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Not just "Grand Theft Horse. Lightning cracks outside the saloon, and the thunder booms, as I load another shell into my repeater-rifle to hoard off the lawmen coming to claim the bounty on my head. They all taunt me in their own various ways moments before succumbing to my weapon. A stray shot happens to hit a bone chandelier, which starts to swing, causing eerie shadows to creep across the room.
No, Red Dead Redemption is no mere "Grand Theft Horse". You'll be intrigued and overjoyed with the open world, just riding around on a fast steed while the sun slowly sets around you is a fantastic experience. But there's more to it than that - challenges, outfits, minigames (play a hand of poker or throw some horseshoes), stranger missions, rare weapons, breakable horses, unique environmental encounters, and of course a sandbox multiplayer mode where you can join a posse of eight players to rid the gang hideouts from villany, or just go out hunting for animals and pick flowers if you choose to. There's also the regular Free For All Deathmatches, Capture The Flag (in this case Bag), and unique downloadable co-op missions. However, all this might overshadow what lies at the core of the game - an extremely well-produced, gripping, funny and touching storyline with the flair of old westerns and the heart of a good adventure. This is no mere gangster story, but about a man seeking to leave his old ways behind and start over - but in order to do that, he'll have to reunite with his family, whether shedding blood on the way or not. To accompany him on his journey is a beautiful soundtrack, with a mixture of Morricone-style instrumentals and artist contributions.
Of course, no game is perfect though. There have been some server issues (players being "incompatible" and a "double microphone" effect which is easily fixed), and "griefing" is an annoying problem (online players can shoot anyone they like, thus running around like five year olds with toy guns). It can be tough to shoot people while you're indoors, trains block the path into certain towns, and some random encounters (which I call "hung wife-encouters") are nearly impossible to complete. These are just minor annoyances though, and they don't really take away from the overall enjoyment of a tremendously well-produced game, on a single disc so packed with experiences and events that you won't want to leave the world for months. Mount up in the saddle, you won't regret it!
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video-games_xbox
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Same as the black one. The white version of the Xbox 360 Slim is the same as the black one in all functions, so I will be reviewing the actual package and Xbox 360 itself.
The Xbox 360 Slim is hands-down the best console I have ever owned. (This white version especially looks good.) The main differences between the new Xbox 360's and the older models (Arcades/Elites) are as follows: It has built-in wireless internet capabilities, built-in 4GB memory (via flashed internal memory), a port for the Kinect, and a slightly smaller power supply.
This package comes with all of the hook-ups and a white wireless controller (and let me say, I'm really digging this new white one), as well as a Kinect. Now, if you've never played on a Kinect, you are truly missing out. It makes the Wii (and the PS3 Move) look outdated. I was a bit skeptical at first, but the controller-less gaming actually works pretty well, and the Kinect technology is pretty accurate, which surprised me. Kinect Adventures is a standard (but fun) game to show off its capabilities. Kinect Sports also comes in this bundle and I think it's probably one of the best Kinect games out there, so I am glad it is included. And let me say, my friends who have seen my new shiny white Kinect are very jealous... I think it looks a lot better than the black ones.
Lastly, this bundle also comes with a 3-month Xbox Live gold membership. Generally, a 12-month gold membership to Xbox Live will cost you $59.99 per year, or even more if you pay by the month or every three months. However, you definitely get a ton of features for what you pay for, including ESPN, Last.fm radio, YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, and multiplayer access. Having a 3-month card included really gives everyone a chance just to see how great having a gold membership really is.
Overall, this Xbox 360 bundle is top-notch since it includes a nice shiny white console, Kinect, two great games, and a 3-month Xbox Live gold membership card. You will not be disappointed in this bundle, unless if you just prefer black over white.
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video-games_xbox
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Decent, but could have been better. Having the game set before the events of Arkham Asylum was a good idea for the next installment in the Arkham series. The game chronicles the beginning of Batman's vigilante work on Gotham having him fight a mix of well-known villains and some that may not be known outside of comic book readers. While the setting was very promising, the problems begin to show their heads early into the game.
One of the biggest problems with the story was its length. I felt like it rushed the last third of the story. It did not seem like the story flowed well compared with the beginning of the game.
The gameplay is more or less played the same way as the previous Arkham games. One issue I found was a delay in registering the player's commands/input. You may press the block button, but it would not register until after you get hit. There is also some issues with the direction of attacks(you may want to kick to the left, but he kicks upward instead). These are things I did not see in the previous games.
Another big problem has nothing to do with the plot or gameplay, but the technical problems the game has. Even though this is a AAA game, you will run into bugs and glitches. I had to restart the game because a cutscene was suppose to appear when you get a certain boss' health bar down to 25%. The screen went black and never showed the cutscene(I waited for 5 minutes). After restarting the game(go to Xbox dashboard and enter the game again) and finishing the boss battle (again), the cutscene played.
I also ran into a problem where Batman left the level. All of the enemies and the room I was in disappeared and all that was left was a gray environment with Batman in it(if you leap, you move further down the screen). You have to restart the game to break out of it(these problems have been shown in all versions of this game). While I can overlook the story's issues, having game-breaking bugs appear without a patch presents a major problem(it does not help that the developer has decided to not fix these problems and work on cranking out DLC instead).
If you want to see how the story plays out, I would suggest watching a walkthrough or a Let's Play on Youtube (or use wikipedia). If you absolutely have to play it and you don't want to watch it off Youtube, then pick up a used version or any version for the lowest possible price.
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video-games_xbox
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A decent game but no where near the hype. I can't understand how nearly every mainstream gaming critics showered GTA IV with perfect 10 reviews. While it is a huge, well written, well produced game, it's small flaws outshine everything else.
-The game ultimately fails because of its archaic health and checkpoint system. Health can only be regained by eating food but food can only be found at one of the handful of restaurants and hot dog stands (the latter of which aren't even shown on the map). Body armor, which doubles your health, is also only found at one of the three gun shops in Liberty City. This wouldn't be too bad if your health didn't deplete so fast. Enemies can deplete most of your health in a few shots. As for a checkpoint system, the game has almost none. If you make one mistake and get shot at the very end of a mission, you have to start all over again.
-Simply walking around is a pain. You're constantly fighting the camera as it tries to reposition itself, instead of floating freely for you to control. As a result, navigating close quarters, like a building, can be daunting. Move to fast and you're likely to miss seeing an enemy who can take down half your health in a few rounds.
-The voice acting is solid and well written as promised but the story simple takes too long. It takes hours just to figure out what Niko is doing there! And for all the talk of an excellent story, 90% of the time it's just different ways of saying "Go here, kill him." Also the first two hours are taxi cab missions.
-The story requires you to date. Yes, as in, pick up a girl at a certain time, drive her to a bowling alley, play 10 frames, and return her on time. Where does this have anything to do with Grand Theft Auto?
-Grenades sucks. Unless you're in a wide open space, free of any boxes or curbs, your grenades will constantly fly off course. If there are any obstructions too close when you toss it, there's almost a 50/50 chance it will land right at your feet (I was almost to the end of the VERY LAST mission when I tossed a grenade. Without any kind of grenade indicator, it exploded from under me, starting me back over without any of the ammo or body armor I started the mission with).
-Finally, the game itself just takes too long. I was almost 5 hours in before I even got a machine gun. I didn't unlock the RPG until the last few hours of play.
If I were you, rent GTA IV, plug in all the cheat codes, and spend a week going on a rampage. The rest of the game ultimately isn't worth the frustration.
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video-games_xbox
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Fun Play but Meditations Not as interesting. Leela is a mixed bag but not a bad one. It depends on what you are looking for. It could be better in many ways but I applaud it as one of the first dedicated uses of the XBOX kinect to enhance spiritual practice. I hope that others follow and use this platform for interactive guided meditation as well as disciplines like Qi Gong, Tai Chi, Reiki and other healing forms of body work.
The first thing you need to know about this program is that it has three major sections. After you create a personal mandala (you don't have a full creative palette here and it is hard to make the game freeze on the exact shape you want), you are invited to either PLAY or REFLECT. If you want to relax do not enter PLAY. All of the "games" listed under the chakras will quickly tense up the part of the body required to move the game pieces and as you go up in level produce more and more adrenalin. One section, the one on INTUITION reminded me a lot of the tunnels in Mizuguchi's "Eden" and blasting rocks and gems in the POWER section did not connect me with my personal power, only my rail shooter skills. Still, this has to sell as a game and the games in this section are reasonably fun if not spiritually enhancing.
As noted the games are fun, but for those of you who own Chopra's Wild Divine or Journey, this game does not contain anything like those calming visualizations and does not allow you to control the game via relaxation and breathing techniques. Beyond knowing what your chakras are and what they do, you won't win the games by using your body to "gently flow" the game piece as suggested in the instructions. A jerky movement is required to quickly pop the game piece on a particular course, especially at the higher levels of each game. Not one of the six chakra games I've played so far has left me feeling relaxed or meditative. Even at the second level (there are 7 levels of play for each charka) of the second Chakra game, the "gentle sway" of my hips that was supposed to guide the game piece around a circle, quickly turned into exaggerated side lunges to get it to move any distance at all.
The REFLECT contains STILLNESS and an ORACLE that opens once you reach the third level in all REFLECT offerings. This area doesn't have games. It is made up of breathing exercises and guided and unguided meditations. I found that most of the exercises didn't provide me with more than I could do on my own. You get to pick from several types of droning music while watching three bars expand and contract with your breathing. Kinect watches your breath which is cool but there is a bit of hesitation here and there that makes the feature more annoying than useful. Wearing a tight fitting top would probably help this. Be sure to note the time stated on each breathing level as there is no bonus or penalty for right or incorrect breathing. You simply sit for the amount of time indicated when you first enter the level. It is also useful to note that most people don't like to meditate in glaringly bright light. Kinect is light sensitive so you have to pump up the lumens to get a good reading, especially for those of you with darker skin. I also found that most of the dialog and guided meditations I encountered moved too fast or went on too long.
I found the "ORACLE" to be more of a thought for the day or affirmation generator. I didn't find what it generated to be that meaningful in terms of answering my question. I wasn't able to get into the AMBIENT section yet, but from I've seen I assume there will be additional audio files available there. I'll report back when I finish the levels and provide more details.
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video-games_xbox
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Disappointingly Light, But Easy On The Eyes. Final Fantasy 13 is easily one of the best looking games in the series. Great cutscenes either when rendered as CG or just using the in-game rendering engine. The battle sequences are the best yet and magic and summons have never looked better.
Having grown up with Final Fantasy back in the early days (I remember excitedly tearing into FF on the NES; how massive 2/4 felt on the SNES, and the next-gen arrival of 7), I've long had an open mind with regards to the series. Some games have failed to impress initially and become engrossing as time wore on. FF12 was a prime example of this for me - one I was very indifferent to initially that slowly revealed the nuances of its story and world and game mechanics. Much to my surprise I wound up completing every side quest and minigame in 12 and wound up logging 199 hours on that one.
Others pull you along with an engrossing story that keeps driving you forward. 10 was one of my favorites in this department (in the modern era). It was so bizarre but the world and characters were richly drawn and I kept wanting to dig deeper.
Final Fantasy 13 is neither of these. Its story never seems fully developed and feels like it's happening at a distance. The vocabulary, while not at all difficult as you get in, impairs understanding and isn't truly fleshed out beyond basic expository dialog. You're left with trying to juggle fal'Cie, l'Cie, Cie'th, etc. It becomes clear enough but it certainly impairs understanding.
The battle mechanic feels most like Final Fantasy X-2 to me - Paradigm changes are reminiscent of the constant dress sphere changes.
But the feeling of being held at arm's length through the entire game is difficult. Unlike most other games there's not a lot of dialog that's meaningful out of cut scenes, so you don't really get any sort of slice of life or any sense of the difference between one locale and the next. The handful of times you do actually talk with someone it feels like an awkward minigame as opposed to traditional RPG world- and story-building.
And then there are the cut scenes - beautiful, yes, and they serve to move the story forward. But all too often there are exciting adventures in the cutscenes (the opening to Chapter 12 comes to mind) and your role in them is merely that of the observer. It's like the game leaves all the fun to the cutscenes and your role is limited. There are a couple of moments where there are exciting road sequences or long jumps, and you can't help but remember the minigames of FF7 that drew you into the experiences the characters were having.
Add to that the characters - while there's a long tradition of distant, moody characters, you're left with very little to relate to in FF13. Sazh is the closest the player has to a proxy and he plays a supporting role.
All things considered, my major complaint is that I just didn't care about the fate of Cocoon or Pulse. There was nothing that made me pull in. Had there been a really compelling reason for me as a player I think it would have been different - and I think the run-down-a-corridor, mash-attack-button gameplay could have worked if things led the story into a fast paced, running from the law feel. But even Final Fantasy 10 relaxed its linearity a bit. When FF13 does, you're initially too underleveled to really enjoy it, and it feels like that just is a reason to herd you back towards the story.
It's easily completed in 40-45 hours with leisurely playing and an extreme minimum of grinding. There are almost no bosses that require multiple attempts to figure out. I guess this makes the mechanic of party leader dies = game over a little more excusable and serves to keep the difficulty at least as a minor factory (though in 45 hours I don't think my party was ever entirely wiped out.) The final boss fights are laughably easy if you've followed the path the game leads for you as well.
If you haven't played a FF in a while but are otherwise caught up with the series, it's a fine diversion. If you have not played all the entries, there are vastly better choices to be made.
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video-games_xbox
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Diablo fans will like it -- it has some quirks. Sacred 2 doesnt immediately impress you when you first start playing it. There's a general graphical dullness to the giant world you explore. For example, you won't see lots of glow and lighting effects that one might see in virtually any other console game. And the controls and menus are complicated at first and you _really_ _really_ need to spend some time learning what everything does in the game. Almost every button has at least 2 different functions.
But then I really started to enjoy what the game has to offer. The attack controls start to make sense (you point the stick in the direction of the enemy and then choose the type of attack from the buttons). The graphics are good and quite varied, though it has to be said as a point of comparison, the graphics in a game like Fable 2 blow away anything we'll ever see in Sacred 2.
Some have complained of a low framerate, but so far this has not been a game breaker. You can tell the developers took some shortcuts to keep the framerate as high as possible. The camera hugs closer to your character than one might expect. You can go to a birds eye view or behind the shoulder, but both viewpoints seem too close. I suspect the developers did this in order to keep the framerate up. It is something that doesnt break the game but you _will_ notice it while playing. Archers might find it a little annoying that one cannot always see on the screen what they want to shoot at, but then again that's what "area of effect" spells are for!
There's some other small gripes too. I usually don't care about voice acting but whoa is it bad in this game. I would rather hear the original German but there's no option for that that I can see. And the game has a lot of jokes in it but they just aren't funny. The quests are standard quests that one would expect and nothing remotely special. This is where Diablo 2 shows its superiority. Diablo 2 had some great memorable enemies and quests.
So, its a Diablo clone with a truly giant varied world to explore and a pretty good one, with lots of replay value and some strategic depth to it. Should you buy it? If you're a Diablo fan, I would say yes. Anyone else might want to wait for a demo and for the price to come down. The company that made this game just went bankrupt and the price of the game will likely come down. Its not clear how much support there will be for this game now, considering the bankruptcy but the game is playable so I wouldnt worry too much about that.
Addendum: I've been playing the Dark campaign with a Shadow Warrior for almost 20 hours now and I like the game even more than when first writing this review. It still has plenty of quirks but I like that the difficulty level ramps up nicely (dont play at too-easy bronze level! start at silver). I especially llke how every character has 15 different abilities and you have to make hard choices about how to develop your character. i.e. Do I go for speed, or strength? Do I go for ranged weapons? Do I summon creatures and use them in combat? Diablo 2 is a better game over all, but I'm digging this one quite a bit.
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video-games_xbox
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Can't go home again, can ya. This isn't really fair, since I haven't actually purchased this product (I don't own a PS2). But I have played it extensively on a friend's machine.
Those of us who owned an Intellivision rather than an Atari felt like members of an enlightened cult. Atari was Duran Duran; we were the Violent Femmes. In other words, we knew our games had the better action, the better controller, the better graphics, certainly the better commercials - but we somehow felt ignored by the general game-playing public. This was fine with us. We wanted Intellivision to be our dirty little secret.
Which brings me to this pack. The makers did an excellent job of translating Intellivision's still-unique game controller, and in their ways, the games are still fun and even challenging. I get chills, even now, when I see the little Running Man guy do his super-smooth slow-motion sprint. "Snafu" is and always has been a so-simple-it's-brilliant little gem, "Utopia" is great two-player fun (never before or since has super-slow game play built so much tension), "Astrosmash" rocks (pun intended), "Sea Battle" is tricky and creative, and, well, there you go. The rest are a decidedly mixed-bag. You'll squeal with joy when you fire each one up, you'll say "Oh, I remember this one, it's GREAT," and you'll get bored before 10 minutes are up.
But I think most buyers purchasing this set aren't looking for great games. They're looking to recapture that magnificent anticipation of being 10 and popping in a new cartridge (one your folks paid $30 for) and playing, wide-eyed, nifty cuts like "B-17 Bomber" and "Space Spartans." They're looking for the bittersweet taste of nostalgia, in other words. But I think they're out of luck. They might get the slightest whiff of it, but then it's back to the grind and the mirror, where you realize you're not a 10-year-old kid but a 30-something dad with a crap job and a mortgage.
Oh..."Swords & Serpents" rocks too, even if they forgot to give the darned game an ending.
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video-games_xbox
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Arm Tiring, Fun and Hard to Play. First thing I will say to you, have you've ever played Track and Field at the arcade in the 80's or the Xbox Live arcade version? Do you remember mashing those buttons to make the player go fast to get the best times? Well this game is going to bring back those memories again.
This game does have 38 events and most of these events are hard to do and to master. So don't think you'll going to blow the competition like it's nothing.
Controls:
I have to say my arm got so tired after I was done playing this game. But I will say it all great fun. Some events on this game the control can be too intense and too hard to master but that beauty of this game, it's not easy to do. Putting a challenge to me is which make this game worth the money.
Graphic:
The graphic in game is not too bad, but enough to say that this game is a next gen game for the Xbox 360. I feel some areas they could of added to make it better like having the player sweating while doing the events, or even tears when they win the gold medal. Little things like that could of been nice, but I guess you can't have it all.
Online mode:
The online mode on the 360 is good. A few lagging while playing the game but I'm sure they'll have that fix on a patch soon. As far as finding someone to play against with there is no problems in this area.
Overall:
The game play is good but some issues on this game that could of made the game better. Such as:
1. They should of have it where we can customize our own player rather than selecting their player models they have.
2. Have commentator talk more during the event and have the crowd cheering more to make that game more alive.
3. On the table tennis event they should of change the viewpoint so it easier for us to see the ball to hit.
Final Thoughts:
This game did bring back memories from the old track and field game. Some
things on this game that could of made it better, but I won't complain. I find this game fun, hard and plenty of events to choose from to keep busy and to break records. I definitely recommend this game to anyone that love button mashing games or the track and field game in the 80's. But first I do recommend you to download the free trial of Track and Field on Xbox Live Arcade to get the feel of what Beijing 2008 will have to offer but more.
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
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video-games_xbox
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Every Decision You Make Affects the War. XCOM Enemy Unknown does an outstanding job of reviving a classic gaming franchise which was heralded as one of the most addictive games of all time. If you've never heard of XCOM, it's a turn based strategy game where you manage a group of space marines and defend the Earth against an Alien Invasion. But you don't just fight. You hire scientists, engineers, choose what technology to develop, manage the finances, equip your guys, and control their moves on an interactive battlefield. The tension is high and every battle is meaningful. You'll also feel the pain of being a commander because you won't make all of your superiors happy and not all of your soldiers will return from battle. You're going to make some really tough decisions in this game.
If you've played the original:
This is a reboot, not a whole new adventure. The story is the same. The weapon progression is the same. The features are the same. The campaign is a bit shorter and the gameplay has been streamlined. In the original, you micromanaged time units. Every step you took cost time units, holstering a weapon cost time units, shooting cost time units, crouching... Well, you get the idea. You could spend 5 minutes just trying to figure out the best way to get your sniper on the roof and shoot.
In the new version, the gameplay works like this:
On your turn, you move all of your troops. Then it's the alien's turn and they move all of their troops. You want to do as much damage as possible when you get the chance.
During your turn, there are two different colored outlines displayed around your character.
The Blue area is within 10 steps (near). The Yellow area is within 20 steps (far).
You can:
a) Shoot - and your turn ends.
b) Run Far - Move within the Blue Area, look at the map, then move within the yellow area. - and your turn ends.
c) Run and Do Something - Move within the Blue Area, perform an action: Shoot, Heal, Use Smoke Grenade, Reload - and your turn ends.
d) Defend - Stay put or move within the Blue Area, and put your character on "Overwatch"
(Overwatch allows your character to shoot at any enemy that comes in range when it is the other team's turn. This is ideal for covering your other troops or setting up ambushes.)
e) Perform a special class specific action: Assault Troops have an ability called Run and Gun, which allows them to run through the blue area, the yellow area, and then shoot. Heavy Gunners can fire a rocket launcher at the beginning of their Turn. Snipers can perform a special head shot at the beginning of their turn. Support Troops can throw a smoke grenade which makes your allies harder to hit.
At the beginning of your turn, it's important to figure out the best way to execute your strategy.
Whenever you shoot, you pick your enemy target and you can see the % TO HIT and % TO CRITICAL HIT for extra damage.
It's important to cycle through your troops and your options so you can do as much damage to the enemy as possible!
Concept: 10/10
Reboot XCOM with improved graphics, production values, the same tactical gameplay, and streamline the interface. Then add Multi-Player!!!
Story: 9/10
The Earth is being invaded by hostile alien forces and you must run a military organization as large as GI JOE. There are a few cutscenes, but most of the drama takes place on the battlefield. Watching one of your best troops get surrounded and gunned down is pretty heart breaking. Watching a rookie take down 5 aliens on their first mission is inspiring. Watching your squad work as a well oiled machine as they use their strengths to cover each other as they raid an alien base is truly a great feeling.
XCOM also allows you to name your marines after your friends and family members, which adds even more to the tension.
Gameplay: 10/10
There are many levels of gameplay in XCOM.
International Relations:
XCOM functions like the United Nations. There are 16 Nations that give you funding. In order to get funding, you must build a satellite and put it in orbit over their country. These nations will pay you every month for protection. However, if you fail to respond to an alien threat or lose a battle, they become unhappy with you. If things get too bad, they withdraw from the project completely. If half of the nations withdraw, you lose the entire game!!! (Yes, you can LOSE an entire War Campaign!) Some nations give better bonuses than others, so prioritize your allies.
Finances:
You have a monthly income and monthly expenses. Your credit is NOT OK, so you really need to plan things out. How many troops do you hire? Do you buy a flying craft to shoot down UFO's, or do you invest in better armor for your soldiers? Do you research laser weapons or do you perform alien autopsies to see what makes the enemy tick? All of the decisions you make affect the war!
Air Combat:
Once you have a satellite over a nation, you'll see UFO's flying around. The alien crafts vary in strength from small scouts to flying battleships. As the commander of XCOM, it is your duty to intercept and try to shoot down the UFO's (via a mini-game) and then send the marines out to kill or capture aliens that survived the crash. Your interceptors can get shot down, so it's important to equip them with the latest technology and weaponry.
Research and Development:
With limited resources, you will constantly make tough decisions on what to develop. China is upset that you don't have a satellite over them, but you almost lost your entire squad in the last battle? Do you build a satellite or do you invest in armor upgrades for your troops? Every decision you make affects the war!
Battles:
There are a few different types of battles in the game:
UFO Crash - send your squad to kill or capture the survivors
UFO Landing - similar to the crash, but there are more aliens.
Alien Abduction - a city map with destructible environments and hidden enemies.
Alien Terror Attack - a city map with destructible environments and civilians you must try to protect.
Alien Base Raid - you must advance through hostile territory to complete the mission!
Risks and Rewards:
In XCOM, you are often presented with situations like this:
There are 3 alien attacks going on at the same time.
The USA, where they are happy with you, an easy mission, win the battle and get 200 credits.
China, who is about to quit the project, a very difficult mission, win the battle and get a Heavy Gunner Captain to join your squad. Ignoring the battle or losing it will cause China to quit.
Mexico, where they are not very happy with you, a difficult mission, win the battle and get 4 Scientists who will help you research better technology faster.
As the commander of the XCOM project, you're going to make hard decisions.
Battle Tactics: 10/10
Which 6 members do you bring?
There are 4 character classes: Assault, Support (medic), Heavy Gunner, and Sniper.
Some missions are better if you use snipers, others, heavy gunners. It's up to you to figure out the best make-up of your squad and what to equip them. You won't have enough money to give them all the best weapons and armor.
Game Modes: 10/10
There are 4 difficulty Levels and a special Iron Man mode where the game auto-saves and you only get 1 save file. If you mess up, there is no going back! Losing a battle and having to live with the consequences is a painful experience.
Character Upgrades: 9/10
When your characters kill enemies, they gain XP. When they gain XP, they go up in level and unlock new abilities based on their class. There are basically 2 columns and you chose option A or B when you advance.
It's really important to think about how each squad member will fit into the squad. You can upgrade your sniper to be defensive and auto-shoot at enemies, or you can make their shots more deadly. It's up to you.
Multi-Player: 10/10
In Multi-Player, you join a match with a point limit. The limit is for your squad. Each type of character, weapon, or upgrade costs points. So, you can just have a basic guy with a machine gun for 3000 or you can have a jet pack sniper with a plasma rifle for 6000 points. You can even use aliens. A floater enemy may cost 1300 points, while a hulking berserker costs 6000. How you build your squad is up to you.
In the multi-player battle, you get 120 seconds to move your guys, then it's the other player's turn. What makes things interesting is that you don't know what you are up against until you see them.
Replay Value: 10/10
The campaign is very addictive and will take about 30-40 hours to complete. When you beat the game, you're going to want to try a harder difficulty on Iron Man mode, too. When you factor in Multi-Player, there's 100 hours of fun here.
Maturity: Teen
The graphics are kind of cartoony and there's sci-fi violence. No swearing or nudity, just good ol' aliens and space marines blowing each other up. This is a complex strategy game, so kids may not be able to play it.
Overall: 10/10
This is truly a great game and I actually played it until 5am a few times. I was completely consumed and I nearly grew a beard. If a game is this addicting, it deserves a 10. I also named the characters after my friends and enjoyed telling them how they did. Some were heroes, others died horrific deaths.
The strategy feels right and there's enough going on to keep you engaged. I wish the developer would reboot Baldur's Gate 2!!!
Buy this game if you love turn based strategy and fairly complex tactics.
Buy this game if you have lots of FREE TIME and or an understanding family/spouse/or girlfriend.
Buy this game if you want a real challenge.
Avoid this game if you play easy games to relax.
Avoid this game if you lack discipline and have a busy schedule.
Avoid this game if you think this will be like Mass Effect. It's not. It's a turn based strategy game where you must think on different levels toward an end goal. When you win, you feel like a champ. When you lose... it hurts.
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video-games_xbox
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BRINGING DOWN THE HOUSE. It seems like everyone is trying to bring something new to the table. BIOSHOCK gave us realistic water, FARCRY 2 gave us realistic fire and now we have RED FACTION: GUERILLA (RFG) giving us realistic destruction. I don't think one has to think too hard to figure out which one is the most impressive.
RFG is another "sandbox" type game set on the sandbox (oh, how fitting!) of Mars. While some may compare this game to GRAND THEFT AUTO, I feel it is more in line with FARCRY 2, where you run around all over the place and utilize safe houses. Also like FARCRY 2, the storyline is secondary, taking a back seat to action and destruction.
"Money" is collected in the form of salvage (scrap metal) and here I am reminded of RATCHET AND CLANK and how "money" was collected in that game.
Having played the full game, I feel that the demo is a pretty good representation of the whole. However the full game has a LOT more weapons, vehicles and missions.
Where RFG is weak is in the story department. There are a few cut-scenes at the beginning and a few towards the end. Very little character and plot development although there is one revelation later in the game.
The best parts for me dealt with the Marauders--a third faction that reminds me of a mix between the Reavers of FIREFLY and the Sandpeople in STAR WARS.
There are a few "major" characters and lots of allies, but I really wasn't invested in them as all the dialogue between them and you is pre-scripted. If you like FALLOUT or MASS EFFECT-style dialogue trees, you won't find them here.
After a while the gameplay does get a bit repetitive but thankfully there are only a few mandatory missions per sector.
The optional missions have more variety, where you race vehicles back to safe houses, rescue hostages, destroy $X million dollars worth of damage by blowing stuff up while riding in a vehicle, defend positions, raid positions, attack convoys and race against time to destroy buildings.
The six sectors each have a slightly different look to them but by the time you're done decimating each sector they all look the same: A sandy wasteland that's about as depressing as Iraq. By encouraging such wide-spread destruction one is also destroying the very thing that gives each of these areas character.
I was very disappointed to discover that there are no flying vehicles you can take command of.
The destruction is unparalleled and the physics would make Isaac Newton proud. The genius of this is that it's virtually impossible to get stuck in this game. Caught in a corner? Just hack your way out!
I did see a few glitches: Pieces of leveled buildings that just float and structures that return to their full form and shape even though you decimated them a few missions ago.
I would rent this game first and if the novelty of blowing things up five different ways hasn't worn off yet then I'd strongly consider buying it.
One thing's for sure: We're all going to be spoiled when it comes to destruction in other games--and for that RFG gets a thumbs up for raising the bar.
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video-games_xbox
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A fantastic collection for a gaming icon. For those who grew up in the late eighties and early nineties, the Mega Man series on the NES was synonymous with the very concept of video gaming. Mega Man is an icon from the early years of the modern age of gaming, and is as famous and beloved as even the most revered video game idol of that era. Of course, the Mega Man name has continued to this day in various equally awesome forms (heck, in recent years, we've even gotten the incredible retro 8-bit sequels to the original series in the forms of 9 and 10!). However, it all started here.
This collection contains Mega Man 1-8. One through six were on the Nintendo Entertainment System, 7 was a Super Nintendo title, and 8 was on the playstation. All of them are virtual platforming run-and-gun perfection. The classic, non-linear formula of choosing between eight robot masters, traversing their uniquely designed levels full of enemies and death traps, and then engaging in epic duels with said masters really has not aged a bit since its introduction nearly 25 years ago. The whole dynamic of getting a special attack for Mega Man's repitoire stolen from vanquished bosses and then using them against other bosses who are weak against specific weapons is so addicting and dynamic. It's amazing how well it has held up. These games are timeless. It's also interesting to see the progression of refinement of the series over its history. It is worth noting that this series earns its reputation for being hard as nails. It doesn't get a whole lot more hardcore than Mega Man, and the satisfaction you'll get from finally completing a task that took you multiple tries and lots of times practicing and memorizing patterns is truly exhilarating. In addition to the perfect gameplay, you also get the charming story behind Mega Man to entertain you, some genuinely classic art design that hearkens back to a classical era of anime entertainment, and the absolutely incredible soundtracks that turned the term "chiptunes" into an art form. Yes, this is an incredible package.
Also included are many bonuses such as concept art, interviews with the creators of Mega Man, and various other little additions. The Xbox version has the bonus content of both the Gamecube and PS2 version of the collection, making it the definitive one to get, if you don't mind the controller. It works pretty well, from my experience. You also get a turbo fire button, which is certainly helpful in certain situations in gameplay, if you don't mind breaking the "true classic" experience. Also included are two arcade fighting titles that have never really seen the light of day here. They're quite fun, recreating classic Mega Man boss battles with much higher graphical prowess than the NES could afford.
Some of my earliest gaming memories are of beating down the minions of the nefariousness Dr. Wily. This collection was a nostalgic dream-come-true for me, but in all honesty, these games have truly retained their freshness despite the obviously aged systems they were designed for. Personally, I find the 8-and-16-bit systems to be incredible charming today, so the sounds and visuals don't bother me a bit. What is amazing is that the gameplay is just as amazing as it was when Mega Man 2 came out and changed the gaming world forever, or when 3-6 refined and expanded that gameplay further, or when 7 made it a 16-bit series, or when 8 was able to utilize the power of optical media on the PSX in 1996. Mega Man is just a wonderful franchise in gaming. It encompasses the very spirit upon which gaming itself was founded, making it not only one of the greatest series in the golden age of video gaming, but of all-time. Buy this collection, transport yourself to the time of 20XX, and fight the epic battle of a young robot boy hero named Rock against the sinister evil of Dr. Wily.
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video-games_xbox
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Pretty graphics, engaging co-op, a ton of guns and not much else. I, like a lot of people was very excited to play this game. I will admit however that when it was initially supposed to be released last year I definitely had absolutely no intentions of purchasing. But after the extra hype and the hopefully polishing that went on for those extra several months, I was on board.
To sum it up, the game has a co-op experience like no other, very pretty graphics but not much else. I'm just going to cut to the chase and spare you my wonderful writing skills: Shooting in this game is extremely frustrating. Not to mention the behavior of the AI is annoying. That = hard to kill. You will take a ton of hits and go down for the count when you don't really expect to. The melee-ing is terrible. You need to be face to face with the enemy and if you CAN manage to get into that position, you still have a 50/50 chance that his magical computer powered skills won't melee you first.
I've read other reviews that this game contains great production values. I heard all about the battleship sinking while you are on it, and though I am no Call of Duty Fan Boy (by the way, I have disowned the game as of last week in support of R6V2) the first mission of COD4's ship sinking blows Army of Two's ship sinking out of the water (figuratively and literally). Sure it's awesome to see some fighter jets falling past you but it's short and honestly appears to be half done. A TOTAL dissappointment. Other than that there really is no huge action sequence to write home about.
A stiff breeze could knock the bosses down. Yes the "Aggro" system is novel and unique, but you don't really need to use it, and even when my human partner and I tried to utilize it, we were basically punished because it did not work. Also if you WANT to use Aggro you are required to unload all of your ammunition which is not extremely plentiful. Every single boss in the game can only be killed one way: from the back. The boss in the first mission is just as hard as the boss you fight in the 5th mission. There is no curve of difficulty. The same goes for the other enemies in the game.
