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Very fun game. I just started getting into the World Cup this year. I can't believe that all these years I thought soccer was boring. I have pretty much watched every game of the World Cup this year, and my enjoyment of the sport prompted me to get this game.
I don't know much about soccer outside of the actual gameplay, so I wouldn't know what to tell you what is missing in this game. Some reviewers mention that their is no club play, but being that this is my first soccer game in about 10 years, I never seen a soccer game outside the world cup, so I honestly don't know what I am missing.
One thing I would have liked to have seen is the national anthems of each team. But other than that, to me this game is a complete World Cup game. You can start in the world cup finals with the 32 teams that qualified this year, or you can actually play through the qualifiers with teams across all continents (not just the 32 final teams), to create your own world cup finals. This seems like a welcome addition because from what I heard from past WC video games, you were restricted to the 32 teams that actually qualified. I perfer it this way as well, because I would think that it would get boring after a while being limited to 32 teams all the time. However the game is very restrictive in playing the world cup games, you can only choose 8 teams, and you HAVE to play them, you can't simulate them, and you can't play with any team but your own. If you are eliminated, then the game automatically advances to the final match without keeping you update of what is going on. I would have liked to have seen the ability to play ANY game in the world cup. You can make your own world cup in a way, but you have to unlock the round of 16, 8, semifinals, and finals before you can play in those games as you would like.
The actual game play is very fun. While the controls seem kind of cumbersome, I think that is because I have not played a soccer video game since the World Cup on the old 8-bit NES that was on the same cartridge as Super Spike V-Ball. The players movements are done pretty well, but it does seem a bit sluggish at times. Also the graphics are nothing spectacular and I feel that the net, and the field could have been rendered a lot better. The players are not very detailed, but detailed enough so that you can recognize them.
The flaws in the graphics do not take from the actual game play, because it is still very fun to play. If you are like me and new to any recent soccer game, you may find yourself getting very frustrated because it seems that semi-pro(the default difficulty) is a bit too hard. I have played 10 matches and only acculmulated 2 goals in all of them combined. However, just like the real game, scoring a goal is very rewarding, because it is just so hard to do. I finally lowered my difficulty to amatuer and had a little more success in passing the ball and scoring. I even managed a 5 - 1 victory over Togo.
For those of you wondering the clock can be accelerated so if you don't have 90+ minutes to play through one game, all you have to do is set your half length to a lower time and a half will still be 45 minutes, however it will be accelerated based on what time you choose. The default is 6 minutes, so eventhough the clock still goes up to 45, the actual time played is 6 minutes. This makes stoppage time pretty much useless, because 3 minutes in an accelerated game is really only seconds in real time.
One of the most enjoyable things about the game is that it has the real players from the actual teams. It was real easy for me to get into the game because I could play with players that I have actually seen play in the World Cup. This was real important to me because being new to the sport, I would like to relate to real players, rather than generic ones. This is what steered me away from Konami's Winning eleven series.
In summary I am very pleased and suprised with this game. I almost was late for work this morning because as soon as I woke up I started playing this game. Admittedly this is a great game from the evil empire at EA. Its good that they focused on actual game play, rather than extras. The graphics could be a bit better, but to me gameplay is most important. EA should carry this strategy to their football franchises, instead of introducing new gimmicks every single year without fixing the actual gameplay.
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video-games_xbox
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TSO Review. Original Author: Steven Mayernick
The 25th anniversary of Madden brings a renewed hope in the series following what was a promising iteration last year. With a refined version of the infinity engine, a running mechanic known as the "precision modifier," and the introduction of owner mode, there's no questioning the Madden team's ambition this cycle.
While these additions hardly render Madden 25 another "roster update," I can't help but question the philosophy of the development team as a whole this year. Instead of solidifying the solid foundation they laid down a year ago, the team decided to again implement a number of new features. In so doing, we are left with a game that suffers from many of the same issues it did last year.
Presentation
Madden 13 took a very positive step in delivering an authentic TV broadcast. While there are some clear improvements in Madden25, the CBS style music is gone, as are the TV style intros. Instead, we have game previews that feature a clip of the city - which is a neat addition, but it gets old quickly. The main menu got a much needed overhaul as well, with the Madden team opting for a tiled menu. I find the menu itself incredibly counter-intuitive and confusing relative to NCAA Football 14s similarly styled menu.
That said, there are some definite positives as far as presentation. Crowd noise is still nowhere close to where it needs to be, but it is distinctly better than it has been in years past. Crowds seem to react better during big plays, and some stadium chants have been brought over from NCAA Football 14. Sideline reporter Danielle Belinni joins the team with pregame, halftime, and injury updates, but never has anything particularly specific or interesting to say. For whatever reason, Belinni chooses to talk about the backup quarterback during each halftime presentation.
The broadcast team of Nantz and Simms is vastly improved, both in the accuracy of their commentary and refreshing new awareness of everything going on with both your team and around the league. Gone are the days of them referring to Eli Manning as the reigning Super Bowl Champion six years into franchise mode. Instead, the commentary is dynamic and fluid - ever evolving along with your virtual football world.
As I packed up my bags and announced I was moving the Jaguars to London, the duo discussed it at length during my final home game. When I landed in London, they spoke about how fantastic it was to see the NFL finally go global, and how they think the market in London will support a team well. At one point, I found myself surrendering a ton of third down conversion, only to have Nantz point out how much I'd struggled in the same department the previous week. He was right, I most certainly had.
The default camera angle has seen a slight change, as users will now be slightly more zoomed out then they were in previous iterations. It definitely takes some getting used to, but after a while, I grew fond of it. The "zoomed" camera angle is another option along with broadcast. Though I found the angle unplayable in NCAA Football 14, the zoomed camera angle is surprisingly enjoyable in Madden 25. The camera backs up quickly and seamlessly enough for you to have vision of the full field, though pre-snap you have to move left and right to see your X and Z receivers.
Though much of the presentation upgrades are welcomed, the game is not without its share of minor annoyances in this department. The cut scenes of coaches on the sideline suffer from the Soap Opera Effect, a term videophiles use to describe a motion smoothing mechanic used to compensate for blurring. For those less technical, you'll see a notice a very unnatural sliding effect when cutting to the coaches. It's nauseating, though I would expect some people notice it more than others.
Even more annoying is the field goal kicking camera, which EA has still left at an awkwardly high angle that makes it difficult to kick. By this point, I would've expected EA to come to terms with the fact that everyone hits RT/R2 to cycle back to the classic kicking camera, one much more conducive to accurate kicking.
All in all, the game atmosphere still feels somewhat listless. Writing this review whilst watching an NFL preseason game just reinforces that opinion, as the preseason crowd in Jacksonville is substantially louder and more responsive then my Madden NFC Championship game played in MetLife Stadium earlier today.
Gameplay
Madden 25 introduces the new precision modifier (LT/L1), a gameplay mechanic that gives users complete control of their ball carrier. Bigger backs feel much different than scat backs, and the moves you can pull off seem very dependent on the ratings of the ball carrier. Having said that, the moves in general seem a bit overpowered, if only because even the most athletic of defenders seem a whole lot less agile than their offensive counterparts.
The Infinity Engine is back and thankfully much improved. Gone are the days of running into your offensive lineman and falling down. Instead, running backs will maneuver through and around the big boys, as they realistically navigate their way out of the backfield and through gaps. The game seems to truly reward patient runners - waiting to find that opening and accelerate through it.
The force impact system and stumble mechanic, which were both present in NCAA 14, are also in Madden 25. While the stumble mechanic feels more responsive in Madden, the force impact system is still a bit overpowered. Far too often am I seeing small backs truck big LBs and safeties they simply have no business trucking.
Also present is the foot planting that was in NCAA Football 14 as well. The foot planting is, by far, the best addition gameplay. Zig zag runs are gone, as you will now see a player have plant and drive to shift his momentum while changing directions. I'm happy to report that the speed at which they do so is contingent upon that player's acceleration and agility ratings. Unfortunately, the game plays substantially more arcade than NCAA Football 14 in this regard, as player movements seem less pronounced and nuanced.
Run blocking was completely revamped as well. Seldom do you see a blocker miss an assignment, and pulling guards are much quicker getting across the line to pick up a defender. While the logic itself is refreshingly realistic, run blocking in general is highly overpowered. Tight ends drive good defensive ends back 5 yards, and there is still some suction blocking present. Several times I've seen defenders beat their blockers and re-engage for no reason whatsoever, particularly against running plays.
The passing game remains largely the same, at least offensively. Precision passing is still too powerful, and lob passes are rarely a viable choice. Indeed, passing trajectory is in need of a serious overhaul, as the game rewards players who unrealistically throw strikes the second their player gets a bit of separation on a corner route or post pattern. In reality, those balls need more air under them, as the angle of the throw makes it easy for the defender to bat down a line-drive throw. Additionally, there still seems to be little differentiation between top quarterbacks and fourth or fifth tier ones.
Coverage is, without a doubt, the worst it's been in some time. While there have been noticeable improvements to the buzz zone (players won't creep up into the flat), deep safety play and hook zones are abysmal. Zone defenders seem lost, and completely oblivious to their ever-changing surroundings. If you run a slant through cover 2 sink, defenders will drop in their specific zones and watch as the receiver slices right through them, making no attempt to pass off assignments or adjust accordingly.
Safety play suffers from the same, as even the best safeties seem content to sit back in their zone irrespective of what's happening on the field. I ran four verticals against the CPU on All Madden and watched my outside receiver get locked up by Darrelle Revis, while my slot receiver blew past the linebacker. Instead of adjusting to help the linebacker who had clearly been beaten, the safety stayed put in no man's land, in no position to make a play on either potential throw.
Even more so than zone, off man coverage is entirely useless. While curls and outs remain the two dominant routes, there is really no route an off man defender plays well at all. I saw 65 overall WR Michael Preston beat Revis in off man coverage on curls and out routes 20/20 times on All Madden difficulty. While I will concede an out route should be very hard to stop in off man coverage, the rating differences between the two players should mitigate that advantage to a large extent. As for curls? In NCAA Football 14, off man defenders play curls and comebacks substantially better than they do in Madden.
While off man and zone are weak, 2 man under is again overpowered. I find it incredibly frustrating that the only reliable coverage in Madden is seemingly too reliable. Generally speaking, wheel routes and slants should eat up 2 man under, but the latter seems to result in far too many interceptions this year. Slants can work, but only under the right circumstances. If you're lined up against Richard Sherman, even Calvin Johnson struggles to get off man under with a slant. Comebacks are a route that can't be pressed, and seem to be the only consistent counter to man under this year.
Pass blocking, much like run blocking, is far too strong on default settings. The pass rush is virtually non-existent; the little pass rush you do generate is always from the LE spot. Why the LT remains disproportionately dominant against the RE is truly baffling to me, but one can only hope this issue will be addressed in the next generation.
Madden 25 does, however, recognize the ever-growing trend of read option/pistol offenses in the NFL. Gamers with fast quarterbacks will have more plays and weapons at their disposal this time around, and it's nicely balanced in my opinion. If you're going to run with your QB, be advised you run the risk of an injury (yes, QBs can and will get injured this year) or a fumble. Defensively, you can set your defensive read (stay on QB or follow pitch man), which helps a great deal.
CPU clock management and play calling has noticeably improved. The CPU will no longer base an offense around draw plays or screens, though the former are still called too often in my opinion. Clock management has also improved dramatically. Now good QBs will run the 2 minute drill very effectively, using timely timeouts and spiking the ball when needed. Speaking of clock management, why Madden has again neglected a "chew clock" feature is beyond me. It's been a truly great addition to the NCAA Football series, and certainly would do wonders for Madden.
Special teams play remains largely unchanged, though the foot planting will certainly make kick returns more fun and realistic. Unfortunately, coverage teams still don't stay disciplined enough, crashing in on the outside, allowing a savvy user to manipulate and bait the coverage team inside, only to cut it back outside for an easy chunk of yardage.
Overall, the game itself feels fast and aracdey. While some of the gameplay additions translate very well on the field, the blocking logic is simply overpowered in both the running and passing games. The failure to address passing trajectories and coverages is mind boggling, and really holds the gameplay back from surpassing NCAA Football 14.
Connected Franchise/Owner Mode
Owner mode is back in Madden 25, and it's as good as ever. Take on the backstory of former player, lifelong fan, or financial mogul as you take over your franchise - with each backstory being tied to a few inherent and obvious advantages and disadvantages. You can also choose to take over as an existing owner, with all real owners licensed and in the game.
After taking over your franchise, you can rebuild your stadium, or even move (provided your stadium is in rough enough shape). There are 17 locations available, all of which are realistic football markets. Be careful, though, as you have to gauge fan interest in those markets and fan base styles (hardcore, bandwagon, etc). Once you settle on a location, you can choose to re-name (or maintain) your team name. Each city has 3 pre-determined names, which comes in handy for Phil Simms and Jim Nantz when discussing your team in-game. You also have 3 pre-determined uniform options, all of which have different fan ratings.
Relocation is a tremendous addition, and a feature I expect many will have a lot of fun with. I applaud the decision to pre-render uniforms, and limit the cities and names (if only so they could get the appropriate audio). It would be nice to have the ability to re-align the divisions, however. Moving the Bills to Los Angeles doesn't quite make sense from that stand point.
Being a successful owner is a balancing act- you have to balance team success, popularity, your staff, your stadium, concessions, merchandise, and ticket sales. Sure, it's enticing to move the Jaguars to London, but at what cost? Expect to be handicapped financially, at least initially. Why does this matter? For starters, all your bonus money comes from your "funds," or net revenue. You'll also need money to maintain and attract the best head coach, scout, and trainer - all of which have tangible benefits/drawbacks.
The mode forces you to make difficult decisions that affect both your bottom line and on-field performance. You can choose keep Tim Tebow in New England to use his personality rating (new this year) to sell tons of jerseys, but at what cost? What happens when Brady is gone and you need a reliable #1 or #2 quarterback? Make these decisions, but know why you're doing so. The media will scrutinize your every move, and you'll be tasked with choosing one of three responses that can affect team happiness, fan interest, and more.
Though having to assemble a staff is a lot of fun, one can't help but wonder why there are no coordinators or position coaches. I can only imagine how fun it would be to snag a stud coordinator from a rival franchise, or have to worry about that ambitious position coach who wants to be coordinator.
Connected franchise itself received a visual overhaul, and it looks great. Unlike the main menu, I find the franchise mode's menus very straight forward and easy to navigate. There are tabs for home, news, action, owner (if owner mode), team, and league. Statistical leaders, storylines, and standings are all easily accessible. The Twitter feed returns with some new material and pundits, and continues to make your franchise "world" come to life. The new trade center is much more user friendly, and there's finally a transaction log that documents every move that has been made.
While EA promised a much more intelligent CPU front office, I've had mixed results. To start, players like Giants DT Linval Joseph were inexplicably cut in the preseason. Joseph, who at age 24 is the highest rated DT on New York's roster, was the most egregious cut I saw, but there were a number of head scratchers. Michael Crabtree (91 ovr) was cut from the 49ers in the preseason of year 2. Like Joseph, Crabtree was in a contract year. I can't understand why the CPU would cut a marquee player that happens to be in a contract year. Even if they can't afford to resign him, a player like that should play out his contract, then simply not resigned.
Draft logic seems to be hit or miss as well. With the 2nd overall pick in the 2014 draft, the New York Jets took a quarterback, just one year removed from selecting Geno Smith high in the 2nd round. When I went to look at Geno's stats, I saw he was never even given a chance to play and prove himself.
As far as free agency is concerned, I saw players going to places that made sense. Reggie Wayne retired and Indy went out and grabbed Hakeem Nicks, while the Giants countered by bolstering a weak position (MLB) with the signing of Desmond Bishop. Unfortunately, I'm still seeing good, young players like Brandon Browner go through free agency without an offer.
The draft lacks any presentation upgrades, which is a bit of disappointment. Having said that, the storylines continue to be engaging and creative, and make the scouting experience more interesting. I still don't understand the decisions to allow people to rack up scouting points - it would be more realistic to require users to use up their allotted points every week or two, then have the points reset.
It's even more disappointing that we are still without a draft board, which would help users stay organized and be able to draft well if they happen to miss the draft itself. As far as the presentation itself, I was hoping for a mock 1st round draft (or some sort of preview), and final draft grades. These are features that have been removed and really need to find their way back into the game.
Draft player pools seem more top-heavy this year, which is welcomed. The classes themselves seem to have particular strengths and weaknesses, while each equipped with a unique set of gems and busts. I would like to see the game account for the fact that RBs are seldom drafted high in the first round these days, but the projections look much better overall.
There are some very minor annoyances in franchise mode, like the inability to hit one button and spend all your xp on upgrading a particular attribute. Speaking of upgrades, I still can't understand why you have the ability to upgrade (or even see) the development rating. Another minor annoyance is wind direction is still backwards in online franchise mode, which I find unfathomable. Also, though the sim statistics look good overall, but about half of the league's quarterbacks will have completion percentages under 50%. Lastly, they removed the ability to advance a franchise multiple weeks.
The addition of owner mode is great, don't get me wrong. Nevertheless, I can't help but feel like there are several important facets of franchise mode that weren't developed at all. While there is a player personality rating, none of that factors into contract negotiations or free agency. Some players should refuse to be back ups, play in small markets, or get paid less than the best at their respective position. As it stands now, contract negotiations are all too predictable and unrealistic. There are several factors that go into attracting a player that Madden just doesn't take into account.
Along the same lines, there is no risk/reward factor when putting together a roster. Without a player happiness rating (something tells me it's there but not impactful enough and not visible) and team chemistry ratings, personnel decisions are too black and white. The game will start with an 86 overall Randy Moss sitting in free agency. A player like that should force you to make a difficult decision - do I bring him on and potentially bring down team happiness and chemistry? As it stands now, there is no known tradeoff.
The resigning process should be a game within a game. Back loading and extending contracts should be options, and the occasional contract holdout would be a nice wrinkle, too. Again, players should have a distinct set of preferences and personalities that dictate their willingness to sign, and for how much.
Other Modes and Features
I'm not traditionally an ultimate team mode fan, but the addition of a team chemistry rating (yes, Ultimate Team has it but Franchise Mode doesn't) makes the mode a surprising amount of fun for me. Additionally, there are specific types of offenses and defenses you can build your team around, all of which seem to generate players that fit your team's strengths and weaknesses.
The Nike Skills Training Mode is a very nice addition as well. If you're new to the series, or simply want to get familiar with some of the new features, the training mode enables you to do so in a very straight forward manner. With all the new option plays in the game, I wouldn't be surprised if many vets lean on the training mode to get a feel for how it translates in Madden.
The All Madden team was a pretty genius idea, and fails to disappoint. Running read option with vintage Michael Vick is pure bliss, as is tossing balls up to Randy Moss in his prime. It was a trip down memory lane I suggest you all take, even if it's just once.
Conclusion
Madden 25 is hardly a worthy celebration for such a storied franchise. While many reviewers believe the changes made this year were granular in nature, I couldn't disagree more. I feel strongly the development team shot for the moon, but failed to secure the shuttle before doing so. By ignoring the development of many fundamental facets of both gameplay and franchise mode, the game struggles to impress despite some very nice additions.
It is worth noting, however, that many of the gameplay concerns can be resolved through slider adjustments, which seem to all work this year. While it's important to recognize the functionality of sliders, it's even more important to ensure they don't become a crutch for developers. Sliders should be a tool to make subtle changes based on player preference, not to make major changes out of necessity.
The game, to me, continues to reward stick skills, while discounting strategy. Most frustrating is the fact that some of these gameplay decisions can't be blamed on the current generation of hardware, as NCAA Football 14 does them much better. This leads me to believe that the emphasis was off for the Madden team - as it seems they built a game that has some great looking bullet points on the back of the box, but fails to deliver on the field.
Hits
+ Infinity Engine 2.0 is a huge upgrade over last year's version
+ Owner mode is well executed and an overall blast
+ Improved blocking logic, foot planting, and the precision modifier make the running game a blast
Misses
- Coverage on the whole is horrendous
- The offensive line is far too dominant
- Contract renegotiations and free agency remain stale and unrealistic
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video-games_xbox
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Microtransactions ruining the game. I'm not here to hate on the game because we all know the game is great and highly better than it's competitor NBA Live 14 (If you want to call it a competitor right now at this time, as far as the future hopefully they'll improve majorly). As far as 2K14 is concerned it's already noted that gameplay it's really good, despite the fact the A.I lacks a bit at times especially on defense because they give your opponent too much space on the floor, so they can come back with a quick three.
But I'm not here to talk about gameplay so much, but I'm here to speak on the microtransactions and how its ruining the game if you ask me anyways. So lets get into it shall we? For one the accessories for your myplayer (compression sleeves, calf sleeves, headbands, goggles, etc.) you have to pay for each individual item and I what I mean by this is if you buy one color of the same sleeve and want to get the same style sleeve you have to pay for another color for the same item. Secondly, the attributes that they put on the adidias items aren't even that much of a boost to your myplayer in stats wise. For instance the dwight howard sleeve that costs 5,000VC for a +2 three point shot and a color of your choosing. It's as if your paying more for the name then the stats because if you use that on your MyPlayer then you could certainly achieve more then +2 to your 3 point rating unless its almost at max status. I'm sorry, but I believe they should go back to the nba 2k12 format of giving you the accessories for free and give your choice of team color 1/2, white, black, and also add any other colorway of your choosing. Also note that the headband accessory is 200 VC more then on last gen when it was 1000VC. Thirdly, you have to buy tattoos on next gen which is insane, I'd rather just have refined imagery from last gen and keep them free. But now you have buy tattoos that aren't even that cool, soon not even the shoes that you use in your MyCareer regardless of endorsement are going to be free more than likely. Plus you can you buy your Myplayer stats to make your guy ultra beast and be a troll online. The fun of the game is not where it used to be unfortunately.
To end this review off I'd also like to note that no matter the difficulty you play on even if you play on Hall of Fame and get a 2X amount in VC it's still a hell of a grind to even aquire a lot of accessories not to mention paying for signature skills, as well as jumpshots, dunk packages, dribbles packages, etc. Even if you conserve that VC it goes pretty dang rapidly more then you know it. In the end I believe they need to up the amount you recieve or in the end you'll just have to keep spending money in order to afford certain things just to get IN GAME. Not outside in life IN GAME and also note that if 2K15 doesn't allow you to bring your Myplayer over just like the past NBA 2K Games then consider all that money you spent gone and now have to respend it on a new character.
Oh and I'm sorry for those who can't do the VC glitch in order to attain there MyTeam players that seem to give a lot of duplicate cards by the way. Plus the contracts that they you recieve from a pack aren't even a lot, 5 contracts is the highest it goes unlike MUT on Madden where it gives you 25 contracts for a player which is awesome. 13,000VC for one gold pack (Only one type of gold pack, unlike last gen where they had 3 gold packs each having different traits) also you only get one gold player out of the pack, so it really limits you on who you could get plus the possibilities of getting duplicates are tremendously high unless your extremely lucky.
I'm sorry if you guys hate me for spitting the truth, but in the end I'm just trying to let you know theres not much free left in that game other then the game modes and that's about it. Its a huge gripe for me and I don't know about the rest of you but I hope someone agrees with me.
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video-games_xbox
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A fantastic game with a few problems. Shadows of the damned is a third-person horror action title developed by Shinji Mikami and Suda51 along with music from Silent Hill composer Akira Yamaoka and is a truly strange, stand alone title that has earned a merit from me as being one of the best, if not THE best game of 2011. First I will go over the good as I would like this review to be short and to the point without giving anything away.
The Good:
A highly original, colorful experiece from the minds of Suda51 and Shinji Mikami with some unique boss designs and diverse backgrounds
Unusual music that fits with the atmosphere of the game and draws you in
Gameplay similar to Resident Evil 4, and trust me, it's just as addicting
Diverse puzzle sequences never get old, as something new is done each time, building upon the game's light/dark sequences
The Bad:
Repetitive enemy designs, although you don't tend to notice because the gameplay is so fluent and the animations are so well done(Will not be included for score because of personal preference)
Technical mess, with glitches happening throughout, from Garcia floating, cut-scenes skipping, and enemies freezing and doors not opening, however, the glitches aren't frequent and don't take from the overall experience, but they are still apparent
Humor is preferenced, because I personally found many of the jokes to be hilarious, while others were a bit vulgar (Will not count towards score)
Lack of unlockable content
Final Opinion:Shadows of The Damned is one of my favorite games for the Xbox 360 to date, and if you don't have a problem with sexual humor, nudity,lack of extra content, or slightly repetitive enemy designs, you should fall in love with it as well. The gameplay and boss designs are the highlights although the story and cutscenes don't deserve to be overlooked either. All in all, I'd say buy it especially at the price it's going for now.
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video-games_xbox
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Great graphics and gameplay - but my console has died. I have steadfastly defended the 360's powerful graphics and great gameplay and I still think they are excellent. I have bought every accessory and have been very pleased by all of them, including the wireless internet receiver and the HD-DVD drive. The graphics in Gears of War look better than anything on any other system, PS3 included (which I also own). However, despite taking the best care of my system and using it only once in a while, it has died with a hardware malfunction after only six months. I have become a member of the "Red Ring Of Death", when three flashing portions of the console's Ring of Light denote that the hardware has failed. Despite Microsoft's instructions and my best efforts, it would not work again.
The only thing that keeps me from cursing Microsoft's name is that they recently extended the warranty on the 360 from 90 days to one year, and that retroactively applies so that my console, purchased in late Spring of 2006, is now within warranty once again. So after a call to Microsoft this past weekend they are sending me a pre-paid UPS package so I can ship my console to get fixed at no charge. I cannot say how disappointing it is to have a $400 machine, with $300 in extra components purchased, just up and stop working one day. I think more and more people are experiencing this, which is why Microsoft has extended the warranty. Otherwise they may be looking at a class action suit or very negative publicity, which is the last thing they need now that two other consoles have hit the market.
Anyway, if it is fixed and returns to working condition with no future problems, I will be happy. The 360's graphics are truly beautiful, Xbox Live is by far the best online gaming service, and the additional content being offered on it to date is looking like it will be a very handy and useful media resource in the future. But for now I'll have to wait until my trusty console gets sent back from the shop.
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video-games_xbox
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Solid Budget Title. After reading reviews about this game around the net, I am surprised by how divided the reviewers feel about this game. To start with, the graphics are a bit dated, OK, very dated, especially on the XBOX 360 version, but this experience isn't about flashy graphics. Once you get past the rough visuals, what you have is a solid combat centered RPG that is actually an RPG. You have actual freedom in what order you choose to tackle quests and sidequests, with consequences based on your decisions.
The combat system took a little getting used to, but after a few hours (and three restarts to get the look of my character right) I found myself slipping into it nicely. The radial system (LB) is intuitive and easy to customize, so in no time you can have your shortcuts arranged to your liking. There is a robust upgrade system too, for both abilities and equipment. I really like the way you can choose the hilt and handle of your weapon, with cosmetic and functional customization.
I am not all that far into the game yet, and only have one companion, so I can't really comment on the companion system, but I can say that it is nice that you can modify their behavior by talking to them (like in Dragon's Dogma) and by interacting with the radial menu in combat, which not only drastically slows down the game allowing for tactical planning, but lets you give further orders to your companions (like in the latest Star Ocean).
So far, I am really liking the game. You just have to understand that it is very much an indie budget game. This is not the Witcher or Skyrim. It would be much more at home compared to elements of Venetica, Kingdoms of Amalur, Game of thrones, or the more recent (and much worse) Demonicon. As a whole, however, I feel that Bound by Flame surpasses all of the aforementioned titles with little quirks that really shine. The menu system, for instance, is very deep, but at the same time very accessible. The map can be viewed in two different ways, or not at all if you prefer.
The thing that kills me is all the sheep who have never even played the game, who then chime in on the review comments saying asinine things like "glad I didn't preorder this" or "I knew it would suck". The bottom line is you never know until you try it for yourself. I did and I like it. You might to, but first you have to give it a shot. Considering most of the games it reminds me of came out with $60 price tags, this baby knows just what it is and isn't trying to be anything it isn't. What it is is a darn good budget game from an indie developer that deserves at least a playthrough.
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video-games_xbox
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With lowered expectations this is a short and sweet game. The hype surrounding fable through it's development has been mixed, from promises that it would be the best ever to a disaster. I can't say it's either, I warn you, if your expecting the best game ever lower your expectations, or you'll ruin the experience. That's just the problem, Fable isn't what everyone hoped for but if you accept it for what it's for you'll find it's a great experience.
On the exterior it's a beautiful game, also the characters are well animated, and the vibrant and colorful worlds immerse you and it's one of the best looking titles available currently on the Xbox. Besides some frame rate hiccups and awkward lip-syncing this is pretty flawless.
This wouldn't mean anything is fable wasn't fun to play, And not to worry - it is. The combat here is real-time, the easiness in switching to magic, archery or sword fighting is superb. That's another interesting point, you can play fable in a lot of ways, Primarily being your choices versus good or evil, unfortunately I never felt awfully inclined to be either, If I was evil I never felt revered, and if I was good I never felt acclaimed. There are several side paths to do, marriage, mini-games, and chicken kicking... It leaves a lot to do, but even with all that it only adds a few more hours to the already seemingly short experience, which might be discouraging.
Sound effects here are well done, The game has a cinematic ambience, The music is great, as is the voice acting. Your hero of course is mostly nameless (Though you are usually referred to by your "Nickname", which is easily changed at a shop, and even then It's a limited selection) Still I can't say anything bad here, except for some repetition on certain aspects.
In the end Fable is fun, and this shouldn't be passed up. Though fable might not be as groundbreaking as hoped it would be it's still great. With the replay value and open-ended nature here you'll end up playing it through twice at least.
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video-games_xbox
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Impressions. It had been awhile since I'd dug into a traditional Final Fantasy type turn-based RPG. The last was FF XII, which was an experience right up there at the top of the scale for video games. Naturally, then, I had high hopes for this "next-gen" game from the minds of the FF crew.
I turned out to be a little disappointed, though. Lost Odyssey has none of the polish that made FF XII what it was. Voice acting is surprisingly mediocre, the world is not as fleshed out (although it is still better than most RPGs, a la Final Fantasy), and the combat system is somewhat archaic. Much closer to FF X than FF XII. Why the creators should choose to abandon what was such a winning system is beyond me.
In truth, there is nothing at all next-gen about this game, excepting only graphics. They're very impressive, and beg the player to zoom the camera to take a closer look (which is always rewarded with high-res models).
But there is good to this game. The premise, which pits immortality against mortality, and illustrates the "blessing" of mortality (an ability to pursue specific goals and dreams within a finite amount of time - something this current culture kind of needs to hear) is intriguing, and the flagship character's struggle with this is meaningful. The dreams also, while possibly too much for some players, can be touching. This game tries to tug at the heartstrings and makes a theme of human nature, and at its best it does that well, making it powerful enough to remember. Unfortunately it doesn't always do so well, and some aspects are surprisingly unrefined.
This is a game which needed more work, pure and simple. Is it a meaningful piece of work? Definitely. Is it a little disappointing? Yes - unless your gaming standards are not very high. If Final Fantasy XII had not risen to shine over and above this game in almost every aspect, it could rest comfortably with my recommendation. As it is... play it, but adjust your expectations.
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video-games_xbox
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A good solid racing game to play with your friends. "Pure" Is a pretty good name for this game. The vehicles are customizable enough to separate yourself from the rest of the pack, it runs smoothly and has easy to learn controls.
The lack of any obvious way to do a local multilayer game was a downside. If there is a way to play split screen multilayer with other people in the same room using just one 360 in this game I couldn't find it. (And I looked extensively.) However, I was able to get a quick match race on XBL fairly easy, with more then half the race slots filled. Racing against other people was fun and interesting with the added difficulty of needing to pick off power-ups to keep from running out of gas during the race.
The XBL Achievements for the game are all very cut and dry. The good thing about the achievements is that they reward you for doing things that seem to me to involve increasing your skill in the game.
One thing I didn't like about the game was the tutorial. At the end you're asked to run a track within a certain time limit. To do this you need to pull off certain tricks and power boosts to up your speed. The only problem was that I tended to be off by half a second and I had to keep trying again. I understood the controls and how to pull off the power boosts, I just couldn't do it exactly to the standards that the tutorial was expecting.
A person can not be good at a game and still enjoy it, but when you can't even finish the tutorial in three or fewer tries, it gets a little discouraging. Once I got past that though, it was quite a lot of fun. I expect this would be a good game to play over XBL with friends who are far flung.
Bottom line is that if you want to have something easy to get into you can play with friends who are not in same room (or city, or state, or country) as you; make a pact to get it at the same time as those friends. (And wait until it goes on sale.)
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video-games_xbox
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Ambitious, but lacking. As a preface, I have never played Way of the Samurai 1 or 2, so this was my first experience with the franchise. I downloaded the title from the X-Box Live Arcade games on demand. I was drawn to it because of my fascination with Japanese culture and my love of sandbox-type games, but it ultimately failed to deliver. Honestly, I was reminded of the Fable games: you are promised open-ended gameplay with limitless choices, but given a linear experience in which none of your "choices" alter the game in the slightest.
I'll break it down, as people seem to do with these reviews:
Graphics - The graphics are pretty basic. I'm not the sort of person who will ever disregard a game because it is ugly, but if that sort of things bothers you, definitely avoid this title. The characters are acceptable, but the environments are bland and forgettable. Honestly, I think I played games that were more polished than this on the previous generation of consoles.
Sound - Turn it off. The game cycles through a short list of tracks that get annoying really quickly. The songs are at least in an appropriate style and theme, just very limited. The Japanese voice-acting is fine (I think. I don't speak Japanese, so it isn't fair for me to judge), but the English dubs are pretty bad. You are better off listening to your own music while playing this game.
Gameplay - The fighting is the best part of this game. You can play through it like a simple hack-and-slash (I found that most enemies are pretty easy to defeat by just mashing the attack button over and over), but there are layers of depth to the mechanics, as well. You have different styles and different weapons to deploy, and timing counter-attacks and combos well can feel very satisfying. The swordplay is the only reason I have yet to delete this game from my hard drive.
Story - I'm really, really confused as to how so many people are complimenting the story of this game in the other reviews. I was so completely disappointed. I mean... maybe I'm playing a different game? Here is the sad truth: this is not a sand-box game. You do not have an open world to explore. Each playing field is limited in size and accessibility, and the entire map consists of, like, twelve of these fields. There are several different factions you can serve, but your choice between them doesn't matter. Your actions don't affect the world you're in, and even though you have the option of making different moral decisions, the only thing they change is your score at the end of the game. You could easily play through this entire story in a couple of hours, and every quest you're given is a basic "fetch" or "kill" quest. Go here and kill him, or go there and find these. It makes World of Warcraft look innovative and original in comparison. There are several characters in the world that you can converse with, which I thought meant that you would be able to pursue side quests, but I found that each one of these conversations eventually hit a dead-end in which the NPC would just repeat the same statement over and over. There just isn't enough content to make this game worth a $27 price tag. If they were to take the gameplay - which is genuinely enjoyable - and put it into a fleshed out world, I would love this game. As it is, the whole world feels sloppy and thrown together, and the story was clearly an afterthought.
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video-games_xbox
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Good first headset. I bought this headset after doing some searching for a good gaming headset. Overall, I am pretty pleased.
The sound quality is good and I can definitely hear my surroundings better when playing FPS. The sound is stereo though, so you can only pinpoint the source of sound in a general sense. However, using this headset is still better than my TV speakers.
The sound is nice and dense, but my brother has some Turtle Beaches that were only slightly more expensive; they seem better. His have 50mm speakers instead of the 40s that are present in the Sharkoon SX. The Turtle Beaches are more rich and even have a volume control for bass sounds, which I really enjoy.
