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Fantastic game... lousy collector's items. First off, thank you Eidos for finally producing a comic book game that lives up to its source material! The graphics and character animations are nothing short of spectacular. Be sure to take a good long look at the Joker model from every possible angle, amazing detail all the way from the spats on his shoes to the holes in his tattered suit and on to his lifelike hair.... simply beautiful.
Another tip of the hat for bringing in the voice talent from the animated series. As far as I'm concerned, Mark Hamill is THE voice of the Joker and Kevin Conroy's menacing voice never has to resort to the sometimes ridiculous rasp that live-action actors insist on bringing to the role of Batman. Another big plus - I haven't heard a single line of dialog repeated yet... not even from the generic thugs.
As for the gameplay, I'm loving the free-flowing fight system, very cinematic. I'm not very far into the game as yet, but the what I've played so far has been outstanding. All of the moves I'd hoped to see are there, not to mention those wonderful toys!
Now for the ugly... I wouldn't bother with the Collector's Edition unless you're a big fan, very disappointing. The game case is great... huge, but cool. My big issue is with the batarang, what a piece of plastic garbage!
When I first opened the box I thought the batarang had been damaged during packing, it seemed to be covered in random scratches. Upon closer inspection I realized that these scratches were intended to simulate a brushed metal surface. I'm pretty sure someone just takes it and runs it randomly over a belt sander before placing it in the box. As it stands, I'd be embarrassed to display it with my other memorabilia. I'll probably end up doing some work on it myself in order to make it display worthy.
The leather bound journal is also a bit disappointing, I was really hoping for a bunch of new artwork, but all that's there is illustrations and character bios from the game itself.
I'm hoping the "making of" DVD will compensate for the other weak extras, but unfortunately, I can't review it until I finish the game and avoid any spoilers.
To sum it up... BUY THE GAME!!!!... but buyer beware of the Collector's Edition.
p.s. Another big shout out to Amazon for their "deliver on date of release" shipping option. It was well worth the $5 and change to receive the game on its release date. I probably would have bought the game locally if they hadn't offered the option. Gotta love instant gratification!!
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video-games_xbox
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25 game of year! A great leap for the series. I thought the first game had a lot of potential and this sequel improved on a lot of issues it had. This series is not try to be left for dead or anything else. It is a unique, 3rd person experience where the world is your weapon and the world is full of zombies. What does this mean? If you are in a pinch, chuck that nearby vase at them, beat them over the head with a purse or a store display, naturally there are also guns, knives, bows and arrows, and all types of bludgening tools, but the ability to pick up a lawn dart and kill a zombie is cool.
The expected: Similar to the first game, you are set in a strip mall, rather than just a mall, and you have everything from construction sites to casinos to...oh yeah, every type of store you have ever been in. The map looks daunting when you view it, but traveling takes less time than imagined and in this sequel, it is a lot easier to reach save points(bathrooms) than the first.
Good improvement: you can combine weapons!!! the boat paddle and chainsaw is on the cover, but my favorites are the axe and sledgehammer, the bat and nails, and the knives and gloves(giving you a wolverine feel). You can also upgrade wheel chairs, shotguns, and motorcycles, but these come more from being in the right place at the right time than out of convenience. I was a little disappointed, because I thought that most weapons could be combined, but only certain weapons in a correct combination can be combined. Along the way, the game will give you "combo cards" of combinations you can make, but you don't need the cards to make the combo, they just point you in the direction. If your binding instincts are correct, you can create the combo card.
Not improved: "Leveling up" is still ambiguous. You reach level 7 or whatever and you ask, am I really running faster, hitting harder, jumping farther? I wish the player had more control over what they leveled up and that leveling up had more meaning.
Definitely not improved: Bosses are so difficult! Not even the main bosses, its the side bosses that suck. They are typically very fast and will do a lot of damage to you in little time (a big deal since you normally only have upto 5 bars of health), so save often.
The improvement that could have been: Money plays a bigger game in the sequel, which I thought would be fun, but it hardly matters since everything is so expensive and can be found for free (or an weapon of equal destruction can be found) if you just walk an extra 20 steps. I am over halfway through the game and have not spent a single dollar or felt the need to.
Guns and ammo: You can find some pretty helpful guns: automatics, pistols, shotguns, but you can only carry so many items (weapons and health) at a time (a challenge I enjoy), but why do I have to drop my pistol with 12 bullets and then pick up a pistol with 20, can I not just reload or carry extra ammunition?
Environment: I have killed over 1500 zombies and you couldn't tell it. If you pick up a weapon or food item, they regenerate pretty quickly, except for one item that I have noticed and Zombrex does not regenerate, you use it once and it is GONE!
Still, I bought the collectors (Zombrex Edition) for $25 and it is hands down the best videogame purchase I have made since I bought Oblivion for $10. I actually got the Zombrex Edition for (at the time) a cheaper price than the game by itself, so it was worth it. If you can do the same, do it, if not, the art that comes with it looks awesome, but there is a drawing of one character I have not seen yet and I really hope to. I will never use anything else from the box.
Overall:
Graphics: 4/5
Controls 4/5 (picking up an item next to others can be annoying)
Play: 4/5 (a little repetitive, but few games are not and at this point I know the weapons I want and where to get them, so I am not venturing out as much as I was.)
Difficulty: 4.5/5
Price: For $30 or less 6/5 stars!!
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video-games_xbox
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I like this game better than my COD Ghosts. I got my Titanfall Xbox one collector's edition yesterday but it was from Gamestop.com not from Amazon even though I am an Amazon prime member and buy alot of things but not this purchase just to clarify that. I played the beta before and liked it so getting into the online and playing the matches was a bit different in a good way. Yes there was some lag here and there but isn't every FPS shooter like that in it's early stages yes. As far as graphics go I am really picky and love good graphics and this is somewhere between great. It has that cool artstyle direction and flow that to me fits the gameplay compared to Ghosts which is ok looking but hated the respawn killing and the graphics on Ghosts just don't feel it like I do with Titanfall. Now granted I have only played 3 maps out of the 15 so can't say yet if will get repetitive in course of time yet. Now on to the statue... It's big 18 inches tall alone but with the grunt on top makes it 19 inches tall. The titan itself is plastic no biggie it would be the same if you had bought a model from a store and put it together. The paint job is done nicely and alot of detail throughout I like that and of course the icing on the cake is when you press the little rock button and the led lights power on the titans sensors and the grunts eyes which you can alter from blue/red just awesome! The grunts themselves seem like a mix between plastic and hard rubber and very nicely detailed as well. I haven't opened the hardcover artwork book yet but will do that soon and the included schematic titan poster is alright. Overall for the price tag of $250 dollars (excluding the extra 17 dollars I paid for overnight shipping) it is a very nice deal. Could the titan have been fully articulate where you can pose it like you want? Yes but it isn't. Could they have included the $25 season pass at no extra charge? Yes but they didn't. If you break it down... $60 for game + $40 dollars for artwork book so that leaves the titan statue at $150 bucks cost give or take. Now I know for a fact if you had to buy a plastic model and put it together yourself and paint it and add the led lighting and decals then $150 dollars is nothing considering time and labor to do one like this. If you want fully articulate higher quality piece then sideshow collectibles is the place to be and maybe one day they will have Titanfall collectibles there but if you're just a fan who loves good ole collectibles and giant robots that come bundled with a game and artwork book then is the best I have seen so far hands down and very happy with mine. Hope this helps out :-D
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video-games_xbox
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Galactic Mayhem Rules. Unless you've been living underground for the past couple of weeks, you're already very familiar with the recent release of Destroy All Humans! - and if you're anything like me, you've been waiting for it for some time. So... is it everything we'd hoped it would be? Is it worth your hard-earned cash? Read on for one man's opinion.
Destroy All Humans! is set in the 1950's, and the look and feel of the game is genuinely faithful to camp favorites such as Plan 9 From Outer Space. You play Crypto, the latest in a nearly endless series of clones representing the Furon empire, and your mission is simple - retrieve DNA from humans on the planet Earth as a means of preserving your race. I won't go into all the details of the storyline - suffice it so say that in the end, your activities on Earth aren't really all that dependent on DNA recovery. You receive orders, missions, and upgrades to weapons and abilities from Orthopox, a Furon alien superbrain who's interactions with Crypto are frequently amusing.
Orthopox requires DNA in exchange for the upgrades, but you'll probably have little difficulty amassing sufficient DNA in the first area to take care of your needs for the entire game. In fact, the DNA for upgrades exchange is one of the weakest areas of the game, as it becomes clear early on that collecting DNA is a rather worthless exercise. You can amass significant quantities of DNA just by completing side missions, which you can repeat - although the requirements get continually more difficult as you repeat them. That's not to say it's not fun - it is. I never tire of seeing the ol' brain pop out of a helpless human, but there really isn't any point beyond just the fun of it.
As for weapons, they're fun and imaginative. You've got the standard electrifying ray gun, a disintegrator, an Anal Probe (probably the most fun to use, although not very useful in an intense fight), and an Ion Grenade launcher, which packs some serious firepower. As you purchase upgrades, each gets an increase in damage area, ammo capacity, or both. Since you need ammo to use the Ion Launcher and Disintegrator, you'll need to keep an eye out for ammo powerups - some areas have very few of them, others more. As usual, the more ammo powerups you see in an area, the more dangerous the area is likely to be!
You've also got your considerable PK abilities at your disposal, and after some upgrading you can easily fight off large numbers of troops using nothing but your huge alien brain! Even in the beginning, it's a hoot to pick up a cow and hurl it at a gun-totin' farmer - or pick up the farmer and toss him to his doom! Later, you can lift tanks into the air and hurl them with ease - but watch out, they still shoot at you while you're lifting them! In addition to tossing stuff around at will, you have the ability to read people's minds and even take their form, making it possible for you to walk around in their midst undetected! Many reviewers have commented on the hilarious thoughts you'll encounter - I'm still looking, and I've heard an awful lot of really funny stuff. It's a lot of fun just to hang around on the street and listen to what these seemingly normal humans are thinking! The writers have really captured the spirit of the age - politics, social issues, and even Elvis really immerse you into the B-movie atmosphere.
Of course, Destroy All Humans would be incomplete without a flying saucer - and you've got one! It packs a terrific punch, too. You start off with a Death Ray, which delivers terrific damage to anything near the target reticle. You eventually pick up the Sonic Boom and the Quantum Deconstructor - wow! You will be more than satisfied with the destructive capability at your disposal. I've spent quite a while just revisiting areas for some all-out destruction - it's terrific fun to cruise slowly down the street destroying everything in your path! Of course, if things get too out of hand, you'll soon be dealing with no small amount of resistance in the form of the Army - and even the infamous Men in Black - but you have got some serious firepower at your command! This is one game where you've definitely got the upper hand!
The music is particularly appropriate, reminiscent of the work of Bernard Hermann, a composer famous for his work on The Day the Earth Stood Still, Journey to the Center of the Earth, and many other sci-fi/fantasy films of the 50's and 60's. Unlike many other games where the music can become so distracting that you eventually just go into Options to turn it off, the score to Destroy all Humans adds an important quality of realism and fun to the mayhem.
Graphically, this is as good a presentation as I've seen on the Xbox. Explosions, lighting, weapon effects, atmosphere - all are terrific. You get a variety of rural and urban environments, both day and nighttime effects, and truly excellent rendering of 50's era clothing, cars, and buildings. You can even look inside many of the buildings and see some of the excellent attention to detail the graphic artists put into this baby. Sound is also outstanding - you get all the bone-shaking explosions you can stand, along with the unworldly hum of the Quantum Deconstructor - it's a treat for the senses.
