Graphics
- The slo-mo shots in battle
- Gargoyle hunting
- Ties to the past/original
- Dying clothes/hair
- The jobs and sidequests
- Missions involved more work, often sending you to several different places
- Experience potions
- The women's voices didn't sound like old hags when they asked for wedding rings, ala Fable
- More variety in people. Although most of them weren't exactly lookers
- Stealing. My favorite hobby
- The dog. I had more of an attachment to my dog than to my family
What I did *not* like:
- The aiming system with guns/bows sucks. In Fable 1 it was so easy, just double click to zoom in and decapitate bandits. Another favorite hobby, and missed it here
- I much preferred the medieval setting in the original
- Playing as a woman was fun...until you leveled up and she became a hideous Amazonian she-beast. I ended up concentrating on Will so as not to look so much like a transvestite. But then the glowing Will lines all over weren't pretty either
- Stolen items were mostly junk, and you didn't know what it was until you took it. There was no way to drop something worthless. Who wants a rotten apple?
- Missed the old lightning spell where you could zap several enemies at once
- Inability to hurt or kill Reaver. I so wanted to
- Kicking animals is not funny
- You never got to see Rose again
- Your kids constantly on your a** so you can't get a moment alone with your spouse
- Trying to gain the affection of just one person draws a crowd, and they're all affected by your actions
- And the absolute **WORST** thing in the entire game: you're followed EVERYWHERE. I cannot say enough how much I **HATED** that. It actually took a lot of enjoyment out of the game for me. When you're well-known you have mobs following you down the street, all asking to marry you. Sometimes the crowd is so thick you can't get through and they repeat the same things in unison until you want to rip your hair out. They even follow you into your house like they own the place. Out on the streets is bad enough, but in your BEDROOM? Ridiculous. I wanted some quiet time with my family; next thing I know there are strange kids dancing around the room along with a few adults chatting me up. Wtf, go away! There's no way to get rid of them. Trying to scare them also scares your family. They really need to let you shut your front door to keep these idiots out
..Okay, rant over
By the way, what does it say about a game that, while playing it, you yearn for the original?
All in all though, this game has its problems but is still worth a playthrough if you liked Fable.
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video-games_xbox
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Spider Man: Shattered Dimensions Review. Arkham Asylum was a bit of a fluke last year. No one expected the game to be any good since most comic book games were usually mediocre at best. Sometimes, like in the case of Superman 64, they are horrible, but mostly mediocre. With Arkham Asylum's success, it seems a lot of game companies are trying their hand at releasing a new and exciting comic game that will wow fans into buying the game. Spider Man: Shattered Dimension is Activision's attempt at doing so and to be honest, they come close.
The premise of the story is that Mysterio broke into a museum and while Spider Man was giving chase, a rare artifact was smashed and screwed up the rifts of time and space. The artifacts were each sent to a different universe (4 to be exact) each with their own version of Spidey. The first is the regular Spider Man universe you know and love...the one that you can read on the comic stands today, aka: Amazing Spider Man. The second is Spider Man Noir, a 1920's style Spider Man that uses dark leather and the shadows to his advantage. Third, there's Spider Man 2099, the Spider Man from the future who actually isn't even Peter Parker. He is technologically advanced and most of his combat takes place above skyscrapers in a futuristic city. Finally, there's teenage Spidey who has the Venom symbiote attached to him. But, the Venom symbiote doesn't control him with the help of a mysterious old woman and he just uses it to his advantage. Anyways, that's the premise. There's an old woman/sage who ties all the Spidey's together and you take turns chasing down the enemies and whooping their asses to get back the pieces of the relic to restore the space time continuum thingy and make life better again. It's a comic book story, don't expect anything stellar.
The story actually helps the game out because you get to switch characters a lot. The normal spider man is sort of a jack of all trades The Noir Spidey can't get hit a lot or he dies so his levels are very stealth oriented. 2099 is very combat oriented with a lot of high flying escapades (being that it takes place on top of skyscrapers). Finally, symbiote spider is also combat oriented with a lot of zipping around from place to place and unleashing your rage mode (thanks to the symbiote). The gameplay is varied enough to keep you occupied but there is also something else that will hold your attention...
The enemies. Yes, the enemies are one of the best things in this game. Each level is a different enemy and they are all superbly done. In the beginning of the level you meet your foe and you spend the rest of the level tracking them down to get back the piece of artifact they stole. Of course, it would be a comic if they didn't do something bad, like use the artifact to grant them strength or a unique power, so your strategy in boss fights is always two fold. For example, Hammerhead, Noir's first boss, has you sticking to the shadows and sneaking to the ground at the last minute so Hammerhead uses his gun on some derelict machinery. The explosion causes a cloud of smoke to appear and you have to jump to the roof and wait to pick him off while he can't see you. After you do this 4 times, you are now on the ground with an overpowered head charging Hammerhead and you need to dive out of the way while he rams his head into the wall. There's not much button pushing mayhem in this, you're usually going to need a plan.
The game also has a nice touch of RPG element to it. As you enter each level, you can glance at a web in the menus that has different challenges you can meet. If you meet these challenges, you get experience points you can spend on upgrades to all Spidey characters (this is usually health or something similar) or a specific Spidey move (combat moves, rage benefits, etc.) You could take the time to do each challenge and when you meet a boss be a little overpowered (but not much) or just play the game ignoring them and be fine just the same. They aren't deal breakers and really just provide extra moves for you to play around with. The health benefits and some of the other upgrades may be required on some harder difficulties, but you get experiences from other things besides doing the challenge. This light RPG element is a welcome addition to the game.
Another thing you'll love about the game - the graphics. Each universe has a different art style. The main Spider Man universe has a very cartoony/comic book look to it. The other worlds each have their own unique graphic style and it's really cool switching between each and noticing the difference.
So, I've said a lot of good about the game, now for the bad, well, not so good. Plain and simple, the game gets boring. I'm a Spider Man fan and I found myself getting bored with the combat from time to time, especially on levels I had to play a couple times due to dying. There is a lot of platforming in some levels and the stealth in the Noir levels can be frustrating as the camera tends to not know whether you are on a wall or the ground. This is a big issue when you need to take out a couple enemies silently or else they'll kill a civilian, ending your mission and game consequently. Also, on a much smaller note, the voice work is great, but very repetitive. Be ready to hear the same one lines over and over and over again as Spider Man constantly belts out funny for the first 100 times comments about the enemies.
All in all, the game is pretty good. Is it good enough to go out and buy? Ehh, maybe a rent. Actually, definitely a rent, probably not a buy. If you are a completionist and like comic books, then you'll love this game. The game gives you a percentage value of completion (a la GTA) and allows you to replay levels at your will. There's plenty of achievements for all you junkies out there and the game is a good one to play over a long weekend. Just don't expect a riveting story and be prepared for some repetitive gameplay.
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video-games_xbox
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WOW!! What a surprise. I bought the game for my 8 year old niece, but quickly found that the adults and teenagers in our home were fighting over who would get to play next! The graphics are some of the most beautiful I've ever seen on Xbox360, and the attention to detail is simply amazing. I know there are lots of familys with young children who haven't been able yet to afford going to the park,(I've been there) and this is the closest thing to actually being there that you will ever see! For those who have been to Disney, There are times when (with a little imagination) you really do feel like you're actually at the park, and interacting with the characters who are scattered about is great fun, but I imagine it could get a bit repetitive after a while. I still can't get over the way the game looks, (try finding some youtube videos of the game and you'll see what I mean.) It's a strange feeling to virtually walk around the park, and see places and compare things that you've seen when you were actually there, as an example someone in our group said "there's the table we sat and ate our lunch at!" My family has just started to unlock the seemingly endless quests, minigames, and the like that the game has to offer, so I will probably add to this review after we've played it some more, I just wanted to let anyone who might be looking for that magical Christmas present know that this game is a blast to play, and will suit ANY person who likes Disney no matter their age. It does require a Kinect, whish is a camera looking device that sits atop the tv and allows for a person to interact with the game by just moving their body, instead of using a controller. I would suggest either a new one from Amazon, or possibly looking somewhere like craigslist for one, as you can get them pretty cheap second hand. Well, I have to go now, it looks like it's time for fireworks over Cinderella's castle!
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video-games_xbox
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Each year is supposed to be better than the last. MLB 2K9 is a huge lazy disappointment. There's really no nice way to say it. The game was just starting to find itself in 2K8, but they decided to strip away features and dumb the pitching and batting down for this one. Let's hope they figure out how to make a real baseball game next year. They should really take a lesson or three from MLB09 The Show. Now THAT is what a baseball game should play like.
Simply put, here are the reasons this game isn't worth more than a ten dollar price tag:
- Much too easy to hit home runs. Even if you play with the difficulty sliders, it's still a joke. I had the power slider down to about 15 and started a season. After the first month of the season, I had five players leading the league with 20 long balls each. Ridiculous.
- Completely dumbed down the pitching stick and batting. Last year it took a bit of skill to throw your pitches with precision and the swing stick was great. They decided to strip that down for this game and now you can load up your back leg (or step) at any time and just let it rip. Pitching is a joke. Much too easy. Just like the rest of the game.
- Fielding. Or lack of it. If you barely touch the stick when getting under a can o' corn, you will likely drop the ball or completely miss it. And your infielders will double pump, take their time and sometimes cost you a double play because of it. While outfielders throw the ball as if their life depended on it. Completely backwards if you ask me.
- Hits. There is no variety at all. You'll see the same half dozen grounders and fly balls over and over and over again until you can't stand it.
That's just the tip of the iceberg. I'm getting angry just thinking about it.
And please, for the love of all that is holy, will a game ever make it to where a catcher rips his mask off when tracking a pop up behind the plate or near the dugouts? It can't be that hard to code that in, can it?
Dismal baseball game. The Bigs 2 is a better baseball game and that's saying something.
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video-games_xbox
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MW2 move aside. Alright lets clarify some things i'm seeing in other reviews here that don't quite make sense to me. Here are the important issues.
1. Online Multiplayer - If you're playing on an HDTV, BC2 has superior graphics to Modern Warfare 2. MW2 will look like a 90's arcade shooter in comparison. textures and layouts in MW2 are medicore at best for a 2009 released game, and probably towards the bottom 33% of games. BC2 has superb graphics, this includes the soldiers, the buildings, the landscapes, all of it! You will feel the intense realism of the game while running around the vast landscapes. You get the sense of a real battle because you can hide almost anywhere you would want in real life, unlike MW2 where your options are pretty limited.
2. Player vs Player - If you've ever noticed a constant delay in your killcam every time you died in MW2, you would think the whole server was lagging. You know when you've run behind a building and yet in the kill cam it shows you getting shot clear as day still running for that wall? Or what about when you're pounding down rounds on someone's face and they don't die, only to aim you down and kill you first? It doesn't take much playing in MW2 to realize there is about a 2 second delay from where the game tells you where you are, and where it comunicates you are on another player's screen. This is the result of all the rage and anger that mw2 can cause many players, mostly because it is unfair garbage and not really playable to any serious gamer. BC2 on the other hand DOES NOT HAVE THIS PROBLEM! This simple fact alone makes this game superior to MW2. You can actually enjoy a skillful game without losing out to someone else because of a design/program flaw in the game. Instead you'll find the more skilled player with a better shot is usually going to come out on top, but only if he can aim better!
This brings me to another point of the Melee or Knife attack. In MW2 you can simply run around and stab people as they put rounds into your chest from a foot away, and you'll end up killing them with a knife anyway. ONCE AGAIN BC2 DOES NOT HAVE THIS PROBLEM! Not only is the knife animation more realistic, gruesome, and just pure sexy looking, you'll be shouting how badly you just owned someone to all your friends. If you try to run up and knife someone IN BC2 who fires on you, don't get angry when you die, because in real life this is what would happen. But if you're still used to the terrible program animations and design flaws of MW2, you probably will be mad your knife didn't beat his gun.
3. The sniper class is very fair and balanced in this game. There are no magic bullets that travel 800 yards without losing elevation. YES the bullets in this game are impacted by GRAVITY! You have to actually adjust your shot with the marks on your scope (or MILs), unlike pretty much every other game on the market, where your shot lands dead-on your crosshairs no matter what distance your target is. When you start making shots across the map that you've actually earned by adjusting your shot, you will feel like a real Army Ranger thats going through the Top Sniper course. This is the type of realism this game brings to the table that makes MW2 look like a lost child in competitive gaming.
4. Ranking & Leveling - a minor annoyance you will notice is the advantages of high ranked players against someone who just started with the game. This is present in any online game however. Unlike MW2, leveling up is much slower and it actually extends the life of the game. This includes unlocking weapons, kits, and sights for your classes. It will take you a bit longer to get yourself on par with all the other high-ranked players. While it can be annoying, it makes advancing your EXP and rank far more FUN. I actually prefer this over MW2's system. At the time I write this review, there wasn't a single player on the leaderboards that had reached the rank of general yet.
5. Campaign- yes MW2 has a better campaign, and yes the story/intrigue/graphics/ etc are better. BC2's campaign is more open ended where you control where your squadmates go, not the other way around. For me the campaign is only about 15% of the game's worth, considering replayability. You'll beat it in about 10 hours or less and you'll probably be done after that, but this is true with any game. But don't take anything away from BC2, it is still fun and offers fun side missions like collecting every weapon, and offers hidden areas or "stations" that are much like finding hidden packages if you're familiar with GTA. If you're buying games for single player I suggest renting games from your local movie store.
In summary, the only aspect of gaming that MW2 comes out over BC2 is the single player game. This is great for single player fans, but for those serious gamers that want to have fun while being competitive online, BC2 is the game of 2010 that you should be playing.
Too long;Didn't Read summary: better online graphics, more fun than mw2, No mw2 super knife problems, no programming/graphic issues like mw2, no online cheaters/hackers, bullets affected by gravity is a plus, more replayability and more fun leveling system. Better than MW2 in pretty much every aspect. The online military shooter to be playing.
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video-games_xbox
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A beautiful driving game, but no leaps forward. I am not a big gamer, but I do like racing games. I enjoy playing Forza 5 the most out of the few games I have.
I have not owned other racing games, so I am not complaining about the game in comparison to anything else.
I like the car nostalgia that went into it, and the fact that I can tech my son about classic car history a bit (and get him interested into it). I think they have done a good job on the graphics of the cars and the tracks, but the scenery might as well be from an Atari game. Also, it is annoying that each track has static weather and time of day. So at Bathurst, you are always driving at dusk, so at some point you have the sun right into your eyes. That's kind of a stupid thing to simulate and leave you stuck with.
The graphics are not good enough to see the contour and texture of the road or sidings. You have to just memorize everything, which I have not done yet. Very frustrating if you try to cut the corner and you hit something you had not idea was gravel or sand. Also, speaking of Bathurst, a section of the long straightaway is apparently crowned, but you can't tell this at all. It makes control a major challenge.
Other major problems: Speedo is always on the bottom right of the screen. If there is a way to change this, please let me know. Even if you've got a view that shows the dashboard, that speedo is in not way visible or true. I have a fairly big TV, so having to glance away from the center of the road to look at my speed to help me adjust negotiating a curve (the graphics depth is not good enough for you to have a feel for how fast you are going) messes me up big time.
I'd like to have more tracks. It looks like there is more space for them, so I am assuming they will be added, you can earn them, or you can buy them at some point. Dunno. Weather would be good, too.
Other places this fails as a real simulation is that the AI drivers are homicidal. As far as I can tell, if you turn on the realistic damage option, your competitors do not have it, or else we'd all be dead after the first turn. Irrespective of my own poor driving, the AI drivers would all be disqualified after the first turn if these were real races.
Also, when you have any kind of cockpit view, there is no body roll at all. Even though I would not be able to "feel" it on the couch, being able to see it would help me control the vehicle better. A Beetle careening around a hairpin turn at 80 MPH stays as flat as an F1 car. Also, the brake and throttle are a bit too linear in my opinion. It's a video game, so you don't get any feedback, but it's generally hard to feather the brake or throttle. It has been very challenging to master, and in no way realistic. Some kind of visual "jerk" (not just the rumble) under hard acceleration would help. Minding the sound of the revs is about the only thing that helps.
I am still trying to tinker with everything to get it the way I want, but I think there will be no amount of tinkering that will correct some of these major issues.
At its core, it is a fun racing game. But I felt like this game was sort of marketed as a great leap forward in racing games, and that the XBox One was a great advancement. Compare to past racing games I remember, I don't really notice any great improvements besides the graphics to some extent, and Turn 10 has to be greatly under utilizing the power of the game system. To call some of the driver options "simulation" is also a joke. That means a specific thing, and they are not even close.
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video-games_xbox
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A late but still great game. After being on the fence with first person shooters for consoles( personally, I like FPS for the PC infinitely more), it was suggested to me to try Bioshock.
What can I say, it was an excellent suggestion.
If you are also skeptical about FPS types for consoles, or this game in general, perhaps this review will ease your mind.
The Good :
Graphics - Unique and very detailed levels. During the time of it's release, I'm sure the graphics would have blown me away. However, I can say that even though I picked it up at such a late date, the quality of the graphics were still very impressive, but, that's Unreal Technology for you.
AI - The enemies in this game are quite challenging and have their own tendencies. I found that encounters really kept my attention, primarily because the AI can be very elusive. It definitely isn't a 'stand in one place and shoot' kind of game.
Atmosphere - Definitely creepy, which is good. I loved the Doom series for that reason, and this game definitely delivers with a chilling and eerie feel. During your endeavors you will see moving shadows, hear odd noises, and come in contact with some wicked individuals.
Gameplay - While the controls are what most would expect, there are some great aspects to this game that make it more enjoyable. The upgrade system in particular plays a huge role in making you want to keep going. Aiming and positioning is also a big part of the game, and with some of the cool upgrades you attain, it really allows you to create your own style.
Story - Top notch. The first half of the game is generally spent trying to piece things together and figure out just what the hell is going on. Great twists are provided though, and there are even ways you can shape the events that happen in game. Warning, this game is not meant for the feint of heart. ( Although the plot is basically linear )
The Bad :
(I only have a few minor gripes about this game, which says a lot about it's overall quality)
Movement - Would have been nice to have a roll or sidestep ability. I felt like the overall gameplay would have been spot on with an addition such as those. In other words, strafing around in circles and hiding behind objects is as evasive as you can get most of the time.
In-Game Mechanic(Security Cameras) - While I thought this was a fine idea, the way security cameras work in this game are quite annoying. If you are spotted and trigger an alarm, flying bots swoop in one after the other until the 60 second security alert is over. Granted, the further you advance in the game, the easier it is to avoid these cameras or nullify the alert. However, for early game those cameras are an annoyance that just didn't need to be there.
Ending - The only semi major complaint I have with this game concerns the ending. For such a stellar game, the end was really lackluster to me, both in terms of the final challenge and sealing the story. Perhaps I expected too much, but the end provides you with a 15 sec or so cinematic then goes straight back to the start menu. I felt robbed of what could have been an epic finale. Also, the last boss fight is perhaps the easiest of all the fights, which made no sense to me. Plus, those damn security bots even showed up. Why did they have to do that? What a disappointment.
In conclusion, this is a fantastic game and well worth the low price it sells for now. If it weren't for a silly-weak ending to an otherwise top notch experience, it would have gotten 5 stars from me.