A lot of the Co-op functions in the game are pretty useless. Co-op snipe is a cool concept but you utilize it 2, maybe 3 times. The back to back feature which sounds awesome cannot even be initiated by the player, the game itself automatically puts you into it, USUALLY at the very beginning of the stage. I will give credit where credit is due, the co-op parachuting is awesome. It is a challenge to snipe while in motion but still awesome. The hovercraft contains the most ridiculous controls I've ever encountered in a game. I highly doubt it is that complicated to operate an actual one.
The game can be blown through in 6 hours on the initially given hardest difficulty. Once beaten you have the option to complete on a harder difficulty, but why you'd want to put yourself through that mindless drivel a second time given the fact that you know exactly what to expect is beyond me.
I myself LOVE LOVE LOVE multiplayer aspects of games. I hold it in higher regards than nthe single player. I hoestly wish I could give you a full review of the multiplayer, but unfortunately after waiting 15 minutes in a room witih my friend we could not get 2 more people to join our match. However we did successfully enter one match and to say it wasn't fun would be an understatement. I enjoyed it yet it was a little ridiculous because along with with the human opponents the map was fully of AI opponents which always happen to come out once I engaged the human opponent. This really leaves the multiplayer match winners to be determined by luck. That does not equal a strong multiplayer component in my eyes.
One strong suit of this game is the selection of guns and the amount you can customize them. This section is awesome. It almost looks as though they spent more time fine tuning this aspect than the actual gameplay and AI choices made while creating. Although it would be fun to unlock all weapons and masks, I don't think I could play the amount required in order to accumulate enough money to purchase them all. But I admit that the weapon selection and customization is the strongest part of the game.
In closing, yes it was a diversion of 6 or so hours from my normal life. But I am currently selling my copy used. It is in immaculate condition: disc, case and instructions, you can find it on amazon in the used section it is selling for 48.99. If you don't believe me you can try for yourself and let me know.
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video-games_xbox
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ASTRO A40 TR setup, Simply the best. I felt obligated to write this review for everyone out there looking at different brands/models of headsets. Like me I'm sure a few of you have been reading what seems like endless reviews of many gaming headsets, or headphone/mic setups. Let me say I do have a history in the professional audio industry and have tried what seems like every decent pair of headphones out there. I am 37 and also an avid gamer(20+++hours a week) I won't go to any gig(live, or studio) with out 2pr of Sony 7506, while only around 100 bucks they have been a workhouse for years and have a very even and balanced sound. Years ago I wanted a "gaming specific" setup. After reading reviews I decided to test the waters with a pair of X12's from Turttle Beach. While being on the low end of the spectrum of quality, for the money they sounded amazing, and brought my gaming to a whole new light. Being a professional audio engineer I was looking for something better. At the time Astro had just released the A50's and I heard great things about Astro. Looking at them I decided to go with the new gen2 set of A40's and a mix amp pro. Opening the top of the line packaging (seriously the box has to be a pretty penny itself) you instantly start to see just how high the quality is. As soon as I played my first round of Slayer on Halo I knew I found something special.... Move to last week when I decided to get myself a new set of A40's after a few years with the old setup. I looked and listened to almost everything px500 from turtle beach, artimus g933/633 from logtech, steel series 800 series wireless and V3's, the afterglow line, hyper X cloud 2, plantronics line, corsair line, and many more. What I found was simple, you just can't replace ASTRO's build quality, sound quality, and now with the TR setup every input, output can be minipulated as well as eq'd through ASTRO's software on your CPU or laptop. The whole setup is fully digital. Truly epic amount of customization can be done, and with ASTRO's Mod kits changing your setup to noise cancelling is easy because it includes closed back earcups, noise canceling mic, and headband for an extra 60 bucks. All and all these are premium headphones, a good mic that can be used on either side, and a top notch external gaming sound card with Dolby digital 7.1, game/ chat mixing and volume. The ability to daisy chain mix amps like always, now no more need for any mic cable plugged in to your controller. There is only one 3.5mm from your headphones to the mix amp and that's it! As wireless as 99% of the "wireless" headsets made or comparable with the Xbox one.
Every detail was created by gamers, and you can really see, hear and feel just how nice this setup is.
The noise floor is seriously zero! No hum, buzz, or white noise. Just so much attention to detail for the best in modern gaming! Echoes ring in the distance as someone pops off sniper rounds, you games will come to life like they never have before. And now you can do any level of acoustic tuning you would like to with the Mixamp TR, and Mod kits for the TR A40 headset. Biggest product upgrade ASTRO has done in a long time, and the wait was worth it. 5 out of 5 for sure.
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video-games_xbox
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If originally sold for $15.00 it would've never got the hate it gained 8/10. Mighty No .9 is a prime example why gamers need to stop being fan boys first and consumers last
Stop financing any of these projects (Example: 7 Days to Die, Mighty No. 9, Shattered: Tale of the Forgotten King, ARK: Survival Evolved, Shenmue 3, Friday the 13th The Game, Toe Jam and Earl among so many of these pipe dreams
Might No. 9 is actually a super impressive game for what it is
It's a Mega Man knock-off
Story: It's a blatant rip-off of Mega Man the story is silly and means nothing
Controls: Are solid the game is extremely easy to pick up and play
Graphics: work it's a retro 2-D homage to the original Mega Man series
The game is beautiful it look like a living breathing cartoon it also runs smooth
Sound: is also a major throw-back it has a very 1980's sound to it which i can appreciate
The difficulty I'm sure also made plenty of people into angry video game nerds
It's hard but, it's a Mega Man clone it's going to be tough and relentless
As hard as it is
its also balanced enough where you'll try again and again
You just have to figure stuff out much like during the 1980's
Even gamers my age have gotten a bit lazy
During the 8bit and 16bit era games were not for kids they were hard and didn't hold your hand
Why so angry:
If a game is going to be so awesome then a publisher will buy it and finance it
It shouldn't be up to the consumer to finance the game
Crowdfunding is a wonderful thing But, not in the gaming industry there is way too much sleazy and underhand things going on at Big Name Studios and Publisher why would you trust some smock in his basement?
Not sure why the internet almost melted over this game once it was released
I liked the idea of this game i would never help finance it......
If it was sold out the gate originally for $15.00 I'm sure it would've got a luke warm reaction But, nothing like this
Gamers just don't like to admit when they are conned
Might No .9 was a con but, it's not the worst con
It wasn't a time share meeting or a amway con it was on a crowdfunding site each one of you pitching a fit sought out this investment
and invested in it
You gambled and lost
Hopefully people will learn from this But, i doubt it
The story behind this game is more interesting then the game itself But, it's a love letter to the 1980's and it's a nice letter you'll want to read every now and then 8/10
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video-games_xbox
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Steelbook Edition Review. It is an absolutely stunning setting that you are immediately dropped into. They really captured the look & feel of what it must of been like in the Colonies at the time. From the comments the citizenry make towards you, the attitudes of the soldiers instantly capture your imagination. The scenery is meticulously detailed. Ubisoft really went all out by looking at maps of the locations from the time period and built the world around them and brought them to life.
The enemy AI is very good, but not excellent...There will be times you wonder why they didn't see you, while others you will wonder how they saw you...overall however, it is very good and above standard compared to other games that are currently out. The combat system is very fluid & not sluggish and the controls in general are very easy to learn & use.
I was very skeptical about the steelbook case for Assassin's Creed III. Alex Ross, the artist, did a magnificent job capturing the setting of the game the patriotic nature just exudes from it instantly, while maintaining the mystery of the assassin. It is very sturdy & a lot better quality than I had thought it would have been. It does have a shortcoming, and that is that it only holds one disc and the game itself comes with 2 discs. It would have been fantastic had Ubisoft (the games developer) had taken this into consideration and released it was a case that could carry double discs. Aesthetically however, it is absolutely beautiful.
My initial thought was to give it 5 stars, but really the fact that the game comes with 2 discs, but the steelbook can only hold one holds back a star. Definitely worth having if you are a collector.
EDIT: A comment below asked whether or not it came with the game. There were 2 steelbook cases that were put out. One of them was by an independent company and the other was released with the game as a preorder bonus. The one that was put out by the independent company did not come with the game, and the one that was put out by the developer (UBISOFT) came with the game, but it was separate with the game coming in it's own original release case. I just wanted to take the time to point this out to anyone that comes across the review and it may help them.
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video-games_xbox
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A "Must Have" for Xbox 360 owners. This game series and the Fable series are the reasons to own an Xbox 360. The gameplay is outstanding with amazing graphics and tons of action to keep you heavily involved in what's happening.
However, there are a few downsides to this game. First is the story and character development: There is none.
And by none I mean you don't see it played out on screen. You come in after all the really bad stuff has happened and you're in prison for some reason that's never fully explained and upon your "escape" you jump right in to the mix to help out, seemingly, the very people who put you away. Far fetched? I guess no more so than giant creatures called "Locus" coming out of the ground to conquer humanity. This could have been improved by at least giving us a cinematic opening sequence explaining or, better yet, showing us what this "E-Day" actually was.
On top of this is the complete lack of character development. While the voice acting is actually pretty good by comparison to most other games (ahem...Resident Evil series) it still comes up short on actually making you give a crap about the characters in your party.
But, that's not why you picked the game up in the first place. The point of this one is to kill a whole bunch of bad guys and save the world right? Well...maybe just the kill a whole bunch of "bad guys" part.
You don't really know why they're the bad guys other than they want to destroy all humans so, that's good enough to start blowing some heads off, if you can pull that shot off anyway. Crank up the difficulty to "Insane" and you'll see why this is easier said than done. But that's part of what makes it fun. The A.I. system the game uses truly does learn your patterns of attack and adapts to it to make the game more challenging. However, at times it can be so over-the-top hard you'll want to destroy your controller in frustration. I advise you to not do this as it could start a chain reaction in which you wind up destroying everything in your house/apartment/basement/wherever you live out of sheer anger at not being able to play the game anymore.
Also, there are no actual cheat codes for this game so don't even bother going that route if you get stuck. You just have to suck it up and attempt to get better, and eventually you will.
This game also sports a multiplayer mode and online play. Both have their advantages and disadvantages.
Multiplayer offline involves a split screen and can be troublesome if you don't have a widescreen HDTV. You can also go console-to-console if you've got another 360 and TV but that's a lot of trouble and you might as well go online.
Online has both a co-op mode and a vs. mode that can both be a lot of fun. However, I've found co-op mode to be a little more fun as it still captures the original spirit of the game: take cover and try to get the best vantage point to take out the enemy. In other words, it involves actual strategy.
The vs. mode drops that all together when you go head-to-head with other gamers in what will immediately devolve into a simple run n' gun style shooting spree. There is no strategy, it's usually about who gets to the best weapons first and who's been playing against other players the longest. Pretty much like any other shooter with an online vs. mode. It doesn't really add to the experience all that much. Sure it's fun to take on other players as either a COG or a Locus but the vs. matches get to be kind of tedious and even boring after a while when you realize that only a certain few people will actually be able to survive for more than 30 seconds at a time. There a few different types of vs. modes that help to break up that monotony and keep things interesting but, in most cases, these "special" types don't mean anything and it all becomes the same thing: screw the "take cover" strategy part and just run up on them and kill them. Characters can be killed by multiple shots in a row but the shots don't slow them down at all. They have no reaction to a close range shotgun blast (unless it takes them out) so if that's your close-range weapon of choice you better hope you do the job quick our you might wind up sucking the wrong end of a chainsaw (assuming, of course, that there's a "right" end to suck on).
The replay value of the game is extremely high as there's plenty of "awards" to earn and there's lots of things to find and/or do besides just getting to the end. The experience really does change depending on the difficulty setting and can be a continuous challenge to hardened gamer.
The controls do get a little frustrating at times, especially if you're trying to run away from something. You can easily get stuck on a wall if you try to dash from one side of an area to another if you don't have an open space to run in. This can cause you to die very quickly, especially on the harder difficulty settings.
Overall, this is still one of the main reasons to own an Xbox 360. Great graphics, sound and gameplay give it the edge over most of its competition. The second disc in this version is useful if you don't have Xbox Live due to its inclusion of several extra gameplay maps. But otherwise it's kind of pointless.
If you haven't already, got pick this one up. You really should get through this one before picking up Gears of War 2.
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video-games_xbox
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Love the NFL Team faceplate swap stuff, but beware - THIS IS A CORDED CONTROLLER. No wireless here. Well, I have to say Im really disappointed this is a wired controller. Had I KNOWN it was wired controller when I requested this, I wouldnt have. Were past wired controllers these days. I would never expect an Xbox One (or a PS4 for that matter) controller to come wired in 2016.
Nowhere in the description of this item does it say wired. I read every piece of text surrounding this item before I wrote this review to be sure (not counting other user reviews). Nowhere does it say wired. Even the physical package I got does not say corded on the outside. The front of the box opens up and you can see the controller on the inside (this is without breaking the seal on the box), and in THERE it says Official Corded Controller, but nowhere on the exterior packaging does it say corded.
When I got it, I tried pulling the battery door off on the back to discover there isn't one. Was then that I saw a piece of paper that fell out of the box when I opened it that said Faceoff WIRED CONTROLLER. Damn. Really disappointed in that.
Yes, there is a picture of a wire in the image here on Amazon, but I interpreted that to be that it came with a charge cable for the battery. Mostly because of the expectation that no controller in 2016 would be corded. One other thing that didn't help there is that the cord is not permanently stuck to the controller like the corded Xbox 360 controllers were. This is in the package without a cord connected to it, so theres no visual cue here that this is corded. Its somewhat deceptive, I think.
OK, moving past that issue. It doesnt feel exactly the same as the official controllers from Microsoft. It doesnt feel heinously different, mind you, but it doesnt have that exact same feel of either the original Xbox One controller or the slightly modified one that comes with the Xbox One S, or even the Elite controller (I have all three). it doesnt feel bad, but given Ive spent a lot of time with the controllers from Microsoft, something feels odd here. Cant quite put my finger on it. No pun intended. :)
On the positive side, I like the ability to swap out the covers. Thats cool. I miss that kind of stuff - the early Xbox 360 units allowed you to swap the faceplates. I was bummed when they didn't keep up with that. So that aspect of this controller I really liked, and is the primary reason I didn't give it a lower rating.
It comes with a coupon for another faceplate. You can select any of the 30 NFL teams with that coupon. It is actually a rather nice coupon, as the things cost $14.99 themselves through their website, and then theres tax and shipping. I requested mine on Sep 9, 2016. When I actually get it, Ill come back and edit this and say how long it took to receive. This is actually pretty cool, and smart on their part, by allowing people to customize their controller, and not needing to have 30 different SKUs in stores or on Amazon.
As a controller - it plays fine enough. But the aforementioned something I cant put my finger on is there, and after playing for a bit, it makes me want to just go get the Elite controller I own, or at least the one that came with the Xbox.
Shame, as I really do like the swappable faceplate stuff, and the football theme was why I got this in the first place. But the fact that this was a wired controller was a major bummer. Could have overlooked the feel issue had it been a wireless controller.
UPDATE: I sent in a request for the included free team specific controller on Sep 9, 2016. It finally arrived on Nov 14, 2016.
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video-games_xbox
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Starship Trooper/ Alien Lover. I'm a bit late on reviewing this one but truth be told, I bought the game upon its initial release and kind of slept on it for a bit until recently, when I set out to end it once and for all. In the end, I'm glad I did because this is one of the most entertaining and well made role playing games I've ever experienced.
The story is pretty interesting, not to mention detailed. A game that requires at least thirty hours to play through needs at least that, so I can safely promise you an entertaining sci-fi adventure with a little bit of this and a little bit of that to keep you playing. Everything in the game is detailed to the point that you probably won't get to read every single line of information that comes your way. You travel to literally dozens of planets and each one has a detailed breakdown on everything from its weather conditions to its population numbers. Even though most of these planets are unable to be landed on, it still adds a sense of depth that just adds to the universe that Mass Effect lays out for you. Characters are voiced by an able cast and even popular celebrities like Keith David and Seth Green join in to lend a hand with some of the characters.
Speaking of voice acting, the characters you encounter engage you in conversation that is probably the most involving of all games that require some kind of a response selection. Yeah, you'll have conversations that might seem a little off but 99% of the time, I'd say that the conversations flow very smoothly, impressive considering just how many selections you are given to answer with.
Those who've played Bioware's Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic RPG will be instantly at home with this title. It's not an exact copy of that game but the mechanics share more than a couple of similarities. Battles are fought and controlled with a nice and easy to grasp control scheme that maps out player actions to both bumpers. The battles are a lot of fun and pretty intense. Graphics and sound are top notch and some of the planet surfaces are actually quite nice, visually speaking.
I do have some reservations with the game but nothing too serious. The driving portions of the game are a bit monotonous and something about the way it controls feels like its lacking a bit. You land on the planets in a dune buggy type vehicle which is armed with a machine gun turret and a cannon that is pretty fun to blast things with but the controls are just a bit off where the vehicle might not control the way you want it to. You do get the hang of it but I don't know, I wasn't too crazy about these portions of the game after a while.
My other problem has to do with managing the inventory in the game. i found it a bit frustrating whenever I got a new item, it felt like I had to check every single character's inventory to see who'd be able to benefit from it most. That's usually how it goes with these games but after a while, I felt like I was spending way too much time in the inventory screen on too many occasions. I recall this being one of the problems with Knights of the Old Republic and its here as well. The inventory management could be streamlined somehow or at least easier to see who had what and compare. In the end, its not much to complain about but worth noting.
This is a great title with loads of replay value. I'd recommend this one easily to anyone who hasn't already played it. I'd say RPG veterans would really enjoy this as well as those who've never tried one. And for the price its going at the time of this writing, this is an even easier recommendation to make.
NOTE:
They made a big stink a while back about the sexual content in the game. It's absolutely ridiculous and in the end, not even worth crowing about. What is here is tastefully done and if you're that paranoid about subjecting a minor to something that may or may not be inappropriate, then steer your kid elsewhere.
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video-games_xbox
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Just get a rocket launcher and blast away; Unplayable online. I bought this game for 49.99 and took it back the next day because I found it to be painfully boring and virtually unplayable online. I then decided to give it another chance and bought it used for 17.99. Nothing has changed. I should have saved my 18 bucks.
First off I would like to say that the graphics in this game are excellent, but that is where the good ends. If you have this game on PC, then don't waste your money on this. It is virtually the exact same game, with more cumbersome controls. Nothing compares to a keyboard and mouse and this couldn't be more true for this game. The pace and speed of this game is not suited for anything other than a keyboard/mouse combo. It seems Atari rushed this game out without taking the controls into consideration.
Now for the XBOX Live portion, which is probally the reason most people bought this game. First of all, finding a game on the servers can be a bit of a chore. When you do actually select a game to play, you have to cross your fingers to hope that the game will actually let you in. More often than not, you will be booted from the server before you actually join the game! Expect to try at least 10 times before actually getting in a game.
When you FINALLY get in a game, besides the lag in 80% of the games, you will almost immediately see that the game is nothing more than pure "chaos" as reviewer "ultimatexhammer" so acurately put it. This game requires NO skill. Just get a rocket launcher and fire away at random targets. Sometimes you'll hit your enemy most of the times you won't. And don't even think about stopping to actually aim at an enemy; chances are you'll be dead before you even get to shoot. The weapons in this game are cool and all (minus the sniper rifle replacement), however you rarely have enough time to select them and use them correctly due to the cumbersome controls and the fact that this game is pure luck for the most part. You get the occasional gamer that performs extremely well online, but for the most part this game is nothing but running around and shooting at anything that moves hoping that someone does not shoot you in the back for the 100000th time. And if this wasn't bad enough, some custom levels actually have enhanced laser cannons that kill you in one shot no matter where it hits you. If you thought you died fast in normal games, imagine dying as soon as you spawn over and over and over again. No fun at all.
The other games on UC, like bombing run and capture the flag would be fun because in theory they require strategy. But again this game is too chaotic and random for any strategy to ever be a factor in these games either.
To bluntly put it, this game is boring.
If no skill, random dying and ultimate chaos is your cup of tea, then you will feel right at home with UC. Otherwise stay clear of this game. It wasn't worth 49.99 and it is not worth 17.99 either.
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video-games_xbox
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A metal-infused adventure/RTS hyrbrid that rocks (for the most part. Brtal Legend is an adventure/real-time strategy hybrid with a wicked sense of humor, metal-inspired fantasy trappings, and Jack Black starring as protagonist Eddie Riggs. Eddie is a roadie who is transported to another world in which everything--and I really mean everything--is inspired by heavy metal. Imagine a world where every environment (and the people and creatures that inhabit them) resembles the cover art for a metal band's album: that's the setting for Brtal Legend.
The world and protagonist Schafer and company present to players are hard to accept if you don't have at least a considerable appreciation for metal music--if not outright love. The reason I'm hammering this point in so hard is because of the unfortunate fact that the core gameplay found in roughly two-thirds of the main storyline is kind of a mess. This game isn't a Zelda-like adventure quest, although there are adventure game elements present. No, dear reader, this game is a weird mixture of action, adventure, and real-time strategy. Yes, I mean the resource-gathering, unit- and structure-building, army-against-army type of strategy.
Sadly, these RTS elements don't mesh well with the rest of the game. The early sections lead players to believe they'll be driving around the world in the mystical hot-rod called the Druid Plow (AKA the Deuce--yes, it has two names), slaying monsters with an axe and magic guitar combination, and occasionally collecting goodies. And while that aspect continues to the very end, the story-based missions are largely of the RTS variety. The strategy sections are founded upon the aforementioned RTS tropes, but none of them work very well. Chalk that up to consoles being a bad home for strategy games if you wish, or just blame it on Schafer for shoe-horning these elements into would should have been an adventure-only video game. However you choose to look at the RTS sections, you'll see a tangled, unweildly, nigh-un-fun jumble.
So, consider this: if you hate RTS games, Brtal Legend won't change your mind. Thankfully, there is a great abundance of side quests and assorted errands in the game that are free of the messy RTS aspects. You'll get into small skirmishes with Eddie's crew, ambushing unsuspecting enemies passing by; free 120 magic serpents that grant special health bonuses to Eddie; race against an ugly, crabby old monster who hates to lose; and much, much more. All of these side quests (and the main ones as well) grant Eddie fire tributes, which are the game's currency. Eddie uses these tributes to buy upgrades from the Guardian of Metal (voiced by no less than Ozzy Osbourne himself). The side quests do get a tad repetitive after a time, but they never become stale or boring. For me, they were a great alternative to the wonky RTS missions.
Speaking of the strategy elements: that's all you'll find in the game's multiplayer. If you find the RTS stuff as clunky as I do, you'll want to skip the multiplayer altogether. Honestly, the multiplayer feels tacked on and useless, but perhaps some folks will enjoy it. I can't imagine what kind of masochist would enjoy it; but then, I guess I really don't want to imagine that. Even if you elect to forgo multiplayer, you'll still get quite a bang for your buck--provided you play the side quests. If not, I'm afraid the single-player story is quite short; as short as four hours if you hurry.
As janky as the RTS sections are, and useless as the multiplayer will be for most folks, Brtal Legend is still a largely solid single-player experience. The characters are richly drawn and likable, fueled with fantastic voice work (especially Jack Black as Eddie and Alex Fernandez as stage-hand Mangus); the story is fun, crazy, and exciting from beginning to end; the landscapes are amazingly detailed and always fun to explore; and the music--oh, the music, ladies and gentlemen. Every song present in Brtal Legend represents a sub-genre of metal. Needless to say, you'll hate the soundtrack--and probably much of the game--if you don't care for metal.
So now you're asking: who is Brtal Legend for? Honeslty, that depends on how much experimentation you can stomach in a video game. The RTS sections are quite messy, but consider my desire to continue playing the game despite this issue a testament to Schafer's ability to create highly addictive gaming experiences. And that's the best way to describe Brtal Legend: it's an insanely fun, addictive, engaging metal-inspired experience. If that sounds like your cup of tea, buy this game ASAP. If not, avoid it like soccer moms (still) avoid Ozzy.
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video-games_xbox
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as of right now Im ready to abandon the company and give Microsoft a horrible rating on the better business bureau. Xbox live rewards are a joke and a scheme. I was promised id receive my points and ive yet to receive one. I called Microsoft support and they claim they cannot help at all because this program is run by a different committee. Microsoft support is atrocious and won't help with a single issue i have, instead they just divert responsibility. i was a loyal Microsoft customer with a pc a windows phone, a surface and an Xbox one and this is how the company treats me. I've done nothing but be loyal to this company ad they show no appreciation. as of right now Im ready to abandon the company and give Microsoft a horrible rating on the better business bureau. I don't care if Microsoft runs the program, they approved to have it run and they are working with the committee that failed to implement it. Not only have that but the Xbox one is plagued with Xbox lived issues every day. Sometimes its content usage and other times its buying games or playing multiplayer. i thought the master chief collection would be a fun game to change my mind about the console but that was a flop. The master chief collection is a joke with a broken multiplayer. Microsoft and 343 participated in selling me an unfinished game at full price and they refuse to refund me. For this I am opening a twitter page so that the Xbox community can help one another without Microsoft help. The page will bring light to all of the unfair practices of Microsoft to their customers and it will provide a place for the word to spread. i will not give up until i am contacted by a Microsoft employee that resolves all of my issues. As of right now i suggest staying away from the Xbox one and the master chief collection. If you have yet to choose which console I suggest the Play station 4. I'm tired of being ignored along with the rest of the Xbox community and I will continue to make posts like this all over until they fix all the problems and make up for what they've done.
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video-games_xbox
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Come On Eileen. I had some major high hopes for the latest in the Silent Hill franchise, it sounded great, and after watching the truly chilling pre-title sequence to the game, I cranked up the surround sound, and dived in.. And overall I have to say that I was really disappointed.
Silent Hill 4 continues in effectively the same tradition as the previous installments. A third person action/adventure game using the same fixed angle cameras, grainy filtering, and a bizzarrely unsettling collection of characters creatures and demons. It centres around a guy called Henry, who awakes in his appartment one day to find it totally sealed up from the inside, a note painted in blood on the inside warning him not to go out, and after some poking around discovers a small hole in the bathroom, which takes him to strange alternate worlds beset with ghosts, demons and curiouslyt interwoven with reality. Henry soon finds himself embroiled in the work of a serial killer, somehow related to his own appartment, and must battle to uncover the truth about Walter, and set himself free from the room.
The big plus point really is the inclusion of the first person section in the room itself, and the sometimes unsettling use of the peepholes, sounds, and other effects in the appertment. In fact I would say that all of the decent scares actually come from this mode. The actual main game itself was very disappointing. It plays exactly the same as it's predecessors, but whilst the story is engaging, the monotany of getting from one part to another really starts to take it's toll. Essentially from start to finish, the game is nothing more than a collect-these-objects-and-put-them-here type of game, which is pushed along by the insultingly horrible device of people leaving reams of notes and diary entries everywhere which act as nothing more than a list of instructions for you to carry out. That said, the hard difficulty level offers you less help in this way, but there are no Silent Hill 3 style sliders to adjust the difficulty of the arcade sections, so the game becomes very difficult in all regards.
Also and probably more importantly, the Room just isn't really that scary. After a very short while, I just found myself plodding on through it like a normal third person game, it just didn't manage to evoke that same sense of foreboding as previous games that would make you tread slowly, spin round at strange noises, and have you totally on edge at what was lurking in the darkness. The creatures were a let down too on the whole, just seemed nowhere near as inventive or downright disturbing as previous games, although the ghost victims were great and offered an extra dimension to the gameplay.
But probably, above all, the most criminal thing about Silent Hill 4 is the fact that it re-uses every single location that you travel to in the other realm. So you basically end up trudging round the same place two completely different times with different aims, where only a handful of things have changed. This was a dreadful move on the part of the developers. After spending an hour or so exploring the prison world, reading notes, and working your way out of it, the last thing I wanted to do was have to do it all over again in a very sligtly different way a few levels later - it absolutely ripped the soul out of the game.
So who is Silent Hill going to appeal to? Well definitely to hardcore fans of the series, or the survival horror genre in general. Also, the story is strong, and intruiging enough to keep you going - if you're interested in the unravelling of a mystery, it'll also not let you down. But if you love Silent Hill for the scares, creepiness and atmosphere, I wouldn't recommend this particular one in the series, because it falls way short. Also it is really not gonna appeal to you if you're more interested in the adventure side of action/adventure because there are simply no puzzles to solve in this game - merely things to collect, and places to stick them. To people wanting the ultimate Silent Hill experience, Silent Hill 2 is by far and away the best of the series. I don't know if they are going to do a fifth in the series, but if they do I hope that they learn from the mistakes of the Room.
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video-games_xbox
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Fun Fantasy RPG. I know the majority of people are really partial to the first Fable, but I strictly bought a 360 just to play this. I really wish it was for the PC as well, but that will never happen. I happened to like to game more than the first. I hate RPGs where you just run through a storyline and level up. I don't feel that's what a real role-playing game is. I think all RPG's should have more than a yes or no choice. That being said, Fable never made it to my top list of games, whilst Fable 2 & 3 did. I like the idea of playing a woman seeing as I am a woman myself, but I still like playing men as well. That's the great thing about role-playing, you're actually taking on the identity of someone else and making choices. I liked Fable, I loved Fable 2, and Fable 3 is even better in my opinion. One of the few trilogy of games to have their sequels to get better as they go on.
My tastes seem to be different from the majority of people, but if you like true RPG games, Fable 2 still isn't quite there, but it's definitely a fun game. There are some bugs, but nothing major that I've noticed. The combat is easy to use for those new and familiar to the 360 as well. It carries on the plot of the first game somewhat, but you don't need to play the first Fable to play Fable 2.
It's not like the first game. It takes place years later, but they all have a common plot which keeps the stories intertwined. I will say the boss is a bit of a disappointment, however. I also recommend doing all the side quests before finishing the main plot as it will go by fast.
It's definitely recommended even to try. My suggestion is to just try it without comparing it to the first game or other reviews and see how it is solely then make your comparisons. I was lucky when I bought this because I got a case for Fable 2, but this disc was Platinum Hits which came with some nice goodies that I loved playing through as well.
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video-games_xbox
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Great Console RTS. Let me start by saying im a huge rts fan, if only i could have all those hours back, never learn i guess. Ok down to business, when i fired up LOTRBFME 2 i immediately went online and played a couple matches ranked and unranked. I prefer to play unranked cause you get a lot more variety of players and not just the ones who are in it for the rankings. The ranked part is only beneficial for those who want to keep track of all their stats like how many wins and losses and how many kills etc. I meen if leaderboards are your thing more power to you. The fact that you can talk smack while your ents are pummeling someones fortress is great adding some deinate competition factor i ad hours of fun playing online alone. The ea server worked very well the games were never had too much lag or any boots. Sometimes when both sides would have massive amounts of units onscreen there would be a hardly noticeable lag. There still is a good amount of strategy though most players do a building rush along with the typical build more units than the other and keep attacking strategy. The fact that walls are expensive and deiffucult to rebuild and are somewhat weak kind of makes it hard for the defensive player who likes to build a nice base and wear down the enemy. But the game still has a lot to offer as far as variety is concerned there are alot of races with different strengths and weaknesses so learning the goods and bads of each while developing a strategy to exploit the strenghts of your race adds replay value. There are a few hangups managing units is difficult youll find yourself ordering your entire army just to kill a single enemy squad, very hard grouping of units makes it very difficult. also the map is pretty useless other than to give you an overview of the land and you cant make it larger to order units to specific parts and such. Also the resource gathering is a pain forcing you to spread out to get maximum efficiency from them. Hopefully they can somehow fix some of the more frustrating problems with an update from xbox live. Bottom line if you have xbox live, or you're a lotr fan then this is a definate buy,if not then you might want to wait for the price to drop.
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video-games_xbox
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Don't believe the haters. Medal of Honor is fun. I noticed some serious hate in some reviews here but when you read between the lines, it seems as though some of the munchkins in munchkinland are just scared that a new game might be better than their favorite Modern Warfare game. To that, all I can say is why can't people just enjoy the game for what it's worth instead of expecting it to be Modern Warfare? All that really means is that there are fans of MW who are scared that something better might come along and guess what...for many game fans something better just did. With Medal of Honor, you get a good quality game with realistic gameplay based on actual historical events. I kinda have to giggle at the cut scenes because it's your typical predictable crap where some evil higher up is made to look like a bad micromanager who is impeding progress etc (who cares?), just get on with the combat. I personally don't care about online gaming or what's trendy. I just like what I like and this game has a lot to like. I have encountered no glitches and after playing it eight times, it is not possible to beat the game in less then three hours as one reviewer stated because there are too many variables. You will get killed eventually on any mode and to even attempt finishing it that fast means you're not even trying to enjoy the best parts of the game by being curious and inventive.
This game appeals most to folks who don't care much for MW's frenetic and chaotic pace and appeals more to people who like to finish a level without respawning a gazillion times. In that respect, it's much more realistic as far what combat is like than anything MW has to offer. Since most succesful operations go down without even a shot fired, what is the point of running around haphazard like a lunatic praying that you respawn to get to the next level like MW and Black ops require? It's fun to play period and it is what it is....a game. I like the way a small icon appears when you get a headshot and the combat is very well thought out.
Don't worry about the haters who fear that something might be better than Modern Warfare 2. This game is not Modern Warfare 2, it is Medal of Honor so play it for what it is and not what you might expect it to be and you should love it. You might also notice that nobody has the balls to compare this game to Black Ops because simply put, Black Ops blows! Medal of Honor was designed and edited with the help of active duty special ops personnel who took part in the operations over in Afghanistan which the game is based on including Roberts Ridge, Takur Gar, etc. It's much better quality than any recent Medal of Honor games and has incredible replay value. I think they did a great job and unless somebody just doesn't quite understand how to play this game, I can't see why anyone would slam this unless they're just jealous munchkins! I/E The new Medal of Honor game kicks ass and the new Call of Duty blows!