As observed elsewhere, there are a few pop-up issues, but I didn't find them particularly distracting - the scenery is great, so it's hard to be too concerned about it. Endlessly spawning enemies can be a problem at times, but if you remember your abilities (the jet pack is particularly useful), you can generally get out of almost any situation. Bosses are fun and challenging, but not to the point of frustration - a welcome programming feature, since this is a game that's meant to be experienced as a movie, and you' don't want to get so frustrated that you get up and leave in the middle! The plot is interesting, appropriately campy, and filled with enough twists and turns to keep you pushing through to your inevitable triumph.
As other reviewers have noted, the gameplay of Destroy all Humans! may leave some experienced gamers feeling a bit unchallenged, but the game more than makes up for this lack of complexity with the sheer fun of playing an Earth-conquering alien with truly extraterrestrial powers and abilities. This is certainly not a first-person shooter on a par with Halo 2, nor is it a seemingly open-ended playfest like GTA San Andreas - but it's not supposed to be. This is a game in a genre all its own - the 1950's B-movie Role Playing category - and would easily win an award on its own merits. Buy this game, play it, and have a blast. You'll be glad you did!
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video-games_xbox
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One word: perfect. More engrossing than GTA: Vice City, more options than Madden 2004 and prettier and shinier than a greased up super model, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic has it all... including voices by three guys named Rapheal.
When you start out in Knights, you're on the Republican starship the Endar Spire, 2000 years before the events in Episode I. Actually I'm getting ahead of myself. Even before that you get to either choose a character to play as or customize one. You get to calibrate everything from your gender, portrait and skills down to your name. Back to the game..
Before you start on your way to blasting the living hell out of those mean Sith, you hear about a Jedi named Bastila and her vaunted Battle Meditation. You won't really know what that means until later, but it's all part of the game experience.
It's not long before you get 4 more characters in your group and when you, yes YOU, become you're very own Jedi. Horray! But wait, the dark side is trying to get you, and you must resist, unless you like pushing around Wookies and Jawas, you know, just for giggles. Each side has their pirks: On the light side you can heal all of your characters with 100% effiency and all of your skills help out your party. But for the more selfish the dark side offers death dealing Force powers and if you become totally evil, light literally gets sucked away around you and you become very, very pale.
The game's 8 huge levels of Taris, Dantooine, Kashyyk, Mannan, Tantooine, Korriban and two other, more exciting levels give the game it's truely wide open feel. And for those D and D'philes, the battle and armor and weapon systems are all based on the famous RPG so even the most rudimentary nerd can actually understand the game. The game is so wide open that you can beat it from anywhere between 12 to 50 hours, depending on if you do all the side missions, which I suggest you do.
The only problem I had was a small one: The villians weren't really too difficult. Don't get me wrong, there were times when two of the three characters died and I was at half health, but fighting endless Kath hounds does get a little tedious. But when you get to the last level and you're picking off Dark Jedi one by one like it's nobodys business, then you can truely have the title of Ultra Super Cool Bad Ass of the Galaxy.
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video-games_xbox
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Gearin' Up Cogs. What can I say, I liked the original, but the sequel is much, much better. Mind you I'm not that interested in the online multiplayer, I'm talking about the campaign. I really love the direction that the story has taken, making it more dramatic and just the varied locales really helps to refine the game from the original claustrophic settings to more open and larger with huge battles involving the Locust and all their massive weaponry. The game will go into this large almost panoramic phase where you'll see a battalion of Locust travelling to some destination and it's up to Marcus Fenix and Don to stop em in their tracks. Luckily the game gives the player lots of weaponry and turrets that mow down the larger Locust horde.
The game takes place in the same place, but the situation is dire, with Jacinto the last human city surviving the onslaught from the Locust. But this time the Locust attack from underground sinking whole cities and really putting the human race on the ropes. Sounds like your typical story, but what the game lacks in originality it makes up for it in spades with the presentation, the script and the atmosphere created with the battles and locations.
The game mechanics are exactly the same, duck and cover with lots of shooting and grenade tossing, there is no learning curve really, anyone who's got a 360 has tried the original Gears, and if they enjoyed it then the 2nd will not be a far cry from the original. The one difference really between the original and the sequel is the story, the story is much stronger and rather than having that feeling of just running around shooting and chainsawing away these weird looking monsters, there's a some intrigued tossed in with the origin of the Locust with the warehouse level.
Gears 2 does a lot right even if the main character has the personality of lint, and sure the whole story-line is derivative of every story-line that has the whole humanity up against the wall against an unceasing enemy. However, Gears does it all right, I am a fan now, hopefully the next sequel has more the same with maybe a little more new elements. But thus far Gears is a great franchise and well worth the purchase.
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video-games_xbox
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Z6A volume setup, with 2 other systems for a note book. all from turtle beach and creative labs ,
now, even a basic notebook can have desktop quality sound and features.
5 speed tips:
1....logitech mouse setpoint software, using 125 samples per second.
.....500 or 1,000 samples over tasks the CPU when polling the USB port.
.....The 400 to 2,000 dpi is always available and tracking is just fine at 125 .
2....24\96 for 5.1 PCM game audio on a lower end PC may be too much. Doom3 uses
.....5.1 PCM game audio and running Doom3 at 16\48 does give better performance.
.....However, everything else always runs just fine at 24\96 .
3....SB1095 in Creative Control Panel is now set to use "Full Speed" . By default it
.....installed to use "High Speed" . "Full Speed" still has plenty of bandwidth
.....to support 24\96 , while the overall PC performance is better.
4....windows 7 pre-installed PC, reinstalled as "minimum" ( it was an option ) and
.....windows 7 performs much better this way. It only installed the necesary drivers
.....and crap.
5....USB mouse is on slowest USB port. TV tuner is on fastest USB port
.....( Tuner shares IRQ with SATA harddrive ). SB1095 is on the middle speed USB port .
MB2 sofware from Creative restores EAX of ( 2.0 thru 5.0 HD ) but only for windows 7
and Vista SP2 .
SB1095 is Creative's external 5.1 sound card with
( Dolby Digital Live included on the CD windows 7 ) .
windows 8 is supported via driver update.
1. DXL1 + SB1095 ( best value and great sound ) all digital, easy volume setup
....mic for PC may not work, DXL1 is an XBox target product.
2. Kilo CoD + DSS2 + SB1095 ( more priceE but more cinema at times ) all digital easy setup
3. Z6A + SB1095 ( sound quality can be impressive )
....( see my new volume setup using THX bass management )
To get the best use from the DSS2 box ( 1. and 2. ), Dolby Digital Live( windows 7, 8 )
MUST be available.
all 3 headphones can do 34 Hz at realistic volume levels
Z6A and Kilo can get to 28 Hz but volume levels may be too intense.
The bottom line on low freqs. show that is why the DXL1 package is
such a great deal.
Impressive all digital sound quality .
DXL1 price approx. =to Z6A price
of course the DXL1 will need that SB1095 sound card, if using a note book PC
my use results:
DXL1 can be worn for marathon sessions.
Kilo can be worn for long sessions
Z6A still good for 3 hours( the oversized ear cushions really help )
Z6A Remove from the package carefully( box date 2011 )
Z6A does require extra volume level setup
Z6A looks sturdily built.
Construction is just like the Z2 , 4 screws on each side with a ball joint in the middle.
Remove from package carefully .
Body heat can soften\melt the inner sheaths , ( true for ANY headset )
eventually causing the wirering to short out. Keep the cord off of your body.
I don't rotate the ear cups and I never quick disconnect.
I hold all headsets by the middle of the headband or I hold onto Both ear cups.
I never over extend the head band during On\Off placement.
I hold onto both ear cups when placing On/Off .
I keep the head band fully extended all the time.
I read a lot of rag on the Z6A and Z2 physical breakage .
It's been in the box since 2011 and it ain't fallen apart.
volume settings here are:
*** I just found, in the Creative Console that THX provides Bass Management ***
a. go to Creative console, THX --> Speakers and enable it. Turns Blue. Ignore the
...speaker slider.
b. top left, click the "Gear" Settings , this Bass Management slider
....now functions. set to 79 Hz .
*** ( now the 2 sub speakers get all the bass freqs below 79 Hz, while the main speakers still operate down to 79Hz. Since the center channel crosses over at 80 Hz, this is a good match. I would set the THX slider to 80Hz , but it won't do it. Now the Z6A acts just like a 5.1 system should, when connected to a PC ) ***
using 109 Hz crossover, gives a bit more mid-bass to the subwoofers,
but 79 Hz has a more relaxed sound quality in the low bass, I am again using
the bass management slider at 79 Hz .
Z6A CAUTION :
Z6A can play loud, 4 speakers in each ear cup do add up to extra sound levels.
****...This new volume setup really is da bomb : ...****
every once in a while, an app. may change creative console settings,
so open the console every now and then to see that the sliders have
not changed. Typically I don't use the SB1095's big volume knob.
**********
START da bomb
"da bomb" really pumps 2.0 stereo music and bass.
Creative console THX Speaker Button Enabled ( turns blue ) , ignore this slider.
Creative console THX bass management click the ( "Gear" Settings ) top left
......................................
and set the bass management slider to 79 hz . I was using 109 Hz for a while
which gives a bit more mid-bass, but,...I'm back to using 79 Hz . At 79 Hz
the really low bass has a more relaxed sound quality.
Creative console Front L\R sliders 50 %
Creative console center slider 60 % ( see volume trick, below )
Creative console subwoofer slider 100 %
Creative console Rear L\R sliders 70 % ( see volume trick, below )
in-line amp. ALL four rollers set to 50 %( 1.75 roll ) ( 3.5 rolls goes to 100 % )
.............( I put scotch tape on both sides to help keep the rollers in place )
in-line amp. master volume knob set to approx. 66 %
to set it up, with no audio playing, rotate the master volume knob to max, now mark the knob at the 6 0'clock position( hint, the knob switch clicks at approx. the 9 0'clock positon. ) Once the knob has been inked rotate the knob counter clock wise decreasing until the ink mark is at the 3 0'clock position( faces the grommet )
I never turn off the in-line amp. . Once setup, I just let it be.
It powers off when the computer powers down.
Every once in a while, an app. may change creative console settings,
so open the console every now and then to see that the sliders have
not changed. Typically I don't use the SB1095's big volume knob.
2.0 music has the bass now
( bass management is essential for the PC and is only availalbe if
..the sound card utility support it ) .
END da bomb
**********
Two good reasons:
1...By keeping the rollers at 50 % , the PC audio system won't be able to
....over drive the inputs, so, no distortion.
2...Keeping the Master Volume Knob at the 3 0'clock position( approx. 66 % ) ,
....prevents the headphones from blasting, even if the PC system plays
....at Full volume output.
Analogue systems setup can only approach that of the all digital systems.
More on PC bass management:
Turtle Beach says the Z6a has 200Hz low pass to the subwoofers as bass management,
A low pass Pre-filter( Pre-selector ) for a subwoofer is standard, for any subwoofer, but,...is NOT the same as "PC bass management" .
The Turtle Beach 200 Hz low pass does NOT prevent 50 Hz from going to
the Front, Center , and Rear speakers. This 200 Hz low pass only keeps
freqs. greater then 200Hz from going to the subwoofers. However, PC bass
management( when set to 80Hz ) prevents freqs. below 80Hz from going to the
Front, Center , and Rear speakers.
Note: The Z6a Center channel amp. works down to 80Hz , so having
PC bass management set to 80Hz( aka 79 Hz is a perfect match ) .
So, using "PC bass managment" allows the Front , Center , and Rear speakers to
all operate down to 80Hz , while the 2 subwoofers only pump 80Hz and lower.
Better clarity of voice and sounds is achieved in the satellite speakers .
***
START
Not using bass management here.
Previous volume setup:
in-line amp main Knob at approx. 60 % ( I inked the knob for a visual )
all 4 slider controls set to 50 % ( 1.75 rolls ) 3.5 rolls goes to 100 %
the Creative labs Console PC volume is at 75 % for all channels( Advanced settings ) .