That being said, the sound quality on this headset is still good. The more I use these the more I enjoy them. Gaming with a headset is so much better than gaming without.
They fit comfortably on your head and you can wear them for extended periods of time with little to no discomfort on your ears. Also, I have pretty large ears and this headset accommodates well for that.
The microphone is my biggest problem with the headset. It works fine, people can hear me speak, but the layout bothers me. The mic plugs into the bottom side of the left ear cup and then rotates to lock in place. Since it plugs in, you can remove it which makes for easy storage and portability, and you could even plug into the microphone jack on your PC since it uses the standard .35mm jack size. However, the mic is short. I feel like I can't get it positioned exactly where I want in front of my mouth; it's always off to the side and I have to speak a little louder than I really want to, but on the positive side, it doesn't pick up little things like yawns or deep breathes.
TL;DR
Again, as an overall experience, I really like this headset. I am glad I purchased it. I think in the future, I would like to go with a 5.1 surround headset, but those are considerably more expensive. I think I gave Amazon about $45-$50 for this headset and I am pleased with the price. This is a good value headset and has made my gaming experience better. For now, this cheapish headset will do the trick, but I feel I might want to upgrade in the future.
This is a good starter headset, but it' definitely not the last headset you would ever want to buy.
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video-games_xbox
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It may just surprise you. I had a really difficult time figuring out how I felt about this game on my initial playthrough. Granted, I didn't get through any of the three campaigns when I first played it. That leads into the how I felt about it factor.
Being a tremendous fan of both the Alien and Predator franchises (moreso the Predator franchise, due to childhood memories), it was only natural that the two would clash someday in someway. For me, that someday started with the release of the 1999 release of Aliens Versus Predator for the PC. Sure, looking back on it, it doesn't hold a candle to modern shooter games, but it accomplished exactly what fans of the franchises and comics wanted- it clashed the Alien against the Predator, and threw humans in as a little distraction from the alien battle royale. It was a gory, no-holds-barred romp through nerdom, and nobody could get enough of it (at least until online play started to get hacked so badly that it made online play, well, unplayable.) Aliens Versus Predator 2 came along, and kept much of the same formula, and unfortunately, many of the same online bugs.
Yet, here we were, in the era of modern gaming, with our PS3's and our Xbox 360's, and it was only natural for die hard fans of the series (of which there are many, and even more spawned by the horrid first film, and the tolerable and entertaining second film) to start crying out for a modern version of AVP. It was hard to find copies of the original PC versions of the AVP games that were adapted to run on modern day PC's, and even rarer for anybody to own SNES's or Sega Genesis. The outcry for a modern AVP game was unbearable, and the original developer, Rebellion, took it into their own hands to develop what they felt to be the best AVP game to date. Now, were they successful? In technical terms, yes.
In gameplay terms... Well, that is debatable.
See, the reason that I had such a hard time liking AVP 2009 (henceforth just AVP) the first time I played it is because of the inherent flaws in the gameplay mechanics, some of which are blatantly obvious. Do we ever really know when the Alien is going to crawl over a surface of just fall straight to the ground below? Nope, we sure don't. Do we ever feel like the Marine is adequately equipped to deal with the amount of enemies that are coming at them? I sure didn't. I found myself constantly strafing over ceilings, ending up going the wrong direction, and running out of ammunition as a wave of Xenomorphs swarmed me. The control lay out is also a little bit awkward, instead using the L1 and R1 buttons for the melee attacks of the Alien and the Predator, as opposed to the mostly conventional L2 and R2. It was a bit to get used to, and playing as the Predator, I found myself on several occasions accidentally wasting my energy on an accidental plasma cannon. Oops, indeed.
However, despite all my complaining, on a second playthrough, I found myself actually enjoying the game, once I set all my pre-established expectations aside. Was I missing the spear gun from AVP2? Darn right. Was I missing the fact that you could melee with Predators spear as opposed to just throwing it? Definitely. But did I find a massive amount of enjoyment in the game once I just let all the memories of what used to be go, and focused, instead, on what we had in front of us? I found a hell of a lot to enjoy.
The graphics, in my personal opinion, are beautiful. You could knit pick about the textures and pop up, but frankly the only thing that I ever really noticed was a tad bit of slow down, but that happens with most games nowadays. I do dislike the fact that there is little replay value, and that the only option to play the game in any other mode than story and multiplayer is to play Survivor mode, and then only as the Marines. I would have loved a Survivor mode as the Predator fighting of swarms of Marines and Aliens, or as the Alien fighting off a couple of Predators and a few Marines. Overall, however, I feel that the gameplay is solid enough to warrant a few play throughs, and, if you are a fan of the franchises, it is just too damn cool to pass up the chance to play as your favorite alien bada$$. Rent it if you are not sure. Buy it if you know you will enjoy it.
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video-games_xbox
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Typical Microsoft Not So Typical Amazon. Within 24 hours the left thumbstick was scraping and making a squeal like that of a mouse in pain. It was connecting to my wireless headset for a couple of weeks just fine, but when I was recharging my mic and plugged in the wired headset, something happened. It was intermittent at first, then I couldn't hear nothing and nobody could hear me. So I tried to turn on my wireless headset again to see if that would correct the problem. It would not connect to that controller anymore. I tried to resync all to my Xbox 360, and start over. Still... nothing. I'm guessing something internally went wrong.
This next part of the review goes straight to Amazon's handling of my problem.
I call up and ask for an exchange. The lady issues the exchange and I'll have it in one business day. It was Saturday, so I expected it on Tuesday. On Wednesday still no shipment. I look at the account and says that it hasn't shipped, even though it says they're in stock. So I call up again, and this was the beginning of the end for me with Amazon.
We spend half an hour hashing out the explanations. Apparently they can't reorder it because when I initially purchased the item, it was "from Amazon" and now all the other ones are from independent sellers. Now... I'm sorry, but instead of just doing the exchange correctly and making your customers happy, you risk upsetting a loyal customer because of semantics? You're getting your money either way. So instead I have to refund the item. So she says to order it again, and I go to, but my points aren't there. The lady was like "Can't you just put it on your credit card?" I ordered it with the points. I'm not going to put another $40 on my credit card when I should have the points there. She had no clue what to do, so she was going to talk to her supervisor. She put me on indefinite hold for about 7 minutes and probably expected me to hang up. When I didn't, she disconnected the call. I called back and immediately asked for a supervisor since I wasn't going to deal with some weird computerized voice. I don't even know what THAT was. So I get a supervisor. And basically my only option now is to wait until the points are credited back to my card. And since there was a $5 price difference he would notate that they were to refund me $5 on my next order.
Now it's a few days later and my points are back on my card. So I call up again and tell them to look at their notes that I was promised a $5 refund on the item. I get the same initial girl I spoke with who has a really hard time understanding English. At this point I am utterly frustrated. She says they can't do the $5 change in price due to the fact that it's a private seller. At this point I am just utterly done with their horrific customer service. Hung up on, lied to now, and still having issues understanding ANYBODY that works here. So I demand a supervisor. It took me saying "I want to speak to a manager" about 10 times before she would transfer me. And even then... no help. They would only give me $5 off my next order.
So just a warning... just take your phone to Best Buy, pull up the item you want on your internet and get them to price match it and buy it locally. Because dealing with Amazon's customer support, which used to be AMAZING has now gone the way of Wal-Mart!
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video-games_xbox
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megh. let's start by saying, no, I haven't even finished the first disc. the reason being is that I think it's pretty boring. first off, the world is linear. if you ever do get off track, it only takes you another 10 seconds to get back to the right path. sure, in other games I'd get really frustrated from going off path cause I thought it was the right way and only find an item or just a dead end and then get lost trying to find my way back. but at least I was frustrated and not /bored/. the battles: whether you win or lose, when the battles over all your stats restart. not even really much of a gameover. and what's the point of potions? heal during battle? more like, just hope you get lucky at the end and if not well you get infinite more chances without having to waste your potions. they try to give you the strategic advantage with their fighter roles (don't remember the official names). yeah, that's also boring too. they give you plenty of options, but you only need two or three. characters? pretty basic and sometimes annoying. Hope is a cry baby, and Snow has an annoying, overused determination and for some reason lives in a fantasy world of what is happening to his love Serah. Lightning... I don't really see much of the Cloud in her. she's much more uptight. story. also pretty basic with a bunch of (unnecessary) branches coming out its tree. pretty romance and cheesy other stuff. so far my favorite part of the story was Lightning rolling her eyes.
seriously. this isn't me being a sarcastic d*ck, but if there's more to offer later in the game, then tell me and by all means I will pick it up again.
good things about it? great graphics. amazing really. but what else do you expect from FF. (let's ignore the fact that all the females have the same faces, though). as I've told my friend, from what I've played, it's a good game to brag about having but not really much to play.
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video-games_xbox
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A little unpolished, a lot of fun. Just don't call it Oblivion. There are three things I must make clear before I even begin: 1) Yes, we can all admit it: It's flawed. But not as much as you'd think 2) Just because it is an open-world sandbox RPG game, it is not Oblivion. 3) It is still pretty damn fun if you are a fan of RPGs, and relatively fun if you're not.
Also, in trying to rate this I tried to see the game's flaws from other peoples' points of view and found that some things that other people really hated I just didn't mind. I am a fan of RPG games among other genres, but if you're not really all that into RPGs, or you're a real stickler for polish or perfection, you can probably subtract a star from my total rating right off the bat, though I did rate the game as fairly as possible based on what I perceived, how much fun it was, and what I thought was important to have in a game, while at the same time trying to just explain the game in general for those interested in trying it.
So now for the review:
Gameplay:
It's open. Very open. Maybe too open because I found myself accidentally wandering in the wrong direction from the very beginning. The game doesn't really guide you, which is good and bad. In that way I'd say this game is way more like Morrowind than Oblivion. Morrowind gave you true true freedom. RPG fans should enjoy this; I do to an extent. However people whose only RPG experience has been Oblivion may find themselves confused. Also, the learning curve is a little steep- another reason casual gamers might say this game sucks. People should get used to playing this game in third person, although a first person view is available, but only when not wielding a weapon; it's more of a "get a closer look" view. However, this really isn't bad.
Overall though, things are more realistic, again deviating from Oblivion's action-RPG style where you can do anything you want in terms of jumping and sidestepping and you still moved the same speed (a little unrealistic). If you jump from a height higher than a few feet you have to take a second to regain your balance, and when you start to move after standing still, it also takes a second to gain some speed. I like this.. it makes you feel like a person rather than a floating camera or figure. A common complaint is the horses. So horses can't turn on a dime like in Oblivion. Well how often does a horse rotate on its center axis in order to turn in real life? In Oblivion I really didn't like how the horses could have a forward walking animation while rotating in place. Oh and they also rear up and neigh before they hit things (horses have feelings too!) and take some time to gain momentum, so I guess people think it's a bad thing that your horse is no longer a personal hovercraft.
I also like how villages feel like villages and cities feel like cities (by the way there are more settlements overall here than you'll find in TES4). In Oblivion even the Imperial City honestly seemed kind of... dead. For such a supposedly bustling city, there really didn't seem like there was a lot going on, even with the Radiant AI (RAI is something I really do wish this game had though!). The people in Two Worlds don't have the cool schedules they did in Oblivion, but there's busier markets, more talking options, more merchants, more people that give quests, way way way more factions, and just plain more people! However the fact that humans are the only race was a little disappointing.
Also, the world feels a little more alive. Unmodded Oblivion's only non-hostile wildlife consisted of deer, and in a few static locations domestic sheep. Now on top of the usual collection of monsters (of which there's a good variety, from ghouls to wyverns to giant spiders to dragons to whatever you can imagine), bandits, and groms (kind of like a cross between an orc and a goblin), you get rabbits, geese, and chickens roaming around as non-hostiles, and many types of wolves and bears as non-mythical animals, and that's just in the forest-like north. Many more creatures await as you venture further south. There's also a lot more to see in the wilderness, as you stumble upon creatures way more often than in Oblivion, though I don't like that they don't respawn. I did like that monsters are always the same toughness, so when I found myself wandering too far south at the beginning of the game I instantly knew I wasn't supposed to be there, and it felt way more realistic. It was also nice because I knew that I wouldn't be fighting the same monsters all the time, and when I did face lower level monsters it would be more realistic.
The skill system is more basic than in Oblivion, but the addition of lots of skills and about as many types of spells as you'd get in Oblivion makes things interesting (the spell effects are actually NICER; no longer is every single magic attack some sort of colored ball or streak of lightning that gets shot at an enemy). Also fire burns stuff, actually affecting the environment. Nice touch. I still don't like some things, like the combat system to an extent, though the addition of various skills does make it more complex than Oblivion's in some ways.
No load times going into and out of cities and houses are nice, but the more frequent outdoor load times aren't. Also, you can't go into every single house (though you can go into most), and can't raid the random barrels and crates you see (though I never even saw the point when half the things you found in Oblivion in these places had prices of 0 or 1. Yarn? Spoon? Blank Paper? Whats the point of being a thief?).
The main story's not that great, but honestly I haven't really been doing quests for it yet, even after well over ten hours of gameplay. I haven't played the multiplayer yet, so I can't comment on that.
Graphics:
Not as good as I expected but certainly not BAD! They are definitely next-gen. The draw distances are easily comparable to Oblivion's, and the plant-life (grass, bushes, leaves) is abundant and nicely done. However it's not as bright and shiny as Oblivion is, giving kind of an uglier appearance, save for the water and sandy areas. The towns and villages are beautifully designed but a little plain (not very imaginative). I liked the weather effects better though. The fog looks very very nice, and the rain is cool. One thing I really didn't like are the characters. The models themselves aren't bad per se, but they move unnaturally compared to Oblivion. However, they still look a little more realistic than in Oblivion, though Oblivion's characters look nicer in general. Maybe it's just me but the people in oblivion just had something weird about them.. Also I think the textures in some instances are actually better, as are most of the magic effects. Fires actually burn, and spells are more than just a colored ball or an aura of light around you and your arm. Shadow effects are also quite nice. The first cutscene threw me off guard and to me it seemed like the graphics really sucked, but maybe I was just expecting too much. Still, overall the graphics are very nice, and I don't really get what people are complaining about (other than the mediocre frame rate, which isn't quite THAT bad).
Sound:
The music is nice and very appropriate. The sound effects are equally impressive. The voice acting is not. Actually, I think it's the worst in the beginning, maybe because you're not used to it, maybe because it just is. When you're not in cutscenes and just talking to regular townsfolk, it seems to flow better. However, I gotta be honest, it still kinda sucks. The comments various characters make when not engaged in formal conversation, though, seems normal and is actually okay. This makes me wonder where they went wrong with the conversations.. However, given that this game was written in German first, they did a good job converting that into quasi-medieval English. However, like I said, the music and all the other sound effects are what you'd expect, so it's not really all bad.
Overall Pros and Cons:
Pros:
Fun gameplay, open world, non-linear, extensive living world, non-leveled creatures, tons of quests, tons of places, tons of people, tons of guilds, very nice magic system, very nice magic effects, somewhat destructible environment, appropriate music, more realism in terms of physics, pretty good next-gen graphics, interesting skills aren't just gimmicks.
Cons:
Unpolished in more than a few ways, bad voice acting, no real guide to get you going, menu system takes a while to get used to, the game in general takes a while to get used to, I still miss Oblivion's Radiant AI, simplified level-up attributes, map can be a little annoying, added physical realism can be annoying to some, story is a little hard to get into, not horrible but still doesn't live up to the hype.
Conclusion:
The appeal with Oblivion was that it was fun for anyone. Anybody, even those who never played RPGs before could easily find fun in the game, while hardcore RPGers were still happy with it because of it's depth. However, those hardcore RPGers no doubt found many flaws with Oblivion, including the creature leveling system, the simplification of a lot of things since its predecessor, Morrowind, and many minor annoyances which aren't worth discussing right here. In fact, Two Worlds shares a lot more with Morrowind than Oblivion, except the improved graphics. Why are people even calling this an Oblivion clone? That would be like calling Oblivion a Morrowind clone; I mean they both have 3d graphics, open free-roaming environments, non-linear story progression and gameplay, hundreds of quests... Sound familiar? This gameplay style's been around for a while guys, so stop the unfair pointing of fingers.
When I first picked Two Worlds up, I was disappointed. Very disappointed, mostly because of all of the hype surrounding it. But I didn't give up; I gave the game more time and I realized that even though it's not as polished and not quite as fluid as Oblivion, I still can't put it down. It's a decent game, and it really is fun. Do I just really really like RPGs to the point that I don't see what other people see as wrong? I don't know. It's up to you whether you like the game or not, and if you try it and end up not liking it, then that's perfectly okay.
As you can see, I think there are a lot of cons to stack up against all those pros. I happen to not really care that much about some of them, while others are easy to overcome. It just depends on what bothers you and what you life. So it's not as polished.. does that honestly make it not fun? If you really don't like it, I can't blame you, but you're missing out on a good game.
Also if this helps, my girlfriend REALLY didn't like this game when she first started playing. Now she takes it back and compliments things like automatically being able to compare any weapon or piece of armor you're thinking of picking up or buying to what you currently have equipped, the magic system which she likes way better than Oblivion's, being able to use a health or mana potion instantly and independently, and the fact that it's actually pretty fun once you get used to it. She used to be a naysayer, but the game grew on her, though she certainly still has her complaints about the game. Maybe it will grow on you too.
UPDATE:
After playing for a little longer, I've come up with a few more things to say. For people worried about the whole enemies don't respawn thing, after you kill enemies, when you pass their old location there's a chance a "ghost" enemy will appear in their place. The ghost is a little harder and is immune to normal weapons, as you'd expect. Not bad, although its body disappears and doesn't drop anything. Also, I've seen people compare the graphics to PS2 and original Xbox. Just to compare I ran the game with Oblivion right after another on a 1080p 52" Sony TV. With these settings, Oblivion is still prettier overall, but NOT BY MUCH! The draw distances actually are better in Two Worlds, though there's less pop-up in Oblivion. Other than that, the differences are minimal. Have the people comparing this to PS2 graphics even played this game? Oh yes, the frame rate still SUCKS but if that's your only reason for saying graphics overall suck, then maybe you're too jaded; it really is just a minor annoyance, and unless you look for it, you barely notice it. On top of that, after having conversations and more interactions with NPCs, they do go to sleep and kind of have daily life cycles like Oblivion NPCs did, but definitely not to the same extent. They sleep, they chop wood, they sit down, etc, but they do seem to go into random houses that are definitely not their own. The crime and punishment system is a little more realistic, if you keep running from the guards before they even talk to you they'll get fed up and just attack you. You also have the option of being run out of town, as crimes committed in one town do not have bearing in any other town, which I did and didn't like. Also, although the main story isn't that great, the NPC's have quite a bit to say about what's going on in their land in general, with each city offering many different lines of gossip, and even more questions to ask regarding the gossip. You can ask merchants how their sales are going, and ask questions relating to specific cities, rather than just a single "Rumors" conversation topic. Some of the stuff they say is actually interesting, and some of it is actually humorous, but not all. The voice acting also seems to get better the more people you talk to. However, the dungeons and caves in the game seem small and definitely do not compare to the various "dungeons" (caves, mines, forts, ruins, etc) in Oblivion. That's something they should have improved on. I am still having fun with this game, and would still recommend it to RPG fans, as long as they can see past the few annoyances and lack of polish.
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video-games_xbox
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I Got a Review Copy. IT SLAYS!! (in a good way. I got a copy in the mail last Thursday, Aug. 15. I've just finished the first cemetery level after going through Sunnydale High and the Bronze. Short review: It's amazing. The graphics are incredible. The voice acting is great -- you'd never know the lead voice actress isn't Sarah Michelle Gellar. And the rest of the voices ARE the original cast. And the dialogue is on par with the show (Sample line: When a female vampire kills you, she says, "I always wanted to know what it was like to do it with a girl. Now I know what all the hype was about.") So far the story is great, too. It's like getting a "Lost" classic episode from Season 3. So far the plot goes like this: Dru has been kidnapped by some powerful demon force and Spike is being forced into doing its bidding, which is to resurrect and rebuild the Master's cult. Probably in an effort to revive the Master since he pops up on every "Loading" screen. As for gameplay, it is loads of fun. The stake is your primary weapon but you can also use a crossbow for distance sniping and there are lots of sharp jagged wooden planks ("Oooh! Pointy!") and convenient fires or explosive chemicals drums. I just received the watergun from Xander and haven't been able to give it a try yet but I am jonesing for it. It will shoot holy water or hellfire. You can also combine the holy water with elixirs for full power-ups or combine holy water or hellfire with crossfire bolts to make super arrows. For the most part, the gameplay is great. The controls aren't hard. Very responsive. Simple combos that aren't bewildering for those of us who weren't Mortal Kombat fans. You get new combos from Giles the farther along you go. You pick up crystals along the way to bring to Willow and she will charge them up to give you more health and Slayer capacity. So far, the cemetery level was my favorite. There is a big spectre who looms over the cemetery shooting out "lightning" that resurrects zombie skeletons everywhere. Plus there are the vamps to contend with. The enemy AI isn't too hard but not too easy either. (Hint for the railyard battle with Spike behind the Bronze: Wait for him to jump and hit him in mid-air.) But I was impressed with the fact that the "gardener" vampire in the cemetery level will pick up items like shovels if you drop them and will use them against you. Smart monster. Oh, and one helpful hint that would have helped me because I was stuck forever on this part: When you get to the long hallway at the end of the Bronze level that has the invincible vampire with the chestplate on, don't fight him. Run to one end of the hallway and find a door you'll be able to flee through. ...
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video-games_xbox
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Awesome Hack n' Slash. Halo notwithstanding, this has to be my favorite game for the Xbox 360. This game so freakin' awesome! It's certainly the most violent game on the 360 - definitely not for kids! But that's a bonus in my book. This game is built from the ground up for the hardcore gamer, for sure!
That said, I have to agree with most of the other reviewers here. I loved Ninja Gaiden Black, so I had high hopes for Ninja Gaiden 2. And while it is still a spectacular game, there are a few glaring flaws where it just comes up short. So lets get those out of the way first, shall we?
THE BAD THINGS:
1. A nonsensical story. I'm sorry, but none of the story really makes any darn sense. Especially when compared to the first game. All the story boils down to is just a flimsy excuse to string a bunch of unrelated levels together. So don't pay much attention to it. Also, I thought Ryu's whole family was dead. Was that not established in the first game? Again, you just gotta ignore this stuff and enjoy the game for what it is. The game is about ACTION. Forget everything else!
2. Too many bland environments. While enemies are lavishly detailed, the environments are often hit and miss. Some are quite beautiful. But then in the very next one you are walking down some drab hallway or cave that looks like something straight out of a PS1. Seems like the environments in NGB were a lot more detailed. They at least had a lot more thought put into them. There was a lot of climbing and 3D thinking involved. Not in this game.
3. Bad instructions. The manual is bare bones, which is fine. But I wish I had had some explanation of how to use Ninja Cinema at least. I finally figured out how to download some of the videos from the people on the leaderboard, but I still can't figure out how to upload videos. It always says, "You are not ranked on this leaderboard". What the heck does that mean? I AM ranked! I may be ranked 6,999 out of 7,000 but by God, I'm still ranked!
4. Slowdown. Yes, there is some slowdown, which I found surprising. This game pushes the Xbox to the limits it seems. That's all well and good until the action mounts up. In reality this rarely happens though. Just enough for you to notice it on occasion. After a while, you don't notice it at all.
5. Limited wall jumping. This is big for me. In NGB, one of the most important fighting techniques was wall jump attacks and spamming Flying Swallows. Not in this game. It seems they have tried to penalize players like me by taking almost all climbable surfaces away. It especially becomes noticeable in the Trial challenges and the boss battles. Like it or not, you're pretty much ground-bound.
6. No story in mission mode. Mission mode is great, but it is Xbox Live DLC, so you'll have to buy it separately. I didn't mind that at all, and it is definitely worth the money. But while Mission Mode from NGB contained a complete mini-story toward the end, you won't find anything like that here. It's fairly bare-bones.
7. Glitches. My game froze two or three times. No big deal, but still annoying. Especially once when it was right at the end of finishing a level, and I had to do it over again. What a bummer.
8. Way too linear. Unlike NGB, NG2 has virtually no exploration. That game had more open levels and lots of places where you had to think in three dimensions. Here, you're just level grinding from one hallway to the next. And while taking all the thought out of it does let you just concentrate on the fighting, it's still kind of annoying. You would think game developers would be better at this by now.
9. No unlockables. This is a big one for me. The Xbox Ninja Gaiden included all 3 NES games as unlockables. NGB included the Arcade game. This game has got NOTHING. That is totally inexcuseable! Expecially considering how cheap and easy it is to incorporate that old source code. Maybe this is because the game was produced through Microsoft, not Techmo. I don't know why, but whatever the reason, it leaves me feeling irritated. This game should have had SOMETHING, dang it! IMO, it should have had all four!
10. DLC Skins. What the heck? In NGB, skins were an unlockable reward for being an awesome player. But now you have to pay for them through Xbox Live! How annoying is that? It just further underscores the "no unlockables" problem.
11. Too much boobage. Yeah, yeah... I know a lot of guys will disagree with me here. But I've gotta say, I honestly do NOT like seeing every female in these games depicted with double-D size breasts! There. I said it. The giant cleavage is distracting. It's annoying. And frankly, it's demeaning to women. A real woman - one who was capable of the gymnastics that the female heroines do in these games - would likely have so little body fat that she would have hardly any breasts at all. I know, I know... this is only a game. We're not trying to be realistic here. But is it really necessary for game developers to treat all women like nothing more than sex objects? I just can't stand how Team Ninja does this, and they do it in all their games. (Get real, guys! Stop treating your game audience like we're all super-horny teenage boys.)
THE GOOD THINGS:
1. Cool villains. I liked the enemies in this game. They were varied, and all pretty fun to play against. Yeah, some were cheap. But what would a NG game be without enemies taking cheap shots?
2. More blood and increased carnage. It ain't rated "M" for nothing, baby! This game is VIOLENT. A LOT more violent than the first one. Blood spews and sprays, body parts fly, and heads roll. Definitely not a game you want to buy for your 8 year old nephew. It's tons of fun, though :)
3. Obliteration techniques. You've still got Ultimate techniques, which look cool as ever. But now you also have the finishing moves, called Obliteration techniques. These are easy and fun to pull off, and sweet to watch.
5. Interesting new weapons. I liked most of the new weapons. It has some really neat ones, like the Kusuri-gama, which is chain-and-sickle affair. And the Eclipse Sycthe, which is somewhat similar in execution to the Dark Dragon Blade, or the Unlabored Flawlessness. (That weapon rules. Once you find it, you pretty much have no need to use any other weapon ever again.) Some weapons from NGB are missing and some make a return, like the Lunar Staff. I did miss the Nunchucks, but the Tonfa make up for that somewhat.
6. Awesome new Ninpo. I disagree with others here who say that the new Ninpo is worthless. I think they are all pretty neat, and awesome to use. I found each one suited to specific situations, and used them all. Art of the Inferno is still a fave, of course. But Art of the Piercing Void has its uses too. Also, the new screen effects for Ninpo use are beautiful - they are a VERY nice addition! The ninpo has to aimed now, but so what? If anything, that at least adds a LITTLE skill to it :)
7. A long game. It is not short, so you do get your money's worth.
8. A good camera. Unlike others, I have no complaints about the camera. It usually put me where I wanted to be. Only tricky part was on the rope climbs, but no biggie.
9. Mission Mode. This is super-fun and well-worth its price as Xbox Live Downloadable Content. It includes 24 missions. Of those, 16 are "Karma Attack" missions and 8 are "Survival" missions. All are super-hard and challenging. In Survival, you are given a unique weapon with which to face unending waves of enemies, with your goal to rack up enough karma before dying to get the medals. There is 500,000 for Steel, 1,000,000 for Bronze, 1,500,000 for Gold, and finally, the Ultra-HARD-to-get 2,000,000 karma for Gold! It is a TON of fun, if you enjoy that kind of thing.
10. Leaderboards. It's fun to see where you rank with your friends on the leaderboards. It is quite astonishing to see how much karma some of the top players have. Those guys must play the game 16 hours a day, every day.
11. Ninja cinema. This too was a nice addition, once you figure it out. It allows you to record clips of yourself. It is best used during boss fights or during Mission Mode, where you can replay your victory afterwards to feel that rush again (only a little more relaxed this time!). It is fun to watch yourself play, and enjoy seeing how awesome a player you are :) The classic cinema filter was nice, too.
12. Xbox Live Achievements. These are always fun, no matter what game. And NG2's do not disappoint.
13. Bone-crushingly difficult. This could be good or bad, depending on your point of view. I thought the first half of the game was super-easy. But then the difficultly level suddenly ratcheted up to unbelievable proportions. Toward the end of the game, I honestly felt like throwing in the towel. I mean, all the never-ending multiple boss fights with no save stations start wearing on your nerves after a while. And when you are dying OVER and OVER, it gets a little disheartening sometimes. But I hung in there. And with the help of youtube, I made it through. Now I've walked the Way of the Warrior, and beaten all the Missions too! "Yeah, that's nothing," some of you may say. Well, you are better than I then, my friend! This game is HARD. I mean, punch you in the stomach and knock you out HARD!
THE CONCLUSION:
The game does have a few flaws. Some parts feel a little rushed, like they could have worked on some stuff more but they just ran out of time. But the fighting is polished.
And really, I just can't talk about this game without comparing it to Ninja Gaiden Black. Ninja Gaiden Black was perfection. This game is not. Great, yes. But just a little shy of perfection. Of course, If you've never played Ninja Gaiden Black, then maybe you won't even notice. Or care. In any case, I give it 4.75 stars out of 5.
It is worth buying, definitely worth playing. Nothing can quite match the awesomeness you feel when you charge up Ryu and watch him go apes--- on everyone. Will there be a Ninja Gaiden 3? I sure hope so!
Remember, Honor the Way of the Ninja!
And Peace out, Ninja dogs! Word.
-TCG
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video-games_xbox
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A Good Intro to Adventurer Gaming. (I bought the PS4 version but i can assume safely they are pretty similar.)
There are 6 cases to solve in this game. Each one took about 2-3 hours to complete not including the 4th case The Abbey Grange Affair which took about an hour to complete when i took my time. But the thing that makes this game interesting is that whenever you get enough evidence to accuse someone your welcome to do so, and its your own wit that or curiosity that keeps you going to see the case to the conclusion.
The good:
*Cases have been interesting and varied. All being murder mysteries besides for one.
*You can skip any puzzle so if your in it for the story just push that touch pad. But, most puzzles make sense and are a fun to solve, unlike the last Sherlock game, Testaments.
*Controls have been greatly improved since the last game. You still walk past what your interested in, but other then that way better. I could actually click on what i wanted too.
* Voice acting is good, but there are moments when people speak like they are in adventure games.
* Theres actually a list of objective during the each case but they are wide enough that you still have to do the investigating to solve the crime while narrow enough to dive you much need direction in knowing which area to go to next.
The blah:
*The moral system that is used at the end of the case really doesnt seem to matter much unless you choose the right person. The other people you just get a very slight change to the dialog.
* Multiple endings, seems to be more of a selling point rather then anything of real interest.
* Each cases story was interesting kind of, but nothing to ponder on afterwards.
* The cases are completely separate, so the story is as well.
The bad:
*Watson remains to be useless. What should we do next Sherlock? Is his usual question when I asked him for advise.
* As the cases built to a climax they all seemed to pitter out at the end.
* The whatever amount of endings each chapter has comes down to usually just line changes and nothing really interesting to watch. Pretty disappointed in that. Unless its the actual baddy then the ending video and slight variation.
* Load screen, if you are one to hate load screen then be warned. There are tons and youll need to switch between areas almost constantly it seems. You can do stuff like look at clues when you in a load screen but if your already doing that during you normal game play then it will feel redundant.
* Finding your cursor when holding objects can be a huge challenge and one of the reasons why I found puzzles difficult not because it was stumping me in the first place.
Summary:
It felt more like an episodic downloadable game rather then rather then a fully interconnected piece. Like it was trying to be Walking dead at 60$ (PS4/Xbox One Price). Over all a good game. I feel its more of a 40$ game, for thats the PC price, but if you an adventure game fan like me then its plenty worth it.
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video-games_xbox
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Destroy Them. Mercenaries 2 is an open world, third person shooter for the XBOX 360. This is the sequel to the sleeper hit, Mercenaries (mercs) that came out with the last gen consoles near the end of their popularity. A lot of its fans claim that the first game was better, but I have to disagree. Also you should be aware that this game is ARCADEY, this is not a realistic game! This is not a simulation like GRAW or RS6 or COD.
In Mercenaries, you can pick from three different character mercenaries (mercs) and they each have a unique advantage over the other characters: Mattias, can regenerate health faster than the others, Chris can carry more ammunitions, and Jen can run faster on foot than the others. The storyline, missions and the game's ending however, remains the same for all of the characters regardless of whom you choose to play as.
The story is one of its weakest points, but the gameplay more than makes up for it. In the previous Mercs game your character drowned if they went into the water, you couldn't pilot boats and trees were indestructible and impassable. In this sequel, your character can swim on water and even pilot all types of boats! Trees and bushes can be destroyed and are passable with any land vehicle. These are minor improvements but they make the open world experience more enjoyable.
The game is open world which means you can go just about anywhere and do about anything you want. You can choose to play campaign missions or side missions by going to any faction that is friendly towards you. The factions are: Universal Petroleum (UP),Venenzuel (VZ), Pirates, PLAV and VZ (whom are always hostile), Allied Nations (AN) and Chinease also become available later into the game.
Aside from doing side missions for friendly factions, you can buy weapons from them by going to their shop. You can also take weapons from dead friendlies or enemies that drop them to the ground. There are also bombs and airstrikes which can be found through out the world map (they have unlimited respawns for free!) You can buy vehicles at the shop too, but you also have the option to hi-jack any vehicle in the game; as long as you don't anger a friendly faction.
The number of varied vehicles and weapons is enourmous! All the standard stuff are there such as: smgs, rpgs, c4, lmg, grenades, but the airstrikes and the destruction they cause are a sight to behold! Buildings crumble, walls break down, vehicles demolish all in a blaze fire and dust. The explosions and destruction that you can cause is amazing. And best of all you can play co-operatively online with another person!
What are the bad points of the game? The game has a lot of little glitches offline, such as floating objects and stupid AI. The major gameplay glitches seem to occur online co-op play which is kind of bad but do not occur all of the time. Hopefully the game's developer will fix these issues with patches. The graphics and animations look like a last gen game and need to be update for a nextgen title.
Aside from the glitches, If you like open world gameplay, third person shooters or arcadey gameplay, I do recommend Mercenaries 2 though I think there is lots of room for improvements in the future.
Pros:
+open world gameplay
+two player co-op
+destroy just about anything
+great explosions
+best airstrikes in video game
+lots of weapons
+lots of vehicles
+you can swim and pilot boats
+hijack any vehicle
+cool side missions
+campy humor
Cons:
-cannot fly planes
-lots of glitches
-no customizable characters
-no multiplayer
-last gen graphics
-weak story
-short campaign
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video-games_xbox
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A very thin game with a lot of promises. I came from Rockband 1 and 2 days from 2007-2009 before my 2nd xbox 360 died and i gave up on microsoft. I heard rockband 3 was coming out and decided to forgo it until recently...
Rockband 4 is a very thin and rushed game, however they keep with the original formula for success.