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video-games_xbox
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Greatness yanked down by poor decisions. Most people attribute the start of the Survival Horror genre to Resident Evil. While you can trace the birth of Survival Horror back far, far before that game (to Sweet Home or, if you want to stretch it, to Haunted House in 1981), modern Survival Horror games were firmly established by the first Alone in the Dark. Since that first game, though, the series has been an up and down roller coaster that never seemed to be able to outmatch some of the better known and more famous franchises like Resident Evil or Silent Hill.
So, when Eden Games started to work on reinventing the franchise, I was cautiously optimistic. A lot of the ideas and concepts they spoke of seemed like great ideas, and they seemed to be trying to Do Something Different. Unfortunately, the sum is not greater than its parts and Alone in the Dark, while reaching for the stars, can't stay afloat.
Things begin appropriately apocalyptic. Edward Carnby awakens in some hotel with some bad men arguing about cryptic shenanigans. Carnby, no longer useful, is led up to the roof to be executed but before that can happen, bad juju hits the fan as a "scar" tears through the building. From here, this first episode really picks up as you're trying to escape the building alive.
Here is where the goodness lies. Alone in the Dark has a great opening that's appropriately cinematic but in such a way that only games can do. The building starts to fall apart, you have to run and jump your way to safety, climb along the outside of the building while debris tumbles and while watching cars below you explode. You learn how Eden Games created some appropriately realistic fire for the game as you watch it spread and have to put it out or use it as a weapon. You'll see things happen to the various rooms you're in that will make you want to believe you're watching a cinematic, not playing through a game. It's very cool.
And then you try to move.
Movement is the worst part of the game. It's all controlled with one stick which makes actually moving feel as if you're controlling a drunk, disobedient person. Once you get a melee weapon in your hand, you'll see another problem: using the right analog stick to attack. You'll have to swing it one direction, then another just to attack. Unfortunately it's sluggish, as is the animation, resulting in you taking more damage than you should need to. Fighting monsters becomes a chore, one you'll grow to hate because as the game progresses, you'll learn that basically all monsters can only die via fire. So, grab that chair, light it on fire and swing away...hoping you hurt it more than it hurts you. Similarily, gun fights are also not terrific as you have to pop into first person whenever you want to shoot someone. No lock and pop here.
Likewise, if walking around makes you feel like a drunk, driving is a good approximation of drunk driving, I believe. The controls are incredibly loose and in the first driving portion of the game, loose controls isn't a good idea. What should be an exciting escape sequence that involves the ground behind you exploding, tears appearing across the streets, buildings collapsing, fire, death explosions, cats and dogs sleeping together turns into frustration as you'll probably find yourself repeating the episode. Over. And Over. From the beginning. It loses its fun and becomes a chore.
Towards the end of the game, the game pulls a Zelda: Wind Waker moment and has you hunting down certain things and destroying them in an effort, one has to assume, to artificially lengthen the game. If there's one thing that Alone in the Dark does exceptionally well, it's the pacing. When you hit this moment it's like running smack dab into a brick wall. It's sad.
There's a lot going for Alone in the Dark, don't get me wrong. The inventory system is a cool innovation. The whole episodic "TV show/DVD" feel is perfect, with DVD-style menus complemented by the ability to switch to any episode you like. The graphics are pretty decent, as is the engine it's running on. Some cool, small features, like the ability to blink your eyes is very effective during some sequences. And the pacing--for the most part--is perfect; it can really get your adrenaline going...until you're forced to repeat the same thing over and over again.
I really wanted to like Alone in the Dark. I didn't honestly think that Eden Games would elevate the game to the front of the pack, but there was enough little things and innovations that I thought maybe it'd be a good game. When I played it, I was amazed. Eden Games wanted no less than to shoot for the moon and make the most ambitious Survival Horror game yet. Unfortunately, reality is sometimes like gravity and unfortunately Alone in the Dark isn't the masterpiece I, and Atari, I'm sure, was hoping for. Definitely give it a rent, but I'd hold off on purchasing it.
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video-games_xbox
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The Best Lego Game Yet. I am 40 years old and I openly admit that I love the Lego games. They are a great casual gaming experience, perfect for those times when you want to play games but don't feel like playing something intense. Out of all my games, the Lego games are my favorite in regards to playing with my son, who just turned 11. Again its just a great casual gaming experience and I don't have to worry about things like violence, blood, gore, etc.. I Would honestly rate Lego games at the very top in regards to gaming for your kids.
As for Lego Batman, I think its the best Lego game yet. First and foremost all of the main villains are in the game. You have the Penguin, Joker, Catwoman, Poison IVY, Riddler, Mr. Freeze, Killer Croc, Scarecrow, Two-Face, Bane, The Mad Hatter, etc.. The game is basically split in two as half of the game you play as the villains and the other half you play the side of the heroes. This is one of my favorite aspects of the game and it really works in regards to keeping things entertaining. The game never gets old as your always playing as new characters. The game is split into chapters, 3 for the villains and 3 for the heroes. Each chapter has 5 distinct levels. So basically there are 15 levels in total and you play each level as both the villain and the hero.
One of my favorite aspects to this game is the different suits that Batman and Robin wear. Each suit has different abilities and you need to use the suits, in different combination's, to proceed through the levels. For example Batman has a gliding suit that allows him to glide long distances, a heat suit that makes him resistant to fire and heat, a munitions suit that allows him to plant bombs, a sonic suit that allows him to shoot a sonic gun that destroys glass objects etc. The suits are specific to Batmam and Robin and they are not interchangeable between the two. Only Batman can wear Batman's suits and only Robin can wear Robin's suits. These suits really add significantly to the game play and ultimately I think the suits are one of the main reasons why Batman is my favorite Lego game. Like the assortment of characters, the suits help keep things from feeling old or repetitious. On top of this, each character has unique weapons and moves. All of these things keep the game fresh and exciting.
I also have to mention how outstanding the level design was. This is another aspect where I think Lego Batman tops the previous Lego games. Each level was interesting and well designed. Some were better than others but all of them were fun to play through. I also have to mention the achievements as my son is a big achievement hunter. The achievements were entertaining and fortunately didn't require and sort of grinding. Some were a bit challenging for him but nothing that would cause any frustration. He got his 1000.
Bottom line - I am a big fan of the Lego games and have played all of them except Pirates of the Caribbean. With that being said, this was my favorite Lego game yet. Overall I think the reason for that is the overall variety that this game has. When you combine the playing of both heroes and villains, the Batman and Robin suits, and the unique moves and weapons that each character has....well, you ultimatly wind up with a Lego game that is more diverse and ultimately more entertaining than Lego's other games and that is Really saying something as I have really enjoyed all of the Lego games. If your a Batman or Lego fan then this should definitely be on your game shelf. If you haven't played the Lego games yet than what are you waiting for? Lego Batman is a perfect place to start.
5 Stars!
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video-games_xbox
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Never mind Peter Molyneux -- this is a great game in its own right. This is one of the few games that convinced me to buy an Xbox, and I'm glad I made the investment. Think GTA San Andreas minus the infuriating difficulty, change the setting to medieval times, and you get Fable. If you're like me, you've been wishing for a more action-heavy RPG, where you viscerally decapitate your opponent with a powerful slash of your sword rather than kill them by choosing options in a menu. Consider your prayers answered!
You have direct control of the hero in fast-paced real-time battles. You'll be swinging your sword around, hitting foes from afar with your bow and arrow, avoiding damage by dodging or blocking, adjusting to the flow of battle on the fly as foes try to swarm and surround you, and even pay attention to the weight and reach of your weapons. I don't think I can ever go back to a traditional RPG after playing Fable!
The main character's quest of revenge is a theme we've all seen before, as are the rather stereotypical characters (i.e. the self-absorbed, condescending rich-girl snob Briar Rose, the old and fatherly Guildmaster, the mysterious Maze, the enigmatic and evil-as-could-be villain Jack, and so on). But what matters most is how fun the game is, and Fable hits the mark. To begin with, there are many things besides the main story quests you can entertain yourself with. You can flirt shamelessly with the lasses (or lads if you prefer) - although they won't give you a second thought in the beginning since you're just another newbie. You can drink at a pub till you drop, gamble away your hard-earned money, or go fishing. If you're feeling spiteful, you can punch people at random or fry them with a lighting spell, or even kill them, although you'll have guards tackling you pretty quick whenever you "break the law." When you get famous enough that people start cheering at your mere presence, you can get someone to fall in love with you and get married. Of course, you'll have to buy a house for your new bride/husband, and since you can own multiple properties at once, you can rent out the ones you won't live in for income.
As is the trend in games today, Fable has no moral compass - be as evil or good as you want to be, although I found that the game actually has a subtle way of pushing you in the good direction: one, the vast majority of the missions that are offered in the Guild are righteous ones. Two, people will flee in terror at the mere sight of you if you're very evil, which makes it all but impossible to show off your quest trophies to earn some quick Renown Points. Three, you'll automatically gain small amounts of good points every time you kill a monster. And four: some gamers have said that merchants will refuse to sell you stuff if you're too evil (I've yet to verify this). All too often I found that being evil was simply too inconvenient, so I took the good path.
Another minor gripe I have is in the combat system: you'll need EVERY button on the controller for combat, and since the Xbox controller is big and clumsy for people with smaller hands (like me), it's a bit overwhelming at first. Probably the biggest fault is that you have to hold down the left trigger to stay locked on your enemy; using the left thumbstick to move the hero while holding down the left trigger is not the easiest task unless you have football player-sized hands. I would have preferred a system similar to Jade Empire, where you can simply tap either trigger once and stay locked on until you change targets. Also, there is a bug that sometimes causes you to lose your lock-on for no reason, even when the left trigger is held down. This is kinda frustrating when you're outnumbered and about to be surrounded.
Another bug I found is that sometimes your magic spells will be "locked" and unusable. This happens when you visit the town of Bowerstone, then leave to another area. What actually happens is that when you visit Bowerstone, the people there will tell you that they "like their peace in their town" and prohibit all magic and weapons inside the town's borders. Your spells are supposed to be reactivated as soon as you leave, but sometimes they get "stuck." When this happens you can fix the problem by simply saving the game and then reloading.
Fable is now one of my favorite RPGs of all time. And the fact that Lionhead Studios took a chance and made Fable exclusive to the Xbox, a console not known for RPG fans, is that much more commendable. I'm eagerly looking foward to Fable II.
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video-games_xbox
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Think of this as Pokemon at $20 a card. My son has been begging for this game but $70 is a bit steep. A friend of mine bought this game for his kids and I went to check it out. Its a C+ game at best. Within a week they were begging for more characters. Those characters (the little guys you place on the base pad) cost $15-$50 depending on which character it is and where you get them.
Think of this as Pokemon at $20 a card.
Your kids are going to want to collect them so every time you go into a store, they are going to be asking for new ones. Different stores carry different versions. There are some versions that are exclusive to Target, GameStop, Toys R Us and so on. Its all marketing to get you to keep spending money AFTER you have already bought the game.
If you look on the gaming websites you will see most rank the gameplay around as mediocre and nothing new. So you are paying $70 for an average game that you will later pay $100s to add on to.
This game is more expensive than most games and a lower quality product as far as the gameplay itself goes. You are paying more and getting less. If you want to add to the gameplay you have to pay more money to add more characters. Which increases the cost.
Lets make a comparison a bit more clear.
Skylander - $70 with an average user rating of 6.4/10 on Metacritic.
Lego Batman - $18 with an average user rating of 8.4/10 on Metacritic.
LEGO Star Wars III: The Clone Wars - $20 with an average user rating of 7.3/10 on Metacritic.
LittleBigPlanet Game of the Year Edition (my son's personal favorite) - $21 with an average user rating of 8.7/10 on Metacritic
Three games that are $50 less and have much better ratings
All the reviews talk about buying the extra characters to make the game fun. So lets say you spend $30 on characters. You know have a game you paid $70 for and then another $30 to upgrade totalling $100 to make it almost as fun as a game you could have bought for $20 that doesn't need upgrades to be good.
My advice, don't let your kids near this thing and don't waste your money.
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video-games_xbox
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If you have not bought this game, here is your formal invitation. First off, and as the title and ratings might suggest, this game is excellent. I mean, it's also excellent for many more reasons other than its replay value. Let's start the real review, shall we?
I first bought this game used around eight or so months ago for PS2 at GameStop. I beat the game in a few days (The story in the game is a little short) and absolutely loved it. I decided to share the love with my friends and let them borrow it for awhile and they've also had nothing other than good to say about this game.
So I decided a few weeks ago to follow up with my original purchase and buy it for the Xbox 360. I'm going to go out on a limb and say that the Xbox version must not have sold as well as there was a small price difference ( Around $12 for the PS2 version and $20 for the Xbox 360). I will say right of the bat that both versions are excellent and, believe it or not, there is little difference between the PlayStation and Xbox 360 version.
So here's a quick breakdown:
Graphics:
Good on both versions but the award narrowly goes to the Xbox 360. I noticed in the mission "A New Life" (Which is probably one of my favorites by the way) the graphics looked a bit crisper on Xbox 360 (Which I did expect). And If I have not reinforced it enough, the game looks great on both systems
Audio:
There is not a lot of actual music in this game other than its signature tune "Ave Maria". Of course there is all the sounds of guns and screaming when you take hostages and little tracks that play when your detected and such but not a lot of real music, but who cares? You didn't buy it for music, right? You bought it so you could go and cause chaos!
Replay Value:
This is where it really hits home. This game is great in terms of replay value. There are 48 standard rankings in the game, which rank from Terrorist to Silent Assasin to Loose Cannon to Madman and everything in between. There is also 19 special ranking you can get for doing special things (Like executing in a certain way) examples of these are Needle Pumper and Russian Hare.
Silent Assasin is one of the best rankings you can get. The game rewards you for getting this ranking with various things (Weapon upgrades, Achievements (360) and so on). Silent Assasin is usually achieved if you kill no more than your "hits". For this purpose, the sedative is the Silent Assasin's best choice. Fair warning however, the people will wake up if discovered! So do your hit quick and get out!
Like I said replay value is great. When you first get it you'll probably not get Silent Assasin every time but when you beat it you'll try to go back and do it (Gasp, a game that makes you think!?). And you'll also go back to have a little fun with your weapons and go on a rampage.
So this game is almost five years old, yet still incredibly fun. So as the title suggests, if you have not picked up a copy yet, here is your formal invitation to fun.
Oh, and I was not paid in any way by IO Interactive or Eidos for this review. This is solely my opinions and in no way is biased.
S.O.
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video-games_xbox
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Not the fable I was expecting. Like many people, I anticipated the release of Fable II the moment I heard about it, and wanted it to happen since I finished the first game, then beat The Lost Chapters in a span of seven hours. The great story, the detailed world, the heroes, and everything else about the original game(s) left me wanting more.
Well, here is what we got--Fable II.
Beginning in the slums of Bowerstone, we are introduced to our main character, as well as their sister. This is where the first part of the story comes in: character choice. In Fable II, we are finally able to select the role of either a boy or a girl. This is something I always wanted when I played through the original game, and now that I had it, I was extremely happy.
But, with the good comes the almost-immediate bad.
Fable has, and was, about the 'choices' that would reflect the word. Lionhead promised that our choices would affect the world on a massive scale. In the beginning, you can select to destroy stock, kill beetles, give arrest warrants to city officials or to criminals. These deeds, depending on how many good and evil you do, ultimately affect Bowerstone, but only on the most minute scale. I won't go into detail for spoiler purposes, but let's just say that starts out as one of my main quirks.
After you progress from childhood to adulthood, the real adventure begins. You get a sword, a crossbow, and a dog companion. Your weapons are wielded with the X, Y, and B buttons, and your dog is there to help you through the hard times. Don't know where your enemy is? Looking for treasure? Well, here's your dog, your ever-faithful companion. He (or she, depending on which you prefer) will guide you through the land of Albion, and help you during the darkest times of your quest.
Now, for all the good Fable has, there is the bad.
First, I'll list the good:
-- The story. For the most part, it's good, and it's expansive enough to cover a good amount of gameplay if you take your time and don't try to rush through it. Few characters are memorable, but the additions they've made to the world are great.
-- Gender-selectable characters. Male and female characters are much needed in RPGs. Thankfully, they're slowly but surely becoming the norm. You're no longer confined to a male character in Fable, which adds a lot of interesting depth from both main characters and NPCs.
-- The combat system. Its simplicity makes it extremely easy for anyone to pick up and play.
-- The customization. Beards, tattoos, makeup--we have it all. You can even dye your hair and clothing in the game.
-- The dog. Need I say more? The dog warns you about enemy, helps you find items, and even helps you fight off enemies sometimes.
Now... for the bad:
-- The ending. It was weak, and unlike the first two Fables, there was no epic boss fight at the very end. Instead, we are faced with a very simple 'choice' ending. The main baddy is easily dispatched, and although I won't spoil it, it's in the most unexpected way possible.
-- The 'choices.' While Fable II was supposed to be about the choices the character could make, few things actually change. Oakvale changes depending on whether or not you save the church, Bowerstone becomes rich or poor depending on what you do... and other than that, that's all I can think of. There may be small, minor things, but the 'choices that affect the entire world' don't really exist in the manner Lionhead originally stated they would. Well, except the choices at the very ending, but even then, depending on how good or bad you are, those choices don't make any difference anyway.
-- Replayability. Basically, you can play the game three different times, with three different endings. As it was in the first game, you could play the game through as a combination of the mage, archer and warrior, or you could play the game as just that class. The same goes in Fable II. While this isn't a big thing, it's enough to turn people off from playing it more than a few times through. You get tired of playing quests the same way after a while, and the fact that you have to go through the same scenarios with multiple morality/classes of characters can turn players off to playing the game multiple times.
All in all, I wouldn't recommend putting down the full fifty/sixty for this game. If anything, you should rent it at your local video store (or swap it on a trading website) before you shell out the money for the game. Honestly, if I would've known it wouldn't have the replayability value, I wouldn't have bought it for so much. Sure, I enjoyed it the first month (while I played through three different characters,) but you can't expect much more out of this game after that.
Fable II isn't bad--it's just not as amazing as it was let on to be.
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video-games_xbox
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GREAT Old School RPG. My favorite RPG of all time was, and still is, the Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind. I loved the unique landscapes, the static leveling system, & the unique loot that you could find anywhere. I weigh nearly ever RPG I play against the feeling I had when I first played Morrowind - I was completely engrossed in the environment of that game & have never found a game that could rival it. While Divinity 2: DKS is not on the same level as Morrowind for me, it does have enough great features that it is a complete steal at $40.
While Divinity II is billed in some of these reviews as an "open world" or "sand box" RPG, it really isn't in my mind. This is really one of my only criticisms of the game (and the reason it received an overall 4* score from me instead of a 5*). Taking Dragon form is phenomenal, one of the better experiences I have had in an RPG, but my enthusiasm for it is somewhat limited due to this not being a truly "open world" game. All I could think of when flying as a dragon was "Why can't I fly any higher?" or "Why can't I fly over there?" I'm a Dragon, after all, I should be able to travel wherever I choose to go. Don't get me wrong, though the game isn't as open as Morrowind or Oblivion, it is more open than a game like Dragon Age or Fable - so your ability to roam freely is pretty good, but it feels just a bit to linear for me to give it that 5th star. The world you explore, though somewhat restrained, is very colorful and bright, and while the graphics aren't going to blow you away, they also aren't bad - kind of middle of the road.