Not using bass management here.
END
***
Z6A volume trick:
I keep the Center and Rear speaker levels via Creative Console at a slighty greater level then the Front , to give a slight volume difference to help discern the Front , center and surround speakers. Also, bass management removes all the low freq.
stuff from the Front\Center\Rear speakers, giving better sound localizaition in games.
Ths dual subwoofers almost have a real discrete sub-woofer sound , at times.
Go easy though, don't ruin the ears.
sound note:
the 2 speaker all digital systems( headphones ) do seem to have a more cohesive presentation without any extra "setup" . The Kilo CoD seems to have just as good bass as the Z6A.
The real advantage of the DXL1 and the Kilo+DSS2 is easy setup and these all digital systems let you hear the softer\weaker sound effects too. I can get the same softer sounds
to be heard on the Z6A, but at a reduced bass, or we can have "da bomb" setup without
those softer sounds. I haven't been able to adjust to get it all on the Z6A ,
all at the same time. The all digital systems do the soft\loud\bass stuff without any
setup effort at all.
For games , the Z6A is terrific.
Dolby Digital Live synthesizes that both ears hear both the left and right channel audio( the ears are NOT accustically isolated within each ear cup ) which is what the DXL1 and the Kilo systems are.
***
overall sound quality and detail of sound:
The all digital systems do give more detail
of softer sounds and breath of voice, as expected.
The all analogue Z6A is not as revealing as the all digital systems.
The Z6A is still impressive analogue gear for games movies and music.
For critical listening of music movie and game audio,
see the "ALL digital" choices 1. and 2. above .
Some companies have made USB HQ\HD DAC's aimed at the
critical audio listener. I would argue that systems 1. and 2.
at ( 16 bit 48 KHz ) are just as good and with more features for the PC.
The SB1095 can do 24\96 , it is the DSS2 that tops out at 16\48 .
side note:
the Z6a ear cushions are so big, when the headset is resting around
the neck, they act like a neck warmer.
I want the most revealing , quality of sound detail, which to choose ?
An all digital system,
DXL1 or Kilo+DSS2
Ok, which is better,
Kilo+DSS2 has more punch and can play louder then the DXL1 .
At practical volume levels, they both bottom out at around 32 Hz.
The Kilo+DSS2 may be a bit more cinema at times( Kilo's bass has been tweaked )
DXL1 is 80.00 ( DXL1 mic may not work on the PC ) is an Xbox target product
Kilo+DSS2 is 145.00
( Kilo has an EPROM for plug and play and forces windows to
load aditional audio drivers to support the Kilo mic on the PC . These extra window
drivers may\could interfer with the installed sound card drivers.
On windows XP these extra audio drivers Did interfer with the sound card drivers.
I have Not tested this on windows 7 . If the Kilo is pluged into any system that can
read a USB PNP device, that system will try to talk to the Kilo. The TV maintenace port
wanted to boot off of the Kilo because the TV read the EPROM of the Kilo. Good thing
the TV didn't know what to do with it. I don't use mics, so the Kilo powers off of an
external USB power supply. )
Both of the digital systems Do Need a sound card that support Dolby Digital Live,
with a fiber optic port.
If these 2 systems are equalized via software, they really can't give anymore bass.
mostly equalizing ruins the sound quality. Trying to get more bass out of the
DXL1 and Kilo does not work. But, that's ok, if you want a hassle free
well balanced full range all digital sound system right out of the box.
I already have a 5.1 sound card and I want multi-channel audio where I can
truely pump the bass .
Z6a is the only choice.
Z6a is 75.00
No equalization here either, but by adjusting the subwoofer volume slider in
the PC sound system, we can truely customize the amount of bass of the subwoofers,
just like for a discrete 5.1 speaker system. Having a sound card that provides
a bass management cross over frequency really helps .
DXL1 + SB1095 has the best balance and revealing sound. Great for games, movies, music
( DDL must be running )
Kilo + DSS2 , Kilo has tweaked bass with revealing sound . Great for games, movies, music
the ( Kilo + DSS2 + SB1095 ) system can go head to head with the ( Z6a + SB1095 ) system
when it comes to low bass output. ( DDL must be running )
Z6a works best for multi-channel games. Movies and music are still good. Bass is amazing.
My choice for best overall sound presentation is the DXL1 package.
( DSS2 Eq. Flat , with surround Preset 4 , running Dolby Digital Live )
If I had to choose the "most fun" headset, that would be the Z6a .
CAUTION:
Z6A sound levels can deceive, watch that volume level.
....each ear has three 30 mm and one 40 mm speaker
....that's a lot of speaker for one ear.
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video-games_xbox
|
Well-designed open-world game with amazing environment interactions. Red Faction: Guerrilla (RF:G) follows the migration of level-based game design to open-world design that is occurring right now in the industry. Unlike last year's Far Cry 2 that was fundamentally flawed as an open-world experience, Volition gets the open-world part right with this third Red Faction game.
You play as a miner with demolitions expertise that arrives at the beginning of a revolution of the worker-class of Mars, united as the Red Faction, to overthrow the evil corporate hegemony known as the EDF.
The Mars of this game is divided into a number of different sectors that each have their own theme and must be liberated to "free Mars". You can travel freely between some sectors right at the beginning, but there are logical reasons to progress one sector at a time.
RF:G has a very balanced reward engine. The game tracks three different criteria to gauge progress: Citizen morale, EDF influence and the amount of salvage recovered. Everything you do, inside or outside of a mission can affect these criteria. Influence is how "strong" the enemy is in this particular physical sector of the world. The more influence the EDF has, the stronger their presence is. The morale of the citizens in the sector determines how many non-combatants will take up arms against the EDF if they wander into a fire fight. Salvage is the actual currency of the game to get new weapons and is helpfully left behind during your destruction of EMF assets. Blow up an EDF windmill? Influence goes down, and you gain salvage. Run over a helpless citizen? Morale goes down. Rescue a hostage? Morale goes up. Completing a story mission may positively impact all three criteria and unlock new abilities or weapons. This system works too, because I've discovered you do not want to attack a large EDF installation in a sector with high EDF influence and low citizen morale. Once you have razed most of the EDF infrastructure in the sector (lowering influence to zero) and you've completed all the main missions in the sector, you have liberated it.
Missions offer a good balance of diversions: Possible missions include convoy destruction, convoy theft, hostage rescue, A->B races against the clock, raiding EDF installations, defense against raids, demolitions challenges, and a variety of pure carnage events highlighting the physics engine. Even within something like driving between point A and B within the time limit, there is variety. You may have a fast car or a slow car, you may be racing mostly against the terrain or racing with EDF forces on high alert with roadblocks.
In addition to having a wonderfully balanced game design, Red Faction delivers a technological gem in their physics gameplay. Unlike previous Red Faction games, you can't affect terrain, but you can blow everything man-made to holy hell. Everything destructs magnificently. EVERYTHING. It takes awhile to earn the more destructive weapons, but it's an entirely new type of satisfaction to take out an entire building to deal with soldiers on the second floor. Between triggered explosives, proximity mines, RPGs, and a nano rifle that is like a sniper rifle for assassinating buildings, your imagination for destruction is set free in a completely new way for video games.
Downsides? There are a few. You die a lot; especially early before you earn some better weapons and refine your tactics. You cannot just pop back into the jungle if things get too hot. The Mars locale is desolate, and enemy reinforcements are always patrolling and showing up in force if you linger too long after destroying their buildings. Once you are highly outnumbered, there really is nowhere to run most the time. This encourages careful planning as to when and where you attack, even down to where you park your get-away ride so it doesn't get blown to bits. It does encourage true guerrilla tactics, but sometimes I just wanted to own my little spot I'd conquered without an endless supply of spawning bad guys. I also found the night cycle to decrease the fun. There doesn't appear to be much of a stealth element to the game, and the environment is not artistically lit at dusk, so basically dusk always just seems drab and low-contrast, which can be frustrating to play during.
This is an easy game to recommend. It has a refined open-world design that is deep in all areas (missions, weapons, enemies, vehicles) and offers a new level of interaction with the environment.
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video-games_xbox
|
Second" to "Ops. "Second Sight," developer Free Radical's third person action-adventure, is at its core a good game hindered by some fundamental design flaws. The makers of "Time Splitters" also, unfortunately, followed the similarly themed (and mostly superior) "Psi-Ops: The Mindgate Conspiracy" out the gate, so drawing comparisons is essentially unavoidable. Even so, "Second Sight" is entirely worth any gamer's time and effort.
The storyline follows the recent trend of conspiracies and heroes with amnesia, although it's fairly interesting overall. John Vattic (aka, the player) awakens from a coma in a strange laboratory with no memory of his past, but the sudden realization that he can move things with his mind. This ability, telekinesis, quickly comes in handy in helping him to escape even as new and more powerful abilities begin to come flooding back to him. But flashbacks to six months prior to these events crop up frequently, taking away Vattic's superpowers and instead forcing him to rely on his firearms until the plotlines begin to intersect half-way through the game.
The action in "Second Sight" is decent, and there are a fair number of weapons that can be employed in defeating Vattic's enemies. But, naturally, Vattic's abilities of telekinesis, astral projection, possession, and all of his other psi-powers are what really make the game interesting. Of course, here is where the first comparison to "Psi-Ops" must occur - the powers are generally similar in theme and not quite as fun to use as in that game, but are quick to elicit glee even so - particularly to those who haven't played "Psi-Ops." It's always fun to lift a black-suited agent from the ground with telekinesis and throw him against the walls until he dies, or to fling him off the roof of a building. Likewise, it's fun to possess an enemy soldier, wreak havoc, and then commit suicide before resuming control of Vattic.
The greatest single issue inherent in the design of "Second Sight," however, is the frequency of stealth missions that can prove frustrating and unintentionally comical. Although Vattic certainly has the edge in combat, the game tries to offset this fact by throwing countless respawning guards at you should you happen to trip an alarm or be spotted sneaking around by the opposition. It's too easy to be seen in the game, and the lack of mid-mission saved games compounds the problem. When caught, fighting is fruitless, so the best course of action is to run, find a conveniently placed closet to hide in, and wait the situation out - usually all to the sound of a whining alarm that makes you want to hit the mute button on your television. Of course even if you killed eighty guards before going into hiding, a few minutes later everything goes back to normal and by the time you step out of said closet you're starting from scratch. Logic takes a nosedive out the window here, and some of the levels that employ these mechanics (and there are many) can prove frustrating.
The graphics in "Second Sight" have the feel of a cartoon, and are well-animated. Even so, the engine portrays a gritty story despite the Teen raring (I've played less violent games rated Mature, point of fact). All in all, the production values are solid, complete with some capable voice actors.
In the end, "Psi-Ops" does virtually everything that "Second Sight" does, albeit slightly better (except for a few notable things like plot and character development and the length of the game itself). That said, if you enjoyed that game or have never played it and are interested in the premise, "Second Sight" is a good fit for you.
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video-games_xbox
|
Interesting game....thought provoking message. I really enjoyed playing this game. The idea of roaming our world as it had once been, filled with abundant animal and plant life was a nice break from the stark reality of our polluted environment. The play was similar to others in the Farcry series, with take downs, camps to conquer and a few boss enemies. It was nice to have a community to return home to and share resources with, something we need more of today. I am not into hunting games as such but the idea of using the skins and meat for survival made that aspect less unpleasant. The land was beautiful and diverse and obtaining the items you needed was challenging without being so difficult you wanted to pitch the remote.