Cons:
No Multiplayer (cmon. this is 2015. not 1995)
Everyone gets bass groove mode (what makes bass unique? this was the only cool feature for being a backup guitarist essentially)
Freestyle mode (this is a pro as well, but basically you can put down your guitar during a hard/impossible solo and still pass)
No customization for your character (masculine or feminine)
Same GFX (although it is meant to be a cartoony game, the polygons look as dated as the 360)
Poor song choices (this can be subjective, but I see 4 songs I like in the entire pack)
Instruments need firmware update (the ability to firmware update is a pro though)
Prioritizing Rockband 3 over 1 or 2 (THIS is a legit gripe. Rockband 3 didn't do well for a reason. I would have returned to the roots of RB1 and 2 later scheduling 3)
Buggy (voice lag, missed hits with the drums, and random crash for empty songs)
Easy Mode is harder than rb1 and rb2 titles. (this is a problem. If you compare easy mode where anyone could pick up an instrument and play, with the new titles.... easy in rb4 is equivalent to medium in rb1 and 2. It does not matter to me as I gold starred green grass high tides, flirtin with disaster and such, but it may frustrate new people)
Rockband 1 and 2 exports are long gone. - I had to purchase RB3 last minute just to get my RB2 exports before they expired. If you exported to RB2 though, then your RB1 songs should be fine.
PROS:
Freestyle mode (if you have a party, any 6 year old kid will enjoy it) - this can also be turned off
Backwards compatibility (all the old DLC is available, and future releases will allow our previous rb exports save for the beatles)
Back to the basics (rather than release a convoluted rockband we could care less about or wasn't of interest like the keytar, they used the same simple winning formula)
New Gen Console Support (i don't have to buy another 360 that is guaranteed to ROD on me)
Instruments are FAR superior to RB 1 and mildly more-so than RB 2 - up-dateable through micro usb and a laptop is a nice change
A ton of potential! if harmonix allows multiplayer, rb1 and rb2 exports i think it is worth the price justification just to stay with new-gen consoles.
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video-games_xbox
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take over stupid little towers for no apparent reason. I've been putting off writing a review in hopes the game would actually get better- but it does not. It's basically the same as Far Cry 3; take over stupid little towers for no apparent reason, liberate outposts, collect the items spread across the map. Driving is terrible. From handling to vehicles, it's just a complete mess. The first thing I noticed about this game is that you STILL cannot shoot out the tires of enemies. Ridiculous! This game should have been $30 when it hit the shelves. There is much to complain about here, mainly driving and map-related. It doesn't feel like you're even doing missions! It doesn't feel like you're driving despite toggling controls! Auto drive? Why.. The map is still as annoying as Far Cry 3. It will seem like you're right over top of an object or destination and, hmm.. Oh, there it is! 10-15 feet away from where it actually should be.
I used to love this franchise. I spent hours on the original computer version and XBox versions. Evolution was probably the only XBox game I actually liked besides Breakdown. The just completely ruined it after this. I bought the one for Wii despite being just Instincts and Evolution because I wanted to use the map editor and possibly find out how to transfer maps I'd spent weeks on, low and behold they completely just took that whole aspect out of the Wii version, no online period. When 360 came along I got Far Cry 2 and it was just unplayable if you shot someone- even by accident, you were then just running everywhere you went with endless soldiers on your tail. Far Cry 3 I thought maybe they're do it right and give the map editor and online the justice it deserved. Of course not.
Back to this release- Online coop mode sucks. You can help another player further their progress and gain nothing in return. It's kinda like just making a new account and leaving your progress behind. Another waste of money. Very boring. UbiSoft lost their touch long ago, I have to quit allowing myself to relive when they used to be good for the gaming industry. They gloat about animals fighting for you; a glitchy elephant walks over to a car, moves its' head, a slight pause and the car begins to flip looking very dull and choppy as the elephant has already turned away. The gyro-copter-thing, well, take a look down at the 2d trees that follow your character's vision like Super Nintendo graphics. I would be embarrassed to allow flying objects when you can't even get trees right. Seriously, they're flat! It looks horrible! Wing suit, holy crap! I thought they'd have seen that IT DOESN'T WORK! It just messes you up! The radio repeats soo much. I mean really, you hear it, get out of the vehicle, hop back in and it repeats the same segment you just heard. Literally. There's an option to turn it off in the pause menu but of course, it doesn't work. You'll have to manually turn off the radio every single time out enter a vehicle. Karma events such as hostage rescues (I thought the hostage aspect was a great addition) show up without warning and there's really no chance of clearly things up correctly. Later in the game my health just stopped filling when healing which is really annoying. I'm playing on the hardest difficulty and it's really just the same as easy.
VERY often your ammo will just suddenly disappear and you'll have to pay for more, even when doing missions such as bringing a cargo truck back to a liberated outpost. It will claim to refill your ammo then you go in to a safe house and for some reason you can get a 20% discount on ammo? Also, scroll over all the way to the last tab and randomly grenades, sniper ammo, etc will just be gone. Also the guns for hire tokens disappear randomly too. I noticed that because I stocked up on everything and have never even used the guns for hire tokens but low and behold they were all just gone. The map follows your vehicle, not your character. That's another thing that really gets on my nerves. Sometimes in a gun battle while driving it gets stuck with your gun up and you run into walls because the controls have just changed on you. There's no 'snap back' to the forward facing position while in vehicles so that is also crap. No horn, replaced with that pointless auto drive that never works right.
The graphics are unpolished and just don't look very good. Reading over comments here people mention how good they are while all the time I was complaining in my mind about how bad they looked for a new game at the end of a console's life span. The screenshots on this page are obviously not taken from the XBox 360 version. If they were, you'd see pixelated characters on a barely visible depth of field. Far Cry 3 was better than this one on all levels, even though I didn't like it much either. The syringe mechanics really mess you up in battle and it's a really stupid concept to begin with. I thought for sure they'd go back and see what a mistake it was, possibly fix it in the new release. I despise this game. After looking forward to it despite the past let downs. "MASSIVE OPEN WORLD" - This land is basically empty. I've seen a lot of undeserved praise over this game and I still fail to recognize anything that is actually good about it. Boss fights go into that same old poorly generated "acid trip" that just looks awful and there's really no fight to it. Suddenly that boss is just gone. Especially the bad guy- he's not too frightening. I just see him as a homosexual in a constant hissy-fit that no one in real life would take crap from to begin with. The story line, "I-I'm just here to spread my mother's ashes". I just started busting out laughing about how pathetic that was. Why can you not skip these pointless cut scenes!? Point to point races, unrealistic hunts.. This game, it's just terrible. Maybe if they didn't just slap it all together in a year they'd be getting somewhere. 1 star for effort (mostly due to the fact that I can't give zero stars). It's absolutely one of the worst releases of the year. Or I should say, 'beta releases' as they released it basically unplayable without updating.
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video-games_xbox
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The game is fun, the hardware is crap. Nobody seems to be talking about this, so I'm going to. To connect the wireless controllers that come with this game to your wireless-controller-compatible game, you need one dongle for each controller. I get the reason for requiring a dongle; the controller is system-independent, so it doesn't natively sync to one console type. What I don't get is why they didn't let you sync two controllers to a single dongle.
I'd just like to point out how much of a hassle this is for Xbox One owners. The Xbox One has a single front-accessible USB port, and only 2 ports on the back. That means that for people like me with entertainment centers, who can't easily pull out their deeply-rooted console to access the back, plugging in a second controller is a colossal pain (not to mention the difficulty other people might face if their ports are in use by hard drives or other devices). The problem is exacerbated by the fact that you need to physically press a button on the dongle to sync the controller, and my controllers refused to stay synced to the system if I moved literally further than about 3-5 feet away. It is possible that I have a defective controller or dongle, but I was not able to get both controllers synced at once. Syncing one would desync the other. I was finally able to get a single controller hooked up, and was able to trade off with my friend in single-player mode to try it out, so long as we sat on the edge of my couch. Leaning back caused lag and frequently left the controller freaking out trying to get a connection. It struggled so hard even with a single controller that I can't even imagine how it could work with two.
I really hate the idea that it could be a hardware issue. If it is, and I contact the company, they'll probably want me to send back the controller, and it no longer fits in the box that it came in because the neck of the new guitars, once installed, is not made to be removed (as stated in the instructions). So I'll have to go out and purchase a larger box and padding, pay to ship it back to the company, then wait probably at least 2 weeks for them to get it and send me a new one, then hope that somehow a new controller fixes the issues (which is unlikely, since keeping a connection with the game is difficult even with the guitar that sortof works). This is an immense hassle and timesink for me, and it's not even my error. I didn't pre-order this game with two controllers and release-day shipping to have to wait weeks for this to be resolved (possibly).
But I'm not completely unfair. The game is definitely interesting with the little bit I was capable of playing. I don't play guitar, and the new button layout is very tricky to get used to (used to play hard mode on the previous games well), but it is a welcome change-up and I could see myself getting better at it. My friend, who does play guitar, found it easier. The tutorials were painfully long and unskippable, but the game's visuals and live music and the like were really cool. I'd love this game if the hardware actually worked.
So tl;dr: Game is fun, but hardware issues galore (completely barring me from multiplayer), and extreme oversight requiring multiple dongles on a system with only 3 ports.
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video-games_xbox
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A 10-megaton blast of nostalgia on a disc. Ah yes, the ol' Sega Genesis, beloved originator of "blast processing" that "does what Nintendon't." You gotta love the great console wars of the early 1990's. They truly gave birth to some epic moments in gaming. For those out there like myself who grew up playing Sega Genesis games at home and have a weakspot for nostalgic blasts from the past, this collection is a Godsend. There isn't much to say about this collection that hasn't already been said in great detail, but I felt it to be a worthy endeavor to add my voice to the legion that is Sega fans.
What you get when you pay for this collection is essentially 40 Sega Genesis classics, as well as 9 extra bonus games you can unlock, some of which are arcade titles and others of which are Sega Master System games. Most of these games really are timeless classics too: Sonic 1-Knuckles, Ristar, Shining Force 1 and 2, Phantasy Star 2-4 (and the Sega Master system version of 1), Vectorman, Ecco the Dolphin, Dynamite Heady, Comix Zone, Golden Axe 1-3, I mean the list goes on and on. The games here range from serious smash hit titles to very obscure, lesser known gems that should have been hits. It's a great collection that will offer hours and hours of nostalgic fun and truly memorable experiences. There's also a large variety of games here, taken from all sorts of genres that were prevalent at the time.
The Genesis was a system with fantastically unique hardware. I mean, the music alone is magic in electronic form, truly. Obviously, the graphics have aged and some better than others, but like a fine wine, most have aged quite well and that adds to their charm. What's even more amazing is just how timeless the gameplay is in most of these gaming darlings. To be honest, I'm quite stunned at just how much most of these games have retained their "freshness." Granted, most games are over two decades old, but still, these games play way better than I expected them to. That could be attributed to the stupendous work done to port these games onto the disc. The games have been worked on so that they output in HD. Now, the graphics aren't better, but the colors are definitely very vibrant and you don't have the infamous SD lines going across the screen. Beautiful, colorful games like Ristar never looked so good. The controls also work very well on the 360 controller too. Sega and Backbone Entertainment did a very good job making sure these games play and control exceptionally well. Bravo!
Also worth mentioning is the fact that there are quite a few extras you can unlock. There are nine additional games that are quite easy to unlock. These range from arcade games that eventually became Genesis titles, such as Altered Beast, as well as some famous Sega series that started on the Sega Master System, such as the first Phantasy Star. That was really nice to see on here. There is also a gallery of sorts on the disc, where you can view nice little advertising/marketing pictures of each game, as well as neat, informative fun-facts about each game and its history. There are also bonus things such as interviews that give insight into that time period in Sega's history. All of these are really nice extras for Sega scholars out there. Overally, Sega really went all-out to give one of their shining achievements the treatment it deserves, and I really respect that.
The very first video games I ever played as a child were on the Genesis my family had at home. I grew up with a healthy diet of awesome Sega treats. Now, all these years later I have my own home with my own family, and to play these titles on my 360 at home really packs a nostalgic punch in the heart. I have such a soft spot for those old classics. My wife, on the other hand, grew up with a SNES at home instead and was blessed with all of the truly magical titles that graced Nintendo's awesome 16-bit counterpart to the Genesis. Even she, who has never really known Sega's quality first-hand until now, has loved becoming acquainted with it with me from this collection. Two very different experiences, same great opinion of this collection. That's just awesome.
This disc was truly a divine gift. To top it all off, this collection is a mere $20 these days, sometimes less. That's less than 50 cents a game! To contrast this, Phantasy Star IV was nearly $100 at launch, so this collection is seriously a fantastic value! I really can't recommend this collection enough, whether you're a gamer who was significantly impacted by this sweet system of blast processing, or you're a gamerly scholar who is interested in a genuinely thrilling and fascinating pocket of video gaming history, this is a great purchase. Buy it, crank up your speakers and put on your early 1990 goggles, and travel back to a truly wonderful, memorable era in gaming.
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video-games_xbox
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Best Game ever made. Iam am very surprised that someone else didn't make a game like Starwars Battlefront, Its very fun and addicting indeed. First off if you think this game wouldnt be much fun before you tried it think again.
I mean who doesnt want to play with tons of diffrent soilder including soildiers from the empire republic the rebels and sepritist. Each of these has there own favorite characters, For the Empire you get a guy who has a jet pack which you can shoot up really fast and pop down behing some one and shoot them with your shotgun laser gun.
for the republic you get a guy like the empires that has a jet pack but doest shoot up really fast instead you get to control your guy when flying around he holds a lot of gerdades and has a missle laucher.
The rebels have the Wookies and he has a gerdade launcher that shoots gerdades, the Wookies in this game are very toufh and have mines.
The sepritist have the Destroyer droids you know the ones that look like a rolie pollie, they have rechagble shields and move fast only in that mode were the role, they can not order characters and carry gernades.
Cammand in over 20 vehlicals like the sepritist tanks, tie fighter xwings, and a asorment of turrets some big some small.
Fight battles in many diffrent worlds, like kaimino, tatooine,genoisis, Yavin 4, bespin (cloud city), Naboo, Hoth, ren var and more.
Fight with the ewokes and wookies, have a jedi master be on your side with your troops, like Darth Vader, Doouke,luke sky walker,
and mace windu. sadly you don't get to play them, but they are ivincble.
You can tell some of your troops what to do like follow you, or stay put, and move out. Have 200 to 250 of your guys on the battle field.
Exclusive footage from the first five films.
On the battle field it's huge and the maps are enormus.
has excellent graphics,
The characters movements make it more life like,
Massive online battles.
only thing bad about the game is the compters or AI are kinda stupid you throw a gernade the will keep running at it and don't try to get away and take cover. Besides that its awsome!
Hope you have fun!!
Jesse.
(...)
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video-games_xbox
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Lost Its Great "Origins" Feel -- "OK" Game. I'm going to start off by saying that I loved the first game. Here are some changes I've noticed. With that said, I had no expectations for the second game because I know the second time around, it's hard to deliver the same magic as the original. I could break down the entire game for you, but I'm only going to give you an overall summary of my adventure as a one "Hawke."
The game is centered around a man telling the story of your adventures as they play out. Fans who enjoyed the different race choices will be disappointed to know that you are only allowed to play as a human, though you can pick your own class in the beginning. You can import a save (though not a character) from Dragon Age: Origins.
Behold, your hero now speaks! And along with conversations are corresponding pictures and colors to let you know just what kind of conversation choice you are selecting. Like Origins, you are allowed to woo your companions (two male and female companions). Don't expect a campfire this time around though; this is something that I very much missed. Apparently in this game the companions were going to feel "like family." I didn't get close to feeling anything about any of the characters, except one. ONE. In order to speak to your companions, you must travel to their houses or bases NO MATTER IF THEY ARE IN YOUR PARTY. Forget the nice campfire atmosphere, at least it was convenient having everyone in one place but now they're all 1-2 loading screens away. I tried to feel something for these people, but they didn't cut it for me.
I'm not sure if I only experienced this, but in *both* games I randomly experienced a spike in difficulty. I started the game on Normal and all of a sudden it was as if I turned the difficulty to "Nightmare". It would be nice to stay on Normal for the whole game for once in these games.
You are allowed to hand *some* weapons over to your party, but only ones that are not specified for you (and almost all are). You are no longer allowed to equip your party with newer armor or robes no matter how superior to their current outfit it may be. You are, however, allowed to upgrade their armor *if* you find the "item" in shops.
The main course: The story... the story wasn't great in my opinion. It could have been so much more epic, and it jumped around main events like a flopping fish that made it feel like everything that happened was for nothing. There was no mention of the past, no sense of accomplishment nor any acknowledgement. In Origins, Ferelden felt like a real world, where every town was intertwined with the story. The quests were so dreadfully boring for me, most of the time I didn't care to know what I was doing, I was just having fun barging through people with my shield. The quests were very forgettable (to say the least) compared to the first game. I loved knowing what end goal I was working toward, with this game you aren't doing anything as epic as fighting darkspawn and becoming the hero of Ferelden.
I'm going to look at this as a bad sequel because Bioware, you can really do better. I'm disappointed.
Overall Recommendation: RENT. If you really want to try it for yourself, rent it. Not worth the full price.
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video-games_xbox
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Breakin' Da Rules- RULES. This game was purchased for my little boy who is almost 4. He likes the show so we thought this game would be a cute addition to our xbox collection. It turns out and the game is EXCELLENT! My husband (almost 30 and myself 26) are hooked to playing this game! Our son loves to watch us play it and gets a huge laugh out of it. I have played games I liked better than this one and the graphics are somewhat lacking quality for what I would have expected- but there are so many good things about this game that I feel the purchase was a good one.
First off about the game- Vicky gets a hold of DA RULES book and anything she wishes happens, so Timmy has to go through lots of crazy stages! There is different stages you can select to play. Timmy can choose to play as the mini crimson chin where he is dressed in the red crimson chin outfit to fight crime and Timmy gets has a laser type gun to shoot. Another funny stage Timmy gets to play inside a real video game called the Vicky Virus where he and his friends are stuck inside the game, Timmy has to save his friends! The one we thought was the most funny stage was when Vicky wished that Timmys bathroom was spotless and Timmy turns into a small microscopic player, as small as a germ and he is dressed in this white suit to keep him from getting bacteria on him, he has to fight against grime, grease and soap scum! He has to spray the soap scum clean- when he sprays the icky green soap scum they turn into a white smiling happy soap bubble! Its crazy!
This game is like the tv show and if you beat the game there is suppose to be a bonus episode of The Fairly Oddparents- which I think is a brilliant idea for a game to include! Also has 8 clips from the tv show and an exclusive game interview with the creator Butch Hartman.
RENT THIS OR BUY IT- YOU"LL LIKE IT!!!
This game may not be what you are looking for and my description may not be award winning- but at least rent it and try it out if your not planning on buying it. But for $20 bucks- its worth it!
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video-games_xbox
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intense shooter with staying power. I don't normally go for action games or games that require fast reflexes. My favorite genres tend to be adventure, puzzle, or strategy. But once in a while, a good shooter can really fit the bill. Geometry Wars Retro Evolved 2 (GW2 for short) is a best of breed shooter that will appeal to experienced gamers whether or not they tend to like shooters. (I don't, however, recommend it for grandma who has never touched a video game.)
GW2 uses eye-popping, high-contrast graphics that pay homage to the likes of Asteroids and other 80s coin-op video games. Explosions and other visual flourishes are plentiful and brilliantly colorful. The normal audio is a pulsing techno soundtrack which fits perfectly. The combined effect is sheer intensity.
GW2 has no campaign mode, but does have 6 different modes of play, all of which are suitable for single-player, multi-player co-op, and multi-player competition. The modes are different enough to offer a good variety of experiences to the player. For example, in one mode, you have infinite lives and simply must rack up the highest score in 3 minutes, which is a great way for newcomers to learn the controls and enemies. In another mode, players face a fixed (non-random) set of steadily increasing challenges, which will appeal to players interested in optimizing their attack patterns. For the hardcore player, there is an extremely punishing mode that involves wave after wave of near death experiences. My personal favorite mode (which also seems to be the most popular mode online) is Pacifism, in which you cannot shoot at all, but must instead manipulate the enemies and lure them to their deaths via skillful piloting. Words fail me to describe how addictive Pacifism mode is, but if you enjoy this game at all, you'll likely be playing Pacifism mode for months. [UPDATE: I've been playing this for over a year now and still come back to it regularly!]
The variety of modes makes this game something you'll want to play longer than most other shooters, but the longevity is boosted further by its multiplayer capabilities. GW2 has excellent built-in leaderboard support; upon launching the game, you immediately see where you stand relative to your Xbox Live friends -- and if your scores are close, it can really kick in your competitive streak and push you to achieve new heights. (Leaderboards may require Xbox Live Gold membership.) But more importantly, GW2 features excellent local multiplayer. If you and 3 buddies are at one location sharing 1 Xbox 360, this is one of the best party games available on the platform to date. You can play co-operatively or competitively, free-for-all or in teams. In none of the multiplayer modes do you ever shoot one another directly; instead, when you want to compete, you do so by killing more enemy ships or picking up more powerups and getting a higher score. As you and your friends transition between game modes, the game will automatically retain a running total score for each player for the session, unless you want to reset it.
GW2 is not my favorite game, and it doesn't have a lot of depth. But it's a solid, intense shooter with staying power. It works well in sessions of 5 minutes or 5 hours, and I have consistently returned to it again and again for the past 6 months, both to show off the Xbox 360 platform to friends and just to play and re-play the awesome modes. (I was finally able to master the last achievement, meaning, the achievements are well-balanced stretch goals for players who are not experts at shooter-type games.) It's also one of my favorite party games for the Xbox 360. Shooter fans will love it, and fans of other genres will find it a good counterpoint to their normal fare. GW2 definitely earns the 5 stars and is definitely worth the money.
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video-games_xbox
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Excellent Entry Headset for Casual Gamers. I've happily owned a pair of Turtle Beach XP300s (middle-of-the-line headset, just short of the pro models) for the last few years and begrudgingly gave them up because they just didn't work with my Xbox One and TV configuration. I LOVED my XP300s. That being said, the XO Ones are a wonderful alternative for the price. Are they as "solid" feeling as the XP300s? Nope. Yet, they aren't nearly half the price of them, either. So what would you expect? They are decent quality. They do feel a little "light" so I couldn't whip them off and toss them down like I could with my XP300s. Yet, they do feel comfortable on my head, and the sound quality is pretty decent. Sure, they don't go as loud as my XP300s did, but I don't need to hear someone sneaking up on me from 100 meters in Call of Duty, either. If that's you, you should be buying a headset in the $150+ range anyway.
So, for the casual gamer, this is your headset. The mic feedback/monitoring is excellent. No more screaming. The XP300s had this but not quite a well as these. The bass boost is nice, too. Chat is crystal clear and so is the sound. These are powered directly from the controller, however, so be prepared to go through a ton of batteries unless you have the Microsoft Play and Charge (I recommend getting one. It's worth the $25). You can adjust the overall volume with the adapter and then the balance between game sound and chat sound. This takes a little experimentation, and there's no explanation of it in the documentation. It can catch you off guard if you have the chat all the way up - you won't hear ANY game sound and may think the headset doesn't work. You have to adjust the game sound up. It will make more sense when you see the adapter.
PROS:
* Lightweight (won't feel heavy on your head or ears after hours of gaming)
* Decent sound quality and acoustics
* Mic monitoring/feedback so you can hear yourself in chat
* Crystal clear chat
* Wonderful price
CONS:
* Powered by controller/will eat through batteries like Ohio State through Oregon in the National Championship.
* Audio cable is short. If you're hoping to use this for simple audio listening (from laptop/smart phone), it's too short. For gaming it's perfect.
* Game sound/chat sound balance is not intuitive enough for some who may struggle without an explanation in the documentation.
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video-games_xbox
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Nice Return of Fisher. It's been awhile since we have seen Sam Fisher and this return is a nice one.
Playing through this makes you kind of wish why there isn't a game featuring Jack Bauer.
So 1/2 way through and so far the story is interesting as he finds out that the very people he has worked for left him to hang and that his only motivation is that his daughter may be alive.
So far my only complaint may be that the story is short but the rest of the game is pretty well put together.
Gameplay wise I am under impressed with the Mark and Execute mode. I understand that this was done for the cinematic thrill but this was better done in Stranglehold. I do however like the Last Known Postion for the AI as sometimes when you really need to get to point B from point A you may need to cause a disturbance elsewhere to pull the enemy AI away.
In an early level, where I found that bursting through a door was a 'good' direct approach, bashing it down, not entering and climbing out an open window paid off a lot more than running and gunning because the distracted enemy concentrated near the door.
That's another thing that players should be aware of. This is NOT a run and gun kind of game. If you don't use stealth (and I love that it's not a 'sticky' stealth game like Gears of War) you will find yourself repeating many levels because you tried to Rambo your way through. Moreso you can approach a level so many ways that it's not truly linear.
Sometimes, if you are lucky, you can sneak through a level with a minimal body count.
Every now and again the hand to hand combat doesn't play right and you have to mash the B button to get it to work but when it does you get a few sequences that get old after time but that is how you also earn your M&E.
Also by performing certain things like x amount of headshots or stealth kills you earn bonuses to weapons as well as upgrades.
Graphically, it's a great game to look at although it lost major points with the DC level as there has never been a huge carnival allowed on The Mall, yes I know it's just a game but that just stuck out to me for some reason being that I live in this area.
Lastly, you will find yourself breezing through the game because it's mostly seemless. No loading or waiting and Michael Ironsides' voice is still iconic for this game. It's not a great game but it will keep you occupied for a while.
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video-games_xbox
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Just like the Xbox One: Great concept, terrible product. To put it simply, the controller is incredibly faulty. I would not recommend this controller to any of my friends or anyone who asked if it was a good controller. I have nearly smashed this controller several times since it started acting up. I ordered my first Sabertooth around December 2013 and January 2014, I believe it was late December. A few months later, I requested a warranty under the grounds that the triggers were faulty. While playing Call of Duty, the left trigger would active unprovoked. Imagine sprinting through a war zone at high speeds and then, right as you approach an enemy, you start looking down the sights and scoping back out rapidly for no reason. Because of this, you are killed by the enemy time and time again. That is the frustration this controller will cause. The only good thing about this terrible product is that I can assign the sprinting in FPS games to the left side cradle triggers, which saves wear on the analog sticks.
Moving on to the right trigger. Imagine the same scenario as before but, in addition to the unprovoked ADS, you begin firing your weapon at oblivion. Wasting ammo and giving away your position without even pulling a trigger or pressing a button. Let's take this a step further. Imagine you are a sniper on a hill, you have an enemy in your sights, and when you pull the trigger to get the kill...nothing happens. The trigger has been pulled, you are staring at the enemy in your scope, and everything is perfect. Somehow, even with all of these factors in play, the gun does not fire a single round at the enemy.
I read a few other reviews about the terrible triggers but I have one additional issue. After sending my first Sabertooth back to Razer for a replacement controller, provided by my warranty, I waited a couple of weeks for the replacement controller only to find that it was worse than the original. The original controller, my first Sabertooth, only had issues with the left trigger being activated unprovoked. The warranty controller, however, showed issues with the left trigger, the right trigger, and the power cord that connects the controller to the console. Both trigger issues have been covered but the cord's fault has not yet been explained. After only a week of owning the warranty controller, I noticed that the cord was loose on the controller end. I brushed this off and just screwed it back onto the controller. I should not have ignored this problem. One day, while playing Grand Theft Auto V, I was happily wreaking havoc upon Los Santos from the pilot's seat of a Lazer fighter jet from Fort Zancudo when, all of a sudden, the cord came out of the controller. I had it secured tightly and was holding the controller perfectly still. I noticed that the part of the cord that screws onto the controller had not come off. The actual copper wires were exposed when the cord came unplugged. Half of the cord's connecting end stayed connected while the other half was removed without my provocation. This is a great idea for a controller but there are too many faults. Razer did not spend enough time building the controller.
P.S.
I crash landed the fighter jet when the cord came unplugged, killing many civilians of Los Santos as well as other players whom I had intended to destroy with rockets anyways. It was a fateful afternoon and many lives were lost because of Razer's faulty controller (fictional lives). It was such a tragic day, filled with woe and dismay as innocent civilians were crushed and burned beneath my fighter jet.
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video-games_xbox
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If skating is all you care about, its good... Otherwise its heavily flawed. I've been around the Skate series now since the first game came out. I played both and I also, more than anything, witnessed my buddy play it probably more than anybody else have ever played this game. The amount of hours he has logged is disgusting. The only thing bringing him back day after day is the fact its skateboarding, and well he loves skateboarding.
Let me start by saying that Skate and Skate 2 capture skateboarding itself, best of all games so far. The flick-it controls and tricks are displayed well with style. If you look at this game solely for the skateboarding aspect but nothing else that makes a game good, you'll enjoy it.
First of all...
1) They kept WAY too many spots from Skate 1 in this game. You grow bored of the spots pretty quick as most of them are just rehashed with some new textures and lighting from the first game.
2) The game seems extremely rushed. BUGS, BUGS, BUGS! I feel like I need a 12pk of RAID. No I don't mean creepy crawly critters. I mean how the heck did the testers not notice all the stuff that's broken in this game? Often you'll find dumpsters flying through the air, areas you can't grind, cement-like water, broken ledges and other things you're supposed to be able to skate, foot getting stuck in the board, wheels going beneath the surface of the ground, random sounds out of no where, random falling out of the sky or being spun and thrown like something from inside a food processor and you decided to remove the lid. The list can go on, and on, and on, and on, and so on. This is just a few that stuck out immediately. Oh, and the off-board controls, to put it nicely... are terrible. Tanks and trains have better controls.
3) They make the game seem like there is a story-line, yet character development and the story-line is done pretty badly. First, your character apparently doesn't have the ability to speak or interact with other characters in the game what-so-ever. Every time you're seen in cut-scenes or whatever, he appears to be a lifeless caveman. Always just staring straight forward with mouth closed. Could they not animate some emotion at least? C'mon, who that skateboards doesn't hang out with friends and at least have some fun?! The story-line is pretty pathetic too. The direction of the game allows you to pretty much do what you want in whatever order, but its not structured enough to really have fun with it, nor challenging enough either. Also, which brings me back to the bugs... Sometimes you cannot even complete the story part of the game, because of the bugs... Missions will either not show up, or the icon won't disappear of the map after you've completed them.
4) Over-all the city seems bland. There is nothing really going on in it. There are a few people walking around here or there, but nothing is going on. It seems overly fake. Cars driving around take right turns from the left lane with whatever blinker they choose, the models look like they're from a PS1 game but with reflective windows...and this brings me to another thing to add, is that the AI (artificial intelligence) is laughable at best. Other skaters seem to have no knowledge of your where-abouts. Normal people in the city seem like lifeless drones, something you'd expect out of a game made 15 years ago. As mentioned already, the cars is pathetic, drive only in the most linear manner, take wrong turns, blinkers are chosen randomly(and not always the way they're turning), and they seem to have no knowledge that there are people in the street... they run into anything.
Anyway, I could go on. I just hope they make Skate 3 better. Perhaps we have noticed more negatives about this game than many because of just how many hours has been logged onto it. Who knows... but these things are pretty easy to notice. If you're used to well developed games, this will stick out like a sore thumb. I still give it props in the actual skateboarding category, where it destroys Tony Hawk, however, isn't always as fun due to the plethora of negatives this game has to offer.
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video-games_xbox
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A great game with many flaws. I enjoyed this game greatly, however there were many aspects to it that I did not enjoy at all.
I will first send out a warning to customers with Xbox 360s who want this game: This game does NOT cooperate very well with the Xbox 360. You might experience framerate issues, and the game might freeze often. I played this game on my 360, and it froze many, many times. Looking at the internet, many others are having the same issue.
This game has a pretty solid story line, however I do wish they would have gone more in depth with it. It's not hard to understand, but I did wish they connected the events together more smoothly, rather than simply say something that happens and give a reason.
The soundtrack is very beautiful. The only thing I will point out is the framerate issues on the 360 will occasionally affect the sound briefly, but it's not too heavy of a problem. With the soundtrack, the environments are also very, very beautiful. It's hard to tell this game came from an original Xbox when you see just the environments.
As far as controls and gameplay go, I became very frustrated with the clunky controls. When you target an enemy, somehow you might end up targeting them, but facing the wrong direction. I have no idea how this happens, but I was very frustrated by it. There is a button for blocking attacks, but I did not find it useful very often. The item menu you can access without pressing start is the most tedious action you will probably undergo in the game. To get to just one item, you have to scroll through menus upon menus until you find that specific item, not very helpful if you're in the middle of battle. The action buttons to attack and use spells are pretty solid, as I didn't have any problems with those.
To conclude this review, I will touch upon how this game provides so many different decisions for the player to make. I am a fan of non-linear gameplay, and I enjoyed this part of the game greatly. Your character's appearance is based upon the choices you make throughout his life, whether they be good or bad. The overall storyline is tweaked by your decisions as well. I find this idea in the game very fun, and increases its replayability ten-fold.
This game is great, but it does have its issues. Will I recommend this game to be bought? Yes. It's a very enjoyable game that you can replay hours on end. The issues might make one cringe and throw controllers, but the fun factor really helps the game redeem itself.
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video-games_xbox
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Innovative FPS in every way. I first played a Halo demo at a local video game store before it was even released. I played it only for a little while; I was quite unimpressed, since I had a vendetta at the time against anything by Microsoft (stupid joystick...).
A couple of months later, my friends got the system and the game. For some reason, I enjoyed it this time. A lot.
Graphics: Bungie made full use of the X-Box's power, which is quite surprising since the X-Box is a fairly new system. The graphics in this game are incredible. I find the lighting most impressive. Areas light up when a gun is fired, a grenade detonates, and when a vehicle explodes. The programmers also used lighting to set the mood, which, most of the time, is quite depressing. I find most of the other aspects of the graphics great looking. Sometimes frame rate was a little slow, causing some aliasing in the characters, but this was excusable.
Gameplay: Unlike most FPS games where everything in sight is shot, killed, and mauled to the most extreme degree, Halo encourages team play with the AI-controlled Marines. Of course, you can opt to play with your buddies in the co-op mode, which is much more satisfying. I've had some good times playing the campaign through with my friends. The AI, both friendly and enemy, is incredibly developed. Friendly units take cover, dive from grenades, and are actually good shots. Enemy units do much of the same: take cover, make use of the surrounding terrain, order around allied units, and even jump into vehicles when they get the chance.
Story: The story of this game is quite captivating. You are a genetically engineered soldier that has been sent in to a war between the human race and a couple of different alien races, collectively known as the Covenant. When the Covenant attack the ship that you were on, it crash lands on the ringed planet named Halo. It is up to you to stop the Covenant from utilizing Halo as a weapon, and to discover the dark secrets of the ring. Bungie did a good job with the story, which is a lot like normal sci-fi stories. The story is quite captivating; when I first played it, I wanted to keep playing to find out what this dark secret of Halo was.
Control: It's a little hard at first (the normal X-Box controller is quite large), but I easily got the hang of it. This was also one of the only games where I changed the control setup. There are many control set-ups to satisfy anyone's control cravings.
Multiplayer: There are many multiplayer options in Halo that you can take advantage of. Are you having trouble in one level of the game? Call over a friend and play co-op with him or her. Having two people is better than having just one. Need to settle a personal vendetta? Play some split screen, which uses all of the weapons and almost all of the vehicles from the campaign. Take split screening to the next level with the System Link-Up mode, which allows you to link up to four X-Boxes together, allowing up to sixteen people to play at once. Of course, this means you need four TV's, four copies of Halo, and a large room.
All in all, Halo is an excellent game. It will be a rival for all console FPS games for years to come.
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video-games_xbox
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Just buy this right now. I was trying to wait before I finished this game to review it. I can't. I've fallen in love with this game, it's very hard to put down. While it's certainly not flawless, the overall experience of this game is just phenomenal and it poses serious competition for Xbox 360 Game of the year. This is the best RPG I've played in a long time.