Where this game really shines is its leveling system/gameplay. As I mentioned, one thing I LOVED about Morrowind was the ability to run into a level 15 character at level 1 and get your clock cleaned. I hate games with leveled enemies. For me, Oblivion destroyed the best part about Morrowind when it included leveled enemies & loot in the game. When I become the savior of a land, an almost godlike deity, there is NO REASON a common road thug should have the same level of stats/gear that I do....leveled enemies destroy the realism of a world for me. Divinity 2 does a great job of making you struggle early (often running into some higher level characters), but at the end of the game, you'll be so powerful that you can destroy any foe in the game. Players should have to adjust to a game - not the other way around, and in Divinity 2 it feels like I am adjusting to the game. Also, this game doesn't hold your hand with a convenient little arrow showing you where to go for your active quest, the game requires you to think things through and discover where your next quest is on your own - I greatly respect that.
The leveling system is quite good as well - it requires you to consider what kind of player you want to become and start building character skills that have an end purpose (due to passive skills that support active skills). You really can play this game in just about any way you choose. There is random/leveled loot throughout most of the game, which I don't particularly like (I would rather it be static and the same in every game), but the loot is usually useful and aids you in your quests.
Ultimately, I really hope they create a sequel to this one and end up going full "open world" with it. If there were just a bit more time put into this one, I feel like it could have been one of the best RPG's I have ever played. As it stands, it is a great game that I would highly recommend to anyone who is eagerly waiting for Skyrim to release on 11/11/11 - this is a great game to fill that void.
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video-games_xbox
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Smart, fun, and rewarding gameplay. Tropico is a "build your own island" SimCity-type game with a distinct tongue-in-cheek slant to its delivery. You take charge of a small tropical island as El Presidente, and it's up to you to figure out just how you're going to keep things running smoothly. Will you support the island economy through mining? Farming? Tourism? Will you strive to keep your citizens happy by offering them tax cuts and free housing, or will you just outlaw elections and surround your office with military bases in an attempt to thwart the monthly assassination attempts.
The game's visuals are amazing. Every little detail is animated, and a great deal of time can be spent just "flying" over your island watching people go about their day. You can highlight any citizen and see their job, education, family tree, beliefs, and even their thought process. You may find several people upset that there are no luxury stores around, which lets you know to build a shopping mall that caters to high-end customers. You can also, if so desired, mark a random rebel or criminal to be arrested, assassinated or just to "have an accident".
As beautiful as the game is, its real appeal is deep within the mechanics that keeps everything running. Everything in Tropico is connected in one way or another. Building logging camps is a quick way to boost the economy and provide jobs, but angers environmentalists. Shallow displays of patriotism impresses the uneducated, but bothers the intellectuals. Quite a few times, you'll find that your island dwellers need healthcare and education, but the buildings will remain unoccupied until you find qualified staff to run them. Building a solid base early on is essential to a productive island later on.
The music is catchy and infectious, but is way too short. The soundtrack is an earworm of the worst kind, and it's gotten to the point where I had to mute the music and start playing my own. I really wish there was additional music available for download, because it'd be a necessary purchase after just a few days of gameplay.
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video-games_xbox
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Good Product for the Price - Excellent Performance Once Set Up. After suffering for many months trying to stream DLNA content over a 54G network to my PS3, I stumbled across the Trendnet Wireless Gaming adapter. The price is great and when I received it from Amazon, I was pleasantly surprised that it was far smaller than I expected. It's about the size of a wallet and hides next to the PS3 really well. I was a little disappointed to find that the setup required a direct connect to a PC, running a CD-ROM based setup program. There is a ROM based interface built into the adapter (which wasn't really detailed in the documentation), but you have to run this setup first. (Some of the documentation and specifications are a bit vague; for example, I still want to know if the Ethernet port is 100 or 1000 Full) Within very little time however, I was up and running. The good part: it's really fast! All of the delays I'd been experiencing before, with Cat5e cabling or 54G wireless, were gone. Streaming directly from Netflix works flawlessly, and streaming from my PC running PlayOn worked so much better. I am connecting it to my Belkin 802.11n Network + router. It didn't take long, however, to discover one big issue though. Between uses, the adapter would drop off the wireless network. Didn't matter if I left the PS3 on or turned it off. I tried setting a static IP address on the PS3 with no improvement. Each time, the only thing that worked was to disconnect and reconnect the power to the adapter, resetting it. The PS3's DHCP request would then be passed and everything would be fine, until the next time (usually the next day). Not finding anything on the Internet, I tried a variety of settings until I found one combination that worked. I had to access the Trendnet adapters interface from a PC on the wireless network via browser, whatever it get assigned by the router, something like [...] I disabled MMS- basically the Quality of Service option, and I changed the Channel Bandwidth from 20 to 20/40. Now, it stays on the network for days and works flawlessly. I'm very happy with the product now that that issue has been resolved. I'm assuming the issue was a result of a minor incompatibility between the adapter and my Belkin 802.11n draft router running on 2.4Ghz only, especially since most people seem to be having great luck with theirs. If you experience the same issue, give these settings a try.
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video-games_xbox
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Decent game with several flaws. Another year and another Madden release. Each year more and more friends of mine raise the question why EA Sports elects to release a new version every year in lieu of turning one out every other year and truly focusing on the game, its flaws, etc. The answer is simple, money. They know so many will buy the game each year and that equals $.
The new physics engine they so openly marketed over and over is, I'm sorry EA, a joke. I thoroughly enjoy Madden, don't get me wrong, but when you try to sell me on a new aspect of the game and it turns out terrible it's hard for that to NOT be the focus of any review. Players appear almost as if they're string puppets with appendages flailing everywhere once they're hit. I've even had my running back seemingly do the splits after being knocked to the ground because of the faulty animations.
The game has become so complex they actually had to revise the standard opening sequence to help people find the generic Franchise mode because it was now replaced by two separate modes; Coaching your way to a Championship or by creating your own player (or playing as an existing player) through your own career. On the plus side, you can now call your own plays which you couldn't in the past. However, it's becoming more and more evident that the age of offline play is quickly vanishing. So much is built around online play that offline features are often lost and/or forgotten.
As a former football player, and devote fan of the game so many small aspects of this game are missing that can make such a difference. Where is the crowd noise during 3rd downs? Where is crowd noise following a big play? Where is the on-field talk among players? These are professional players, but they're still impacted by home/away games; crowd noise; rookie versus veteran tendencies.
Graphically the game is smooth; however, no matter what they sell you on, players STILL magnetically attach themselves on the line of scrimmage. Lineman are almost non-existent because 90% of the time you're "locked" into a battle at the line. Stop with the cheesy pre-game announcements also. No matter how hard you try, any announcer will appear digital, so why bother? Keep it to the sounds and give up trying to create "lifelike" appearances off the field.
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video-games_xbox
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Don't Buy Yet. I owned an original wired Fender Rock Band Guitar. That one works awesome, and I consider it superior to the Gibson Guitar Hero III guitar. However, I just got my wireless guitar, and the tilt sensor does not work. I went to the support website and forums. Apparently many of the first batch of wireless guitars have this problem. Although this is covered under warranty, I will be without the guitar for approximately 21 days while they ship me a box, in which I will ship my broken guitar back to EA. They will then ship a replacement wireless guitar. I would urge caution when buying because of this. Hopefully, EA and Harmonix will rectify this problem and future production batches will have better quality.
**Update**
30 days after sending my guitar in for replacement: EA says all replacements are back-ordered and could take an additional 9 days more from their orginal 3 to 4 week replacement estimate. Buy at your own risk! Other wireless guitar controller issues have been reported on the Rock Band forums as well. I would recommend buying this guitar at a brick and mortar store where you can return it immediately if you have problems. The warranty replacement takes way too long. Some people on the forums even report that their replacement has issues as well. It's a shame because Rock Band is an awesome game.
**Update 2**
After 35 days EA sent me a wired guitar controller to tide me over until my wireless guitar controller is repaired or replaced. The cool thing is I get to keep the wired guitar even after my wireless one is ready. I didn't call them and complain either. EA did this without my provoking them.
**Update 3**
After 45 days EA sent me a replacement/refurbished/repaired wireless guitar. The guitar performs as advertised. The tilt sensor works great, as well as all the buttons, etc... I definitely consider it superior to the Red Octane Gibson Les Paul Controller for GHIII, which also works on Rock Band. Downside for this controller is that it does not work on any of the Guitar Hero series of games. One minor complaint for EA: When they shipped my guitar they packed an inordinate amount of silica gel packs with it. Some of these packs leaked small pieces of silica which fell inside the guitar and now make a rattling noise when I move the guitar controller. I'm hoping the wireless controllers out now are of the same quality I received in my replacement controller.
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video-games_xbox
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Not the genre redefiner I was hoping for. Okay I bought this with high hopes/ expectations typical with this series. The results is a mixed bag but overall worth the purchase.
All review based on single player modes.
Pros
The story mode is compelling and finishing a stage generally treated you to some finely done cinemas, especially toward the end.
There's lots of extras scattered throughout each stage, some hidden well and others out in the open. It begs for exploring.
The Skirmish mode is fun and can be challenging on the highest difficulty.
Playing the Convenent in Skirmish is like playing GOD mode. Having multiple shields on your Convenent bases is very nasty. Having two Scarabs is the ultimate case maker. Giggle away as the UNSC sends thousands of troops to thier deaths.
Cons
The story mode is short and unlike other RTS games, you won't play the enemy side and see thier side of the story. I even felt that the flood should have had some stages of thier own. It doesn't seem like it would have been that hard for them to dream up a stage and put some challenges in it. There didn't have to be cinema's with every stage and like the other RTS's something could have happened to cause the ultimate 'loss'.
The Skirmish Mode is horribly unbalanced. I played for a month trying for 100% difficulty as UNSC (humans) and could only reach mid 80's. On a whim one day I played Covenent and stomped the yard. I had no difficulty making 100% difficulty and only use the one 'leader' unit to make this happen.
Skirmish base building is also very unbalanced. For the human's starting base (at high difficulty level), I have to build two reactors, one of those needs to be upgraded, one field armory and a barracks (or vehicle depot) to the covenents one temple which is the all in one wonder. 4 UNSC base units versus 1 Covenent base unit! I didn't include the Convenent Hall (barracks) or Foundry (depot) because the temple 'all in one wonder' pops out a leader automatically who can smack down much anything by himself. At full strength (by researching things in this same temple) I've had him take on fields of tanks with nary a scratch to his shielding!
The 'every unit has an opposite unit' thing is crap. I get 10 scorpion tanks on the field and nothing can stop me. NOTHING. Its just like StarCraft and the easy tank victories with it. Even the Hunters, with thier very impressive plasma beams, which are supposed to be the Convenent vehicle killers, whimper and die by the thousands, crushed under my metal treads. Convenent bases crumple like egg shells and retialation forces are mere gnats in the wind.
There is annoying things about the main menus. When you go to Skirmish mode (which I play the most), the 'random' option doesn't really randomize very well at all. Most of the time its the same over and over again. The game always defaults with you playing the same side and the same guy, there isn't anything that keeps the options you choose so you have to set up a game every freaking time. Also skirmish mode doesn't give you an option like 5 against you, which is super fun in Warcraft RTS, or 1 vs 1 vs 1 vs 1 vs 1 vs 1, another fun mode.
All together I got a lot of cons listed here, but I still enjoy the game, they did good with it and its canon now so get used to it kids :) Perhaps downloads in the future will help elevate its class and style?
Mmmm....back to Fallout 3 I go....
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video-games_xbox
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Great headphones, but. <div id="video-block-R2771VN9AEBGFP" class="a-section a-spacing-small a-spacing-top-mini video-block"></div><input type="hidden" name="" value="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/B159BuSfUtS.mp4" class="video-url"><input type="hidden" name="" value="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/813jrAJpf%2BS.png" class="video-slate-img-url"> Edit 3/28:
Note that video review consists of pt1: original mic sound, then it is immediately followed by the fixed microphone at the 30-second mark.
As many know, the mic quality (that is, other players being able to hear you speak) is problematic. Turns out it's not a hardware issue, it's a firmware issue. Microsoft is aware of the problem and they are going to be updating the drivers, which should resolve the mic issue.
But first, Polk has responded to the mic issue by sending out a hardware fix. They promised this a few weeks back, and I received mine today. (They're in San Diego, I'm in Los Angeles, so quick shipping. I'd imagine it may be a few more days for east coasters, but that's just a guess.)
It basically replaces the cable you use to connect the headphones to your xbox controller. The new cable has a small, flexible mic sticking out. I've done a test, and it absolutely fixes the problem. Don't take my word for it, I've recorded a video (gotta love the xbox's built-in ability to record clips and add voice over to them), and I'll upload the clip here as a video review. You'll hear the before and after.
Remember to register your headphones and you'll get the new mic sent to you for free. And my hat is off to Polk for not waiting for the firmware to be fixed, but rather they went proactive and are dealing with the problem themselves, to make sure we've got a great headset.
Short version:
Pros: excellent game sound. Forget the "stereo" designation -- the audio is immersive and you absolutely can track sound all around you.
Cons: Can't hear yourself when you speak into the mic.... that takes some getting used to, but other players in the game will hear you just fine. Also, if you have a large head, the fit will be very snug and slightly uncomfortable.
--------------------------------------------------------
As I write this, I just received the headset some hours ago, so this is a preliminary review. But as they've just come out today, I know there are questions out there so I'll answer what I can.
First -- I've been using some Titan beach X41 headsets on my 360. They are literally 4 years old and still work great, but the mic is starting to have issues so it's time to update for the XB1. The Polk headsets were my choice.
Out of the box, you'll have to update your controller (new firmware) which is automatic via Xbox online. The headset plugs into a black plastic puck via a thin cable (included, mini connectors on each end) and the puck plugs into the controller.
The puck controls volume levels for the game, for chat, and your mute button is there, too. It's by far the weakest part of the setup, but it was designed by Microsoft, so I believe all compatible headsets use the same puck.
The fit of the headphones.... ugh. Why are the ear cups on these things always so small?! Yeah, I've got a big head, I know that, but first the Turtle Beaches were a tad too small, and now these. Just a tiny bit larger would have been a huge improvement. As it is, they barely fit (the band extends and easily fits me, it's just the cups that are tight, and they did hurt after an hour of use.... not my eardrums, the actual cartilage of my outer ear). I'm hoping the spring band around my head loosens up over time and the pressure on my ears eases up, which is what happened with the X41's.
No batteries in the headset, they must be powered by the controller.
Once I got in the game, I went to COD Ghosts.... and I have to say the sound quality was superb. I was very impressed by how they sounded. My X41's were great, but these are absolutely better.
But the puck is a pain in the ---
It took a while to figure out how to get good levels of audio for the other players chatting, versus game audio. The instructions aren't clear, and it's not as obvious as it should be. Again, this isn't Polk's fault, it's a Microsoft device.
You have to press the game icon on the puck, then adjust game volume. Want to adjust chat volume? Press the person icon, then up or down. But it wasn't easy. I had a lot of loud players competing with low game volume for a while. I'm going to try again tonight, hopefully with a more talkative room, and see if I can really figure out the proper levels.
Game volume at the max setting is solid, but not QUITE loud enough. I wish it had more oomph and then I'd lower the level to where I want it, but it seems I'll need to play on max volume for this to work. Not as loud as the X41's, that's for sure.
Also, your ears are so thoroughly sealed in that it's hard to hear yourself speak. I found myself talking too loudly, and yet the other players said my mic level was really low. I called Polk tech support and there's no way to adjust your outgoing mic level. It may be I just had a bad connection online, or that my cable was not connected properly, or the mic is bad. But again, this is all preliminary. I'll try again tonight and update my review.
My goal this evening is to see if I can get a healthy mix of incoming mic, game levels, and outgoing mic levels -- all working in harmony.
I'll keep you updated. If I can get the levels all sorted out, if the volume is sufficient, and if the comfort thing isn't an issue longer term, I'll change the review to 5 stars. Again, the sound quality is exceptional.
--------
Update 3/7
OK I played some more COD Ghosts last night.
First, I no longer understand the difference between why these are called stereo headphones and not surround sound, because it sure sounds like surround to me. You can absolutely track where sounds are coming from, including above or below. So there's clearly a technical distinction, but to the ears, it's surround sound for all intents and purposes. You can put that worry to rest.
Also, I finally figured out the idiotic volume controls on the puck (again -- microsoft design, not polk, so all headsets will be using this.)
There are 5 buttons. Big center one is the mute button, and it lights up with an orange slash when it's activated. So far, so good.
Right side are the two audio up/down buttons, and left side are what I THOUGHT were the switches to select game versus chat audio. So you'd push game, then vol up, etc. That is completely wrong.
The left button is a MIX button.... So whatever your volume is set to with the right buttons becomes the master level. The left button lets you mix higher game, or higher chat. Max it one way and you'll hear game only, max the other way and you hear chat only, or split the difference with various degrees of mix.
I personally would have preferred the right buttons to control game volume, left to control chat volume. This is unnecessarily complicated, but at least I now know how it works.
I played with volume set to max all night. It's a solid volume, not too loud, but I was surprised that you can't make it louder. Again, I wouldn't play with it any louder than it gets, but I usually prefer to lower the volume myself, not have the headset limit it. Then again, it's probably better for my long term hearing.
The biggest drawback is still the chat function. I just couldn't hear myself very well. Some have mentioned the TB Titan headsets having your voice loop back into your ears, but my last TB didn't do that; rather, I could just hear enough of my voice through the walls of the earpieces that it was fine.
These, again, are more versatile, and designed to play music as well, in which case you don't want the sounds of the outside world interfering much. So it took some getting used to realizing I just wasn't going to hear myself speak,but I ended up in a chat with another 4-shot player last night, and the truth is we were able to hear each other perfectly during the game. So you'll hear other players, just not yourself.
A few other quick notes, for the sake of being thorough. With my X41's, I did not have to plug the headset into the controller if I just wanted to hear the game. So if I was doing single player with no chat, there was no need for the mini cable between headset and controller. Not so with these, you need them plugged in to the controller to get any audio at all. (Unlike the x41's, you don't need the separate base station, which is why that's the case.)
But the mini cable -- most have 2 contact points, this one I realized has 3. So it's not a standard mini cable. I assume (with zero technical knowledge) that it's for stereo sound to the headset, and the third connector is for voice back to the xbox.
I'm wish I could give this 4.5 stars. The "not hearing yourself" is an issue, and the tight fit as well isn't ideal. But otherwise I am really, really happy with these headphones and will be keeping them.
I hope that answered everyone's questions. Happy to answer more if I've missed anything.
Update 3/17: One new piece of information to share. These headphones -- and from my understanding, this also applies to Turtle Beach XO7s and the new Microsoft headset -- do not have batteries, as others have pointed out. They are powered by your controller. Yes, MS has finally added controller battery charge levels, but the 360 controller flashed repeatedly when battery levels were low. It was a great warning to swap out batteries or plug in the charging cable. The XB1 warning system, if it's there at all, isn't easy to find. This has several implications:
-- Wireless volume level is adequate, but kind of low, as I've stated elsewhere. However, if you play the game while the controller is plugged in (via the xbox plug-and-play charging kit), volume levels are noticeably louder.
-- Without a cable, your controller will eventually go dead mid-game with no warning. It's happened to me so often that I've started playing with the plug-n-play kit plugged in all the time.
-- This effectively means I no longer have a wireless controller, at least while using a headset. It's a tradeoff you should be aware of. But again, it seems like this is the case for all the current headphones out there for the XB1.
Note that I have NOT tried this with fresh alkaline batteries, so YMMV.
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video-games_xbox
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Too much petty in-fighting and the elves suck. I've debated on how best to review this game. After finishing it for a second time, I decided it was finally time to write something.