Unlike most of the Farcry series there wasn't an overt political tone, no drug trade or nefarious CIA agents to get past, however I realized in the end that there was a message about government. When I had taken down the last enemy chieftain, he handed me his baby before dying and said he hoped I lived many years and did not catch his sickness. I looked around the world map and thought back on all the rival tribes I had killed, mostly in retaliation because my tribe, the Wenja, were killed for hunting on their land. The "enemies" also engaged in customs they didn't like and were portrayed as brutal in some way. It dawned on me that I had his sickness. Just because the Wenja acted all innocent and sweet did not give them the right to force their way of life on others and wipe them out. I had been their own personal CIA. I was just replaying the John Wayne archetype, save the holy innocent from the intractable bad guy. Near the end, the people my beast killed were not even soldiers anymore, just unarmed villagers. I had prided myself on seeing the Wenja symbol appear on other other people's land...never thinking how much the bird looked like an American Eagle.
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video-games_xbox
|
Don't listen to anyone, not even me. This game has gotten a bit of a strange reception since its release last week and I'll tell you, it makes no sense to me. All I can do is tell you what I did and didn't like about the game plus my personal overall opinion about the title.
To keep it short, the game is, in my honest opinion, one of the best titles to be released for the Xbox 360 this year. Not only that, I'd even go so far as to say that this installment of the Halo series has the best or at least, the most entertaining story to date of any single one. It plays like a noir film set in a sci-fi future universe, complete with dark streets, neon lights, tall skyscrapers and a mystery to be solved. It manages to be its own entity in a world that most people associate Master Chief with as its main focus of what makes the series such a success. I found this story to be the easiest to follow and enjoyed my time spent with the characters in the story. You get to spend a bit of time with each one in segments that present some pretty intense battles in varying locales and scenarios. It's a Halo game through and through, the one difference this time being that you're not gonna feel so invincible 'cause you're not a Spartan. I really enjoyed the story and thought it fit very well and not as an eyesore on the rest of the Halo timeline. And playing it over Live with three other players in co-op makes it even more enjoyable. The voice acting is well done and its cool to see Nathan Fillion of Firefly fame putting in some screentime as the game's main character (of sorts). I'd also like to say, this one has some of the best music in the series. My hats off to the Martin O'Donnell and Michael Salvatori for putting together a score that I already own.
Control is typical Halo sans dual wielding. You do get to carry more grenades and employ a pretty nice accessory in the form of a visor that gives the player an advantage in highlighting borders on objects such as cars, walls and general objects while enemies are highlighted red making them easier to pinpoint. The graphics are Halo style all the way and if you thought that the graphics for Halo 3 were at least passable, you'll probably feel the same way with this one as well.
There's also a great mode called Firefight which most likely will get compared to Gears of War 2's Horde mode where you survive wave after waves of increasingly stronger enemies. If you liked it then, you'll love it now as it's every bit of much fun as Horde was. In my opinion, this mode is worth owning the game for just on its own value.
All I can say is, if you like Halo in the least, there's no way you can get disappointed by this. While the campaign is admittedly a bit short, clocking in somewhere between 7-10 hours depending on how much time you invest in achieving all the game has to offer, it still provides a decent challenge while playing in Legendary difficulty. Again, multiplayer co-op in either campaign or firefight mode is a blast. I loved every minute of this.
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video-games_xbox
|
A fun but forgettable story. Fable II is a good game, but nothing spectacular. For a game that is driven by story and narrative, the game lacks in both areas. The story is cliche and forgettable, and doesn't really make you want to progress through the game. You begin the game as a child, where you are faced with a few good vs evil decisions that wouldn't seem that important to the world around you, but somehow end up changing the way the city looks when you return after you've grown up. Your sister is killed, and you are hurt but not killed (although you should be dead), making the rest of the story a quest for revenge. Who didn't see that coming?
While I have had nothing good to say about the game so far, that doesn't mean that this game isn't fun. The combat in the game is really what saves it from being a poor game. While it is very simple, having one button for melee, ranged, and magic attacks, the combat is fluid and lets you switch from one type of attack with ease. The experience and skill level system is also pretty brilliant, are you gain exp based on which type of attach you used to kill an enemy, but also general experience as well that can be used towards any of the 3 attack types. I don't think that aspect of the game could have been done any better. The problem with gaining experience is that you after you defeat an enemy (or enemies), you have to hold the right trigger to absorb the orbs of experience. While it may not seem like a huge deal before you have played it, the orbs don't sit around forever, meaning you have to frequently absorb your experience before they go away, even if there are more enemies around you. It would be much easier if your character automatically absorbed the experience, or just gained experience without having to collect little colored orbs after a fight. This is just my personal opinion, but I think it is an unneeded element of the game.
With games like Gears of War, Call of Duty, Mass Effect, and Bioshock out on the Xbox 360, graphics in games have been shown to be improving at an alarming rate. Just when you think a game is the best looking game ever, another game comes out and tops it significantly. Fable 2 does not look like one of those games. The artistic design is pretty well done, it does a good job of capturing a fantasy world. Technically, the game is a disappointment, especially with the length of development and the fact that the Xbox 360 is in its 4th year (was 3rd year when it was released) on the market. The graphics look underwhelming, not that they are supposed to be realistic, but they just look ordinary. The sound on the other hand is great. The music is perfect for the setting and context, and the voice acting is fantastic. Strangely enough, your character, while being the greatest hero in the history of Albion, does not know one word of English. Strange if you ask me.
Overall, I give this game a 3 out of 5. A 3 out of 5 means a rental by my standards, as the main quest of the game isn't that long and if you like the game enough you can buy it pretty cheap now and do all the side quests if you'd like. This game has much more in it then quests but I haven't gotten into it because they really shouldn't effect whether you purchase the game or not. The combat is fun and the sound is great, but other than that this game is nothing but ordinary.
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video-games_xbox
|
Anticipated, Delivered, Dropped. I didn't preorder this game, I wanted to get the standard game, and there was one limited edition left in my city. I called them and they agreed to save it up for me for 30 minutes. This game was the first limited edition I've ever bought and I was not disappointed, but if it wasn't my first, I may have been. 20 extra dollars for a mask, cheap gloves, decent wallet, and a decent soundtrack is pretty worth the purchase? Almost. They should've added something unique to it. It seems like not a lot of work was put on in the mask as I could see small paint stains on it. Gloves, throw it away. Wallet was pretty cool and that was a favorite. Soundtrack was decent considering they sounded the same. The game itself is very, very fun. I kept playing it over and over again until grand theft auto came out, and never touched it again. Payday2 offers a small varieties with different tasks. The missions itself are limited, about 8 - 12. YOU PLAY THOSE OVER AND OVER AND OVER! Being lucky and getting a random attachments or mask decor after each mission is great, but does not help the replay value as much as it should. Everything you get in this game, you have to buy. You earn a mask, buy it bro. You earn a rare color, but it bro for 320000 dollars. It seems like the developers don't give poop to the game. You may think that the missions are randomly generated: windows, enemies, etc. Yes, but it doesn't effect you too much again because these are very very small changes. The developers also don't update the console versions so good luck with glitches and more perks. I am currently a level 56 and yes, that's high. This game was fun for me for about 4 weeks.
The best thing going for the game is the community. The xbox version has an amazing community, better than any other game. They help you and communicate ALOT. There are rarely any trolls who will try to mess up the stealth. By the way, stealth is a joke in this game. It's more like hide and seek until the enemy finds you and no more stealth. If I were you, I would wait till it drops to 10 - 20.
Story - 7 Not Anything but character names
Graphics - 7 Artsy splash and plain
Sound- 8 Great. Plays at the right time.
Community - 9. Helpful
Replay Value - 7.5 If you have nothing better
Fun - 8.5 For a few weeks
Developer Promises - 5. They really don't care
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video-games_xbox
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Medicore at best. When I first read about this game and then played the demo, I was floored. I wanted more and could not possibly wait for it to be released. To my joy, I did not have to wait long.
I spent the first five minutes salivating over the way the environment was beautifully rendered and equally impressed with the character models. Then during a cut scene where Riddick is walking towards the prison with his bounty hunter, there was an annoying flaw. A black line on Riddick's shoulder would show while he walked and swung his arm forward. It was an area where the model was not fully rendered and closed. Funny to see such a thing when obviously the team involved in this game's creation was concerned with detail. But this would not be the first evidence of shoddy workmanship...
A few of the cut scenes where Riddick is talking to some of the other prisoners were a bit choppy. I felt that a few of them were nearing an epileptic siezure with the way their head would slightly jerk one way or the other.
The voice acting was great and the story mostly entertaining. However I never felt like the game was completely finished. As a matter of fact I think the developer was rushed to release the game to coordinate with the movie release so alot of the tweaking was ignored.
Another item to know...It was extreemly easy! I finished the entire game in 2 days (roughly 9 hours) with most of the smokes found on normal mode. I began again in hard difficulty but lost interest about halfway through the game. I could not tell that the difficulty had been raised.
Something that would have greatly improved this game would have been a multiplayer option on this game to give it some kind of replayability.
I know alot of people will disagree with me on this game due to the overwhelming amount of rave reviews this game has collected. But for me, this game is better off played as a rental rather than wasting my money on it like I did. Not a bad game. But not a great game either.
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video-games_xbox
|
5 out of 5 stars for me. The professional edition comes in a special edition custom Hitman game case containing: the game, codes to unlock the custom weapons in contracts mode, game art book, and a dvd rom that has a making of Hitman absolution featurette.
Absolution draws a hard line between itself and the previous 4 installments of the game without alienating die hard fans of this franchise. Absolution is far more cerebral than it's predecessors. The storyline is multifaceted and weaves together a plot that focuses on exposing 47's ambitions, strengths, and flaws without making him appear weak or whiny; he is still the ultimate badass, but much more human and believable. Absolution shows a more realistic and approachable 47; one I, and I assume others, can easily identify with. This game really develops Hitman's character on a much deeper level than previously attempted.
Pro's:
47:
This time the developers and artists really paid attention to not just the details, but also the fine articulations that make any fictional character real. This new adaption of 47 is corporeal; his psyche and physique transcend the screen and give the observer a real view of a 40-something genetically modified hitman that is a living legend and has mastered his craft beyond his lab-created abilities.
Abilities:
Previously, 47 could only shoot, strangle, or knockout opponents and rather clumsily at best. 47 couldn't interact with his environment much and if left unarmed, he was pretty much screwed. This time, 47 engages in some hand to hand combat. His moves are some what limited, but they prove much more interactive, entertaining and engaging than any previous version of the game. If you don't have a weapon or a character is threatening to jeopardize your mission, 47 can now defend himself, disarm opponents, and acquire weapons through physical force. Also, Hitman borrows some moves from Lara Croft this time. Don't worry, it's not cheesy. Hitman is still Hitman, just more mobile and agile.
Multiple Conclusions:
Missions can be mastered any number of ways. There really isn't just one way to obtain the perfect "Silent Assassin" score. This feature really makes the game far more palpable, challenging, and fun. Players can use all kinds of random objects found in the game multiple ways to achieve a desired outcome. Throw a brick to distract a guard, or beat him to death with it. Toss a bottle to distract a hapless bystander while you strangle your victim in peace and comfort without inviting an audience.
AI:
The AI has been greatly improved. Characters interact with their environment, situations, and the actions of 47 in many fascinating ways now. Characters generally still have predetermined paths but they can now be interrupted, altered, redirected, and distracted to allow 47 to accomplish his objectives. This really makes a difference in the game play. You no longer have to memorize guards paths or actions, rather you can now change the course of events by affecting the characters in any given situation to gain access to your targets.
Locations:
Level detail. The worlds in this game feel far more realistic than previous adaptations, yet still somewhat fantastical. Though most of the locations are fictional versions of real locations, each map incorporates characteristics of their real world counterparts. Chicago looks and feels like Chicago. The city, the streets, the library, the police department, and the people all remind me of the windy city. Same goes for all the other locations in the game. I will say the general appearance of all the locations is a little gritty and reflects a pre-economically depressed America. The artist did a great job.