I will be honest with you right off the bat, if you are an action junkie, the kind who lives for Halo 3 or Gears of War type games, your initial reaction to this game may be to think you hate it. Let me reassure you that unless you play only FPS games (and there are those who do, in which case you should stay away from this), that feeling is inaccurate. The game's action picks up pace dramatically once you leave the Citadel, so just be patient (I won't say more, I don't want to give away any of the story).
The graphics in this game are amazing, although we've come to expect that from all major titles on the 360 and the PS3. Not that this should detract from the game in any way. The facial expressions of the characters are maybe the best I've seen since Half-Life 2. You can literally see their emotions, and if you talk to them the wrong way their face and body language might make you feel a tad guilty.
As many other reviewers here have stated, the storytelling is some of the best I've seen in any game, the best word I can use to describe it is "immersive." The voice acting is superb and I found the dialog system to be intuitive. Generally speaking you have three options in a conversation, a "good guy" answer, a "normal" answer, and a "bad guy" or "I don't really care because I'm arrogant and I do what I want" answer which will affect the outcome of the conversation and people's general attitudes towards you. The level of detail to which they've created this world and made it believable is incredible. From the overall story to character backgrounds to minute scientific details or descriptions of planets, you feel like you're a part of the game's world - and that world is ripe for further expansion, be it in the form of a sequel, movie, fan fiction, whatever. This is probably the game's biggest strength, and a significant one at that. This is an RPG after all.
The gameplay itself takes some getting used to but once you get the hang of it, for the most part it works well (more on the flaws later, and I should note that I have only played the default character, a Soldier). It's most definitely not a menu-based RPG in case you were wondering. It's action-oriented, and the combat style somewhat resembles Gears of War, with the cover system.
Now for the gripes: as I've said, this game is not perfect, but I've never played a perfect game.
- Ally AI is at times insanely stupid. Sometimes they are a big help, sometimes they are just cannon fodder you send out while you shoot from a safe distance. The squad-based commands do not work very well.
- The graphics are slightly glitchy, most noticeably during the menu screens with the character models. My game also froze once during a pretty inopportune time, I hope these bugs are fixed via update.
- I am not a fan of the vehicle combat, I feel this could have been done better. The Mako vehicle handles very strangely and is hard to get used to controlling. I've died a few cheap deaths while using it.
- No option to skip past dialog scenes you've already seen.
- Too many times having to go to an elevator to load - the game is pretty creative about what it displays during loading screens to distract you, but it gets old pretty fast.
However, the game's many strengths outweigh these flaws by a large margin to keep it 5-star worthy, in my opinion. I love this game.
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video-games_xbox
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I had my hopes, but it was not to be. I was hoping that EA Sports had taken what they'd done in NCAA Football 2004 and applied it to college basketball. I knew that the potential was there, as NCAA Football 2004 is arguably the best college football game available for the PS2 (if not the best ever). Perhaps the March Madness franchise will deliver eventually, but right now it's an OK game at best.
The gameplay itself is intuitive and entertaining, if a bit repetitive. I went to a small school back East, and decided to play them through a few seasons. I was surprised at how much tension and drama there was once I actually made the Big Dance. That the game generates a random non-conference season for you adds some excitement, as it's fun to see who you'll be playing each season.
However, the focus of my problem with this game, though, is in Dynasty mode, which I consider to be the heart of a sports game. EA Sports seems to have ported over a very basic part of the NCAA Football dynasty engine, and it just doesn't translate very well. First of all, the features in recruiting aren't as deep, so it feels like you're playing a stripped down version of NCAA's recruiting engine. Second, and more important, while it's great for football, where you can recruit 15 or so players, in basketball you can only go after 4, maybe 5 players. As a result, the energy of the recruiting process is totally different. It should be more high-pressure, but it winds up being less interesting, especially if you play with a smaller school that will run out of recruiting points.
Watching my players develop was interesting, but it never captivated me the way it did in NCAA Football 2004. There, I actually bought Madden 2004 only so I could see where my players were drafted. Haven't played a down. I thought I'd do the same with March Madness, but it just hasn't been interesting enough to go to the trouble. By the way, I don't even know if there's a trophy room in MM, but if there is, it's not as good as in NCAA Football.
The bottom line: The gameplay is fine. However, if you love NCAA 2004, and want to see how a great Dynasty mode translates to college hoops, you'll be disappointed by March Madness 2004.
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video-games_xbox
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Great Puzzles, but Incredibly Frustrating. First off, I'm a bit of a completionist when it comes to video games, and this game really annoyed me because I gave up on the game. The only times I give up on games are when they're horrible, or more likely (since I check reviews) when the game frustrates me. For this game, I literally hit a road block, and couldn't find anywhere to go. I don't know if I just missed some branching of the path, or if I experienced some sort of weird game breaking glitch. I killed 1 of the four bosses, and destroyed 3 of the four masks yet I was completely stuck with no where to go. I even went back and tried to explore every inch of the map and all I found was another locked door. There were multiple areas I couldn't go because I didn't have the lightning power, and every other dead end was a locked door. This really affected my view of the game, because I literally spent hours trying to figure out how to proceed before I finally gave up on the game.
The graphics of the game are good for a PlayStation 2 or Xbox game, but are very lackluster for an Xbox 360 game. For a game that is entirely based on the relationship between the human and Majin, the controls are very limited. You can basically only have his follow you, attack, wait, and crouch. It was annoying when for certain puzzles you had to lead the Majin to the right spot then as quick as you can have him wait. It would have been much better if there was a system where you could point out a place for him to go like every other squad based game has. Also, speaking of Majin, the voicing of the character was really bad, he sounded way too much like a retarded (mentally challenged) person than a powerful guardian. The combat is pretty mediocre, your character just felt way too underpowered, also for this kind of button mashing combat, there needs to be some more modifiers or special attacks. If they couldn't do this, it would have been nice to at times take control of the Majin (perhaps by jumping on his back like in the Arkham Batman games) or have more options with combo attacks. The map is also annoying, it's kind of nice to have a huge map with no load times between them, but it also creates large problems. One of them being that if you want to back track or explore a previous area you have to slowly run all the way back, I would have loved some sort of fast travel system. About the running, there's a sprint button, but you can only sprint for 4 seconds after which you stop and pant for 3 seconds. I'm a fat guy, and even I can run longer than that, I mean come on. Having that short of a sprint time followed by a wait period essentially makes sprinting useless. The second problem is that you can't tell where there might be areas you missed. It would have been so easy to have areas shaded where you haven't gone. Most likely I would have been able to finish the game if they created that very simple effect.
Now, onto the good parts of the game. I must admit that the puzzles in the game are some of the best and most difficult puzzles I've played in recent memory. They are really fun and challenging, I just wish I would have been able to play the puzzles I missed because the game prevented me from proceeding.
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video-games_xbox
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Lots of glitches, but really good when its working. Fable 2 has an impossible amount of hype to live up to, which is impossible. The first game had failed to live up its hype and this one can't either. But it is a very good game in its own right, when its working correctly. It is a very refined version of the first game and the gameplay is almost the exact same, but slightly more polished.
The problem I have with it is the huge number of bugs and errors mine seems to have. Alright I have a character with a huge amount of time invested in him that will no longer play. When the game locked up during a map transition/save and never recovered. This apparently corrupted the save and there seems to be no way to get it to load again. This is something I could actually forgive, had the designers allowed for multiple save files for the same game. Instead all of your saves are limited to one per hero.
There have been a number of times I have moved into a new area and instead of loading the proper map I end up back at the beginning of a quest. I've been stuck in walls and trees, and my 360 has frozen more times while playing this game than in the entire time I have owned it.
But there are good points too, actually Fable 2 would be five stars across the board if it had shipped complete. Granted I am sure there will be a patch to fix the majority of errors people are having. But if you spend 60 dollars on a game, you should get a complete, playable game. Your dog is awesome, and while it doesn't add an insane amount of depth it is possible to grow attached to your four legged friend.
The economy system is almost as much fun as the game. While the tedious jobs are rather annoying, the ability to buy homes and businesses is really cool. The added depth of being able to decorate and change prices on items and rent is also very neat.
The combat is simple, but effective. You are able to string together various combos using will, melee and ranged weapons easily. The new magic system and its lack of mana bar is also a welcome change if playing a magic using character.
All up I rather enjoyed Fable 2, up to the point where my game became unplayable and wasted days of work.
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video-games_xbox
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Currently the Best Shooter on Xbox (Spoilers. Halo 5's gameplay is the absolute best the series could be at this point. The multiplayer is the most balanced it's been and the weapons all feel useful. The new Warzone mode is great and the free content updates are, while slowly building up the game, welcomed. If I posted this review at launch it would probably be a lot more critical, however, the game in its current state is good, multiplayer wise. The lack of split-screen is a definite fault, but it can survive without it. The forged maps players have been creating are mostly excellent, a testament to their time and effort to learn the new Forge mode and 343i's continued updates and improvements to the game.
The REQ system is, while very obviously a money grab (that I myself and guilty of giving in to) is, not too intrusive once you begin to get more and more items through gameplay. You may not unlock the armor you want to have right away but can at the very least find something to work with until you do. The Warzone mode is the one most effected by the REQ system so if for some reason 12v12 point control with some team deathmatch and AI boss enemies running around doesn't sound like your cup of tea then you can avoid it and go for the traditional "Arena" multiplayer modes, which have been slowly becoming more numerous with the additions of Big Team Battle (8v8), Assault, Grifball and Weekend Social playlists that include Team Snipers and Fiesta. Make no mistake, the multiplayer modes are solid, for the most part.
Halo 5's art style is a general improvement over Halo 4's, though certain designs are a bit ugly and downright questionable, there IS quality to be found in a decent amount of the armor designs. The environments in both the campaign and multiplayer maps are very well put together, from the details to the lighting to the music and sounds the players hear when they set foot in them, it's all pretty top notch. The campaign's story itself is, in a word, "okay". The plot sees Master Chief and his childhood companions of Spartan II Blue Team being chased down by Spartan IV Fireteam Osiris, led by Spartan Locke and accompanied by the familiar face of Buck from Halo 3: ODST, in order to prevent some great catastrophe from befalling the Milky Way. Blue Team gets a whopping 3 of 15 missions in the entire campaign, to make room for Osiris to get the other 12, though some are just walking around and Blue Team's missions are all longer than any single Osiris mission. The Fireteam commands are basic and work okay for a player who is by themselves, but the fun really begins when three friends join you for online co-op. Due to dedicated servers for co-op, this is the first Halo title I've had online co-op never lag for me with. The lack of splitscreen aside, the one option you do have to co-op with others is a solid choice. The campaign has a total of 117 hidden audio logs that can be found throughout the levels as well as 13 skulls for those who enjoy hunting collectibles as well.
Halo 5, while not as "complete" as Reach was, or as great story-wise as the original trilogy, definitely worth a purchase and keeping, In my opinion it is the most balanced shooter on the Xbox right now and worth owning an Xbox One over.
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video-games_xbox
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A re-release of a collection of classic games. It's almost been 20 years since the announcement of Halo: Combat Evolved at MacWorld. This was before Microsoft's acquisition of Bungie, and mac gamers were thrilled at yet another ground breaking game from Bungie. After several years of Myth strategy games, Halo was seen as a return to form for Bungie, harking back to the science fiction FPS genre like their previous game series, Marathon. Halo was initially conceived as a strategy game, utilizing the Myth 2 engine, and was later recast as an open world shooter. Ultimately, the open world shooter concept was replaced with a more tightly controlled game, which has now become a classic.
Halo: CE transformed the perception of console FPSs. It removed the awkward "hold bumper to look" mechanic of N64's Goldeneye (the previous crown holder of console FPS), and replaced it with an intuitive two joystick control scheme, which is now standard. Halo also enabled you to use vehicles in an arguably more intuitive way than the Tribes series.
I was personally excited for Halo, and even as a dedicated macintosh user, I opted to by the Microsoft Xbox. I was not disappointed in the least. Since the release of Halo: CE, I have kept up with the game series and beaten each one on legendary on their original consoles. (In Marathon, you eventually take an oath to admit no difficulty other than "Total Carnage".) My wife independently joined the Halo community, and is undeniably a better player than I am.
I am excited to purchase this set. These games represent Halo as done by Bungie and are in my opinion the better games. 343 studios has since taken over production of the Halo series, and will likely make games indefinitely. These games will share time with Bungie's Destiny for my wife and my nightly gaming sessions.
Thank you for bringing this to modern consoles. Bungie games have transformed my entertainment. Now, bring back Marathon to the Xbox One. Durandal is the only reason I even start up my 360 nowadays.
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video-games_xbox
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Great start to getting into Xbox 360. I was unsure if I should drop $399.99 on this baby, but I said what the heck. It looks freakin' sweet. You get a nice matte finished console and controller, which feel good in your hands. That alone plus the game give you a great value for new products. I was a PS3 guy since it came out and it is backwards compatible and has not died out on me. All my friends had 360s but they always got the Red Ring and had to send it in for repairs or buy a new one. I felt proud to have a reliable console, but when I heard reviews of how this new 360 console works to better protect itself from overheating, that sealed the deal for me.
This console is nice. 250 GB is a lot of room for DLC, videos, etc. The touch sounds you get when opening/closing the disc tray as well as turning it on/off is really nice as it separates it from the gloss finished ones and shows off its limitedness. The console itself is pretty quiet. After playing Reach for 8 hours, it wasn't even alarmingly hot. It was warm, which all electronics tend to be over a period of time. Sorry to all of those who says this overheats, for it does not.
There are a total of 5 USB ports on this rig. I currently have no use for any of them, but can be nice when you want to plug crap in I guess. Then you got the HDMI output and whatnot, all that stuff from the old Elites are here. I do enjoy the removable hard drive in this one as it is slim compared to the old Hard Drives. You can take it out and put into other new 360s. If you are worried about having to transfer your files, get the hard drive transfer cable or go to YouTube and find videos that show you how to take apart your old Elite 120 GB hard drive and stuff it in. But be warned as it will be hard to take out after you put in I hear.
As for add-ons, you get the good stuff. You get a special UNSC Falcon Avatar item, which is cooler than the Covenant Banshee that came with the controllers (purchased separately), the Officer Elite Armor (comes in limited edition Halo Reach), and the Recon Helmet for pre-ordering (but I bet all the console editions have it included). The only thing you do not get is the flaming spartan head armor effect, but it won't make you feel gypped. Having these cool armors and avatar item is satisfaction enough. Oh, also included is the last episode from Halo Legends, the movie of 8 anime bits in the Halo universe. You get the "Package" and it is quite nice to have and be able to watch it from your xbox. I only dislike how the Halo Legends episode was a code and was not readily available to watch on the console, but downloading it only took a few minutes. It is a 15-minute long episode with CGI graphics and is really the best of the 8 episodes IMO. You can see what I mean as all 8 episodes are available via YouTube.
The console, the controllers, the headset, Reach, and all the virtual items you get with this make it worth the money. It saved me headache of wondering what external fan to get for a older model 360 as this stays nice and cool and very quite. The matte finished controllers match the console and just feel good in your hands. Allows you to easily shoot down enemies and do well in Matchmaking. The headset is nothing special, but works. It is black and easily plugs into the controller and has the Talk/Mute option on the side of the cord versus it being at the place where it plugged into the controller of older model headsets. The episode of Halo Legends is sweet and is nice to be able to watch on a television set. The virtual items you get will hold you over until you start ascending the ranks in Halo Reach. I love my Officer Elite armor and I keep my Recon Visor Helmet on all the time. So far, I have not bought any armor as it all looks like crap compared to the default set-up with the Recon helmet equipped. Having the Falcon being controlled by avatar is a plus as almost no one will have it--it is exclusive to users of this console only. If yours did not comes with a code for the Falcon, you can still get it through Halo Waypoint (I had to use this method). All in all, a great buy for 2 controllers, a game, a console, and a few extras you get here and there. Worth my money and glad to be a Gold Xbox Live Member playing Halo Reach matchmaking. It felt like Christmas came early!
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video-games_xbox
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Great demo. I wish there was a full game to play -- an adult's review. Rent this at Redbox. If you're an adult who likes the story-line, strategy and game play of single player games; if you love the addiction of totally immersing yourself in the world of GTA for weeks or months at a time... well sadly -- those days are over for GTA. For the tweens who's attention span is too short to focus on playing an actual video game -- they'll definitely get bored showing off their cars to their friends after about 10 minutes. Since this game is already over 2 years old, there probably isn't really much online gameplay left in it anyway.
This is yet another causality of the era... a disposable title completely geared toward online game play -- a title that won't even be playable in a few years.
The saddest thing is, GTA5 was BEAUTIFUL. The story was GREAT. I wanted to PLAY IT. Just when I started getting warmed up... it was over. There wasn't much left to do but the lamest of the "busy work" side missions like "pearl diving" (or whatever that was).
I think I had 87% completed in about a week. I played San Andreas for FOUR FREAKING MONTHS and only got to around 75%. That game was a blast to play... GTA 5 was a blast to play for a few minutes and then I was just left wandering around in that big, beautiful GTA world with nothing fun left to do.
If you want to actually PLAY an open world game rather than just preview one, I suggest Borderlands 2. It has the abundant game play and deep character development that GTA used to have. Playing that kind of inspired me to write this and vent my frustrations. I kept thinking maybe I was missing something. There had to be a reason why I wasn't enjoying GTA like I did back in the day?
The reason is, there is only a fraction of a game to play. It's basically a demo or an "expansion pack". Single player, open world games do still exist -- this isn't one of them. GTA V had so much potential... and most of it was completely omitted.
There is absolutely no reason to own this title - rent it. You'll be finished with by the time it would have been in your mailbox.
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video-games_xbox
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Really a lot here if you look. I'm debating giving it four or five stars. Lets get the downside out of the way first. There are some frame rate issues (not too many, but some) and the controls can get jerky at this time, which fortunately doesn't happen too much. Early on, when you're very resource constrained, the open world doesn't feel that open, but that's probably by design. Still makes for a slow start. Also some areas in the beginning really don't give you enough clues that you should be exploring...again, I guess that's by design, but I hate getting to the summary screen and discovering I only found 30% of the things on a level because I didn't look hard enough. Maybe its just been too long since I played the original Dishonored, which is another criticism...I think if you didn't play the original Dishonored, the story might not make a lot of sense. And the overlong cut scenes at the beginning probably hurt more than help.
That said, the game really opens up about halfway through the second area, and the reward is definitely there. In the third area you discover you can skip entire waypoints in favor of alternate solutions (that's not too much of a spoiler, is it?) I think the tuning of the game has even better tension. One of my favorite parts of the original is how immersive it felt, especially the final DLC, and this game picks up where that DLC left off for sure. There are moments that remind me of FEAR 2, in a good way. This is why I'm rating the game 5 stars now. I'm at the beginning of the 4th area now, and have high hopes for the game based on the third.
Stop reading now if you don't want tips. But I feel that these add to the review.
Some of the things in the environment that look like they might be scenery aren't, there are more things to interact with than you might realize.
Flame, throwables and other environmental objects sometimes do more than just make noise.
There are some pretty gory features if you play aggressively.
At least on medium (default) difficulty, resources like ammo are sparse but not that sparse, I tend to hoard resources but really you should use them freely when you need.
Staggering opponents is really useful, take advantage of it jealously.
I'm hoping Bethesda can fix the frame rate and controller responsiveness issues with an update soon, I don't feel these take much away from the game but it would take a qualified 5 stars to an enthusiastic 5 stars.
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video-games_xbox
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Ash Goes Xbox. Lots of people said Evil Dead: Hail To The King sucked. As a hardcore Evil Dead fan, I love it. As a gamer, I think it's average. Yes, it was a little below our expectations. But now it's Evil Dead: A Fistful Of Boomstick, boys and girls, the Xbox version.
Let's start this review with a single question... Is the Xbox version better than the PS2 version? Yes, it is. Believe me, I completed the game in both consoles. Graphically, you can see a significant difference in some places. Obviously, this isn't any Panzer Dragoon Orta, graphically... But it does it job well, with nice scenaries and characters. There are some slowdowns here and there, but nothing big. Sound is better on Xbox too, it's clearer. The soundtrack in this game is simple, but also does its job to tell you when trouble (like... a deadite) is close and this kind of thing. The voice acting for the main character, Ash, was made by Bruce Campbell (for those who don't know him, he played the character in the movie trilogy, he's also the best actor in the world and wrote a wonderful book called "If Chins Could Kill", a book I highly recommend, but that's another story). Ash has lots of awesome quotes, hilarious ones, you'll see, I won't spoil your surprise. Playing the game feels great, no problem with the controls.
Well, the main game is great. Great levels at different centuries in the town of Dearborn, Michigan... But when you beat the game, is that it? Nope! There are some extras too, pal. For each level you beat, you unlock some Arcade Levels (you get scores from A to C for doing a certain task like "kill all the deadites" in a limited time... believe me, it's highly entertaining) and a Photo Gallery, plus there is a Bonus Video featuring Bruce Campbell and the crew who made this game. And, obviously, you can play the game again if, just like me, you enjoyed it. And, as you can see, the game is totally cheap.
Overall, if you like this kind of game (horror games with lots of blood, gore and violence), it's alteast worth a rent (c'mon, buy it now, it's cheap!), and if you're an Evil Dead fan, just grab your copy right now. If you can choose between the two versions (Xbox and PS2), choose the Xbox one. Being said all that, I hope you enjoy this game, just as I did. If you aren't convinced yet to buy this title for your Xbox (or PS2), there's nothing I can do, except pity you. Just another note: I highly recommend that you watch the whole movie trilogy, and, if possible, beat Hail To The King before playing this title... If you do it, you'll enjoy this game a thousand times more.
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video-games_xbox
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Very impressive graphics, horrendous gameplay. In case you haven't read any reviews or done any research whatsoever (like me before I bought this system and this game) let me tell you about a feature that the Forza team invented called Drivatars.
The way it is explained in-game goes as follows "We watch how you drive, then we compile that data into an "avatar" for other people to race against"
Cool idea! Finally, no more predictable mindless numpty computer controlled cars like you had in Gran Turismo, right??
Wrong. No matter how high (or low) you set the competence level of these "Drivatars," you will always spend about 80% of your time during a race recovering from nudges, bumps, all-out fatal crashes instigated by these enemy drivatars. They are absolutely brain-dead. And because there are fifteen of them on the track with you, they are completely unavoidable. You start in 14th place, the first corner of most tracks is tight as heck and all sixteen cars will pile up and whoever emerges from the carnage gets to have fun for the remainder of the race. Everybody else gets to play bumper cars. It is H O R R I B L E.
The next thing I'm going to bring up are rumble strips, sand traps, barriers, grass, etcetera.
The flora and fauna surrounding the tarmac on the tracks in Forza has never-before-seen *(and physically impossible) properties. You could be booking it going 150mph down a straight, come to a slight bend, touch a wheel to the grass, and you will be YANKED sideways into a wall. If you place your wheel onto some sand? You will slow from 90mph to a 2mph crawl in under two feet. Same goes for certain rumble strips and off-tarmac areas. Sometimes there'll be tarmac off to the side of the actual track and it'll be totally usable and accessible and you can just hop back onto the track. Other times it will hobby horse your car from side to side and your controller will rumble to pieces, other times it will slow you to a crawl.
This is a cheap and lazy way for lazy programmers to address the problem of people jumping corners. Gran Turismo dealt with this properly. Most of the time you were left alone and allowed to cheese the corner, other times you'd get flipped onto two wheels and you'd plow into a wall. Realistic consequences. Not physical impossibilities.
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video-games_xbox
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Revolutionary in some areas and a step back in others. If you're the type to skip through cutscenes and don't care about having a purpose to what you're doing in a game, don't bother reading any further and don't bother playing this game. L.A. Noire is a captivating drama with intriguing plots and amazing characterization. L.A. Noire used real actors to play the parts of every character in the game including all of their facial animations. The results are absolutely amazing and bring a lifelike appearance never before seen in any video game. This feature serves a big purpose as you will be interrogating many suspects throughout this lengthy adventure. You will play as the ambitious detective, Cole Phelps, who is hard set on doing the right thing, preserving life, and serving swift justice to any criminals in his path. Facial animations aren't the only thing revolutionary about L.A. Noire. L.A. Noire is extremely well-written. The plot is very captivating but the characters are what's really impressive. Phelps' character is exceptionally deep for a video game. I've never seen a character I've disliked so much and yet couldn't help from loving at the same. Phelps is a great guy on many levels and at the same time, most will disagree with his views on many things. Although his intentions are usually good, he's not always doing it for the right reasons. This is what makes Phelps real and what brings L.A. Noire its amazing humanity.
As amazing as L.A. Noire is, it isn't without flaws. The shooting can be frustrating sometimes. Trying to take cover can be tricky and targeting criminals doesn't always work the way you want it to. Driving around is even worse. Chase scenes can be down right irritating because many buildings have little parts sticking out and if you clip one of these, it will stop you dead in your tracks. It's also stupid that I'm hitting things like gates and wooden fences that bring my car to a complete halt. It certainly takes some realism out of the game. The next part may ruin the experience of L.A. Noire for you but it needs to be mentioned. Don't read this next part if you want your experience to be better. L.A. Noire does a great job making you think that you're having an impact on investigations and the overall plot. This, however, is just a big ruse. Your decisions and interrogations have very little difference on the outcome of the case or the overarching story. This is my biggest complaint about L.A. Noire. I don't mind playing a game "on rails" because it allows for excellent stories such as this one, but I need to feel like my actions have consequences. Especially for a game that doesn't have a lot of action-oriented gameplay. As you play through the game you'll start to realize your decisions don't matter and if you decide to replay a case you'll definitely figure it out.
CONCLUSION: L.A. Noire is a wonderful experience. It just needs some gameplay tweaking.
PROS:
- Revolutionary animating of real actors. You've never seen anything like it.
- Exceptional scriptwriting/storyline
- The characters are absolutely ground-breaking for a video game
- Searching for clues and interrogating suspects is a lot of fun
CONS:
- Driving around can be frustrating
- The cover mechanics in shootouts can be irritating
- Something I mentioned above that can tarnish the experience
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video-games_xbox
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Trigger Grip Works OK but only after some tinkering. I gave it 3 stars because it takes a bit of tinkering to make the hair trigger mechanism work correctly and the stops are not as good as they can be. First, let me say that I ordered two of these Trigger Grips for Xbox One and I use them on both Xbox One and Xbox One S controllers.
The packaging contains everything shown in the picture. I don't use the thumb stick grips as I don't think they provide enough "grip". I use another brand (grip it) which does a much better job.
The Trigger Grip handles are a soft plastic and they went on both controllers very nicely. Both fit perfectly. No gaps or issues here. The mechanism is both a trigger stop and a "hair trigger". The stop prevents the trigger from unnecessary pull and the hair trigger uses a screw to pre-set the trigger to allow less pull before the trigger activates.
I noticed that when I would set the screw (this works best with COD) in game, after an hour or so of gaming the screw to set the hair trigger would slip and readjust out of place. I believe the screw is a bit loose and simply won't stay in place. While in place it works well and does what's it's supposed to do. Also, the trigger stop is a bit too low in my opinion. I fixed the stop by adding some adhesive felt (the type you buy for furniture legs so they don't scratch your wooden floor) to the top of the internal mechanism. You'll find a thin strip of rubber on top of the metal mechanism which acts to sound buffer the stop which is smart. I stuck the think felt piece (cut to size) on top of the rubber.
In order to fix the hair trigger screw I decided to add a dab of solder to the opening of the screw hole after I reset it to the proper working location. This now prevents the screw from slipping back out of place. Make sure you set it properly as once you close off the end you will need to desolder if the screw was not set properly.
I felt that this extra effort should not have been needed with a bit more attention to detail. The mechanism works but it's cheaply built requiring tinkering.
I have no idea how long this Trigger Grip will last as I've only owned it for a few days.
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video-games_xbox
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Better than Official 360 Controller. First of all you should know that Mac Catz has THREE DIFFERENT CONTROLLERS for the 360: the "MicroCon (smaller controller), the "Game Pad", and the "GAME PAD PRO". Make sure the one you get is the "Game Pad Pro" as Mad Catz made revisions and improvements over the original "Game Pad" and affixed "pro" to the end (the "Game Pad Pro" is the larger one with rubber grips on the side, regular "Game Pad" is smooth on the sides).
Ok, now for a review. I took a chance buying a third party controller that I hadn't tested first, but I am glad I did. This controller easily surpasses the original Microsoft controller! The triggers, bumpers, and sticks have been redesigned from Microsoft's pad and all have more satisfying action, accuracy, and precision. The sticks are slightly shorter, have a larger range of movement, and are smoother with more resistance making it much easier to pinpoint spots on the screen with them. The triggers also have more range and resistance and designed like the trigger of a gun - and they feel awesome. Larger bumpers are easier to push and you won't accidentally hit them when going for the trigger, which happens on Microsoft's pad. The D-pad is superior to Microsoft D-pad as well, and it's easy to hit all 8 directions without mistakenly pushing diagonal. If you've used the D-pad on Microsoft's controller, you know how horrible it is. Basically, the controls on this pad make it feel like a precision instrument for gaming. Games are just more fun to play using this.
I went back to Microsoft's controller to see how it felt. The Microsoft controller was less ergonomic, and it felt heavy and cumbersome and pushes your middle and index fingers in an awkward angel. The sticks felt loose (wobbly) and confined in the range of motion. The triggers and bumpers were small and hard to hit, with a bare minimum amount of movement, and of course the d-pad still sucked. THIS CONTROLLER MAKES MICROSOFT'S CONTROLLER FEEL LIKE THE CHEAP THIRD PARTY CHOICE!!!! Needless to say, this has replaced my Microsoft controller, which now lives in my closet. Some extras: the turbo button feature works as advertised, and it has multiple speeds and can be assigned to multiple buttons at a time. The y axis invert switch for the right joystick also does exactly what it says and inverts the right joystick y-axis. This is a quick fix for fans of FPS games that like to play with an inverted view. If you want to use this controller on your pc, simply plug in the usb cord and your good to go. There are a lot of reviews that are biased against third party controllers that always say they're inferior to first party ones - in this case, they couldn't be more wrong. If you're a serious gamer or play first-person-shooter games, and want the best performing controller available for the 360, you should definitely buy this.
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video-games_xbox
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The Thrill is Gone After 5 Minutes. I did enjoy the previous Left 4 Dead, though I found Left 4 Dead 2 to be almost the exact same thing - some of the levels are practically identical and the new ones are not scary, original, or exciting. There are virtually no cinematic scenes, like jumping onto a helicopter in the last one that are of any interest.
The game is extremely difficult. I can only press the right trigger so many times per minute to kill so many of the same zombies surrounding me. Teammates I have found also seem to get attacked by fatal zombies MORE OFTEN than the last game, which is extremely annoying, because then you have to save your teammate or else they die. This is even true on easy mode - where hordes of zombies surround you at any given minute - forcing the team to naturally split up and die. The team AI is also pretty stupid.
Also, now you can walk right up to a witch, and you only startle it when you shoot it. The best part about the last game was in the suspense of opening a door to a witch that would randomly rush you. All this is gone now - and replaced by endless hordes of zombies that almost randomly appear for no reason. In the first game there was always some warning, or some event that occurred before zombies came - but in this game they are constantly coming - making it a boring hack and slash game. The "realism" game mode online is ridiculously impossible, since the normal campaign is impossible.
In closing, the game is just not fun anymore. I had a quick laugh at being a giant tank zombie in versus mode and smashing an opponent- but other than that this game is truly a bore, even if you are playing it online or with friends. There are no funny jokes scribbled on walls - or really any details to speak of. Most of the rooms are dark to make up for their lack of detail. Also, when you play online it is not possible to pick matches that are at certain stages within a level - so you will most likely be playing the first part of each level first in a repetitive stupor. I cannot see how this game has much replay value beyond the five minutes it takes to discover how unexciting it is. I was a fan of the first one, though.
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video-games_xbox
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A huge imrovement over the official 360 D-pad. I have tried many times to play fighting games on an Xbox 360 controller, and my thumb has always wound up hating me for it. That thing is absolutely horrible for fighting games, and anyone who says otherwise likely has some pretty epic calluses on their thumb. The D-pad on MadCatz' fightpad is a precious gift, though. While in my opinion an arcade stick is still the way to go if you are serious about fighters, if you prefer gamepads, you want something that's a bit easier to stash in a backpack, or you just want a better D-pad for the various 2D games available on Xbox Live Arcade this thing is the way to go. The D-pad is much larger, softer, and more responsive than the one on the Xbox 360 controller. The responsiveness is almost as good as that of the PS3's D-pad, but it's a little easier on the thumb since it's got a smoother design and has a softer spring to it. In no time any n00b can pull off hadokens hurricane kicks on this thing, and even pulling off shoryukens is a cakewalk!
The only downside is that the construction quality, while good, is not quite 100%. I would have preferred a little more heft to the controller, and would have liked it if the buttons didn't feel quite so loose when they weren't being pressed. When I shake a controller, I don't like hearing stuff rattle around. Overall though, it's still an attractive looking controller (especially if you get one with the Chun-Li print, heheh) and I like the rubbery material on the back. The overall design is reminscent of the Sega Saturn controllers of yore, but I'd mark this as an improvement since it feels more responsive and will not fatigue your thumbs as quickly.
Even if you are only planning on playing Street Fighter and other fighting games casually, you should consider buying one of these if the price is right. While I still prefer my custom arcade stick (and if you are a hardcore player, I imagine you probably will too), this controller is a nice alternative, and if you have guests over who aren't used to sticks they'll probably quickly find this option preferable over your system's pack-in controller. I have not tried the PS3 variety of the fightpad, but after my positive experience with the 360 version I may consider picking one up. And as I said before, this controller is also great for 2D games, too. Imagine playing the Sega Genesis Collection on this thing!
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video-games_xbox
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The worst Call of Duty yet. I'd like to point out that I've purchased every Call of Duty game on release date since World at War. Even if the franchise might be the "same game every year," my friends and I get a kick out of the game due to the multiplayer aspect of it. I've always preferred Infinity Ward's take on the franchise, but Treyarch did make some interesting changes to the game with the release of Black Ops II last year. For all we know, that was the last Call of Duty game that was solid.
Infinity Ward might have successfully killed Call of Duty with Ghosts.
Now I haven't played the campaign. I might not ever, because my experience with the multiplayer has been wretched. Call of Duty's multiplayer has always been "run and gun." Matches don't take more than ten minutes and there's plenty of action to go around due to the small proximity of the maps and that most game types only allow up to 12 players. This is different to another popular first person shooter franchise (Battlefield 4) that operates on the basis of being more strategic about your decision quality as the maps are large and can allow up to 64 players. Instead of just remaking the same style of game play that has proven successful over the past six years, Infinty Ward has tried to make Call of Duty more like it's competitive counterpart. Whereas Battlefield 4 succeeds on the next-generation consoles due to its large maps and massive player count, Call of Duty: Ghosts fails as the maps are significantly larger, but you can only have up to 12 players a game (unless you play "Ground War" which allows up to 18). There's other fundamental differences that are failures as the multiplayer setup is way too complicated with the amount of attachments, perks, and squad members you can have and it makes what was a fun experience into one that is the complete opposite.
This was the first game I had pre-ordered for the Xbox One due to my love for the past franchise outings, but unless Sledgehammer or Treyarch or whomever is responsible for the next outing can do a 180 from what Infinity Ward provided to us with Ghosts, I'm done with Call of Duty. Especially when we have first person shooters like Destiny and Titanfall on the horizon.