First of all, the game play dropped by nearly 20 hours between the two games. Finishing all of the side quests and main quests in the first game took me approximately 65 hours to complete. In the second, however, I found the hours rounding to about 40-45. While this isn't necessarily a complaint, it needs to be addressed.
The story line was good. It was interesting to see a different part of the world; however, I did appreciate that it was still connected to the original game. If Alistair is made king in the first game, it was nice to see him return, as well as the much loved Zevran Arianai.
My biggest issues with the game come from the over usage of the same maps, the cool down time for healing, limited access to companions, and the change in the appearance of the elves.
While trying to make a huge world, I understand that a serious amount of time will have to go into coding and rendering graphics. However, I was distressed when Bartrand's mansion and Fenris' mansion were almost identical. It was to the point that the same lute was in the same location in the master bedroom, and the plants in the main room were tipped the same way. I found this to be true with several of the caves/tunnels, the sewer systems, and so on throughout the game. That might attribute to the decreased play time; however, I felt rather cheated.
In DAO, you are able to heal your character whenever they need it in battle. However, in this game, the healing functions like spells and abilities and have a cool down time. I understand that with healing spells with a mage; however, waiting for the cool down time on a health potion could mean the difference between life and death of a character. Further, I loath how you must find a certain amount of reagents out in the wild in order to "make" potions. I also don't appreciate that you cannot specifically build a mage to be a potions crafter. I loved that I could buy elfroot, distiller agent, flasks, and so on for Morrigan to make as many potions as I needed.
This game does not allow you to have unlimited access to your companions. The only time you are able to interact with them is on character specific quests. Granted, the conversations were sometimes limited to certain things, I still enjoyed being able to go back to camp and catch up with my companions. Being forced to gain approval or rivalry based on character quests and regular quests alone was annoying. Yes, the gift hunting in DAO could bog a player down, but I enjoyed trying to find gifts for certain characters.
Another issue is the companion interaction with each other. Not all of the companions liked each other in DAO; however, it didn't make me want to throw my controller through the TV. Morrigan's constant bantering with Alistair made me laugh. In this game, I found myself fuming at all of the petty in-fighting. Even though certain characters together can make a strong team, I seriously debated having a weak team because I didn't know if I could handle Anders attacking Merrill or Fenris.
In this game, I noticed that a few of the races changed their physical appearance. I found Sten to be rather plain in DAO, so I was excited to see the new Qunari. The horns, tattoos, and huge physique was simply amazing! The elves, however, were just comical . . . In a BAD way. I hated how they were changed. The bigger eyes, slighter features, and so on did a disservice to the race. Further, it pissed me off that the creators messed with Zevran's appearance to match the other elves!
There are a lot of things that really frustrated me about this game. I hope they seriously think about changing this in time for the 2013 release of Dragon Age III. I ended up giving this game four stars because I still enjoy it and was willing to play it for a second time. That being said, I think something was lost between this game and the original.
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video-games_xbox
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Great Ideas with Terrible Execution. It really pains me alot to have to write a negative review about this controller. I really really wanted it to work, and for a short while, it did. But the design and construction of this thing are just too poor to recommend it to anybody.
Bear in mind that I only had this contoller for FIVE DAYS before some of its issues became too much to put up with.
Pros:
Analog stick resistance worked perfectly, for a little while, at least. The resistance could be adjusted to where I could aim with more precision than ever while the sensitivity ingame was set to 10. I was able to tweak the resistance til it felt just right after about an hour or so of adjusting to the feel of the controller.
The face buttons feel great when you get used to it. Their use of the mouse click mechanism makes it effortless to press the buttons, and it's going to be hard to go back to regular buttons after using this.
The overall feel of the controller in my hand felt good. The multifunction shoulder button was a little awkward to reach up for, but I didn't use it much at all, so it didn't turn into a big issue. The triggers also felt fine, contrary to some of the other reviews I'd read.
Cons:
This is where it gets bad, and these are deal breakers, in my opinion. I really gave this controller the benefit of the doubt, even though I'd read plenty of negative reviews before purchasing.
Bear in mind that these were happening withing FIVE DAYS of receiving it in the mail.
The most unworkable problem came when the face buttons simply stopped working. I was a little confused at first, trying to figure out just what went wrong. After a few minutes like this, it just sorta fixed itself, so I shrugged it off. But then it happened again a couple days later. And it didn't just fix itself this time. After several hours without a controller, I took a closer look and figured out that the "remap" function was stuck on. When I was pressing the buttons they were just remapping themselves to the shoulder buttons every time, instead of doing what they were supposed to. This was because of a loose/broken solder on the remap switch.
The second con came from one of my favorite features. The analog stick resistance worked great for a couple days. But in order to maintain the same level of resistance I started with, I had to occasionally increase the tension a notch or two. Within three days I had reached the maximum level, but the stick was still losing its resistance. There was still some tension, though, so I continued using it.
But apparently there's another negative side effect of having the resistance cranked up. You CANNOT push your stick all the way to the edges to get the full turn you need while you're aiming/driving. In Halo Reach, I was able to still aim fairly well (even if it was a little too slow on the edges), but when I would switch to a vehicle it was literally unsteerable. I pushed the analog stick hard enough to where it felt like it was going to break, and it still wouldn't register the full range of motion. So basically, I was stuck in vehicles and it would literally take me 6-7 seconds to do a 180 degree turn. So then... I switched the resistance down about 10 or 15 notches to where the vehicle turns would finally register. This worked for a good 15 seconds. Then my vehicle blew up... So I had to crank it back up to max resistance while I was on foot. After about 10 or 15 times switching back and forth, the clicks between settings became less distinct, and the stick resistance was becoming less effective.
Lastly, I couldn't use my old mic(the one with the two plastic tabs) on this controller. It won't work without dismantling the mic.
Bottom Line:
I liked every idea that went into designing this controller. On paper, it's what I would consider to be the perfect FPS controller. But the durability and quality of this thing is so poor that it becomes simply unusable after a short time. I'd hate to imagine what other kinds of problems would come up if I'd had it for longer than a week.
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video-games_xbox
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Solid, but not amazing. Maybe because I loved the first game so much I expected this to be Mass Effct 1, part 2, but the second game is quite a bit different. Some aspects were improved upon, some things are just mediocre, and some things were just bad.
The good: The combat is more refined (and, for those who enjoy it, there is more of it in this game). Changing your ammo type in ME1 was a pain, requiring a few steps each time you come into contact with new enemies. Now changing ammo is as simple as using a biotic or tech power. Thumbs up for that one.
The biotic and tech powers were, I felt, much more powerful in this game. And I'm glad, because in the first game they felt more like support abilities than a legitimate way to play through the game. New biotic and tech powers make it feasible to be purely tech or biotic and still come through battles okay.
The atmosphere. The designers did a great job really making you feel that this was the end of the line, a real suicide mission. Laughs and jokes are few and far between, and it is a much darker story than the first. In this game, when you begin the final plot mission, you really do wonder how many of your team members are going to get killed. And it is unnerving. I thought that was done very well. Accompanying the atmosphere was the music, which is much the same as the first, but that's not a bad thing. The music is very good.
The mediocrity: Male Shepard's voice acting. There is little range in it. I could go on and on, but it's nothing special. Not like Two World's bad, but it could use a lot of work (Female Shepard's voice work is much better).
The cameos made by characters from the first game. Not just by your former crew, but of characters you might have saved as well. They were thoroughly underwhelming, despite the fact that one of the really neat aspects of this game was that you could import your character from the first game. It felt at some points like they were squeezing past characters in where they just didn't need to be.
The weapons system. Gone are the massive stockpiles of weapons you can amass in ME1, replaced by weapons you slowly upgrade throughout the game. It is effective, but very limiting. I preferred the wide selection offered in the first game.
The mineral collection. Luckily the Mako was scrapped, and you play a minigame where you use the Normandy's scanner to read inside the planet. When you detect an element, you send a probe to collect it. It is a slight improvement on the way you gather them in the first game (and also because you actually USE them in this game), but it is incredibly tedious and time consuming to build your elemental supplies by scanning planets.
Your crew's backstory. Maybe I am just old school (a la Knights of the Old Republic), but I find it very wearisome having to traverse three ship decks just to talk to all of the members of my team. It takes a long, long time, especially when you spend seven or eight minutes apiece talking to them. There has to be an easier way.
The Bad: The reception your character receives from (most) former crew members. A couple times I felt like they changed a character's personality to intentionally make sure they would be recruitable in this game. I didn't think they had to do it that way. I would give specific example, but I do not want to give anything away to someone who has not played the game.
Maybe it was just me, but I found it unrealistic that (playing as a male character), I could bed any of the female characters on my team. I much preferred Knights of the Old Republic's take on relationships, where, if you go one way with one character, it pushes your standing with another in the opposite direction. As in real life. I found it trite that I could essentially push all of the characters to within one dialogue option of going to bed with them at the same time. And to try it out, after I finished the game, I went back to the character I had slept with, and initiated the same dialogue we had had previously to sleeping together, and declined her request, and instead went to another female character and accepted hers. I was disappointed in that aspect a lot.
The game is Mass Effect 2, and it is solid. If I could give it 3 and 1/2 stars I would, but it just doesn't feel the same as the first game did. I will not judge the game on its graphics, because that is not the measure of a good game. Mass Effect 2 has many layers, and many people will love it, and I'm glad. Because the game could have been a lot worse. But I also think it could have been a lot better.
My opinion is that even though it is definitely not the first game, it is worth buying. Because even though it is not another iteration of the first game, it is still much better than many other games out there.
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video-games_xbox
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One amusing gimmick can't compensate for an unfinished product. A novel concept is generally the first step taken by any developer with aims at creating a new franchise amidst the crowded market of today's gaming landscape. There's been a lot of ground covered over the last thirty years, but there's also plenty of room left for innovation, and if you're going to stand out on the shelves, you're going to need a hook. In Flatout, that hook is certainly not lacking, (it's the only game I can think of that features... no, downright flaunts... a fleet of fully-ejectable drivers) but it falls into the very first pitfall in its way. This game takes that unique twist which gives it an identity and attempts to use it as a bandage to salvage what would otherwise be an underdeveloped, unremarkable, entirely forgettable title. What's worse, that single little identifying gimmick has an incredibly short shelf life and only serves to irritate beyond the first hour or two of gameplay.
Actual gameplay is in dire need of some serious polishing, with minor bugs resulting in big-time dilemmas as the races grow more difficult. As I've already mentioned, the big story here is the engine's ability to eject a car's driver following a rough collision, which gains points for ingenuity, but loses them right back for implementation. Sure, it makes a revenge kill twice as rewarding when you can actually see the opposing driver suffering a grisly death after you've forced his car into a telephone pole, but the first time you hop a curb and watch your own lifeless driver hurl himself through the windshield, you'll start to curse the day you thought rag-doll physics were the least bit amusing. Of course, no real dire circumstances result from your driver slamming unprotected into the side of a barn at 82 MPH, as you'll respawn a few moments later, but the act of losing a few seconds every time it happens completely derails your own momentum and often takes you completely out of the race. Playing catch-up is the real game in Flatout.
The finer details of the title's engine are never fully explained in-game, as I had to consult more than one online guide before realizing that nitro boosts are awarded in the middle of a race, depending on how many obstacles you actually hit, and how large said obstacles actually are. Debris only seems to award these bonuses upon the very first time they're struck, but remain on the track throughout the race. This adds a touch of additional personality to the game, as almost every car is seeking out the big landmarks like a guided missle on lap one and the track is usually thoroughly trashed and tough to navigate by its conclusion.
Of course, it must've been a little bit too much to ask for the development team to leave well enough alone in this regard, and sure enough, there's a flaw or two. What's destructible in one track (and thus, the object of desire, as it carries with it a small nitro bonus) is frequently rock-solid in the next, resulting in (you guessed it) a brutal driver ejection and, usually, the loss of any lead you may have accumulated. As I'm sure you can imagine, this results in an uncontrollable flinch every time your car comes close to a fairly-sized obstacle, for fear it will result in death rather than rewards. Even more wonderful is the way small items such as a stray tire or a dislodged bumper, which frequently litter the track after lap two, react in wildly unpredictable fashion upon coming into contact with the front of your car. Sometimes they'll bounce harmlessly off to the side of the track, others they'll hang out on your grill for a while, killing your momentum, and occasionally they'll result in driving the nose of your car toward the sky, which always leads to a terrible, highlight reel wreck, complete with cartwheeling car and airborne driver. Considering how frequently these things appear, it's not a matter of if you'll hit them, but when, and how kind they'll be to your car.
The mini-games you'll unlock while progressing through the single player mode, which were featured significantly in the game's promotional bits (and were probably single-handedly responsible for my own purchase) really aren't even remotely as much fun as they appeared on TV, and are limited at best. They really highlighted the "HAHA LOOK WE'RE PLAYING DARTS WITH PEOPLE" aspect of the game in these ads, but neglected to mention the fact that you get three tosses per game, with no option to play a legitimate game of 301, cricket or anything even partially entertaining. It's a straightforward three tosses, with the highest scoring player named the victor. The same goes for bowling, the long jump the high jump, etcetera. They're like the mini-games of Super Monkey Ball 2, just significantly limited, drained of all the fun and difficult for new players to grasp.
In-game controls are tough to think about without wanting to curl up and cry for a spell. Whether you're driving the cheapest car on the lot or the most souped up monster available, turning is almost laughably bad. Your cars don't turn, so much as they rotate and slide. Whether you're on a filthy patch of snow or fresh asphalt on a sunny day, your car handles exactly the same. Likewise, no matter which vehicle you're sitting atop, every single computer driver on the track is faster off the line than you are. I didn't think I'd noticed any change when I poured all of my race-earnin's into a new engine, guaranteed to deliver faster acceleration right out of the box, and sure enough, when I was driving the fastest car available with ever possible enhancement applied, I was still being kicked off the line by the slowest car in the race. It's always nice to have a handicap, I guess.
The graphics are average for the current state of the Xbox, which basically means they're the best part of this package. They aren't completely fugly, but they're far from the most impressive thing I've ever seen. Some of the particle effects are fairly well done, especially during and after a nasty wreck, but you're usually so preoccupied by your car's hesitance to take a turn that you won't even notice. The speed effects of using up some of your stashed nitro is cool, but doesn't really hold a candle to what Burnout did before Flatout's release. The terrains and surrounding textures are imaginative, but very sparse, especially when you take away the standard break-away objects that litter the roadways and are shared by all courses. This isn't a game that's going to completely blow away your impressions of what a game can do, visually, and occasionally shows evidence of being hurried out the door in a state of incompletion.
Where Flatout's visuals are mediocre at best, the game's audio is a downright disaster. The revs, grinds and hums of the cars, engines and tires are far too loud by default, and again fail to distinguish one car from another. Is that my car struggling up the hill, or is another driver right up my ass, ready to make a pass? Don't look to the audio for the answer. While most racing games contain similarly lame, repetitive sound effects, there's just something about what Flatout brings to this table that's a little bit more irritating than its peers. That engine is a bit more piercingly shrill than the one I heard in Project Gotham, the tires much more vague, hollow and shy of personality than those I heard in the most recent Mario Kart.
Flatout isn't a finished product. It is, at best, a great concept stretched far too thin over a below-average mullet-themed racing title. It's barely worth a rental, and certainly not worth busting out at a party, for all to enjoy. The graphics are unrefined, the audio is the kind of garbage that forces fingers to race for mute buttons, the controls are completely ridiculous, and there's nothing around that's driving you to reach that next goal. If you enjoy crap, or are easily amused by floating human bodies, you've found the promised land, but if you're looking for a breath of fresh air in a crowded industry, your holy grail remains elusive.
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video-games_xbox
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Absolutely Astonishing. I heard of these headphones from a friend because he got them as a gift for Christmas, and he said nothing but good things about them. I checked them out online, watched and read a few reviews, then bought it. It came within three days surprisingly, and I immediately grabbed at it and took it out of the box.
First things first is the design to it. The fact that the headband has internal metal to reinforce its shape already had me interested. The rest of it is also a really smooth and fine quality plastic.
Second thing I liked about the design were the LED lights on the headset themselves. Not only are they a nice touch, but the fact that you can change it to any color in the color spectrum amazes me as well.
I also like the extendable mic, so you can pull it out when you're using it, and push it back in when you're not. Or, you can just leave it in there, because the mic still pics up quite well. (But you'd get a more crisp sound with it extended, in my opinion.)
Plus, it gets rid of the complications of setting the headset up. Not only that, but the cord for the xbox is neon green, so you won't lose it if you keep all of your cords in one box or something like that.
Next, the audio itself. It really is crisp, clear, and just amazed me the second I put it on. While the headphones don't go THAT loud by themselves, it is still loud. The friend who recommended this to me said it wasn't as loud as his turtle beaches, but then again, he likes having his music/games really loud.
But regardless, it is still pretty loud, and isn't that big of a deal.
The battery life only lasts 10 hours, but it isn't that big of a deal considering you can plug it into the charger when you're not using it, and you can still use it if it is plugged in.
I also like the ability to walk around the house with these things on, and have little to no problems with them. I'm even able to go outside to my patio with ease with them still working, and even a little bit beyond that!
If you're interested in this headset, I definitely recommend that you do.
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video-games_xbox
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Familiar, yet fresh and a blast to play. City environment check, Zombiesor rather, Infected check, Open world check, co-op story check, weapon crafting check, developed by Techland check; Must be time for another Dead Island game! No?! Techland passed on making the next Dead Island, this is Dying Light. The question is can Techland make two very similar games and differentiate them enough to make each stand on their own?
In Dying Light, the player is cast as an undercover operative, Kyle Crane, who is deployed on a mission in the fictional quarantined city of Harran. He gains the trust of the survivors that have sought refuge in a fortified high rise apartment complex while attempting to locate and recover a file that was stolen by a rogue political figure. The narrative aside, the basic game follows the same core concepts that are found in Dead Island. A focus on traversing an open environment, salvaging what valuables that can be found to build and augment make-shift weaponry while completing a variety of fetch, kill, deliver and defend style missions. Where this game pulls away from its Dead Island roots is with parkour styled free running mechanics for traversing the environment and a heavy focus on the day / night cycle.
When in doubt, climb!
Taking cues from the Assassins Creed series, the player can be aimed at a nearby building or vehicle roof, canopy, boulder, utility pole or other similar object to climb out of reach of the majority of enemies or easily move from building tot building. Awnings, window frames, fixtures allow continued free running and climbing. Smaller obstacles, and even the infected, can be vaulted over and holes can be slid through. Later one can unlock the use of a grappling hook to accelerate climbing. I have found a useful oddity of the grappling hook is to be able to grapple the ground or objects close to it from a building to allow quick access to the ground without risking a substantial fall. For the most part the free running elements are well executed, although it can occasionally be cumbersome to aim when launching between distant handholds. The game excels at providing a good sense of scale; from the sheer size of the map to the details of the character attempting to maintain balance in windy high-altitude locations.
Hack, slash, kick, shoot!
The majority of combat is melee using picks, cleavers, hammers, wrenches, knives, bats, swords and just about anything else that can be wielded. Dont get too attached to any weapon you find though, they all have durability that deteriorates with use. Broken weapons can be repaired, but only a limited number of times. You will eventually have to discard or disassemble the weapon when it is exhausted. I like this characteristic as it adds to the overall feel of the game, that you are scavenging to maintain yourself. Firearms are available, but the typical player won't find any until a significant way into the story. Guns don't deteriorate over time any gun you find, could be used through the entire game without need to replace it, however you will need to locate ammunition. I have read of others noting a lack of ammunition in the game, while ammo is a commodity, I have not found it to be scarce. Many vendors sell ammo and anyone using a gun will have ammunition that can be scavenged from their corpse. I prioritize my firearms only for use against enemies also using guns. This avoids running out of ammo and attracting unnecessary attention from infected.