Disguises:
There are a plethora of disguises for 47 to use to accomplish his objectives without raising the suspicion of the locals. All the costumes have a great deal of detail and each costume serves a purpose that suits the environment 47 happens to be operating in.
Contracts:
Create your own contracts and share with the online community. This is such a cool new feature that allows fans a social connection with each other that dissolves the barriers of borders and oceans. The game has only been out for two days now and so far there are over 50,000 consumer created contracts. Sharpen your skills or just have fun.
Inside jokes:
There are many situations, objects, and lines of dialogue in the game that play as inside jokes and nods to 20th century pop culture and I love everyone of them. To name a few, Die Hard, Dirty Harry Sudden Impact, Cobra, Dallas, Chris Isaak etc...
Plot:
The writers really got the story right this time. The story begins by cutting 47's last tie to the past while establishing a whole new era. I have enjoyed all the previous versions of the game but a few times the story line left me confused. This time all the contracts tie the game together in a logical and sequential manner. Very well done, IO.
Maturity:
Finally the developers made the game strictly for adults. I always felt the previous games where casually rated MC 17 for blood, gore, and some suggestive details. However, this time IO made the game Mature complete with strip club scenes, foul language, blood, gore, creative kills, and a intellectual plot. The game is definitely not for children and I appreciate that IO didn't play coy and target the game for multiple markets by toning down the adult themes. Tarantino would be proud.
Weapons:
Almost everything is a weapon.
Cons:
Weapons:
In previous versions of the game, 47 had access to an abundance of manufactured weapons. This version is no exception. There are many weapons this time around including: plungers, bust statues, screwdrivers, switchblades, bricks, ect. But previously firearms in the game reflected their real world counterparts in every detail. Either Licensing or financial issues (or a combination of both) must have come up during development, forcing the creators to rename weapons that were once S&W to Z&M and GLK to CLK, and Sig to Jag, etc. I know this is minor, but I really appreciated the real names of firearms. All the guns in the game reflect real world firearms in all ways but name. But I do miss the acclaimed desert Eagle from the 4 previous games. :(
First Mission:
I love and hate the first mission. The mission is fun and challenging to play. I do not want to give anything away, but like I said earlier, the first mission is a hard dividing line between this game and all the previous games. The only problem I have with this mission is the target.
Conclusion:
All in all this game is by far the best adaptation of Hitman yet. I highly recommend it. I will say that their is little reason to justify spending the extra money to purchase the Professional Edition other than being a collector and die hard fan other wise you'll be fine with the standard edition. You can play this game and still feel comfortable without having ever played any previous versions. IO has improved Hitman with every game and this one really takes the cake. IO really went a few more steps than anyone previously anticipated. This game is not for children, it is mature and doesn't presume to be anything other than what it is: a game about a cold, calculating, genetically engineered Hitman who never misses his targets that abide in the slimy criminal underworld we pretend doesn't exist.
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video-games_xbox
|
Underrated. This game is absolutely fun! The story is interesting, and what's more is its a syndication (pardon the pun) of previous Syndicate games released in the mid 90's. The gameplay feels like what an average fps fan will have experienced before...with just a whole lot more style. The weapons are cool, and while you won't see as many as say in COD game, the guns are all useful in their own way like in Halo.
The boss fights are interesting, and requires a bit more strategy than "pew pew pew". The Dart 6 chip that you possess gives you an edge in combat: You can cause enemy weapons to backfire against them, either killing them or making them vulnerable to additional damage, you can cause enemies to go insane and kill themselves with an explosion...which is good for crowd control, you can brainwash enemies to fight for you, and manipulate the environment. The voice acting is good, and while the main character could use a voice of his own, the ride is still good. The graphics are good, though there are certain elements of the environments, chiefly the outdoor ones that use a bit too much bloom. There are other eyesores as well (like disappearing vehicles), but only if you stop and stare out of random windows for minutes at a time.
The campaign is good like I've alluded to, but the multiplayer is...a bit lacking. The formula for the multiplayer is flat, just "pew pew pew" your way through levels with 3 other friends this time, and there's no other gamemodes! Yes it's fun, but it's not too different from the campaign! There's no split screen, no minigames, and I feel that's why I have to leave this game at four stars.
The Syndicate universe is enough for me, kinda seeing world run by corporations which is eerily reminiscent of the direction our world is going in. The bulk of the plot though isn't gauged through cutscenes as you'd expect, but rather the data the find in the environments. Information on characters, and people you don't actually meet, the world around you and the powerful Syndicates and their rise to power.
I would've loved a sequel to this game in the FPS style, as chronologically it's a prequel to the first Syndicate. But the sales weren't the best and so here we are, likely only having this one. Too bad Eurocorp won't buy out EA. So we're looking at a cult classic here, and that's fine.
BTW, at this point, the multiplayer is dead, so if you get this game, get it for the campaign. If you get it for the campaign, you won't regret it.
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video-games_xbox
|
Good but pricey, wish it worked on PC too. I must confess that I have a bit of a headphone addiction, and have close to a dozen of them lying around my home office. I use them mainly for gaming, but also to listen to music and watch films, though less so. These Turtle Beach headphones are pricey (230 bucks as I write this), but they are --mostly-- worth it. The big selling point is that they are completely wireless, and you don't need to connect to your gamepad at all, you can walk around while playing if you'd like. The set comes with a wireless transmitter base, which connects to your Xbox via USB and optical cable (included). The headphones feature a number of preset sound profiles, which process the sound input in a manner suitable for different genres: shooters, racers, etc. The headset itself is nice and comfortable, though not as much as I'd hoped. I have a couple of pairs of Sennheisers (with leather cups and fabric cups) that have a better fit, but that might just be the shape of my head. With these, I find myself constantly wanting to tilt them back up on top of my head. The sound is good, and they do the job.
PROS: Nice design, good sound, works as advertised. They come with an optical audio cable, which I didn't expect. The packaging is quite pretty, and seems to take a page from RAZR's packaging style. You can use an included mini-jack cable to connect to any device with a headphone (3.5mm) jack, like a phone or tablet. Battery life is quite good. Mic functions quite well and clearly.
CONS: The aforementioned optical cable is low quality and feels flimsy. I really, really, really wish this would be compatible with my PC (as a wireless headset with the sound processing, not just with the 3.5mm cable). I think it could have been a great selling point for Turtle Beach, and would have enhanced its potential user base. Maybe in a driver package? The price will also drive away some people, and rightly so- it's a lot of money.
All in all, a nice headset that might be right for you.
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video-games_xbox
|
Should have been called "Grand Theft Taxi. I have completed all 4 GTA titles (GTA III, Vice City, San Andreas, GTA IV) and this one is my least favorite. Don't get me wrong, this is still one of the best games available fot the 360 console but it is riddled with shortcomings & petty annoyances. I can honestly say that the ONLY thing better about part IV is the detail in the graphics. Everything else comes up short.
The controls are clunky and almost broken in many places. New things like being able to stick to walls during a gunfight, just end up getting in the way. If you want to get into a boat you have to use the "Y" button (the game dosen't quite know that yet though) and the driving is really, really, cumbersome.
The very few safehouses that you get all seem to be towards the North end which means that you will probably just end up hailing a taxi to go most places. This seems to defeat the purpose of "Grand Theft Auto" since I seemed to steal rides in taxies alot more than cars, bikes or boats. The driving controls are pretty bad anyways, and the city is so boxed in that driving isn't really as much fun as it used to be anyways.
This game just really seemed to lack the style like the others did. The few outfits you can get all look like they came straight from the clearance rack at K-Mart. The cars look good but really don't move as fast or are as fun to drive. The soundtrack is aweful, 3 of 5 ... make that 2 or 4 safehouses, are shabby little dumps.
Let's move on to the giant list of great things from the other titles in the series that were ommited like: Miniguns, flame throwers, garages, tanks, airplanes, the jet pack, Casino, The CD Player in your car, etc., etc., etc. So many things were taken out of this game that it really just felt like a striped down version of the older titles with clunky controls & better graphics. You really can't just go crazy like you could before. For example, The RPG only has 8 shots (you do the math). Most of the fun activities & open areas were replaced with nice looking buildings & useless stunts that could only be performed once or twice.
My advice to anybody thinking about buying this game would be to rent it twice and get it out of your system, then take the money that you saved and go buy a copy of GTA San Andreas with the Strategy Guide and play it for several months. After playing for a few days you will soon ask yourself "Why ON EARTH would they take most of this stuff out of the new version?!"
IGN says 10/10? Shuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuure.
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video-games_xbox
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Pretty Good Game with a Horrible Story. After finishing the game, I can say that while I had fun playing it, I was pretty disappointed; mostly by the story. I feel that, very similar to the differences between Mass Effect 1 and 2, this game was much simplified compared to Dragon Age: Origins while the graphics and actual gameplay were greatly improved. The only difference from the Sci-Fi Bioware offerings is that Dragon Age 2's story is much worse than ME2, and it isn't quite as polished. I'll go further into my problems with the story (spoiler filled) later in the review, but here is my problem at its most basic. The whole game just feels like a series of side missions, there isn't any over-arching story or conflict. I can boil the story down to the following 7 parts:
1. Spend hours and hours earning money to go into the Deeproads
2. Go into the Deeproads for about an hour or two
3. Kill more time waiting for the Qunari problem to boil over
4. Fight the Qunari
5. Kill some more time waiting for the Mage vs Templar problem to boil over
6. Pick either crazy side and kill the other
7. Game Over
Regarding the gameplay itself, while the responsiveness of the action is greatly appreciated, it quickly turns into a button masher, especially for fighters and rogues. There are very limited skills, basically they were all copied and pasted from DA:O. The skill trees are very annoying, as some things are completely useless but you have to purchase them if you want the better skills in that tree. They started a good idea by allowing you to upgrade skills, but I wish they had further developed this. In battle, I generally only had 3 or 4 skills I used in battle, then I'd wait for them to refill while spamming the A button. I wish there were more special attacks or combos, instead of the multitude of attribute changing skills that take up an exorbitant amount of stamina, and even uses percentages to further eliminate any benefit of leveling up your stamina. One addition I'd gladly welcome in the next dragon age game, would be some sort of leveling system for the basic attack animations. It'd be nice to have different patterns you could choose and upgrade, to reduce some of the dullness of the button mashing gameplay.
There were surprisingly many glitches and problems, most glaringly with the save system. I'd say that almost every other save would fail. These fails were best when the system realized some sort of problem and gave an error message (happened very often). The next worse, was when it appeared the save succeeded, but when you tried to load it the file was corrupted. The only way to tell this has happened is to look at the save, and if the text is blank the save failed (happened often). So if this is your last save, make sure it worked before quitting your game. The last and worse save problem is when the autosave fails, and the save bar just keeps turning and turning (happened seldomly, twice for me). Because of this, you can neither save nor load a game, and your only option is to turn off the system of go to the dashboard. Thankfully, you can save very often (I think I had over 300 saves) so all of these problems weren't too bad. There were also other problems with the animation, where some characters merged during conversation (I noticed this with Merril and Isabella in the Hawke Estate) and some weird stuff with Hawke (most notably his arm disappearing into his body). There were also a few problems with the story choices you made conflicting with each other, but I'm not sure if these were errors or just bad story telling. There were further glitches where the Exiled Prince DLC Achievements do not work at all, and the items you were supposed to get from DA:Legends and other offers didn't work. The Special Deliveries chest, while always having the quest insignia above it, could never be opened.