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video-games_xbox
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Epic Fail. I'm just guessing here, but here is how I imagine Destiny was made. Destiny was a blockbuster, so Activision decided to give Bungie a lot of "help" when developing this game. Activision assembled a new team, composed only of people from marketing and finance. In order to be on the team, you must not only have never played a computer game, you have to firmly believe that games are not worth learning about. The team then sat in a conference room taking notes while some poor engineer walked them through the most popular games, games which they completely missed the point of. The team then produced a million mile long Destiny feature list by combining everyone's note, like "World of Warcraft has a store, we need a store" and "Halo has only like a dozen weapons, let's have a 120 so Destiny is ten times better" and "Idea #421 for saving money: get rid of bad guy personalities." When the development team saw the list they told them it would take 100 years to build all those features. They were told "Just do the easy ones, it has to ship by Christmas!" The result is Destiny, which combines everything you hate about Halo with everything you hate about World of Warcraft.
WEAPONS
Imagine your first day of boot camp the drill sergeant hands you a BB gun. "It isn't loaded. But you'll be going into battle with that weapon. We'll scatter some ammo around in illogical places, and the bad guys will never just take it," the drill sergeant solemnly tells you. "Takes a lot of hits to kill 'em with BBs, but stick with it, it'll get job done eventually!" he adds. "Don't worry, soldier," he continues, as you doubtfully heft the plastic Daisy rifle, "if you live long enough we've got a .22 with your name on it!" Seriously, what is with the weapons in this game? What army equips their soldiers with weapons that the enemy barely notices. We don't fight other people with BB guns and we use a bazooka on a tank. Thankfully, since the only way you don't die in battle is if the enemy is just as stupid at equipping their men as you are, Destiny made them that stupid. It's like neither side wants to hurt the other.
HEALTH PACKS
Health packs are sub-moronic. If they are so helpful, so critical, so why aren't you carrying one? This is a carryover from Halo, which took health packs to a whole new level of dumb. No one on the team has one and there is no medic with the squad. Soldiers today have first aid kits and medics. When in the future do we lose this ability?
INJURIES
Let's say it takes 80 hits from your weapon to kill the bad guy. You've managed to land 79. That bad guy must be in bad shape, right? Nope! The bad guy is 100% as effective as he was with 0 hits. The only way you know you have 79 bullets in him is when the 80th round hits and he suddenly drops dead. This was stupid in Halo and it's stupid in this game. Injuries should decrease the effectiveness of the enemy. At least slow them down. Destiny added the innovation of a red health bar over the boss's head. For the life me I don't know why the bosses haven't figured out a way to hide that red bar. I know I wouldn't wear one into battle.
UPGRADES
One of the lamest aspects of World of Warcraft is running around the place hunting for minor improvements to your equipment or weapons. Destiny copied that, and then went one step further to make it even less enjoyable, if that were possible. As you amass upgrades to each piece of equipment, the program wastes valuable screen space reminding you to "Upgrade!" your equipment. So you have to go into the setup screen to choose the new 21 point helmet to replace your old 18 point helmet. Are we having fun yet! Seriously, what's the difference between the two? Three points! Three points is meaningless. The game doesn't even bother to pretend 3 points matters in any way. You may as well make equipment decisions based on fashion, "The green 21 helmet doesn't go with my beige 22 vest, I'll go with the white 13 vest and white 18 helmet until Labor Day. Then I'll switch to green. You aren't supposed to wear white after Labor Day."
LEVELS
There aren't supposed to be levels in this free-form world, but just as is in World of Warcraft there are "quests" you can do, which just so happen to be sequential, exactly like, say it with me, levels. So no improvement over Halo here except the addition of a ton real estate you have to keep updated.
UPDATES
That giant world adds nothing to the fun but is a real burden to keep up. You can only go to parts you're leveled for, so most of the world is not accessible to you most of the time. Even what your level can get to is almost all ignorable, because you're still stuck on linear quests that involve killing the boss as fast as you can. What the gigantic world does mean is endless updates. Every time you go to play you have to wait while some update or another downloads and installs. All kidding aside, how hard would it be to only update the section you are actually playing? Why update a bunch of real estate that you aren't allowed to see for however long it takes you to level up to that point? They'll be dozens of updates to those areas by the time you get there, why update it now only have to update the updates before you see it?
CAMPAIGN
"There is no single player campaign" the reviews tell us. Well, guess what, the other players running around can be safely ignored. Not some of the time, all of the time. So far I haven't found anything that can't be played single player. As in World of Warcraft you can join up with a group of friends to tackle some mission or another. But all kidding aside, what kind of friend would you be if you didn't warn them not to buy this game?
BOSSES
Halo did a nice job of making combat interesting. You fight your way through masses of mixed difficulty bad guys, eventually reaching a challenging end to the combat where multiple elites or one powerful elite is thrown into the mix with the regular grunts. Destiny uses the World of Warcraft model, which is that you can safely ignore everything that happens until you get to the boss. Then you kill the boss. The whole quest is about killing the boss. This is not only incredibly dull, it actively encourages you to bypass most of the game as you set a speed course for the boss. In Destiny the bosses are about a jillion times more powerful than the standard minions, so wasting time with the minions in no way prepares you for the boss. Killing the minions is pointless with a capital P. This reduces the missions to a formulaic "kill the 6 bad guys you can't avoid and then spend a half hour re-spawning until you finally kill the boss and get your one point better gloves." If the whole games is reduced to killing the bosses, why bother having a big world and non-boss bad guys at all? Just gets in the way. And has to be updated, and updated and updated...
PERSONALITY
The Covenant were real beings with real personalities. They swore at you, ran away, taunted you, got injured, and behaved as you'd expect something with more intelligence than a blowfish to act. The Destiny bad guys are pure cannon fodder. No personality whatsoever. You might as well be shooting a clay pigeons. You can almost hear the game go "Pull!" before a bad guy appears on the screen.
CONTROLS
It's probably safe to assume that many players have played Halo before. So why can't you customize the controls to match what Bungie had us do in all the Halo games? The dumbest one of these is the "target" control where "throw grenade" used to be. You can swap the two, but then your gun gets swapped out of the trigger as well. Seriously, how hard would it have been to let us choose where we want "throw grenade." Sure would save experienced players hours of getting killed from hitting the wrong keypad button in the heat of battle. Besides, what is with the "target" control having such prominence anyway? I'm willing to bet money that the Activision "help" team couldn't hit anything when they were play testing the game right before launch, so they made the engineers add that "target" control so they could make it through the tutorial.
SUMMARY
The list of problems goes on and on, but that should give you a flavor what you are buying. After playing this game for many hours I'm still not having any fun. I'm playing it because I paid good money for it and couldn't return it once I saw what I'd bought. If you take one thing away from this review it should be this: try the thing out. A friend's house, a store, somewhere, try it before you buy it! Don't assume that you're getting Halo 5 or a real MMO experience like World of Warcraft. This game is the proverbial elephant. What's an elephant? A horse built by committee.
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video-games_xbox
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A refreshing racing alternative -- but not much more. While I am not a racing purist, I enjoy playing most racing games on the Xbox and Xbox 360 and, as of exactly a week after this product launched, I completed the entire Full Auto Career mode.
If you've heard the term "Run & Gun" applied to shooter games where you simply race around a level and shoot at everything, then you'll recognize this game as a "Run & Race" style game. There's no plot-line to the game, no cut scenes with dialog to provide a story or characters, you are simply dropped into a level and start shooting.
Sadly too, the levels you're dropped into have very little variety. Although there is the occasional shortcut, this is nothing like the RUSH series of arcade racer games. And, despite the fact that this is a destruction game, there are only 3 different sets of weapons, each with three "levels" of damage and functionality.
However, for everything one that it lacks, Full Auto also delivers in other deparments! The game has incredible surround sound, and you'll often find yourself physically ducking machine gun fire as you play the game. The career mode has 87 different races in 17 categories, which provides some variety to make up for the lack of level design creativity. In addition, each race offers 3 awards including unlocking cars, paintjobs and "skins" for the vehicles. Finally, the game has 50 different "achievements" to earn Xbox 360 gamerpoints in the game, and although it appears as if they're easy to earn (when you start playing, you'll get quite a few) earning all of them is quite a challenge, and the game includes online ranking objectives.
If you've already finished Need For Speed, Project Gotham and Ridge Racer, on your Xbox 360 you should certainly play this game to get a little more racing variety in your video game diet. Just realize you're not playing a racing sim, but rather an arcade-style racer with a combat component. The game has some rough edges but should be applauded for the much-needed variety it brings to the 360!
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video-games_xbox
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Almost Perfect. This controller feels pretty nice. It is made by a licensed third party, Performance Designed Products (PDP). For a third party controller, quality is pretty nice. I would say it matches the XB1 controller feel to within 90-95%.
The most important part is that this is a wired controller only. It comes with a 10 foot long micro USB cable, but you could use any Micro USB cable. Works on PC or XB1.
The outer blue shell is a grippy rubbery compared to the plastic on an XB1 controller. The D-Pad has a bit more travel then the XB1 controller, doesn't feel as clicky to me, but it does work perfectly fine, however I don't think I would not use the D-pad for fighting games or 2D games though. The triggers are a little different then standard XB1, they are a smooth slant as opposed to having a bump on the end. The thumb sticks feel good , but they are a little deeper on the XB1 controller. The XYBA buttons feel a little squishier compared to XB1 controller, but work perfectly fine.
It does come with an integrated 3.5mm audio jack for using your headset on XB1. The little button next to the right thumb stick is for controlling the audio on XB1 in conjunction with the D-Pad. Which is why the D-pad has symbols on it, adjust game volume, chat volume, and increase or decrease. I don't think the little audio button works on PC, but I have not tried.
Overall, great controller, but I'm not sure I would use it for twitch shooters. I'll give it a try, but I think I'll just stick to using it with single player games like Fallout. This is a must have if you're a Fallout fan, or you love the color scheme. If this was any other third party controller I would give it 4 out of 5, but because it does have a color scheme that I like and am a Fallout fan, I am willing to look over the minor imperfections. I'd rate this a 4.5 out of 5 if I could. Almost perfect.
Edit: After spending a few days with it, I notice that on PC, you have to unplug and replug it back in whenever you shut down your computer. Basically it turns off after you turn off your computer and you have to unplug and replug it back in to get it to start working again.
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video-games_xbox
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An honest review from a Halo Fan. Just in Case SPOILERS AHEAD!!-
This is a review made from a Halo fan, making a comparison with previous halo games. As an isolated game, I would recommend this game for everyone since it's going to make you play for years after you beat the campaign.
So, what do I think.
I've enjoyed many things, and not enjoyed some:
Story:
Bungie never really delved into the universe they created the way it should have been done, and if they did, they just made a quick look. Story wise, Bungie created a great story, but the narration was sloppy and had to be revised many times to be fully understood, for example in Reach, they could have explored the innies (Insurrectionists) more, but instead, we have fast gameplay moments that could have been aid with a small cut scene or other characters in the story.
Halo 4 achieved what I as a Halo fan have been waiting for, after reading all books, watching the FUD series and watching/reading to previous terminals and other stuff, I have to say I enjoyed the story amazingly and hope they do this again in next installments. Halo 4 applied almost everything perfect, I would complain a bit about not explaining certain things more, like; why the covenant are back?, why Jul Mdama isn't even a little bit in the campaign, why Cortana knows who the Didact is (if you can correct me here if wrong, please do so), why do the Didact can use the force (is this in the books? I missed this totally), why does the chief can see this covenant are more fanatical(first level)? , no mention about the arbiter? , more info about installation 03 (there it is, now good bye). Besides this, everything else is amazingly enjoyable, loved the librarian, the Composer, the character development, the amazing voice acting, the look at the morality of the Spartan program, the introduction, the addition of more in game cut scenes in between levels (wouldn't mind more). Amazing. ( I know many things are explained in the book, but common, I wanna see more of it in my favorite Halo medium)
Music
I bought the special edition and standard edition just to get those extra songs, because I've loved Halo Music since its first Game. I didn't buy Halo Wars (Finished it though) but bought the soundtrack. I read the books with the music, so it's a must for me. I've been revising Marty's music to compare it with Halo 4 music, which I have been listening nonstop since I got it about a few weeks back. Regrettably to say, it's beneath previous albums. I guess it lacks, in a way, the variation and originality in each piece. Even though, I concur that it is an amazing album and still will be placed among my favorite, there are pieces that I enjoy more and others less. I do think it lacks the perfect theme which you can relate to, or some theme that pushes you in the game and makes you "feel" more, being aggressive or energetic (like the "Rock anthem for saving the world" in Halo 1, or the rush of "the Package" in Reach), but on the other hand it works amazing for cut scenes, like never before. The last scene with Cortana and The chief has been the most sensible scene in the whole series and even though it's due more to the voice acting of Jen Taylor (God damn that woman is good!) the music was just the perfect complementation. I do trust Neil Davidge and know he struggled creating music for this game being his first try (which you can read about in the book in the special edition of the OST), and hope he improves on the next installments because I really like his style, but he needs to make this music something more varied, keeping "the new" style he has created, which is what I liked.
Gameplay
Levels:
Here is where I'll criticize. After recently finishing all Halo games again and playing Halo 4 twice and some levels a few more times, I got to say, they nailed some really good parts, but missed others totally.
A few levels just felt too long, not delivering fresh spaces to make the player really think how to deal with strategy. Requiem(level 2) started amazingly, an open place of wrecked ships, then a great ride with the hogs which suddenly is cut short with a small action scene and then introduces us to Forunners inner sections which stretched too long into more boring and claustrophobic parts, that gave me no way to feel really creative about my approach to face enemies.
This goes as well for Forerunner(level 3), which if it had been made shorter would have been much better. That level had a really bad introduction for prometheans (the new enemies) and some repetitive missions in between, before getting to a really good ending part, where Prometheans and Covenant are fighting and we have to go through them to get to the Didact. At that point, a great cut scene happens and then an escape with the ghost while that part of the planet is being destroyed. Fresh new staff. Sweet.
What's up with Shutdown (level 6)? In Reach we had New Alexandria as a similar level, which made the air ride super fun, being attacked from different places, and being able to stop in buildings where other soldiers where holding out and fighting aliens. Here, the ride in the pelican has some action at the start, which is not much fun, and then it becomes a mere transport to get to some of the most boring parts of the campaign, in my opinion. From the three stops the pelican has to make, the first two were very similar, and the third felt a little different because of the Banshee, but not helped much. Very small and similar places to fight... felt the same claustrophobic feeling as before.
Midnight (last level) started very good, with another air ride Star Fox/Rogue Squadron II style, which I enjoyed, not as fun as the space part in Reach, but still felt like something fresh and new for the series, which I always enjoy. After this, the level is very boring and straightforward. The last part, before facing the Didact felt like developers where in a rush to finish the level and made four almost exactly the same parts, facing enemies without strategy, just covering and firing.
Finally, the Didact faceoff ended the game without giving me the feeling of a deserved accomplishment I have felt before, like and escape in a warthog for example, but well, the ending scene covered it I guess.
The first level, being too short, was a great introduction, had great design and loved the low gravity part. Infinity (level 4) was from the start eye candy and made me anxious to find and protect the UNSC team after being in space for four years! Then the tank part with Spartans 4 (could have delved more into a little relation between Spartans 4's and the master chief, maybe Cortana could have said more) and a great final with the Mantis. Reclaimer (level 5) stands as the best level, more varied and tons of fun. Great introduction with the new Elephant, the Mammoth. Amazing middle part, wondering into the new forunner architecture to find the librarian and witness an amazing cut scene. Finally, the tank fight was a great way to finish. Composer (level 7) Gave the game a great new touch to the levels design, making us feel in a total different environment. Also I felt I had choices of where to go to face the enemies in a different manner. The fight with the Mantis at the end was super good. Loved this level.
Something I never felt with Halo was that there wouldn't be a place that I could not find cover. Many times in this game that happened to me and was super frustrating. Also, I found myself with a really bad gun or without ammo. This never happened before. This brings frustration as well and made me want to throw my controller many times. This is not supposed to happen. Not in Halo. Not in good design at least.
Whats up with the mid scenes to press buttons with directions? I don't know how can they improve this, but they are probably not necessary in game. If not, just let them be automatic maybe. It felt out of place.
Overall, there are some good and really bad thing's, Halo normally has some bad, but in my opinion not as bad as this. Still, I enjoyed the campaign, being helped with the story and many great levels, and taking into account that this is the first 343 effort to make a game, and that the improved graphics probably took some of the space that could have diminished this problem in some cases, it's totally acceptable. God knows where and how this franchise could have ended (Thank you Frank).
Enemies
Prometheans. Don't like them as much as the covenant. I hate how the Knights disappear and are totally over powered. The crawlers can be enjoyable to fight, but once they appear in thousands they are frustrating. The flyers (whatever they are called) are fun to shoot down, but they really make no sense. Overall, the Prometheans are a cool enemy, but they luck the organic and living feel that the covenant provides, and the Knight really needs to be given a behavior change to make it feel more real and fun to fight (need to take out the tele-transportation thing).
The Covenant was totally nailed. My only complaint is: WHY CANT I BLOW THEM METHANE TANKS! (And bring the Engineers in. Common! They were all over the last books!) (Why can't my helmet translate sanghelly anymore? I like not understanding them, but at least explain why!)
The Feel
I love how Halo 4 feels. Is amazing. 343 has adopted everything good from previous games and enhanced it. Sound helps a lot here. The weight of the armor, the guns. Its just right. Running, hitting, assassinating, the armor abilities (should be more important in campaign) are just great.
Graphics and art design
This Game looks fantastic. I miss a few things about Bungie's exteriors and how the sky boxes look, but this game really really looks amazing. The characters design, the architecture of the three species, the light effects, the rocks, all really made me have chills. I wish we had had more time inside the infinity ( I actually was praying for a version of it to walk and explore while heading to War Games or Spartan Ops). But the most important of all of these is the realistic tone it has now. It's just how I always envisioned Halo. I do wished Requiem had more wild life to make it a little less dull, but still, my jaw is in the ground for this one.
Features
Theater
I really hate the fact that Theater is not in campaign, one of the reasons I played this game over and over was to go to theater and watch the gameplay from a third person perspective. It gave me the feel of watching a movie, but at the same time knowing I was the main character. The decision to cut it out has made some gamers not invest tons of hours more to this game. I hope they actually do include it, but after more than two months and not another word of it, I'm loosing hope.
Forge
I Don't Forge, but love wondering and playing around. Can't say more. I know it has been improved and hope Forgers are grateful.
War Games (Multiplayer)
Greatest Halo Multiplayer Ever. The Levels are some good and some amazing. The ordenance feature is a great addition. I love the fact they are giving us 3 DLC map Packs already. Thanks 343!
Spartan Ops (Ongoing Mini levels with a CG series)
The Levels are all made for 4 player gameplay, so I have to play this in Normal, because I play alone. The online version only provides some levels and I want to follow the story. The cut scenes are amazing, and the story has the feeling of reading one of the halo books (who is writing these??) but they should really put them at the end of the episodes, I would feel much more drawn to finish the chapters if that was the case.
The Level design varies, some are really bad, and some are super fun. The repetitiveness of this is abusive. They should definitely keep using multiplayer levels! It's working! Should also make more Spartans and soldiers appear in the levels, it makes the missions feel like they are telling a story and less than just having a firefight match. In the trailer for episode 6-10 I see things totally new that look campaign quality. I have my fingers crossed.
As you can see, I Love this game but hate some important things of it. I give my best wishes to 343 and hope they improve their design problems and keep up the amazing good work in everything else.
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video-games_xbox
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D'oh! Should have listened to the other reviews. This is by far the worst game I have ever played. I read all the reviews first, but being the Romero fan that I am, I bought it anyway. Boy, was that a mistake! I loved the movie "Land of the Dead", and was willing to accept the limitations of a movie tie-in game. But that's one of three main problems with this game. It hardly ties in to the movie at all.
The only resemblance to the movie is an appearance by a Dennis Hopper lookalike, toward the end. You are supposedly cleaning out Fiddler's Green. Could have fooled me! It looks nothing like the movie. Your hero bears no relation to the movie at all. He's a John Wayne-looking redneck farmer. Probably not your first choice for an Avatar, but you take what you get, right?
Imagine about a dozen of the most generic shooter levels you can think of. Then, scramble them up in random order, toss them together with a flimsy story, and go. The results? Awful! That's the second horrible thing about this game - the level design. To say "generic" is an insult to respectable generic cereal everywhere (which I love to eat). You have your hospital, sewer, street, etc. And don't even get me started about the random stacks of hay bales conveniently forming a maze(?). Repetitive, to say the least.
But by far the worst thing about the game is the glitchy controls and programming. It takes 4 hits (sometimes 6 or 8) to kill a zombie. Their heads may blow up at random, but that seems to have nothing to do with where you shoot. They are repetitive, and annoying.
The worst is how the enemies spawn. You ALWAYS know when an enemy is near, because the moment they spawn, the screen jerks for a moment. There can be nothing onscreen, but the screen jerks, and that tells you a monster is coming. Pathetic.
The only things the game got right was the limited ammo, forcing you to conserve. You HAVE to learn melee attacks in order to survive. This was the only satisfying thing, hitting a zombie in the head with a golf club or pipe.
I also liked one moment when you have to snipe to help a buddy. But between the boring, monotonous levels, those kind of moments are few and far between.
The game is dark and bleak. Which is fine for a horror game. Only this one also adds in ugly level design and glitches, for a truly joyless gaming experience. Other people say this game is fun. I disagree. It is wretched.
I spent a lot of money on it, so I stuck with it. And when I wanted to quit, I decided to finish anyway. But I sold it immediately afterward, and I'm the kind of guy who NEVER sells games. To say there is no replay value is an understatement.
I never tried the multiplayer. I don't think I would want to spring this game on my worst enemy.
Don't be taken in by the good reviewers here. They are still in denial, trying to rationalize the money they wasted on this game. They're not yet ready to face the truth, which is a painful experience, I know.
Plus, the fact that this game keeps getting more and more expensive may make you think it is a collector's item. Don't believe it!!! Learn from my experience, fellow Zombie lover! Just because it's got Romero's name on the front does not warrant your purchase, trust me!
So if you like to spend lots of money and you like horror games, MINUS the fun, then by all means, buy this! Otherwise, I would highly recommend purchasing "The Thing". It is a horror survival movie tie-in game that they actually got RIGHT for a change.
Thanks for reading!
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video-games_xbox
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Loved it, from start to finish. I pre-ordered this game back in February when I bought Test Drive Unlimited. When the game was reaching it's release date I checked out game sites to see if any early reviews were posted, and of course I eventually ran into the numerous reviews on Amazon and have also seen the reviews from IGN and GameSpot. Now, after beating the game I can fully understand why it is getting so much flak. Alone in the Dark is a game that requires the player to actually think, to use common sense. Alone in the Dark is not your simple shoot em' up game, it's not Halo, or Call of Duty. The problem I am reading most is the controls, and this is what I don't get, if you have played Resident Evil (any of them), then you should be ok with this game because they are the same as any Resident Evil game with the exception of switching between first and third person. Other complaints span to the infamous 59th Street scene when your driving through New York City. Once again I see no problem with this as I completed it in one try, and during that one try I encountered no such things that ive been reading like ''invisible walls'' or ''bottomless pits.'' In fact, I re-did the part in cockpit mode which actually made the scene easier. In all honesty, I am actually glad I decided to go ahead and buy this game even with all the negative press, because I am so sick and tired of all the sequels we keep getting every year (I.E. Halo 3, GTA4, MGS4, COD4, DMC4, Resistance 2, Gears 2, Resident Evil 5). Now, if you are reading this, you might be asking ''Mr. Vereb, why did you add Resident Evil 5, Gears 2, and Resistance 2? They are not even out yet!'' Well I just added them because they are in a long line of a list of sequels that I am talking about. What I like about Alone in the Dark is that it is new, it's not just a sequel to the franchise; it's more like a reboot. You know what, I may as well be in the minority here, but I damn well loved Alone in the Dark; from start to finish. This game is truly a AAA title. However, like any other game it has it's faults and I will point them out. The first fault being that some objects are nearly invincible when you are driving through Central Park (branches, light polls, benches, etc) if I know better these things should be pretty easy to run right through with any kind of car. The second fault being that the game does not pause when you go into you inventory (which means an enemy can still attack you while you are checking your inventory). The final two faults are the annoying repetitive evil roots you have to burn unless your an achievement whore like me, then by all means there good, and lastly this game has no replay value. Everything else from the graphics (especially the fire effects) to the DVD-style chapters to the incredible soundtrack done by The Mystery of Bulgarian Voices and not to mention the realism that was put into recreating Central Park in it's entirety makes the game top notch. Even with my review I do not recommend this game for everyone, I strongly recommend it to gamers who are willing to take a chance with something new and I also highly recommend this game to survival horror fans in general. Overall, if you are looking for a game to hold you over for more survival horror games or for something else in general, then Alone in the Dark is a satisfying adventure. I can safely say this in case you want your own opinion, there is now a demo available on XBL if you want to play through the first two levels from what I have read at least. Even though the game has no replay value, I am not going to sell it because the game was that good for me, and I plan to pick it up and play again sometime in the near future.
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video-games_xbox
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Wear Dark Shades During Game Play! Graphics Are Very Bright. The idea of this game is new and different however I feel the developers tried so hard to stand out and not be compared to the Dance Central series they pushed a few things too far. I found game play to be very hard to mirror the dancers with all those sparks and super bright graphics constantly flashing. The player will have a difficult time trying to figure out what to do and possibly go blind over time from this game. Just when you think your eyes can't take anymore flashing bright lights the graphics get brighter and brighter. The makers of this game really pushed it too far with the graphics. I wish they would have included a free pair of dark shades with this game. I had a headache after 2 routines. There is a lot of flashing bright sparks during game play. During game play of the song the dancers become a scrambled bright blur and it is hard to see what to do next. So that I don't feel like I wasted my money on this game I bought a pair of dark shades to wear during game play. There is a little icon dancing at the top in the middle that gives a hint about what to do next but the player will be too busy concentrating on the current dance moves and it is hard to move your hands and feet to the current dance move then remember what the little dancing icon was doing. Maybe it would help if the dancing icon changed into a different color for all the dance moves. The dancing icon stays solid white with no highlights of which body part to start with first. So if the player is dancing and the next move is coming and this little dancing icon is doing something totally different it can be confusing to concentrate on 2 different dance moves taking place at the same time. Some of the graphics are cool to look at in the beginning then you will get annoyed after a few songs. Xbox voice commands do not work for me on this game. It is hard to pick a song to play. The album covers roll too fast making it frustrating to select a song. I have played this game 3 days and I am already tired of the songs I have danced to. In the beginning the game forces you to play a break down of the routine which takes about 15-20 minutes to get to the full routine of the song. By the time you pass each step you will be tired physically and also tired of hearing that song. I really think this feature should be optional. It is a good workout however you will not be able to play this game very long all the songs are very high energy. On another note there is Dance pack to download that includes LMFAO Party Rock Anthem and the Black Eyed Peas are dancing to the original Party Rock Anthem by LMFAO. To the developers of this game it would be a smart move to add more artists because the BEP's catalog of songs are not strong enough to make this game worth buying unless you are a huge fan.
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video-games_xbox
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Seriously gay. As you will be aware this game marks a number of significant changes in the series for the worse. Here's whats wrong with it...
Firstly the beautiful fluidity of the gameplay of NG1 & NG2 has been changed for the worse so that often whilst hacking down enemies, slow motion sequences will occur and the player will be given QTE prompts to finish an enemy off. This change in gameplay is much less satisfying than in the first two games making the experience feel a bit on-rails and classic moves such as the Flying Swallow have been removed. Boss encounters also suffer from QTE heavy gameplay.
2) No Muramasa shops appear in the game meaning all weapons and power ups except for the dragon sword and a bow have been removed and we now only have one type of ninpo at our disposal. This also means enemies no longer release different types of energy when they die, some previously being shop currency, as their is no need for it and the players ninpo and health bar refills after every small battle, leading onto another one of the main problems...
3) This game is way too easy. Ninja Gaiden games have always previously been some of the hardest games available, that's what made them so great, but this entry is very much Ninja Gaiden-lite.
4) All the dismemberment and decapitations of NG2 have been removed. Yet another illogical regression for the series. Now all that happens when you strike someone is that blood sprays and they die. When you hit someone with a sword you should be carving them into pieces and chopping bits off. If nothing gets sliced off you may as well be hitting them with a stick. This aspect is made more bizarre by the fact an emphasis is often put of slicing through enemies via QTE sections where afterwords they remain whole.
5) Throughout the game the player will often be given prompts as to how to progress through the level or what to do next, thus removing the need for the player to think for themselves.
6) The Kunai climb (wall climb) is not fun and often tricky to get the right rhythm going.
7) The game is only 8 levels long and the level design is for the most part very bland compared to the previous games.
8) The story is seriously lame (Ryu now works for the system) and involves Ryu removing his mask.
To conclude the combat has been altered for the worse, the challenge is non existent, all the customisation and depth have been removed, the gore is gone and it's all way too easy. Such a shame for what was imo the greatest action series out there. There are still some gruesome TN enemy designs and occasionally you do get a buzz out of hacking down a crowd of enemies but it's nothing like the thrill of the previous games where you were fighting against hordes who would kill you in seconds if you were not on your A game.
The boss fights also suck, but there is one good one (level 7). If you are new to the series you may enjoy this, but for anyone other than newbies this is a huge disappointment. I really hope they get Itagaki back or someone else who can return the franchise to it's former greatness for a next gen instalment. They really need a new in-game engine tho, it's all begining to look a little bit last gen and if they can animate facial patterns why not the way muscles contract and lengthen in Ryu's arms? Those deformed oversized biceps are starting to look really weird.
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video-games_xbox
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Zombies are amazing in this game. Love the 80's vibe. What is wrong with everyone? COD gets more grief than any other franchise. Had the most dislikes of any video that was ever released when they announced the trailer last year. But ya know what? people are still going to buy it, and it's not because it's a bad game, it's because nobody can have enough of COD. I admit, they've had some ups and downs, but I've always fun playing these games and enjoyed all the campaigns.
Truth be told, I was hesitant buying this game. I wanted MW Remastered, so I caved. I thought infinite would be bad. But alas. Infinity ward came through again. Never fear, do not listen to the fake reviews. This game is amazing and since BLOPS, this is one of the best campaigns I've played in the series in a good long time. My favorite of all time is still COD2, but that's another discussion.
. I won't get into how much I love the campaign, if you read about the web you'll see that critics are really enjoying the campaign and if you need details, just go watch some gameplay. Yes, it's in space. Yes, get over it. It's in space.
While I may be the minority, I will say that Zombies mode is an absolute masterpiece in Infinite. It's not in space! It's in the 1980's!!! The 80's vibe is incredible. Not that I don't love their past zombies games, but this is probably their best zombies mode yet. I won't give away too much, but the Zombies takes place sometime in the 80's amusement park/arcade/fun house. Yes, the 80's. 80's characters, 80's clothes, 80's music, 80's arcade, and yes, you can go into the arcade and play Activision games!! No, you really can!! I played Pitfall 2 in the arcade for 30 minutes while I was taking a break from zombies. LOL. I'll just say, there are some greats in there!
The graphics are solid. Nothing mind blowingly awesome, but there is no slow down, things can get really crazy on screen and the Zombies is pure chaos. And the XBOX one handles all the action marvelously. Lots of new guns, perks, upgrades and excellent multiplayer and the best Zombies game ever. What's really not to like? The sound is also amazing. Crank this baby up.
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video-games_xbox
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Probably the BEST Game on XBOX One. Incredible. Immersive. Replay value through the roof. Storytelling excellence. Voice acting that is professional and entertaining. Hidden places. Hidden stories. Amazing weaponry. A series of crafting systems that are actually FUN TO USE.
You can explore this world forever and be surprised by the hidden weapons, monsters, stories, etc. You can start and maintain settlements. Equip your settlers against raiders, mutants, ghouls, and monsters who attack these innocents quite often. Explore the world with a synth, a super mutant, a dog, a robot, a drug addled warrior woman, etc. Or go it alone.
The perks you unlock are unreal. So much fun. Every character you create to play through this game can be SO different. You can play like a tank, a stealthy ninja, a thief, or a plain old lucky weirdo. The possibilities are endless.
Combat is a pure joy. Decapitate. Sever limbs. Disarm foes. Pickpocket enemies and plant grenades in their bags. The sound effects and visuals are perfect, gory, and sometimes very funny--in my opinion.
While the graphics are not incredibly upgraded from Fallout 3, they are very good and detailed. The landscapes are horrific, beautiful, mysterious, etc. Depending on where you are. And the fast travel option makes this game a gigantic but manageable world.
The soundtrack is amazing. Beautiful, sorrowful, thrilling--when appropriate. The radio stations are hilarious and fun. They bring new life an already vibrant post-apocalyptic world.
Life goes on in every area you visit, so be ready to encounter new enemies in areas you cleared. And everyone in the game you can talk to is worth talking to. You'll get jobs and clues and side quests from all kinds of people.
Fallout 4 is a HUGE game with a lot to do, but you are forced to do nothing. Play as you will.
It's not perfect. Companions get in the way. Supply lines sometimes cause quest-giving settlers to be out and about, so you have to track them down. Little things like that. Otherwise, in my opinion. this game is as close to perfect as you can get.
If you love role playing, shooters, and resource management, Fallout 4 is your game.
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video-games_xbox
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The story, art, and music are terrific. Too bad the rest of the game is horrible. "What if the Nazis invaded the USA?" We see this kind of what-if scenario all the time in movies and read about it in books. But we've rarely seen a game with this kind of story. Then there's Turning Point. I couldn't tell you how excited I was to play this game. I was starting to get sick of all these WWII games and this seemed like a breath of fresh air. Then I actually played it.