Your mission
Initially you are tasked with being a runner for the survivors, the lifeline between settlements and collector of supplies. During the day, the player focuses on claiming air drops of supplies to return to the survivors enclave, collecting resources for crafting and rescuing or escorting the random survivor. During the night, the player has to exercise caution as the standard infected have heightened senses, are more aggressive and can run and climb in pursuit of the player. Traps around the city can be utilized to distract or harm infected pursuers and UV lights are used to slow them. Missions can be carried out day or night although some require a certain time of day to complete. The player can be further hampered by dynamic wind, rain and fog. I find that Dying Light, while something of a more matured story than Dead Island, suffers from being rather obvious and doesnt do much to make me actually care about people Im helping or the tasks Im completing. The missions, while they attempt to be varied, tend to lean far too much on fetch quests and the story campaign is rigidly linear. I find myself often times more interested in general exploration and advancing my skills over actually working on missions. The night cycle does provide a great sense of urgency and stark contrast to the concerns of the day.
Keys to survival!
Free running, combat and general player abilities can be expanded or enhanced through levelling the survivor skills; Survival, Agility and Power. Skill points for Survival are earned through mission completion, Agility by climbing and Power by defeating enemies. There are 24/25 levels to earn for each of the 3 skill trees, each level earns one point to choose a new skill from the respective tree. Unfortunately, there is no need to be too picky on what skills to choose, since there will be just enough points to distribute to gain all the skills on each tree which leaves little variety between characters.
Zombie apocalypse? Bring a friend!
You and up to 3 friends can cooperate in completing your mission in the same drop-in/out co-op that was available in Dead Island. The competitive multiplayer mode Be the Zombie I have found to just be tedious. When I first heard about the mode, I envisioned invading other players campaign and relentlessly stalking them over distances to throw a wrench into their progress at the worst possible moment. The reality is a single Special Infected vs Survivors game, where the special infected has to defend feeding grounds (nests) from the survivors while attempting to defeat them. While the powers of the special infected are fun to wield, the mode suffers as just didn't find it interesting at all. The necessity to focus on defense of nests I find silly what reason would I have as an infected to care about anything but perusing my prey?
Final Thoughts
Dying Light follows, so very closely, the model established in Techlands other make-shift weapon crafting, co-op, open-world Zombie outbreak slaughter fest, Dead Island. The addition of free running and emphasis on the day / night cycle are what make Dying Light truly stand out from Dead Island, and it is a welcome distinction. Overall I have found Dying Light an enjoyable experience and would recommend it to others with interest in the genre. I believe those that enjoyed Dead Island will find comfortable familiarity here, but also an interesting expansion on the of the concepts.
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video-games_xbox
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Revision to my previous review- I was wrong. My appologies to the creative people at EA Sports, who make this game, after my previous review. I had only one major criticism, but after doing some checking, I found I was wrong.
I initially thought that I could only play in Pro mode (invariably winning every game by 5-10 touchdowns), or lose every time in any higher mode than Pro.
This game is so sophisticated, I found I was able to change the game play to all-pro, and turn up the overall performance of my own players a notch, and turn down the CPU's performance a notch. In doing this, I finally am playing like I have in all previous versions of Madden: I have a pretty descent chance of winning any individual game, but it is always a dog-fight, and usually, if I win, it is by using alot of strategy. This is again the great football game (much better now on the x-box) I am used to.
This game is so sophisticated it blows my mind. With the franchise mode, I can be general manager as well as any player and coach on the team. Game play is realistic- on the TV it looks and plays very much like watching a real broadcast of an NFL game.
John Madden is always fun to hear. No one can question he is the best commentator in video games (as well as real NFL games). Pat Summerall is a very good play by play addition.
Strong points:
1. Great, and exciting game play. Very realistic. Keeps you at the edge of your seat all game (and every game).
2. Great commentary (John Madden- what else has to be said).
3. Many diverse modes to play in: Franchise, quick games, you can even simply choose to play in the play-offs.
4. Great practice mode for learning how to run specific routes and plays. John Madden walks you through it while you practice.
5. Great tips by John Madden anytime during a game- though it does not automatically mean you will score by using a recommended strategy.
6. I have heard that the upcoming release Madden 2003 will be even better- but if you can get this game at amazon or wherever for [price], new or used, for the x-box, I would not wait for the 2003 edition. It is a true bargain. You will never tire of this game.
Cons:
1. I miss being able to play historically great teams of the past (as in Madden 1999- which I still keep on windows 98)- like the 1981 49ers against Dallas in the NFC Finals, or the Great Raider teams of the past against Pittsburg.
2. The commentary is helpful and fun to listen to, as well as being very comprehensive, but once in a while the commentary has nothing to do with a play that just occured. For example, "If he keeps playing this well, he will have a career day", right after gaining 1 yard on 4th and goal on the 10 yard line. I admit I have never played any sports game where the commentary is 100% accurate to what is going on currently in the game, but sometimes the misplaced commentary in Madden 2002 makes me laugh.
3. Music? The only song played is this omnipresent rap song called "Pharaoh Madden", and goes something like "Puttin a woopin on your naural"........
Besides these trivial Cons, this game loads the most bang for your buck than any of its genre. I would buy it all over again, even for [price].
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video-games_xbox
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TOUCHDOWN. It took almost four years, but Sega Sports finally got it right. As an avid football gamer, I would always buy the current editions of the Madden and NFL 2k series since both offered the most exciting and realistic game play I've ever seen. But year after year, Madden would always beat out the NFL 2k series in terms of overall game play, yet the margin grew gradually smaller as the years progressed. However, I can truly say that this year's version of Sega's NFL game truly outshines Madden 2004.
This year, Sega fully utilizes the ESPN brand name after obtaining the license late in the development cycle of last years game. Playing the game is like watching an actual NFL broadcast on the world's leading sports channel. The presentation is phenomenal. Those who watch Sunday Night Football on ESPN will immediately recognize the slick graphics and music during the intros. Getting Chris Berman to do the commentary during the pre-game, half-time, and post-game shows was a home run. His unique witticisms add a certain amount of flavor to the game. Tell me if one doesn't get goose bumps when he spits out his famous, "He-could-go-all-the-way!," during post game replays. ESPN NFL Football should definitely be the blueprint as to how to successfully take advantage of a license.
Those that are familiar with the NFL 2k series know that the graphics have been one of the game's biggest selling points. This year is no different, if not better. The player models are the most realistic and detailed I've ever seen. Players are size-proportionate to their real life counterparts and sport specific playing gear only unique to them. No fan will mistaken Ricky Williams with his imposing black visor and the dreds sticking out from under his helmet. A nice touch was added cut-scenes in-between plays that showed player and fan reactions after a big play or a costly turnover. Jerseys would also get dirty and worn as the game wore on. And depending on the playing surface, the field would gradually deteriorate during the course of a game. I just loved these little details. The stadium recreations were also amazing. Being from San Diego, I was amazed at how accurately Qualcomm Stadium was rendered including the surroundings outside the arena. I even recognized some of the buildings that were adjacent to the stadium. You can tell how much care was put into the look of the game.
However, a game cannot just go on presentation alone. Thankfully, NFL 2k4 also offers fantastic game play. Gamers will immediately recognize the new play calling system. Borrowing from Madden, plays are now selected from a menu at the bottom of the screen by pressing an assigned button. Gone is the awkward cursor that you had to direct in order to highlight a play you wanted to execute. Passing and running plays are varied and there are plenty to choose from. Of course, if you're not satisfied with those that are available, you can create your own playbook which seems to be the latest craze in football gaming. An added feature this year allows the "coach" to suggest a play for you by pressing the left-trigger button. A major gripe I had with last year's game was that during passing plays, the receiver would almost always drop a pass once he was immediately tackled. This year's game fixes the problem. Granted, there will be instances when the receiver will drop a ball after being floored, but it happens much less frequently. Running is a little too easy though, especially if you have a stud running back. It isn't hard to make a ten or twenty yard rushing gain, especially with the bevy of moves that are now available for your running back. By charging up a power meter, you can pull off more effective jukes, spins, and stiff arms than ever before. The power meter stays charged for only a few seconds which makes it important to choose which move to utilize in order to gain the first down. A small gripe I have with this year's game is that on defense, it is difficult to bring down a receiver or a ball carrier with an individual tackler which makes gang tackles almost crucial to bring down an opponent. Regardless, the player animations are beautiful. For instance, when a running back is met head on at the line of scrimmage, he may continue to push back the defender in order to gain that extra yard or two. Or on defense, a cornerback will dive in front of a receiver to snatch a one handed interception. I don't think I have yet to see the same player animation twice.
The NFL 2k series have definitely grown since it's inception on the Dreamcast. Only time will tell if Sega Sports can maintain it's excellence. However, after playing this game, I think it's safe to say that they will.
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video-games_xbox
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Great launch title, best in the series so far. Don't let the 3 stars fool you, I'm critical of launch titles because they may be great introductions to the next generations but they definitely have room to improve. Dead Rising 3 is the first of the series that I've actually completed. The thing I like about sandbox style games is the ability to free roam and collect hidden items while leveling up your character/weapons/etc. For me, DR1's controls felt too loose and I felt hunting for survivors, escorting them back to the safe room, and constantly trying to find weapons that don't break at the exact wrong spot were more chores/busy work than fun. I quit playing after being frustrated by the rednecks in the truck in the courtyard (very early for those unfamiliar, after the first main boss fight in the cafeteria). DR2 I just didn't have much time for with the constant waves of big titles over the last year and a half. DR3, on the other hand, hit that sweet spot for me.
Controls - The developers seem to have tightened the controls considerably since my last experience. The only major gripe is vehicle control. For one of the most useful vehicles in the game, the Turret Rig, which is phenomenal for clearing your way quickly to the next area with decent default durability, you'll have both thumbs on the joysticks, fingers on both triggers and another on the LB or X buttons. Couple this with long drives (because they decided to throw in roadblocks everywhere so you are guaranteed to take the longest route possible by vehicle or give up and just run the shortcut) and the occasional QTE to push the zombie off your window can lead to discomfort over time. And worse is trying to use your "posse" after you've increased it to 5 NPCs (plus escorts during certain missions) and you end up with a frustrating exercise in "targeting" a character to give them a weapon or food. And when you use the weapon locker, extra items are piled up on the ground (as long as the NPC doesn't accidently run over it/them and cause it/them to bug out and disappear from the ground for some reason). This again becomes a game of feather-the-joystick to the exact spot that allows you to pick up the correct item. Navigation and fighting are well tuned and intuitive. There is nothing that you can't figure out how to do from the moment you pick up the controller.
Gameplay - This is the best of the series in my opinion. Killing hordes of zombies never felt so good or fun. Boss fights can be incredibly easy once you learn the trick to them and some bosses have more than one way to quickly beat them. I found out from my second playthrough online that the kinect commands actually do something, meaning I must have been too quiet when I tried. For instance, the first boss you can either use the molotovs littered around the area to quickly stop him and initiate the Y+B combo. OR you can yell to your kinect "You're Crazy!" (prompted in the top right corner of the screen) to make him pause and do an animation giving you the opening to initiate the combo. There's 103 different blueprints available for combo weapons(according to the menu) and they range from incredibly goofy (a rambo teddy bear that shoots machine guns and explodes) to hilarious/adult (super-massager) to downright OP (Ultimate Grim Reaper). Ten combo vehicles are also available to summon from the garages that make traveling the huge world a lot quicker, which is very important since you only have 6 in game days to make it to the end of Chapter 7. If you've played the previous titles, you felt a strain to accomplish everything in the very short time they gave you. Now you have the option of choosing Story mode which slows the time passage considerably or Nightmare mode which gives you enough time to make it through the story and not a whole lot of the side missions. So completionists like myself can get the enjoyment from the story mode and speedsters can benefit from the fast paced Nightmare mode. And best yet, play with a friend. Drop in/drop out coop is available and you only have to wait for them at cutscenes. Plus you can summon two combo vehicles at a time, one for each player and their posse. Speaking of posse...when you do max out your party size, you'll find that doorways tend to be an issue. For some reason, half of your posse will disappear and when you back track through the area, you'll find they got stuck running into the wall/piller/whatever next to the doorway. So you have to attack them to get them unstuck, which may be a pain in Nightmare when you're pressed for time. And when you try to load up 5 NPCs into the turret rig, it can take forever. Occasionally, they don't know how to path to the rear of the vehicle while it's still parked inside the garage, so you have to drive out and wait for them to figure out how to go through the office (instead of the giant wide open garage door in front of them) just to get them to move. It may be better to just drive alone to the safe house nearest to your objective and respawn them.
Story - The story of the game falls a little flat. It feels a lot like a generic zombie survival game with some late game twists that you can see coming. But you're not in this game for the story anyhow, it's all about the loads of on screen zombies!!!
Visuals/Audio - The game sounds fantastic, especially when you need a heads up to know that there's one of those super annoying football player zombies about to tackle you in a crowded screen. On the visuals side, the game doesn't quite feel too next gen. The massive amounts of on screen zombies and a full posse are incredibly nice, but that's also when you see framerate drops/stutters.
Overall - If you're an early adopter, this is one of those games that is a must-try, especially during the post launch drought. If you're a fan of the series, this is a great next step. For those, like me, that couldn't stay interested in the previous entries, give this one a shot, you'll be pleasantly surprised at how far the series has come along. If the DLC improves any of the above complaints, this will definitely be a 4 star launch title.
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video-games_xbox
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Future Horror Video Game Royalty. This is my first video game review ever. Need I say anymore? This game is awesome. I've always been a fair of horror games. I grew up on Doom, and Quake, progressed to Resident Evil, and Silent Hill, then on to Bioshock, The Walking Dead, so when I bought my Xbox One I purchased Alien Isolation and this game, The Evil Within. So far I feel this game trumps Alien Iso by a huge margin. While the difficulty of the two games are comparable, the desires to put up with it and continue playing couldn't vary more. Where I get bored and put down Alien Isolation, I can't stop trying to beat a level in The Evil Within until I've beat it. This game is creepy as hell, and in my opinion entirely original. I've never played anything like it. Basically if the games Resident Evil and Silent Hill, were to have a baby, and that baby went on to impregnate the movie Inception, their love child might resemble The Evil Within, but even that comparison doesn't give it the credit it deserves. Personally I love this game, I'm on Chapter 11 after 7 or 8 nights of playing anywhere from 2 to 5 hours at a time (give or take a day/hour), and I absolutely love it. Without spoiling it for newcomers I'll just say the creatures in this game are awesome. Anyone who's into single player horror games should enjoy this as long as they have the intelligence and patience to solve the puzzle like levels. The cutaway scenes are interesting (which in my opinion is extremely rare, the only game that even comes close in this respect is Bioshock 1 (and that wasn't half as thorough and creepy as The Evil Within)). Long story short, this game is nothing short of a horror masterpiece. Anyone who says otherwise is either upset about not being able to figure out a level or doesn't love horror as much as one should to truly be able to appreciate this type of game. I'm by no means a video game expert, but I've played the best horror games as they've come out over time, and this one fits the bill. I highly recommend it to anyone looking for a good game to play in the dark, but not if you're looking for a game for a kid. Nightmares are almost a given if a child even lays their eyes on a still of some of these creatures. Enjoy!
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video-games_xbox
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Almost, but not quite. Condemned: Criminal Origins is a brand new game from Monolith. In the game you play as an FBI name Ethan Thomas who specializes in serial killers. The game opens with you investigating the murder of one of the serial killers you have been after. Unfortunately, things don't go as planned and you are quickly on the run from the police, determined to prove your innocence.
The game's main draw is its intense visceral hand to hand combat. The game features mostly hand to hand weapons like metal pipes, 2x4s with nails sticking out of the end, sledgehammers and fire axes. While there are guns in the game, they are very rare and only have a few shots in them. The combat is pretty simple to learn since you can only block or attack, but fighting requires a good sense of timing to properly block blows and attack back with your own. The fighting itself is great. It really feels like you are laying into people and it looks extremely brutal. Unfortunately, there is not much depth when it comes to the combat and it gets stale towards the end of the game.
Weapons in the game are classified by range, speed, power, and defense, though it is a bit difficult to tell the difference between some of them. Picking the best weapon can be somewhat of a guessing game as the game only tells you if a weapons power, defense, speed or range is greater or less then the current weapon you have. It also does not mention how much the difference is between the two weapons. You can also only carry one weapon at a time. You also have a stun gun which you can use to stun opponents and grab their weapon while they are stunned. After you fire it, its battery automatically recharges after a few seconds. The stun gun becomes an invaluable weapon later in the game when you are facing off against multiple opponents.
Every once in a while there will be a break in the action while you investigate some of the crime scenes. You will walk into an area and be prompted by your "instincts" to take out a forensic tool and look for clues. The correct tool automatically comes out, so all you really have to do is look around the environment for the clue you are supposed to find. While it is simple, it can be pretty cool at times. Most of the plot is discovered from these sequences, so they are definitely interesting even if it is extremely easy.
Most of the gameplay takes place in very run-down environments. From a subway station to a library, every environment in the game looks like it has been neglected for years and is falling apart. All of the environments are extremely dark and do a good job of giving off a sense of fear. Unfortunately, none of the environments are very interesting to explore and there is not much you can do while you walk around them. Occasionally you will wander into a door that you need to cut your way through with a fire axe, or fence with a padlock that you need to smash off with a sledgehammer, but that is pretty much it. Also, it is extremely easy to get lost in many of the levels since everything looks pretty much the same because of extremely repetitive use of textures. When you get lost there is no map to help you find your way, so you will find yourself wandering around until you stumble across the door you need to open.
Graphically the game looks extremely good. The lighting effects in the game are absolutely great to look at and the environments are extremely detailed. The characters look realistic and animate beautifully. The fighting animations of the enemies in the game are especially good. Enemies will stumble backwards when you hit them with a heavy object or come running at you, swinging wildly in the air. All of the animation looks fluid and very realistic.
The AI in the game is also pretty impressive. The enemies are extremely aggressive, though they do occasionally hide so that they can catch you off guard. Sometimes they charge at you while screaming some pretty nasty stuff or hide and wait to ambush you. They will also attack each other, which can be fun to watch. Enemies will see weapons in the environment and pick them up if they don't have one. The AI does a good job of keeping the fights brutal and intense. One problem with the AI is that after the first few hours, the AI becomes pretty predictable. They have a few cool tricks at their disposal, but after an hour or so you have already seen them all.
The sound in the game is pretty average. There isn't much music except for some ambient stuff here and there, but the sound effects are excellent. Every smash with a weapon sounds disgustingly realistic. The voice acting is also pretty convincing.
The biggest disappointment in the game would have to be the storyline. To sum it up, it's awful. A lot of the real important stuff, such as why everyone is going crazy, is boorishly explained during loading screens instead of in the game. The ending is also pretty anticlimactic and underwhelming.
But still, Condemned: Criminal Origins is a pretty fun game to play. It does a great job delivering a good looking first-person melee combat game. It's just the more you play it, the more you will wish it had a deeper plot and a more robust combat system to keep it much more interesting. So if you are looking for some fun melee combat and don't mind its short length and underwhelming plot then go ahead and pick up Condemned.