One of the most annoying and sloppy parts of the game, was the level design. The developers went crazy with the copy and paste button, with every type of dungeon, building, and outdoor area being exactly the same. Now I understand that this needs to be done in certain cases to minimize development time and cost, but they were just so sloppy and even lazy with the details. Specifically all of the maps for every area, it's always the same exact map. To provide some variance between the areas, all they do is lock doors in buildings, put up little rock road blocks in the outdoor areas, and pave over holes in caves. Yet the map still shows the area you can't go to. Now how hard would it have been to cut those parts of the map off, and copy and pasting the wall next to the door to make it look different. Related to this issue, why did Bioware take this apparently huge Dragon Age world, and limit your gameplay only to Kirkwall? Either Hawke suffers from some form of agoraphobia, or he had some magical ankle bracelet that won't let him/travel 1 mile away form the walls of Kirkwall. It's not like it's an amazing city, the location quickly becomes stifling and boring, for no benefit except to limit the design team from Bioware.
On to the enemies, I really liked when you faced the weaker enemies and their bodies would explode upon attacks. Conversely I hated the big boss battles, as instead of making them difficult and very dangerous, the developer gave them an insane amount of health and high defense. So you'd just be chipping away at the giant health bar, for at times (I didn't actually time it) around or over 30 minutes. This is made even worse by the fact that stamina regeneration is very slow, and you usually get refilled when you kill your enemies but you only have one big enemy so that doesn't help at all. Combine this and the new combat, and you get a half an hour of just banging on the A button and every once in awhile using a health potion. Related to this, unchanged from the last game, actually made worse, only one character (Anders) can bring back other characters from death/unconsciousness. They have a new item where if you drink it and are killed you come back to life immediately, but it's practically useless and expensive. Add to this, the second Anders is killed you're screwed as no one can bring him back to life, and all of the magic users aren't known for their health and defense. Would it be so hard to have a potion the main hero could use to revitalize his/her companions? Every boss battle usually ended up with all my companions dead except for the dog which you can call back a little bit after it is killed. One last thing about the enemies is that especially near the end, because almost all of the enemies are humans (unlike DA:O), why in the hell would every single bandit or poorly equipped street thug be attacking the Champion of Kirkwall and his very powerful friends? I know there needs to be random enemy encounters, but this was really pushing it.
***Starting here, my review will be interspersed with some spoilers.***
There are some good characters in this game, but they are a bit limited, especially for women. I don't see why the developer had to kill off Hawke's brother and/or sister (depending on your choices) as there are less characters than in Origins (or around the same). I would have much preferred if they were made full characters. It was really annoying for the romances, that there were only two women (my favorite was Bethany but that relationship would have been too controversial) one being the very annoying elf Merril(?) and the very cool/funny/hot but very slutty Isabella. I had sex with Isabella, but ended up in a relationship somehow with Merril even though at every chance I went against her (rival, though I did every once in awhile use the heart dialogue option), however at the end of the story the dwarf said the only character that stayed with me was Isabella. Furthermore, the conversations between the characters seemed like a step back. I really missed the camp site from Origins, and I thought it felt forced having to go to every characters home to talk to them, even if they were currently in your party. Also, I felt like the characters were underdeveloped in comparison to all of Bioware's other games. With the characters, I felt like they were much weaker than Hawke, because they couldn't use any of the armor other than upgrades that allowed you to add a rune (combined with weak AI). I don't know why they simplified this part of the game, though I assume it was to make the animations easier. It was also annoying that even though no one could use it, I kept getting a lot of useless mage and rogue armor.
Onto the critique of the story, at its very basest, I have no idea why they decided to have the dwarf telling the story to the seeker. It's contrived, useless, and to me it harmed my immersion into the character/avatar. Right from the beginning, I would have liked to know more about Hawke and his family before they were on the run. I just didn't care about the brother Carver dying because I didn't know him at all. Then when they got to Kirkwall, I'm not sure why they skipped a year of adventuring, especially when all you end up doing are a bunch of side missions at the beginning of the game. With the Deeproads expedition, it felt really short yet later it's stated that the mission had went deeper into the earth than ever before. I also found it really cheap that if you take your sister/brother with you they have to either die or become a warden, and even if you leave them home they leave your party for most of the game. Add to this the early dead sibling, and later brutal killing of your Mother, it just feels like the developer gods hated Hawke. Then that stupid Idol, which is essentially the only great evil involved in the game's story, and even then all it does is makes the dwarf brother lock you in the vault and then later makes the Templar leader go crazy, with no apparent end game. They never explain what the idol is (other than pure Lyrium that is somehow evil) or how it works.
Later, the Qunari problem is pretty lame and doesn't really make any sense. They basically had a book stolen and can't leave, so they then obviously want to take over city for some contrived reason. This is the big evil you have to fight, except they really aren't evil at all. They may be a bit stubborn, but they aren't something that makes you want to fight to save the world, you're barely even saving the city. The second main conflict seems a bit tacked on, and involves two sides that are both annoying and have very large ethical problems. This may seem to be a welcome departure from Fantasy/RPG story cliches, but you'd be wrong, epic battles between good and evil are used because they work. Also, for the final battle, it didn't really make any sense. I felt like there were things I wanted to say or do to change the outcome, but couldn't. First, Anders performs a horrible terrorist act, to which your only option is to kill him, let him go, or completely forgive his actions. What he did was horrible, and didn't make any sense, yet because he was one of my regular characters I welcomed him back with open arms (I wish there was another option where he would face consequences for his actions at a later date). I ended up siding with the mages, as their cause seemed the best of two evils, but I still faced a bunch of abominations. Related to this, the head mage guy performs some sort of horrible blood magic so he can fight against the Templars and win, yet he immediately attacks the player. It really felt like the developers spent time creating a cool boss battle, so they had to have everyone play it even though it didn't make any sense (I wonder if something similar happened if you sided with the Templars). The story was just so simple and weak, I find it hard to believe this game was made by Bioware.
In general, I enjoyed playing the game, but after looking back and writing this way too long review I have to give it 3 stars. Now I have to decide whether to keep the game and replay it later (which I've done with every other Bioware game), or just trade it in. I still love Bioware, but I'm beginning to lose a little faith in the developer. I can only hope they make a good game with Mass Effect 3, and maybe try another foray into the Fantasy world of Dragon Age, but with a much better story and more polish.
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video-games_xbox
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A decent game nearly undone by some grating flaws. I am a big fan of the work of H.P. Lovecraft, so I'd wanted to play Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth (CoC:DCotE) for some time. I'd had the PC version for a while, but I hadn't had a chance to get to it. My roommate, also a Lovecraft fan, was interested, so I lent it to him. After he experienced a game-ending crash--and having read about many, many other glitches--I decided to borrow the XBox version from a friend. (Keep in mind that I played the game on an XBox 360 as opposed to the original XBox, so there were some issues with the gameplay.) After having played it, I would say that I was a bit disappointed. It's not a bad game per se, but as I mention in the title for this review, it's nearly undone by some flaws.
While it may not be perfect, one of those flaws is *not* the writing. I really enjoyed the way the designers included many different elements of Lovecraft's work in the plot. "The Shadow Over Innsmouth" and "The Shadow Out of Time" are the two stories from which the game draws the most. In fact, large portions of "Innsmouth" are virtually recreated, although it is done in such a way that it feels like it could be a sequel to the original story rather than an adaptation. It is thanks to this that I was able to put up with the clumsy gameplay mechanics.
CoC:DCotE seems to want to introduce many elements of realism into the game. For example, there is no HUD to show your health status,--although you can assess it from the inventory screen--and when you apply first aid, the character actually has to stop what he's doing and apply bandages, sutures, etc. to his wounds. Also, there is no targeting reticule, so you really have to make sure that you have your weapon aimed properly before firing. I wouldn't have a problem with this were it not for the fact that the game isn't consistent in its adherence to realism, eschewing it in ways that make it much more difficult for the player. The most obvious example I can think of is that, after killing an enemy, his body disappears and any weapons and ammo he carried disappear with him. Yes, it's true that you would not be able to take time to heal yourself in the middle of a firefight, but it's also true that a person's body and all the possessions on their person don't vanish without a trace after he/she dies. (I'm surprised that they didn't offer some kind of in-game explanation for this, like the fact that they weren't entirely human meant their bodies dissolved after death or something.)
I thought it was a strange decision to make the player spend so much time without a weapon only to get several of them within a very short period of time. It's incredibly satisfying when you finally get the crowbar and are able to take out your first enemy. As mentioned above, if the game had remained consistent in its application of realism, it would be understandable why you would almost immediately have a gun since you could take the one that used to belong to the fallen NPC. Instead, when you go inside the building next to where you bludgeoned the enemy to death, the weapons are available in a cabinet.
On top of that, I think the combat system is incredibly unwieldy. As I mentioned above, there's no HUD (which means you have no indication of how much ammo you have without visiting your inventory screen) and no targeting reticle. Putting your weapon in aim mode and looking down the sights is the only way to line up your target. Unfortunately, it's not the most accurate thing, and of course, if you keep your gun in targeting mode for too long, your character's arm starts to get tired, causing it to start moving and thereby throw off your aim. (Just more of that pesky inconsistent realism.) The hand-to-hand combat is no better; there's something incredibly wrong with the system when I'm standing right in front of or behind a person, swinging a crowbar, and it doesn't hit him.
There are a couple portions that introduce platforming into the mix, and they feel a bit incongruous to the rest of the gameplay. It isn't helped along by the fact that there are cases where certain traps spring up that are extremely difficult to avoid the first time through. It's almost as though they're set up so the player is intended to die the first time and then avoid the traps on the second or third time through. I don't consider that to be good level design.
Many of the puzzles or environmental elements are incredibly difficult to figure out, mainly because I don't feel the makers of the game did a good job drawing your attention to them. Much of CoC:DCotE is a drab brownish color, and as such, many things blend in with the background, making them very hard to discern. Other times, it felt as though I were being pointed in the wrong direction by things I heard and saw during gameplay. (SPOILERS: For example, during the boat level, the sorcerers conjure huge waves which take away a lot of health if you're not properly braced. Whenever the waves come, a crewman shouts, "Seek cover!" Hearing this, my first instinct was, "Oh, I'd better get inside and away from this deadly weather," but no matter how deep inside the ship I went, I would still get killed. It wasn't until reading a walkthrough that I discovered that you're supposed to grab onto a railing in front of the ship's cabin. I suppose the makers thought it would be enough of a clue that one of the crewmen also grabs onto a railing while many of the others who don't get washed overboard or die on the deck. The thing is that you don't really interact with the environment in this way through most of the game, so the player doesn't have much of a precedent for it. END SPOILERS!) Many of the puzzles are kind of similar in that there aren't many clues to help you figure out what you need to do, and the clues that are there are incredibly vague.
Stealth is a big part of this game, but even that tends to be more irritating than anything else. (And this is coming from a Splinter Cell fan.) The enemy AI is pretty inconsistent overall, but one thing that is consistent is that they can spot you very easily. Part of this may be because you often have to stealth your way through brightly lit rooms and corridors. Doing so involves either going into Sneak Mode, which makes you move incredibly slowly and allows you to peek around corners or over surfaces when crouched behind something (at the expense of strafing, which really bugged me), or crouch walking, which is also incredibly slow. This wouldn't have been as much of a problem if it weren't for the fact that I was spotted and killed so many times that I would have to repeat large portions of these levels and spend a lot of time traversing very little ground.
UPDATE: Originally, there was a paragraph here complaining about the inability to skip cutscenes. Well, I was just informed by my roommate that you actually can do this; it turned out to be the one button I didn't try pressing. The fact that the person from whom I borrowed this game didn't contradict me (rather, he seemed to confirm it) when I told him about my frustration with the cutscenes made me think that this was the case. (END UPDATE.)