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video-games_xbox
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The long awaited sequel is ruined by poor gameplay design choices. The Good: Amazing visuals, story, neat gameplay ideas, very creepy
The Bad: Bad physics, stiff sluggish controls, bad combat, driving shouldn't be annoying, some puzzles are badly set up
I was so excited for Alone in the Dark for such a long time that I never thought it would be an (almost) bad game. I don't want to rag on this game since the developers did try really hard, so as a courtesy I'm going to start with the positives. The first thing you'll notice are the visuals; they are amazing. The graphics have high res textures, amazing lighting effects, creepy fog, and it's all very dark and surreal. You'll be playing as John Carnby who is trying to find out the secrets of Central Park while trying to stop Lucifer from taking over the world through "The Path of Light".
In the beginning of the game everything is very cinematic and pretty fun. The game walks you through the "mixing system" where you look in your jacket and mix tons of things together at your will. If you want a molatov cocktail stick a handkerchief in a glass or plastic bottle, light it with a lighter and BOOM! Hey you want it to stick to solve a puzzle? Add some sticky tape and your good to go. Need to light your way through a dark tunnel but need it landed in one precise area without it bouncing? Add some tape to that, or you just take an explosive bottle and shoot it in mid-air...don't worry the John keeps track of the bottle in slow motion it's just your job to time the shot.
There are also environmental weapons such as setting 4x4s on fire and lighting enemies up with them, use them to light your path, take fire extinguishers to put out fire, or you can use them as battering rams to take down doors. While the combination system is really fun it does have it's limits, but we'll get to the down sides later. The next thing you'll come across will be the combat and there are more downs than ups too this. The one good part is you can use anything at your disposal. While you can only kill the demons (they are pretty damn creepy) with fire there are multiple ways to do this. Have a health spray, or any type or aerosol? Use your lighter for a mini flamethrower.
Another great aspect of the game is everything is seen visually. There are no meters or bars anywhere, so your health is indicated by wounds on John's body. Bleed too much and you get a timer to find some bandages fast. There are also car scenes, and Central Park is kind of a much Grand Theft Auto type map where you can get in and out of random cars to kill "evil roots" which are a huge pain in the you know what to find, but more on that later. What's really cool is that if there are no keys you can hotwire the car to start it by matching colored wires, so this gives the game a more of a "I gotta hurry and get the hell out of here" type feeling. While these are the main elements of the game there are just way too many down sides.
The physics in the game are busted so everything is either really floaty, really heavy, or just plain wonky looking. Nothing really moves around right in the game and this really sucks since a lot of the game is built around physics. When it comes to combat the game just wants to hate you. While there are very little supplies in the game to begin with it's so hard to kill 8 demons when you only have one spray can. While you can only kill with fire is really dumb since you have a gun, but it won't kill them unless you poor gasoline on the bullets. I found this really stupid and when you try to kill the evil roots near the end of the game you will go mad trying to use the little supplies you have for the root, yet trying to fend off the demons.
The controls are just really wonky and don't really work. In third person you can only move with the left stick and you swing things around with the right, but the movement is just really limited. This really sucks when an enemy is behind you and you have to fiddle with the left stick to get John to turn around. The driving is also another pain since the physics really suck. You'll stuck on the slightest slope or little rock and your car will go flying. Demons can come rip you or of your car...or rip the car off you and it's really hard to shake them off. Thanks to the crappy physics you just slightly bump something they go flying off yet they can jump 400 feet. T
he controls just feel stiff and sluggish and they aren't very responsive sometimes, so this makes everything overall harder than it should be. At least the last positive is the voice acting is good, the story is great, and the DVD type skip feature really helps. I can't recommend this game unless you feel like struggling through this annoying game. It's worth playing for the visuals, story, and great gameplay ideas, but you'll struggle more than smile.
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video-games_xbox
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Fan fun, but boring for gamer. If you're a fan of anything--and i mean REALLY a fan--you will do almost anything for _______ (you can fill that in). In other words, no matter what people say about this game (including myself) if you are a Bionicle FAN you will ultimately buy this game.
The reason? um....JustCause?
I am also a Bionicle fan (hugely so. I remember when it first came out--10 years ago!) so you can rest assured that this review is honest. Yes, this game is probably not your Unchartered 2: Among Theives, but the casual gamer may find it a bit intriguing--the fan will find it fun--but serious gamers STAY CLEAR!
The main reasons are these: The graphics are not poor, but they are not the best either. The music is OK, but I have heard much better. It is much too easy and way too long (probably to try to make up for the too easy part) making it a snoozefest for most (including myself. i can only stand to play a chapter a day--which brings up another issue--autosave. you got to hate it--but what makes it worse is that THERE IS NO WAY TO SAVE IN THE MIDDLE OF A MISSION! PLAY IT ONLY WHEN YOU KNOW YOU WILL NOT BE INTERRUPTED! DON'T GO THROUGH WHAT I DID!) For the fan: this game is highly based off the Bionicle universe, but little on the story. simply put, almost all the characters in the Bionicle universe are here BUT THEY ALL DON'T HAVE A PUPROSE TO THE STORY IN THE GAME. THEY ARE JUST THERE FOR NO APPARANT REASON. though the game doesn't appear to have much story either....
Now, for the good qualities (yes, there are some). The cutscenes are absoluetly hilarious, as well as the Piraka playground (but you may need a sense of humor to appreciate that, lolz!) The most positive thing about the game, however, is the scoring. You are awarded by what you do (kill 50 Visorak with Jaller, make 100 golden Constractions with Hewkii...ect). I HATE games that give you a goal and you strive so hard to achieve it--this game, you DON'T KNOW WHAT THE GOALS ARE SO YOU MUST CONSTANTLY EXPERIMENT. IT TEACHES PEOPLE TO THINK A LITTLE OUTSIDE THE BOX. Also, fans will note the weapons upgrades are tools used by the former Toa Metru. Pretty cool, huh?
On a last note, this game is for the Fans, by the fans. Casual gamers may also enjoy it somehwhat, but the serious gamer shouldn't look at it more than once--it would be stepping outside of his universe, why should he.
But for the serious gamer/Bionicle fan--well--that's a personal story... :)
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video-games_xbox
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Nice game, but incredibly frustrating. I was hoping for a Vice City type game, my favourite game on any platform. The free-ranging ability, go anywhere, follow whatever mission order you liked.... plus all the little extras like rampages, jumps, hidden items, and the wide assortment of missions and vehicles made that game spectacular. I was very encouraged to hear that Driv3r was coming out, and that it was very similar to Vice City. Fortunately I decided to rent it before buying, an excellent decision!
It starts off well. Not as wide-open as Vice City, but better graphics and terrific vehicular mechanics. Each vehicle has a different feel, different performance options, and the damage the cars can take is better than in Vice City. I was enjoying the game until I got to the mission "Smash and Run". I like hard games, I enjoy the challenge of games such as Unreal and MOHAA, and usually play them in hard mode. It makes a 69 dollar purchase last longer. However, the "Smash and Run" mission is different. It is pure frustration.
The idea is you have to steal three cars and drive them onto a moving truck before the truck gets to the hideout. Getting them into the truck is like threading a needle. Even the slightest amount off center and the car crashes. Also, the time constraint is so high that if you have one crash, one misaligned attempt to get any of the 3 cars into the truck, one wrong turn, you cannot finish the mission. It is incredibly frustrating. It is not that it is difficult, it is simply completely unforgiving. I have the feeling if you are one pixel off, you can't get in the truck. I know it sounds like I am whining, but I don't remember ever playing a mission that was quite so frustrating in any game. Since the game is completely linear, there is no way to by-pass the mission or even to simply drive around looking at the scenery. As soon as the truck arrives at its destination without the 3 cars, the game stops dead.
The bulk of the mission should not be spent ramming the back of the moving truck! It should be in driving to catch the truck, or going like mad to get the next car. Instead, I replayed this mission 30 times before giving up in frustration. If you are trying to beat it, if you experience any slowdown at all, such as a motorcycle crash at the beginning, or even overshooting one of the cars you have to steal, start over. What is particularly annoying is that I have stolen the first 2 cars with plenty of time to spare, but simply could not get the vehicles up the moving ramp with the degree of precision required. It seemed like even when I was dead center, the truck itself is driving from side to side, so it would reject my car <boohoo>. Also, when you do manage to get a car up the ramp, when you get out of that car, you are ejected onto the road. If you don't find a fast vehicle immediately, you cannot complete the mission. I have been ejected on a barren road! I had to run half a block to get in a car, by that time it was far too late to catch the truck with the third car. Obviously, there is nothing I can do about what vehicles are handy when I am ejected. I have also tried blockading the road. It would have made more sense to allow you to slow down the truck by creating accidents in front of it. But nothing will slow it down, there is only one way to complete the mission, you cannot be inventive.
I have returned the game and will not be renting it again nor purchasing it. I'll wait for Grand Theft Auto - San Andreas. I play games to be entertained, not to bash my head against the wall in frustration.
R.
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video-games_xbox
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The first XBox 360 game that truly blew me away. It's rare these days for games to really blow me away. I've been playing games for years and in the last few years it seems that no matter which game I play, it seems as though I've been there - done that. In rare occasions games will break new ground, but more often then not it seems as though games use rehashed formulas that have been tried and true, albeit boring at times.
Really, when it comes down to it Bioshock doesn't really break new ground per-se, it just does everything right. It features a rich story line, great play mechanics, amazing voice acting and mind-blowing graphics. Lets talk about each of these subjects.
The Story Line
I never like to give away too much in my reviews, so I'll just say what you probably already read about if you read anything about this game. The game starts out with you stranded in the middle of the Atlantic ocean. You don't know much of what happened, except that you were involved in a plane crash. You spot a lighthouse in the distance, next thing you know you're being sucked into the city of Rapture. At first sight it seems like Rapture is a great place to be. You hear stories of how the city doesn't let religion interfere with science and that the city of Rapture offers true freedom. You quickly realize Rapture isn't as perfect as it seems at first (go figure). You quickly learn of a man named Andrew Ryan, the main bad guy involved in the rise and fall of Rapture. Immediately you feel as though you must find out what exactly is going on here. The story sucks you in and doesn't let go, one of the reasons this game is so great. You will come across many diaries in the game that you must listen to, so you can fully understand the somewhat complex story line. Don't worry, each diary is spoken and can be listened to while you play.
Gameplay Mechanics
Bioshock is an FPS, with a few RPG-ish elements. The game is based in the 1960s, so you wield weapons of that period. What's really cool is that you come across what's called Plasmids that alter your DNA and allow you to perform incredible feats such as throw fire, throw electricity, and throw just about any other object through telekinesis. There are quite a few plasmids available, the only trick is deciding which ones you want to keep. You only have a few slots for plasmids, so you must choose carefully. More slots will become available as you play.
To obtain plasmids you must gather a substance called Adam. The way you obtain Adam is through little girls called little sisters, which harvest Adam from dead bodies. You have to defeat "Big Daddies" in order to get to the little sisters and harvest the Adam. Once you beat the big daddy you have a choice. You can free the little sister of her parasite and gain a little bit of Adam, or you can sacrifice her to gain the maximum amount of Adam. This decision can be tough. You are promised that if you free them you will be rewarded, however if you free them you only get 1/2 the Adam. Also, your decision will alter the storyline a bit. Also, you can purchase tonics with Adam. Tonics are passive in that they don't really give you any new attacks, instead they offer abilities such as walking faster, or taking less damage from attacks.
One other cool feature is that you can hack machines such as cameras and vending machines. In order to hack a machine you have to beat a little fun mini-game, which will vary in difficulty depending on the machine you're hacking. Typically if you hack machines such as vending machines you will be offered more goods and lower prices. If you hack cameras and guns then they will turn on your enemies. There are many more gameplay elements, but I don't want to make this review much longer then it already is. Trust me, there is plenty here to have fun with.
Graphics and Sound
The sound effects and voice acting in this game is way above average. Every line is spoken so convincingly that it really does help draw you into the game. The music in this game fits the theme perfectly.
The graphics in this game are nothing short of amazing. In fact, these are some of the best graphics I've ever seen in my life - on any platform. The dynamic lighting is amazing, the fog effects are incredible, the water effects are some of the best I've ever seen. This is the first time I've been truly blown away by graphics on the XBox 360. I can't believe how amazing this game looks. Everyone was all excited about the graphics on Gears of War. I never really understood why. The visuals on GOW are good, but the color palate grew boring - everything seemed to be some sort of gray hue. Bioshock however has a very large color palate, from very dark and Doom-esque to very bright and vivid. The textures are very realistic. If Bioshock was a 10 for graphics, then Gears of War would be a 4 just because Bioshock is much more beautiful and very dynamic. The first time you see a spotlight shining along the wall you will know exactly what I'm talking about.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not a graphics snob, but when graphics are this good it really does help draw you in. You always hear people say "Graphics don't make the game". Although there is truth to that, visuals like this really do make the game more immersive. It's like the difference between standard and HDTV... it's just better.
To conclude I would like to say that this is a must own single player game. This game does just about everything right. Although each element in this game in itself isn't really ground-breaking, the way everything is tied together so perfectly is. I didn't explore everything in this review, that job is up to you. Go buy this game and find out what makes Bioshock such an epic experience.
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video-games_xbox
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Amazing with little flaws. First of all, Tim Schaffer did not dissapoint with this game. He delivers like always a amazing world in which he unfolds a great story backed with amusing dialoge.
Controls: Easy to use hack and slash interface using easy to learn combo system and targeting. The driving aspect of the game is just as easy. The only difficult part with controls is during the "Stage Battles" in which you controlling a legion of renegade while capturing and defending points of you own. The game play for the battles remind me of a combination of how pikmin works along with the Overlord series. The giving individual unit types thier commands is tricky but will come easier with practice.
Gameplay: At your own pace main story line quests which will allow you to unlock more unit types for the stage battles, as well as allow you to get new upgrades in the Motor Forge. The upgrade range from upgrading "The Duece" your main ride along with your own powers. Getting the curreny for the upgrades can be acheived in a myriad of ways. From main story line quests to secondary ones, as well as exploring and discovering parts in the world. (Raising rock idols, releasing bound objects, saving allies from random fights, doing big jumps in your car.)
Story: A story that seems like you would read it on the inside of a 70's rock album. More evolves as you complete the main along with unlockable world story idols you can discover. The humor Schaffer delivers in the character scripts and story telling MAKES you want to learn more. A amazing cast of actors/rocker/ and comedians voice will be reconguzed. They even included an option where you can have the profanity bleeped or not.
Sound: The amazing list of 108 heavy metal track included is astouding. You can even customize your playlist while riding in your hot rod.
World: Looks like a collage of every heavy metal album cover ever created. From great effigies of rock idols, to symbolic mechanical instruments of death. I am still crawling around trying to see everything simply for how much detail they put into it.
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video-games_xbox
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Fantastic Way To Learn Guitar/Bass/Vocals. I've been playing this game for hours now, and my fingers are sore, but I can't stop. It's just too good.
This game uses guitar tab to show you what notes to play. This is exactly what any guitar teacher or book of music uses to teach guitar players of all levels. Rocksmith uses their own method of displaying notes. I found it overly complicated. Learn to read music in Rocksmith, and you can read music in Rocksmith, but nowhere else. Learn to read music in Bandfuse, and you can read music the way that literally everyone else does. There are tons of tab books in music stores, and millions of songs in tab online you can get easily. This is the way it's done.
The amp sims sound amazing, and they're completely customize-able. They're all unlocked from the beginning. I was able to get sparkling clean sounds, and face-melting hi-gain sounds with ease, and everything in between. There is no latency as far as I could tell when I plugged it right into my stereo system. I had it cranked and was able to pretty closely match the tones I can get out my Vox amp, and I could get lots of useful sounds I can't get out of my Vox amp. It just feels and sounds good.
Full notations of 55 songs is going to keep me very busy for a long time. I'm a pretty solid intermediate player, and with some effort, I was able to get 5 stars on level 5 on a couple of songs, but these were the easier songs. The game has some great ways to learn the songs. The Lick Lab is amazing. It just eases you into learning the riffs in the time-honored method of "Start by playing slow, then speed it up slowly until you can do it at full speed". I tried it on a song that I had a LOT of trouble playing. Within 30 minutes of using the Lick Lab, I was able to get through the song at the highest difficulty without much trouble. Fantastic. The "Practice" mode is cool too. Take a section of a song you want to learn and loop it. Play against the loop until you have it down. This game takes the teaching stuff seriously.
This game also has a personality. You have real rock stars inviting you into their world and not judging you in any way. They just talk to you like a normal person. They call them "Legends" in this game, and I agree. I don't really play the bass, but it's cool that they got Bootsy Collins as the bass teacher.
I love the fact that all of the songs are unlocked at the beginning. I just went into Quick Play, found a song I wanted to try, and I could access all of the difficulty levels I wanted at all times. None of this "Play 10 songs I hate to get to the song I want to play" crap.
The little stuff is great too. The tuner works great, and makes tuning to weird tunings fast and accurate. There's a mode that shuts off the notation so you have to play from memory. You get 2X points in this mode. it supports vocals as well. I don't have a mic, so I didn't try this out, but it looks like fun. No cover songs. These all have videos with the original artists, and the original songs as far as i can tell. Loading times are almost non-existent. Loads take 2-3 seconds tops.
Let me tell you, if you want to learn to play guitar, but it seems "Too hard", get this game and you won't have any excuse. Now, excuse me (English is weird), I'm going to make my fingers bleed a bit more.
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video-games_xbox
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Voodoo Vince - A platform game that mocks all platform games. So what do you get when you add your typical platform game, a third-rate voodoo doll, and a fun Louisiana Cajun storyline? Voodoo Vince! As much as I've been bored by many of the platform titles that have come out over the past few years (and the millions of sequels issued after them), Voodoo Vince was a welcome change of pace. You play an animated voodoo doll that is out to rescue his owner, Madame Charmaine, who is captured by Kosmo the Inscrutable (think Vizzini the Sicilian from Princess Bride - add a Fez and you're getting close).
The game pokes fun of other platform titles (pardon the pun), as much as it plays like one. It has the genre's obligatory boss battles, puzzles, and hidden items, but Vince always has something witty to say about each new challenge that will keep you in stitches. It steals some ideas from a few other platform games, such as target-based grappling ala Rayman and a spin attack that is reminiscent of Crash Bandicoot, but those aren't bad platform~ games to take from. The last thing that still makes me giggle is Vince's DIE! How can you not like a game in which you are supposed to set yourself on fire?
This game stands apart from other platform titles for its atmosphere, especially the music. I rarely am able to keep the sound up on a title for an excessively long amount of time, however, with this title the music and background effects are superb. I wish more titles had the musical direction that Voodoo Vince has, but then again not many are from the bayou! The imagery of the game is vivid and colorful, and it is the prettiest platform title for the Xbox since Oddworld.
As far as knocks on the game, I think the biggest one I have, which is one that I have for all games of this genre, is this: the camera angle will kill you for a while. All third person perspective titles have this problem, and I don't know what it will take to fix it. It isn't as bad as some titles have been, but there are parts where you won't be able to determine how steep an incline is, or where an item or switch is. Luckily enough, there are special abilities that will help you later in the game to get over this problem, helping you out in determining where things are. I don't knock the game too hard on this as I've come to realize that third person camera angles just have this problem.
If you're going to run through the game without collecting every secret item, you can get through it within 10-12 hours easily. I was going through getting everything, as I loved seeing all the different voodoo powers, personally enjoying all the different ways to chop/slice/smash all of the monsters, and it took me about 20 hours. If you're looking for something that's going to make you laugh out loud and have fun, this game is for you. If you don't have a sense of humor, buy one.
Overall I give Voodoo Vince a solid 4 out of 5 TJ's (That's Throbbing Joysticks to anyone who doesn't know my ratings scale). If you're broke, go rent it; it'll soak your weekend into oblivion - you won't be disappointed.
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video-games_xbox
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Just one of those games. Someone here described Syndicate as "generic". I can't think of a better description.
Syndicate reminds me of dozens of unremarkable games I've played, that were neither terrible, nor great. Games like SiN Episodes, Binary Domain, Singularity and Timeshift. There's a thread of something going on, but its hard to grapple with all the distractions and compromises. I always wonder why these games got made, when most likely plenty of others most didn't that could have been better.
I never played the original Syndicate games, so I have no point of reference to the original story line. The whole "giant mega evil corporation takes over the world and oppresses everyone" storyline has been told and retold a gazillion times. And the post modern twist of "and they put chips in your head to control you" has been added to plenty of those stories, especially in video games. And its not just Deus Ex (which I played all three installments several times each).
There's nothing preventing this generic story from being told well, and having it be an exciting and fun game. But these guys who built Syndicate weren't on their best form here. While the story is certainly serviceable, the gameplay is totally meaningless and unremarkable. There's one new concept here that I haven't seen before, which is the pretty morbid "suicide" power, where you make an enemy kill themselves. Its pretty original (to me at least), but I felt a bit ashamed each time I used it (in a video game shame kinda way!)
Its also one of those tragic games, where you never really know whats going on, and you never know exactly what to do. It randomly mixes cliche video game styles, such as vent crawling, remote control, time slowing, jumping, smashing, and enemy waves in a somewhat nonsensical blend. Sometimes, you know exactly what to do. Other times, you are completely stumped, as there's no real path to take.
The upgrade system is completely borked, as I never really had any idea what was happening (you pull a chip from an enemy's brain and you get a new power). The skill tree is just bizarre. And then there's the whole tutorial nonsense that appears every couple of chapters. You are stuck in a simulator, and you have NO idea what you're supposed to do...so you sit there and try a zillion things till you either give up, or randomly figure it out. Oh boy!
And finally, there's the insanity of the visual quality. Like there is none.... Bloom and blur like you've never seen before. It destroyed what was left of my middle aged eyes. I could only play if for short bits of time, and I even hacked the .CFG file to try and get the visuals to be less harsh, but to no avail. I can't believe that in the age of $100 1080p displays, that the guys at Starbreeze couldn't have at least gotten the darn graphical display quality to be solid. What a waste.
On the good side, the voice acting is terrific, especially the venerable Brian Cox, who plays the generic and cliched CEO. And there are other competent actors as well, that I'm sure showed up to the recording studio, read their lines, and never played the game. Lucky them.
In conclusion, what a waste. If each component of this game was 10-15% more thought through and polished, it would have been a solid 4 star game (like the unloved Alpha Protocol). So much for rebooting the franchise....
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video-games_xbox
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Simply Epic. Before I begin, this may get wordy, If you're experiencing a severe case of TLDR, head down to the bottom for a quick summary. I tend to be thorough, and that can be long winded, and I apologize for that. Anyway, on to the review.
So what do you get when you cherry pick programmers and artists from turn 10, Bizarre, Codemasters, and other racing studios, sit them down In front of a set of computers and give them Microsoft's Forza Prize winnings to design a game? Forza Horizon. A comprehensive, open world game that is accessible, exceptionally beautiful, delivers in all the fronts it says, and somehow does it with very few drawbacks. I guarantee you, this is the game Test Drive Unlimited WANTED to be. Enough! To the Review!
Gameplay:
Controls:
Controls as you may expect are pretty straightforward. If you've played Forza, they're the same, word for word. If you haven't, the control stick (left) determines direction of the car, A is Handbrake, and the triggers left and right brake and accelerate respectively. It's straightforward and easy to use.
Technical:
When speaking on the technical aspects of the engine used to make this game, I have to admit this is one of the most STABLE games I've played, Literally ZERO framerate drops, no clipping,
In addition, the Complete Forza Physics engine returns, the cars don't feel any different, the assists, like before can be tweaked. With all of them on, the game becomes very accessible, but when all of them are off, the game becomes hard, especially when racing very high powered machines. This game makes no compromises, its arcade on paper, but it's quite sim when you sit down and ask it to be.
Menus:
I can REALLY tell codemasters exercised their hands here. The menu feels like Grid, Dirt, and all of their other 4 lettered awesome racing games. The menus even so are coherent, deliberate, and very detailed and immersive. (It's odd how a race event becomes a bit more interesting when there is a sweet looking card thingie showing you the event.) The one gripe I have though is that the menu CAN be cumbersome, and I don't like how it has to load a car fully before you can buy it, but all in all, it's a minor whine, and even so, the menu looks and controls great.
Cars:
Overall, Forza Horizon Brings MUCH less cars to the table than Forza 4 does, but many of the cars in Forza 4 are recent saloons or hatches that aren't rare or impressive, the list brought here contains primarily the best of the best, and is a very refined list for manufacturers. For instance, the Dino for Ferrari does not make an appearance, but the GTO does, the Civic Makes ONE appearance, the Golf though, the Iconic Hot Hatch has multiple appearances. Still, many cars that MAY be your favorites don't appear, but even so, many excellent and Iconic cars do, and I'm SURE more are on the way as DLC. Still, the game is huge and well detailed, and even THIS many cars is a lot, you shouldn't get bored of them and you should have at least one or two favorites available to you.
The Festival:
To put this easily, the game begins at the start of the Horizon Festival, a Big event at the Core of the world this takes place in, very much so based on the Roads of Colorado in the United States. The festival is a celebration of music, cars and drivers and as such has normal and special events that occur over the course of the game based on your progression. As you continue racing, you'll earn more "wristbands" the corresponding color signifying your "rank" in the festival. People with a green Wristband have more privileges and can access more races in the festival than Yellow wristband holders do. To earn wristbands, you have to race in the festival events, based on your position, you'll earn more points and work towards the new wristband faster or slower depending on your placing. It's not the most riveting system, but I pushes you along. Obviously as you progress, races get more involved and the stakes get higher, and the ultimate goal is to Knock Darius off his high horse and become the new champion of the festival.
The Rest of the World:
The world contains a lot of stuff besides the festival, Barn finds which net you old cars for free, but you have to find them, 200+ Discoverable roads to drive on, Racers all over the place to find and challenge. Special Horizon Festival waypoints which have 3 events a piece and can upgrade your car, or be fast travelled to. The world also has 100 breakable upgrade signs, each dropping upgrade costs by 1% for each you find and take out, Colorado also has a fully integrated day and night cycle, with nighttime having illegal street racing to participate in, speed traps for stretches of road and cameras for high speed snapshots for leaderboards, and Finally, the game has Street Cred, an indefinitely increasable skill point counter that keeps track of just about all the stuff you do, from sideswiping signs, breaking benches and fences, to just barely dodging traffic. Doing this earns you points to reduce your popularity rating from 250 (nobody on the subway) to 1 (the most popular guy in town) and also unlocks challenges which when completed earn you credits, and as you progress up the ranks you get to participate in more and more ridiculous invite only events such as racing planes or helicopters. In short, there is a LOT to do.
What's the Same?
Well, the driving physics is yanked right out of Forza 4, and its implemented perfectly, rollover returns and the full customization options that forza 4 gave return as well, from swaps to body kits, its all there. Damage is on permanent cosmetic though, which drops a bit of realism for the series, but in a game like this, it's almost necessary to scrap this. Still, it'd have been nice. The driving cockpit is also back; all cars have a full cockpit view. The biggest omission though is tuning, no cars are tweak-able, not even tire pressure. It's a big omission and I'm unsure yet how much of a change this will have in multiplayer.
Can I play with other people?
Yes, yes you can, though the interface is clunkier than it should be, and you can't go there from the Horizon in game menu and instead the title menu, the online matchmaking works, is fun and its exceptionally well balanced between funky casual stuff to do like infection and actual competitive racing.
So how's the game look?
The game is exceptionally pretty, with MILES of digital road; gorgeous lighting and super well detailed effects, cars, and feeling of speed. Forza Horizon is a great looking game. Not only that but its SMOOTH, no drops in frame rate at all even as Bugatti Veyron and SS Aero Speeds. I urge you, try the demo to see how it looks. It's exceptional.
Summary:
All in all, Forza Horizon is an exceptional Racing game that set out to deliver the Forza Driving experience, an Authentic feeling drive, with the virtual reality of being able to go anywhere you want however you want with no consequences. All the while give players the chance to drive their dream cars however they want, the ability to customize and drive them however they wish, and a comprehensive set of events and challenges that are entertaining. It also give you plenty to do, exploration, challenging your friends on and off the track, and In odd, addictive events. It offers the accessibility of an Arcade racer, with the challenge and feel of a Simulator. Not only that but It does all of that at a steady, great, non-dipping Frame rate with excellent visuals, and though the story is a bit lackluster and the main opponents mostly punk-ish. The game is very solid at what it sets out to do which is create a fun, open world for racers and car lovers to explore and enjoy.
It's truly an excellent title. Playground games did an excellent job with this game, lets hope they stick around.
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video-games_xbox
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Great Gameplay! Okay Storyline. I rated 4/5 for the moment - I'll change in time perhaps - because where the game is super awesome to play and experience as an RTS, the storyline in the campaign seems just as mundane as the first game before it. Or random, however you want to see it. Really, I was more excited about the story than I was about the gameplay. And the game leaves me feeling... unsatisfied. Call me crazy. But hey, I enjoy playing old Fable II on my Xbox 360 better than I do playing competitive on Overwatch with Xbox One. So bite me, lol.
Anyway, being a veteran of the former game of Halo Wars, I was really excited to see that a second game of the series was coming out! It was a sad time back in the day to see the Ensemble Studios ended their days after the game, as I had been playing their games - especially Age of Mythology - since childhood. Now, with Creative Assembly or whatnot, the game seems way more fast paced, has new in depth game modes and the blitz gameplay/cards are really awesome to try to wrap your mind around! Seriously, the gameplay is awesome and intense!
However, as I said, the game's story - spoiler alert, do not proceed if you are looking to buy new - seems really "meh". I mean, the characters have been asleep for 28 years and they run into the "Banished"; a rebel/mercenary group who was a rival to the Covenant in their own way. And where they are modernized aliens who have established forces on the "Ark", the Spirit of Fire is 28 years old all in all... and you mean to tell me the human forces can really take them on? No. Not when they went into cryo sleep 28 years ago, the Spirit of Fire is a frigate against a cruiser and the Spartans are Mark Ones, lol.
Not that I have anything against the characters/humans, mind, but 28 years have changed a ton in the Halo Universe. The story would have made more sense if the characters - instead of a huge rallying speech and getting ready for a fight to the death - were on a tactical run until finding/stumbling onto better tech on the Ark. That or they were fighting a game of cat and mouse, avoiding the Banished until they could establish links with UNSC forces for backup. And really, the AI "Isabela" is meh too. There's drama around her and I saw no real look into her past, being a guardian of the Ark and all.
Anyway, sorry to ramble. Lol. If you have read this far, it's 4/5 for me. The gameplay is awesome and addictive. The story just doesn't match my expectations thus far. A single UNSC 28 year old frigate versus a covenant cruiser? It supposedly takes 8 UNSC ships to deal with that enemy, or so my hardcore fan friends say.
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video-games_xbox
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Ten-chew on this. Hey, I made a funny. Ninja Gaiden changes things. Before I played it, Tenchu: Return from Darkness probably would've gotten four stars. But after I dipped into the pot of Ninja Gaiden-ness, and I returned to Tenchu and saw how limited the game was. Well, I didn't use those words exactly; I think I said, "Holy crap! This game sucks compared to Ninja Gaiden!"
But I'm here to talk about Tenchu, aren't I? Yeah, I guess so. Tenchu is a tale of two ninjas, namely a creepy looking ninja-dude, and a hot ninja-chick. There is also a dumpy bald guy, but that comes in later. As these ninjas you fight thru feudal Japan and gain spiffy weapons and crazy abilities. Rikimaru (the dude. Not the Big Lebowski dude though) and Ayame (I forget how to spell it) fight this old dude who is totally whack. Yeah, that makes sense.
What makes Tenchu suck is a lot of things. For starters it has bad graphics. I suppose that could be because it was originally a Playstation game (which I did play with an old buddy of mine who eventually went sort of insane), and after adding "new levels," the tech boys kind of forgot to make the mouths of the characters move when they spoke.
The multiplayer sucks. You can only play with one other person, and not against the machine itself. That really sucks for people like who have no friends (remember? He went insane). And the co-op thingies are stupid.
But, there are enough saving graces to make this game worthwhile. Heck, the "B-side" soundtrack on the Rikimaru storyline is worth the package. The storylines are varied in theme. The Rikimaru and dumpy guy stories play kind of samurai movies (Lone Wolf and Cub and Zatoichi movies, respectively). The Ayame one plays like a...ninja video game plot outline. It seemed a little less creative to me, and the B-side is not a funny as the other two.
The visual graphics are very nicely done. They are stark, high in contrast and somehow reminiscent of a comic book.
Without a doubt, however, the best feature in the game is the following procedure: after you've gained the "animal noise maker" use it with your ninja stars: 1) Toss ninja stars at enemies. They become alert and start searching for who threw that shuriken. 2) Blow the animal noise maker, which will sound like a random animal. (This is normally used when you make noise and alert guards, so as to fool them into thinking it was an animal that made the sound.) 3) Laugh your head off when said enemy reassures himself that it was "just an animal" that attacked him. Also works great when guards find decapitated bodies!
(If you liked that, get the bears to fall down the temple in the Buddhist temple level of the dumpy guy storyline. You'll figure it out.)
Tenchu gets a 3-star rating because it's an average game. It's not evil; it's just stupid at times. Not that that's a bad thing. So Tenchu lovers out there rejoice. I just can't comprehend why.
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video-games_xbox
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Incredibly disappointing addition to the Batman franchise. The designers at Activision proved that you can make an excellent video game based on a comic book superhero (or in the case of Spider-Man: The Movie, based on a comic book superhero with a popular feature film). In Spider-Man, you are almost instantly swinging gracefully between buildings, shooting webs at the bad guys, and throwing punches, kicks, and combo moves.
Alas, the people at Kemco should have played Spider-Man before releasing Batman: Dark Tomorrow. It's a shame that such a popular character should have to go through the indignity of starring in such a remarkably [sad] title.
The cinematic introduction to the game (and most of the later cinematics) are very well animated. Unfortunately they fail to prepare you for the disappointing gameplay when you move from cinematics to taking control of the character yourself.
Within the first five minutes of the game I am certain that many players will find themselves swinging face-first into the side of a building -- and once you miss the building ledge you are destined to watch Batman fall to his death. The camera, which is usually placed in the most inconvenient location possible, makes it impossible to control your character and as a result Batman staggers back and forth through his world less like the Dark Knight and more like an intoxicated Halloween partygoer.
The combat system is, as others have observed, pretty much geared to frontal assaults with no way of defending yourself. As a result you spend much of your time being shot from a distance while you close the gap between you and your attacker. And finding the attacker can be a challenge, not because of clever positioning, but because of that darn camera.
The last aggrivation is that the game pauses constantly to load the next part of the level. It's strange that massive environments like Halo can avoid ever disrupting the game play to load another section of the level, while Batman has to do this practically every other screen. I'm guessing that the time is necessary to calculate the worst position for the camera's third-person perspective.
It's too bad that Amazon[.com] doesn't allow for 0-star ratings, as this title truly deserves one. Even renting this game would be a waste of money, except for other game designers so they can learn how not to build a superhero video game. Stick with Spider-Man. It's going to take the Dark Knight a while to recover from this embarassment.
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video-games_xbox
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4.5 stars, cannot use two to chat. <div id="video-block-R1IGC7D6JIW5SX" class="a-section a-spacing-small a-spacing-top-mini video-block"></div><input type="hidden" name="" value="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/F1P3RVIw4SS.mp4" class="video-url"><input type="hidden" name="" value="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/81o73zQNriS.png" class="video-slate-img-url"> Just like the <a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Turtle-Beach-Ear-Force-XP400/dp/B006W41W4Q/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Turtle Beach Ear Force XP400</a> headset I reviewed earlier, this set is a quality headset. They have improved on it in a number of ways. First, the base station now has additional line-in options, and volume control built into it, and a built-in holder for the headset (not really needed, but a nice touch), and second the headset now TALKS to you instead of using beep codes for settings. I like the headset talking a LOT more than the beep codes from the XP400. I DID find out, though, that you CANNOT use two Turtle Beach headsets on the same xbox to chat for two people. The first chat unit will sync fine, but the second one won't sync and won't carry or receive the chat sound. It probably isn't a very common occurrence at most gamers' places to have more than one person on a game system trying to play multiplayer and chat at the same time, so I only dinged it half a star for that -- and that was pretty much all that I could find to fault with. The rest of the unit is a pretty stellar unit.