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video-games_xbox
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Worst game yet. As a former huge fan of the battlefield franchise, and a frequent video game player, I can safely say that this is the single worst game I have ever played. The game would not be worth 99 cents as an app on a phone not to mention the roughly $120 it costs with tax and premium. For starters, the graphics are just plain awful when compared to other games, and even other battlefields. I get that it was designed for the new systems, but I still paid full price, and expect as good of an experience as they can make for the older generation systems. The single player campaign was decent at best, and actually fairly boring.
The online play is frustratingly awful. Maps are very limited as far as variety goes. Weapons and equipment are even more limited, With only two to three weapons of each variety. Im sure they will eventually add more with premium, if your willing to fork over the extra money. The equipment made available in the game is, for lack of a better phrase, just plain stupid and relatively useless. The use of acquired points to pay to unlock items is annoying as well. Playing hardcore is as difficult as regular was in the older games. A dozen shots or so with an assault rifle or carbine will put down an enemy in hardcore mode. Even headshots are multi-hit kills with any of the lower powered weapons. The most annoying aspect by far is the limited use of weapons to one team or the other. Only one weapon of each class is able to be used by one team, until 1000 kills are acquired with a weapon. Just when you unlock a gun worth using, the round ends and forces you onto the other team, taking that weapon away until the next game.
As far as the graphics go. details take forever to load, objects blend together at the edges, and the contrast between light and dark areas makes it difficult to see much of anything.
The Premium feature takes away from the game, as well. Premium on previous battlefields seemed to add to the existing and complete game. With hardline, however, it seems that they made half of a game and released it with plans to charge for the other half later on (premium).
Finally, No I would not recommend this game, and will not be buying any future battlefield games. DICE may be off the table for good as well.
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video-games_xbox
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The Witcher 2: Assassin of Kings game review. The Witcher 2 is based on the Witcher series by Andezej Sapkowski and is a well known fantasy series in Poland. Now I had never heard of the Witcher series till I saw youtube's Angry Joe review the PC version on his show so needless to say I had never played the first Witcher and wouldn't have gotten to play the sequel had CD Projekt not released the game for the Xbox 360. This is going to be a review of the 360 version since it came out this year and my PC would explode if I tried to install it on here. I should say that I'm not that big a RPG gamer and most of the RPGs I've played in my life have been Japanese made and that was back in the 16-bit days so this was my real first time playing a Euro-RPG. What's interesting is that is the most successful video game Poland has ever made and for good reason. In May 2011, the Prime Minister of Poland gave a copy of this game to President Obama on his visit to the country. But that's enough of the history though, on to the review. I really liked this game and it really sucked me in. Now the 360 version is known as the Enhanced Edition which includes 10GBs of new content and also comes packaged with a journey book which is basically a mini players guide and the game's soundtrack which I am actually listening to as I write this review. It's really good! The game and soundtrack.
STORY: You play as Geralt of Riva, the Witcher. What is a Witcher? Witchers are mutated men that possess greater strength, speed, and agility than most humans and the use of magic. They also have animal like eyes that allow them to see in the dark. They are few and usually work as mercenaries. The game starts with Geralt in a dungeon in a castle in the kingdom of Temeria. He is being interrogated by Vernon Roche the leader of the Blue Stripes, the Temerian Special Forces. Geralt is the only witness and believed to be the assassin of King Foltest but Geralt knows it was really another Witcher who committed the crime and other assassinations of kings in the kingdom. Through a series flashbacks, we learn of the events leading up to the assassination, about the characters, learn of Geralt's relationship with the sorceress Triss Merigold, and the attack of a dragon during the battle that took place on the day of Foltest's assassination. You then break out of the prison with the help of Vernon and Triss and head out on a quest to clear Geralt's name and find the assassin. Oh but things are not as simple as they seem. As the game progresses a massive conspiracy unfolds that could change the fate of the entire kingdom.
The world this is set in is an immersive one filled with the usual fantasy elements and races such as magic, monsters, sorcerers, elves, dwarfs, demons, ghosts, and dragons but unlike other fantasy series like Lord of the Rings per say, the world is very dark and gritty. There is strong racism in this world as humans tend to hate and mistreat non-humans. Elves are seen as bad guys, depending which path you take. That's something I've rarely seen in fantasy. This is also a VERY ADULT game. There is very strong language throughout (you will hear the word `plowing' used a lot and they are not talking about plowing a field), graphic violence, and there are sex scenes with full female nudity. You can find prostitutes and sleep with them as well as courting some of the female characters. The established relationship you have with Triss is done very well, one of the best adult romances I've ever seen in a game. There are a lot of interesting and developed characters throughout the game and tons of side quests and branching paths. It is a pretty long game, took me a couple weeks the first time to beat and about a little more than a week the second time so it's about 30+ hours depends on the quests you do. Far better than the usual 4 to 6 hour games you run into these days. Chapter 2 is the longest part of the game but the last chapter is much shorter so some might be disappointed in that. You don't have to have played the first game to understand what's happening in this one. If you like games with deep complex stories of political intrigue and lots of twists, you'd love this game's story. It's well written and well thought out.
GAMEPLAY: When you first play this, I highly suggest you got through the tutorial first. It's not the best tutorial but this is the only place you're going to have the game tell you the basics because once the game really starts, it's not going to hold your hand like most games these days. The tutorial will make the combat system seem more complicated than it really is though. You'll notice that you can be armed with two swords, a steel sword for killing humans and a silver sword for killing monsters. You have six magical spells most only two of them I used most of the time, the fire blast and the telekinetic push thing. You also have a spell that can cause enemies to turn against each other but it rarely works, a spell that boosts your defense briefly, and a magical trap that you can place on the ground that I only really used during a boss battle. The game expects you to strategize your battles, don't just run blindly into a battle or you will get your ass kicked. You gain EXP points two ways, fighting enemies and completely quests and side quests. Completing quests will give more EXP than monster fighting so you want to try and take on as many side quests as you can when you get to a new area. When you level up, you can branch out into 4 different areas, training (You'll have to fill this out first), fighting, magic, and alchemy. However, you'll mainly want to develop the fighting and magic branches more over the alchemy branch other than to get health and vigor (your magic bar) upgrades. Alchemy deals with the making of potions which there are many that you can make throughout the game and there is also a limit to how many potions you can take. You can actually OD on them which I find to be an interesting and realistic twist on potions in gaming. There are also some mini-games you can take part in such as fighting which is basically a simple QTE that is almost impossible to lose at, arm wrestling which is also pretty easy till later in the game, and some dice gambling game that I have no idea how it works so I just avoid it.
The inventory screen is a bit of a mess. When you pull it up, as default it shows you the list of everything in your inventory and you gather A LOT though out this game and will need to clean it out often as to not get weighted down. Yes, you have a weight limit and it sucks when you go over weight so sell and store items often. The map screen isn't very helpful but you do have a in game mini-map that is more much more useful. The quest management screen is also a bit confusing because you will be given so many quests that it can be hard to keep straight which quest you are trying to take on at a time. The boss battles are few but epic including an awesome battle with a dragon. One last thing I'll say is that the game has high replay value and warrants at least two play troughs as at the end of chapter 1 you will be required to choose sides and it will dramatically affect the rest of the game. Like a lot of RPGs these days you'll be required to reply and direct conversations that you have by selecting answers and this game does it very well. There have been times where I have sat there for a few minutes trying to figure out which answer I should give to an important question. Unlike Skyrim or other RPGs, there is no morality system or anything like that so in theory there is no right or wrong answers but they do weight in on the story. The conversations are engaging and very well written so don't think you'll be bored listening to all the talking that happens in the game.
GRAPHICS: The graphics are good but nowhere near as good as they are on the PC. On the PC, the environments are drop dead gorgeous, on the 360, not as much but still very good. The game recommends that you install the game on your system (that goes for both discs) to improve the graphics and load times and it does. If you don't do that, you'll be seeing almost constant texture pop in. I noted some frame rate slow down in a couple places in the game but for a game this long, it's an extremely minor issue. The character models look great and there is a lot of detail put into them and the creatures of this world. It is a very beautiful game.
SOUND: Like I said before, this game comes with the soundtrack and it is very fitting. It's beautiful and epic at the same time with a medieval, Celtic feel. The sound design is also very good. You can walk through towns and forests hearing all kinds of life all around you. The voice acting is really good. Even just average villagers are well voiced. Geralt's voice sounds kinda like a medieval Solid Snake. Most of the voices are English and other European accents however Triss and Dandelion (your bard friend) have American voices.. They're done well but they really stand out among the European voices. All the music and sounds perfectly compliment the world the game is set in.
Overall this is one of the best RPGs I've played in a long time. It has a really good story (which is one of the most important things in an RPG in my eyes), interesting characters, a fun combat system once you get used to it, and plenty of quests. It's a long game but not impossibly long. Well worth the money for it. If you're an RPG or fantasy fan I highly suggest this game and even if you're not a big RPG gamer I suggest this game, it surprised me and I can't wait for The Witcher 3 which is currently in the works.
OVERALL: 8.7/10
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video-games_xbox
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not as good as the other 2 but still FABtatsic. i'll get right to it.i cannot belive anyone doesnt like this game.its going to be super huge! there are legions of die hard star wars fans out there who are going to make this happen wether one reviewer likes it or not.
the only thing i see wrong with this game is that it doesnt encompass the entire Clone Wars.the clone wars began at the battle of geonosis and ended at the end of episode 3. BUT,there were not only the 2 seasons of the clone wars cartoon left.there was the movie with anakin and ashoka.there was also,more importantly,2 more entire clone wars cartoon movies.they were on the cartoon network and told a lot of vital stories.these could have been put in for more content.
the only other problem i had with it was that i cant beat the zillo monster so i am going to shamelessly ask for help here.
anyhow,this game rocks! its like if lego star wars:the complete saga and star wars:battlefront had a clone wars baby.there is plenty of good old fashioned star wars action plus awesome new ground battles.the new tech is great fun.the new characters are cool.and theres a gargantuan town.well its as big as a town.its actualy a star ship.and theres all sorts of stuff to do just there.it reminds me of the SS normandy from mass effect only super sized.theres also a bunch of cool new jedi moves.
im still having trouble with the nay sayers on this.its the next step up from the old star wars lego foundation.this is where the other movies have brought us.this is what star wars IS.i guess its like they say.as long as theres a video game being made,theres going to be people around to b&i@t%c*h about it.
if you are a star wars fan,not just someone who belives whatever they hear,YOU WILL LIKE THIS GAME!
oh and one more thing.who got everyone saying "i never really could get into star wars.but now star trek.....".he needs to be torped for brain washing all these american cattle.
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video-games_xbox
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Good with serious flaws *Updated. First, a qualifier. I am a good, but not great player. I used to play FIFA a lot about 10 years ago, but haven't much since then. Now that that's out of the way, I don't think I can ever improve playing against the computer. Why? I have played two seasons in Career Mode in Semi-Pro and not lost a single game. Fun at first, but gets old.
As soon as I move up to Pro, however, the AI becomes absurd. It is ridiculously hard to get the ball back, especially in the defensive third. If they reach the corner flag on a run down the sideline, prepare for that same player to be inside your six within seconds. He will literally dribble right through you along the end line.
As of now I can win about 25% of the time on Pro. Another reason (excuse) for this is that whenever it is a one goal game, the computer will score in the 90th minute almost every time. It's become a joke. I have to try to possess the ball for the final 5 minutes without going on attack, because if they get the ball back, they will possess it until the 90th minute and then score. Nothing can be done.
All in all, I enjoy playing the game but am frustrated by the jump in level from Semi-Pro to Pro. It takes the fun out of trying to improve.
*Update
After a few months of significant time playing, I'm as frustrated as ever with this game. When I play with my friend who is the same level as I am, we win routinely on the World Class level. Playing one player, however, I still only win on Pro about 25% of the time. The AI in this game is positively effed. I can tell when the CPU is going to score when they cross mid-field. I call it every time. The computer decides to score, based on the situation in the game, and there is absolutely nothing that can be done about it. I am lucky to get within 5 yards of the ball until its in the back of the net. They pass the ball into the corner and cross it in to a guy who has no defenders anywhere close and he volleys it into the goal.
I haven't even mentioned the ridiculous refereeing. I concede a PK almost every game on perfectly clean tackles. On the flip-side, I think I've had 2 fouls called for me anywhere on the field in about 100 games. Next year I'm trying PES. EA clearly diverted to many resources to its Facebook games division to fight off Zynga, because this game sucks.
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video-games_xbox
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Five Star Potential. In a great sense as a long time fan of the Battlefield franchise this title seemingly builds upon that cornerstone. There are certain aspects that are a regression and the long time issues that plagued the old-gen consoles apparently has not yet been rectified. While the old consoles lacked the big feel in map design the next gen consoles exposed the limitations to expanding the player base most apparent on Operation Metro. The aged flank tactics go out the wayside and leave players little resort for progress due to endless grenade spam. In retrospect while I did enjoy this map in Battlefield 3 given the new changes a better map say Grand Bazaar should've been more deserving to be included than this. New game modes like Obliteration and a new light to the multiplayer experience, however, the explosion from Conquest to Conquest Large limits the ground combat that prior games of the series relied upon. In many sense the console players had been handed an unfinished product which felt rushed even during the Beta stages. In the preceding months the developers have made unceasing strides to rectify this mistake yet the impact itself cannot be undone. For a primarily multiplayer game these shortcomings are huge yet the developers should be applauded for the single player product they released. The story flowed well and character building was deep with a slight replay factor for the different endings. The endings themselves though were very much the same but relied upon your ultimate connection to that particular character. Ultimately Battlefield 4 will improve over time and has in my personal outlook. While things in the game need urgent change(ie crashes, outfitting process, server browser options, latency-kill issues) in many respects these will be addressed over time. Battlefield 4 has the potential to be a great knockout only time and effort we tell us if we get there.
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video-games_xbox
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great game, so-so peripherals. if you play games, and enjoy the music genre, then you already know what rock band is all about. i'm going to focus solely on the package contents for this review.
out of the box you get a drumkit controller, a wired guitar, a usb mic, several headset adapters to make these controllers compatible with voice over xbox live, and a tiny usb hub.
The drumkit controller, depending on which revision you have, is quite nicely put together. Assembly is a snap, but make sure you have plenty of free space set aside for the kit, as it doesn't fold up for easy storage or lend itself to repeated disassembly. In-game the drums perform pretty well with a few exceptions. A very light tap with the sticks will register as a hit, while heavier hits can cause some input problems. For example, if you're a more enthusiastic drummer, a very hard hit to one of the drum pads can cause the note to register twice, or even worse, cause nearby pads to register a hit as well. There are various mods involving socks floating around the internets, but really when you're dealing with drums (the bands metronome) one would expect very accurate hit recognition. This is easily the most finicky of the peripherals.
The wired guitar is an instant disappointment, mainly because it's wired. The strum bar is definitely a step in the right direction, thank you harmonix, as it's much more comfortable than any previous iteration of the strum bar. it's also incredibly accurate at registering input. now onto the bad. the fret buttons require a pretty good amount of force to register, and there are raised ridges (similar to frets on an actual guitar) that separate each button. this makes playing notes with the left hand (or vice versa for you southpaws) feel kind of sticky. once you play around with the guitar for awhile you'll understand. higher up on the neck are a smaller series of fret buttons which you can play during solos sanz strumming, and you can even play there the entire time if you use the strum bar. the controller is a weird mash up of good and bad features. bad fret buttons, great strum bar, longer whammy bar (makes it easier to use), and a pitch shifter (which i never use). ideally i'd like to see a wireless version of this guitar that has the buttons from the GH3 wireless guitar, but the strum bar from this iteration. That would be perfect. As it is this guitar just sits around taking up space, as the GH3 wireless guitar just feels better even with its awful strum bar.
the mic works as you might expect, plug it in and sing, no complaints.
as for the headset extension, these seem like an afterthought. it's as if someone forgot about headset support until after development had been completed. instead of simply plugging your ms headset into a snug port designed for this purpose, you have to plug into an adapter and then plug into your instrument. this means that the headset dongle isn't firmly attached to your controller, which just feels weird as it will twist or pull in odd directions. in the end i just threw these away.
the usb hub is a smart addition to the package, as it's easy to run out of ports if you're using all of your rockband controllers while also using a wireless 360 controller for the singer. sadly this is the worst usb hub i've ever seen. first of all it's not powered by the usb port, it actually comes with it's own power supply. secondly, it doesn't work. i tried every imaginable configuration and was unable to get every peripheral to register simultaneously. eventually i ditched the hub and just stuck with the console ports, and the ports on my hddvd add on drive, to get the job done. this hub joined those headset adapters in the trash.
all in all rockband is a lot of fun, but the gameplay experience suffers just slightly from some questionable design decisions. for the record i don't use the rockband guitar ... ever. i use the wireless GH3 guitar, and the xplorer wired guitar for the 360, bad strum bars but way better buttons.
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video-games_xbox
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Brothers in Arms: Hell's Highway is a Great Game. I have been waiting a long time for Brothers in Arms: Hell's Highway to come out. There have been numerous delays and the game was supposed to come out sometime last year. Well it finally came out and I picked up the game yesterday from my local Game Retailer.
The game follows up the first two Brothers in Arms games that came out earlier. You play the role of Sergeant Matt Baker who leads squads of men through Holland during Operation Market Garden in September 1944 during World War II. Operation Market Garden was the last German victory in Europe during the war.
I think the game has a great story line. The game in my opinion is very well done and acted out. It really shows what I think every soldier has to endure and go through during wartime. It is very emotional and gripping. You find out that soldiers have to make life or death decisions that can effect them the rest of their lives. This game shows not only soldiers struggling through this conflict, but also Dutch civilians who were caught in the crossfire between the Allies and the Germans.
If you are looking for a game where you make tactical decisions about how to fight battles during Operation Market Garden, this is it. Your decisions can decide the life's of your soldiers under your command.
The AI is very good in this game. I read some game reviews from other gaming websites where the game reviewers were complaining about German Soldiers who were just standing around when you shoot at them. First of all, you can now sneak up on German Soldiers to plan an attack without them knowing your there. In other words, you can set up an ambush. You set up you and your squads where you want them to fight the Germans. Of course the Germans are going to stand around if they don't know that you are there hiding. Second you can now set up you and your men where the Germans are caught in a cross fire when you fire at them with your weapons. The Germans get confused because there is no where to run and hide. So of course a lot of them are going to stand around because of the crossfire. That happens in real life too.
The graphics are real good in this game. I understand the developers of this game went to actual locations around Holland and took thousands of pictures to make the game looked like Holland during World War II. That is very impressive.
I think the game has a lot of replay value to it because the Germans react differently every time you play the game again. Each time you try to figure out how you will fight different battles throughout the game. I recommend buying this game especially if you like playing World War II games like me.
October 5, 2008
UPDATE: I just finished playing Brothers in Arms: Hells Highway and I noticed a couple of things I wanted to update about this game. I'm a true gamer who likes to give honest opinions about the games I play. The above opinions were given when I was only half way through the game. Here are the updates.
1. The graphics are great at the beginning of the game and toward the middle, but not at the end. It seems like the game developer got into a big hurry to finish this game and just threw in graphics from the "Brothers in Arms: Earned in Blood" game into the end of this game. The trees and buildings at the end of game just look dull and not very detailed like at the beginning and the middle of the game. The game was already a year behind schedule and I'm sure the game developer got pressured into finishing the game as soon as possible. I was wondering why I never saw any game trailers that show any missions that were at the end of this game. Now I know why.