Quite honestly, I'd be willing to overlook these flaws if they'd changed one major element of gameplay, the save system. Save points often feel few and far between, and I found it especially irritating that, in at least one instance, there wasn't one immediately after a fairly difficult boss fight. (After trying it several times, I finally killed the boss only to get killed a few minutes later by patrolling guards. I was so angry that I nearly gave up on the game right then and there.) There's really no excuse for not being able to save at will in a game like this, and if I hadn't been forced to go through long stretches multiple times, I think I would have enjoyed this a lot more. Upon completion, the statistics screen told me that my play time was a little under ten hours. This was not true, since it only counted the gameplay from one successful save to another (i.e., it didn't count the many, many times I had to play through levels over and over again). I'd say actual play time was at least twice that amount. I don't mind long games, but I do if much of that length is spent repeating long passages.
While I enjoyed the story, there was one thing that I wish the game could have done that it didn't, scare me. Games like Doom 3 and Dead Space have actually managed to give me a cold feeling of dread in the pit of my stomach and follow it up with gut-wrenching terror. There were points at which CoC:DCotE became very intense--e.g., the chase through Innsmouth--but I never found it to be more than that. I wasn't constantly jumping at shadows or worried about what might be around the next corner. I felt like I was playing an adventure game, not a survival horror game.
Like I said, I played this original XBox game on an Xbox 360. I'm aware that there are issues with the emulation that have led to game-ending glitches for some people. (Luckily, I didn't have that problem.) Still, I can't imagine that would be the explanation for all of the problems. When playing on the original Xbox, I'm sure that there aren't any more save points, that you can't skip the cutscenes, and that you still have to walk at a snail's pace to avoid detection through most of the game.
It's a shame Headfirst Productions went out of business so soon after the release of this game and before they could finish their follow-up. I would like to have seen whether or not they learned from their mistakes and delivered something even more worthy of the Call of Cthulhu name.
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video-games_xbox
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Take this! And this! And that! Oh, you want some too? Die! Get off me! (repeat. I just want to say that in two to three days of moderate playing, I've already killed something like seven thousand zombies. No, that number is not an exaggeration as there's a kill count up in the corner to let me know just how many of the living dead I've taken care of. Then again, it's easy to do that when you're driving an insane vehicle created by combining a steamroller and a motorcycle and using it to plow through their rotted bodies. And boy, is it fun.
Dead Rising 3 is a good, brainless time and an excellent way to kill time. The story is easily forgettable but its the experience that makes the game, not the silly tale that makes absolutely no sense at times. The controls are good but do get a little wonky at times, especially in situations that require a little finesse. The graphics are a slight step up from last gen but the draw here is the number of zombies that appear onscreen which is just outright ridiculous. No lie, you'll see literal herds of zombies, numbering in the low hundreds in most cases. The variation in the zombies is also cause to be impressed as you rarely ever find two that look alike, unless they're of a specific type like firemen or cops for instance. Improvements over past Dead Rising games include better AI for the survivors who join you, timed trials, a much larger map and even more weapons to make crazy combinations with. There's also co-op and the ability to use Xbox Smartglass, which allows you extra content. Gotta admit that it's kind of cool to get an actual phone call from an in-game character and get sent on a mission. Kinect integration allows you to bark out commands and even get the attention of zombies by yelling at them.
Dead Rising 3 is a perfect game to kill time with and even if the story reeks, that won't take away from the sheer novelty of butchering zombies by the boatload and using literally everything including the kitchen sink to do it. As far as Xbox One launch titles go, this is definitely one to pick up.
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video-games_xbox
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You know if you want this. Whether or not you'll enjoy this game depends almost entirely on viewing the cover. If you see "Dynasty Warriors" and "Gundam" paired together and immediately scream in glee, this is the perfect game for you. Otherwise, be cautious.
Honestly, there's a lot to hate about this game. The combat consists entirely of mashing buttons to take down hordes of generic enemies that are actually the same 2-3 bad guys repeated endlessly, punctuated by the occasional boss. Boss fights are hampered by the massive amount of juggling inherent to the combo system- either you spend the entire battle wailing on the enemy, or they start a combo, and you can only watch helplessly as they continue hitting until their combo ends. Combat is further hampered because health items drop entirely randomly, so if you're unlucky enough to get tagged with damage at any point you'll spend minutes hunting the map for item boxes and praying you get the right item. The graphics are serviceable, but don't really scream "next-gen".
For all the minuses this game presents, there's a plus that might outweigh it. The biggest is the inclusion of many great Gundams to play as- you can play famous mobile suits from Amuro's RX-78-2 (Mobile Suit Gundam) to Heero's Wing Zero (Gundam Wing)- I was especially pleased by the inclusion of Zech Marquise in Gundam Epyon (Gundam Wing). Game modes don't go online or present anything terribly original, but there's the usual Warrior-esque Story/Campaign, and a couple of extra fighting modes for a bit of variety mostly designed around battling versus friends. There's even a very small RPG aspect, where you collect various components during the story to upgrade your Gundam.
Overall, this is a fun little hack-and-slash game built for a very specific audience. If you're someone in that audience, then this is a very solid title that I highly recommend. If you're not in that audience, this game will be merely a generic hack-and-slash title for you.
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video-games_xbox
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A Big Improvement Over The Original. I purchased the Xbox 360 Slim to replace my Xbox 360 Elite. To put it simply, I am blown away by how much Microsoft has improved the console. Firstly, it is way, way, way more quiet than the Elite. The comparison I use is that of a motorcycle running (the Elite) versus a motorcycle turned off (the Slim). Even when you're playing a game, the sound of the disc spinning in the drive and the hard drive scanning are quieter. It is just so quiet that if the ring were not illuminated, you might not know it was powered on. Secondly, it is smaller than the original 360. Numbers wise, the difference my be small but visually the size difference is huge. Thirdly, it has a matte black finish like the Elite. I thought all Slims had glossy black finishes so I was surprised to see it has the same finish as my beloved Elite. Fourthly, the power brick is now smaller as well. Also, there is no bright orange/amber light when you turn off the device. Fifthly, Wi-Fi is included with the Slim. You do not need to purchase an over-priced Wi-Fi dongle from Microsoft to access Xbox Live via wireless. And lastly, the hard drive is huge. After transferring my data from the Elite, I still had over 100 Gigs of space left on the Slim. All in all, the Xbox 360 Slim is practically a different device than the original Xbox 360 and Elite from all the improvements. If you're looking to upgrade from an original 360 or Elite then this is the way to go. If you're waiting for the One then I suggest you hang on to your money till November 2013.
NOTE - I was considering buying the similarly priced Xbox 360 E (the 360 that looks like the Xbox One) but decided against it after watching a review of it on Cnet. Com. In the review they showed the optical audio out was removed, that it is noisier than the Slim and a tad larger as well. In addition, this Spring Bundle comes with two games (one on disc, Darksliders 2, and one via download code, Arkham City) and the 360 E does not.
UPDATE 9/28/13 - After using the Xbox 360 Slim for over a week, I have noticed a potential issue: this device runs hot. Like lap top battery hot, if not hotter. So, you need to make sure all the vents on the Xbox have a decent amount of space around them to create good circulation. Other than that, I've had no problems or complaints about the Xbox 360 Slim.
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video-games_xbox
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Revolutionary New Version. I was introduced to Plants Vs. Zombies when I was a WoW player. There was a quest that inspired by it. I downloaded the first PvZ game on xbox360 last holiday when it was on sale. I also have the squeal on iPad which is a "free" to play game.
I was a bit disappointed that there was no single player mode in this game. Even though I read the box cover, I was still secretly hoping there would be one! However, I wasn't shocked that it was online only. I didn't care about the lack of local play, though I did consider getting an Xbox one for PvZ GW. I feel that the Xbox version is pretty good, though it does seem like it lacks in content for a $30 game.
Here's what I like:
Graphics are really crisp and clear. I love the colors and the cartoon style fits with the game very well. The music, especially at the results screen, is catchy. The game reminds me of Team Fortress 2. I like the different characters and there is enough variety for now. The game seems well balanced and I don't feel that one side is stronger than the other in terms of mechanics. Also, both sides have a certain uniqueness. I think that the chomper is my favorite! There is a co-op online mode which stays with the spirit of the original game that you can play with up to 4 people or by yourself if you want. Personally, I'm not sure that playing by yourself is viable as it is much easier to play with other people. I also like the 3rd person style as the characters are fun to look at.
What I don't like:
The game really only has two modes for multiplier. A team death-match type and garden vs graveyard. Both modes are fun. The latter is kind of like TF2, because you have to capture several areas as zombies and defend them as plants. Both are fun, but seems a bit lacking without more game modes. Sure there are two more modes, but they are "classic" versions of the first two modes. I am sure there will be DLC coming to this game, but it does mean you will probably have to spend more money!
Bottom Line:
This is a fun game and it's very different than the original. I think it's a fun game and should hold my interest for a while, at least until I get all of the achievements. It's worth a buy if you are a fan of the series and are looking for a great multiplayer game. It does have some flaws as far as a lack of content, but it seems to be bug free and I haven't noticed much lag at all. $30 isn't too bad a price, but I think it's really worth $20. Also, no single player mode is kind of a downer. Overall, I feel the game is worth it.
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video-games_xbox
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It's not COD4... but its worth a look. After playing many hours of Call of Duty 4:Modern Warfare I was expecting something great to follow. Seeing as most of my time was focused on Multi-Player, that's where I will begin. The maps in World at War are much bigger than that of Modern Warfare. They allow for much more sniping and group espionage rather than the run and gun method used by most on the smaller maps in Modern Warfare. They continued some of the many multi-player game types and added a few more options along the way. I enjoyed the hardcore game play in the previous COD and was happy to see that they added a couple more hardcore options such as hardcore free for all. There are a couple of complaints about the new multi-player as well. First of all the maps are large, this is an advantage in some aspects but a couple of the maps are just too big to play with the smaller group sizes. Also if you are into the run and gun method it is much harder to find people before you get snipped by those opponents "Camping" in the corners. The last thing isn't really a complaint but something worth noting. Tanks have been added as a multi-player option which turns the user into a nearly indestructible enemy. The reason why I don't list this as a complaint is because it is a part of the game, and the slow speed of the tank and turning speed makes it easy to avoid if you wish.
As far and the storyline goes I have no complaints. Being a fairly regular player I still struggled through the Veteran difficulty, but that's how it should be. The implement of new enemy intelligence has added to the difficulty of the game. Snipers in trees as well as very well placed grenades (usually hitting you in the face) makes progress difficult at times.
The last implement that World at War has added was the Zombies Mini-game. This game is sweet. A nice little perk for completing the game. In this mini-game you have a chance to bring yourself back to a House of the Dead type game. In this mini-game you are attempting to ward off and ever increasing number of zombie attackers.
The weapons are nothing too amazing, but considering the WWII setting they are pretty close to the technology of that time.
Overall I found Call of Duty:World at War to be a good game. It's not an all new entry into the realm of 1st person shooters, but it is definitely worth take a look.
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video-games_xbox
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Well polished and runs smooth, but lacking content and replayability at the moment. Overwatch is a well polished game, but my main gripe with it is that it is lacking content. I heard a lot of good stuff about this game pre-release, but did not plan on spending $60 for it. When the price dropped to $39 on Amazon (including Prime discount) I decided I would try it out. After spending a good amount of time playing it, I would still not recommend you pay full price for this game.
The gameplay is very balanced, smooth, polished, etc. The characters are diverse and balanced well, there isn't any one character that is much more powerful than the rest. There are 3 game modes, Assault (similar to Domination in COD), Escort (similar to Safeguard), and Control (similar to Hardpoint). There is also a mode called Hybrid, which is Assault and Escort mixed. The modes are all fun and games are intense, and often down to the wire.
What I don't like about Overwatch:
It is online only, so you'd expect they would have tons of content in multiplayer, but there just isn't. There are not challenges (at least that I'm aware of) to work towards in-game to unlock new things, everything is unlocked via Loot Box or in-game currency. Each character has 50+ customization items (Voice lines, spray paint emblems, skins, etc.) that can be unlocked, but unlocking them is a pain unless you spend real money.