The sound is very good, and I think you will like it. You MAY want to look into a model of Turtle Beach headsets that doesn't use leather (or fake leather, I cannot tell what the material actually is) for the ear cups, as it has been my experience that such materials get warmer much faster than breathable fabrics, and that holds true with this headset as well.
The video shows me walking you through a lot of the setup for the unit, and doing a sound test comparison between the TV sound, the XP400s, and this new unit. Both of the headsets sound good in my opinion. Also of note, I have not experienced the same levels of interference/sound dropping with this new unit that I have with the XP400, so maybe they fixed that? I don't know. Maybe my neighbors just aren't running their microwaves all the time any more, who can say?
Anyway, my "official" rating for this unit is 4.5 stars, but since Amazon won't let me rate things with half points, I am going to go ahead and rate it with 5 stars. But the 5 stars is just because of the limitations of the rating system, and I didn't think it was fair to bring their star rating all the way down to 4 stars over that.
5 stars.
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video-games_xbox
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Creeping Out Of The Shadows. The stealth genre just wouldnt be the same without Thief. Begun in 1998 with Thief: The Dark Project, this was the first of a series that would emphasize guile over strength. This is an important distinction, considering the fact that the video game age of the 90s is best known for its gore-soaked first person shooters. What the Thief series offered was something you didn't see in games very often: the intellectually-stirring chance to execute a well-thought out plan.
It didn't work out.
Im exaggerating, but its true that while it influenced a whole slew of stealth games to come (Hitman and Splinter Cell, to name a couple), Thief only enjoyed what could be referred to as a cult following. After a pair of sequels, the Thief franchise hung up its spurs in 2004, and it would be a decade before it once again saw the low-burning candlelight of day. Last week, to the thrill of stealth-purists all over the world, Eidos Montreal and Square Enix released the fourth in the series: the simply-titled Thief.
It didn't work out.
Thief has you playing Garrett, a master criminal, as he attempts to recollect the lost year of his life that seemed to wink out of existence after the death of his protg Erin. It takes place in a Nesquik-soaked piece of urbania simply called The City. To put it lightly, The City has drama: cults, a plague, corrupt police, and the stirrings of a revolution are some of the undercurrents that run through Thiefs setting. Add in the many alleys and gutters of The City, and one ought to have a deep, devious story to play your way through. The truth, unfortunately, is that Eidos Montreal has found a way to make stalking through the shadows irretrievably dull.
Thief is not a particularly pretty game. Actually, scratch that. The environment around youThe City itselfis actually tremendously gorgeous. A clocktower (your home base) reaches up to the fog-filled skies, shedding a small amount of light on the graffiti-covered streets below. But it has little to no variety. If youve been down one alleyway in The City, youve been down them all, as your setting resembles the same sepia-toned Charles Dickins-esque orphanage youve seen in Fable and all sorts of steampunk adventures in the past. Occasionally, this does indeed work to the games advantagewhen a jewel gleams so brightly against a dull backdrop, the thiefs motivation is that much more apparent. Largely, however, it gets dreary and redundant pretty quickly. The characters and their animations aren't particularly polished, and that becomes even more glaringly obvious when the game chooses a moment to show off a particularly gorgeous piece of scenery.
For what is supposed to be a labyrinthine place of twists and turns, The City is actually pretty linear. The whole game is. There are the occasional tributaries and lanes that lead away from the main path, but finding your way back to the task at hand is never difficult. Despite what was promised, this isn't a city that you can really venture out and get lost in, the way other open-world games boast. Its a fact like this that stresses the irony that some of the most engaging moments of Thief happen to be in fully enclosed areas. Spelunking through the largely abandoned ruins of some ancient civilization comes to mind. I adored working with the various puzzles and levels that came my wayeven to the point that I found myself disappointed that I had to return to the usual breaking-and-entering of before.
I also really enjoyed the collectibles in Thief. This is the sort of game that was made for collectiblesall the shiny baubles and ill-gotten gains that you can fill your HQ with are quite a bit of fun to retrieve. One category of them in particular, city memorial plaques, was a truly unique experience, as I can honestly say Ive never had to sneak past heavily armed men to unscrew a sign from a wall before. You too can steal your very own Washington Slept Here signpost, as long as your shoes don't squeak.
Which brings me to my biggest gripe with Thief. The sound design. The sound design is well nonexistent at some points. And overwhelmingly awful at others. Being that this is a stealth game, one must use all of their senses to detect when there might be someone behind you or around a corner. This leads to moments of quiet tension that when properly executed feel absolutely divine. Those moments are hard to come by in Thief. Footfalls are completely muted, meaning that you can sneak silently into a room, pick the lock on a strongbox, and turn around to be surprised by the houses resident who just happens to possess the stealth and chicanery of a spymaster. And when you finally do achieve that tense moment of anticipated mayhem, the dull thump-thump-thump of the games repetitive soundtrack bores through your speakers like one of Dr. Wileys drill robots.
This issue with sound isn't limited to the times of quiet. Scenes that are supposed to be loud feel impotent. Theres no rumble to heavier momentsabsolutely no impact. One scene has an enemy throwing a massive table at Garrett, which lands with all the force and sound of a handful of tree branches. There are no heavy crashesno thudding booms. It makes you wonder how much the designers took the description stealth game to heart.
Thief is a AAA game. But it is not AAA. Thief is a mediocre, unpolished indie game or side project that is being touted as a big-budget blockbuster. It simply does not live up to the hype that its publisher and developers built up. Its not a horrible gameit has its moments, and at times its genuinely fun. But the lack of variety and some glaringly bad design choices keep it from having a true AAA game feel. Perhaps if Eidos Montreal and Square Enix had taken the time it took to develop $5 release day DLC and instead used it to improve the core gameplay issues of Thief, we would have a genuinely entertaining experience. As it stands, however, were left with a by-the-numbers entry in a franchise that genuinely deserved better.
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video-games_xbox
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Red Dead Reviewed. *****UPDATED*****
I am keeping my original thoughts below, but I'm revising this to a 4 star rating (if that was possible), based on several factors. The game grows on you. Is it perfect? Far from it. In fact, there are occasionally glaring flaws, which I'll get to in a moment. What matters most is story, and I've been enjoying this much more than Rockstar's previous games with the exception of Vice City. Besides the main story, there are a ton of side missions you can do which really help to build the character of John Marsden. It's nice to be a good-ish guy for a change.
Some issues:
- The Story/Character - I'll hit on the story again in a bit, but this involves character as well. For starters, I think this game should have been more open to character customization, ie character design is up to you. As it stands, you could have played as any character "with no name" and been able to do the story. Imagine if you could choose the look of your character, the clothes, with tons of options, and be able to take THAT character into multiplayer!
- The Good/Bad system (aka Fame and Honor) - That's the glaring flaw in this game that I'm thinking will be changed with DLC eventually. I'm no sadist, and I don't equivilate a sandbox game with causing mayhem, but when you choose to do bad things in this game, there should be consequences as well as rewards. Playing as an outlaw is simply impossible, especially since the storyline forces you to be good. There is no benefit to playing as an outlaw, unless you want to build up your cash ammount...which leads to -
- Money - another issue I have with the game - I've never really needed money. You should never, ever have to purchase ammo, and I've used medicine on maybe 5 occasions. Horses are everywhere, you should never have to purchase a deed, and properties are cheap!
- Horses - The speed increases between horses is minimal. What really bothers me is whistling for my horse, having it run past me, and jump into a lake or off a cliff and kill itself. This has happened to me like ten times, and it's annoying. There was one funny moment when I called for my horse, and he rode by on top of a wagon.
- Multiplayer - Nothing like getting constantly griefed by players as soon as you spawn in. (And for the person who reads this and is thinking NOOB, no, I just don't think it's fun to do that to people, there's no respect left in multiplayer gaming). Playing in the community multiplayer is a complete waste of time. Also, Rockstar fails for making you immediatly glow on the map as soon as you respawn. IMHO, completely unfun, and pointless. I had much more fun getting into a posse with friends in the Private Multiplayer.
- Weapon System - CLUNKY. Having to hold Left Bumper to access the weapons menu has gotten me killed a few times. Also, if you get the Golden Gun extra on Amazon, it is worthless, because most people who immediatly put the code in only had golden crappy guns. I know that's a little off topic, but it irked me.
And finally....
- Choice - This game is full of the illusion of choice, which is frustrating in a game like this. The storyline, while fun, is very linear. I feel that if this was more of a choose-your-own-adventure style gameplay, it would be a sure-fire 5 star hit. Imagine a Mass Effect style choice system - the possibilites could be endless. You could wind up as a Marshall, Farmer, Outlaw, Dictator...oh well.
OK, so that was the bad-ish stuff, what's great?
- Level Design - The map is HUGE. I was hoping for more Easter Eggs spread throughout the game, but the landscape is interesting. I wouldn't call the scenery breathtaking, but it is very well done.
- Voice Acting - TOP NOTCH voice acting. There was a tone of dialogue recorded for this, which really helps flesh out the characters.
**********
Old Review
**********
It feels strange, that a whole new game can come your way, but it feels familiar, if not old. I'm going to start off what I don't like about this game.
- Rockstar SD shipped a game full of glitches. Let's break that down. Single Player is downright ugly. There's something wrong with the textures, and I can't put my finger on it. It has something to do with the color palette I think. They could have gone for overly bright, super-saturated like the Man-With-No-Name trilogy, or Tombstone, but this feels like a bland world. I saw numerous spots where textures looked like they were swimming, and it really took me out of the game. Multiplayer is even worse - NOTE TO GAME STUDIOS: I'm especially looking at Rockstar, EA, and Infinity Ward - if you are the creator of what you know is a huge game, get all of your servers online by the launch date. Free Roam was more glitchy than any other game I've played in recent memory. Disappearing characters, invisible horses and creatures, and randomly being dropped from the game. I couldn't even connect to the Rockstar servers to get my golden guns. Now, I know a lot of you will say, and you will be right, to give it some time. My issue here is that a game shouldn't be shipped only half working. I should be able to drop $55 for a game, and be it day 1 or day 60 I should be able to have full access to all of the game types advertised.
- The story. The game is a lot more linear than the trailers will lead you to believe. Why is it you can be a bad guy, and terrorize the world as an outlaw, but you become good again in cutscenes? The sandox-style world is interesting to play in, but your actions really don't have any consequences that are anything other than mildly annoying. You can't choose to truly be an outlaw and lead different story paths like in other games.
- The town designs - I swear that something looks off in the designs of the towns and cities. The roads look way too wide. I don't know why this bother me but it does.
- The fact your character can't swim. Sigh. Reminds me of GTA III. Seems like the designers just decided to get lazy with that aspect. Hope you don't fall off of a riverboat!
- The Mount. I'm cool with horses being in this game, it's cool and unique. HOWEVER there are a bunch of different steeds, all the way up to Bison. I saw people riding mounts unbelievably fast. I mean like lightning. Both in single and multiplayer, and it looks stupid. I can understand different designs, but they should all be close to the same speed. Horses can't run at 60 mph. Either a glitch or dumb design.
Now, on to what I like. I'm not a Rockstar hater, I love games. I DO like the open world aspect, it is very diverse and dangerous.
- There are a ton of NPC's, and lot's of places to explore.
- I also like the gameplay, as far as the inventory and aiming setups, they work well. Shootouts are insanely fun!
- The music. From harmonicas to the beating drums of danger.
- Riding around in multiplayer with friends. Something epic about it.
I'll be updating this review in a few weeks, when the new patch comes out, and the servers have a chance to catch up to the onslaught that Rockstar KNEW was coming! I also want to see where my opinion is at once I beat the single player. The game should never have shipped in it's current state, it seems to me that it's lacking polish, but I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the patch might address some issues.
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video-games_xbox
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EA Released Defective Product!!!! - not just my copy. I have been playing Madden for more than 15 years and have purchased a new copy almost every one of those years. The gameplay is always enjoyable and the visual appeal is consistently high - even this year. The problem, unfortunately, is much bigger than gameplay and graphics.
This game does not work. It freezes constantly in the middle of games, making it frustrating to play and impossible to make progress in a season or franchise (in my opinion, the most fun part of Madden). I'm not the only one that has had this problem and I know it's not just a case of returning a defective copy for a new one. The EA forums are filled with posts of rapidly angry Madden customers whose games do not work. Many of these people have returned their discs for new copies - 4 or 5 times!!! - and every copy they play has the same problem. It gets worse.
The game has actually killed many people's consoles! Killed. After trying to play the game and having it freeze multiple times, many people experienced freezing problems with other games that had never frozen before. Some people were unable to play games or DVDs in their console after trying to play Madden 09. Some had their hard drives stop working completely. Thankfully, I have not yet had this fatal problem. But I fear it could happen at any moment, and my console is no longer under warranty. But if you search for "Madden freeze" at the EA forums, you'll see how many people have had this happen.
A few of us have been able to minimize the freezing problem, by doing this: after every single game or training session, save your progress and restart your console! Every single time. Apparently (even EA admits this) the freezing seems to occur when you try to load the "game engine" multiple times within the same session. So if you try to train your players before a game (one load) and then play a game (another load) without saving and restarting the console - you can almost be sure your game will freeze. Maybe in the 1st quarter, maybe in the 4th quarter. Maybe your console will freak out and die! Who knows.
Because of all the complains on their message boards, EA is obviously aware of the problem. Supposedly they are working on a patch to fix this issue. The game was released on August 12 - almost a month ago - and since then their product has literally destroyed people's consoles. By their own admission, they have to balance their time spent working on this patch with time spent on next year's version of Madden. That's how much they care that their product is faulty and even potentially destructive. I have also heard complaints - via the EA forums - that many people experienced serious defects with last year's version of the game and EA had also promised a patch to fix the issues. Unfortunately, the patch was not released until almost the end of the NFL season - about 4 months after the game was released. So I'm not holding my breath while I wait for the patch they say is coming.
If I had known all this before I pre-ordered the product, I would never have purchased it. That's why I want everyone else to know what's in store for them. I highly recommend nobody else purchase this game until EA decides to release a functional product. It's criminal that they can release software they KNOW doesn't work (and actually build hype about how great it is for months) and then just move on to the next thing without any consideration for their customers' experiences or, for that matter, property damage. Unfortunately, EA is the only company licensed by the NFL to use the real teams and players, so they have zero competition in making true-to-life NFL video games. And this is what we get as a result: a terrible product and worse service.
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video-games_xbox
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A Final Fantasy game that does justice to the franchise. This game is really amazing! I am old enough to have played FF1 on my NES in the mid 1980's, and have been a loyal supporter of the franchise through good...and not so good. It was really nice to see Square integrate characters, weapons, items, and enemies from previous Final Fantasy games.
Like most Final Fantasy games, the main quest is fairly linear, while everything else is very open ended. The main map of the game is pretty massive. It takes quite some time to get from one side of the map to the other side, even when driving. This allows for a unique exploration experience. I have put over 125 hours into the game, and there are still small blacked out areas on the map that I have yet to explore.
Character stats are completely upgradeable through accessories, with an almost limitless list of possibilities for your party. At the same time, weapons, tools, and magic can further customize your party. Battles are great. You can use the long standing 'wait' mode, or play on the fly. I use both. Whatever works for you will be enjoyable. Movement is very fluid during battles once you get the controls down, and the graphics are certainly commendable, which segues into my next topic.
The graphics are great in 1080p and 4k. This being one of the few games supporting HDR and 4k resolution on the X Box One S and PlayStation Pro, I've tried multiple settings on both of my TVs. The main difference between my 1080p Samsung and my 4k Sony with HDR, at least for this game, is color reproduction. Yeah, the resolution is definitely better, and sharper on the 4k TV. However, unless you are using a 55" 4k, HDR 10, 1000 nits TV or larger, or sitting right next to a 43"-49" TV with the same specs, the difference between 1080p and 4k is not immediately apparent in still images (the human eye can only discern a pixilation difference between 1080p/4k at close range on small TVs). HDR is what makes the picture better on all of these 4k TVs. I am using a Sony x800d 43" VA panel, and since the max nits is relatively low (maybe 400), the HDR doesn't necessary reproduce images as well as a television set with over 1000 nits. However, with some picture setting adjustments, I was able to get a pretty respectable picture for gaming, with extremely low input lag (definitely a step up from my older Samsung). I watched my buddy play this on his new 49" Samsung KS 8000, and it certainly looked better than mine, but not by much. For the graphics nerds, you will not be disappointed. The gameplay is also extremely smooth, especially in battle (once you get the hang of it).
The ability to fish, hunt, gamble, run various side quests, and play video games add to the main part of the game. Some of the best gear in the game can be obtained from gambling and playing a pinball style game. I've spent so many hours trying to catch legendary fish, I've forgotten at times that I'm playing an RPG with a set goal. Post main story content is very engaging and challenging. The hardest dungeons open up after the main story, giving you a real chance to test your build.
If you are on the fence about purchasing this, I can almost guarantee you will like this game. I stopped playing Gears of War 4, Fifa 2017, Dead Rising 4, Battlefield One, and Destiny to play this game. It hasn't left the disc drive of my X Box One S since I received it in December.
Hope this helps.
Cheers
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video-games_xbox
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Rental. Unlike previous installments of the Wolfenstein franchise, this game offers some decent storytelling. The game is set in an alternate universe in which the Germans win the Second World War. Like the other Wolfensteins, you assume the role of BJ Blazkowicz, a tough bullet-sponge Nazi killing machine. The game starts with an assault on Nazi general's base in 1946. During the hunt for the general, BJ is knocked unconscious by an explosion, but survives and is admitted to an insane asylum, where the game picks up some 15 years later. BJ and his nurse fall for each other, which I knew would happen but still seemed odd for a Wolfenstein game. I can't fault the developers for shaking things up a bit, although the love story was pretty standard.
The game features solid shooting mechanics, decent graphics, good voice acting, and that Wolfenstein feel that veterans of the series appreciate. During the first mission, you're forced to make a choice that will determine which version of the campaign you play. When I first discovered this, I was excited at the prospect of playing a second campaign, as single-player modes are often an afterthought in first-person shooters and this game doesn't have multiplayer. I was extremely disappointed to discover that the other version of the campaign is nothing more than picking locks instead of hotwiring electrical doors, and taking different paths throughout levels, which didn't really make the game much of a different experience at all; I thought it would have entirely different levels and weapons.
This brings me to the downsides, which are the lack of weapons, linear level design, and lack of variation in the levels. There is only one version of each weapon class (e.g. one assault rifle, one pistol, one shotgun, etc.), though there are some pretty cool upgrades that you can find throughout the game. There's also a laser cutting tool that doubles as a weapon that is very useful, especially against powerful enemies. Be on the lookout for upgrades for it, because they come in handy. The levels have a few areas where you can go into rooms in more ways than one, but that's about as non-linear as they get. There are no sniper segments, and most of the game takes place in narrow corridors and small rooms, so there's really no change of pace, especially when you consider the lack of vehicles.
Another thing that I found annoying is that you have to press the X button to pick up ammo. On more than one occasion, I found myself getting shot by enemies that I hadn't seen because I was too busy looking at the ground so I could pick up ammo. There were also some cases where I was pinned down by seemingly invincible shotgun enemies (these guys can take three or so rockets to the face before dying) where I would pick up health instead of reloading when I wanted to save the health for later in case I took more damage.
There are collectibles that offer some replay value if you're until virtual scavenger hunts, and finding some will increase your total health, while the same collectibles on the other storyline increase the amount of armor that you pick up (e.g. something normally worth five armor will be worth seven). Recovering enigma code pieces allows you to attempt to solve the German code (I cheated and looked them up online) that unlocks new game modes, which include things like infinite ammo and the like.
All in all, the game is solid and fun, but with the lack of a multiplayer, the campaign is simply too short, and the disappointment of the additional storyline being essentially the same experience left a bitter taste in my mouth. I'd recommend this game as a rental unless you want to gather all the collectibles, as that can take some time.
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video-games_xbox
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Who Needs Goldeneye 64. Opening Statement...
At first I was a skeptic like everyone else who knows and loved the James Bond video game franchise. After Goldeneye 64 any game that game out with the James Bond name one well let's face it they didn't live up to the hype and they flat out sucked (That is with the acception of Everything or Nothing, Goldeneye 64, From Russian With Love, and Nightfire of course.). And after looking up information about this game I felt the same way. Well here comes another game that is going to suck pretty bad. Boy I was so way off I was out of the ballpark...
Presentation....
This game does an amazing job at capturing the true James Bond feel to it. Some times it is stealthy and sometimes it is just go out and kill. The game does a good job and skipping through Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace scenes. It also captures the look and feel of Bond as well. I give this catagory a 5/5
Graphics...
This game does a great job at capturing Daniel Craig as james bond. The look the feel everything. It looks exactly like him. Along with other key characters in the game they all look pund for pund exactly the same as they do in real life. The missions are fantastic graphic wise there are dozens of diffrent textures and shands of anyting you can think of. The houses and everything look great. I give this catagory a 5/5
Story...
This game is great with the storyline. They had little to no information from the movie directores about the movie so therefore they coulden't make it just like the movie, however the information they got they worked with and made it fun and exciting every step of the way. They make it a thrill ride from the moment you load the game until the last single second until the credits start rolling. I give this catagory a 5/5
Gameplay...
This game is fantastic with a nice mix of 1st and 3rd person shooters. When you are first playing it is just like the old GOldeneye first person action that everyone knows and loved. But when you take cover it goes right into an outstanding 3rd person shooter which is awesome because it lets you see Daniel Craig at his best graphic wise. The ability to change guns and weapns so easily is a huge plus. The ability to uyse melee attacks so easily is also a plus. Also it kinda takes on a Call of Duty feel to is as well so it is easy to pick up. I give thsi catagory a 5/5
Final Thought...
This game is a must have for any James Bond fan. I know a lot of people have not played a James Bond game since Goldeneye 64 and I know my title is a little deciving. Believe me I love Goldeneye and I always will. But you need to open up and try this game. It kicks so much butt that you might even forget about Goldeneye for the moment becuase it has its own feel and greatness to it. If you don't but this game and play it you are NOT a true James Bond fan. It is an amazing game with a low price it is fantastic. This game is by far one of the best games i have ever played and it uses every little aspect of James Bond to the max....Goldeneye may be a thing of the past with this blockbuster hit. My overall rating for thsi game is a 6/5...I know impossible but what this game does was thougth impossible Thats how good it is....
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video-games_xbox
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Games are great but "Museum" is clunky at best. I'm a fan of retro games, even though I'm not very good at them. I enjoy it because I played these games in the arcade as a kid. But, this collection is CLUNKY. It's just not well done, feels thrown together without much thought put into it. The XBL games have achievements which is very cool, and the rest of the classic emulated games ran fine. But, loading times throughout are unacceptably slow. These ancient games are only about 256kb roms at most, so it's not like they have to stream content off the disc, they should come up immediately. I'm not impatient but by the time you wait for every game to load it's not easy to just jump in for a quick romp through a few old games--a-la popping in a quarter, like it should be. Why is it so slow? When I'm in the mood to play these games, I don't want it to be a small ordeal to get to playing. It's not convenient or pleasant, in other words. It's maybe a trite complaint but multiply it by 30 games and you have a frustration-inducing arcade experience--quite the opposite of what you want to feel when firing up ancient games for a little nostalgic fun.
I was a little disappointed in the sluggishness of the emulated games, as well as the menus. There's obvious screen tearing in several games which hints at poor emulation running on the 360. The loading time for the menus and the disc startup is unacceptably slow. There is no title screen, just a menu to go to the XBL editions or the classic emulated versions. That's all there is for a title screen, so why does it take so long to load? I wouldn't think more than 2-3 seconds is needed.
I also had trouble getting the games to work well with my Street Fighter IV fightstick (which emulates the D-pad). Most games worked with it but responded poorly to the D-pad, as if the games are given priority control with the LS instead? I won't speculate, just disappointed that D-pad control is not very good. Dig Dug, for instance, is almost impossible to play with the stick, despite the fact that this and the other games were originally designed for exactly that kind of input. I won't fault the product for that, since it does not claim to support it, but basically that means D-pad input doesn't work very well. Why? I can guess that the delays in emulation have something to do with it, poor framerate, sluggish input. A casual player might not ever notice, but try playing with just the D-pad instead of LS.
Since I'm so unhappy with it, I'm returning the game. I'll go back to Midway.
Live Arcade Games (with achievements):
Dig Dug
Galaga
Ms. Pac-Man
New Rally-X
Pac-Man
Xevious
Emulated Classics:
Baraduke
Bosconian
Dig Dug II
Dig Dug Arrangement
Dragon Buster
Dragon Spirit
Galaga '88
Galaga Arrangement
Galaxian
Grobda
King & Balloon
Mappy
Metro-Cross
Pac & Pal
Pac-Man Arrangement
Pac-Mania
Pole Position
Pole Position II
Rally-X
Rolling Thunder
Sky Kid
Sky Kid Deluxe
Super Pac-Man
The Tower of Druaga
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video-games_xbox
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Fun-stopping Design Flaws. It's hard to put all of this down concisely, but we've been running head-on into every fun-stopping design flaw this game has to offer. Our first mistake was being excited about the keyboard. Even in Pro Mode, playing it is based on the color-matching highway instead of on notes and keys, so musical skills are unlikely to transfer into or out of the experience. We also ran into a lot of stumbling blocks with character creation. We didn't have everyone's gamertag on the same Xbox when we got started, so a few avatars are stuck belonging to the wrong account. Not only is there no way to transfer them, but you're not even allowed to use avatars that belong to someone else while you're logged in.
We all like playing melody parts, and of course we already had two guitars, but hooking up two guitars and the keyboard forces the game into All Instruments Mode, or more accurately, Suck Mode. Suck Mode moves the singer out of gameplay to make room for a fourth instrument. You're not allowed to kick out the drums instead; it has to be the singer. This means the singer doesn't have a controller, which means you're not allowed to sing with an Xbox headset, which means no singing at all for us because my USB mic stopped working ages ago. When the game is tracking three-part harmonies and only allows passive singing, there's no reason why it shouldn't just grab input off any mic plugged into any controller, but despite all our efforts, the game insisted there was no microphone plugged in.
If we have the keyboard and two guitars checked in and try to hit start on a third guitar or a controller with a headset, the menu just makes angry noises at us. Though I haven't played any of them, it was my understanding that allowing any combination of instruments is standard in Beatles RB, Band Hero, and Guitar Hero 5. Since it's completely trivial to let two people play exactly the same thing and score them separately (they called it Pro Face-Off in the aging Guitar Hero 2), there's no technical reason why we shouldn't be able to play four melody parts while singing into our headsets.
But in RB3, only one player can claim each part, so with a keyboard and two guitars, you're only allowed to choose from a very small tracklist of songs that explicitly support the keyboard. It's bad enough that when two people want to play the guitar part, one of them is kicked over to bass. Now, if other players have already taken the parts for the type of controller you're holding, the game actually forces you to open your menu and drop out of play. It's a disgusting way to treat players, and of course there's absolutely no technical limitation to justify it. It's just bad design.
Suck Mode also turns off audiences and sets in favor of some actually really cool trippy background graphics, but we got bored with constantly travelling through the wormhole after a few songs.
With no songs to play, nothing to look at, and nothing for at least one of us to do, the fun ran out quickly. In short, for how we were interested in playing, the whole game is Suck Mode. The software gets in the way of most of the fun you might have had with the keyboard, and as a party play experience, it's a huge step backwards from at least three of its predecessors. Rather than being the culmination of progress in the genre that I was hoping for, it's more like Rock Band 2 with some odd changes and a few extra features.
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video-games_xbox
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Tony Hawk evolves again - and goes underground,too. Before I get to the Tony Hawk's Underground review and tell you how awesome it really is, let me give you a little brief history on the Tony Hawk's Pro Skater games:
Tony Hawk's Pro Skater - A revolutionary game that basically created the extreme sports genre. So if you play any extreme sports game today, thank Tony Hawk's Pro Skater.
Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 - An all around better game that the first. Another addictive classic.
Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 - They did it again. Not only that, but this was the first next gen Tony Hawk game so the big leap from PSOne to Xbox really made the Tony Hawk's Pro Skater series advance to the next level, gameplay wise.
Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 4 - A brand new career mode, new tricks and even better gameplay made this a big leap foward that any other Tony Hawk game before it.
Tony Hawk's Underground - Its finally here... The one we have been waiting for, and the best yet! I love the Tony Hawk series. It is my favorite gaming series of all time. The games are just so addictive, and I love mastering them all. I love unlocking everything, beating them tons of times, and finding out all of the secrets in em. So you can tell why this didn't dissapoint me at all. The gameplay is just a big leap foward. Neversoft(the developers of this game) are very talented developers and they keep revolutionizing this series so much so it doesen't get stale and their hard work pays off by the awesome sales of the Tony Hawk series. Well, back to Tony Hawk's Underground information... This game is just incredible. The gameplay is super addictive and revolutionary... Its just all good. You can even get off your board this time and climb up buildings ant other things too! And getting off your board really helps you out in combos too. It makes them really big and you will just keep on racking up the big points! The career mode is just incredible. You don't play as a pro this time. Instead, you play as yourself! You create your self in this game and then you play as him. I created a guy that sorta looked like me. There is also a interesting story this time around. The other Tony Hawk games just had really great gameplay but no real good storyline. This time, you will want to see what happens next in the game during the storyline. And yes, there are many other gameplay imrpovements. The create a skatepark mode is better than before and this is one of the most customizable games around. There is also a very large soundtrack with punk, hip hop and rock songs. So, since you have heard how good this game is, go buy it. Really, its worth it! I wonder what the next Tony Hawk game will be like. If its better than this, it will too incredible...
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video-games_xbox
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Welcome to Bullworth Academy. If you haven't played Bully, let me say that you are in for a huge treat. First off, Rockstar was kind enough to lop ten bucks off the purchase price so this is being sold for fifty bucks, which is actually a steal, considering how much content this game has. Let me also dispel any notions of this being a "schoolyard GTA", in fact, the high school that I go to is worse than this game is. You don't kill people, there is no blood; the whole atmosphere is very tongue in cheek.
Bully is an open world game set in the fictitous Bullworth Academy and its neighboring town. While that may not sound like a huge world to explore, there is so much detail in everything that you will hardly notice this. You start out as Jimmy Hopkins, a fifteen year old delinquent dropped off by your mother and new stepdad at boarding school. Right away, you figure out that the teachers are corrupt, the students are all part of conformist cliques, the prefects are out to bust anyone for putting a toe over the line, and the only kid like you is a power-hungry jerk. Thanks, mom.
The gameplay is extremely solid. Combat is varied, with a number of ways you can take on the prefects, teachers, or townspeople. You can, of course, punch, kick, etc, but you can also throw eggs, use stink bombs, lob firecrackers...you get the picture. The number and sheer variety of missions is extraordinary. It took me well over 100 hours to achieve absolutely everything in the game and get all the Achievements (which are quite fun and varied as well). And believe me, you won't regret an hour spent playing. Even classroom activities are really enjoyable, offering up some unique minigames, which benefit your everyday skills (e.g., if you excel in Art, you will have more success with the ladies).
The plot is very well done, and humor is ever present. Jimmy needs to win over the groups of students: the Nerds, Jocks, Preps, Greasers, and Bullies. Along the way, you'll run into missions delving into calendar year functions, such as Halloween and Christmas. Everything you do is related to something else, which makes the whole game that much more enjoyable. (However, if you already played this on PS2, there isn't a ton of new content here, 8 missions, 4 classes, multiplayer, and Achievements are about it).
Here's to a sequel that hopefully will be coming soon!
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video-games_xbox
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Save Your Money - DONT BUY THIS GAME. I've played just about every game in the Tom Clancy Series on playstation, PC and now X-Box. Therefore, its obviously an understatement to say I've always been pleased with the games.
This however is a disaster.
Simply put its quite possibly the most over-rated game I've ever played.
Sound is excellent, graphics good, but game play horrible. Previous games in this series have focused on realism, strategy and skill. This one doesn't live up to its predecessors.
As this title has been highly touted for "the next generation console" X-Box 360 I guess I would expect more and something closer to realism. To give an example: After completing the training and your opening mission you are instructed to fly into Mexico to search for the missing President of the United States who was on a visit to Mexico. You are positioned in an open door of a helicopter with a heavy machine gun and under attack from various Mexican rebels shooting mostly with rifles. These rebels while taking heavy fire from your weapon barely seek cover, rarely react to this barrage and at times are hit squarely by your fire and don't respond. Hardly next genereation AI. The helicopter apparently is not equipped with any other weaponry, you have no "teamates" supporting you so it merely is a shootout. Its tedious and does nothing to mimick reality. After all you are part of a special forces group attempting to rescue the President and all you have is one helicopter circling an area with a machine gun?
Your "teamates" are useless. Besides running into your field of fire during firefights, they do NOTHING. If you direct them to an area they'll follow your orders and then fight...while standing up in the open taking fire. No attempt to take cover, no rhyme or reason to providing suppressive fire. They literally just stand there and fire until they're hit and you have to attempt to rescue them.
No strategy, no realism. I could cite further examples but you get the picture.
Do yourself a favor. Save your money and wait for a real game like Call of Duty 3.
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video-games_xbox
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What Arcade Means To Me. Before buying this game, I saw other people had called it an arcade game. I was hesitant, but it's a baseball game, what could it really mean that would tarnish my gaming experience?
Now that I've had it for a couple of weeks and played it quite a bit, arcade has come to mean for me that:
1. The game is less realistic than usual. (E.G. points you earn for throwing strikes, taking balls, getting hits or making diving catches).
2. There really isn't a "Season" or "Franchise" mode. There is the Rookie Challenge, where you create your own player and bring him up through the big leagues and build his stats to have him become the MVP and what not.
The game is extremely addicting and fun. And the games are fast-paced a-la Ken Griffey Baseball for the Nintendo 64 (yes I'm comparing that far back, because it's hard to find good sports games).
Easy mode is fun for people who like the Overkill games (like me), winning by anywhere from 5 to 50 points, where Super Hard mode is incredibly challenging.
There are, however, things in the game I'd like to see fixed in the next incarnation of this series. One incredible frustration for me is the wall catches. And by that I mean that it is NOT hard to hit a ball hard enough for it to be a home run. But depending on how good a fielder the outfielder is (out of five stars), you're likely going to be robbed of a home run. Honestly, if the outfielder is at three stars or above, you can almost ALWAYS kiss your home run goodbye. They're going to catch it. But this is not inherently frustrating. What IS is that they get 25000 Power Points for making each catch. Once you reach 100,000 you have the option to either active Big Heat mode when pitching (makes every pitch extremely difficult to hit) or Power Blast mode when you're hitting (if you touch the ball it's a home run). So you can see how quickly they can amass enough points to use these.
The other frustration is in a similar vein. Almost always, the computer AI will intentionally measure their stride when running after a fly ball so that they can make a diving catch (and get power points, "Only" 17,500 of them for those). Again, they make the catch, what's the big deal. It's just very frustrating when you don't want them to build up their points so fast. If they get legitimate his or if they really DO have to dive to make a catch I'm totally fine with that. But when you hit a hard line drive and they job to make the catch (Or even worse, when you hit an infield line drive and they dive for it instead of just having the fielder move two feet to their left or right) it really gets to you.
Overall, though, these are manageable problems, and the game is worth playing.
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video-games_xbox
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Not nearly as good as Mass Effect 1 or 2. Let it be known that I am a Mass Effect fanatic. I have played through 100% Mass Effect 1 six times. I have every single achievement and DLC for Mass Effect 1 and 2. I own both first two installments for both Xbox 360 and PC.