Let me tell you this, the story is great. It's not much of a "What if the Nazis invaded America" scenario, but more of a "What if Winston Churchil wasn't around to give his influence?". For in the game, Churchill dies in a freak car accident in 1931, there by leaving Europe spineless when the National Army came to power. So they take over Europe, North Africa, the Middle East, and Russia. And since Germany had gained so much power over their conquest, Japan had no need to attack Pearl Harbor, so the USA had no real reason or motive to attack the Nazis. Then in '52, Germany finally attacks America, and totally takes over. Now it is up to you to push back the National Army and save your country!
The art direction is original and very well done. Some of the designs for the vehicals, weapons and Nazi soldiers are very creative. The art also really brings out the scope of the game. Most of the levels have you fighting at famous land marks (e.g. White House, Crystler Building, British Parliment Building, Big Ben) that have been destroyed by the Nazis. It's also a little scary and thought provoking to see hundreds of German fighter planes and zepplins flying over the NYC air space dropping partroopers and tanks to the streets below.
The music is fantastic. Real professional musicians obviously worked on this score. It's definetly some of the best music ever in a game.
In an artistic point of view, Turning Point is pure gold. But there's just one problem...
The game itself is way below average, unfished, and otherwise broken.
Let me break it down...
The Controls: Say good-bye to the likeness of the smoothe controls of other shooters like Halo, Call of Duty, or Bioshock, for the contols of Turning Point are so uncomfortable and unbalanced, you might just sue the developers. Your character moves like a rock with a gun. He's slow and stiff, and your turning/aiming speed are no different. Your character is able to do a grappling move that will eithter have you take out an enemy instantly or use him as a sheild, but since the contols are so impared, it's hard to tell which action you'll do. It's also practically impossible to shoot an enemy with any weapon. For instance, if your weilding an SMG, you'll be lucky enough to hit an enemy's torso from 40ft.
The Dialog: It's really sad for a game with a story this amazing, to have a script that could pretty much rival any B-movie. All of the characters are cliched, stereotypical, and easily forgetable with very predictable lines that you probably heard somewhere else before. The lines for the Nazis are a bit harsh. For the game literally demonizes them, even though most of the soldiers that fought for the National Army were regular Joes like you and me and were forced to fight as Nazis.
The AI: Naturally, no broken first person shooter is complete without some of the stupidest AI imaginable. It's kind of strange to see entire squads of highly trained "super" Nazis with advanced weapons and technology be totally wiped out by one former contruction worker with a tommy gun (AKA: You). Sometimes they'll run around in cirles, stand and do nothing, and/or they won't be able land a bullet on you even at point blank range. There are even parts where you can even use their thick-headedness to your advantage. At times you'll use the grapple move as a crutch, since it's much easier in the game to run up to an enemy and grapple kill him than to cope with the lousy shooting mechanics.
The Graphics: It doesn't matter what system you have this game on, nor does it matter what kind of TV you play on. Turning Point is one of the worst looking games of this generation. It's very rare for me to complain about something as pointless as graphics, especially since I grew up in the 2D age of games. But I find it a slight bit insulting that this game runs on the Unreal Engine, which is one of the best video game engines ever made, and yet it still manages to look very bland and pixlated. You'll find more polygons here than in a geometry book. Most of the textures are unfinished and/or poorly rendered. The animations and physics are just laughable. Basically, this game is an eye sore.
Turning Point is a perfect example of how developers shouldn't focus on art and art alone when making a game, especially for a first person shooter. There are some games with problems you can easily over look and still have fun with it (like Grand Theft Auto, Dead Rising, and Earth Defence Force), but Turning Point has too many issues for it to even be considered mediocer. The only reason why I'm giving this game three stars is becasue the story, art, and music are truly fantastic. Other than that, this game is an abysmal pile of excrement. If you want to play a good game with a good 'what-if' scenario, you're better off playing Freedom Fighters, World in Conflict, and/or Call of Duty 4. Turning Point is obviously broken, unfished, and most importantly, it isn't fun.
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video-games_xbox
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I hate LoTR, but I LOVE this game. -----------------
UPDATE #1
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After roughly 25-26 hours of total game play and at 43% completion, I'm still extremely impressed with this game overall. I have encountered a few very annoying glitches/bugs where my character will get stuck in a wall and I cannot get out, I have to quit and re-load the game. This has happened maybe 2-3 times total, but it's annoying nonetheless.
I just finished "The Monument" main mission and it's expected to get harder from here on out. The depth of this game is just amazing and extremely enjoyable on so many levels, again, as some who does not like LoTR movies/books, this game is arguably the best game on the XBOX ONE at the moment. So glad I opted for this over the new Call of Duty Advance Gummy Bear Warfare. Shadow of Mordor is like an amazing book, once you start, it's extremely hard to stop.
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QUICK REVIEW
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Let me start off by saying, I cannot stand LoTR lol, I never have liked it, ever. I know, strange. I also don't like Harry Potter or Hunger Games. Shun me now! OH NO!!!!!
Anyway, this game was so highly reviewed and I was looking for something different to play as I was skipping this years new Call of Duty Advance Warfare due to the new laser guns, unicorn jumping, gummy bear skeleton suit and much more dumb futuristic RoboCop stuff that I am not in to.
After hours of reading reviews and watching videos of game play of SoM I decided to buy it. I loved Castlevania growing up and just wanted something to captivate me again in an Adventure/Action/RPG style game. All I can say is, WOW! Love it! At first it was a little slow and hard to get into as all the bosses kept killing me and I felt I had to constantly run away from a boss if they weren't lower than a Level 5. After 20 hours into the game and roughly 40% complete, I am really, really enjoying every facet of this game. For someone who cannot stand LoTR, I still can easily and highly recommend this game. I do understand how the game can be repetitive to some, but what video game isn't essentially doing the same thing over and over again?
So much about this game is enjoyable. GET THIS GAME!
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video-games_xbox
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It's worse than that - it's dead, Jim. Being a diehard Star Trek fan these days isn't easy. Especially when it comes to the video game department. I wanted to like this game. Really, I did. But it just doesn't deliver. Or rather, it delivers all right... a steaming pile. Let's call it like it is, folks. This game is a stinker!
What can I add that has not already been said? The controls are bad. The instruction manual is wrong. The commands are glitchy. The camera is screwed up. Half your command controls are meaningless. The ship point purchase system doesn't work right. You can't command other ships to do anything meaningful. You have to micromanage each ship's repairs in the middle of combat because the A.I. is too stupid to do it on its own. Your ship bounces off of planets like nerf balls. Or worse, all your ships get stuck on them when you are trying to make them warp somewhere.
Was this game even beta tested at all?
What else? Oh yeah, the explosions look terrible. Like a few giant pieces of Legos split in half. You can't save anywhere. If you die at the end of a mission, you have to repeat the entire mission over again. The game is repetitive, simply consisting of keeping the enemy in your sights, firing phasers until their shields are down, then firing photon torpedoes, over and over. It features a bunch of the much-hated "protect this wimpy vessel" missions.
There is no complexity or strategy to the game whatsoever. Most of your mental abilities will be spent trying to get your ship going in the right direction. Or getting your controls to do what the manual says they are supposed to do.
I've said it before but it is worth repeating. This game features the worst controls I have ever seen in any game. Ever. Good luck trying to figure them out while the camera is going crazy on you and your ships are all warping the wrong way. Or while the enemy is hammering the medical vessel you are supposed to be protecting, and you are trying to figure out how to get one of your other ships to repair itself.
Having said all that, the game does have a few fun moments. It is simplistic and repetitive, sure. But sometimes it does have a certain charm to it. That's probably just my inner Trekker talking. The Gamer within me says no - stay far, far away!
I give this game props for the look of the ships, which they nailed. The sound effects and some of the combat visuals are also good. The music is alright. And they did manage to get all the top captains from the shows to lend their voices here. (Apparently spending 3/4 of their development budget in doing so, by the looks of the result.)
So there are a few good things. But that's pretty much it.
The story is throwaway. Personally I don't care about the story anyway. Still, it is odd. The game doesn't have any cut scenes to speak of. All voice work consists of voiceovers done while the camera pans over the ships floating in space. This is the cheap way for the programmers to do it, but it sure doesn't feel very Trek-ish. Star Trek needs to have Captains on the bridge, people on-screen talking to each other. This sorry excuse for a game has none of that.
For the Xbox version, we also get a bunch of achievements with that tacked-on feeling. Good luck getting them all, since there's a bunch of them that depend on the multiplayer. I can't even review that part of the game, because it looks like no one online plays this.
Some have said this game feels rushed or unfinished. I agree. But worse, this game feels completely broken. A lot of the central concepts of this game simply DO NOT WORK. Somewhere along the line, the developers should have realized this and gone back to the drawing board.
That's my review.
So Star Trek: Legacy? Yeah, buy it if you are a die hard fan - like me. I don't regret the purchase. After all, it's about all we've got to choose from these days. Just don't set your expectations very high, and you won't be disappointed.
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video-games_xbox
|
Leaves players in the dark. I purchased Alone in the Dark at the same time I bought Silent Hill: Homecoming. I'm a sucker for survival horror, and both games came highly recommended. The difference between the two is quite illuminating.
There has been a trend recently to reverse the gamist influence of tabletop role-playing games on their video game counterparts. Consoles don't lend themselves well to complex rules systems and designers find their beautifully rendered enemies disrupted by floating hit point numbers over their heads. In response, Alone in the Dark goes full simulationist - forget the rules, this is all about horror!
And so Alone in the Dark, like Silent Hill, starts out in media res. You learn to play as you go by ferociously clicking buttons to blink your eyes so you can see straight. You play an amnesiac anti-hero with a secret connection to a certain stone held by a certain priest. A bald villain, named Crowley (yet another mystical foe named after Aleister Crowley, the occultist), marches you to your doom until he is disrupted by something even scarier: extradimensional tears in the fabric of reality.
Thing is, extradimensional tears aren't all that scary. The entity that is in charge enjoys possessing hot chicks and growling in a deep voice, instantly rendering the villain rather mundane. Those looking for the Cthulhu Mythos-inspired connection that suffused the original Alone in the Dark will find the chatty archnemesis lacking.
What Alone in the Dark does very well is completely conceal the rules from the player. Our hero can only carry so many items in his jacket - no unlimited, unrealistic inventory here! He can swing weapons or even light them on fire, and the fire mechanics allow him to do everything from blast explosive bottles out of the air to pouring flammable liquid on his bullets so they shoot fire. Realistic, huh?
There are no hit points, no health meters, and not much in the way of rules. What Alone in the Dark lacks in gamist structure it makes up for in narrativist railroading, with a capital R.
Alone in the Dark is hellbent on telling a story, and the developers just happen to drag the player along for the ride. It even has a function to allow you to skip any scene, with a brief montage at the beginning of each replay to describe what happened "previously, in Alone in the Dark..." I played a car chase sequence fifty times before I gave up. I ran around with a flashlight trying to make some black goo not eat me (repeatedly watching the starting sequence of a sewer worker swearing effusively before being eaten) thirty times before I gave up. I teetered inside a precariously balanced bus on the edge of the cliff dozens of times before the game crashed.
And so we have Alone in the Dark's problem - if you want to make a game all about story, it better be a good story. Alone in the Dark provides absolutely no guidance as to what to do next. You are guaranteed to die over and over until you figure it out, which renders any interesting cut scene or curious camera angle meaningless after the fifth time. The game is a buggy mess too. It crashes constantly; at one point, a villain just stood there and let me whack at him to no effect. Maybe he felt bad for me.
Alone in the Dark tries hard, but like an action blockbuster, it has no interesting story to tell. With stereotypical villains, enemies that aren't scary, frustrating camera angles, and a railroading plot that will have you tearing your hair out, Alone in the Dark will leave players alone in the dark.
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video-games_xbox
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Revolutionary. This game is an amazing thrill ride. If you have the urge to play a first-person shooter that echoes a modern day version of Saving Private Ryan, then this game is for you. The single player is great. The controls are responsive, and the frames per second are liquid smooth. Furthermore, this game has an intense and relevant story, which, though it does not get in the way of the action, still gives you enough impetus to keep playing. The most unique moments of the single player missions feature you as a defenseless character (e.g. an Arabian president, or a soldier who is a victim of an atomic bomb attack). In these parts you don't shoot any guns; all you do is watch the story unfold first-hand. It's great as an experience, and the intensity of the rest of the missions will have you on the edge of your seat.
In Call of Duty 4 you don't play as only one character; most of the time you will switch between an American Marine and the S.A.S. (British version of Navy Seals) member "Soap" McTavish. For brief spells you play as other characters too. Although I have not completed the single-player game, most of the experience I have had has been excellent. The guns are mostly fun to use, particularly the super-powered weapons (like rocket launchers) that you control for brief stints. The realism is stunning. Cars explode, and grenades thrown by the enemy can be returned. Sniping is more "arcade style", but still an enjoyable part of the game. My one complaint is that there are a few parts of the game where enemies keep running at you from the same place, and the game turns into some sort of target practice arcade. There are a few parts like this in the missions I have played, however they are not frequent, so the game is still enjoyable. Your character occasionally experiences scripted moments, such as when you almost miss a jump into a helicopter while escaping from a sinking ship. These little touches add to the suspense, and are enjoyable to watch even after the 5th time through a mission. Overall, the single player is a blast for FPS fans.
If the single-player gets you hooked, the multiplayer will have you coming back. The mode of choice is Team Deathmatch, where Marines/SAS and Spetsnatz/Terrorists duke it out for supremacy. What makes the multiplayer unique is the class-based system. You can choose between five preset classes, such as demolition expert, special ops, assault, heavy weapons, and sniper. You always have a sidearm, and each class has its own perks, such as more health, steady aim, sprint for longer distances, etc. This is just the beginning. As you gain experience you can create your own classes, and find the perfect combination for your style. You unlock more perks, such as the ability to drop grenades after you die, or to be invisible on enemy radar. In addition to Team Deathmatch, there are also regular Deathmatch, Capture the Flag, Headquarters and Search and Destroy modes. Each mode offers something unique. As your character gains experience, he levels up, which adds another element of interest. The multiplayer part of CoD 4 is a great experience, especially if you play with friends. The intensity is ramped up from single-player, which keeps the replay value high.
In all, this game is a fabulous experience both online and offline. The graphics are amazing, but the gameplay keeps things fresh for a long time. I've been playing on and off for months, and it still holds my interest. One last thought: The mature rating is justified; this is an intense game. I would not let anyone under 17 play this. Compared to games like Gears of War, the violence is much less gory. There is less cursing/crude language too. Infinity Ward decided (wisely) to go for realism without being over the top in the violence and language category. Overall, any mature gamer who likes first-person shooters should check out this game! It's an incredible action experience that's not to be missed.
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video-games_xbox
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Plastic cups and string. So, I bought these because I wanted to play xbox and talk to people. I also used to be an avid counter-strike player and knew a good pair of headphones will let you know when people are behind you, around corners, above you, below, it's basically like cheating without the cheats. In general I would say it helps more than TV speakers, but not as accurate as it used to be playing with my old school plantronics audio90s on my computer. Not sure if it is the lack of programing on the xbox and game, or the headset, but if you are looking for the same experience that I was looking for, don't expect too much. They are worth having, but I'm seriously thinking they weren't worth the money. I wish I would have just bought a conversion kit for my Sennheiser headphones to work with the xbox. I'll tell you why, then I'll list pros and cons.
1. The audio quality is less than average especially if you ever plan on using these for music. I have skullcandy lowriders, sennheiser hd212pro, sennheiser hd202's, and I've had plantronics audio90s. ALL of those had WAAAY better sound quality. Higher hi's, more distinct treble and bass. The bass is lacking and muffled, not very boomy and doesn't have much attack and the hi's don't sound great either. I'm very disappointed with the quality. I've even played with the equalizers on my ipod and laptop and none of the settings sound good at all. After you listen for a while you get used to it, but it still just plain sucks. Good way to make your favorite songs sound like garbage. I'd compare the sound to playing music on a nice pair of speakers, then going in the other room, shutting the door, and trying to listen through the wall. That's what it sounds like to me.
2. The "edge" that I was looking to gain by having headphones is minimal. In other first person PC games having headphones vs. speakers is a must, this headset doesn't really make that much of a difference. I do like having a mic on them though.
3. You can't hook these into your xbox (or at least i couldn't figure out how) while using an HDMI cable. It wants you to hook the headset stright into the component audio cables instead. I solved this by putting the plugs into my TV audio out jacks(which leaves wire hanging all around between your TV and xbox), but if your TV doesn't have those (not sure if they all do or not) then you're stuck using components.
Pros:
Slight advantage over the TV's built-in speakers for knowing where people are using sound.
Good for playing late at night without waking other people up (assuming you aren't screaming at the game lol).
Stereo headset with built in mic is convenient.
Cons:
Sound quality is utterly embarrassing compared to other mid to high end headphones without mics. (sennheiser hd212pro, or hd202)
Cables hanging all over.
Advantage edge over using TV speakers isn't as great of a difference I had hoped for.
Need to be plugged in a USB AND the headphone jack to use these on a computer. (unless there is something i don't know, they stop working if i unplug them from my computer usb when listening to music)
Expensive (for the quality)
I wish I could compare these to other gaming headsets but they are the first ones I've bought that are xbox compatible out of the box. I should have just bought a converter for my sennheiser hd202's.
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video-games_xbox
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Inconsistent Operation. This intercooler is basically a fan with a sensor. It blows hot air away from the Xbox One to keep it cool. The device attaches to the Xbox One with an easy-to-use clamp. It comes with a USB chord attached - which you then plug into one of the backside ports of your Xbox One. The intercooler uses a sensor, and therefore will only turn on when a certain temperature is reached. I live a relatively warm place (Northern California) and this device usually turns itself on about 5 minutes after turning on the Xbox One. Once you turn the Xbox One off, the intercooler will usually keep itself on for a few minutes until your Xbox One is sufficiently cooled down. (I've had some issues with this - more on this later.) The fan is somewhat noisy. I would say it's about as noisy as a small, personal fan that you can buy for your office desk. In my case, I really don't notice noise much since I am seated about 8 feet away from it. The fan itself blows hot air from the top vents of the Xbox One towards the front of the console and away from it. The force of the fan is similar to that of any common PC or computer cooling fan.
Keeps itself on even hours after turning the Xbox One off...
This intercooler has been inconsistent in terms of when it will turn itself off. Supposedly, after you turn off the Xbox One, this device should stay on for a few minutes - blowing hot air out of the Xbox One until a cooler temperature is reached. In my case, the intercooler will sometimes keep itself on many hours after I've turned off the Xbox One. I've even taken the intercooler off the Xbox and re-installed it with the same results. I've read that some people have tried to set their Xbox One to use "Power-Saving Mode" which supposedly will solve this issue. When I did that, the device still runs itself hours after the Xbox One has been turned off. For the amount I paid, it would have been nice to include a manual setting, or at the very least, an "On," and "Off" button.
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video-games_xbox
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Disappointed...Again. Played this when it originally came out on the XBoX, but never really got into it. With all of the hub-bub about Destiny I decided to give Halo another shot. I remember now why it never took with me to begin with. To start off with the positives, game design was always top notch but with the refurbish version everything looks 10 times better. I really love the story as well and I think that is what has been driving this series. I don't have a Kinect so I can't really give a review on that but I have read complaints on other websites stating that Kinect reaction time is too slow and it is just bettter if you pressed buttons instead. I also haven't played the multiplayer section but I have also read on this that some of the maps have some programming flaws as well. Now for the cons: The music is atrocious and the audio mix is off. MUSIC: It seems like the developers just pick some teen-wanna-be-rockers who are a part of their local high school jazz band to make a score for a video game (not a movie mind you, but a video game). Then the developers took said mediocore music and put in random momments into the get that don't enchance the experience positively. About 20 minutes into the game the music was driving me nuts, so I went to settings to turn off the music. To my shock and awe there was no place where I could turn the music off. So now do I play for only 20 minutes before I get annoyed or just not play it all? Bad development flaw. This is a shame since the store of this magnitude deserves a cinematic score instead of a video game score. AUDIO: In the begining I had problems hearing the dialogue because of the music. Then when I got dropped off for a night mission I couldn't hear the dialoge because of my assult team was yelling and the engines to the Pelican transport were louder than the person who was giving me direction. And then I was supposed to have heard some dialogue, again for direction, but I couldn't hear over the rocket explosions that were kicking my butt. I'm not big on first person shooters anyway but I would prefer the old versions of Doom or Wolfenstein compared to this. I don't know if the other versions of Halo are any better than this so if you're reading this then you might want to start off on one of the latter versions. Then there's the easter eggs: which don't really do anything to enhace game play. There is a new thing called SKULLS: in which you have to find hidden skulls that can change game play and most of the are to enhance your oppnnents or give you god-like powers which just kill the challenge of the game. Also just a personal side note; All the little "bad guys" or grunts sound like little kids, whom half of which tend to run from you when they see you. With me running around killing these aliens makes me feel like a bully or that I am possibly the boogeyman that everyone is afraid of and they have every right to kill me. I don't like that, I'm supposed the honorable hero.
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video-games_xbox
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A bit of a reach. I've been playing Halo since the very first installment of the franchise, through 2 and 3, and concluding with the rushed ODST. Halo: Reach is the culmination of all that has come before.
Like the later iterations of Halo games, there is both a shield system that recharges over time and health that can be restored through health packs. Additionally, there are armor abilities: jetpack, camouflage, sprint, and a shield. Multiplayer is expansive but basically the same game we've come to expect, capable of supporting large groups of combatants on even larger battlefields. Where Gears of War is about crowded, dirty in-your-face fighting, Halo has always been about leaping across massive fields to engage your enemy from a distance. The title "reach" is appropriate. Speaking of Gears of War, the Firefight multiplayer option shows the game's influence, which is Halo's version of Horde mode.
After being underwhelmed by Halo 3: ODST's single-player campaign, I was curious if Halo: Reach would do any better. The campaign setting is a bold move, taking place in 2552 before the very first Halo: Combat Evolved game. Humanity is in losing the war with the alien Covenant and is slowly retrenching as it evacuates over 700 million civilians off of the planet known as Reach.
Our heroes are Noble Team, the United Nations Space Command (UNSC) special forces unit that consists of Spartan supersoldiers. The team is led by Carter-A259 (Freddy Bosche), the handsome but grim leader of the group. His second is Kat-B320 (Alona Tal), the only female on the team who has a cybernetic arm. There's also giant-with-a-heart-of-gold heavy weapons specialist Jorge-052 (Hakeem Kae-Kazim), marksman Jun-A266 (Sunil Malhotra), and the bad attitude skull-faced Emile-A239 (Jamie Hector). You play Noble Six, who like Master Chief never takes off his helmet but does have a few speaking parts. We know that Master Chief was the last of his kind at the beginning of Halo, so things aren't going to go well for these soldiers.
Noble Team goes on a series of increasingly futile missions, rescuing top secret data from research bases, evacuating important civilians, and delaying attacks long enough for civilian transports to escape. Along the way, Noble Team falls apart a little at a time.
Despite the improved graphics, better AI, and new gizmos, this is still the same Halo we know and love. It also means there's still no bathrooms of note, every room is huge, and despite civilians running around in confusion the entire city of New Alexandria looks more like a shopping mall than any place people actually might live. Halo is about big, open spaces, but as a setting it never actually feels inhabited by anyone before you begin playing.
The voice actors are a mixed bag. The design team obviously tried hard to make the characters culturally diverse, but that unfortunately left us with Kat sporting a dull monotone Russian accent. As she has the most speaking parts, this makes for some terrible dialogue. I was relieved when Kat finally died.
What Halo: Reach does right is high drama. I've always felt that Martin O'Donnell and Michael Salvatori's stirring score was much too epic for a first-person shooter like Halo, but Halo: Reach lives up to the promise of its music. Reach's music rises to a crescendo that is both stirring and heartbreaking.
There's a surprise twist near the end of the game that makes Halo: Reach personal and firmly ties it to the other installments. And after the game ends, there's a post-credits sequence that makes it all the more poignant. Halo: Reach takes the franchise about as far as it can go without substantially altering what was originally a world that existed simply for jumping-and-gunning. It's a great send off for the franchise, but for players accustomed to Gears of War's innovations like using cover, it's a bit of a reach.
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video-games_xbox
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I got more than I bargained for and saved myself $200-$300. Rarely and I mean rarely do I give out 5 star reviews and that is because I am very "choosy" with my products and how I expect them to operate but this headset is the best product I purchased this year.
These headphones are for the dedicated gamer who can truly appreciate them for what they are and sadly I am not one, I am casual gamer who just spent the $$$. I was upgrading my entire entertainment area and decided to fork over some big bucks to finally gift myself an entertainment area that I always wanted.
This is my setup:
60" Vizio 4k P series UHDTV
Sonos playbar, sonos 1 (2 mounted on a wall)
Xbox one
PS4
Wii U
Verizon FIOS cable service
Logitech harmony remote to control all my gadgets (tv has roku, chromecast, apple tv)
I have recently been addicted to the assassin's creed games and it doesn't help that borederlands the handsome collection just came out not too long ago, so I am back to gaming. The thing is, I only have time to game at night and playing on low volume so I don't wake up my SO wasn't cutting it which got me to thinking of a wireless gaming headset. After checking a few forums and reddit, I decided on the astro a50. I used to own a pair of turtle beach and it was pretty good but it would disconnect from time to time and it tended to heat up. Plus I had to change the batteries quite often especially if I played borderlands so no to the TB's.
Since I was in the market for gaming headsets, I decided to look for some general TV viewing wireless headsets and had my eyes on the sennheisers which ranged from $200-$300. Thinking to myself, this is costing me a bit more than I expected so I decided to put the senheissers on hold and just got the astros.
Turns out the astro a50 can also be used for general tv viewing if set up as such:
TV - mix amp - sonos play bar
The problem with gaming headsets is switching the connection when switching consoles such as xbox to ps4 to pc or to wii u. I ran into this problem with my old turtle beaches and did not want to have the same problem this time around. Thankfully I found on some forum that if I use the above set up then I should be able to use my headphones with all of my consoles without having to remove any connections. The only problem, is that I have to have either the xbox one or ps4 power the mix amp or use another source. For now I use the xbox one as the power source but I plan to use an anker usb power block.
With the above set up the headphones work flawlessly with all of my consoles so I am very happy with that but the minute I turn off my consoles I noticed sound was still coming from my headphones. I listened closely and it was from my tv! So now I can watch nightly tv at full volume without disturbing the SO and saving me spending on senheissers. Who would of thunk it.
I got more than I bargained for and just had to write up a review so now it's time for the review of the product. Keep in mind I am not a dedicated gamer so I will only review what I use.
Pros:
Cool design - I actually like the neon green/yellow which is surprising to me
Great build - I would never toss these around but I am sure it could stand a few drops
Very comfortable - the ear cups fit perfectly and these do not over heat like turtle beach
Easily accessible buttons - right underneath the ear cups where I want them to be
Easy setup and pairings - just a press of a button and bam instant pairing (just make sure to update the firmware before using them)
Great battery life - still testing but so far it's doing pretty well on 3+ hours without recharging
I like the headphone stand - matches the headpones and mixamp.
small mix amp - slightly bigger than the roku3 but nothing compared to the router sized amp from turtle beach that also doubled as a headphone stand
[UPDATED April 24 2015]
A slight annoyance to my setup is that if I want to use the headset with my ps4, then I need to make sure the mix amp is plugged into the ps4.
Cons:
Cables - toslinks and usb cables, more cables to add to my cables hell
No real battery indicator [updated April 24 2015]
Headset remains active during charging unless manually turned off [updated April 24 2015]
Tethered to xbox one controller [updated April 24 2015]
Volume/Audio quality decreases during gaming sessions if chat is being used [updated April 24 2015]
I don't talk about the different settings since I am still getting used to these and have not really explored the 3 diff settings. I don't use chat since I am a lonely gamer (will change once I hit borderlands and those raids) but I know that in order to get chat to work for each console, I need to connect it to the desired console otherwise chat will not work. Once I explore these a bit more then I will update my review.
The thing that bothers me is that there are now way too many cables and I hate seeing so many cables. Picture this, 3 consoles connected to a HDMI switcher, 3 streaming boxes connected to the tv, verizon set top box, sonos playbar, and a dedicated apc power supply. The mix amp requires 2 toslinks and 2 usb cables, the toslink go on direction while the USB go the other and my cable hell is complete. [UPDATED] At first I thought this headset had good battery life but after using it for almost a month I find that it actually has decent to fair battery life. Also there is no real way to tell when the battery if fully charged and when it's empty. The only indication is either the beeping sound you hear before it loses all battery or if you are looking, the LED light located behind the ear cup. Another thing that bothers me, during charging, the headset becomes active and your essentially using it and charging it at the same time wether you like it or not. I turn it off manually and it still charges like it should but it's a tad annoying that I have to turn it off once it's plugged in to a usb port.
[UPDATED April 24 2015]
Chatting, so I finally got to using the chatting features and the xbox one chat adapter. Overall it's not bad, I mean it works and I can chat freely but if I am using my xbox one then I need to the tethered to the controller while the ps4 I can move about completely wireless. Initially there was a bit of static but that is no longer an issue and every player I talk to say they can hear me fine. To activate in game chat you need to press on the right ear cup, you will notice the volume of your gaming session decrease but can clearly hear other players. This is ok but I would have preferred that the volume stayed the same.
I know that not a lot of people are going to have my type of setup especially since it is overkill but I this is what I wanted to I got it
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video-games_xbox
|
NIIIIIICCCCEEEE. Wow, when i first played the demo for Thief: Deadly Shadows on xbox, i couldn't put it down. I kept playing the demo over n over. I think i completed the demo about 10 times before i decided to buy the game. I am sooo glad i did. The only reason i wasn't sure i wanted to buy the game was because i thought it was going to be a game like Fable, short but sweet. Thief: Deadly Shadows was very sweet indeed... but it wasn't short, its a great game that has a shocking storyline and has kept me coming back for more. On Fable, i spent 2 days to beat it, playing a total of about 11 hours. For Thief, it took me about 2 weeks totally over 40 hrs of extreme fun! Wow, im so glag i bought this game. The storyline kept me guessing what was going to happen next and i couldn't wait to find out. The NPC's in Thief really blew me away. In lots of games, u could move somethings around in a room, and when they returned they wouldnt notice. In Thief, if u stole some loot, moved a chair, put out a light, ect... the enemy would wonder what happened. If you scare or attack a citizen around town, they run to get some gaurds to finish you off.
Sure, you don't get to run around with your guns blazing in this game, but if you love being creative in your opponents deaths, you'll enjoy this one. In Thief, the shadows are your best weapon. Straight up one on one combat usually leads to your victory if your prepared and your health is full, but it will leave your health shattered.
Some people don't like this game because they have to be patient and wait for the correct time to attack thier opponents, but this game also requires you to think about whats going to happen instead of just running out there and shooting everything that moves. I think the best missions in this game are near the end, but believe me, it is well worth getting there. The cutscenes that this game has are cool and they really let you know what is going on.
I think there are really only a few cons in this game. You can see in the other reviews that people write about some of the glitches this game has. I admit that the sound does sometimes get cut off and then all u hear is this wierd scratching sound when people are trying to talk, but this problem can be solved easily; either enter the next area and load it, or u can save and load your game right there and when u finish loading it, the problem will be gone. This bug has happened to me about 5 or 6 times in the whole game. Another bug ive heard about is when the game stops altogether and all u can do is shut down your xbox. I have experienced this ONE time... just once. It isn't so bad because i save quiet often anyways, since you don't know what could happen next. Besides, most games will crash once in a while....
So all in all, i say this game rocks. This mideval setting really makes it great. The NPC's react like real people... well they could be a little smarter but its still good. The sound bug in this game can be solved quickly by loading something, and another good tip is to save alot, save after every mission. Oh yeah, and sometimes you'll get lost doing some missions, like having to find secret rooms n such. Well, a tip i can give u is, use your goals tab to look for ne notes or clues to help you and use the compass and map to help you find your way. Also, remember to try to use everything!! I couldn't find a secret room while the button to open it was infront of me and i just didn't think much of it at the time... even if the opject looks like junk, pick it up and see what happens, because u can always drop it if it turns out it is useless.
GET THIS GAME!! OMG GREAT GAME. I WANNA WRITE THIS REVIEW SO YOU CAN BUY IT! DO IT NOW!!!
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video-games_xbox
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Be one with the dark, chosen undead. Before my review I would like to address some complaints people have and inform you how to avoid these situations and potential angry moments towards the game. The complaints I'll briefly address will be 'the game is too hard', leveling and improving your estus flask.
So, while hollow, when you die your health bar progressively gets smaller and smaller until you are at 50% health. To avoid this you can use a human effigy to restore your humanity and then wear a Ring of Life Protection. Like Dark Souls 1 this ring will break when you die but you won't lose any of your souls or humanity and you'll be returned to the last bonfire without having to risk returning to where you died. But here's how it's different from Dark Souls 1 in this game you can repair your broken Ring of Life Protection in Majula for 3,000 souls at the blacksmith. Which takes out essientially any risk factor in the game, making the game easier than Dark Souls 1 not harder. And I've come across three of these rings.
People also seem to have trouble with understanding how to level up or how to level up their estus flask. You don't level up at bonfires anymore, you level up from the lady in green by the bonfire in Majula and only her. Leveling up your estus flask is not done by increasing the intensity of bonfires doing that in this game by using a bonfire ascetic makes that specific area NG+ difficulty and respawns the enemies including bosses. So you give the lady in green estus flask shards to increase your total count of estus flasks and to increase their healing ability you have to burn sublime bone dust at the bonfire. These items are found throughout the game as you progress.
MY REVIEW:
-Overall I feel like the story is easier to understand than the first game. And that it's overall more fun.
-Graphics are improved from Dark Souls 1.
-Movement, jumping, rolling and combat are improved.
-Summoning is now easier especially with friends by using the name engraved ring.
-All new enemies, covenants, weapons and areas for the most part.