2. None of the mission maps you play through are very big throughout the game. You play a little way through a mission and then you get a cut scene. That scenario plays over and over again throughout the game. Too many cut scenes and not enough playing time. If you want a comparison in map sizes, try playing Battlefield: Bad Company and you'll see what I'm talking about as far as map sizes go. Battlefield: Bad Company maps are a lot bigger with less cut scenes.
3. Operation Market Garden was all about the Allies taking and holding major road bridges along Hell's Highway throughout Holland during World War II before the Germans could blow up any of the bridges. Well in the game I didn't see one major bridge shown in any missions. There is one small bridge in the game that goes over a small canal but I don't count that. I'm talking about big huge bridges over major rivers. I didn't see any at all. I was really disappointed. Why were there no major road bridges shown in the game? That is what Operation Market Garden was all about.
4. There were lots of different vehicles used during Operation Market Garden by both the Allies and the Germans. In the game, I only saw one kind of Allied tank (Sherman Firefly) used in the game and one kind of German tank (Panzer IV) used. I didn't see any German Panther tanks, Tiger tanks, German Halftracks, German Volkswagen Kubelwagen, etc. I also didn't see any other American tanks or any British tanks of any kind. What is up with that?
5. Not every mission in this game has you play with squads of men. In fact in some of the missions, you fight alone against the Germans. And in some missions you don't fight at all. Running through a building that is on fire is one of them. There is no shooting at all. I thought in every mission I would control squads of men.
This game reminds me a lot of Medal of Honor: Airborne. That game could of been awesome too if it had of been done right. I remember that game went through a lot of delays just like Brothers in Arms: Hell's Highway did and it came out about a year later than it was suppose to. Medal of Honor: Airborne was great the first few missions and then it went downhill the last couple of missions. This game is the same way. After playing the game, I'll have to change my rating from 5 stars to 3 stars. Sorry. I just feel this game could of been made better.
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video-games_xbox
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Intensely Hard, But Good. I have to mention that the first thing I noticed in Lords of the Fallen was the stunning and detailed graphics. There's just so much detail that went into creating the levels. It just gives you the urge to explore and discover new things that this game has to offer.
Lords of the Fallen is a great game so far, but just a warning there isn't an easy or normal difficultly level, only hard. Since Lords of the Fallen is such a hard game, I only recommend it to the most experienced gamers. It took me almost an hour just to kill the first Warden, and I consider myself a pretty good gamer. When playing the game it's important not to run in head first, but instead make a plan and figure out each enemy's weakness. Potions are also a big help, so make sure you use them wisely.
Classes: you have three classes to choose from.
Brawling: With this class you will maintain more health, and have more raw attack power against enemies.
Deception: This class will allow you to recover you energy more quickly, and deceive enemies by a number of tricky techniques.
Solace: with Solace you will recover your magic more efficiently, and primarily be used in a defensive manner by healing and protecting yourself.
Equipment:
Set of the Warrior: This set gives you steel-plated amor with exceptional defense and a heavy sword, but will cost you your agility.
Set of Rogue: This leather amor is worn by thieves and scoundrels, and will allow the most mobility out of all the sets. A set of daggers comes with this set too.
Set of Cleric: basically the meddle ground between the first two sets. It has a good balance between mobility and defense, and comes with a blunt weapon.
Music and Sounds: the music fits the game perfectly. It's basically has a dark gothic tone to it that adds an extra layer of intenseness when you are fighting bosses.
Bugs: so far it's all good, and I haven't ran into any technical difficulties.
Controls: The main character moves very slow, and doesn't feel very smooth. It's not that big of a deal, just requires a little bit of a learning curve before players can get use to the gameplay.
I've only played for a little over 5 hours, but I won't give up. As soon as I'm further along I will update my review, but for now I wanted to give people an idea of what the game and classes are like.
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video-games_xbox
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I will not be a hater. I will not be a hater. Often when I struggle to write a review, it's when I know I have to pan something despite how much I want to like it. The game gets all kinds of points for cool features, but in the end it just isn't any fun. I finally have the opposite story here. Invisible War has nits begging to be picked everywhere, and comparing it to Deus Ex is almost unfair, because it falls short of that standard on every conceivable level. However, halfway through my second time into the game, I can't escape one truth. This game's a lot of fun, and when it is, it's fun for the same reasons the original was. I can't unconditionally recommend it; it certainly has some problems that might be deal-breakers for some people. But if you like open-ended action-adventuring or you liked Deus Ex (and who didn't?), you'll probably find things to enjoy here.
There's not much point to explaining the story, as it's pretty inconsequential. It's pretty cheesy sci-fi fare (like Deus Ex) that isn't very compelling (~un~like Deus Ex). Suffice it to say the year is 2072 and you start in an academy for gifted youngsters. Very shortly into the game, you leave the academy with some biomodifications (think superpowers) and some gear, and you set out on a globetrotting quest to save/rule/destroy the world, whatever your pleasure may be.
You play from a first person perspective and all the shooter conventions are in place here. As advertised, you're more than welcome to play this game as Doom, and just blast the bejeezus out of everything. You can also go for the stealthy approach, or mix the two for the ever-popular sneak-n-snipe experience, or rely more on talking your way through the game, or whatever suits your fancy. If you played the original, you know the drill.
The multiple solutions to every problem angle is pretty well confined to what you can do with the environment. That is, the RPG sheen of the original is gone. There are no skill points; there are no skills. So how you deal with an obstacle is usually dictated by what's easiest given the equipment and biomods that you have. A little bit of RPG flavor here, but not much.
Still it's fun, skill points or not. Example. I need to destroy an air defense turret so that the helicopter in which I plan to leave Seattle can safely take off. Near that turret, there's a smaller security turret, which is there to kill me if an alarm goes off. There's also a door, on the other side of which is the computer where I can shut the big turret down. The door is locked, of course, and I don't have a passcode, and I'm out of multitools (gadgets that open anything). If I try to blow the door off with a grenade, the small turret will rip me to shreds. I might just as well have gone off looking for another multitool; instead I use one of my biomods that lets me take over robots and turrets. I use the small turret to destroy the big one, and I never even had to get on the other side of the door.
And this is the game. You alternate between collecting tasks and deciding how best to discharge them. The quests that you get come from various competing factions (who will regularly and annoyingly pop up on the screen to talk to you, almost in angels/devils on the shoulder fashion), and there's always plenty to do. Usually, working for one faction will tick off another. And story-wise, the game suffers because, in trying to keep it nonlinear, what's been produced is a game basically made up entirely of side quests, so that the main story, such as it is, is thoroughly forgettable. This, too, comes with a good news aspect, though, as the side quests are not of the "find my lost puppy" variety. Contract hits are much more common, which, however you feel about the morality, is at least a little bit weighty. It's worth mentioning that it's possible to finish this game without ever touching a weapon.
As in the first game, it's the biomods that steal the show. The real fun ultimately derives from custom-building your super-dude and seeing what it can do. There are five biomod slots, and you have three choices for what you want to use each one on. Want to be Rambo? There's a biomod that makes enemy rockets detonate before they reach you and another that lets you regenerate health from the corpses from your victims. There's a good start. Prefer Solid Snake? Go for invisibility and silent running. You design the character you want to play and go get the job done accordingly. Whatever other problems the game has, from moment to moment it stays engaging because of this open-ended nature.
Graphically, the game isn't all that good. Anything we may have gotten better at in terms of pixels and polygons since the original is lost in artistry. Areas are constrained. Cities feel like boxes, and load times are long and frequent. Ditto for sounds. Ambient music is almost nonexistent and not that good, and the entire voice cast (even returning characters from the original) sound like they're straight from a high school play. Atmosphere is severely lacking.
The promise of improved AI went unfulfilled, and it contributes to the problem. People will stand there and watch you as you steal things from right off their desks. In one case, I actually told a man that I was hired to kill him, and he and his bodyguard watched as I calmly walked to a corner of the room with good cover, pulled my rifle and shot him. And of course there's the unified ammo, of which you're probably aware. Your dart gun uses the same ammo as your flamethrower. The suspension of disbelief can be tough to come by in this game at times.
Overall, though, the game mechanics that made the original succeed work here. Problems? You bet. As good as Deus Ex? Not on your life. Fun? Absolutely.
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video-games_xbox
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So close to perfect. I've had the Xbox 360 for about 10 months now. Last month it gave up on me & I had to get it replaced, for which I had to incurr a one way shipping cost but the replacement process was a breeze & the replacement Xbox 360 was with me in no time.
I had the original Xbox for a very long time, now passed it on to my brother who doesn't require *next-gen* gaming for his day to day life, however I do recommend it for everyone else. The Xbox 360 takes entertainment to another level by giving you wireless controllers, a better interface to interact with (the Xbox 360 dashboard), jaw dropping graphics & a whole lot more..I'm not going to bore you with the technical specifications of the console, I will point out the few things you might be wanting to get a feedback about.
What makes the Xbox 360 awesome (Pros)?
The graphics are way too good to be described by any sort of words. Yes, if you want to take advantage of the true HD experience you will need a decent HDTV which keep getting cheaper by the day. The graphics do vary from TV to TV but in general with a HDTV you will not be disappointed at all.
The HDD allows you to save a lot of content including downloaded content, music you rip from cds etc. The main reason of the hard drive existing is to allow you to save your game files & with a 20GB HDD (only 12GB is available to the user) you can store an unlimited amount of saved games, mind it, you do need the HDD to play original Xbox games.
The wireless controller creates freedom beyond what can be imagined. Using 2.4GHz technology the responsiveness of the Xbox 360s controller is nothing but instant giving you the perfect lag-free gaming experience.
The Xbox Live Network System is optional but I strongly recommend it for anyone who has got a broadband connection. It will complete the entertainment experience you are looking for. Online content availability is increasing rapidly. You can download game content, game demos, gametrailers in HD, movie trailers in HD, music videos...the list is endless.
The availability of games will get you confused on what to choose & keep you busy with the Xbox 360 all the time. The number of games available keeps increasing & currently the Xbox 360 has almost 5 times the number of games available on its competition - the PlayStation 3.
The Xbox 360 can be linked up with your computer to stream music, videos & pictures. The setup for this barely takes a minture. All games allow the option of using custom soundtracks, this is where streaming music can be very useful.
If you feel the need of watching your movies in HD (HD movies are different from normal DVDs) then you can buy the external HD-DVD Player add-on for the Xbox 360 ($200).
What's not-good about the Xbox 360 (Cons)?
The Xbox 360 is not by itself, you have this *brick* power supply which is bulky & annoying as the mobility of the console is lost with this. The component cables can leave you in a mess as they can cause a little bit of a clatter. There is no HDMI output for the premium system (the Elite has this). The machine can be noisy at times & produces a lot of heat, you have to make sure it is in a well ventilated area, the power supply should be in a well ventilated area as well.
Comparison with the PlayStation 3.....
Which is more powerful in terms of specifications?
On paper, the PS3 but which is being
Which is being used to its utmost potential currently & delivering what it promised?
The Xbox 360 for the main reason that the developers have found too many bugs in the PS3s developing software & are finding it hard to understand & learn the PS3s developing software.
What's the exclusive content on both (from the top of my head)?
Xbox 360: Gears of War/Halo/Project Gotham Racing/Forza Motorsport/GTA IV/Perfect Dark Zero
PS3: Resistance Fall of Man/Gran Turismo/Formula One/Metal Gear Solid/Motorstorm
What's the number in game titles currently in the market?
The PS3 is told to have less than 40 games currently available in the market where as the Xbox 360 has 150+ titles available.
Which one has the better online network?
The Xbox 360 with its Xbox Live Online Multiplayer Network is by far better than what Sony came up with, you might be paying $50/year for it but it is well worth it. The latest dashboard update allows you to IM with your friends as well.
Which is better?
Nothing can be taken away from either of them, they are both very powerful machines. However, for a person looking for a *pure entertainment* system I would recoemmend the Xbox 360 because it has a lot more titles available & will never be far behind the PS3 in terms of graphics or performance (currently it is ahead), allows you to easily connect to your computer to stream music, pictures & videos, the Xbox Live Network allows you to download a lot of content for games & other media - such as gametrailers in HD, demos, new themes etc. plus the lack of force feedback with the PS3 leaves the next-gen experience incomplete which is not the case with the Xbox 360.
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video-games_xbox
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One of the Greatest Titles on the Kinect. Make no mistake about it, The Gunstringer is one of the greatest titles on the Kinect. This isn't a game that will have you doing jumping jacks or posing like Madonna, but it will definitely have you rolling on the ground in laughter and sheer enjoyment. If you haven't played this already, you may want to start downloading the free demo to your Xbox 360 now, so it is ready to play by the time you are done reading this review.
In the days of overcharging and under delivering in video games, it is a breath of fresh air to play a game that you just know is worth the money spent. Sometimes I wonder if game developers enjoy their job, especially if they make us suffer through certain misery of their games. Twisted Pixel has no such problem. It is evident from the opening credits that they love their job.
What is The Gunstringer? This is a game about a skeleton cowboy marionette, making his way through the wild west with vengeance on his mind. Remember how Shakespeare said something about the world being a stage? Well, in this game, you are literally on a stage in front of a human audience. Ever since their hilarious use of the green screen in Comic Jumper, Twisted Pixel has found clever ways to jump into their games and blur the line between fourth walls and immersion. The end result is a video game experience unlike any other.
The controls are flawless. Whether you are shooting down dynamite being thrown at you, jumping over canyons, dodging giant balls of Capt'n Crunch, or fist pounding some ugly croc bastard, you will be in total and effortless control. Controls work sitting down or standing up. I'm almost convinced they would even work hanging upside down from my ceiling.
The story is spread across several acts in several stories. Each act can be replayed to try and obtain higher scores or earn more money. There are online leaderboards to compare yourself with others on your friends list. Money is used to buy extras, such as difficulty levels, cameo appearances, or making of videos, etc.
Twisted Pixel has always been generous in what they include in their games. Besides a good amount of gamer pics and avatar items, they are also including a free downloadable copy of Fruit Ninja and their first downloadable content, The Wavy Tube Man Chronicles. Speaking of which, is almost worth buying the game just to try. The Wavy Tube Man Chronicles reminds me of the days where I put a quarter in at the fair and can shoot various silly targets in a booth.
Going back to the controls, that is essentially what makes this game shine. This isn't your typical Kinect game, where the Kinect is reading your whole body. Most of the game, one hand holds the marionette wand and the other hand holds the gun. One hand moves the Gunstringer and the other hand kills every bad guy or gal that fills the screen. Shooting is a breeze with a lock-on ability and a flick of the wrist. Sometimes you'll be granted other scenarios and abilities, but that is the gist of it.
The game has local two player support, where the second player can drop in and out as they please. As mentioned earlier, there are also online leaderboards for bragging rights.
While the game is friendly for controls and laughter, it is not so friendly in front of children. There are a lot of adult themes throughout the game that should be considered before letting a younger having a go at this.
Overall, with the level of production value, humor and love, this game is an instant masterpiece. Very rarely do I get the opportunity to play a game that charms within minutes of playing. This game tells a story, has a lot of fun, and is an excellent display of Kinect controls. I can't think of any reason not to recommend this fully to every Kinect owner out there.
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video-games_xbox
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Little incentive to play on. I play strictly as a single player, and the type of FPS games I like are the ones where you can take your time to assess everything around you, and move about the field of play on your own terms. World at War is a game that rushes you from objective to objective in a limited space, and for me, that takes all the fun out. Rather than dash through a building at top speed because some Russian is yelling "Get to the roof!", I may want to hunker down and pick off enemies before cautiously progressing.
The realism of the game is so good, it's actually annoying. You can be lying prone and setting up your aim, and out of the blue, a lone grenade or fatal bullet from a sniper sends you back to the last checkpoint, making the game very, very, very repetitive. The grenades are especially annoying -- sometimes you spend more time running from thrown grenades than you do shooting at the enemy.
Another problem is that the grenade throwing buttons are located right above the triggers. What a dumb place to put them, because in the intensity of the game play, especially when you have to run, I'm always inadvertently pressing those buttons and lobbing my own grenades at my feet. Before I play a level, the first thing I have to do is throw all my grenades away so I don't accidentally kill myself with one. What's most annoying is that when a grenade is thrown at you, the left grenade-throwing button defaults to a grenade toss-back button -- I've killed myself many times by lobbing enemy grenades that I unknowingly picked up while trying to run from them. (The XBox 360 should have stuck with the top-located white and black buttons from the original Xbox controller.)
What the game lacks in, well, being a game, it makes up for in cinematics. The graphics are great.
If you want realism, this is a great game. But if you love shooting enemies in single-player mode, this is not the best game -- the realism has you spending too much time ducking behind cover to avoid fatal wounds, running from grenades, and adhering to the pace set by the game, not by you.
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video-games_xbox
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A Decent Wii Fit Sports Alternative With Great Multi-Player Support. What we were looking for was a game that expanded on the Winter-themed balance games that come with the Wii Fit (Slalom, Ski Jump, Snow Board), and this game delivered that quite nicely. Lucky for us, the Ski-Jump and Downhill disciplines are the best ones in the game.
The Snow Boarding Half Pipe and Speed-Skating aren't bad either.
Essentially, all the games that used the Wii Fit to good affect were our favorites.
Unfortunately, this cancels out about half of the games.
The Biathlon mechanics are horrible.
All of the Louge/Skeleton games are essentially the same, but they changed the mechanics slightly on each one to make them appear different, and in my opinion, they all failed to entertain.
MULTI-PLAYER:
Another aspect we were looking for was good multi-player support, as the Wii Fit software really wasn't designed for multi-player.
This game really came through on multi-player support!
In its simplest form, you can play single events with one player, and when you earn a high score, you are able to enter any name you want into the high-score table.
But if you want you can configure each single event to have up to 4 players, with each player having their own name (and country) - This way, you are competing for placement in the event, but your names are auto-filled in if you earn a high-score.
Lastly, you can configure a multi-event competition with up to 4 players and select the exact events you want to compete in.
NOTE: Two, three or four-person multi-player is done using one single controller/fit that you give to the next player after each turn. For two-person multi-player, you also have the option of using 2 controllers in split-screen mode - I can't say exactly how this works as we haven't tried this feature yet. We're happy enough just swapping controllers, and we only have one Wii Fit anyway.
SUMMARY:
Although I'm a bit disappointed that I won't be able to enjoy all of the events that come with this game, I am satisfied and believe the game was worth the asking price.
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video-games_xbox
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It's fun initially, but gets very repetitive very quickly. I've had it since release, and I played the beta on the Xbox 360 and PC.
My qualms with the game is the content. I don't care that they've had bugs and server issues, those problems have been and will be sorted out. They were never more than an inconvenience to me anyway.
My issue is the lack of content. In a weekend I completed the story line. After that, you can repeat the missions over and over.
Leveling
There really isn't a traditional leveling system in Defiance. You get "Ego" levels. Some levels result in an Ego point (like ever 10 levels) and others give you an additional "perk" slot (stuff like increase speed for a few seconds, damage, etc.) nothing really game changing. IE, someone at the max of 5000 EGO isn't 10 times more powerful than someone at 500. In fact, they are using only slightly upgraded weapons by that point, and only slightly enhanced "perks". No real advantage. In a traditional MMO type of game, a "level" 50 would kick a level 10's butt. Not the case in Defiance.