That said, Mass Effect 3 is a disappointment. Wait, what? There are five stars up there. Yeah, there are, and that's because it's still a five star game. It's like this, there's a 94 and there's a 100. Both are A's, both get you a 4.0 GPA, but one is a 94 and the other is a 100. If you have gotten 100's all semester and then you get a 94 on the last test, you're going to feel disappointed even though you still did great.
But why? Why is it a let-down? My reasons might be different than most people. The way I see it, Mass Effect 3 evolved in a direction I don't prefer. Mass Effect 1 had a bunch of "towns/cities" like the Citadel, Noveria, Feros. Plus there were a bunch of areas you could come back to whenever you wanted. Mass Effect 2 had some as well, namely Omega, the Citadel, and Illium (my favorite). The Citadel in Mass Effect 1 was amazing and had a ton of areas to explore. In Mass Effect 2 it was a bit more constrained, but was still quite large and had some good quests that branched off. In Mass Effect 3 there's an elevator that connects 5 rooms. There ya go, have fun. Mass Effect 3 has no other "cities" where you can chill, walk around, talk to people, buy stuff. Why not? Sure you can argue the Reapers blew everything up, I'm not buying it. Bioware could have easily written into the lore a planet or two that hasn't gotten attacked yet. I find it hard to believe out of hundreds of thousands of settlements, not a single one is explorable.
So the game tugs you along, it almost tells you where to go next. I've heard people call it Gears of Effect 3, and you know, they're on to something. It plays like a Gears of War game, with lasers.
The story is great however. I'm not really into all of the fan service (Shepard built C3PO!), but I understand they want to incorporate characters you saved in previous games and there are only so many hours in the day to do that. Okay, I'll let that pass. Bioware has claimed this is the most emotionally driven story in a Mass Effect game yet. I don't know if I agree with that. Mass Effect 2 was the most emotional and had the most engaging story. Mass Effect 1 had the best villain: Saren.
Overall it's a great game, well worth playing, and what other game gives you your own spaceship, crew, and deplorable squad based combat? I still find it to be fantastic despite its faults, but ME1 and 2 raised my expectations to very high levels.
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video-games_xbox
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Battlefield 1 Giant Mess. My review is based exclusively on my experience in multiplayer.
I want to start off by saying that I judge a shooter's multiplayer experience almost exclusively on map design. I'm a believer that even if a game's mechanics are crap, it can be saved by something as simple as well layed-out maps. Now for Battlefield, this never used to be an issue, but since the launch of number 4, the franchise has become more and more of brawler rather than a tactical shooter. Maps now are either giant mazes or are sprawling dunes with a whole bunch of buildings in one small section. The latter results in players congregating to one particular space, despite the fact there could be 5 different points to capture. If the rest of the space just being filled with flatland, players will want to avoid being shot from every direction.
Now typically, this is the way many maps are designed anyway. Whether big or small, players are encouraged to ball up in one portion of the map. The irony here though, is that fans of Battlefield now share that space with 63 other people, and to top it off, Conquest's holding points are sometimes smaller than Battlefield 4's and even significantly smaller than Battlefield 3's. So you can imagine, every match results in one giant string of deaths. Team Deathmatch is no different either. Each map has no space to breathe and basically revolves around controlling one giant building in the center. Sounds pretty stupid, huh?
I think the most frustrating aspect about the game though, is the slightly less-obvious trend that Battlefield is forcing onto its player base. As it were, Battlefield 3's best weapons used to be high accuracy, longer distance, rifles like the AN-94, SKS, and KH2002. Battlefield 4's best weapons were medium to close range rifles like the MTAR-21, FAMAS, and AR160. Now, I've caught myself playing a Battlefield game using clunky weapons like LMGs and occasionally a shotgun. What's worse, is that I used to condescend Call Of Duty for the exact same reason!
So In a nutshell, I find Battlefield 1 to be the epiphany silly game design and a wonderful example of a franchise's decadence. If DICE's wish really is to redeem their baby back to its former glory, then they need to stop goofing around and work on their map design. The team's large scale battles used to be what differentiate them from everyone else but now the experience is getting more claustrophobic than it's ever been. While I could go into much more detail about the actual mechanics of the game (like the horrible ADS sensitivity and zoom-in speed), which would be wasting your's and my time, all you really need to know is that the game looks gorgeous and plays like crap. But let's face it, we all saw it coming. Battlefront was an even bigger mess than this, and Hardline... oh man... Hardline. Despite the fact it wasn't made by DICE, it does carry the name and was a horrible excuse for a video game. If you want a game to play competitively, please look elsewhere. *cough* *cough* Overwatch!
PS: Make more maps like Dragon Valley!
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video-games_xbox
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Disappointed. AC3 in a nutshell (Spoiler alert!!):
Gameplay: Boring as hell! Where was "Tomb missions"? Where was "Lairs of Romulus" missions? All those tedious fragil missions, stupid districts contracts, forrest man missions for nothing. Homestead missions were too boring to even care to finish, Connor was too op to even care about forging new weapon to agains enemies. Complicated ways to make weapon and trading were not worth your time, I didn't buy Sim City, I bought Assassin Creed, so please stick with the original of buying and upgrading weapons through store, not through some complicated procedures. I'm playing game to enjoy, not to be frustrated and annoy! Forts invasion were redundant. You basically just needed to just jump in, killed the captains, then jumped out to be incognito and then came back to put the flag down. The captains were too dumb to run away. Naval missions were fun but could not save the whole poorly developed gameplay. Also what happened to "Eagle eyes", to "counter attack" and "free-running on the rooftops"? No "Eagle eyes" was used in the whole game, "counter attack" was too weak that technically you could't kill anyone with it, "free-running on the rooftops" was suicide because enemies would chase you till you died. Also, they ruined Assassin contracts as well
The bright side: Boston and New York were pretty (well not as pretty as Venice, Tuscan, Florence, etc. though).
Plot: The modern day arc is just pure bulls***, with the main character as charming and charismatic as a chair. Not sure if Ubisoft hated America or they just hated Assassin's Creed when they made a young, rude and dumb assassin named Connor or we shall say a real mercenary no more no less. No real enemy, no real ally, no critical thinking at all. Enemies didn't even seem to be like they really wanted something other than being killed by our stupid assassin. Andddd also, the end would leave you a whole new confusion that you didn't even know why and how they all made sense to the developers.
Bad game, bad plot. What happened after amazing Ezio and Altair? What happened to the whole awesome characters and plots, Ubisoft?
Waiting for AC4 and hope that I don't waste another 50$ again.
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video-games_xbox
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Not as bad that some might think. Ok first off i will be giving you my review of Kingdom Under Fire Circle Of Doom for the xbox 360 .
Ok first off the enemy ai what little is there is no major issue for most gamers . You will be at some point have alot of monsters around you to kill . So this is where you will be able to button smash big time to kill them all and still walk out alive . If you happen to die for some reason could have had a distraction and lost your focus . In most other battels it will seem like no way i can live . If you can keep getting your attacks off can walk out real easy with little damage done to you.
The controls for the most part of this game is not real bad at all . In the verry first area of the game you will be able to learn the control system . You can also read the info with the game first , but its better to learn first hand . So once you have learned the control system honestly things you got to do later on will be easy as pie .
The graphics seem to fit this game good , at some points reminded me of Two Worlds for the 360 . The zone details to me look real good and character detail seems great .
The audio is not all that bad at times but most anybody will want to adjust the music setting to low or off . The fighting sounds of you fighting the npcs in the game seems to fit with the game fine .
The game play for the most to me seemed good cause i went in thinking that all or some would be bad . So after a good while playing the game i was really shocked that i did enjoy playing it. Like i covered above the ai is not to hard at times and had to button smash alot . Your also able to boost your characters skills up to boost health and damage . If you have played other games where you have to do this won't be no problem here . If your new to this type of game take your time and watch where you place the points for your character .
The online part of the game can also add in some great action like most other games you can do on xbox live .
The fun factor for me with Kingdom Under Fire Circle Of Doom overall was really good . I came into this game looking at different things most other gamers seem to over look and was able to give you all a solid review for this game . The question that might pop in most of your minds is this game worth buying or would it fall under the renting mark . I would honestly say after playing the game for a good while its well worth getting if your into this type . Also far as renting goes it always helps out . If you was wanting to get this for a gift later on renting it first and seeing what its like will help out greatly . The replay value like in most other games is not all that bad . If you played the first time as one class you might want to try a different one later on .
Final thought i really had a fun time with Kingdom UnderFire Circle Of Doom . I would say it's a game worth buying or renting but the final choice is yours to do . I hope this review has helped you out in whatever way you decide to go . Happy Gaming !
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video-games_xbox
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What Left 4 Dead Is, and What It Isn't. I love the "zombie apocalypse" genre, enough so that when I saw Left 4 Dead on the shelf at Wallyworld for a measly $20 I had to buy it. I truly didn't know anything about it other than it involved zombies and a group of survivors trying to survive the zombie onslaught, but that was it. From the time I put the CD into my X-Box 360 a week ago until now I've had mixed feelings on this game and have struggled to quantify it and distill it down to its most basic elements.
There's really not much of a plot here, but then again what plot do you really need for any kind of zombie infestation? Chances are there was a government experiement that got out of the laboratory and infected the masses, or perhaps some microbial organisms latched on to a satellite reentering the atmosphere and spread havoc upon an unsuspecting populace. It doesn't really matter since it always plays out the same way. Humans are transformed (either from the dead as in Night of the Living dead, or live ones are infected by a biological mutagen, as in 28 Days Later) and begin stalking those who haven't been infected or are still alive. Really, when you're talking about zombie outbreaks, that's all you really have to know. The game follows 4 "immune" survivors; Bill (retired Vietnam veteran), Francis (a biker/hoodlum), Francis (a former IT computer tech), and Zoey, a college student and horror movie fan. These are some of your archetypal figures you'll find in zombie movies. The four travel together in search of a way to get to safe havens of human habitation but have to pass through some pretty grisly zombie-infested locations to get from point A to B.
Before we go any further it is absolutely necessary to say that Left 4 Dead is *not* a plot-driven FPS like Half Life so much as it is a team-oriented, multi-player zombie "experience", set in a sort of quasi-cinematic fashion. There are 4 "episodes" in Left 4 Dead and each takes the group through standard zombie infested settings one has probably seen in a zombie movie. I do not know if these episodes are meant to be linked together into one continguous narrative or if each is meant only to be played as a single experience, but the settings are quite nice and really make you feel like you're in a zombie afflicted locale. It's all there; the abandoned city, the farm house battle, the journey to make it to a boat that gets the players off of the mainland. Your goal is always to travel from point A to B and get to your means of escape, be it a helicopter, Air Force transport plane, or a lumbering APC coming to your rescue. Along the way players will hit checkpoints of a sort called Safe Houses. These safe havens are places to heal, restock ammo and first aid kits, and upgrade or change weapons too. There are four safe houses per episode and on the harder settings you'll feel like curling up there and just riding out the zombie apocalypse as long as you can. In some of these, scrawled on the walls, are messages from previous inhabitants which make a sort of low tech bulletin board system, some providing info on where to go, others leaving messages for loved ones they had to leave behind, and others (quite comically) flaming each other for having the wrong details on zombies in general. Each episode has a title card like a movie, with titles such as "Blood Harvest" and "No Mercy", and each episode ends with closing credits like a movie, with character stats in lieu of Director, Best Boy, and Actor credits, as well as a "X number of Zombies were killed in this film" statement. Nice touch!
The game uses the Source engine, which powered such awesomeness as Portal and Half-Life 2, and it is beautiful here. But the fact is that as solid as the Source engine is it's not the Unreal engine, the behemoth that powered the beautiful Bioshock 1 & 2. That said this seems to be an advanced version of the Source engine and is fine tuned to be as pretty as I've ever seen from Valve's programming office. The flames in particular are surprsingly well rendered, although much of the surface details are plauged by pixelation and some strange clipping issues. If they included the Havok physics engine as they did with Half Life 2 I'm not seeing it here. The only time zombies seem to fly backwards is when I hit one with the shotgun...I'd have liked it better if they flopped around a bit more, but I can forgive this...at least a little bit. I also came across a few graphics from Half Life 2 in the Blood Harvest campaign, which sort of surprised me when I saw them. I half expected to see Gordon Freeman's Lambda symbol spraypainted somewhere.
So far this sounds pretty good, right? Then why the 3 star rating? Well, for starters the game is simply not designed to be a single player game. But where Team Fortress 2 (from the same publisher even) makes for a quirky multi-player game this tends to be more of a run'n'gun experience, designed only to simulate a "zombie experience" by a group of players. Each of the characters in the game are identical in stats and each is limited to only a few weapons and supplies; a primary weapon (shotgun, M-16, hunting rifle, or Uzi), a secondary weapon with limitless ammo (a semi-automatic pistol which can be upgraded to two during the course of the game), a single grenade (Molotov cocktails or pipe bombs), a single first aid kit, and a bottle of pills, which temporarily gives the player health benefits without actually giving them health. Actually I found the pills to be next to worthless except when one is in a major pinch, but when times are hard and they're all you've got...well, you take them.
The game is extremely repetitive, to the point where you can see the patterns in zombie spawning before they actually spawn. And spawn they will, from impossible locations usually, like the small closet which has only one door that you *just* cleared, but will vomit out 20+ zombies in a 10 seconds. And these zombies are more "I Am Legend" variety, moving fast and rigormortis-free, rather than straight Romero, shuffle and moan type. These zombies are fairly typical throughout the game and are pretty easily dispatched...however you will come across a few mutated varieties as well, such as the Hunter, which can leap amazing distances and land on a party member almost without warning. The Smoker typically stands around in hard to reach areas and uses its tongue in a freaky fashion, able to lash it like a whip and drag survivors away from the battle so it can begin to feed on them in privacy. The Boomer is a bloated fatbody that tends to spew some sort of zombie-attracting substance on you, usually at inopportune moments, and explodes like a bomb when you kill it. And the Tank is, as its name implies, a super-powerful gorilla like zombie that takes concentrated firepower to take down and can dish out a lot of melee damage. The last is the Witch. Now the Witch I find a bit puzzling...you can usually hear her from a good distance away, whining and moaning about being a zombified Witch I suppose, and can prepare accordingly. Shining your flashlight on her will get her riled up and make her attack (and she's a vicious one, my friends). The game seems to insinuate that you can bypass the Witch if need be but in only one case was I able to bypass her. In this regard I think the game is full of it...just shoot her, it'll save hearing that whiny, creepy sobbing she makes.
The place where the ball was seriously dropped though is one of the things that Left 4 Dead purportedly has going for it...lack of a single player storyline mode. This lack of player driven story really soured the experience for me. I don't have an X-Box Gold account, so there's no way I can play this online, and after reading several other reviews I'm not sure I want to. A hyper 14 year old is going to bushwhack this not-so-agile 37 year old without much effort and I've read that you can experience that *only* if you're lucky enough to be allowed to stay in an online game in the first place. From what I've read there's supposed to be a split-screen capability, but my wife won't touch this game with a 12 foot pole and my younger brother, who might enjoy a game like this, comes over to visit only sporadically, which leaves me and 3 CPU controlled players. The computer players will shoot accurately enough but they never use grenades, which drives me up the wall at times, and come across as being there only to keep you alive when a Boomer unexpected rumbles out from behind an 18-wheeler. The computer players are there...they shoot at zombies and can be relied on to keep your back clear, and that's about it. From a single-player standpoint this game is mostly a failure for that very reason. I can see where a group of 4 friends would probably have a blast here, but without a single player story mode this game remains a mediocre game experience to me. And the tragedy here is that Left 4 Dead would be ideal for that type of play. The zombies themselves come out in single file, so someone with an M-16, for instance, can just take a bead on the lead zombie and with a few rounds take out the zombies right behind them. In several episodes you're given access to a military rotary cannon, but the cannon always has a poor field of fire, usually pointed at a location where few zombies will come at you, leaving you with an uber zombie killing machine that is essentially worthless. After a while Left 4 Dead just becomes a "shoot anything that moves" experience, rather than the visceral, scare-your-pants-off game it might have been. That's how Wolfenstein 3D worked...I never thought I'd see that mechanic in an FPS again, but here it is, "reanimated" for a whole new generation. One has limited use of tactics, such as holding an open window against an oncoming zombie horde, or blazing away at doorways that are about to be pounded down from zombies. Again, I can see where this game would probably be a real hoot for a group of players, but I don't have that capability, unfortunately, and have to rate it as I see it and experience it.
Pros
- Pretty, although slightly dated graphics
- Decent weapons selection, with limited ammo capacity means you'll have to learn how to conserve ammo
- Having scant supplies makes you yearn for those safe houses like you otherwise wouldn't
- Nice flame effects
- Thoroughly appropriate settings...custom made for the zombie apocalypse experience
- Zombies are nicely rendered and often specific to their setting. At the airport you'll see pilot and flightline worker zombies. In the hospital, dead patients and doctor zombies, etc.
- Fast, frenetic pace
- Hey, it's a zombie game!
Cons
- The game is predictable
- It's also extremely repetitive
- Zombies conveniently line up for you to shoot them
- The game focuses on multi-player to the detriment of the single-player experience
- It could have had more storyline, although it's not required (as stated at the beginning)
- After a few days the game gets kind of uninteresting
- The rotary cannon is next to useless in most games
Left 4 Dead is a fairly mediocre game in my opinion, one that could have been much better had a little bit more elbow grease been put into it. It successfully captures the zombie theme but fails to fully implement it for player enjoyment, and is instead relegated to a fairly typical "Run n' Gun" shooter rather than a horror game. It could have been so much more...that's what makes me sad to give it only 3 stars.
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video-games_xbox
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Stylish with Small Footprint. Found this at a local retailer while looking for new rechargeable battery packs. At this price point it offers a great convenience.
We have multiple XBox 360 chargers:
* the original Microsoft upright, pack only charger (<a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Xbox-360-Quick-Charge-Kit/dp/B000EYF88G/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Xbox 360 Quick Charge Kit</a>)
* a Nyko pack only charger (<a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Xbox-360-Charge-Station/dp/B000G29G8Y/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Xbox 360 Charge Station</a>)
* the Nyko controller-based charger (<a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Nyko-Charge-Base-360-S-for-Xbox-360/dp/B00273Z9WM/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Nyko Charge Base 360 S for Xbox 360</a>)
So this is our fourth. The original Microsoft and Nyko pack-only chargers are fine, but I hate changing out batteries especially with myself plus 3 kids playing weekly/bi-weekly. We don't log hours each day, maybe an hour or two at one sitting, 4-5 times a month. Plus, these batteries are not cross compatible for unknown reasons.
The Nyko controller-based charger has been great for leaving controllers on a base for days in between and even has a USB port, but we have no use for that. The indicator lights are small, white LEDs. You have to know what to look for to know if the packs are charged or not. The battery is also proprietary - it may work on the other chargers, but other packs won't work on this unit as the proprietary packs have and charge through an extra, externally mounted connector.
Which leaves me to this new, vertical charger - several features we like. The designers made a great call on the power transformer. It has a horizontal orientation - we have it plugged directly into the wall outlet, but I assume this orientation allows it to fit into a single space on a surge protector. We also love the more vertical alignment - a bigger overall footprint than the Nyko strip, but still small and stylish with easy access to both controllers. We don't have the port for the headset as one picture illustrates so I can't speak to that.
Lastly and most importantly, is that this charger is the only one we use that utilizes the front controller port meaning you can use other batteries with it. A possible bonus is that this may be the only charger that I mentioned that works with rechargeable batteries in the AA battery packs. I need to research and test this though and will update this review if I learn more. Best of all, each controller has a clear plastic guide that wraps over and under the charging port on the controller - makes it easy to guide the controller on PLUS it has a red or green light that illuminates the plastic allowing even a novice to know if the controller is fully charged or not.
This unit is perfect for tabletop usage but it's excellent for use in a cabinet with easy access and view of charging lights.
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video-games_xbox
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Best multiplayer I've played in a along time. I picked this up for $35 new at my local Fred Meyers on Black Friday.
I have not played through the campaign yet, so this review is strictly on multiplayer.
I wanted to give it 4.5 stars. Since I can't, it gets four.
PROS:
1. Graphics and sound are TOP notch. I play with surround sound and the experience is outstanding.
2. It's a slower game than Titanfall 2 (or the COD games), which is a good thing. Seems more realistic at a slower pace. The speed of play seems just right.
3. I love, love, love the atmospheric effects on some of the maps! It's awesome when fog (or a sandstorm) rolls in and sniper rifles become useless. People start roaming around trying to identify friend from foe.
4. I was obviously never in WW1, but I can almost imagine that I'm participating in some of the battles with how great the maps are. I even find myself getting anxious at points because I'm in a building and it starts coming down around me.
5. Artillery and AAA guns on some of the bigger maps are a great addition to change up how you play. It's so satisfying to shell the other team.
6. You can take a little bit of damage before you're dead. This is the main reason I dislike the COD games so much: The person who starts shooting first usually wins. In this game, I feel like I can actually run away and let my health regen.
7. Vehicles add an extra dimension of fun to the game. I get great personal satisfaction over destroying a vehicle with my anti-tank grenades.
8. Going back to WW1 was very refreshing when other games went more futuristic (COD, Titanfall). Makes the game more realistic and engaging to know people actually used the weapons in the game.
CONS:
1. Slow to level up your character. I've played for almost 10 hours online and I'm still assault level 0. You need to level up classes to unlock other weapons.
2. A lot of the rifles are just junk, but I think that's the way they were in real life. Ha ha!
3. I've had the game hang a handful of times when I quit out of multiplayer. Hopefully an upcoming patch fixes this.
Overall it's an awesome game and I'm glad I bought it. Can't wait for the new map to come out.
Here's to MANY more hours of playing!
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video-games_xbox
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Welcome to Lordran! Prepare to die. Well, how should I put it... If you play Dark Souls prepare to die. A lot. Dark Souls is still my favorite game ever though. Here's the basics, you go through a tutorial that explains the controls, simple, right? Well, you beat the tutorial, and told there's two bells, a bell in the church above, and the swamp below. And there goes the next few hours. I love Dark Souls, because it has a large variety of things. You can choose your weapons, your armor, whether you want to be a good or bad guy, you can choose a covenant, help other players, or invade and kill other players. Because of this (as long as you like the game) you can play it over, and over, and over and it never gets boring. It has one of the most in depth stories I've ever seen, with lore behind every tiny thing, and a large variety of interesting, large bosses. Ever played Skyrim? You probably have, well Skyrim isn't even a fraction as challenging, difficult, or (in my opinion) fun as Dark Souls. However, Dark Souls is not for impatient players, people who rage easy, or those who get lost in games easily. There are a few way to play online. You can use your white sign soapstone to place a white summon sign that other players can touch to summon you, and you help them beat the area boss and get half the souls (The game's currency and what you use to level up) they do if successful. You can use cracked red eye orbs, (Or the red eye orb if you're in a certain covenant, or the blue eye orb if you're in another certain covenant) to invade people's worlds and your objective is to kill that person. You can also place your red sign soapstone, where people will summon you for honorable duals instead of just randomly invading and possibly invading a hacker, a guy who heals mid- fight (Red phantoms can't heal), or guys who have their phantom help kill you with them. Last but totally least, other players can place down a message with the orange guidance soapstone that can either give you a helpful hint, deceive you, or can be something totally random. Then there are four different damage types, magic, lightning, fire, and physical, and you can upgrade a weapon based off of a certain damage type. There are three different magic types too. There's sorcery, which scales on the stat intelligence, uses catalysts, and inflicts magic damage, miracles, which scale off Faith, uses talismans, and do lightning damage, and then there's Pyromancy, which doesn't require any stats to use, does fire damage, and uses the a Pyromancy Flame. Then there is a DLC, the Artorias the Abyss Walker DLC, which adds on to the main story and takes place in the ancient land of Oolacile. For the Xbox you can buy the DLC off the store, but for the PC and Playstation you can get the DLC with the game in Dark Souls: Prepare to Die Edition too. As one of the best games ever, I highly suggest Dark Souls to all people who think they're up for the challenge.
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video-games_xbox
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DON'T BELIEVE A SINGLE BAD REVIEW. I have owned a pair of these for 3 months now and have never heard better sounds in my life. Trust me when I say these things sound better than real life.
Setup
When I first thought about buying these I was very sceptical based off of the bad reviews, but my brother owns a pair of tritton ax720's and said they were the best headset he's ever used by far. He gave me a test run on call of duty mw3 and I was impressed. So needless to say, I bought the better, older brother to the ax720's, the axPro's. When I got them I was excited about the look of them alone. Nice, shiny silver with lots of lights and features. I have read many reviews saying there are ''too many cords'' but I found it to be a perfect amount. Enough for me to sit on the couch 6 feet away from my tv if I want to, and not like turtle beach's hundred yard ( or so it feels like) thin tangley mess of cords. Setup was simple as long as you know how to follow instructions and only takes a few minutes out of your time. Many different attachments from the tv to the box to the outlet to the headset, etc. ANd finally I was ready to play my first game of halo.
Quality, comfort
I have read reviews about these being cheap or breaking easily. This is absurd. This is one of the most solid headsets I've felt. I don't understand what you could do to break these so easily. You would honestly have to be pretty rough with your product or maybe 'drop test ' them off a radio tower. Built well and not too heavy not too light. They fit on my head perfectly so I am pretty lucky there. Although my head isn't really small There are many complaints about these being too tight. I would think you would have a pretty big head. Mine is about normal and I have a lot of adjustability left. The ear pieces come with changeable ear cushions. One made out of material, and the other out of leather (which I prefer). I found them quite comfortable even though I wish the leather was a bit more... cushiony I guess. But they break in and I can game for hours and forget I'm even wearing a headset.
Sound Quality
I turned the game on, my heart thumping, ready to be blown away, waiting for sounds I can scarcely imagine only in my deepest dreams. Volume all the way up ready ready.... Hm..
I was taken aback when they didn't meet my expectations.. not nearly as good as the ax 720's (at first). I heard better sounds out of a 30 dollar pair of sharkoons.. these things sucked. Pitches were to trebled, lack of bass, and voices didn't even sound half normal. Before I would complain or return or write a bad review about how awful they were I decided to do a little tweaking first. On the surround sound box itself there is a little switch. Switch it to the right for vol/pl (volume/pro logic) control and switch to the left for td/drc (time delay/dynamic range control) . If you switch it to the left you can increase the time delay. There are fifteen notches and you can only tell which one you're on by listening to the headset(it will skip every time you increase or decrease the range control) so you have to listen close. It's automatically set at 1 so keep turning the range up until you get to 9 (I prefer this setting). ANd voila everything will sound ten times better. still yet I was not completely satisfied. STill a slight lack of bass.. of course that was no problem because you can individually adjust each speaker. Hours turned to days, days turned to weeks and weeks, to months of setting each speaker differently trying to figure out the best sound I could possibly hear. And after all this time I have the solution.
Speaker settings
This is something I have not seen in any other reviews and it makes me think I am the only one to experiment with the product I buy. I spent about an hour one day by a waterfall in skyrim, closing my eyes and spinning in circles, trying to pinpoint it to the closest possible feeling of reality. I thought I had it
-front speaker normal
-rear speaker one notch below front
-center speaker 3 notches below front
-and subs 3 notches above the front speakers
A played like this for a while before I realized how offset everything sounded and how strange and quiet voices were compared to everything else.
I spent weeks trying to figure out what I liked best before I realized I was changing the settings for every different game I was playing. No matter what, each one sounded different.
After all of my time I dedicated to this I have the solution and its very simple. Leave the front rear and center the same as each other or 'flat' and put the subs up a whopping 4 notches. It seems a bit extreme but this is a setting that works with every single game and gives you a nice juicy thumping bass while maintaining amazingly precise surround sound. You can tell where everything, and I mean EVERYTHING is at. At this point they even blew the impressive ax 720's away. And if you turn the subs up to the red you will feel the headset shaking slightly on your head as sounds from grenades pound deeply into the depths of your ear drums. Gun shots no longer sound like little pops or breaking glass that you may have heard from your tv or perhaps an inferior headset, now they thump into your ears and even down to your chest. I swear when I'm playing sometimes I feel like the floor is vibrating but when I mute them or take them off, it stops.
Finally I have found the sounds I can only imagine or hear in my craziest dreams, and I can live them. Every game is better with these and even watching movies feels like I'm in the dead center of a theater. Trust me this headset will captivate you beyond belief. I am pulled in to every single game I play. And every step I take I can actually hear beneath me as if I'm actually there. THose who rate these as a bad headset have not taken the time to calibrate or experiment with these and decide that they are trash as I regrettably almost did. But those are also the ones that lack passion and patience, and will never hear the amazing sounds that this headset has to offer. There is no superior. I have owned sharkoons and 3 different turtle beaches, tried tritton ax 720's, Sony's ps3 wireless and even real surround sound systems, all of which fail epically in comparison. I played halo reach, halo anniversary, lots of halo 3, call of duty blops, call of duty mw3, gears 3, assassins creed revelations, skyrim, and many, many more with these along with a few movies. I am all about bass and these don't have a fuzzy or simple bass, but a more roomy, thumping, deep... lack of words bass. A take your breath away bass as long as you keep them subs up. SUrround sound is insanely precise, I will never need a radar in a game again because I have one on top of my head better than any radar.
I hope this review helps. Remember if you get them to tweak them to your liking before you are quick to judge like I almost was and as obviously many other gamers have been. You have indulged your eyes to beautiful sights, your sense of taste, touch and smell to the best foods, feelings and scents. Now use this headset to amplify your sense of sound beyond anything you have ever heard or imagined. This headset may be quite out of date compared to all the new 'wireless' hype, but without wires there is always delay and most importantly lack of bass. You will never have to worry about that with these. If I could I would give these a ten out of five. I will never replace these and may never take them off my head again. Tritton axPro's are simply the best. Hands down no comparison. The rest are for the little leagues.
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video-games_xbox
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Good wireless adapter. I bought this Nov-2007 to allow my son-in-laws xbox to talk to my network so we could use xbox live. Then Christmas 2007 I got my xbox and have been using this since then. My son-in-law just bought one for his xbox at his new house.
Now that is the setup for the following just so you understand the setup. Mine has functioned flawlessly ever since I got it. It works with my older secured D-Link router just fine. I am running 802.11g, and have never had problems with my xbox online that I could say was my network connection. The xbox makes setup sort of easy, as easy as any wireless connection I guess, not saying that in itself is easy. If you are running a secured wireless router (and you should be) just make sure you select the proper security and password. My xbox is only 10 feet or so from my router, but through a wooden TV cabinet and a couple interior walls.
My son-in-laws is another story, is one reason I brought that up. He has a new house, and his d-link N series router is on the second the floor, in the far corner of the farthest bedroom he can get from his xbox. His xbox is on the first floor, in the opposite corner of his house. All the attic "stuff" like A/C and Furnace, is between his xbox and the router. We were playing four people on xbox live with no problem we could attribute to his network connection, even though my wife was using my laptop wireless also at the time and surfing the net. I would say line-of-sight between his router and his xbox is about 70 feet give or take, but has 4 or 5 walls, a floor plus the attic "stuff" in between.
One thing I like about this product is it hooks into the xbox, no external power source is required, and if you pack up your xbox to take somewhere else, it just goes along for the ride without a second thought.
Sure built in would be a better option, but it is what it is and even though I think this is pretty over priced, it is still a really good option.
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video-games_xbox
|
Definitely worth playing. Borderlands is an RPG / FPS combo that is similar in play style to both World of Warcraft and Call of Duty. You basically run around shooting people and monsters, trying to complete quests and find better equipment in the forms of guns, shields, and grenade enhancements, whilst leveling your character, one of four selectable archetypes (sniper, brawler, medic, and... useless invisible girl), in order to spend points in one or more of the three skill trees available to each character type.
The game is totally done in cell-shading and the graphics will blow your mind, but you'll often be too busy to notice them, as you'll be desperately trying to blow minds of your own by shooting for weak spots like heads, open mouths, or armor gaps, with one of the six weapon types, of which there are a nearly infinite number of variations granting perks like faster reloads or fire rates, increased damage and elemental effects, better scopes, and many more. Another excellent gameplay mechanic is the fight-for-your-life mode, which pits a downed player against whatever it was that killed him, allowing you a chance not only for vengeance, but also a quick boost up to around 1/4 health should you manage to
The casual player should find the game more than worth the purchase price, but it is over quite quickly, especially should the player choose not to 'prestige' and play the same campaign over on a harder difficulty, starting at the level they originally beat the game at. The bad guys and monsters are more or less cookie cutter clones, and despite the massive number of weapons, they tend to all feel pretty much the same, and you'll be stuck using 'the best one' for hours, especially near the end of the game. There is a multiplayer aspect to the game, allowing for deathmatches, but at a maximum of four-per-party, it gets old quick. This four player limit also applies for co-op play, and the game host will be responsible for selecting active quests, as well as which quests can be completed during the session, making it hard for players of two different levels to play together. Another thing to watch out for is having two players on one console will tend to push things like quest dialogue and menus off of the screen.
All in all, it's a very fun game. I pre-ordered my copy and don't regret buying it, I just wish it had been a little longer and a little more challenging than simply grinding through headshots for thirty or forty hours.
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video-games_xbox
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Excellent Game Lots of Fun Characters And Great Customization. [Important Preface on Reviewing Street Fighter VS Tekken]
Yes, I know you may look at the reviews of the game here and think that something might be wrong with the game, or that it might be defective. It is not. In fact it was well reviewed. If you look at Metacritic website it has average score of 85% out of 100%, which is relatively very high grade for any game. That is based on 31 professional review websites. Then you come here and see all the negative comments how "gems are useless" or "we cannot have local coop against online!" or "There is DLC on the disk, so it should be free!" About Local Coop, perhaps it sucks, but it does not make any game unfair, since the opponent plays by the same rules. Regarding content on disk, neither in practical terms or legal terms any locked content on the disk should be free. It is like saying the game is on the disk, so I should see all the open source code for it. Also keep in mind. ONLY 3 revies have a mark on their review as "verified Amazon purchase" and those three people gave the game decent and constructive criticism. Why would others come a website from which they did not buy the game and review the game, not even mentioning they're reviewing special edition. Only answer is there are some forums online where gamers read about games, game complaints, and someone suggested they go to all the sites and write negative reviews about the game.
Now to get to my review of Street Fighter VS. Tekken. It is by far not a bad game. The graphics are very fast 60 frames per second. If you care about the visuals then you can't be disappointed with this. Everything is shinier, more lifelike, and you see textures you have not seen before in fighting game. I think rendering of skin textures has gotten much better than previous Capcom fighters. Sometimes you'll see when characters start sweating, and some players will enjoy seeing that, if they play certain characters. You get many characters to choose from at the start. As you play though the campaign with two characters you choose, you can follow somewhat of a story. Nothing special about this plot. Just good characters fighting evil ones. But what you do get to see is very interesting cutscenes explaining why each character paired up with another and it creates a coherent continuity. The stages and the environment are also rather diverse and creative as you are not limited to one stage, but can perform special moves that will throw the characters either into another battlefield, or below a collapsed building, all accompanied by cool cut scenes. Audio and music are ok, by default the characters have Japanese voice overs, but you are able to switch them to English and back selectively, for specific characters.
I've played video and computer games, including fighting games, over fifteen years, and I think gameplay here mostly resembles Marvel vs Capcom in high speed of the fights, and the moves correspond to respective games, whether Street Fighter or Tekken. However, some might find problems here as some super moves have been slightly modified and you might not get the same move unless you check the moves list.