-Very in depth game where you get to choose your path fighting numerous bosses along the way. Depending on which initial routes you take you will fight them in a different order than someone else and a lot are missable.
-The sense of reward and accomplishment is still there like with the first game.
-I would rate this a high 9 out of 10.
-Overall I like the improvements and how they simplified things. For example in Dark Souls 1 if you had 3 specific souls you wanted to use you had to use them individually. Now you can select the amount and use them all at once. Little improvements like that are nice but all in all the game is greatly improved over the first one.
NOTABLE CHANGES:
-Humanity. The counter is gone from the top left corner. Now human effigies are used to become human.
-Leveling up your character and estus flask.
-Leveling up only can be done in Majula, which is Firelink Shrine of DS2.
-Increasing bonfire intensity makes the game more difficult for that specific area.
-Additional useable items, right/left hand slots, and two more ring slots.
-Each armor piece has its own section now so it isn't all clumped into one location.
-Decreasing health bar while hollow (having the dark pyromancy glove scales with your 'hollowness').
-The Dark Souls 1 DLC that added 'dark magic' is now more prominent in this game they're called hexes.
-New 'cross region' feature added in the in game menu which allows you to restrict it for better connection during co-op and PvP which I find does work. I've had very few laggy moments.
-You are now matched with people based on your soul level AND overall total soul count. Meaning staying low level to match low levels will no longer work for PvP.
-Name engraved ring which allows for you to connect with friends easier while wearing it.
-Along with the cross region being set to restricted by default so is in game voice chat.
-Soul Vessels acquired throughout the game allow you to reallocate your skill points.
-Fairly in depth tutorial at the beginning for new players.
-You can no longer farm enemies in this game they will stop respawing after you kill them around 10 times.
-Only one ember required for all weapon infusions.
This game is loads of fun which you will undoubtedly spend at least 60+ hours per playthrough. The sense of reward and accomplishment is still there like the first game when you defeat a tough boss that has killed you multiple times. I would recommend this to anyone looking for a fun challenge. And I hope this review / mini guide helps out.
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video-games_xbox
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Halo 4 without Bungie.(updated. It is a known fact that behind a great game there's a great group of developers who work hard in order to make games look good and awesome not only in the gameplay mode or graphics but also in the way the story or the game itself makes you feel (Assassin's Creed III would be my finest example of that). Well, without Bungie around to take care of business with Halo 4, the game turned out to be fun but hollow in many other aspects.
343 induestries tried hard (that's an obvious statement when you look at the game) to make this game great and big but, unfortunely it seems that while they were worried about how a Halo game should be, they missed essential features of the Halo series to include in this one. The graphics to start with are just ok but not "Halo great" as we (the fans) were used to since the awesome Halo 3 or even Reach. For some reason this game looks patched in that matter. On the other hand, the sound of the guns are pretty weak too. A Halo game must make you feel the adrenaline while you're pulling the trigger on shotguns, machine guns and even on a magnum but honestly, this is not seen in Halo 4, I mean, the sensation of a Halo game is just not there anymore. By moments I feel like I'm playing a old version of Halo from the previous XBOX console (the one before 360 kicked in) and that's a shame because I had some good expectations about the game but unfortunely it didn't meet most of them.
On the bright side, I feel that the story is good and the gameplay is still fun but I would've prefered getting a game that it didn't remind me to Call of Duty.
I know I'm going to play this game until I finish with it but after that I really doubt that I would feel in the mood to play it again. My personal advice to the people for 343 industries is that if they're planning on releasing a Halo 5 or 6 in the future they must work harder.... way harder in graphics and sounds because Halo 4 should be considered as their lesson on how a "Halo" game is not meant to be.
Additional comments:
After playing the whole campaign I must say that I was wrong about my ratIng of the game. Although I still think that the graphics and the weapon sounds could've been better, the campaign gets more exciting as you move forward. I guess the first couple of stages aren't as exciting as the rest of them. Also the story gets more and more interesting as well. This is the reason why I changed my mind about the rating. Bungie might not be around anymore but the fun is still there:)
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video-games_xbox
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A Great Game To Continue The Saga. As with the first episode, I received this game from my kids at Christmas. I just finished Lego The Movie and have gotten an opportunity to play the game.
I am an older gamer, and do not like a lot of these newer games where you have to act fast and press 6 or 8 different buttons at once. That garbage is for so called advanced gamers. I like a game where I can think about my moves and I only have to press one or two buttons at a time. I also prefer making decisions and thinking my moves through. This game was perfect for that, however, unlike the first season, this edition seems to have the prompts flash too quickly during a panic scene and by the time you figure out your move the Zombie gets you and you die. Also, on occasion, the controls did not react to the requested action also resulting in your dying.
The game like its predecessor, is not a high resolution real life looking game where your wondering if your looking at a real human or a computer generated one. But that is a deliberate move by the developer. The game is presented similar to a comic book storyboard, only animated. Seeing that The Walking Dead is based on a comic, this fits perfectly. As in the real Walking Dead comics or TV show, your weapons are limited, and you often are separated from them and have to find something else.
Game plays follows a very loosely linear story that can change by every decision you make. Its linear in that you will always get to the same ending, but how you get there and with whom is based on your decisions. This makes for a very dynamic game style, and enhances the replay value. You play as Clementine this time around and I think that was a poor choice. Clementine should have immediately been reintroduced with a new mentor or companion. Soon after beginning the game you lose one of your two companions and soon after that you lose the other leaving you to yourself. Clementine is basically the equivalent of Carl in the TV show. Lee taught Clementine well and her skills help her to survive many ordeals on her own, and basically become the go to heroine. After losing your second companion, you progress through the story. You'll make decisions that may get you killed, in danger, into different areas, and crossing paths with different people.
The control scheme is fairly basic. You use the left analog stick to walk your characater, you use the right analog stick to aim/look. The letter buttons reflect up, down, left, right and may or may not be an active choice depending on where you are, who you are with and what you have done to a specific point. Unlike the first season where there was a lot of animation, with your interactions, a lot more of the game is animated so you get to watch a lot of the story with choices and actions relatively limited. Listen carefully though as many times there are hints given as to where you need to go or what you need to do next. When you are in control as a player, and required to act, a reticule will appear on the screen. You must move this around using the right look/aim analog stick. As you pass over people or things a target will appear and a choice or choices will appear on the reticule at the left, right, up, or down position giving you the hint of which letter button to press depending on what action you want to take. You can look, talk, pick up, grab and a variety of other actions. again, all based on what you have, what your doing and who your with. As you play along and gather information, and objects, and enter areas, new things are made available and new areas are opened up so you can proceed.
Fighting zombies is only a small part of the overall action in the game. Sometimes its a direct attack, other times your on the hunt to take them out quietly so you do not draw the attention of other walkers. You'll also have to fight other humans. Most moves are choreographed pretty good with on screen prompts. All through the game you'll be required to make decisions, fighting is no different, and if you hesitate it could cost your life. Conversations are also choreographed and you are given multiple choices for answers which you must pick fairly quickly. Say the wrong thing and end up dead or alienating someone who you might need in the future. Chose wisely, but quickly.
I played through the episodes fairly quickly, and was thinking was this it? The Walking Dead game is unfortunately not a long game. You get caught up in it and before you know it, you've played through all 6 episodes. Episodes can be played in any order, but you really should play the first episode first then follow through in episode order, be careful, as the choices you make in these episodes will affect how your game will continue when the next official episode (episode 3) set is released.
To access these episodes, go to play any saved game from Episode one and at the top you'll notice arrows. Navigate through to the episode of choice and select it.
The game is very very heavy on graphics, animated graphics, sequences, and all the logic for any choice you make. This does draw a lot on system resources. The game will take a noticeable amount of time to load. On occasion there will be a slight freeze as the memory is read. I have a 250GB Hard Drive version of the XBox 360 and experienced some of this, and found it annoying but not a deal breaker. If you have a 4GB memory chip XBox, things are going to get real slow with this much going on in memory as it takes even more resources to read and cache with the chip as memory allocation becomes a real problem. The larger system or one that is upgraded with at least a small hard drive is recommended. I did experience frequent game freezes in this second season that I did not experience in the first. This always happened during loading between scenes or episodes. Annoying, but not a deal breaker.
Over all, I found game play to be enjoyable. There are a few challenges, but nothing over the top. This should appeal to the average game player, but be a turn off to those who like to constantly mash a half dozen buttons to do anything. The game can and should have a more leisurely pace. Look around, to the extent this season allows search and examine everything, talk to everyone. The whole game is a leisurely decision making, object finding, puzzle with a few intense scenes tossed in for good measure.
I have completed all of the episodes and I have to say I did not well up like I did at the end of Season 1. Clementine had a easy, clear, no pressure choice at the end, and either decision would have been acceptable, but not a heart breaker like the end of Season 1. Not as much as they did in Season 1 did, just like in the TV show, they take you on an emotional roller coaster. Ups and downs and joy then sadness. Just when you think things are looking up, disaster strikes. I cannot wait for the next Episode set to be released. This game is highly recommended, and it does NOT deserve the ratings that it is getting simply because it will not run well on basic XBox systems.
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video-games_xbox
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Great graphics, irritating gameplay - worst next-gen title I've played. First off: I was very disappointed in the complete lack of immersion of AC. From the box I thought I was buying a game set in the 1100's. But no, the ridiculous concept is "genetic time travel" regarding a kidnapped bartender, so expect little digital garbles, a virtual reality theme and instead of health points, the "synchronization meter", instead of simply loading a save you are loading a memory, etc., etc. In other words: there is absolutely no sense of immersion. And never mind the worst opening of a game in gaming history. I seriously got a headache and had to stop looking at the tv - in general the fuzzy, digital trippy stuff was hard to deal with.
The story isn't worth talking about but worse, there is no real gameplay (as far as I'm concerned). You may push a button here or there, but I honestly made it through most of the tutorials without much looking at the screen and just mashing whatever button they asked me to. You can climb even the hardest of walls/buildings with little effort. There are quests where you just have to climb up the same type of tower over and over. It wasn't fun the first time but you have to do it a dozen times over. At least you don't have to climb back down - you jump into a bail of hay. Wow, games have come a long way, eh?
Combat wasn't any more fun. The fact its a stealth game simply drags any action on longer than need be. The assassinations were irritating and guess what: that's the game. I decided I'd try skipping the assassinations and the climbing quests since it wasn't any fun - well, there's little else to do in the game. That's it.
And now for The Worst Idea in a Game. Ever: The "gentle push" button. Yes, there's a button used just to gently push people out of the way. Yeah, its as exciting as it sounds. If the "gentle pushing" gets too heart-pounding of an experience there's always the "blend" button that has your character hold his head down. That's almost as exciting as gently pushing people out of the way and several steps more exciting than say, reorganizing your sock drawer or filing your fingernails. I found holding the green xbox button for several seconds ended up being more desirable. The "shut-down console" option solves many of AC's problems.
Also get used to looooooooooong scenes where the character you're puppeteering just stands there in clouds, doing nothing. Seriously. Just wait and something trippy will happen until the next dream/memory/whatever loads.
I can't imagine what the developers of this game were thinking. I'd be wary to ever get another Ubisoft game - maybe its just the Montreal group.
I put it up for sale the day after I bought it. Other than the graphics I can't say a single good thing about it. Want a stealth game? This isn't the one. So 1 star seems generous but its the lowest you can choose.
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video-games_xbox
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HALO Snore. Well, I've played Halo for awhile and this new game really drives home the point that HALO is now focussed on multi-player and the story and single player/ co-op is an after thought.
H4 story is, in theory, interesting, but it's not well explained and half the time you are getting story information, there's a battle going on or something else also talking and all at the same volume so you miss information. Not that there's that much to miss.
There are new weapons, which are just reconstructed variants of old alien weapons. And they are kinda fun, but when you move to a new mission point, you lose them. So if you like one and carry it throught the whole mission, it's just taken away at the end, even when in the game world you might just be going through a door or taking an evac 15 minutes to somewhere else. Apparently you just chunk your weapons and wait to arrive somewhere to get new stuff.
As usual, there are stupid, completely too long, vehicle missions that are usually poorly explained and who's graphics usually suck to where you aren't sure it you are suppose to fly through something or it's a wall with decorations. ANd the vehicles should be fun. But you basically go in a straight line, dodging things and race a clock. And don't you dare give up, because checkpoints are few and far between. If I had one wish, no vehicle missions. Ever.
I don't know about the multi-player because I've never been that interested in it. But I suspect that the great chunk of work devoted to this new title is there. Most of the levels are set up for mutli-player, and it's just sad because you know there's really not that much to explore in the game and they're basically big cattle shoots to push you toward the next boss or end of level battle.
I might be done with HALO, there's just so much more to do in something like Borderlands franchise or a Fall Out or something for me.
So if you love the multi-player, you'll need to pick this up, if you just want a FPS or something, you might pass on this.
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video-games_xbox
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2016 Fallout 4 Review In all of my years of playing video games that range from Fun Math Games to grotesquely. Elliot Anundi
Mrs. Ferris
English 2
March 21, 2016
Fallout 4 Review
In all of my years of playing video games that range from Fun Math Games to grotesquely, gory, but amazing Gears of war and all the way to (saddens me that I admit this) Tom Clancys: Endwar. Yet when I started up all of these games none of them brought a (very very manly) tear to my eye like Fallout 4 did. It was the love child that was created from 1st person shooters and RPGs. No matter how you feel about both RPGs and 1st person shooters you will love Fallout 4.
Now let me get this clear right now the Fallout games aren't meant to be played on after another like some games. These pieces of art are fully capable of being independent and yet dependent games at the same time. They have refrences to each other like the Brotherhood of Steel in Fallout 4(which takes place in Boston) are the same people in Fallout 3(which takes place in Washington DC) , and which are a spread out clan of people that are also in Fallout New Vegas(do I really have to tell you where this takes place?). Fallout 4 has done what few games have done before. It has given us a way to kill, save, kill some, and not care about ever. There are 4 different ways to end the game, but that would only end the main story. After the main story ends you still have about 12 days left in game. Overall the story gets a 5/5 from me.
If you put 100 people into a room that play Fallout 4 none of them would play fallout 4 the same way. You can make every choice that you want no matter what it is. Unlike for 1st person shooters when it says turn left you can turn right and heck even now you can just go up. It matters what you do to because if you kill a guard you could have an entire city trying to kill you and you just made it so that you cant complete the main quest with those people. That is from killing one person. There are billions of ways to get the end of the game with all achievements, bobble heads, weapons, armor, companions, settlements to 100% happiness, and discover then clear all locations on the map. All in all you can never play the same way twice even if you tried, so the replay ability is a again 5/5.
With each game come its own problems for RPGs there's normally a duplication glitch or money glitch within the game and this is no exception but these were replaced very very fast. Unlike most games where it takes the developers at least a year to fix something as simple as that it only took about 4 months which is more impressive than it sounds. There are no major game flaws such as invisible walls, false walls/floors, and glitchy items/doors/quests. Sometimes the physics fail when you jump on a car, and WHEN YOUR BLOODY LASER RILF HAS RECOIL. Oops sorry lost my temper right there, it just doesnt make sense to any gamer that looks at the really fine things in the game, but thats what you have to do when you don't have any other mistakes to look at. That just shows you how complete the game truly is but I still only give it a for having still a duplication glitch.
There are still two points that i need to stress make a great game and one of those are the AIs/NPCs. Honestly this could make or break a game, I have holes in walls just because a NPC wouldnt move for a HOUR but that was in Fallout 3 and luckily weve moved passed that (sorta). The NPCs in all games has their flaws no matter what and none of them are perfect and fallout 4 isn't a exception. The NPCs are always in the correct places and allows you to speak with them, which is always good and thats all anyone can really ask for in a game no matter what you are playing. Thus this gets a 5/5.
Okay. This is THEE most important thing in the entire game. Layout. You cant be spending half your game hours trying to find the settings so you can change your sensitivity. I have holes from not being able to find stuff in the menu which really sucks because I'm running out of room on that wall now. Also when you have seen better graphics on minecraft you know youve picked the wrong game to play (unless it was designed that way). Fallout 4 isn't that prettiest game graphic wise but it doesnt look like minecraft, or burn your eyes thus I say that it should still get a .
All in all this game was just a amazing piece of art that should be played for years even after Fallout 5 comes around and it isn't a disappointment to the fallout fans. I know that i will be playing it even when my kids are playing video games and I know that that is forever away hopefully.
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video-games_xbox
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Great idea...OK game. I had been watching the development of AC for a long time. As a huge fan of stealth games, it seemed like a breath of fresh air from early press. Set in the Middle Ages...limitless acrobat possibilities, etc.
I used to be a "PC only" gamer, but bought an XBOX for GTA IV. I had purchased AC for the PC when it first came out...had a very decent rig for gaming...and it wouldn't run at all. WAY TOO MUCH OVERHEAD. So I returned it and bought the 360 version.
My first disappointment with the game was the whole "synchronize with your ancestor" dynamic. The game is basically told in flashbacks...not in the Middle Ages. Fair enough...I can live with that.
The second was clear after about an hour of gameplay...repetition, repitition, repitition. You'll see that word in almost every review of this game, and they're not lying. Every type of activity (eavesdropping, pickpocket, intimidate, save citizens, view points) is literally almost EXACTLY the same thing over and over. Besides the locations they take place in, they could literally be interchangeable. And why in the world they couldn't record a few more voiceovers for the citizens is beyond me...you will get VERY tired of hearing the same comments from them.
Third...the amount of work required to get every achievement is almost overwhelming. They're not necessarily "hard," but there's just SO MUCH to do. There are over 90 View Points, 60 Templars, and 300 (yes...300)flags. And unless you're doing them for achievements, you get NOTHING for hunting them all down other than personal satisfaction. No health or armor boost...no wepaon upgrades...nada. And god forbid you mark the wrong one off whatever checklist you're using...you'll be looking for a needle in a haystack. I'm no stranger to collecting items in games (GTA, etc.), but on AC I had to go back and look for single flags about 2/3 of the time...mostly because the descriptions of each are so similar (on roof next to wall, in alley, etc). If you go for this, do yourself a favor and find an online version with a checklist...SO much less work. Oh...and if you miss one of the 100 flags in the Kingdom area, I would remove all sharp objects from your house.
My fourth gripe is the town of Acre. The guards in this are so much more "sensitive" to your presence that you'll find yourself being labeled an "assassin" and chased down for seemingly unknown reasons...and they put up a much tougher fight as well. I don't mind challenges, it's just that they are so inconsistent with the rest of the game.
Finally, by FAR the most frustrating part in EVERY city are the beggars and drunks...always show up at the WRONG time (middle of investigation, running from guards) and are just completely unnecessary in every way.
But it's not all bad...lol. The amazing freedom and acrobatic stunts you can pull off never seem to get old. Running from rooftop to rooftop...climbing almost ANYTHING...diving from the tallest of buildings into a tinystack of hay...they all add a fresh dimension and a welcome break from the repetition.
And while I was initially disappointed that it wasn't a true "stealth" game...the combat gameplay is also handled very nicely. Some of the sword moves you are able to perform are extremely cool...the best being when you run someone down from behind and use your stealth blade. It's also nice to take out some frustration on the repetition from time to time :)
Finally, the graphics are truly amazing...which boggles the mind even more as to why the PC version was so bad considering the hardware in the 360. I think it's one of the reasons I stuck with it for so long.
Overall, while I can't recommend this game to everyone, I CAN recommend it to people who a) enjoy single player stealth games b) are fanatical completists like myself (this is the first and so far ONLY game that i have 1000/1000 on ach points) c) are looking for something different than a standard shooter or RPG experience. It's a shame to think what COULD have been considering the potential, but there's always the next chapter I suppose. The overarching story gets confusing. The ending is even moreso, but it may still be worth your time...especially for the current price.
Peace
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video-games_xbox
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You feel lucky punk? Well, do ya. This should have gotten a one-star review as it is a defective product. However, I will explain why I actually gave it a second star.
First off, this is a badly built headset, it is a bit flimsy, and not exactly top quality. But it is only $50 on sale, which might be a fair price. Unfortunately, it is defective and has parts that are way too unstable to be in a product like this. Yes, if you are lucky it will work, but for too many it does not. Just in my zone of friends 100% of the people who have bought this have had an issue of some sort, that is 100%, not 50%, not 10%, but 100%. Why did I buy it? Greed... And a naive hope that the issues were fixed.
Here are the issues: When connected to the controller the mic is never found. You might get lucky and get sound in the headphones every now and then, but it is not consistent. The mic will be forever gone no matter what. You will hear yourself (sometimes), but mostly you are just trying to figure out what's wrong. Now, for those of you who haven't UPDATED your controller, do that first, as that might be your issue. I updated all of my controllers and got different results on all of them (also when I went back and forth between them to see if it could be the controllers themselves, but the results changed regardless of controller). Sometimes I would have sound in the ears, but no mic, other times no sound whatsoever. And on rare occasions, it would actually work flawlessly (which is why I give it an additional star, the sound quality is good when it actually works). Problem is/was, I have no idea why they worked, they just seemed to work on random. They just decided that "let's work for a few minutes, without any real cause behind it."
So, basically, I would avoid this headset at all costs until the issues are fixed. Again, you might get lucky and receive a working pair, but it's just a hassle if they don't.
Why 2 stars? The sound quality was good during the moments they did work, which, unfortunately, wasn't often. I also like the way the mic worked (not sound wise obviously) and how you could move it around and control it, although, I'm not sure if it will last long with too much handling.
As an avid fan of Turtle Beach I decided to go purchase the XO Four, which worked immediately. Obviously, better quality proved succesful. I guess I just expected a Turtle Beach product to deliver, even a dirt cheap one.
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video-games_xbox
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unabashedly ridiculous & fun & sexy, devil may cry meets ninja gaiden meets radiant silvergun meets equilibrium meets a pornstar. check your brain, sense of reality, and expectations at the door. bayonetta is something else.
it's ridiculous, knows its ridiculous, and completely revels in it. from her exaggerated sexy catwalk gait, to the way she kisses barriers away, to the fanservice 'photo op' moments at the end of certain combos, to the way her clothes disappear as you pull off a powerful combo (because her hair not only forms her clothes, but also her most powerful weapons, *of course* they'd get used up when she does something powerful), to the nonsensical plot and cast of characters, to the over the top violent eviscerations...bayonetta is a real gamer's delight...if you have the right mindset. i personally couldn't stop grinning and laughing through the game.
+ everything about this game screams quality (one might argue the script is 2nd grader-quality, but i'd argue it was intentionally so).
+ massive amounts of combos so novices can't help but pull off cool stuff, but also tons of depth so the gamers that want to be *great* can be. there are some tricky combos that can be strung together that are insanely cool - see youtube.
+ not quite as hard as the devil may cry series or ninja gaiden...a bit more approachable, if you can handle the chaos on screen.
+ NOT FOR KIDS. seriously. cussing, partial/implied nudity, violence.
+ hilarious soundtrack. from jazzy-j-pop to orchestral, very unique.
quick tips
- don't spam the dodge button. you're doing it wrong. just like radiant silvergun or bullet-dodgers of the past, you have to focus on where your character is and who's about to hit you. THEN press the dodge button.
- don't button mash. learn the combos, especially the immediate wicked weave ones (e.g. heel stomp). if you can summon those on cue, you won't have as much trouble fighting the flaming enemies (they hurt you if you hit them directly)
- you don't have to finish the game to grind. pressing RB at chapter end lets you re-play any previous chapters. chapter 2 is great for grinding halos early on.
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video-games_xbox
|
I NEED ANOTHER ONE. My wife got this for me as an early birthday present.
I am not in the least bit disappointed.
I own all 4 consoles that this works on but rather than plug it in to the Xbox one or ps4 n try it with tekken 7 or injustice 2,
I took it for a spin on my PS3 n played all my childhood favorites.
I started with pacman and Galaga which were on the Namco museum vol 1.
Then moved up to mortal kombat arcade trilogy then king of fighters and marvel vs capcom 2.
My daughter came in the room and wanted to try her hand at metal slug so we played that for an hour or so.
Last but not least on the ps3 we had the 2 of my favorite games as a kid, the simpsons arcade and xmen.
For the ps3 this stick works awesome.
I tried it with the stock gate it came with which is the square.
I don't know much about fight sticks or mayflash or sanwa (which I read is compatible with this model) but I do know the plate didn't feel like the arcades I played in as a child.
The box did contain an octagonal plate which I swapped out almost 10 minutes into trying it.
I wanted to see if it would change my ability to play.
Sure enough, I didn't miss any hadukens or any specials in marvel vs capcom 2.
Plays super smooth and has no noticeable lag.
I don't own any other fight sticks to compare it to but I will probably buy a mayflash f300 in the future to compare it to and so that when someone comes over to the mancave we can relive those classic arcade games once more.
I can't wait to try killer instinct and tekken 7.
Only thing I didn't like was the position of the port that you need to connect your controller to.
I will more than likely end up getting magicboots but wanted to try the peripheral itself before spending more than I needed to in case the product wasn't up to par with expectations.
Luckily my lovely wife gave me the best gift I've had in gaming in a long time.
So now that I've tried this, I'm definitely buying the magicboots so I no longer have to drag a controller along with the fight stick.
Ps3 is plug n play no controller needed.
Not sure about the 360 or Xbox one.
Ps4 has to be connected.
The stick itself has a nice weight to it, it's easy to open and mess around with customization.
Overall it plays great.
I would highly recommend if you're looking for a good product at a great price.
I wouldn't pay $200 for a "pro" fight stick.
This is good enough at half the price.
I don't know much about pro peripherals but this has definitely made me a better player.
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video-games_xbox
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Looks and drives great, but too difficult. Project Gotham is like a high-performance sports car. It looks absolutely gorgeous, dishing up thrills and giggles in generous portions. But be warned, if you want this as your daily driver, there are plenty of frustruations to live with.
Even though it was launched nearly two years ago, the game still has some of the best graphics for an Xbox driver out there, topping newer releases like Burnout 2 and Midnight Club 2. The only one that comes close is Sega's GT 2002, but that title is hampered by repetitive tracks. Project Gotham has dozens of routes through four cities and you'll never get bored of the scenery.
There is a wide selection of cars, ranging from sporty compacts like the Mini Cooper to muscle cars like the Camaro and high-end luxury sports cars from Ferrari and Porsche. There is no option to upgrade the cars, though new ones are unlocked as you progress though the levels.
The gameplay is really tight, and the cars behave more like a simulator than an arcade game. Forget just gunning it all the way, you'll have to learn to apply the brake and watch the speedo going into corners. But there is a payoff for learning the ropes -- the kudos system that awards points for tricks like slides and catching air.
HOWEVER. There is a big drawback to Project Gotham, and that is the difficulty. I admit I'm not great with driving games, but certain races are nearly impossible without complete mastery of every trick in the book. This puts a good number of cars out of reach. I basically got stuck after unlocking a third to a half of the cars. Because you need faster cars to compete better in the more difficult races, if you get stuck on one or two races you will be out of luck as far as the single player mode goes. Fortunately there is a widely known code that lets you unlock all the cars, but that robs you of the feeling of accomplishment for doing it yourself. An adjustable difficulty setting could have solved this.
All in all, Project Gotham is a must-have driving title for the Xbox, and gets perfect scores for graphics, cars, and overall feel of the game. But the head-pounding difficulty keeps it out of reach of the checkered flag.
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video-games_xbox
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Very Good Game But The Xbox Lets It Down. I just finished HL2 on the Xbox and thought some of my observations might be helpful to other prospective buyers. My review is primarily concerned with my struggle between getting HL2 for PC or Xbox. I bought HL, HL Opposing Force and HL Blue Shift for the PC when they came out and thoroughly enjoyed them. Due to the HL2 Xbox price and the horror stories I'd read about having to be online to use the PC version of HL2, I decided to go for the Xbox version. Did I make the right choice?
HL2 is a very good game and at $20 for the Xbox version, represents excellent value for money. Great graphics, great sound and engaging game play. However, I think HL1 on the PC is a better game than HL2 on Xbox. Why?
First, the original HL was much more open ended and there was often more than one way to do something or get somewhere. With HL2, I found there was only one way.
Second, the controls for HL1 were better and configurable. With HL2 on Xbox, I found some controls to be really awkward and difficult to use. For example, there's an air boat to drive and the direction and throttle are on the same thumb stick. I assume throttle and direction are separate keys on the PC version?
Third, when there's a lot going on, for example, several Combine soldiers firing at you, explosions and a fair bit of scenery to display, the Xbox slowed down to almost a halt! It just couldn't cope with that amount of processing. I never had that problem with HL1 on the PC and assume a suitably equipped PC could cope with HL2 just as well.
Lastly, as others have mentioned you didn't have to go very far in HL2 before you saw a `loading' screen. The frequency at which you saw this did become distracting and annoying after a while. One plus for HL2 is there's no weird psychedelic alternative dimension like there was in HL1. Remember all that hopping from floating platform to floating platform and plants that light up when you went near them? All that nonsense has gone away which was a relief!
On reflection, most of my gripes about HL2 have more to do with the Xbox version rather than the game itself. If I had to choose again, I'd buy HL2 on the PC and will certainly get any HL2 spin off games for the PC if they are to appear like they did for HL1. If not, I'll wait for HL3 which the ending of HL2 leaves open.
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video-games_xbox
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Get Red Dead Redemption, Save Your Time. Had I played this game right when it came out I may have been a little more lenient. Instead, I played this right after Red Dead Redemption, big mistake.
Everything Red Dead Redemption did well, GTA IV screws up. The characters are annoying, the endless cell phone ringing and obligations to your friends and girlfriends are distracting. The graphics are boring and uninspired (again I know this game is a bit dated now). The people walking around are just mindless robots and don't actually interact much with the scenery. The map itself is ridiculously boring. Street after street after street, some with tall buildings some with short buildings, oh hey there's Chinatown... Not that they could do much with a downtown NYC atmosphere anyways, just a bad choice of game location.
All of these complaints could be tolerable if the missions were actually fun to play and progressed the story (there was a story?). Instead, you get "Go shoot pool with Friend... Leave pool-hall drunk only to find your car has been moved down the street and you have to walk extremely slow in circles, drunk, to get back to it" Fun! NOT
Or how about the countless "Pick up this car and drive it from point A, clear across the map to point B"
Or my favorite "Choose which guy that has had minimal affect on the story and your relation to the character to shoot and kill"
Oh and screw up one part of one of these missions and it's back to the other side of the map for you.
All in all the missions were just plain boring. There are so many subplots that you completely lose track of where the end is or what you are ultimately trying to accomplish. The many faces of the protagonist Niko leave him completely unrelatable. I kept waiting for the game to come to it's excruciating end but it didn't. I ditched the game about halfway and went back to flower picking in Red Dead Redemption. Even that was more fun than this chore...
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video-games_xbox
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Finished the Fight too Fast. I want to first point out that it is possible to objectively criticize something and still like it. With that in mind, I still waited before writing my review of Halo 3 until I had played through it a few times so I could get a better feel and grasp of the important elements of the game. Having done that I can see now that the game itself is deeply flawed in several ways- story, dialog, and game features and functions. That said I still enjoyed it, it was still a lot of fun to me. What startled me the most was just how short it was, I completed the main campaign in less than six hours, which is roughly 10-12 hours less than time spent playing the first two games. That strikes me as being unreasonable given what I paid for the it and three years Bungie supposedly spent developing the game- there simply is not enough to do.
What I noticed immediately was the dialog was very weak in several areas. I don't mean just the main thrust of the stories told in cut scenes, but everywhere- ancillary dialog of human soldiers who follow the Master Chief around on missions has most all of humor, the flowery dialog of the Sangeili Elites and the Prophets are gone, replaced instead with cliched lines we've all heard a dozen times before from other sources, as well they changed two of the voices who added so much to Halo 2, that of the Prophet of Truth and the Gravemind without changing the actors- Terrance Stamp still does Truth and Dee Bradley Barker is back as the Gravemind, yet they sound completely different. The way Halo told its story reminded me greatly of Soul Reaver 2 game- long cut scenes with tons of elocution that flows like poetry and a lot of that has been stripped out of Halo 3 leaving it almost lifeless. I thought for sure they had changed writers, but Joseph Staten is credited for Halo 3.
The inconsistencies that struck me were the weapons- yes, they added a ton of new toys to play with, but also changed some of the main stays. The M-41 assault rifle from Halo, missing from Halo 2, is back for Three, but somehow holds 28 less rounds in its magazine than before. The needler, probably one of my favorite weapons from the previous two games can no longer be dual-wielded, and they cut its ammo capacity back, the same goes for the shotgun. The original Magnum is also back, but appearances are deceiving- damage and ammo capacity have been reduced. If these are the same weapons, why have they been changed so drastically and no justification given? I can understand it being done for game balance, but it's just done with no explanation at all. I'll ignore the most overriding gripe of there is no possible way the UNSC could have fought the Covenant for 10 years given their vastly disparate technology levels. It is simply unrealistic that the human race, given how primitive their weapons, ships, and everything else is could have survived that long against the Covenant.
The story line is very simple, stop the Flood and stop the Prophet of Truth of activating the remaining Halo rings- a lot of work for basically one guy, but Spartan 117 is far from average. The game opens with the Master Chief crash landing on Earth after leaping from Truth's captured Forerunner ship and then hooking up with Sergent Major Johnson and the Arbiter in the jungles outside of what's left of New Mombassa. Your ultimate goal in the first half of the game is stop Truth from reaching the Ark- what the humans suspect is being dug out of a massive crater where New Mombassa used to be by the Covenant. It is instead a massive hyperspace gateway that takes Covenant forces to the true Ark- an enormous space station located outside of our galaxy and out of range of pulse radius of all the Halos. After failing to stop Truth and dealing with the Flood who crash a Covenant ship on Earth, the UNSC and their new allies, the Sangeili Elites, relocate to the Ark and go after Truth. All the while the Master Chief is plagued by visions of Cortana, held captive by the Gravemind.