Weapons & Loot
You only get a few pieces of equipment. A grenade, a shield, a primary and a secondary weapon. That's it. There are some different vehicles you can use, but there are only 4 types with different colors. The loot system is quite lacking. You can get items from drop, but the majority of items are white/green with the occasional blue and very rare to see a purple. There are lock boxes in the game that you get keys to unlock. Trion Worlds recently nerfed the drop rate of keys in order to increase the desire to spend real money for lock boxes. You can farm world events for keys but it gets tiring.
Guns really don't change very much from the early levels to later. They change in rarity, and whatever your "EGO" level is, that's the level the items will be when they drop or you get them from lock boxes. It's really a false sense of "upgrading".
Content
The story can be completed in a weekend. Once you're done with that, you can do side mission, repeat the story, or do Arkfall events. Arkfalls are world evens with a large boss at the end. Usually it's just a mass of people (which admittedly is kind of neat to see on the Xbox) that just shoot at the same big boss an it's over. I think all the players look alike, and it's probably due to improving performance.
I thought they were going to do a big tie in with the show and release new content each week. The TV show is so cut-rate that it's difficult to watch even with the game. Episode one aired and they had a slight tie-in with the game. I think they also released the tie-in for episode two at the same time, since it aired and there was no new content. The "Episode 2" content was quite minor. I'm sure they have plans, but I'm not going to wait that long. After 2 or 3 weeks since release, I'm finding myself just trying to get 50,000 kills to get a suit of armor that only changes my looks. It's just not worth it. I'm trading it into Amazon while it has some value left. I may pick it up again down the road when there is something to do besides the same stuff repeatedly.
To sum it up: It's too easy, too short, loot is a crapshoot and irrelevant, leveling is largely irrelevant, no economy, no real reason for guilds/clans, nobody uses text to talk on the Xbox and the only ones using a mic are blasting lousy music across a zone so you just shut off voice altogether. Great idea that feels rushed to market in order to meet the timeline of a cut-rate scifi show.
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video-games_xbox
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Best Xbox 360 controller I've used. I've had this controller for a week or so now, and I'd just like to go over my experiences with it. Below are my pros/cons.
PROS:
1. Rubberized texture and grip fits into the hand better than the stock controller. It feels better, and is comfortable for extended use. (Where the official 360 controller can hurt your hands)
2. The braided cable is thick and very sturdy. It is unlikely to break, fray, or split when your cat gnaws on it.
3. Cabled controller means that the response times feel a lot more fluid and fast. The controller never "goes to sleep" like the wireless one does.
4. Backlit keys are perfect for gaming at night.
5. Works on BOTH Xbox 360 and PC
CONS:
1. Controller feels a little too light. It would have been nice for a little more weight in it. Feels a little cheap.
2. As mentioned above, the braided cable is strong but it sucks having an unsightly cable all over your living room floor.
3. The "start" and "select" buttons are inconveniently placed.
4. The dual shoulder-buttons require some getting used to.
Conclusion:
This is a very nice controller. I actually got this as a backup controller for when my official wireless 360 controller ran out of batteries or failed, and so far it hasn't let me down. There is no doubt about it... this controller feels BETTER in the hand than the official controller. The button presses feel good, and require less effort than it does on the official controller. I use this controller for Dead Island and it works great. The response time is faster than the wireless controller (it's hard to notice, but you do see it) and the light weight of the controller also means that your hands won't get tired as easily.
I really enjoy this controller, and it works very well for casual gaming and competitive gaming alike. I haven't gotten around to programming any custom keys to mine yet, (still trying to get a feel for it) - There is a little stiffness at first, and it's clear that after some use the controller will loosen up and be properly broken in.
If I could change anything on this controller, I would have made it support the Microsoft Chatpad, and also moved the start/select buttons to their original positions. On top of that, the dual shoulder-pad buttons are cool for some games, but in games like Dead Island you'll sometimes find yourself accidentally hitting that upper shoulder button instead of the correct one, (which doesn't do anything) ... so it does take some getting used to.
If you're looking for a good controller, I would go for one of these over a Mad Catz or some other crap controller.
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video-games_xbox
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Big, dumb and fun. There is an argument that games can be a truly transformative and liberating artform, a way of transmitting ideas and narratives and developing characters in ways that traditional film and literature cannot hope to match. There is also an argument that, whilst that is true, games should also seek new ways of including as many ludicrous explosions and insane stunts as possible whilst allowing the player to go mental with an Uzi whilst dangling from a helicopter. Just Cause 2 is the ultimate exploration of the latter idea.
The setting is the island-nation of Panau, which stretches across a massive 400 square kilometres. For the record, that's thirty times the size of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas and twenty-five times the size of Skyrim. It's an absolutely massive environment taking in frozen, snow-blown mountains, burning deserts and lush, tropical jungle, as well as the skyscraper-strewn metropolis of Panau City. Playing as Rico, you can use ground vehicles ranging from tuk-tuks to armoured personnel carriers (via sports cars, bikes and fire engines) as well as a variety of helicopters, boats, jet fighters and airliners. An arsenal of weaponry is available including submachine guns, sniper rifles, rocket launchers, grenades, explosives and Magnum-like hand cannons. Rico has a grappling hook which he can use to grab lifts on passing aircraft or cars (and then hijack them), or ascend to the roofs of buildings quickly. He can also use it as a weapon, pulling enemies off high ledges or - most entertainingly - attaching them to passing vehicles or exploding gas canisters.
The game has a central storyline which is worthwhile enough, with a few good gags and a few satirical jabs aimed at American foreign policy, but it's mainly worth playing for the missions, which tend to be more epic and inventive than most of the game. The bulk of the game is spent playing missions for each of the three rebel factions, helping them expand their territory over larger portions of the maps. The faction missions are enjoyable, but tend to be brief and rather easy. Disappointingly, they also don't overlap. In fact, bizarrely, each of the three factions seems completely unaware of the existence of the others, even when their territory meets. The faction missions also just peter out in the end, with no big pay-off or final mission for each faction, which feels like a bit of missed opportunity.
Where the game's true appeal lies is in its enormous open world. The game scores everything by how much chaos you cause. The more chaos you cause, the more missions, weapons and vehicles you unlock and more unstable the regime becomes. You cause chaos by completing missions but also destroying government property, such as petrol stations, oil depots and military bases. Sufficiently impressive explosions also add to your chaos score. In short, whilst going absolutely ballistically nuts in, say, a GTA game is a fun diversion, in Just Cause 2 it's part of the core game design. To get to 100% game completion, you need to pretty much destroy every single bit of government property on the map (which, given the map's overwhelming size, will take weeks, if not months) and pick up every single upgrade (since there's literally thousands of them, this will also take a while). To make this more achievable, the game breaks the completion score down by location and settlement, with each settlement having it's own sub-score so you know if you have to do more stuff there or can move on.
This is the the core of Just Cause 2's appeal: going crazy and blowing everything up is built into the game design rather than being left as an optional extra, and makes the game more entertaining. Everything else, even the missions, are designed around this idea (so whilst doing a story mission in an enemy base, you may wish to simultaneously level the place and get all the upgrades to put it towards your overall score). This is useful as the main storyline, whilst amusing, is rather brief if you tear right through it.
Visually, the game looks astonishing, even three years after release. The draw distances are staggering, the views of the islands are incredible either by day or night (and at night the sight of the lights of villages on the sides of mountains a dozen miles away is particularly evocative) and the attention to detail is mind-blowing. Each island is packed with towns, villages, remote homesteads, ruined temples and other features of interest. You could play this game for months and still never see all there is to see. It's bigger than many MMORPG worlds (Panau is five times the size of the entire planet in World of WarCraft, for example).
Unfortunately, where Just Cause 2 does break down is repetition. The game world is enormous, but there is a limit on what you can do. In fact, whilst the game world is far vaster than any GTA game, you're still limited to blowing things up, doing story missions or taking part in races. GTA4's attempts to give you more stuff to do through bowling, mini-games etc may have been fairly naff, but at least it was an attempt to give the player more activities to pursue in its open world (something GTA5 sounds like it will improve on further). It's unlikely that many players will get to 100% completion in Just Cause 2 because to do so would involve attacking dozens and dozens of near-identical military bases, exploring dozens and dozens of near-identical towns and villages and base-jumping around lots of very similar skyscrapers in the city, whilst having to painstakingly explore every nook and cranny to make sure you haven't missed a hidden upgrade crate. The game world is vast, huge and overwhelmingly impressive, but it will eventually get a little stale. This will vary by player, and for me it didn't happen until almost 35 hours in the game and 40% completion (accomplished by completing every faction and storyline mission, destroying almost twenty military bases and generally causing lots of random havoc). Certainly there is more than enough game here for your money, enhanced further on the PC version by both the more lush visuals and the impressive multiplayer mode (added by modders).
Just Cause 2 (****) is a big, dumb and amusing game set in possibly the greatest environment ever created for a game. Some might wish for a stronger narrative, or more variance in the missions and locations, but as an open-world sandbox designed for having fun, Just Cause 2 is now the game to beat.
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video-games_xbox
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Hmmmm... Could have been better. The commercials for this game were very misleading. They make Call of Duty: Finest Hour look so much better than it actually is! However, that's not saying it's a bad game. Once you get past the initial disappointment, it has its high points. Call of Duty is your basic WWII first-person shooter. The graphics are nice and the game is pretty realistic, but not much stands out from other games of this genre.
PROS:
The weapons are realistic, but some people will try to tell you it's too hard to aim, and aiming is so much easier on the PC version because the gun doesn't move around as much. Go try shooting a real gun and tell me how easy it really is to aim and fire a rifle while standing. Sure the gun moves around a lot when you're using the iron sights, but it's supposed too! Another good thing is there's not some tiny little crosshair that will tell you right where you're going to shoot. The huge crosshair in Call of Duty is only to be used in close quarters fighting, and the rest of the time you need to use the guns' iron sights. The guns are accurate, but not TOO accurate, and accuracy is lost the longer you fire.
There's also a nice selection of weapons, from the M1 Garand to Bren Light machine guns. My favorite was the Mosin-Nagant sniping rifle, and the Browning Automatic Rifle (BAR) was great as well. If you run out of ammo, you can always steal a gun from a dead enemy. MP40s are especially useful, because they fire slow enough to remain accurate while still covering a large area with bullets relatively quickly. In the Normal difficulty setting, it takes about the same number of shots to kill an enemy as it takes for them to kill you, and you don't have to empty an entire magazine to take down a single enemy, but it takes enough shots that it doesn't become too easy. And so what if there are no pistols? If you were charging up a hill at a machine gun nest, would you rather have a pistol or a more powerful weapon?
The levels are designed nicely, though they are a little too scripted. If you get killed, you'll always know right where the enemy is going to pop up from when you get back to that spot. The levels are large and detailed, and there are just enough to amke the game interesting without becoming repetitive or boring. There are plenty of ammo and health pick-ups throughout the game. Enemies are everywhere, and there's rarely a quiet moment. The only level that I thought was stupid and pointless was the last one of the British campaign where you have to run through the open under fire from three MG42 positions and countless enemy soldiers, plant explosives right where all the enemies are pouring out of, and then run. This seemed very unrealistic, and would have been impossible in real life, because there's no way to take out the MG42 gunners, for if you snipe one, another immediately takes his place. Luckily, this was the only mission that I didn't like. The levels in this game are taken from some of the less-known battles and locations of WWII, from North Africa to Remagen, with none of battles that are overdone in other WWII games, such as D-Day. I had hoped for a longer battle in Stalingrad, but oh well...
You get to play as the Russians, British, and Americans. Each country has its own weapons and locations to fight in. This gives you views of the war from the perspective of many different people. Unfortunately, there are only four British levels, two of which are very short and simple.
CONS:
Call of Duty: Finest Hour has some of the dumbest AI I've seen in any game, EVER. If anyone tells you the AI is well-done in this game, they're either stupid or a dirty liar, or both. Friendly and enemy AI is terrible!! I parked my tank on a runway at a German-controlled airfield in Russia, and their planes continued to attempt to take off, even though I was shooting every single one of them down, one after the other. When driving in a tank, stupid German infantry will stand out in the open shooting you with their MP40s, which do absolutely nothing. While they're shooting, you can roll your tank right over them, and they don't even make an attempt to get out of the way. Your own Allies in some of the levels are complete idiots who do nothing but run around yelling at you to shoot the enemy, even when they have a more clear shot. They do shoot, but never hit anything and the only thing that they accomplish is giving away your position. On the first American mission, you have to protect an M12 Mobile Gun Carriage, and there are Germans with panzerfausts all over. Your squadmates could be standing two feet from an anti-tank German, and rather than shooting them, they yell at you to protect the M12, so you have to try and kill all the Germans yourself. It took me several tries to get through that mission on EASY mode! On several occasions, I would man a MG42 emplacement, and one of my own men would stand in front of the gun and get shot, and still wouldn't move. They follow you around like Lemmings, doing nothing except getting killed. Say you go through a door with your squadmates following you, and then a grenade is thrown at you. The most obvious course of action would be to run back through the door to safety, but lo and behold, there are morons blocking your path who don't seem to realize they're all in danger. Your allies will blindly walk into enemy fire or onto grenades. But I guess that's all for the best: they weren't doing you any good anyway.
Characters who are necessary to the plot or are needed to make an appearance in a cutscene later in the game are invincible. But do they use that to their advantage? NO! You still have to do all the work. An example of this is Cpl. Benny Church, who always follows Sgt. Chuck Walker (that's you in the U.S. levels). He does nothing but is constantly getting shot, yet is promoted to Sergeant later on. It's pretty funny to watch one of these characters walk towards an MG42 nest, stand there getting pummeled, and then run away without a scratch. And by funny I mean stupid.
One of the unrealistic elements of this game is the tanks. Enemy tanks can be destroyed in one or two shots, but your own tanks are nearly invincible. Tanks have armor and health, and when the armor is depleted, the health will regnerate itself if you continue to get damaged. If I remeber my history correctly, U.S. Sherman tanks were no match for German Panzers and Tigers, yet one Sherman can take on six German tanks at one time, no problem. And what's the deal with the 3rd-person "chase mode" while in a tank? The gun won't fire where you aim, and there's no point for it. But I guess I shouldn't complain... if the tanks weren't invincible, I'd never make it through those levels.
There's no way to save in the middle of a mission! The game is saved before and after, and there are checkpoints in between, but you'll often find yourself getting to the end of a level, dying, and then having to restart from the beginning. Checkpoints rarely occur, and they're usually in the most pointless places and never when you really need them.
Some of the action is too scripted, and the missions are pretty linear. Only certain doors can be opened, and there's really only one way to complete your mission. Very little strategy is involved: shoot the Germans, complete your objectives, move on to the next level.
Despite its shortcomings, Call of Duty: Finest Hour is an okay game. However, I'd recommend renting it or waiting until it's on sale to buy it. Playing Call of Duty is a good way to spend a weekend, but it won't leave any lasting impressions, and it will probably be forgotten soon after you finish.
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video-games_xbox
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A Beautifully Conceived Game (4.5 Stars Actually. What would you do if a mysterious martial artist appeared one day, killed your father, and stole your father's mysterious mirror? Well, you would surely go after the mysteriuos man, wouldn't you? Well that's exactly what Ryo Hazuki does in Shenmue's plot.
Shenmue 2 is the sequel to one of the ill-fated Dreamcast's gems, Shenmue. The story follows Ryo (that means YOU) after departing for Hong Kong, following the trail of Lan Di, the man who killed your father. The game takes you from Wan Chai and Kowloon in Hong Kong to Guilin, China, where you have to gather clues and information which will get you one step closer to your final showdown with Lan Di. While newbies to the gaming world may find it too slow and kinda boring, old school and serious gamers will overlook it's flaws, only to find that this game is far deeper and better than most games out there.
Graphics-4.5 out of 5: while the graphics took only a little step forward from the Dreamcast's, they still look awesome. The attention given to every little detail such as streets blooming with people and the city landscapes is simply amazing. Shops you'll encounter throughout the game are filled with every little detail, and look like real world shops; and the beautiful nature landscapes you'll see later in the are simply breathtaking, though the characters sometimes look a bit boxy.
Sound-4.5 out of 5: the game's music has benn finely composed, from classic oriental music, to even techo at certain times, The voice-overs are well done, though Ryo's voice could use a bit more personality, and sometimes the voices sound a bit muffled.
Control-4 out of 5: this is the game's most noticeable fault, you'll notice moving around is a bit cumbersome, though the rest of the controls are great. Your item management is very practical, and it's very easy to consult it. The battle control (courtesy of Virtua Fighter's Yu Suzuki) is the best, and now besides the free battles, there're also QT battles, a nice addition to the game.
Fun-4.5 out of 5: the gameplay certainly delivers, it's simply fantastic living Ryo's life, and there are tons of things to do in virtual Hong Kong, you can get a part-time job, gamble, buy useless (but fun) ...., and even play classic arcade game. Great gameplay, graphics and sound make this one of the best games for the Xbox. The combination of adventure, fighintg, and RPG element's make Shenmue 2 a great addition to your Xbox library, please don't miss it.
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video-games_xbox
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It couldn't get any worse. In a review submitted below, and prior to the release of this game, somebody raised a concern that it might turn out to be little more than a cheap copy of GTA. Well, that reviewer needn't have worried as The Godfather doesn't seem like a cheap copy of GTA or even a 3rd rate copy of GTA. In actual fact it seems more like an abysmal copy of another game somewhere else that had already copied Grand Theft Auto badly...and that's about the best thing I can say for it as digging further the pain just doesn't stop there.
While the both the page turning novel and epic film adaptation of The Godfather had intelligence, style and a reasonable degree of depth, the game has zero intelligence, zero style and no depth whatsoever. It is moulded in the style of throwing zombie-like pedestrians and AI-challenged enemies in your way while you go about the business of unrealistically forging a career in the mafia. You can basically steal cars (as already mentioned - just like in GTA), grab people and then waggle the left stick around on your control pad to beat them up thereby either intimidating or `icing' them, you can shoot some badly textured guns without any danger of feeling like your have ever been near a gun or a gunfight, and you can watch some utterly rubbish cut-scenes that stitch the thing together with all the grace and subtlety of a Punch and Judy retelling of the original story.
While all this is going on, of course, there are other treats to lose yourself in. Marvel as your character gets a haircut or buys some clothes (again, just as in GTA) or become steadily overawed by the addition of a skill points system that allows you to increase your ability to waggle the left stick around to greater effect or to shoot your unrealistic gun even faster. Also, you may love the truly ridiculous driving missions that are occasionally thrown your way, in which you get to pilot something that looks like a badly drawn brick around the dull and uninteresting streets, while further AI-challenged enemies swerve at you like metal lemmings in an attempt to irritate you to death.
To be as blunt as possible, The Godfather is probably the worst game I have ever played, and that is really saying something. Like EA's previous fiasco of 2006 - Black - it seems as if a fantastic idea was somehow given a lobotomy, checked through a series of Mediocrity Assurance Committees and only finally then released when it had been proved itself dumb enough not to confuse anybody with an IQ matching their shoe size. For myself, I could just about tolerate that from Black as who cares if there is one more moronic video game to avoid, but when it comes to dragging The Godfather into the sewer then I have really had enough.
To trash the memory of one of the best movies ever made by plastering a ropy narrative and a generally lacklustre game onto it is unforgivable and I sincerely hope - whoever you may be reading this - that you will feel the same. Please don't buy The Godfather as it deserves to be a black eye for the company that made it, and then perhaps the idiots responsible will be taken out of the loop for future releases.
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video-games_xbox
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