A lot of people complain about the idea of gems. That they will create unbalanced gameplay, or that they are useless. I think whether you like the gem system will depend on the skill of the player. For example I want my characters to move faster so I will try to use speed up Gem whenever possible. Of course this needs a lot of practice to figure out which ones you might need since big and slow characters such as Hugo or Zangief will need a gem that might help you if you think they are too slow, or gems that increase damage points may help weaker, smaller characters. I personally like the gem system because when I modify any given character with a few gems it feels like an entirely different character. You have to perform a certain action to activate some of the activated gems, while others are passive, ones with weaker effects have easier activation, and vice versa
[ABOUT 'SPECIAL EDITION']
Ok, like others said, the special edition is ironically nothing special at all. It is $10 more than the standard edition but it gives you access to all the gems present in the game from the start. The "present" you get is a plastic DIY toy coin bank that looks like a arcade cabinet. I didn't open it, but from what it looks like, honestly it is like a happy meal toy. Then again, this is not a "Collector's Edition" of any sort, its just "Special Edition"
It was advertised that the buyer will get a special, unique, exclusive Comic Book. This was definitely a rip off. The "Comic Book" is just a part of the extra thick manual that is inside the case. You know how you get really fat manuals for fighting games? This is just that but with "comic pages" printed on back.
So for $10 extra, the "special edition" gets 2 or 3 out of 5, depending how much you value the things I described and gems.
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video-games_xbox
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Competent headset. I owned a pair of Turtle Beach X31s for 6 years. I bought them for $100 in 2009 and they served me very well until last week when an earcup broke off. Electronically it still works perfectly fine, but mechanically the X31s are pretty poor in the longevity department. I bet I could have used that sucker for another decade if they didn't break on me.
Back in good old 2009, the Turtle Beach headsets manufactured explicitly for the Xbox were the X31 and X41. The only difference is the X41 has seven speakers in each earcup for full Dolby surround, but they were also twice the price of the X31s at $200. You'll get a different answer on whether or not that price tag was worth it depending on who you ask.
In my particular case, I had purchased the necessary cabling to connect my laptop to the X31 transmitter so I was living la vida loca being able to swap the 3.5mm jack depending on whether I was doing something that required sound on the laptop or not. In addition, two thirds of my time is spent talking to people in XBox Live party chats so being able to listen to Grooveshark or Hulu on the laptop at the same time was something I had gotten used to. What I was searching for was a way to basically resume with this same setup with a new headset, since it's apparently impossible to find replacement headsets for the X31 system any more.
Enter the X32 and X42. They're incrementally better versions of their predecessors but seem to have introduced a number of flaws.
The literature for this headset (which I studied at length) stated that the wireless transmitter for the X42 had both an analog in (3.5mm jack) and digital in (optical). It also stated that a digital signal would prevent use of the analog input which sounded fine, given I didn't want to hear my Xbox and laptop competing with each other. The problem is, what happens in actuality is that the analog signal is ignored when when the console is powered on, even when it's doing nothing. What I had hoped for was the digital Dolby experience when gaming and a seamless transition to the analog signal when I was idling on the dashboard, preventing any need for cable switching. The massive disappointment set in after disconnecting the optical cable and hearing the MP3 from my laptop finally come through.
The remainder of my annoyances are small. To begin, the earcups on the X42 are round and no longer oblong. Would someone mind pointing out a person with round ears? The bottom of the earcups are smashing my earlobes against my neck, which I can only imagine would be extremely painful for someone with piercings. The microphone boom is no longer a sweeping adjust and has slotted ridges, and is so tightly constructed that I have to hold the headset with the other hand to move the boom up and down without twisting the whole unit off my head. Also, my laptop buzzes loudly when connected to the transmitter but the TV does not. I'm willing to chalk this one up to the cable.
I feel like the X42 has no benefit over the last generation of X31s and X41s if you can't use the digital Dolby feature. It's an over-ear wireless headset for sure and carries the same benefits as any given headset with those two same features, but its selling points end there if you can't make use of the digital optical cable. Had I spent the full $150 and found myself high and dry without the RCA-to-3.5mm cable that I already had from the X31 (a cable not provided with the X42) then I would have been very angry with Turtle Beach. Since I already had the requisite analog cabling in place, I can at least resume life as usual before my X31s broke which was the only expectation I required this headset to fulfill without being a complete dealbreaker for a refund.
Update after 24 hours of use: the earcups are causing about as many problems as I expected. With their small and weird circular shape, they are constantly pinching the top and back of my ears because there is not enough space inside the padding perimeter to fit a human ear. The pain is constant as long as I'm wearing this headset (on the good old fashioned 0 to 10 scale, about a 3). Given that these are over-ear headsets, it must fit very snugly around the ears to insulate from the sounds outside, and the lack of space to fit an ear inside the cup results in the constant pinching and pain I am experiencing. The X31 and X41 were so much better and I have no idea why they'd backtrack on such a basic ergonomic feature.
To power the headset on and off, it is necessary to hold the power button for 5 seconds. On my old X31s, I only had to tap the button to power on and hold it for about 2 seconds to power off. After the headset powers on the transmitter has to power on, which takes another 5 seconds or so before any audio transmits. More strange backwards design decisions.
The voice features are also much worse in quality than my old X31s. It sounds like everyone is using a Kinect microphone for some reason, which was not a problem the X31s had.
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video-games_xbox
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My X36 TB were a dream compared to these. 2nd EDIT: the side plastics are now both broken under normal wear. Jesus....these things are garbage. I still have to pair the recover and headphone about 8x throughout about 4-6 hrs of playing. If your playing multiplayer games it will mess you up. I don't review stuff often, but never bought somthing so "Chinese"
EDIT: they now constantly have a problem. It's a problem that was once a week. Now it's all the time. You can play for 30min then the sounds goes completely hay wire. Sounds very very strange and hurts my ears. I had commented on it below. The robotic sounds. Very disappointed. I will never buy anything from turtle beach again they've sold their good name to the Chinese to maximize profits. Shame on them.
they disconnect from sound completely and have to be re-paired very often. 2-3 times through 5hrs of playing.
Every couple hours they will also sound like a really weird robot electronic sound. Very very strange sounding. Can't play a game at all with it when it does this. Hurts my ears. Again only way to fix is re-pair/sync them, but be prepared to do it often. Not reliable.
Max Volume is okay, honestly I think it's 20% lower then my turtle beach X32. And they were as loud as I like anything. These will never hurt your ears on full blast by a long shot. They get loud enough to be okay, but not LOUD.
The whole charging thing lol. Yeah they are constantly on when charging. No way to turn that off. Just turning them down is all. So if they are off and you plug them in to charge they will come on and stay on while charging. Only thing you can do is turn volume down on them. That is a massive engineering mistake. Someone should have their rear end paddeled like a small toddler....then appropriately be fired.
The presets are a joke. I mean a real joke. Like the designers were laughing when they saw them being put on a truck and being shipped out. All presets sound very very close to the same.
These are wireless. But holy cow, they suck besides that.
If you were to ignore all the negatives (which are way too bad to really ignore... Seriously) they are a 3 out of 5 star headphone.
These are cheap Chinese junk. Turtle beach is looking for maximum profits at the consumers expense. It's time to leave turtle beach where they belong. On the curb wearing useless headphones.
They used to be pretty good. No more. They are trash.
Update...... They just started flashing red and stopped working.... I'm actually not surprised at all. From the sounds of their customer service and warranty, I will be cutting my losses and throwing them away.
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video-games_xbox
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Battlefield 3: The Relaunched Unplayable Adventure (multi-player. MULTIPLAYER REVIEW
Upon finally receiving this game from pre-order (which I will never do again) My brothers and I loaded up the game to have some fun!
First things first, download an update! (already???)
OK, Battlefield 4 is marketed as a game that you play with all of your friends in a dynamic ever changing map.
First problem: I found is that you cannot party up in a lobby with your friends, the option is not even there.(SERIOUSLY???)
Next, in order to join a game with your friends you must find a server without a bunch of people in it, and you cannot set your search for half empty servers, so you have to weed through a hundred full servers to find a playable one. By the time you scroll down to find a server to join, chances are that server will be full by the time you and your friends join. When you finally do all join a game together, chances are you are going to be put on opposite teams. Come on, seriously?
Second problem: The new commander slot! Well, say you want to join your friends game as a commander. You will have to find their server name and manually input it in order to become a commander on that map. The best part? Chances are you will be put in the commander slot of the enemies team.
Third problem: Game freezes. Do not even try to play Dawnbreaker or Hainan resort. 2 out of 3 of us crashed out every time the map came into queue. Unfortunately, you cannot set the option to not play that map.
The list can go on and on, but I will just set bullets to them instead of continuing my tirade.
*you cannot edit your class while a game is queuing up, you must do it in game or in the training ground.
*sound will occasionally cut out during the match and not come back.
*sound will not start until about a minute after the game has started.
*tons of other smaller bugs that you will run into throughout the course of the game
I know this is just the first week of release, but if I am going to spend 60+ dollars for a game, I want it to be playable. Instead, I received an unfinished game that I get angry and frustrated with every time I try to play.
I am getting a refund and playing COD: Ghost. Comes out real soon!
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video-games_xbox
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Short but sweet single player. Frustrating multi-player. I have been anxiously awaiting the arrival of Project: Snowblind for many months. When I finally got a chance to play it I was in some regards, disappointed. While the single player portions sings, the multi-player component leaves something to be desired. Regrettable, it apparent the online portion was a tacked on after thought. The game would have benefited more form an offline/split screen mode since from a technical standpoint it wasn't built to handle online very well, detracting for its overall experience.
I know Crystal Dynamics already has my $50 and video games are unfortunately items that cannot be returned for full value, so it probably doesn't matter what I say.
1. Aiming and tracking an enemy in online multi-player is more difficult than it should be to do jerky character animations, visual clipping. Does Eidos/Crystal Dynamics plan to address these issues? This game's online multi-player mode had some serious potential but as it is, aiming at characters that look like epileptic monkeys on crack is a frustrating experience. I play others games online and from experience know that aiming need not be a frustrating ordeal. Even though Halo 2 may not be perfect, it is at least a good example of how smooth an online shooter should be. Characters shouldn't disappear then reappear, they shouldn't ice-skate across the map, character shouldn't have their lower body sunken into the bottom of the map, and in 2005 the character models shouldn't have jerky animation reminiscent of games 5 years old. Was the online component even tested? How could any game company in 2005 have been proud of the way this game's multi-player component functions on a technical level? Perhaps these issues are common on PS2 since people are really digging it but for Xbox it seems dumbed down to the point of being crippled.
2. I'm not sure if Eidos is aware of this but in its current state, the ranking system is pretty useless. People are dropping out last moment if their team is loosing or switching over to the winning team. What is the point of a ranking system if it doesn't in anyway indicate the player's level? When you join a game that ends in 3 seconds, if you happened to join on the losing team, it counts as a loss for you, even if you didn't fire a single shot.
3. The audio looks like it never went to testing. The audio periodically drops out in the middle of games for no reason. There is no indication as to who is talking.
4. The multi-play is a quick frag-em affair. It's more conducive to death match than team orientated game modes like the included demolition, CTF and assault. The game works like this: You fight somebody and one person dies, After that the survivor is attacked and he is killed easily because he lost health in the previous fight, then some one kills the guy who survived that round, rinse and repeat. You're never alive for long periods, unless you're some super player.
Now that I am done with the bad, let me say the single player mode is a lot of fun while it lasts. It's about 5-6 hours long and doesn't have the option to set the difficulty setting so if you want more of a challenge, you're out of luck. With regards to game play, Snowblind controls like Halo and gives you many choices of control button layouts. While the AI isn't anything to write home about they do display characteristics that imply intelligence. They will duck behind cover and takes shoots at you whole trying to remain hidden and given the opportunity they will flank you. You have the choice to approach missions with guns blazing, stealthy or you can take advantage of your unique weaponry and augmentations and do things like use the enemy's mechs or even their soldiers against themselves. There are often vents and secondary passageways that give it an open ended approach. The environments are all beautifully designed and original even if the textures resemble those from a cheap PS2 game. One of the games main attractions is the sheer amount of chaos on the screen. There are times that between your squad and the enemy soldiers they'll be 20 soldiers onscreen at a time. Add to that 12 foot pilot controlled mechs, smaller remote mechs, turrets, spider-bots, the effects of special weapons like lightning and explosions and it's quite something to behold. If your main concern is a solid shooter and you don't mind a short game then this is the game for you. However if a fun multi-player experience is what hooks you, then I'd either ship on it or wait for a patch to address the lag, animation and other online issues.
This review was of the Xbox version of Project: Snowblind
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video-games_xbox
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A Little Better Than SVR 2009. After Smackdown vs Raw 2008 and 2009 did pretty terrible at delivering in terms of excitement and entertainment, THQ managed to make yet another comeback with Smackdown vs Raw 2010.
For one, the graphics/models were majorly improved for the previous year and CAW was much better as it seems a lot of time went into giving fans lots of details for creating superstars. In addition in the create category, Create A Logo made its debut, which allowed you to create any design you desired to put on the attire of your CAW. To me, it was increasingly frustrating to try and make a design with the controller. Seeing some of the artistic designs people have put together over the years with Create A Logo in following WWE games was quite mind boggling.
Also making its game debut was the new Story Designer. For the first time ever, fans could create their own storylines with whatever superstars/divas/commentators/legends they wanted. There had to be at least over 50 cutscenes to use in the stories that you could add superstar emotions, text dialogue, crowd reactions, commentary, and locations for. All in all it was a really great new feature to add to the game. Once you finish RTWM, why not make your own storylines
The roster got a drastic update that included a number of new superstars debuting in the series such as R-Truth, Vladimir Kozlov, Mike Knox, Ted Dibiase, Evan Bourne, Primo, Ezekiel Jackson, The Bella Twins, Gail Kim, and Eve Torres. There were also a few new interesting legends added to the game such as Bob Orton, Ted Dibiase, Dusty Rhodes, and then the usual such as Austin, Rock, and Trish
Superstar Threads was also new as also for the first time, you could change the color of superstars' attires. I was really glad to hear about this feature because throughout the series it did get tiring to see superstars wear the same colored attire, especially if they had no alternate attires for you to choose from. A new My WWE section was added that allowed you to choose what brand superstars and divas appeared on for Exhibition matches, who was face or heel, who the champions were, and who your rivals and allies were. Whoever you had as your rivals were more likely to interfere in one of your matches in Exhibition mode or Story Designer.
The Royal Rumble match got an upgrade that made eliminations easier, rather than the excessive button mashing we'd been subjected to since Smackdown vs Raw. Now you had to eliminate superstars with the correct timing of a correct button. Whether you eliminate them over the top rope or against the turnbuckle, you had to push the correct button when it flashed on the screen. If you hit a button too soon or too late, your opponent escapes the attempted elimination and you have to start again.
Road To Wrestlemania was back for another year as the superstars given stories in this game were Shawn Michaels, Triple H and John Cena (co-op), Randy Orton, Edge, CAW, and Mickie James who was the first and only to diva to have a RTWM story. The one thing I didn't like about 2010's RTWM was that a few stories were re-hashes of real life WWE storylines. For example, Mickie James' storyline was a take off her obsessive storyline with Trish Stratus, only this time Mickie was the normal one and Natalya was the stalker. Then there was Edge's storyline which was a rehash of his La Familia storyline, only Maria was his girlfriend instead of Vickie.
Career Mode returned for another year but I really didn't understand why it was back. No one cared for it in 2009, so did they really think it would suddenly become a fan favorite in 2010?? Career Mode was a lost cause. Thankfully, THQ got the message that it was widely unpopular among many and this was the last we ever saw of Career Mode.
Overall: Smackdown vs Raw 2010 was a vast improvement from SVR 2009. A few certain spots in the game could've used some improvement but above everything else, it's able to keep you busy for awhile. After you finisher RTWM in SVR 09, there was nothing left for you to do. But in SVR 2010, you can play RTWM or create your own storylines or mess around with superstar threads. The choice is yours! My rating comes to a 4/5 stars
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video-games_xbox
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Overprice headset that breaks after a few hours of playtime!! ~ Please read following updates for this products. Bought this item on Black Friday i received the item on the 27 very excited to try and enjoy, i open the box set up the whole thing with the pc first so i could update/upgrade firmware then i when and set up with my Xbox One S everything was working fine while i was playing by myself on COD WWII.
Then friends got online, i played with them for about an hour and the nightmare started i was on the Xbox live party some of my friends were playing GTA V and i was playing with another friend Infinity Warfare Zombie and a loud static noise happen really annoying so i thought it was one of my friends mic doing that but to my surprise it wasn't it was me ridiculous right! out of the box didn't even get to play much and this thing is already broken!!, or and there not really easy on your ears wanted to point that out.
I contacted Astro Support via email lest see how long it takes for a reply i give them 3 days if i don't get an answer this things are going bac for full refund. I try all the troubleshooting on the support site and apparently is the Mixamp the one with the issue.
In 3 days time i be in market for a new set but this time i will research a bit longer before i go and buy anything with a hefty price tag that breaks after a few hours of play time!
Update 12/4/17, Support from Astro was very slow to reply (4+ days) no phone # to call just email., they did not offer any help other than to upgrade firmware, after i did that a few times on my own their advice/request came after, so i was able to do multiple updates, and now the headset seems to be working fine no more static, so i was quick to judge the quality or the product bf checking all the facts and without enough troubleshooting in my part no thanks to Astro i might add, but everything okay now so i'm changing it to 4 stars, I will update again if something goes wrong but i will take all measures/troubleshooting bf i come back and complaint lol.
Update to my previous review (3/1/18), since my last review back in december 2018 i have had no problems with the headset everything is working fine, i been using them regularly as i played a lot online on my xbox one so far so good, i will update again in next few months.
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video-games_xbox
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A classic remastered for the 10th birthday. So odds are if you're reading reviews you want to know how the game holds up to the original and if it's worth your 40 bucks. I won't beat around the bush. The game on a technical level is good but it does have some issues and perplexing changes. Among the technical issues the game has is that unless you install it on your 360 you will have some framerate stutter. At the same time you will have texture pop in even if you do install it. Although installing it reduces how harsh it is and how long it lasts if you install it. Navigating the menus can be an exercise too due to how jittery it is when selecting things. It's a lot like trying to select options using a controller in the PC version of the original. You can choose to play in original graphics or new by hitting the back button even during menus. The one exception is the cutscenes. Once they start playing they are locked to your graphics mode you were in before it started. This is due to it having to load all cutscenes. This produces a small pause before each cutscene which can be jarring. You can also choose to play with the original soundtrack via the start menu. This can't be switched on the fly the way the graphics can however. Speaking of the graphics there are minor things that the original did that are missing in the new graphics mode like ice cracking when driving over it in a tank or a Warthog, the sun shafts when looking at the sun, trail effects when driving over the light bridge, etc. It's sad to see these small details missing when playing with the new graphics on. The original graphics only have one thing that is messed up and that is that when monitors on the final level hit you it turns your screen green. It did not do this in the original
Speaking of the new cutscenes when playing in the new graphics mode. They have some odd changes to them that minus one really are sub par compared to the way the original cutscenes were done. The one exception to this is the 343 Guilty Spark cutscene midway through the level when Master chief finds the marines body. The new take on that cutscene really was better and made sense.
Of course the gameplay is the Halo you loved. This is due to running the new graphics engine on top of the original Halo engine. Hence the gameplay is entirely intact. Online co-op was a nice inclusion although the lack of saves for it kind of suck. It also supports achievements and comes with the Halo Anniversary map pack for Halo Reach. At the same time you can play these maps on the disc if you want to. It is Reach's multiplayer however it only has the 6 multiplayer maps and the one firefight map if you play that way. The map pack though allows you to download these maps to your Halo Reach save so that you can play them in Reach along with all of the maps included already with Reach. So that's a very nice bonus.
Overall if you are a Halo fan then I think you'll get your value out of this game. The online co-op the terminals and skulls added to single player in the new graphics mode and other features really do add some great value to it. The terminals really are amazing btw. If you're a fan of Halo those are worth finding and watching. So all this said. Buy it and enjoy it if you're a Halo fan. You'll probably get your money's worth.
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video-games_xbox
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six years of working on such amazing game just went down to the drain. I just got done with this game at 1:01 a.m on Feb. 13 I honestly have to say there was great potential for this game as an A L I E N fan I am extreamly dissapointed with GearBox, it felt as if they just sat around and didn't give a rats ass about us A L I E N fans and just wanted our money then laugh at us like this whole thing was a big sick joke, there was only two extremly suspensful scenes where your running away from a new breed of Xenomorph called Raven sealing off doors trying to figure out what way to go then you start to panic then go into the air vents then after a short while there was another scene where you are walking through the sewers lights are flashing and the only thing you see is a deformed alien walking towards you when you make a sound also this game has a couple of places that is most recongnizable from the ALIENS movie like the scene where newt and riply fought off the facehugger to the most famous scene off of the alien franchis the space jockey. This game has the worst looking graphics known to date the lighting looks bland and the textures are very dull aswell as the humans they didn't even look realistic even the animation was really bad now the voice acting was good so as the Alien enviroments to the aliens themselve's but the animation was just disgusting. Six years Gearbox spent on this game and this is what ever happen to the sick demo that they showed at E3 were everything look straight up creepy enviroments to the most awesome fighting scenes with face to face with the xenomorphs and aswell very entertaining cinematics which they also fail to accomplished if you compared the demo to the actual game you will be mad as hell I DEMAND A REMAKE OF THIS GAME oOR A IMPROVE ADD ON TO THIS GAME!!!!!!!!!!. If I were you keep your money and spend it on games that are worth the $60 like Bioshock Infinite, Crysis 3, Tomb Raider, and Grand Theft Auto
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video-games_xbox
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You've Outdone Yourselves Again, Astro Gaming. Well Done. Let me start by saying that Astro Gaming has an incredible Pedigree.. with the A40 being used in Pro Circuits since the Halo 3 MLG days (maybe even sooner, I'm not sure). I've been using Astro A40's since 2010 and I can say that there are honestly no better Gaming Headsets out there. If you are an avid gamer, or just someone who likes nicer things, the A40 TR is absolutely the way you want to go. There's a reason that the Call of Duty Pros of today are sponsored by and are using these headsets religiously.
The sound quality is clear as day and the surround sound is incredible.. one thing I like about this headset vs the older ones is the better Bass it emits. It's not overpowering in any way, because it's balanced well. I play Call of Duty Black Ops 3 with this headset and I can hear people around me so clear that I know exactly where they are before they can even see me.. it's almost unfair.
For the money you invest in this, you get your money's worth, if not more, in my opinion. Anytime someone is looking for a Gaming Headset, I point them towards the Astro A40 line, and now I'll be telling them to sink the money for these TR's specifically.
All of this and I haven't even dabbled on the topic of the MixAmp yet.. as well as the free software you get that can edit the NoiseGate on the mic you have, mic monitoring levels, and the advanced EQ settings on the different presets that it comes with. The customization here is just off the charts, and you can find / download custom EQ's people have made and put them on the Mixamp for your use. The mic muting changes the mixamp's button colors so you know if you're muted or not, and you can switch to PC mode (for you PC gamers who dabble between console / PC) just by holding the power button down on the Mixamp.
So really, what's not to love? I'd give this headset a 10/5 if I could. Well done, Astro Gaming. Well done.
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video-games_xbox
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An excellent follow up from a new IP and it's Bioware. I am so far so blown away by Mass Effect 2. I will say that first off, while you can start a new character w/o having to play part 1, you will get more out of the story if you have already played part 1.
**SPOILER ALERT!**
First off moving your character save is a breeze and even with the prologue, you can still go back in and tweak your character's appearance and class if you weren't too happy with what you had in ME1.
As far as the controls are concerned, it's come a good little ways since the first one as you have more of a Gears of War approach as this game is more combat heavy and tactical heavy. A lot of the inventory has been streamlined to help the player enjoy the game more and worry less about equipping your character.
The story itself so far is also engrossing. Sheppard and crew are facing off against a threat of the Collectors while at the same time working for a mysterious organization call Cerebrus who managed to not only treat her like Ripley in Aliens but also rebuild her ship (once you play it, you will see) you will meet new characters who you will find are hard to trust as well as meet up with old characters that you will have issues with as far as your alliances.
There are also many moments even early on where you get to do things that will cause your paragon or renegate ratings to change based on those action and that includes saving someone or killing someone!
That also is another part to this game. Based on some of your decisions. your crew's loyalty will change. I haven't gotten far yet to see how this works but if it's anything like Dragon Age, I will bet that it's a doozy.
Another major improvement is the art of the game. Out of the places I have been to in the game, a lot of artwork and design of planets, characters, city structures etc, feels as if it's giving Mass Effect 2 it's own identity and not just look like another static Sci fi game. I would comment further on your ship's desing but I think as a player you would have to see it for yourself. I think that even the music is better this time around and the voice dialogue is still top notch like the first.
Even as far as traveling in the game, so far, there is a lot more to do. You can travel to different systems and scan moons to mine for ore from orbit and also you get 2 peices of free DLC which you can use immediately. Also instead of just highlighting a dot and going, you can 'fly' your ship where you want it to be on the map and then tell it to go there. One other small mechanic you may want to keep an eye on is the fuel gauge as you have to buy gas to get where you are going. That could be a plus or minus depending.
Character leveling as in the first game is not complex at all but you may want to try different classes to get an idea of what you like as newer ones have been added. One of the additions that I like is that you can upgrade weapons, armor and ship systems as well as do some customizing of your own personal equpiment.
There really aren't too many minuses in the game except for one, I don't like the fact that if you are docked in a city or station and you want to get something on your ship, you have to undock (to load your ship's level up) and then redock to continue. This to me breaks the flow of the game. Also in some parts where you are talking to NPCs, the lighting could be a bit off.
Some people may have issues with the new "Halo style" damage indicator where you take damage, the screen gets red and then you run off and heal. I think I liked it the other way from the first one.
But all in all, if you are a fan of this title, pick it up and play it and on a scale of 1 - 5, I give this a 4.5.
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video-games_xbox
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Turn Back the Clock to the Dawn of Time. Coming right off of Far Cry 4's excellent gaming experience for my first time playing a Far Cry game, I was hoping that Primal would be able to tell a equally compelling story set in a era that gaming has very rarely seen.
What Primal gets right is the feeling of being vulnerable to the wildlife, that the world (for a while) feels lethal, and utterly unforgiving to the smallest mistake. The wildlife was unrelenting and deadly, and again for the first few hours I really did get immersed in the feeling that I was no longer at the top of the food chain. It is also an extremely pretty game, even if some textures do get bit muddy up close. The gameplay is also mostly different from other FPS games, given that you are playing in a time where guns simply do not exist. Instead, you will rely primarily on your bow, as well as being able to select from clubs, spears and little clay pot fire and gas 'grenades'.
Another huge change is the fact that once you progress far enough in the game, you can tame the various predators of the game world and use them in combat, as well as ride certain animals. These have their own quest lines, but ultimately this mechanic leads into part of Primal's problems.
Even with the focus on the bow, I still felt like the gameplay was decently addictive. It felt very fluid and I did love the early stages of the game where night was a constant war against predators. All in all I think they did a great job with the limited scope of taking things back to the stone age.
But for all the gems, well, there's coal.
Starting from the top, the very first thing that I instantly disliked is that all the dialogue is spoken in a constructed language designed to emulate that of the primitive, stone age world. So to understand what anyone is saying, you have to read the subtitles. While I can see the whole aspect of being immersive, forcing the player to read the subtitles really took me out of the gameworld, not to mention if you don't have a large enough television you're going to have to choose between looking at the well done facial animation or figuring out what is going on in the story.
The story itself is extremely lacking, especially in comparison to the great characters of Far Cry 4. Basically there is no story aside from 'kill the Udam leader'. The Udam are a tribe of Neanderthals that come from frozen north and eat their dead and capture other humans to eat. You are Takkar, a Wenja (essentially baseline human) whose tribe has been scattered across the land of Oros (somewhere in Central Europe). Your objective is 'find and rebuild the Wenja village and take revenge on the Udam'. While the writers attempt to throw in some twists to make the Udam have some depth as the main enemies, aside from two central characters and some scattered lines of raspy, grunted dialogue in the primitive language, there's really nothing more to them as bad guys.
Instead, I found myself far more interested in the secondary antagonist tribe, the Izila, who are also baseline human but are completely obsessed with the sun. They love to set things and people on fire to appease their god, and the missions involving them are definitely the most interesting in the game, including a sequence that is comparable to the Shangri-La missions of Far Cry 4 (although much, much shorter). Though in the end, it boils down to 'kill the bad guy'.
These railroaded endings remove the ability to make 'moral' choices to kill or spare the antagonists that you could make in Far Cry 4, thus allowing you to shape Takkar a bit more. Instead, he is just the Beastmaster and chief of the Wenja.
Over the course of the game you have to gather certain characters to help make the Wenja stronger and gain access to new tools and quests, but aside from one interesting individual who is given minimal screentime, the rest of these characters are very one dimensional and forgettable. It is a really a shame that so little time is spent exploring these characters and their motivations, because I really enjoyed getting to know the characters in Far Cry 4, they had depth and honestly felt like people who could exist in the world today.
Far Cry Primal's characters feel about as real as museum exhibits.
And finally, bringing up the Beastmaster aspect, while it builds upon the ability of Far Cry 4 to use bait to make predators attack enemies, tamaing predators removes a large chunk of the difficulty from Far Cry Primal. It's inclusion as a gameplay mechanic in the beginning of the game is negligible, enemies being able to incapacitate your pet quickly without very little damage to themselves, while in the later game when you upgrade to the much stronger animals such as the Sabertooth tiger and cave bears, you almost do not have to participate in combat at all as these very powerful creatures (especially the questline specific ones) will be able to take down most enemies with very little effort.
All these problems keep Primal from reaching the same heights as Far Cry 4 (and Far Cry 3 before it, though I have yet to play it). Should you buy this game? I would say if you want something that really does differentiate itself from the rest of the FPS genre, then yes. I enjoyed my time in Primal from a gameplay perspective, but if you're expecting memorable characters or any kind of deep story, you're going to be very disappointed.
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video-games_xbox
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Pay this game its respects. This game was recommended to me by a friend who loves RPGs. He said it's by far the best RPG on the 360. Surprisingly, this was probably the best 20$ game I've ever bought. I'm 17 hours into the game and I have to say that I'm really happy with my purchase. This game is what Final Fantasy 13 should have been. Tales of Vesperia is a breath of fresh air and it's relaxing to play. I can lay down on the couch, under the covers and just lay back and relax while playing this... the complete opposite of an online shooter which demands my full and undivided attention. However, this game is not for every one. If you're not familiar with RPG elements, you won't like this at all and should probably just play Assassins Creed.
I have to say that this game really pays tribute to old school RPGs with a world map. It's not hard to get lost in the open world but it still gives you that freedom of exploration sense that a lot of RPG's seem to be moving away from. You get a boat and an airship as well. When running around in the world map I'm reminded of when I played Final Fantasy 9. This is the best RPG I've played since Final Fantasy 10.
The story seems to be developing nicely as well; although quite linear, but that doesn't really bother me. The characters have their own weird sense of humor and togetherness that makes me laugh on occasion. If you're into RPG's, grinding levels, and upgrading weapons this game is for you. The leveling up system is not complex at all and you know exactly what you have to do to battle, level up etc. The voice acting is decent, the music is awesome.. I have nothing but positive things to say about this game. My only issue is with how long it is and how long before I move on to something else since I have a short attention span for anything that's not Call of Duty. I really hope I can find the time to beat this game and not let it go for too long because this is a game that really deserves to be played in its entirety.
I'd recommend this to any one who likes RPGs.
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video-games_xbox
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Awesome, but watch out for the glitch. The game is awesome. For me it was one of those games that you love from the first minute you start playing it and then love every last minute of it.
The game reminded me of a mix between Beyond Good and Evil and Risen. Same as in Beyond Good and Evil, we have a courageous young girl Scarlet who suffered a loss of her loved one and now on the quest to avenge him and to figure out what is going on. In turn, similar to Risen, it is a "Shield n' Sword" game where you acquire a good sword and an armor or a set of spells and then explore the environment fighting the bad guys and monsters. The game offers life-like atmosphere of the living city where people walk around, have conversations with each other, or respond to what you are doing. The only thing that might ruin the game is an ugly glitch, which I will discuss in the end.
GAMEPLAY
Venetica is very much an RPG game - you have the main quest that you have to follow. In the course of this quest you get to explore the city of Venice and its surrounding suburbs. On the way you encounter various people who ask you to do things for them. Completion of the quests gives you experience points, money, and sometimes some useful objects (weapons, magic rings, etc). In the course of your travels you might find or loot some items that may or may not be useful; these items can be sold to the vendors who, in turn, may offer weapons, potions, or pieces of armor that could be customized to fit you. To open locks, you get to play a mini game where you should press the buttons in certain order.
COMBAT
The gameplay encourages you to fight. Any place you visit might have various enemies or demonic creatures that you may try to fight or just may run away from. Of course, fighting the enemies is a great source of experience points. The enemies are the assassins, the nighttime rogues or violent soldiers, demons in the houses or on the rooftops, and giant crab-like creatures in the catacombs. To fight them, Scarlet can employ swords of various strengths, spears, or blunt weapons (most of them can be taken off of enemies or purchased). If you are into magic, you can become proficient at spell casting; however, you would be more efficient if you use weapons and spells together. The game introduces a fairly original concept of dying - if your health runs out and you "die" you temporarily go into the "afterlife world" and can attack your enemies with the Moon Blade while they remain frozen. In the course of the game, you will encounter various instructors who can teach you different levels of fighting skills and combos or special magic skills in exchange for your experience points.
ENVIRONMENT
It is an open-world game; however, the space of exploration is limited to streets, certain houses you can enter, catacombs and mines, and the rooftops. In other words, the movement is restricted to long narrow spaces between things. Though limited in exploration, the world looks vast and open. It changes from day to night with different things happening in the course of each (you can always select the time of the day by sleeping or resting). The environment is very beautiful and feels life-like. There is a map that allows you to indicate your place in the world and later, with the help of gondoliers, to fast travel from place to place.
Bottom line is, the game is very enjoyable and, chances are, you are going to love it. You can have up to 25 hours of gameplay at first playthrough. My main issue with the game was a very small font of the letters in the menu. It was hard to read the descriptions of items I was going to buy or spells I was going to learn. Reading the mission objectives was a torture. Then again, I don't have a high definition television set; perhaps, if you do, you wouldn't have this problem.
TIPS (some SPOILERS are present)
You have to watch out for the glitch that would bring your game to a screeching halt. Within the first four hours of the game you have to find Sophistos. To get to him, you have to talk to a certain guy named Nox. Though short, this part of the game can frieze your progression in the game and make you start from the beginning because the glitch makes Nox... disappear; without him you cannot move on. To avoid the glitch, follow this. The minute you enter Venice, a little boy will approach you. Exit conversation with him as soon as possible and turn right. Enter the Cursed Temple and you will see Nox running out of it. After the temple, follow the mark on the map and go directly to Nox. DO NOT save inside or outside of his house and DO NOT become a member of any guild before you see him (don't save inside the guilds either). After he tells you to become a member of a guild, choose the one you please. The game will be fine from this point on.
Get Blood Toll and Blood Vortex spells from Nox - they suck the life out of your enemies and give you health points at the same time. Don't improve them too high - they would waste too much of your spell energy.
To get the key to the Inner City you have to kill a Bat demon, which does not attack you. Use the Blood Toll or Blood Vortex spell against it.
Choose the quest you want to follow and mark it - this would place a white dot on the map.
After talking to the ghost of Sophisto, the map gives you no indication of where to go. You should use a gondolier to take you to the Eastern Island.
In the course of the game, you will come across Stone Lions. Remember their locations as you see them - after you return from Africa they begin to come alive as part of the Pale Hearts quest.
On the Claw ship you will have to collect the medicine "without killing the guards." Just run around from mark to mark without engaging the guards, collect the medicine, and then exit the upper deck. Easy.
Have fun.
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video-games_xbox
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