On the Ark the mission break down is roughly the same as on Earth- take out Covenant anti-air defenses so UNSC forces can move in. Here you get to fly the new UNSC fighter, the Hornet and continues the UNSC fascination with hanging soldiers on the outsides of things. It makes me wonder if the Pillar of Autumn or In Amber Clad had hundreds of soldiers on the outside shooting at Covenant fighters with their rifles. In any event, it was fun to finally fly some human aircraft, yet absent from the entire game is the flyable Banshees. Bungie also changed which Wraith tanks you can take over, making it impossible to steal certain tanks on certain levels using melee attacks instead of grenades. This to me smacks of bad design because it makes things seem forced and artificial. Rumor has it that it is possible to take over the coppery anti-air Wraiths, but I have yet to do it.
Graphically, I'm torn. The game is very pretty, but it's not a quantum leap from Halo 2, certainly not `next generation' in my opinion, something the Xbox 360 has suffered from since day one with Perfect Dark Zero and other titles. One Bungie's curses is a lot of their textures look muddy, and they can't do metallic surfaces unless it's the Elite's armor, everything else looks like shiny lacquered concrete- the Forerunner structures especially suffer from this effect, and it was especially noticeable in Halo 2 and on human space stations which looked as though they were made form cement. Character models have been improved in some areas, but faces and uniforms on UNSC personnel look pretty much the same as they did in Halo 2. Lighting effects, weapons, and vehicles are first rate, the Flood infested levels are also quite excellent, especially the last one and everything has a nice creepy Cronenberg-esque look to it. They also updated the overall look of my favorite character, Cortana. I love how she appeared in Halo 2, but in Three she looks more human, with a different face and hair, she looks a little gothic with darker eyes.
Overall, Halo 3 gets a pass, because it is fun to play, it just doesn't last that long. I have no interest in player vs player matches, because they lack the precision offered by a mouse and keyboard. The story is weak, but passable- the preview videos of developers talking so much about they were doing so much with the Brutes and integrating them into the story turned out to be so much smoke and mirrors. If anything, they have a less a role in Halo 3 than they did in Two. The Brutes are barely anymore important than Grunts or Jackals, just thugs with big guns that you get to shoot at because the Elites are your allies now. So, I finished the fight- a little too quickly, and I will be very interested to see where they take it now, because nothing is every truly over. So maybe in two years we'll be asked again to `Continue the fight!' or `Finish the Fight, Again!'.
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video-games_xbox
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Good controller, but has some problems. I've had this controller for a month now, and overall I'd give it 3.5 stars.
Pros -
Looks cool: The camo pattern and the lit thumbsticks fit the MW2 theme well.
Combat buttons: These are an interesting idea, and their usefulness will vary depending on the user. Especially nice if you don't like clicking the sticks to sprint and melee.
Triggers: They are curved to be more like a gun trigger. I prefer the feel of these to the stock MS triggers.
Cons -
Wired: This has pros and cons of its own, but in the end the price is a bit steep for a wired controller. At least the wire is of good quality.
Slippery thumbsticks: The sticks are extremely slick. My hands do not even get very sweaty but I'm constantly wiping off my thumbs to keep them completely dry so they don't slip. I've considered putting a piece of hockey tape on them to add some texture, but haven't tried it yet.
D-Pad: I didn't think it was possible, but this D-Pad is even worse than the MS one. It's sufficient to call in killstreaks and stuff, but very mushy and somewhat inaccurate.
Combat button placement: This is a con only because you can't use the combat buttons very well right out of the box. It takes some practice to adjust your hands in such a way that you can easily reach both of the buttons.
Combat button selector switch: They advertise "on-the-fly" map swapping for the combat buttons, but the switch is poorly designed for that. I don't ever change the mapping but if you plan to -during matches, good luck.
Combat case: If you get one with the combat case, the thing is completely useless. I don't know how they expect you to get the controller in there with the cord, but I could never get it to fit properly. Good for holding index cards though.
One final note that probably won't apply to most users is that if you plan to use this controller with surround headphones, you may run into some incompatibility. I use the Tritton AXPROs(great headset, probably the reason I do so well in MW2) and I had to turn the vibration function off because this controller sent feedback through the microphone every time it vibrated.
In the end, I would recommend this if you are one of those people that really hate pressing the sticks(I don't personally mind it) or if you need another controller and can find this for about $30.
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video-games_xbox
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I didn't really care for it. So after much research, I decided to buy this and give it a try. I mostly wanted a controller that would work well for Mortal Kombat (ie individual buttons for the dpad and quick response buttons). I received the controller, played for a day or so in multiple games including Mortal Kombat, and it just didn't feel right.
I had the following problems:
The dpad buttons were very very stiff. They required completely downward presses, they didn't spring back up very quickly at all, and it was generally far more difficult to use than the classic xbox 360 controller. I would have preferred for the buttons to almost rotate down and inward in a much smoother motion. Further the slow pop up speed makes for slow motion response that doesn't work so well in a fast game like Mortal Kombat.
The analog sticks were ok. I didn't find any need to "tighten" them. The loosest setting felt about right, but no more loose than the standard 360 controller.
The regular abxy buttons were fine. They clicked like a mouse button rather than a standard controller button. They feel fast and yet almost too sensitive at times. They can be easy to accidentally bump.
The four shoulder bumpers are simply too stiff like the dpad buttons. They didn't feel right to me.
The triggers were nice in that there was significantly less distance and effort to get them fully down which helps for many games. Then again I didn't use them for a racing game where you need a deeper motion so I don't know how those will work.
The controller has a nice long cord. Given that it's wired, the response time of the controller is pretty speedy compared to the wireless counterparts. Still, I would have preferred a wireless controller.
On top of everything the controller itself was defective. One of the bumpers were triggering even when it wasn't being pressed. It wasn't noticeable at first, but by the second day it was a blatant problem. I wrapped it back up and sent it back to Amazon. No harm no foul, but I won't be replacing it with another Razer Onza controller. At least until the second generation that fixes many of the issues I experienced.
Overall the controller itself felt nice, but it just didn't function the way I would have liked or was expecting. And given a factory defect, it just isn't worth replacing. I guess the next controller to try out would be the newest official 360 controller with the transformable dpad. Somehow, though, I don't think that one will be much better than the regular 360 controller given the reviews I've read on it. I guess I'll see soon enough.
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video-games_xbox
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The Standard by which all other RPGs are Measured. I've spent more game time on Oblivion than any other game I've owned. I've played the game on the PC platform as well as on this XBox360 platform. Between the two, in terms of being able to lose oneself in the gaming experience, my preference is XBox360. If you value being able to use cheats or mods then you'll want to give this a pass and go to the PC version.
Oblivion feature open game play, meaning you can, with few exceptions, choose the order in which you complete missions throughout the game. There is a primary game mission to follow which is probably a good choice when you first start, until you get used to the rest of the game and then you'll probably find you quickly develop some favorite missions and quests which you'll choose to follow before you return to the main method.
Interesting as well is the leveling system which progressively increases the challenges (and the rewards) of missions as well as the available loot and items you can obtain throughout the game. If you wish the options available to finish all the missions and explore all the available caves, mines, forts, etc. can easily lead to up to 200 hours of game play.
Add to this graphics that all immaculate, scrolling that leaves you feeling like you're in the midst of an animated movie which you're directing and you have all the ingredients for a classic gaming experience.
All that's missing is a multi-player option, which, when you think about it, is probably more the result of the use of the available resources to make the stand-alone option as good as it is.
When you're finished with your character, you're not finished. You'll find it an easy thing to return to the game and change your character and characteristics and then go through the game as a thief, a warrior, a mage and despite the familiar missions the challenge morphs enough in it's new approach that you'll not mind that and will want to play the game again.
Be aware that there are add-ons available through XBox that you will want to look at, in particular the Shivering Isles and Knights of the Nine. The cost of adding these on are high enough (despite the time that has passed) that you'd be wise to buy an edition with those additions on, as you'll save money.
All in all, it's hard to imagine a much better RPG. If you like the genre at all you'll have to have this game. If you're not necessarily and enthusiast, this game may just make you one.
5 stars.
bart breen
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video-games_xbox
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Great, but over hyped and somewhat dissapointing. First of all I am a pretty big fan of the Halo series. I own the original trilogy but not ODST or Halo Wars. Okay, now first of all let's talk about the campaign. The campaign was pretty well done for it to not include Master Chief. Overall, traditional Halo gameplay with some obvious new gameplay elements as well as more wide-open environments and more enemies on screen at once. However, I think the added on screen enemies is causing some frame rate issues. If I start blasting some Covenant away with any sort of explosive, the frame rate drops and gameplay gets a little choppy. Not game breaking, but something worth noting.
The campaign was a engaging experience and was for the most part fun from beginning to end. Some of it was kind of cliche, but that is expected. They didn't do a really good job of making the characters very likable. I wasn't very attached to any of them, and I wanted to know a lot more back story of each character, what Spartan you were replacing etc. Although I did have a couple "damn that sucks" moments, overall, I didn't really care for these Spartans, let alone the main character, very much. Just a little more depth into what is happening would have helped as well. But the gunplay, storytelling, and mission objectives were all pretty fun, and well done. Two parts I was disappointed in was the ending, and the graphics. Maybe you will or do have a different opinion then me, but I didn't like the ending. I wanted a more epic ending but in my opinion, I got a little lull to end the game.
On to the graphics. Do they look good? Yes, but not great. Are they up to par with a lot of other AAA games out there? Meh, in some places yes, in others, no. This was a part they over hyped, watching those Bungie Vidocs made me think the graphics were going to be awesome. I would almost go as far to say that the graphics are not that much better than Halo 3s(they are, don't get me wrong). The guns have a lot more detail, same with the character models, but the environments don't look upgraded by a lot. As I said there are some frame rate drops here and there, but there are also hiccups during checkpoints, a lot of texture pop ins, and a lot of low res textures (especially on bushes and the like). Again, this doesn't ruin the experience, but I was disappointed by the graphics.
On to multiplayer. There is quite a lot of content in this portion of the game. There is Forge World, Theater mode, Firefight, Custom Games, etc. It should keep you busy for a long time. In the actual competitive multiplayer portion of the game, I found it to be a little frustrating. Rumble pit spawns are sometimes...well, horrible. I have literally spawned 2 feet away from someone, multiple times. One of the times, I played Team Snipers and I spawned with the other team! Knowing Bungie, this will probably be fixed, probably. I also see a lot of borrowed ideas from Shadowrun, the reticule bloom, some armor effects, just kind of deja vu, ya know? The only other complaints I have are that I feel like I didn't deserve certain deaths. Like some things just can't be prevented, in other games I know when I did something wrong, but here it just feels like its not my fault. Nade spam, crouching shotgun campers, bubble shield + oddball= win, double teamed, heat seaking plasma grenade launcher (lolwut?), tanks and banshees in Big team without any rockets in sight. Grenades, although toned down from the beta, are much stronger than in previous Halo games, and are very annoying. I hate the get shot, run behind a rock or similar, come back out, spam nades, one shot, win.
Another thing they have added is the credit system. This allows you to unlock new armor, armor effects, firefight voices, and other cool stuff. All of which adds a lot of replay value. Despite my gripes, the entire game is very fun and a good send off for Bungie, as it is their last Halo game. Good to see they have in some ways gone to their roots. I know I seem kind of negative in this review, but I guess I'm just a critical kind of guy. Trust me, I liked the game...really, I did. I recommend it to any Halo fan but for COD fans or people new to the series, I would recommend renting it first just because of the issues listed, the relatively short campaign, and the learning curve in the multiplayer.
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video-games_xbox
|
Not for every RPG lover. As an RPG lover and a console gamer, I'm always happy to see a new title make its way to the boxes and stations. But when the console port of The Witcher 2 was announced, I was a little confused. I remembered that an Xbox port of the original Witcher was in the works, under the title "The Witcher: Rise of the White Wolf", so I wondered why a sequal for consoles was already in production. Then the second game was released on 360, leaving its predecessor in the development graveyard.
The original Witcher was praised for a complex and adult story, and this obiously being the second game in the series, with the big red 2 on the cover, would be a story follow-up to the first. I assumed that CD Projekt RED would provide some kind of way to explain the story of the first game, a-la Mass Effect 2's downloadable Genesis motion comic, but they did not. It can be confusing at times when characters and events are referenced, which isn't often, but some of them seem pretty important. You can keep up with the story as long as you pay attention, though.
That shouldn't be hard because CD Projekt RED's writers, along with the amazing universe that Andrej Sapkowski built, combine to make a world that's familiar but not predictable or cliche`. The characters also stand against the tropes of fantasy literature and storytelling, with their own complex motivations, just like the game's hero.
Gameplay-wise, Assassins of Kings' combat is like that of Batman: Arkham Asylum, wherein you are able to go from enemy to enemy, attacking them freely. In comparison to Arkham, though, this title is much more unforgiving and difficult. It requires more planning and preparation before battle, like the drinking of potions and the placing of traps. Be ready to die a few times, even on the normal difficulty and don't be surprised if frustration sets in at times.
Sometimes it seems as if The Witcher wants to be an open world RPG like a Bethesda title, but fell short of it. There are quests that appear to be more akin to exploring a sandbox, like the monster-hunting sidequests that populate the few (emphasis on FEW) settlements you can visit.
There isn't much that you can say is wrong with this game, but as it's stated above, the game isn't for everyone. Some might be turned off by its dark tone, others by its difficulty, but if you hang on for the ride, the story takes to some awesome places. RPG fans have something to look forward to with The Witcher 3 in development. 4.5/5
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video-games_xbox
|
Not what I was expecting, disappointed. DISCLAIMER: I've owned this game for about 2 weeks and have played it once, but I was so frustrated with it I doubt I will play it again...My review explains why:
I recently got an Xbox simply for the kinect. I prefer my PS3, but I really wanted to play Dance Central. The kinect offers the capability to make these dance/fitness games much better than their counterparts on the wii and ps3. Unfortunately "Your Shape" doesn't benefit from the kinect at all.
While playing I found that I'd be doing the exercises but the game wouldn't count me as completing them. It's possible that I need to play with the configurations (I was playing straight out of the box) but I've never had any trouble with my other kinect games (Dance Central, Dance Central 2, and Kinect Adventures). As I was doing the exercises I didn't feel like I was receiving any added benefits by playing this game on the xbox. I was doing some of the same things I would be doing on the wii, and the wii games made it way more fun.
I became very frustrated with how the game is set up. I set my weight and fitness ability thinking that it would set up a work out for me, but instead I was brought back to the main menu and had flags next to various work-outs...What does that mean?? I was completely annoyed with the lack of guidance. I decided to go through and do these workouts with flags. Maybe, I thought, it would alert me of my progress after I complete them. Nope. Nothing. I decided to continue working out. When I filled out the fitness survey, it made it sound like I should be doing about 30 minutes three times a week. So I continued, hoping it would alert me when I had exercised for that amount of time. I did between 35-45 minutes of exercise and never got alerted. I checked out my profile, it only said I worked out for 17 minutes!! One of the dance routines was 13 minutes by itself and I had done jogging, and various strength training beyond that. I have NO IDEA what it was calculating for time, but I definitely had done more than 17 minutes. Keep in mind that I was doing the "flagged" workouts too, so you'd think that these would definitely count (as opposed to non-flagged exercises.) No where in the menus did it explain what I was suppose to do. Normally in other games they'll have you start with a nice warm-up and help you select exercises for your work-out. This left you high and dry. Where was my virtual trainer? Or my work-out plan for the day? If I wanted to feel clueless, I'd go to the gym and monkey around.
I was also very disappointed with the lack of exercises too. This reminded me of high school gym class. Everyone is made to do crunches but no one tells you that you don't have to kill your neck and back by doing them lying down. There were no alternative positions for working out in this game, nor are there many strength training exercises to begin with. Instead of providing variety, you just get to do MORE sit-up reps!(yay...) I have bad knees and I'm only beginning my training, therefore I have no strength anywhere. Where are my standing crunches? Alternative push-ups? etc? I need ways to work up to some of these, not just jump in and get discouraged when I can't do them.
And last, aesthetically, this game is hideous. As a graphic designer I enjoy things that are designed well, and thought out. This looks like they had no creativity and/or budget. One of the segments I was looking forward to was the "run around the world" exercise, and come to find out, that is simply a colored dot moving along a colored path through wire-framed buildings. There goes my enjoyable jog around London.
Summary:
-Horrible "personalized" exercise feature. (They guide you through entering your weight and exercise level, that's it. Maybe guessing what to do next is part of exercising my thinking skills?)
-No variety in workout moves (you push up, you sit up, you dumb bell up. Then you unlock level 2 which means more of each of those! Nothing interesting. Gets boring quick, and terrible for anyone just starting and wants to ease into exercise.)
-Ugly user interface. (While not really a deal-breaker...why suffer through it when you have EA Sports Active? or Dance Central? SOOO much nicer to look at.)
-Seriously lacking positive reinforcement. (You don't realize you like the corny reinforcement in other games, until you don't have it at all)
-Want to get exercises beyond the game? Fork over the money. (Have to buy with Microsoft points)
I own these two games on the wii and would recommend them over "Your Shape Fitness Evolved 2012"
<a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/EA-Sports-Active/dp/B001MBUGLY/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">EA Sports Active</a>
<a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Wii-Fit-with-Balance-Board/dp/B000VJRU44/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Wii Fit with Balance Board</a>
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video-games_xbox
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Very nice console system. I'm not what you call a hard core gamer, but I believe I'm a little more than a casual gamer. I was in an electronics boutique recently looking for a new PS2 game, and the UPS guys happen to drop off a couple of these "fully loaded" 360's. Because they were priced "reasonably" (not cheap mind you, just not the ridiculous prices we're seeing on ebay and online), I bought one on a whim.
Thus far, I'm very satisfied with the purchase. I've got the 360 hooked up to a 44" HD DLP TV, and the graphics look superb. Thus far (knock on wood), I haven't had the overheating problem that seems to be prevelant. There is a bit of fan noise, but I really don't notice it once I start gaming.
One of my favorite parts of the system is the wireless controller. I've played with the older technology wireless controllers on my PS2, but I always ran into line of site or range problems. The controller on the 360 is very responsive, and I have not had any interference problems with it. I was a little concerned that my WI-FI network would interfere with it (I think I read somewhere it works in the 2.4GHZ range, but not sure), but have not experienced any such problems. There is some "smart" communication going between the 360 and the controller; if you turn off the console via the front console button, the wireless controller will also turn off (thankfully saving batteries). You can also turn off the console via the wireless controller, which is nice.
A couple minor nits I have:
* I wish the digital audio cable was provided with this package. It has pretty much everything else (including component video outs), but lacks an optical cable for the audio.
* I wish there were more games, and they were a little less pricey. There currently are no 360 RPG games available, and that's what I like to play the most.
* I also wish they would have done a little more with "backwards compatibility" with standard XBOX games. They use an emulator to run them, and only a subset of the games will currently run. They say they will continue to update the software to run old (and new) XBOX games on the 360, but I wish it was more seamless. This is especially important when there are so few games currently available on the 360.
Overall, I'm happy with the purchase. I agree with other reviewers; don't pay the silly prices currently being charged out there. Wait for them to drop at least to the MSRP price.
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video-games_xbox
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Obey The Darkness. I bought this game to play because I was a little interested in The Darkness II which was released recently.
The Darkness was released in 2007 so this is a throwback game. In the game, after you find collectibles, you have to use a payphone to get them. It is showing it's age.
Game-play: You get The Darkness powers and they make it really easy to kill enemies. It is fun using the 4 specific skills you get with The Darkness. You have to sometimes use them to get through obstacles;Light also drains your power so you spend time taking out street lights. You also usually use guns. They have 5-6 different types of guns you will eventually carry. You can also summon four types of darklings to aid you in battle or to get through puzzles. You are able to interact with NPCs in this game and do sidequests. After killing enemies, you are able to devour their hearts to increase your darkness level. The darkling and ememy AI is very atrocious in this game. They act retarded which makes the game less challenging. I say it is an interactive FPS.
Story: I love the story. The game is based on a comic but it doesn't incorporate all the aspects of the comic so it creates its own alternate story arc(isn't that the case with every comic series?) The writing for this game is pretty good and it stands well for 2012. The campaign could take you 5-7 hours.
Level Design: Every level in this game is pretty linear. You don't have to think much. It is nice that they had a few puzzles here and there.
Multiplayer: I don't know. I have not tried it and it would not be easy to tell if the multiplayer community is alive because the game is about 5 years old.
Replayability: The campaign mode is not very long and you can find collectibles which will unlock extra content in the main menu. It is stuff like comics, concept arts, character designs etc... You might have to re-play the game if you missed some collectibles in the previous playthrough. There are about 100 or more collectibles.
I do like it this game. It is short but slaughtering enemies being a monster is fun. The POV from being something evil is awesome I believe. The enemy AI is the worst part of the game but it does make it easier to enjoy killing them. If you are interested in The Darkness II, play this game first to understand the story. It's short so it won't take you that long.
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video-games_xbox
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Review from a FPS regular but Halo newbie: approachable, enjoyable, great game. BACKGROUND:
I'm a female gamer in my thirties, married, no kids. Though I've heard much about the Halo franchise, I'd never played a Halo game prior to this one. I'm an avid first person shooter (FPS) gamer, with Left 4 Dead (L4D) and L4D2 as my games of choice. I've tried COD4 and other Call of Duty games and found it to be overly complex with little to no value for the complexity to the end user. Since I got offered the product via Vine, I decided to give Halo Reach a try. Also, the cinematic commmercials drew me into the storyline in a way that hasn't been the case for me with previous Halo releases. I am going to focus this review on the single player experience, though discussion of controls obviously applies to both.
BOX-TO-PLAY EXPERIENCE:
Though Halo does not explicitly incorporate a tutorial, the box-to-play experience is quite positive. First, you choose colors and a logo for your character. Defaults are chosen so you can skip through the customization quickly if you like. However, if you customize your character, those customizations show up whenever the character is present in videos or cutscenes, which is a nice touch. After customization, the game opens with an impressive video giving a brief introduction to Reach and your mission there. Then, you are dropped into play. While this may feel intimidating at first vs. some other games that start you in a tutorial area, Halo Reach walks you through actions as you move through each "level" of play. Pop-up text guides you on button actions, and there are plenty of opportunities to familiarize yourself with controls before you're in the heat of battle. I was able to jump into play without reading anything in the manual, though I later went back to the manual to better understand the game's backstory (more on this later).
CONTROLS/EASE OF USE:
Certainly, I'm sure if you've played a game in this franchise before, you'll jump right into this game. But, for newbs like me, the controls are still very easy to use. In the first instance of panning, the game prompts you to try panning and gives you an opportunity to make an inline change to inverted panning if you prefer that method. I really liked that it prompted me to make the common tweaks in the game screen rather than forcing me to find a settings menu to change controls. It also worked with my surround sound system immediately, versus some games I've played that require the player to configure surround sound and resolution in settings.
One problem I ran into was in controlling vehicles. The driving was not familiar to me from any other game. It seems like left stick controls acceleration and right stick controls steering. Worse yet, the manual does not help here at all. The controller diagram does not explain how the controls change for driving. The pop-up text did not clarify this. It basically took me five or ten minutes of crashing into things to figure out how to drive with enough precision to avoid driving off cliffs or to execute evasive moves. But, your first introduction to driving happens between action sequences, so you have time to experiment.
That was not the case with ammo. Though the game taught how to shoot, how to throw grenades, and how to re-load, it was not apparent how to pick up more ammo and/or exchange guns. I spent a good bit of one level just cowering behind a rock waiting for my computer-controlled teammates to kill off the aliens because I was out of ammo and had no idea how to get more. I couldn't see ammo laying on the ground, and I wasn't yet aware that I could pilfer guns from teammates or dead aliens. This was not covered in the manual adequately, either. It's one of the few areas where it seems like they assumed you'd know this from previous Halo games rather than prompting you to do it pre-action so you'd learn the controls.
Crouching is also proving difficult. Supposedly, per the manual, you tap the control stick once to crouch and tap again to stand back up...pretty standard for FPSs. However, it seems like you actually have to hold down the control stick to stay crouched, which makes crouching basically unusable. Since the manual says otherwise, this may just be a bug or controller issue.
These few difficulties represent the exceptions rather than the rule, though. Most of the controls are surprisingly simple.
GAMEPLAY (SINGLE PLAYER):
Halo Reach does an excellent job of restoring you in a reasonable and smart way if you die as well as letting you initiate a save/quit at any point. You are never trapped in a sequence for a long period of time, unable to leave without losing progress. In Normal mode (the difficulty level set by default), you can withstand a fair amount of damage, perhaps even a little too much. (Kamikaze gameplay often feels viable when it shouldn't.) There's a nice balance of situations for sniping with normal move-and-shoot situations. I did find it confusing sometimes as to whether I should be shooting at the aliens (pr "coveys") or their ships. Your goal/objective is often communicated by your computer AI teammates, and the general noise and use of slang made it hard to understand what was expected. The "goal" screen was equally vague. For example, an alien ship drops off fighters. Would there be less fighters if I shot at the ship? There's no way to know, and it feels like a waste of precious ammo. But then again, on another level, I played for what felt like a long time before I realized that I needed to be shooting the ship rather than the individual aliens. (It became more obvious when I stumbled onto a rocket launcher.) Even with that, it's enjoyable to play the game. There's plenty to shoot at, good cover to take, etc. It hasn't felt overly hard or easy (in Normal mode). The graphics are arresting in complexity and visual beauty. I also appreciated the nice smattering of achievements. They felt well-paced such that it was encouraging.
STORYLINE:
I came into this knowing nothing of the Halo storyline. I still don't really understand it. I feel like I'm probably missing some in-jokes or references in the cut scenes that are based on prior knowledge of the franchise; I won't mention them specifically in case they're spoilers. I think 1-2 pages of the manual could have been spent on background for players that came to this game as their first Halo game. It's still enjoyable without that context, but I do plan to go read up on fansites to try to understand what it is that I'm seeing from the characters. The basic gist, as I understand it, is that this Reach planet is the last barrier between the alien Covenant and Earth, and we, the Spartans, have to defend it. Really, that's all you need to know to get into the game. Your character has some interesting backstory, but that is mostly unfolded as the game goes. I can't praise enough that this game has frequent female characters, in roles that aren't simply "damsel in distress." I like that your initial customization lets you choose male or female. In both cases, the body types are exaggerated, but that is tolerable so you can see who is who under that armor.
OVERALL:
This game has sucked me in, and I find myself spending an hour or so with it on most evenings. I'm intrigued and may go back to rent or buy previous Halo games. It's good, clean, alien-shooting fun. I've already recommended it to friends. If you like FPS games at all, you'll enjoy this one.
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video-games_xbox
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Least favorite Bioware game I've played. Up until about a week ago, this was the game that made everybody swear off Bioware forever and ever. The scorn on this title is mostly deserved though.
There is little resemblance to DA1, and most of the games "connections" to the first title involve throwaway lines referencing particular decisions from the first game. Selecting between 'dwarves' and 'golems' has never been so unimportant.
There's a fair amount of bits I really liked, like finally having a central character with a family support system instead of the atypical orphan, but that all goes pear shaped and ends up with you alone. I liked the central location and the risk taken with not just arbitraily assigning "super new darkspawn' as the villains this time around,but I felt that the Magi/Templar debate as the focal point for an entire game just felt kind of dull- shouldn't that city have a lot more pressing things to worry about? Or the gratitious cameos of the NPC's from the first game coincidentally showing up in Kirkwall on "important missions" instead of developing new casts, or using barely developed characters like Sigrun or the Elf racist-so-important-that-I-no-longer-remember-her-name. Ultimately, DA2 just feels pushed together and rushed, and in areas that bioware usually is pretty strong in (exotic locales, strong story beats,etc)
Combat is different, and I like the close up game view and animations, I hate how mindless it is. Bash and heal folks, it didn't make it any more challenging or fun than the first game, and more recent releases like Kingdoms of Amalur appear to actually do the "action combat" better.
You only have to waste 15 minutes in the fade, and it's not a maze. Huzzah. It also doesn't appear to matter much. A lot of the furor over ME3's story has been how little anything seems to matter in the closing chapter. That's doubly the case for DA 2- nothing in 1 mattered in the new setting, and nothing you really do in Kirkwall feels like it's as important as the inevitable showdown between 2 NPCS whom you end up (without fail) always having to deal with. I can forgive this sort of "non choice" in me3 to an extent,because it's the end of the line, but having your middle chapter tell you that nothing you do really matters? Your beginning AND middle don't mean much? Ouch.
Graphics are pretty,but the rushed laziness abounds in the HUD and maps, where you can see identical maps recycled over and over, with sealed doors visible on game maps and the same minimaps used over and over. Also be prepared to backtrack a lot, and get used to the setting of Kirkwall, because your going to see the same few tilesets used over and over.
I did like the ambitious use of a decade timeframe, and an unreliable narrator ,but neither asset really felt like it recieved the support from the underlying game. The loyalty quests were a nice touch at least.
Addendum: The DLC for this title is overall pretty solid, which is another finger pointed at the core games rushed feeling of laziness. You get some unique locales and situations with each one, which is a breath of fresh air from the same recycled maps the main game sports. Unfortunately, you're also asking fans to drop more cash on a game that many did feel overcharged for in the first place. the current 20 dollar price is probably about perfect for this game.
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video-games_xbox
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Love size and button layout. D-Pad STILL needs work. Purchased with another account, that's why it's not verified here.
PROS:
Size: My hands are slightly below average size at 7.25" (avg is 7.44" per theaveragebody.com) from first wrist crease to top of middle finger. This means that I don't have to reach far to press any of the buttons with this controller, including the shoulders. I always feel a little strained while using the stock X-Box 360 (xbox, hereafter) controller. I'll just say that my ideal controller size is the stock SNES controller.
Button Layout: My preference in Street Fighter is that I've got to have Hard Punch and Hard Kick available with my thumb, so the six face buttons on this controller are such a relief. Stock xbox controllers require button remapping to do this and to get non-critical commands off of the analog triggers. Just try using analog triggers with Street Fighter, I dare you.
Corded: Don't have to worry about losing power. If I need more length I've got a USB extension cord handy. If I need cordless, I'll take my chances with my xbox controller. Easy.
Plug and Play: Use this for Windows 7 PC. Drivers found. No Problem. However, navigation in Steam Big Picture mode does not work. Not a big deal, but a little frustrating.
Price: $20 for a gamepad vs. $100 for an arcade stick. I can see the investment reasoning, especially if you really love arcade sticks and play fighters and games with simple commands frequently (think NES catalog, NBA Jam, etc.). I can't justify dropping $100 on an input device right now. Maybe $70.
CONS:
Enlarged D-Pad: Why make an enlarged d-pad so you need to go relatively far to enter a command? Wouldn't a smaller d-pad allow for quicker commands? The answer is, Yes.
DIAGONAL COMMANDS DON'T CONSISTENTLY REGISTER WITHOUT A DO IT YOURSELF MODIFICATION: I could not believe it. I could not do an up-right jump without hunting for a microscopic hot-spot. By the time I actually jumped in the correct direction, I had already walked forward a couple paces or jumped straight up in the air a few times. I Googled the problem and wound up finding this webpage for a simple fix: forums.shoryuken.com/discussion/comment/4407160/. It's nice to do things yourself and I'm a fan of aesthetic and functional modifications, but not for a basic user function like this. The pad works brilliantly after the fix.
NEUTRAL:
Floating D-Pad: A floating d-pad is a d-pad that does not sit flush with the controller. It basically is (and feels) like an analog stick with half a normal analog stick's height and a d-pad for a head. It's great for sweeping moves (ala hadokens, shoryukens, etc) and Street Fighter in general, but it's probably not the answer if you're looking for a pad that's purely digital.
Weight and build: I like the rubberized back and the light weight is just fine. If you want anything better then you'll probably have to go with a Nintendo 64 controller with a USB adapter and spend some decent time programming in the commands with the free software JoyToKey. If I ever try the N64/USB route I'll update this review with my result.
Graphics: They're fine, besides, Mad Catz has plenty of different designs to choose from. The link I put in earlier also has a tutorial about how to swap the graphic skin for something personalized.
Hope this helps you in your purchase. I think you'll be pleased, but also frustrated in that it's very close to being a really nice controller. It's odd that after 27 years of console gaming (let's just start at NES) that D-Pads STILL are hit and miss. Don't get me started on laptop trackpads or monitor viewing angles.
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video-games_xbox
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I GOT BLISTAS ON ME FINGAS. I have been a guitar enthusiast for years. I have enjoyed learning the fundamentals, creating my own music and learning to play my heroes riffs. When learning to play songs, I have applied my ability to read music, tablature and more recently YouTube as a means to do so. Of late, YouTube has been my favorite vehicle to learn songs and new riffs. Well... Until I got my hands on Rocksmith. Rocksmith has infinitely trumped all other means of learning new songs. Rocksmith's ability to teach songs is unmatched by anything I have ever seen. The game has a feature called, "Riff Repeater" that teaches you small fragments of various sections within the song you are practicing. For example, you bring up Outshined by Soundgarden. It gives you many options for the song including Perform, Rehearse, Riff Repeater, etc. Once you go into Riff Repeater, you will choose which section of the song you want to practice. As you go through each section of the song, you will have a status bar showing your progress for that section. Let's say you choose the intro riff first. Once you choose that, you will be given three options. The first option (the name escapes me right now) allows you to learn the riff at your own speed. The second option is called Leveler, which I'll focus on in just a moment. And finally Accelerator, which starts you off slow and then increases the speed until you are playing at 100%. Now... What Leveler does is start you off with very basic notes within the section you are practicing. They are notes that are used within the song, but they will be select notes and possibly different variations of that note. It will start you off with this basic section and you will play along. If you hit enough of the notes, it will say, "Level Up!". Prior to displaying the next section of notes, it will state your percentage of notes they are giving you. i.e. 25% of this sections' notes. Once you hit enough notes on that next section, it will state something like, "33% of this sections' notes." This goes on until you either achieve Level Mastery of 100% or you obtain a section that you must spend more time practicing.
To me, the ability to slowly learn every section's notes is pure bliss. When learning a song's solo, for example, on YouTube, I found myself rewinding the video over and over and over. It was difficult manipulating my guitar and my computer at the same time. Reading music or tablature was easy enough as I could go at my own pace, but you are looking at 100% of the solo, riff, whatever from the get go. This can sometimes be a rather daunting exercise. Learning a song's solo a few notes at a time until 100% is achieved is so much easier and user friendly.
The game has so many tools such as Technique Challenges, Mini-games, a Chord Book (where you can learn chords at your own pace), etc. that I could go on for days. The thing I wanted to hit on was the Riff Repeater that can be utilized for any song you want to learn. To me, this is massive and worth the purchase of the game alone. Everything else is just an added bonus.
Learning and playing the guitar has been a very rewarding experience for me. I would love for other people to experience this as well.
The best feature that I can think of that Rocksmith delivers is the means to get new guitarists excited about learning / playing the guitar. The single best way to get someone excited about guitar is when they hear themselves play a riff they know. Rocksmith delivers this experience time and time again.
I believe that Rocksmith is an amazing tool for new and veteran guitarists alike. If you are an experienced guitarist or a new guitarist, do yourself a HUGE favor and pick this up.
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video-games_xbox
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zombie slaughter. this is a game about zombie slaughter. you wake up hungover in your hotel room on banoi and get to work with the slaughter of zombies. why? well, they're zombies, you have weapons, it's about zombie slaughter.
you slaughter your way to new companions, but your companions are all lazy and timid, so they sit around in safe houses and urge you to slaughter your way toward the completion of various chores, tasks and quests on their behalf, some of the chores amusing and some of them tedious. you must either slaughter or run like the dickens all the way; you either slaughter, knock 'em down, or run like hell. if you're bored with that, you can rifle luggage and zombie corpses for loose change and wallets, which does add up if you're persistent. you can also pick up personal id cards and random newspaper clippings, although why you should do that is never clear.
the slaughtering is not very complex -- you burn them, dismember them, run over them with cars, blow them up with propane tanks, decapitate them, stomp their heads in, beat them up, thwack them with clubs, axes and baseball bats. don't let your guard down, as there will be one or two zombies pretty much around every corner, guaranteed. shooting them doesn't have much effect, but that's ok because you get to shoot a few random groups of thugs and robbers, and the head shot works very well on them.
there are five sandbox settings or "acts" in the game -- the beaches, cabins and main building of the resort hotel; the slums and sewers of moresby; the big jungle; the science laboratory and its jungle; a secret prison. you progress by slaughter achievements from one setting to the next. each setting has its own colorful crew of lazy timid people who have new slaughter things for you to do for them. eventually you crawl over every map and slaughter every zombie and hoodlum and meet the big guy for the boss battle.
all along the way you don't have many worries. almost every building has a workbench where you can repair weapons for a price. if you're hurt, there's plenty of regenerating energy colas and snack bars to eat. but why bother? if you die, you just respawn in 5 seconds, and face the same opponent with all the damage you inflicted intact. die two or three times, and you can pretty much slaughter anything -- even the big boss guy. of course you do lose some cash each time you die (a penalty you minimize by splurging for weapons repairs first), and it's always more fun not to die and dish out some serious slaughter ... but you're not punished for taking the slaughtering and dying too lightly. after all, you're doing all this for lazy timid people ... you shouldn't *suffer* for it.
the game is addictive, if you enjoy continual slaughter. the zombies are rather colorful in a drooling sort of way, and most of them are in swimwear at the resort, or native paint in the jungle. they make all sorts of mournful wheezing and grunting noises as they shuffle up to punch your face. however you have an irrefutable kick move that will stand them up for a head chop or lay them out on their backs, even the ones wearing football helmets. and then it's all about the slaughter. kick, slaughter, kick, slaughter; that's the secret.
if slaughter isn't your thing, then there is a minor amusement in collecting weapons. there are all manner of swords, clubs, guns, cleavers, knives and brass knuckles to hunt down or receive as rewards from your lazy timid clients. these can be tricked up with batteries, wire, soap, rubber tubing and other detritus of disaster to make them more powerful or impressive. so that can be fun too, if the slaughter and cash pilfering thing gets wearisome.
all along the way, the lazy timid people kept calling me "you guys" and "friends". i just thought they were nuts. but the cut scenes reveal that in fact it's four of you going on all these adventures -- a male black rapper (my avatar), a male loudmouth ex jock, a tarty black female cop, and a mousy female chinese hotel employee. even so, somehow you're the one doing all the slaughtering. maybe not in collaborative play, but in single play even your buddies are lazy, timid and nowhere to be seen when you need them. oh well, that just leaves more slaughter for you to do ... remember to kick first!
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video-games_xbox
|
Enter...Nothing. The Matrix changed the way we looked at movies and changed american cinema for good. One would think that the game based on such a culture changing movie would be just as good. Unfortunately, that's not the case here with Enter The Matrix.
Enter The Matrix follows the path of two of the lesser characters from the movies, Niobe and Ghost. They pilot a ship called The Logos which is the smallest and fastest in the fleet. Their story is interwoven with the story from The Matrix Reloaded and somewhat into The Matrix Revolutions. The story is shown through live action video with the actors from the movie. All of it is additional footage directed by the Wachowski brothers. It's a good way to flush out the Matrix story and get a different perspective on the events of the movie and they're surprisingly well done. Too bad the rest of the game doesn't follow suit.
The game tries to split itself up into three parts. Driving, Shooting, and fighting. Unfortunately for us, not one of these categories work. The driving is stiff and the controls feel like I should be driving a mack truck, not a Mustang or Jeep. Shooting is awkward and aiming is a chore. Your best bet is to strafe back and forth and spray the area infront of you with bullets and hope to hit something. The game uses bullet time, but call it Focus. It's very gimmicky and not even worth using in the first place. Shoot dodging is pointless because you get hit anyway. Unlike Max Payne or Dead to Rights where shoot dodging avoids bullets, here you dive into them, making it pointless to do in the first place. The game does allow you to perform tricks like running along walls and cartwheels, but the controls are so cumbersome that it makes it pretty pointless. By the time you pull off the cartwheel you've already been shot to the point of death. And now we get to the fighting. The fighting in the game is awkward, stupid looking, and pointless. Your character performs the same combo over and over again. There's no chance for variety. So the fighting gets very old very quickly.
Mission objectives are very boring. Nothing interesting ever comes of them. The fate of the human race is in the balance and all Niobe and Ghost can do is go to an airport to make phone calls for a meeting and get busted there? Come on.
The graphics in this game are something I would expect on a Dreamcast. Not X-Box. Not even PS2. It's pretty sad. The game looks like an unfinished, demo build. Horrible textures, poor character models, and poor lighting all encompass what is one of the worst looking games in the genre. When you go into Bullet Time it just makes everything worse because it slows down the already horrible animation and makes everything that is bad stand out and make it worse. Just watch them run for God's sake. I mean...what in the blue hell is that!? The running animation is so awkward that it's comical. I was laughing as I was running from an agent because of the animation alone.
The sound in the game is nothing special what-so-ever. Infact it borders on boring. Plain bullet sound effects. Most of the guns sound the same with the exception of the shot gun. The music is boring and pointless. It's so minute that it might as well not have any music at all. It would have saved the developers some money.
Overall, it's a pretty bad game. Not worth buying at all. Maybe a rental just so you can see another story from The Matrix universe unfold. But you'd better be patient because it's going to get very frustrating very quickly.
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video-games_xbox
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Very Good Product for people that needs an extra Monitor on . Very Good Product for people that needs an extra Monitor on the go. In my opinion this product is great. I would reccommend mostly for indoor use as this has a glossy finish.. I've been contemplating between the Gaems Sentry, Vanguard and the M155. The Vanguard and Sentry are great products, I simply went personal Preference, which is true portability. I prefer not advertising what I have in my bag, I honestly don't want to be a target carrying around the Sentry or Vanguard as most gamers knows what it is. With the M155 it's like a 15 inch tablet, don't even feel any weight on it.. it comes with a case already which is adequate for protection and transport, not the best looking or feeling. I can easily throw this in a carryon or backpack no one would ever know what's really in there. I personally use this for strictly gaming... even though it's natively 720p, it looks great, and crisp. Viewing angles arn't the best but it isn't the bad also. Comes with USB Y Cable for Power, and also includes an short HDMI cable which is good enough for me. Also comes with the optional Wall Plug. I used this with an Ps4 and Ps3 so far.. I never needed to plug it into the wall as of now.. just plug the USB Y Cable into the console and your ready to game.. this doesn't come with any built in speakers but comes with a 3.5 headphone jack.. It was Meant for Gamers to use they're Headsets. Works real well,, TV settings have sound adjustments such as Bass, Treble, and EQ. Great fine tuning for the sound.. Picture Quality Is good but the Viewing angles arnt too good from up to down, I wouldn't reccommend using this outdoors with bright sunlight also. Overall I am impressed this with product from gaems..
update about 2 weeks later. Still loving this product. I applied a generic anti glare screen protector for 15.6 inch laptops... really enhances the experience. Just about completely got rid of the glare while colors and over all picture quality still is vibrant and crisp. Screen protector fits a little tight might need to trim the left or right edge. no signs of port breakage or any defects as of now. Thanks amazon and Games!
Pros:
Very Lightweight,
Portable,
Good Crisp Picture Quality
Comes with All hookups to get started right away
Comes with Case
No Motion Blur or any latency to worry about
3.5 mm Jack for Headphones or External SPeakers with great fine tuning for the Sound Quality
Cons:
720p res. natively, while it does accept 1080p signals still, pic will always be at 720p (1280 x 720)
mediocre Viewing angles
Short USB and HDMI Cables
Glossy Screen
no built in speakers
The CONS arn't really deal breakers for me at all. just some things to worth pointing out to everyone else that may read this short review. I Rated 5 stars because I love it as it's all I want and need for portability even though they're a few more options out there, it's much more expensive.. Gaems made this primarily for Game Consoles and Gamers on the go although you can hook up anything via HDMI input. Well Enjoy,, thanks GAEMS for a great Product..
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video-games_xbox
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Time to save the world. Justice League Heroes is an action RPG game in the same vein as Marvel Ultimate Alliance and X-Men Legends. You take control of heroes like Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman and Green Lantern to save the world from Brainiac, Grodd, and other DC villains.
I had a lot of fun with this game, though it's not a perfect adventure. True to genre conventions, you roam around maps from an overhead perspective, beating up enemies and slowly leveling up your characters. Each character has 5 special powers you can use, from Zatanna's polymorph ability (turn enemies into rabbits!) to Wonder Woman's lasso and Superman's heat vision. Your mileage will vary with each character - Superman and Wonder Woman are the powerhouses (just like in the comics), and with some leveling up I found Batman to be pretty useful. I never got the hang of Flash, and Green Lantern felt more like a defensive character with his energy shields and cages. The game contains a 'Boost System' that lets you mix and match collected power-ups to create stronger ones to help augment your powers. It adds a bit of depth to what is otherwise a fairly straightforward setup. Early on you'll find you're fairly weak and resort to hit-and-run tactics against enemies. While this never really goes away (your health regenerates over time, so you'll be resting quite a bit), eventually you'll be able to take quite a bit of punishment and give back even more. This is when Justice League Heroes comes to life, and you really feel like you're Superman and Batman.
The game is 2-players only, and half the time restricts you to specific characters each level to further the story (which is written by Justice League Unlimited producer Dwayne McDuffie and is quite good). This wouldn't be so bad except that you also get to unlock additional heroes like Green Arrow and Aquaman, and can use them in select missions. The problem comes in that if you choose to use the bonus heroes and neglect to level-up the original 7, you'll find yourself screwed later on when you're forced to play as Flash and Martian Manhunter again. It's a glaring flaw and takes away from the fun of unlocking and using more DC characters. Otherwise there's the usual AI issues, such as having your partner blunder into a fight and die rather than retreat when their health is low. And the gameplay itself can get a bit repetitive, but that's par for the genre.
If you can overlook the imbalances, this is still a really fun game for fans of DC's heroes. The writing is sharp and the characters look and act exactly like you'd want them to. Definitely worth a try, especially now that the price has dropped.
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video-games_xbox
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Ugly with an unbearable frame rate. Anyone who rated this game a 5 star do not know what they are talking about. This game is awful on xbox 360 and ps3, while maintaining mediocre on xbox one, pc, and ps4. Anyonr with any bit of common sense can easily tell that they just obviously did not try on porting it over. There is no excuse for this unoptimized pile of garbage. The graphics are on tier with some PS2 games, and just about every previous Call of Duty looks much better. In zombies anywhere past round 30 is unplayable due to the awful frame rate. If you really think they tried just see the Shadows of Evil ending cutscene of last gen, here we see the summoning key float through a souless Richthofen's hand. A poor reward for completing a task that requires constant concentration by you and your teamates. The points in zombies will also glitch out and not show players points sometimes. And it doesn't stop at Shadows of Evil. It leads into the dlc maps, The Giant and Der Eisendrache. Both ugly, bland textured. No lighting. The bows look absolutely awful, the map is barren abd the game just doesn't feel like the real Bo3. Again, the ending cutscene for Der Eisendrache is just as bad, maybe even worse. Not to mention the removal of custom emblems and animated calling cards (the paintshop is more understandable), but we had emblems and animated calling cards in Bo2! The multiplayer sure has the "Dark Matter" camo, but it looks so bad compared to the next gen counterpart that it's nit worth it, especially since no stat transfer. There is so much apparent laziness in multiplayer (I can see under the map when I use a killstreak). Anyone who rates this edition highly, cleary has no clue what they are talking about. This game does not deserve any high ratings. It is a pathetic cash in by Activision.
Pros
-Multi Colored Ray Guns!! :D
-No supply drop bs
Cons
-No emblems
-No Animated Calling Cards
-Dark Matter is ugly
-Awful frame-rate
-Unoptimized
-Ugly graphics
-Ugly lighting
-Awful ending cinematics
-Laggy main menu background???
-Doesn't feel like real product
-Obvious cash-in
-Dlc comes months after initial release of DLC
-The giant looks worse than Der Riese on WaW
DON'T buy this game. I don't care who you are, if you can't afford a next-gen console or a pc. This is not worth it, this will just steam your money. This is an unenjoyable title that was made with no effort to steal your cash. Wait until you can get next-gen if you are wanting Black Ops 3.
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video-games_xbox
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Impulse buy, but no regrets. I purchased these headsets yesterday at a Best Buy for $59.99 plus tax which was retail price and cheaper than the prices I saw on Amazon currently. Other retailers also carry them but I wanted them now since I just got Battlefield: Bad Company 2 on Tuesday and had been wanting something to use for late night gaming.
Why was this an impulse buy? Well, because the "new and improved" Turtle Beach X11's come out on 3/15/2010 but I couldn't wait until then and from what I read, there was very little improvement on an already solid product. The headset is very comfortable and fits snug so it won't fall off your head if you bend down. The inline amp makes everything plenty loud and chat is audible even with game sounds on xbox live. They are powered by USB which is great especially if you don't have an extra spot for a wall wart but also this means that they cannot be used as stand alone headphones. Mic is a huge improvement on the standard headsets and the boom easily moves out of the way when not in use. The amp controls are accesible to make quick changes if needed and can easily be unplugged for PC use if you use them to switch back and forth from xbox to pc like I do. The sound quality on these headphone are good but not great. A little plasticy but still sturdy. The 40mm drivers really help get all the low end rumble in the game soundtrack but they do have a boost in the low mid bass frequencies. If these are used soley for gaming, then you probably won't notice but listen to music through these and you'll see what I'm talking about. My remedy was just to use a little eq'ing and they sound awesome now though my PC. Cables are fine for me despite what a lot of reviewers state. I don't have problems with the wires getting tangled and appreciate the long cable so that your not stuck sitting close to your TV when your couch or chair is probably at least 8 feet from your TV.
My final thoughts are "GET THESE" A friend of mine has the Tritton AX pro and they sound good but he also paid 2/3 more than I did and these sound better for music than his cans. To me, surround headphones are still a gimmick as the only way to get true surround is with a good home theater setup and good sound imaging and most gaming headsets only do an ok job and to me not worth there price tag. Most people would be thrilled regardless because headphones give you the perfect stereo image off the bat and games sound way better than using your TV speakers or your home theater that may be in a less than ideal spot and have to compromise stereo imaging because of your furniture, etc. You will be able to hear the footsteps and nuances of the game.
If you can't find them anymore then go for the newer X11's and you'll be happy you did. If you want to spend the extra money to go wireless, be sure rechargeble batteries are in your future but for a gamer on a budget or just someone that wants the best bang for the buck like me, get these.
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video-games_xbox
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You can SAVE your progress at ANY time. I never got in to the first two Splinter Cell games, so you don't have to be a veteran of the series to enjoy this third installment. I'll start with my 2 favorite things about this game. In Splinter Cell Chaos Theory, you can pause the game at ANY moment while playing and save your progress EXACTLY where you're standing. When you load your game from a saved file, you start exactly at the spot where you saved, NOT way back at the beginning of the level, NOT at some prior checkpoint, but right where you were at that moment you saved your game. When you know you're about to walk into a tricky situation, take a moment to save, then proceeed. If you botch the job, re-load your saved game and try again from the exact point you saved at without having to restart the whole level all over again. I LOVE THIS! EVERY game should have this "instant save anytime" feature! The other great thing about this game that EVERY game should have is 360-degree camera control: you use the controller's right thumbstick to move the camera anywhere you want to get the view you need of your environment. Snapshot saving and total camera control make SUCH a BIG difference in eliminating the frustration that comes with so many other games.
This is a game about espionage set in the fictitious near future. You play a stealthy field operative for a top secret arm of the U. S. government, running covert operations that the government cannot legally acknowledge. Each mission consists of a set of objectives like "find out who is providing arms to these rebel guerillas" or "hack these systems and plant some decoy files." You gather information by observing the environment, eavesdropping on conversations, interrogating people, searching file cabinets, and accessing computer terminals. You spend most of your time sticking to the shadows to stay out-of-sight and keeping silent to avoid detection.
You must complete your primary objectives to progress to the next mission. You are scored a success percentage at the end of every mission, but score doesn't count for anything except personal satisfaction. You achieve high scores by not alerting anyone to your presence and not killing anyone, rendering enemies unconscious in a variety of ways (except when your objective is to eliminate a particular target). When you see people in your path, you can either find a way to sneak around them or you can sneak up and grab them from behind to interrogate them, then choke them unconscious to remove them as threats (be sure to hide the bodies so others don't notice your handiwork). Stealth and low body-counts are encouraged, but you can still progress through the game if you don't score highly on your stealth tactics. You can tear through the game with guns blazing killing everyone if you want (except for the missions where your objective is to NOT kill anyone). But I get a kick out of sneaking aboard an ocean freighter, creeping unnoticed through over 30 armed guards, planting tracking devices on crates of illegal weapons, and escaping without anyone having a clue that I was ever there.
This is definitely NOT a fast-paced action game. It's methodical and quiet, requiring patience and a little planning. It doesn't require lightning-fast reflexes. It's not insanely difficult, but it's a good challenge. The graphics and sound are very good (but the music is funky). The controls are easy to get the hang of. You can access an in-game map of your terrain from the pause menu (another feature that EVERY game should have), which helps to keep on track and avoid getting lost. The game has somewhat of a realistic feel to it, so don't count on arcade-like fantasy stuff like being able to double-jump 3 stories into the air or pick up power-ups that make you invincible for a short time. The story is engaging, and you're equipped with some pretty cool spy gadgets. This is a very well-put-together game. It feels a bit like watching a "Mission Impossible" type of spy movie.
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video-games_xbox
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Better than the first. Fable II, the aptly-named sequel to Fable, hit the markets a while back. I didn't have a way to play it then, but I do now, so even if this review isn't terribly timely, I hope you'll find it helpful.
The game takes place in the world of Albion, a beautiful, lovely world somewhere between the Renaissance and the Enlightenment. In that it quickly differentiates itself from most fantasy worlds.
You play the Hero. You don't get a name, but you can get titles (like Lionheart, Executioner or the NAMBLA-friendly, Chicken Chaser). You can be male or female, good or evil. You can marry the opposite sex or the same sex. You can customize your looks with new hair styles, tattoos, facial hair and hair dye. You get all sorts of different clothes to pick from, and get scars when you die. You also age.
In addition, you get a whole slew of skills. You can learn how to chop wood, for example. If that's not exciting enough, you can also tend bar! Blacksmithing, bounty hunting and a couple other jobs round things out.
If jobs aren't your thing, you can go on a whole series of quests, though not very many. During these quests, you can earn gold which you can use to buy all the usual stuff, plus real estate. Yes, if you want you can become the next Donald Trump! One of my friends has done this and basically owns every bit of property that can be owned.
This is an action RPG, which is different from regular RPGs in that you don't select options from a menu screen. No, instead you bash, smash and crush your enemies by repeated button-mashing. Think of the Zelda games. You have both melee weapons and ranged weapons as well as a series of spells, some of which can be lots of fun!
Along the way, you have a dog acting as your faithful companion. Allegedly he helps in fights, but not so you'd notice. What he mostly does is sniff out treasure, and that's a damn nice thing, given how well-hidden some of the treasure chests are.
Graphics wise, this is one of the most beautiful games on any system. Everything looks gorgeous, even the darker and more unpleasant spots.
If it seems like I'm focusing overly much on the non-story aspects of the game, it's cause the story, well, kind of falls short. It's the usual "fight against someone who killed your sister" kind of plot. Nothing memorable. It's also rather brief. There's nothing wrong with it, per se, but it's not very original.
Still, the joy is in the journey, and this is one of the best games of its kind out there. Highly recommended!
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video-games_xbox
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Disappointed. I was expecting this game to be the best of the franchise because of all the hype it got, we've heard about this game since march and it just looked amazing. Unfortunately for me though its just fell short. First off Connor is just simply not as interesting as Ezio, and I didn't get that badass feeling from him that Ive experienced with the other games which I was really expecting after watching all the commercials and trailers that made connor look unbelievably fun to play, I was expecting to be able to jump around from tree to tree picking off the enemies one by one without getting hit, but it just doesn't work like that in this game, hes no stronger than Ezio or Altair. Sticking with combat, the game wants you to use a lot of stealth and to stay undetected a lot but the problem is, this is not a stealth game, this is not splinter cell, you cant hide in the shadows and sneak up on people, so why do we have to use stealth as the only option to complete the missions. I will say though the close quarters combat is pretty entertaining because Connor has a lot of really brutal moves and he does them pretty smoothly, this is something has gotten better each Assassins creed game since AC1 and it comes together quite nicely in this one.
Another thing that holds this game back a little is the travel system, its so complicated to just travel from city to city, because between each city you have to go through the frontier and you can fast travel through them but I found myself clicking fast travel like 3-4 times just to get to the next city. The good thing though is that there seems to be a lot of stuff to do in each city, I'm probably going to get another 10-20 hours of gameplay just doing the side missions, which is a huge upgrade from Revelations which had basically zero extra single player content.
So once you get passed these annoyances its still a pretty good game, however what really knocks this game from good to just OK is the story. Every trailer/commercial I have seen about this game has to do with the Revolutionary war, but the only thing this game has to do with the Revolutionary war is the setting of the game, it takes place as the war is going on, but you don't really see it, much less play it. You do get to meet some characters that you hear about in the history books, but its just lacking after that. **SPOILER** The story is basically about revenge for your mother's death, and getting rid of the Templar presence in America. I won't get into Desmond's story because its too deep but I actually was impressed by his role in the story until the end.
Bottom line is this will probably be a forgettable part of the trilogy, its on the same level as Brotherhood, but its not nearly as good as AC2 or Revelations.
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video-games_xbox
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last gen game. well let me start by saying that when i first started this game up i was so excited, but when i started playing OMG was i pissed off. The graphics where that of a xbox original, i am not joking they are some of the WORST graphics i have seen in a long time. NOT only are the graphics bad but the game play is not much better. Besides the fact that when you walk you look like you have something rather large in your butt making your player look VERY stiff, and has for the story, WAIT there was a story here??? well if there was anything to do with a story then i must have missed it, the so called story here is not at ALL good in fact it was just pain boring and luckily for me was VERY short beating it in under 2 hours. Ok now on to the level design, well lets just say that it was some of the worst i have seen. It goes like this, run into to dark boring room shoot a few bad guys or zombies then move to the next room that looks almost the same then repeat and do again for the next few hours. Ok so now i will move to the sound of the game, so the zombies when you kill them it sounds OK at best, but as for the sound of the guns WOW OMFG the worst EVER sounds weaker then a nerf guns!!!! the voice overs are very bad as well. Ok now onto the only kind of fun in this game, the only time i had ANY fun on this game was when i played with friends, but even still it was very boring. There is a ranking system that is mediocre at best, the more enemy's you kill the more XP you will get, and when you earn XP you can buy guns that won't really care to use because they all for the most part suck, or you can buy powers for the different players you can choose from. I would also like to add in the fact that when i you enemy it is almost completely random as to when they die, sometimes it will only take a few shoots to kill a simple solder and other time the same kind of enemy will take a clip and a half to kill, as well as that but the hit indication is very OFF. So i will wrap this up by saying this, DO NOT BUY THIS GAME, rent it first to see for yourself. i hope someone can find fun in this game, but for me i could not find much fun here.
I forgot to add in here that the AI IS THE WORST IN ANY GAME EVER. your team mates make no attempt whatsoever to avoid danger or even bother to shoot at the enemy, your friendly AI will spend the bulk of their time wasting ammo on a wall or ceiling if they are even shooting at ALL, the rest of the time they are just in your way block you in doorways or blocking your shots, never before have i ever seen AI worse than this. As for the enemy AI they are just as bad, half the time the enemy is just standing there as i am shooting them.
SO this game is pretty much a FAIL on every level, its a broken game, But lets hope that resident evil 6 will make up for this REALLY REALLY BAD GAME
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video-games_xbox
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Amazing PGE, best experince of this kind. I just got the case yesterday night. The short wait I had was really really well worth it. Before I get into impressions for the case, like many others, I want to say that the customer service experience has been second to NONE! John, and his team are so good at making sure everthing from inception to delivery, and beyond should be the showcase definition of quality AND customer service for other companies.
Screen:
The screen is both sharp, and bright. Pictures on the internet do not do it justice in any way. You have to see it, and use it in person. When I first turned it on, there was a compelling urge to set the XBOX 360 to 1080i or 1080p.
TV or Movies
When I used those settings and began to watch a streaming show through Amazon Video, I thought it looked a bit pixelated, so I switched to "Optimal" which automatically chooses the best resolution for the screen (720p). The image was so sharp that I didn't miss 1080 settings.
Gaming
I played Halo 4 multiplayer for a few hours with some friends. The experience was as advertised. For what I saw, lag free and fast. I scored tons of headshots with a sniper rifle from a very good distance away. The screen size between what's in the case, and my home TV which is much larger, really didn't make a difference at all. You can see the smallest detail quite well enough to pick people off without issues, and that's while they're moving about and jumping! No complaints.
Case
The case is really really sturdy, as everyone here has said. It's much easier to close it than open it. The one I got really takes some effort to open. It's not the latches, it just seems to stick shut from the front. No big deal really. Plugging up and unplugging all the wires is just something you have to get used to. It's the nature of gaming from a case. I'm really no good at packing up things into a case. Not at all. I highly recommend visiting GAEMS Site, and reading the user manual. They have a tip for the recommended way to pack up the case (I know I have a user manual, and should have read that, but.. I'm a guy, we generally don't read the manual first. I have not tried to travel with it yet, and I'm hoping that I won't have any hassle at the airport. I'm hoping that what I read on here about it being TSA friendly rings true when I try.
Recommendations:
XBOX 360 headset: Turtle Beach X12 (list $60). This little monster packs a mean punch, and the mic is crystal clear. It connects to the mic jacks on the screen/XBOX controller easily, and is USB powered. The only negative I see is that it just won't fit in the case with all the other things, but, you can't have everything.
Someone on here pointed out that there is a little square AC adapter which allows for three power connections, then plugs into the outlet. That would seem like a great way to go.
BUY THIS PGE, it puts all other "gaming screen attachments", and "Gaming Cases" to shame.
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video-games_xbox
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Good and Bad. So, Dragon's Dogma.
I bought this because it looked like an awesome, original experience, and to its credit, it was. I know a lot of people are touchy about this particular title, and it has a small, devoted, hardcore following, so I'll just list the good and bad I found with the game.
Good:
1. Combat. Hands-down the single best part of this game. This was one of those rare experiences I had where combat leaped over storyline in importance for me. Climbing on gigantic monster in beautiful settings while you and your team of pawns try to take it down is never boring. You actually get excited to encounter a Gryphon or a Cyclops or even a Dragon because it means a tough, extremely enjoyable fight.
2. Pawn System. Like trading your tailored AI so that other players can use them. I even have a few Pawns saved as favorites because of how much we've endured together. Another reason this game really helps to craft an epic experience. I won't go into great detail, because I'd like to keep this short, if possible, but the Pawn System is a definite plus.
3. Setting. Wind billows through gorgeous - if often desolate - landscape, and there is detail in everything, even if there is only one main hub of activity.
4. Final Battle. (SPOILERS). Grigori's final battle is one of the best I've ever played. Climbing onto that colossal dragon as he flies and jumping from crumbling ruins with your pawns is a fantastic experience. A huge, multi-stage finale.
Now, the bad:
1. The quests. (SPOILERS) I'll be brutally honest, a lot of them are horrifically boring, which is a shame. I'll go out and say that the main questline has a few savorable moments, like the Assault on the Black Fortress, but the sidequests are almost all guilty of committing the escort quest or gathering quest trope of the RPG.
3. The Pawn Chatter. Their talk, apparently meant to simulate stimulating conversation, is nothing more that repeated, annoying dribble. You'll hear "WOLVES HUNT IN PACKS", GOBLINS" or "What a large tree" too many times to count. And it's almost impossible to shut all of them up - though you have the ability to make your own, personal pawn become a little more quiet if you sit them in a "Knowledge Chair".
4. Fast Travel. I think in this version it's been somewhat fixed, but the only way to properly fast travel us by using these stones you have to purchase. If you don't have any, you'll be backtracking for countless miles, fighting the same respawning enemies as your pawns shout the same garbage over and over again.
5. NPCs. Every NPC in this game is a lifeless, boring and carboard cutout of everyone else. There is no life to the main city of Dragon's Dogma, and you'd be hard-pressed to count on one hand the memorable characters you come across.
That is the good and bad I've encountered in Dragon's Dogma. It's good enough that I've started a second playthrough, but I'm always reminding myself to remain patient in the face of the errors I've come across listed above. I'll come right out and admit that I have yet to reach the DLC part-Bitterblack Isle, the part that comes with this version - but from what I've heard, it is brutally, brutally difficult.
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video-games_xbox
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Revolutionary. I got an Xbox 360 for Christmas, and the only game I wanted with it was NBA 2K8. I have always enjoyed the 2K series, even back when they were partners with ESPN and had Allen Iverson on the covers. I've come to rely on 2K sports to bring me an awesome basketball game that focused more on realistic gameplay and good AI intelligence than a create-a-shoe feature. For this 2K8 game, they did it again.
I've always preferred 2K's graphics over Live's, and I still do. This year's game has some of the best graphics I've ever seen. Of course, it is the 360, and the only other game I have to compare it to is Madden 08, but still. The clarity of the game is amazing. You can see the sweat on the players when a post-play cut scene happens or when a player is at the free-throw line. You see the coaches on the sidelines and they look so real you almost believe you're watching it on TV. When a player shoots a free-throw, you can see the lines and the "Spalding" on the ball, clear as day. It looks so REAL, I can't get over it.
I've always praised 2K for it's top quality gameplay, but there are some issues to address with this year's. As mentioned in plenty of reviews, lay-ups are missed about 75% percent of the time. Even the most easies of lay-ups are bricked. How many times is Kevin Garnett gonna miss a lay-up over Nate Robinson in real basketball? And fouls are almost, ALMOST, a joke. You'll go up for a dunk against them and it's almost always a clean block. When THEY go up, forget about it. They'll get the call everytime. There are plenty of things to offset these issues though. Inside moves are as realistic as ever. Shot styles and dribble moves all belong to the actual shooter, as in Marion shooting the way he does and Eddie House shooting the way he does. Players will dive and battle for the ball just like real life.
The Association mode is the best yet. Now you have player roles and minutes you must assign, and player morale will go up or down depending on how you intend on using your players. When a player's morale reaches a certain level, their trade value is impacted and if many players morale levels are down, the whole chemistry between the team is messed up. What else is pretty cool is that when you try to propose a trade, there will be either a red or green light that will let you know if the trade is valid. It will save you alot of time and wondering and figuring about whether the cap space will work out. There are things called "Reward Points" that you can give out during the off-season that can permanently boost your players specific attributes. Again, there are practices just like the last few games, but be careful how you set those up because your players are affected by fatigue. You get development points again, but man are those hard! If you think you're gonna jump right into those and be a success, you'll have to think again.
There's a new addition the game called "NBA Blacktop." Here you have a brand new dunk-contest, a three point shootout, and different pick-up games you can play, like 21. The dunk contest, in my opinion, is a success. You can choose from top dunkers like James and Iguadala and have a 4-player contest. Dunking seems hard at first, but after practicing you'll be a pro. You can do cartwheels and jump over props like barricades, benches, and cars, to name a few. The 3-point shootout is fun at first but as others have stated, it gets repetitive and the fun dies out.
Menus and loading screens have never been a concern of mine when it comes to video games (some people seem to hate the menus and screens, but if the game is alright, why care about the screens?), but I really like the different loading screens they have on here. There is a trivia, which is fun and it'll keep your count for you on how many you've gotten correct. It does get a bit repetitive though, as I've been asked the same question three times in a row before. Other times you may get a player bio, which is actually pretty interesting. It's a change from tedious and boring screens on new features that you see over and over again.
So if you're debating on whether to buy this game or not, I have to say it's really worth the $60 I spent for it. The game is more difficult, more entertaining, and even more realistic than it already was. If you've been a fan of 2K throughout all these years, then by all means go and pick this up because it won't dissapoint you.
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video-games_xbox
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More Star Wars than Star Wars. It sounds funny, but it's true. As I remarked to a friend when I first played this game, "You don't play Star Wars, you LIVE it." In this game you really feel like you are part of the Star Wars universe. Truly, all of the things that people most loved about the original trilogy is here. There are aliens and bounty hunters eager to pick a fight, defenseless people in need of a rescuer, a Han-Soloish soldier, a Leihish Jedi (who sure acts like she's a princess), Sith Lords (including one who talks through a mask), a smuggler ship (probably the fastest in the galaxy), an old hermit jedi, a wookie companion, and a plot-twist to die for.
Boatloads has been said already, but it bears repeating: The combat system is awesome, as is the inventory management system. The voice-acting is FANTASTIC, and there's loads of it. The graphics are sweet (except for the jaggies and low-res full-motion video), the music is PERFECT, and the branching choices in conversations make it like watching a new movie where YOU are the star almost every time. Truly, the amount of choices you have in this game is staggering. Even if you only play this game in the four most basic ways (light-side male, dark-side male, light-side female, dark-side female), there are four different storylines! When you take into consideration all the different choices that you can make, and the fact that this game takes about 30 hours to beat the first time, you can see how so many people fell in love...
Much has been said in the past about the short-comings of rpgs, about how you always have to do things in a present order, and things don't change even if you change responses in conversations and whatnot. Well, this rpg changes all that in a major way. After about the first ten hours of gameplay you will leave the first planet, and then you are free to complete the rest of the planet in your quest in any order you wish! You can even leave a planet and come back multiple times!
One of the coolest things about this game is how you come to feel like you are a part of a living, beathing Star Wars universe. The people you take with you will talk to each other, and to people you meet along the way. People will treat you differently depending on how you dress and what your status is. And things in this game MOVE (as in ships taking off at starports and vehicles flying by).
Oh, and how ABOUT that light-side/dark-side thing? Every choice you make effects you either in a good way or in an evil way, making either your light-side, or dark side powers stronger. This just might be the first rpg where morality played such a huge role in the game. I also appreicate how many, many situtations in the game have more than one solution. Ever played a game where if you didn't do EXACTLY the right thing in a situation you died? Well we'll have no more of that! In this game you can hack computer systems, repair battle droids, or just plain go in guns ablazing! The choice is up to you...
Lastly, I must say that what really sent this game into the stratosphere for me was the INCREDIBLE character of Bastilla. Featuring incredible voice acting by Jennifer Hale, Bastilla is easily one of the most memorable characters in all the Star Wars universe (one conversation my character had with her was almost WORD FOR WORD the same as one I once had with my own sister...talk about frighteningly good script-writing!).
I could go on and on about the references in the game to Star Wars expanded universe, or how great the light-saber fights are, or about how cool it is to customize your character to be either strong with the force or strong with a light-saber, or about the psycho-asssasin droid the mandalorian, and how about that twilik teenager =)... or my favorite moment of all, the first time I used a jedi mind trick!
Suffice it to say that if you love RPGs, sci-fi, good games in general, and in particular STAR WARS, you must buy this game NOW!
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video-games_xbox
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It's Rent-Tastic. Ninja Blade is a ridiculously Over The Top action game that's about 7 or 8 hours of fun. While games like Ninja Gaiden are smooth, difficult, and epic, Ninja Blade feels more like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles vs. Godzilla.
Story: 4/10
Alpha Worms infest the human population, turning them into violent and deadly mutants. The Worms can also create giant Godzilla sized monsters for epic boss battles. You play an American Ninja who's father was Japanese, but was created in a lab, and there's some mention of your mother... Umm... you're basically a video game character designed to kill monsters! That's pretty much all you need to know. The story doesn't make much sense and the dialogue is more befitting of a surfer movie than an epic action film.
Gameplay: 8/10
There are 3 types of gameplay in Ninja Blade and all are fun.
1. Hack and Slash Sword Fighting and Ninja Magic vs. Zombies and Bosses
This is the core of the game. There are 3 weapon types (katana, massive heavy sword, and fast twin blades) and they all have their own strengths and weaknesses. There are a fair amount of combos for each weapon and the combat is fluid and complete with finishing moves. You also get elemental Ninja Magic for fighting enemies and using the environment to your advantage. All of your weapons and magic can be upgraded by collecting orbs found in the environments or by killing enemies.
2. Quicktime Events
Reminiscent of Dragon's Lair, a crazy action scene plays and you press the right button at the right time to keep the sequence going. If you mess up, it's ok, the scene rewinds a few seconds and you can keep trying until you get it right. These action scenes are so over the top... It's like watching a Popeye cartoon if Popeye had 10 cans of Spinach... It's like a Jason Statham Movie x 100... We're talking Superman on meth! They're so ridiculous, you can't take them seriously; but they still manage to be fun. (Mostly because the game doesn't overpunish you by killing you if you make a mistake.) Also, if you have having trouble with these, you can adust the Quicktime Difficulty on the Options Menu!
3. Rail Shooter
There are some scenes in the game where you're on a helicopter or vehicle, firing a .50 cal machine gun or rocket launcher. These scenes are very exciting and pretty easy. Simply put... FUN.
The game mixes all 3 types of gameplay fairly often and it keeps the game from feeling stale. If you die, Checkpoints are fairly generous and you can continue at the last one. At the end of each of the 9 Missions, you get a score based on how well that you did. THIS IS THE ONLY TIME THE GAME SAVES. Unfortunately, you can't save during a Mission. (Each Mission is about 60-30 minutes.)
Sound/Music: 6/10
The explosions and roars of the giant mosters are LOUD, and the sound contributes to the action, but the soundtrack is pretty weak. It's almost as if the team was finishing the game and somebody said, "Hey, we should put some music in here." The background music is just there. Some tracks are exciting and others are bad. One of them sounds like a guy with a saxophone is in an electric chair. (If you played the game, you know what I'm talking about.)
Art: 8/10
The art is pretty good overall. From the visual effects, to the character designs, to the Tokyo Skyline, the graphics and animations are all very good.
Overall: 7/10
The game is fun and it doesn't try to be anything else.
Ninja Blade is Rated M for Violence and Gore.
If you're looking for a fun action game that's not too hard, this is it. With a Shadow of the Colossus Soundtrack, a Real Story, and Less Silly Action Scenes, this could have been in the same league as God of War. Unfortunately, the game is more 'action cartoon comedy' than epic masterpiece. Because the game is fairly short, the hero is completely forgettable, and replay value is limited, this makes a great rental.
Avoid this one if you hate Quicktime Events, Ridiculously Unrealistic Fight Scenes, or Bad Dialogue.
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video-games_xbox
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Ehh, pretty much the same. It's the same as last year for the most part.
Positives: They added women's soccer which is a step forward. They cleaned up FUT a good deal so that it's much easier to navigate and there isn't so much time wasting between matches, dialing your team in, and distributing packs opened. The game play is a hair better also. Defending is a little harder and more realistic, as is offense on the ball.
Negatives: While the game play was touched a little, it could have used a lot more work. Players off the ball are so dumb. They tend to run away from the ball and let defenders in between so passes go right to defenders. The passes sometimes just go to the most ridiculous players rather than the person right beside you you're trying to pass to. And that's with just a tap of the pass button. Through balls to forwards rarely pay off. Goalies are almost invincible at times with even the best strikers. Crosses and through balls were much better in the FIFA 15. The graphics also don't seem to be improved, and with some players actually worse. It just seems like they adjusted the contrast to the screen so that the game seems like the colors are richer rather than better graphics. The richer colors give the thought it's better graphics until you see the close ups of players. Lastly, when defending your own players get in the way. You'll standing tackle the ball away from an opponent, but your teammate is right beside the incident so as soon as you get the ball you run into him and lose the ball, or the ball bounces off him and back to the opposite team. This isn't just once in a while. It's fairly frequent.
Improvements they should do: Better passing intelligence. Better off the ball intelligence for through balls. Make forwards a little more physical rather than pansies. Better off the ball defending of your teammates. In career manager when making an offer to another team's player, give the ability to sway them with things like your philosophy, club prestige, manager prestige, prestigious players on your team, the fact that you manager their international team if you work with them on that too, or their friends (like if their on the international team with one of your teammates that could sway them, or were on the same club team at one point). Basically, make it a real negotiation, even with Messi. Let the money you make as a player or manager in career go to something; extra training sessions or whatever. Give your manager & player in career the ability to actually do training sessions (weights, defending, offense, shooting, tackling, formation, etc.) to improve the team or worse for games ahead. Give your own career manager and player in careers the ability to negotiate his wages, years of contract, bonuses, ask the manager's philosophy, and interactions with their agent (inquire with this team or that), etc. Also, let your players be affected by being captain or not. Let them request captaincy if they're a long term and star player, and you can negotiate with them why or why not and they can accept or not accept that. Lastly, let your players actually improve on loans. Basically check out EA's NCAA March Madness 2005 or 2006. The year before they quit making college basketball games. They had most of this stuff, especially in recruiting.
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video-games_xbox
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Made a good move to console but still needed some polish. Sacred II
Hmm...5hrs in and less than p% completed and still a large map unexplored, mosters to kill tombs to loot. This is the game that Two Worlds wanted to be and Too Human should have been. If you need a Diablo fix before part 3 comes out...this is about the best you will get. I will say tho, the game I would have preferred seeing being ported over to console of this type would have been Titan's Quest as it's the game closest to Diablo right now in fun.
Well, moving right along, the stregnth in playing this game is in its simplicity. All of the controls work as they should and you don't have to fumble too much trying to find the proper button to push to make spells work when they have to. Its a find mosters, kill loot, level up and have fun kind of game without all of the combos and intricate button learning seen in some newer types of games.
As far as exploring is concerned you can't go 5 feet without finding a new quest and truth be told, you can take them and never complete them because sometimes you may get one better than the last or you way finish so far ahead on the map you may not want to travel back to finish another, but that's ok, you don't get penalized too much for missing missions.
There are varieties of monsters to engage and as I am only on level 10 I haven't fought anything huge yet outside of a giant.
Speaking of leveling, so far the first 10 I have done seems to go by quickly considering I only bought it yesterday.
Some of you are on the fence about getting this game...so let me run down some fo the bugs that bring this game down now:
- Pathfinding and AI: The map could have had a better zoom feature built in allowing you to really figure where you are going as you have to follow the path to get to your destination. cutting thru the woods will have you backtracking a lot as more times than most you will run into a wall or a mountain and can't find a way around it. The AI is also sometimey as in many cases they just stand around and do nothing when I am attacked. Also what i really hate is when they run off and aggro a large mob and initiate "The Benny Hill Chase Effect" which doesn't end until the mob is dead or your companion
- Descriptions of objects could have been better: Sometimes you simply have to experiment with items to figure what they do as the descriptions aren't aways clear in what magical items are for.
- NO PAUSE BUTTON. I don't know what Ascarion was thinking but ummmm I really hate being in the middle of a mob fighting and want to step away for a min but CANT because I can't pause in the middl eof playing and have to run into the nearest town in order to get a reprieve. I hope this gets fixed.
- No way to sort items self explanatory however one thing I do like is that you have sotrage chests scattered all over to put your items in.
- Limited customization: There were some classes I
wanted to choose but because you couldn't change the sex, I didn't.
- Camera severely limited: On one hand, it could have been what i got in NWN II but still you are severely limited what you can see around you in terms of distance but you rarely miss much.
Graphically speaking, it's passable for a 360 game as a game of this sort I wouldn't expect to have great graphics...it works for a game of this sort but it's not stellar and the gore facor? Hehe, could have been upped a notch.
What will get you laughing or a straightface are some of the comments you get from your character as they wisecrack thru the game...problem is about 2hrs in you have heard them all.
Thankfully what some will get this game for is the multiplayer aspect and it offers a campaign mode, PVP mode and free roaming mode. One thing I did note is that instead of Ascaron building this as a pseudo MMORPG game, they set the servers up similar to how Blizzard did with Diablo and allow you to instance your own map with up to 4 people joining in and allows you to make small tweaks on who gets in...a nice touch.
All in all, it's not a bad game but not a great game either. it's been out for PC for a little while and seems like it made a decent move to console and while it's not the Diablo killer or Oblivion killer, it's a nice light game to play while waiting for bigger and better to come out later.
Again, here is to hoping that Titan's Quest makes a move to console...but I won't hold my breath.
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video-games_xbox
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Great stick, just not for modding. I'll start by saying that out of the box, this is quite possibly the best arcade stick there is. If you're not looking to modify your arcade stick in any way and don't mind having compatibility with only one console, then this is definitely the stick for you.
For those of you who do like to modify your arcade sticks, however, this is a little difficult to recommend. There's a few reasons for this, the first being that there is very little room to work with internally. Due to the Fighting Edge's short vertical height and the short horizontal span of the interior section, there is very little room to mount additional PCB's or apply adhesive weights. The Fighting Edge falls short to previous Hori products in this regard, including the original HRAPs and the more recent Soul Calibur V Stick. Additionally, the lack of hardware Start and Select buttons mean that any kind of dual mod will require you to dremel at least one hole in your case, which is really a letdown considering they could have easily given this stick a place to mount those buttons, or better yet, give us the option to have them out of the box instead of the touch panel.
The only other issue I have with this stick is related to the aforementioned short horizontal span of the interior section, that issue being the width of the bottom plate. For a stick that measures over 18" at its widest point, the bottom plate doesn't provide sufficient area to rest the stick comfortably on your lap. This isn't a huge deal, but something that does detract from an otherwise very well crafted stick.
It would also be nice if the next iteration of Fighting Edge sticks had some sort of plastic reinforcement beneath the panel like the Soul Calibur V Stick does, but that is not really an issue per se as much as it is personal preference.
Overall, this is a great stick that will make the vast majority of people happy, myself included. Just be warned that if you buy this with the intention of modding it, it will be difficult due to the lack of space and the touch panel.
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video-games_xbox
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More hype than substance. Unless you are a diehard Max Payne fan, do yourself a favor and rent first.
When I first started playing this game I was in awe. From the minute you start playing you are introduced to the slow motion gunplay, diving around shooting, etc. Walk into a room of badies, jump behind cover while shooting, clear the room of badies and move on to the next room. Unfortunately it became clear very quickly that this was all the game has to offer. Literally...the whole game is clear room after room of bad guys, sit throught a 10 minute cut scene(which can not be skipped) and start clearing out the next set of rooms...repeat this process for about 8 hours and you have the Max Payne 3 single player "experience" in a nutshell. You have what is basically an arcade shooting gallery game.
Next is the story. I don't have much to say about the story other than it is a predictable, cliche filled, borefest(not to be critical). In short, the story was just terrible. Max Payne plays the part of personal body guard for a rich family in Brazil....yes Brazil. The whole thing just doesnt feel like a Max Payne story.
Now about this multiplayer. I was only able to put a couple hours into the multiplayer before I had to just "walk away". The best way to describe it is a poor man's GTA IV multiplayer. Picture GTA IV with no vehicles on very small maps and take away the fun game types. That is Max Payne's multiplayer right there.
With the failed multiplayer, this game is left with no replay value at all other than playing through the single player on different difficulty levels. Maybe 10-12 years ago this would be acceptable for a big name game...but nowadays it just simply is not worth $60.
In conclusion, Max Payne 3 makes for a very solid weekend rental type of game for a short arcade shooting experience. However, unless you are a hardcore Max Payne fan, you will want to avoid buying into the hype and purchasing this game.
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video-games_xbox
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Alan Wake is NOT an open world game: closed level play. If you read the description of Alan Wake listed on Amazon as of May 28th, 2010, it describes the game as an open map game where you can decide what you want to do next. That's the old description before Remedy turned it into a linear, closed level action game prior to release. Yes, you drive cars once in awhile when the LEVEL presents one, but only to drive down the narrow road from point A to B, which seems rather pointless except for running down enemies. There is no true freedom as there is in a game like Deadly Premonition, which offers you a single large map to explore, and allows you to choose your mission when you're ready. Alan Wake forces you into one "Episode" after the next, each time dropping you into a different level.
It's sad this game isn't an open world game, as the scenery is beautiful and the controls and camera well done. The story is interesting, but for me anyway, the scare factor is a 1 out of 10. Not scary for this player anyway, but it's only one opinion depending on your scare threshhold. Shadow people yelling out about their daily hassles as a former human, and gears and tractors don't do anything for me as far as scares go.
Here's how most of the game plays out:
1. Cutscenes
2. Run from point A to B down a select corridor/narrow pathway with one or two very small secondary routes to point B, while disposing of the "Taken" shadow humans, occasional poltergeisting objects and vehicles, etc. And collect refills for batteries, guns and ammo, plus thermos collectibles.
3. If you get killed, repeat back to your last checkpoint. The game is designed so you'll be repeating this process quite a few times, even on easy (normal) mode.
The gameplay is linear, and repetitive early on, but there is some nice terrain variety and tasks as the levels progress. Overall, very disappointed. From this Amazon description, I was expecting an open map game set among the beautiful, scenic forests and town. Rent it first if you have concerns. It has a good trade in value by the way...
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video-games_xbox
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I really wanted to love this game! I've been waiting for it. I was so excited to hear that they were going to release a new XCOM game and rushed out to grab it the second it was released. When I heard that XCOM was getting a face lift and that some major changes were going to take place I was a little nervous, after all how do you improve something that I enjoyed so much back in the day.
Well when I finally started playing it, it wasn't long before I lost my first country to the aliens. So I reloaded and again it happened. After I got the hang of it (2-3 hours) I reloaded with a lower difficult level. The graphics were beautiful and the story line was right there with how I remember it but there were a few things that REALLY bugged me from the get go. For example I found myself yelling at the TV quite often as an alien would somehow be able to shoot across the map, through a bus, a concrete pillar and a brick wall to kill my agent. But whatever right? Must be some sort of tech I'll never be able to research LOL. Then there are the shots my agents take, I mean come on dude!! He is right in front of you, literally in the next square and your telling me there is only a 35% chance of a hit??? Or how about the snipers? .... They can't hit a broadside of a barn at 20 ft. So the battle system got me on edge but the graphics, music and the map details balanced it out.
Now into the manufacturing and research, wow..... So much potential but yet so under developed! I was a bit shocked to learn how little there was to research or how few things there were to manufacture. Now don't get me wrong, the Original XCOM didn't have much more than this but you were also expecting a lot less because at the time games were not as detailed. This is 2012 and I was expecting a good 300 different type of things to research but sadly I believe I finished the game only doing 43 or so of them.
The research was rather useless and to be 100% honest you could have finished the game doing only the required items.
There were a ton of things I really didn't like about the game and there were plenty of things I loved but if I were to sum it all up I would tell you that it is very simple. Nothing about this game has the complexity that I expected and because of that I was able to finish the game in a single afternoon. So this game will go on my shelf with the other "Most likely never to play again" games and instead I will pickup UFO Aftermath (or is it Aftershock) and dig into a nice week or so game
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video-games_xbox
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Single player review. I won't try and comment on multiplayer. Its not my bag and I'm fine with that.
That said, single player is as smooth and clean as I have come to expect from a Gears game.
- Cover system still solid and reliable.
- Weapons, new and old, are interesting and I felt the desire to use every one (not just for execution unlocks) during my run through normal mode.
- Classic enemies are just as challenging as in prior games. I am a bit shaky on the new enemy types. They seem a bit too familiar to themes seen in other titles out there. It's not exactly a negative, but I felt they could have been a bit more creative to stand out from the competition.
- Boss encounters are good, though I felt they relied on 'hit the little bullseye' strategy a bit too much. You can be challenging without forcing the player to try and hit the tiny spot to kill the boss.
- Locations/levels vary a more than I expected. Its nice change of pace when they let you get out of the 'run the hallway' level here and there.
- Chicks with guns. Ever since I saw the first few pics of Anya and others, I was worried. Gears is a guy's game, lets be honest. Big guns, big muscles, and all that. I was worried they might degrade their female counterparts a bit in the finale. They did alright in the books, but you never know right? Epic actually handled this very well. Women were women, but were not useless eye-candy. They were chicks with guns, holding their own next to the guys and only degraded by one scene-nobody-NPCs... which is easily ignored. And they wore reasonable armor, just like the guys! Not one outfit that looks more at home at a strip club, rather than a battlefield. I was very pleased with their handling of females in this game.
- NPCs, nice to visit everyone from everything (I like Dizzy). But some of those faces are not just cameos. You cannot just 'pop in/pop out' some of those people. They were bigger parts in the story than that. Things like Griffin (voiced by Ice T of all people) had more screen time than the Hoffman... makes no sense.
Story... I play single player in 90% of the games I play, both on the Xbox and the PS3, so story matters a great deal to me. And where I didn't have a issue with the story of Gears of War 3, I completely understand the various complaints about it. And I put the blame squarely in Epic's hands. The story is great... if. If the player has prior experience with Gears. In that I mean if the player has played 1/2 and read the books. Nearly all the complaints I have seen regarding the story are answered elsewhere in the franchise. And the thing that kicks me in the gut is Epic even had the tools on hand to fix this. They have a 'previously on Gears' clip in the game! All they needed to do was expand that clip, or make another entry or two, to cover the important parts of the books and such. Things like how Anya has changed, who the hell Bernie is, who the captain of the aircraft carrier was, Dom's reaction to his family. EVERYTHING could have been answered, every gap filled... well, almost every gap. The questions unanswered by the game's ending, yeah that needs tome DLC or something. Too many who/what/where/when/why/how moments in the last bit there.
So yeah, 4/5 stars for single player. Solid game, worth the buy, but a few things left to be desired.
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video-games_xbox
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Has its MAJOR flaws, but a very nice game. I would like to preface this with two things: I am a LOTR FREAK! I have a library of reference books, and have read the series several times over, including the Hobbit and the Silmarillion. Second, the very first game I played was HALO, so for quality of game, I have very very high standards, since HALO was the game of the year (and with good reason).
The game is staunchly true to the book. Dialogue is taken straight from the book in times (though the "subtle" incusion of chapter titles got very, very cheesy at time), the environments are true to the descriptions, and the characters fit description. The background music is very nice for a game; it isn't Johann de Meij's Lord of the Rings Symphony or Howard Shore's oscar winning score, but it is really very nice. It reminds me of the background music (not the main theme) of the X-Files in places. The environments are realistic; seeing dust float in the rays of the sun through a window is fantastic. The 3d cutscenes are superb (though this is the one time the music could have done better).
My biggest gripe is the damn LOADING... screen! Every single time you enter a house or go outside you must sit through it for a seemingly endless amount of time, and it REALLY interrupts the game's flow. With HALO, there was a split second screen hesitation that a lot of the time you wouldn't even notice, and you proceeded. The XBOX's capabilities could really have been used better here. Next, the facial animations are cringingly bad at times. HALO was flawless, and using actual game animation instead of a 3d cutscene was pulled off with success in that game. In this game, using the same animation as in the game to do transition and dialogue scenes fails pretty miserably, Tom Bombadil especially (though it was nice to see him incuded in the game, which is more than I can say for the movie). The Balrog didn't really inspire fear into my heart, and it seemed kinda blah after seeing the towering beast of "shadow and flame" in the movie. The Ringwraith's looked impressive, although their voices in the transition scenes (not the 3d scenes) were kinda regrettable. Their shrieking cry was pretty good though.
Well, that is about it. I honestly liked this game, but I don't think you would if you aren't a die-hard Tolkeinite like I am, or if you have high standards for games.
PS
Though I don't know any cheat options or maps, the Atlas of Middle Earth by Karen Wynn Forstad has been VERY useful :)
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video-games_xbox
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Great headset for gaming and music. I purchased my current pair of these a little while back. I'd read some reviews in a few places but read a good one in PC Gamer and decided I'd get them. For the price, these are a great deal (and with the current price at the time of this writing, 5/16/2009, it's even better). I purchased my current pair from a bricks-and-mortar store but I'm buying a replacement right now from Amazon.
The Good
While there are plenty of headsets out there, few do 5.1 surround sound properly and this is one of them. I play FPSes and have played a lot of COD4 of late and a serious competitive advantage when playing is knowing where people are with surround sound. With most modern shooters supporting surround sound, these headphones really work well for me. I don't know how many times people accused me of cheating because I knew where they were...they never considered how much noise they make running around like they do. :) It's rock solid for gaming!
Sound quality with music is also really good, though I'm using iTunes with mp3s so I haven't tried it with a 5.1 stereo system. I've got a Creative X-Fi card with the 5.1 ports on the back which I plugged direct into and used the splitter cables included to pass my regular speakers through. This way, I can switch to headphones at night so I don't wake the wife.
Also, these suckers are big so you're not gonna win any beauty contests with them (I feel like I should be piloting a helo or something) but because of that even big ears like mine are almost completely surrounded by the speakers/padding. You do feel them after a long while but this is something like four hours of near non-stop use. And, my big head fits well within these as well. One size does seem to fit all.
The Mediocre
I really do like these headphones but I have slight issues with some aspects. Let's talk about the mic...no pun intended. The mic plugs into the left speaker so you can remove it if you're not going to use it for extended periods. Sound quality is good for what it's for (gaming). You can be heard (assuming you've got your settings right...Windows doesn't always make it easy to find the booster setting which you will likely need for this mic) and it's clear but you're not going for American Idol here (not that you want to). It's directional so you'll likely end up having it close to your face but even so, a lot of background noise doesn't get picked up (a good thing!). I can't say it's bad but unless you're loud and clear (i.e. not trying to keep your voice down at night or something), your voice will sound pretty small. It's not a deal breaker but it can be annoying at times.
The Bad
Now, these are good headphones but there are a couple drawbacks. First, the cable requires a bit of management. The cable runs from the left speaker down but isn't a continuous cable. It connects to a segment with the volume controller. The connector and the volume controller can be a nuisance at times depending on how you run the cable. Turtle Beach obviously expected you to run it across a desk so the controller ended up on the desk before the cable dropped down toward the computer. Not everyone does this (me!) so I end up banging it up against my desk or chair as I move around. Also, it has a light with the sole purpose of telling you the headphones are powered...but for whatever reason, it's a piercing bright light. In a dimmed room (like when you're playing games at night), it's a distraction and even annoying.
These are relatively minor quibbles but there are better ways of handling those issues.
Still, overall, I highly recommend these headphones. You can always pay more for higher end headsets (like Sennheiser) but for less than $80, why would you?
Edit: I almost forgot. The reason I'm getting a new pair is because I broke the previous pair. I tend to be rough with my headsets and it seems I managed to breach one of the connectors to the right speaker. Not sure how since it looks pretty clean. It's almost like the screw just got loose and fell out...I mention it because the way these are engineered, I can still wear them pretty comfortably. I just want a new pair in case the stress on the other connector finally breaks the right speaker completely off. Sort of speaks both to the fact that a) the speakers aren't invulnerable but b) the engineering makes them still pretty solid despite the damage of abusive use. :)
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video-games_xbox
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Great game! A must have for fans of watch dogs, the bay area, open world games and hacking culture. Better in every way over the original Watch Dogs. So much bigger, more variety in activities, many different regions, styles and micro climates. Much has already been said.
I'll add I love the setting, the stories, all the culture, the characters. They did a really great job capturing the feel of the various SF neighborhoods, East Bay and Marin. Driving around East Bay gets me in the feels. They did Oakland justice, but not to the size of SF. Marcus' home looks very much like the North Oakland nighborhood I lived in for awhile. A bit surreal.
Now don't expect it to scale to the actual Bay Area. Its more like a Disneyland version of the Bay Area: two blocks for Chinatown, one block for North Beach, one mile for the entire East Bay. That being said Im digging the detail and their interpretation. Its like when you have to condense a book into a movie. All the major landmarks are there, even a few obscure ones, yet they are all much closer together. Was surprised to see the San Rafael bridge and the approach through Richmond. Surreal. There are some very specific blocks that are dead on, ie driving down Mission in the financial district, seeing the west span of the Bay Bridge through the gap in the buildings. But much is missing of course.
Yet as I stand on the Golden Gate Bridge and look across the vista I see a sizable SF, four bridges, the East Bay and Marin. And it looks quite a bit like the real thing. I think to myself "thats an explorable model of the bay area, all those bridges, buildings and islands can all be visited."
Game looks great and is very colorful. Its not 1080p but damn if its doesn't look spectacular on my 65" panel.
Im even enjoying the mini scout game where you read about famous locations, find them and take a selfie. Once you post it you get comments from characters in the game. Not sure there is a game that has ever done the Bay Area to the extent as Watch Dogs 2.
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video-games_xbox
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Rock on to the break of dawn. If you are a fan of Rhythem Games like Frequency and the Guitar Hero Franchises you'll feel right at home with this game. Now with the instruments selling seperately there's no excuse about the price,but I encourage you to try to get the bundle,because when you really get into the game you'll want to have them all. And let me say that all the instruments are so much fun to play especially the microphone which is my favorite. I know you'll say you wouldn't be caught dead singing,but I dare you not to sing "Creep","Enter Sandman" and "Bliss".
The guitar is way more different than the Guitar Hero guitar not only visually which it look hella realistic and in comparision to the GH Guitar which looks like a Tinker Toy. But what's different in terms of gameplay is the fret itself. Instead of just moving it down(I.E. Guitar Hero),you move the fret like an actual pick ap and down. Though you get use the motion you really have to get the rhythem down and you really have to use full force otherwise you'll miss notes like crazy. The best part of gameplay with the guitar is the solos,because there's nothing more cooler than to get a perfect solo! And you can even change the sound of the notes by toggling a switch on it's side. The buttons on the neck are made in such a way it'll become secont nature to remembering them and there's even a duplicate set lower down on the neck for little kids and smaller people. The wammy bar is nice and big,though you'l use it less than on Guitar Hero.
To the Drums,this is by far the most difficult of them all,the main reason being is that even on easy you really do have to be pretty amberdexerous and if you're not you'll have difficulty hitting a consistant amount of the same notes. The main frusteration to the drums are the Bass foot button. You really have to press hard on it and you never quite set the distance of your feet so you can easily and consistantly use it correctly.
The game has ALOT of songs. Ten times as much as Guitar Hero(that doesn't even include the Downloadible Content on XBOX Live).And there songs you wished they had on Guitar Hero and some songs that are on Guitar Hero 3 like "Where you were young" for exsample. And the songs are noticible classics like "Orange Crush" by R.E.M,"Bliss" by Nirvana etc. The cool thing is that instead of four songs for a stage there's five! And all are availible for guitar,bass,drums and microphones for freeplay. And there is a bonus tour in which you can unlock bunus songs for play. The visulas however are nothing impressive. The graphics loods blurry and washed-out and the avatars look generic as well as the characer creation systems,though the clothes,hair,instruments and acessories do look quite nice. The stages are uninspired compaed to Guitar Hero though the gameplay makes up for it. The online is alot of fun with many different modes including bad tour,band tug of war and quickplay. The biggest flaw in my mind in the game is that you cannot start a band and preform with your online friends. You can only start a band and play with people who are physically there at your place and you cannot start a band and play by yourself. They seriously need to fix this in the sequal.
So,in conclusion,if you like a fun game that has infinate replay value buy this game and it's really up to you if you want to buy the bundle,but I suggest if you can buying the bundle.because it'll save you money in the long run. This is what video games are all about-Interactivity. And this game really does remind me of a Arcade game at it's fullest. So,with plug in,rock out and enjoy.
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video-games_xbox
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Someone kill me, this is not fun at all. The graphics of this game are its only strong suit. You will not be able to enjoy them because the game play of this title is completely busted. I don't understand the high praise at all and wonder if I accidentally got the wrong game included inside my case.
You are tasked with killing people, but you first have to search them out through the city. Easy right? Wrong. The cities are MASSIVE and you have to do various menial tasks in order to find clues that will lead you to the person. Ok, that acceptable too and had it stopped there, this might have been a different review.
But no, you are not allowed to step foot into the city because everyone knows who you are (I've heard of this thing called a disguise... but not Alistar or whatever your name is. Its set so far back in time maybe disguises weren't invented yet). So to blend in with the crowd you will have to play frogger and walk around endless swarms of people who just walk the streets all day and night. Collide with a single one and they will start shouting at you and the guards will run over and kill you. (Remember- if you bump into someone on a crowded subway you sure as hell better prepare to fight for your life against the police, you rapist.) Anyway, the only way to avoid people is to constantly walk around holding "A" which makes you put your head down (in shame as the developers of this "game" should) and walk at a snail's pace.
However you will still have to content with constant beggers who will walk in front of you (nobody else!) and harass the hell out of you and make you walk even SLOWER. But you can't even give them money to get them off your back! You just have to contend with them! Also for unknown reason there are also people balancing jars on their heads and trying to walk the crowded streets. If you touch them (and they seem to follow you to!) they will drop their jars and the guards will rush over and attack you.
That seems to be the conclusion for everything in this game, walk to fast - a guard will kill you, bump into someone - the guard will kill you, stable your horse outside the town but have the crappy AI make the horse STILL follow you and have it trample someones store while you are IN THE CITY - a guard will come and kill you. Climb up a wall- a guard will see you (or even be waiting on the roof!) and kill you. Stay out of the mob fest that is the town and just ride your horse through the plains trying to find anything good about this god forsaken game) - and a guard will be randomly posted in the middle of nowhere and kill you.
Overall, if it isn't obvious I HIGHLY recommend that you STAY AWAY FROM THIS GAME. It is HORRIBLE and I have no idea how it is a Player Choice game. It is innovative yes, and the story seems to be really good (though I only was able to experience 2 chapters or so before rage quitting) but the gameplay is mediocre. Absolutely mediocre and frustrating to the point of screaming at the game.
Perhaps the newer versions are better (AC II or Brotherhood) but I will never know because I refuse to buy another title from this series. The real assassination happened to my wallet when I shelled out $20 bucks for this. Someone KILL ME!
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video-games_xbox
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