You don't get to choose what game mode you play. You just select quick game to begin matchmaking, and you're randomly placed in any game mode.
The three game modes on Overwatch are fun, but will get old quickly. We've seen these modes in so many shooting games over the years. I wish Blizzard could've added at least one new mode.
Why aren't there leaderboards? With no challenges or leaderboards, the game is a lot less satisfying to play in my opinion. I want to see how I stack up against the rest of the world in all of the stat categories.
Ranked play comes late next month supposedly. Wish they had it ready for release, but not too big of a deal.
I hope they will add leaderboards to the game, as well as new modes to play and other content.
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video-games_xbox
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Batman's triumphant return to video games. After countless unremarkable or even terrible Batman games, few had hope that the venerable character would ever become anything more than a blemish in video game history. But, with Batman: Arkham Asylum, Rocksteady, an up and coming developer that has only put out one other title, might have single handedly reversed that perception.
From the beginning, there is no doubt that this is a game which has been given the utmost thought and polish. Much like Half-Life games or Bioshock, there aren't lengthy cutscenes that may make you want to skip over vital information. After a brief clip of Batman transporting the Joker to the Asylum, the introduction becomes interactive. Throughout the game too, the story is mostly told through audio logs and in-game communication between Batman and the Joker, various guards, or Oracle, Batman's sidekick who provides him with useful intelligence. The story is a basic plot about a science experiment that goes wrong, but the in-game method of storytelling has moments of brilliance, using some interesting plot devices to keep things exciting. Voice acting is on the money, with a few voice actors from the Batman: The Animated Series reprising their classic roles. The Joker is definitely in his element, often referring to his diabolical plan as a "party" and making gags seem like life or death situations.
The music isn't overbearing, but it is appropriate and memorable when it is there. Several major Batman villains make appearances, and plenty of those that don't are given awesome allusions, often involving puzzles planted by the Riddler.
Technically, the game is quite impressive as well, with detailed character models and environments. Batman's cape flaps as he runs through Arkham Island, and his costume even accumulates tears and rips that remain as you progress further in the game. Notably, there is very little loading in the game, and when there is, it is cleverly masked as in the Metroid Prime games.
Where Arkham Asylum really shines though, is in its gameplay. This isn't only a stealth game, an action game, or an adventure game. It's all three genres fused into something even greater than the sum of its parts. As you stalk enemies and whittle them down, they'll grow increasingly terrified and eventually, they'll jump at any noise they hear. The Joker seems to find just as much pleasure in trying to kill Batman as he does in frightening and denigrating his own crew, as you'll notice that he mocks them rather frequently.
Also, taking these enemies down is just as much fun as watching them squirm in fear. There's a variety of ways you can knock out your enemies, and in keeping with Batman tradition, like the rest of the game, these methods will never kill, but only temporarily incapacitate. Among the best is the inverted takedown, which lets you hang a thug upside down from a gargoyle. After, you could wait for more thugs to come underneath the gargoyle, and cut the victim down with a batarang, knocking out even more henchmen. These moments are priceless, and evoke a feeling that this is the quintessential Batman game.
When you aren't skulking around oblivious enemies, you'll be using gadgets to explore the massive island. Like in any Metroid game, some areas can only be accessed with an upgraded arsenal. Otherwise, you can search for Riddle Trophies, Riddle Challenges, destroy chattering Joker Teeth, or try to find Spirit of Arkham entries. Regardless of what you're doing though, you're likely to find the overall experience seamless and very addictive. The campaign can likely be finished in around 10 hours or so, but it is so entertaining while it lasts, that it's still worth the price.
One of the few minor issues I have with the game is that it has a severely impaired saving system. Rather than simply allowing players to save whenever they want, the game will only save automatically each time you enter or exit any area. Consequentially, if you unwittingly turn off the console power while the game saves, your save file will be corrupted. Also, without custom saves, you can't replay your favorite sections of the game whenever you want, which is unfortunat for a game with such entertaining sequences.
I have found that the aforementioned saving problem, and the "boss fights" are really the only snags in this excellent game. The encounters with humongous Titan-fueled enemies, especially the very last battle, really doesn't seem to fit the gameplay at all. I found them more frustrating than amusing. Yet, the rest of the game is so ahead of most others that it doesn't bother me much. I don't care much for the bonus challenge stages, but they are there too for added replay value, in case you found the main campaign too short.
Overall, this is a game that can't be missed. It is one of the enthralling video games you can play, with enough mind blowing moments and engaging gameplay to even surpass games like Bioshock.
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video-games_xbox
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Game greatly improved on all aspects. Sam Fisher is back once again. This time he must find the source of the barrage of information attacks causing blackouts and unexplained attacks on US targets.
The first thing you will notice about this game is that it is huge compared to the first two splinter cell's. Look at the manual and you will notice it is unbelievably thick. This is because there is so much things that Sam can do. All of Sam's tools and gadgets carry over to CT, but he now has some new ones. He can use his pistol to disrupt the functionality of most electrical components. No more having to fire your pistol to shoot out lights and making a lot of noise as the glass breaks. With the EV, Sam can just shoot a laser at the light and the light will flicker off within a few seconds. He can also do the same to computer screens, TV's and radios, which drives the enemies mad. Perhaps that coolest new thing he can do in this area is that he can wirelessly hack into PC's even while someone is sitting at the desk. Now is that cool or what?
Sam's SCK-20 has a few upgrades that allow you to use different attachments. In addition to the launcher attachment that allows you to fire camera, shockers, grenades, etc, there is also foregrip, sniper and shotgun attachments. The Foregrip allows Sam to aim the SCK-20 with more accuracy. The sniper attachment turns the gun into a Sniper rifle. I haven't used it yet, but will choose it on my next mission. Finally there is a shotgun attachment for the times when you just want to let the enemies know you mean business. Its very noisy, but if you get to point where you have to use it, you probably don't care anyway. The only drawback to these new attachments is that you can only choose one per mission. So you can't go into a mission with both the sniper and the shotgun. It kind of sucks, but I suppose it wouldn't be very realistic anyway.
Sam this time now has a lot of lethal moves in addition to his non-lethal attacks. When you grab and enemy from behind, you can elect to choke them until they are unconscious, or perform a lethal, like ramming a combat knife into his back or push them off a balcony sending them to their death. Sam can also perform attacks without having to grab an enemy, you can kill them by slitting their throats or stab them in the heart. Or you can elect to knock them out by hitting them in the head or kicking them. I recall one level where I kicked this guy so hard he went flying head first into a nearby fire extinguisher causing it to go off. Yes Sam is RAW in this game. If this wasn't enough you can also kill (by breaking their neck) or knock out enemies while you are hanging upside down from a pipe!! One of my favorite things to do however is while Sam's hanging off of a cliff or balcony, he can reach up and grab an enemy and toss him over the railing sending him to his death! I think UBISOFT got a lot of requests from SC players requesting more lethal attacks and they responded brilliantly. Sam's demeanor has also changed, in judging from his conversations with Lambert. However you don't HAVE to kill to advance in this game. If you like you can go through most of the game without killing anyone, so the stealth aspect is still there and is still encouraged in many levels. I still prefer stealth, but will occasionally kill depending what kind of mood I'm in. I like the fact that UBISOFT now gives players a choice. One thing I forgot to mention is that Sam can now also bash a door in, almost certainly knocking out the person on the other side.
The graphics in this game are much crisper than Pandora tomorrow and look a lot better than the graphics on the original SC. The environment movements are so life like, it's almost scary. The lighting is once again done brilliantly, allowing you to still be able to look at shadows to estimate where the enemy is standing just around the corner.
The sound is also a step above the previous two installments. Depending on what country you are in, the locals and enemies accents will change. The environment sounds are also very lifelike. On certain levels, you can hear the annoying sound of mosquitoes and flies buzzing around your head. High pitched buzzing from flies and mosquitoes always makes my nose itch, and when I heard those sounds while playing the game I, had to constantly pause the game and rub my nose. I was glad to get off that level!
The story this time around is better than PT, but still seems to jump around a lot and is kind of hard to follow. I still think the original SC had the best story line. With that being said, the story line is still very good, and I like the fact that UBISOFT went back to full news broadcasts, instead of cutting them off constantly like they did in PT.
There is also a Co-op mode in this game which allows you to play story mode with someone else simultaneously. That's right two "Sams" on the same mission at the same time. After I finish single player, I'll try to convince the wife to play Co-op with me. If you are unable to find anyone to play with you in person, there is also XBOX Live. I cancelled my XBOX Live account 3 months ago, so there is no need for me to review that potion of the game.
My disappointments in the game are as follows. 1) The manual doesn't do a very good job in telling you how to use your new weapons and moves. I couldn't figure out for the life of me how to use the shotgun attachment, until finally I went online and asked somebody. The manual did not mention how to do this it all! In addition it does not tell you how to use the laser mic. I will be going online to figure out how to use this as well. A training mission would have been perfect, but for some reason, UBISOFT felt that it they didn't need to include it this time. I feel sorry for the person who never played SC before; they will almost certainly be lost and confused. 2). While some comical dialog is welcome in some aspects of the game, sometimes it just goes too far and ends up being corny. For instance, the enemies that have no problem killing you at a moments notice turn into complete p****** when you grab and interrogate them, they whine entirely too much saying there going to piss their pants, or they should have stayed in bed this morning. It would have been cool if some people did that, but it seems that every guy you grab and interrogate does the same thing.
One thing I must mention is that UBISOFT got rid of the checkpoint system! FINALLY! You can now Save your game whenever you want. No more redoing a section over and over and over again just because you got killed 2 feet from the checkpoint. This is a welcome addition by myself and I can imagine many more gamers. If they do the same in the new RS3, then I will be doubly happy!!
Overall, this game is very good being ALMOST as good as the original. While this game improved in all aspects from the previous two installments, I can't play it for very long periods of time. Don't get me wrong, this game is fun, but I just can't play it as long as I could with the first SC. Maybe I am just getting old. I generally don't give 5 stars unless the game is 99% perfect, but because I want to distinguish this from PT which I gave 4 stars (rounded up from 3.8). Had this been a 10 scale rating system, this game would easily get a 9.5. But because it's only a five scale system, I have no choice but to give this game all five stars.
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video-games_xbox
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Without Question the BEST Option for an Internal Drive for Your Xbox. Very Happy with my purchase. This product worked absolutely perfectly and as shown. I have the latest Xbox E model (I believe it's called) not the slim - ie if you were to go to the store today to buy one brand new that's the model I have although I'm told this drive would have been compatible for the slim as well.
Installation was a breeze. On the bottom of the Xbox is a little switch you pull toward yourself and the vent opens up to reveal a slot for the drive. Slide the drive in and you're in business. Make sure you do this while the Xbox is off of course.
Before purchasing this drive I used to switch in and out USB Sticks which worked for about a month until I realized no matter how big the stick you put in, Xbox limits each USB Stick to 32GB and you can only use two at a time. I found myself going to the store dropping $30 bucks a pop each time I bought a USB stick and the thought occurred to check and see how much a drive would be from Xbox themselves. In retrospect I wish I had bought the drive straight away because the hundred dollars it cost me on Amazon is about two-thirds less the cost of all those USB Sticks I went and bought.
Lastly I should mention as I myself was shopping for a drive I noticed other companies offered similar drives for thirty dollars cheaper or so. My recommendation would be NOT to go that way. A bad drive can kill an Xbox faster than a bullet. My slim I owned before fell victim to a corrupted drive. However long its been since I bought the newest model 360 its been a tank with no issues and adding the drive to the mix about a month ago its a perfect system. Don't cheap out on the drive for your system as its the brain of the machine and most important component if you ask me. That said, always go with the original manufacturer. That's what I did and couldn't be happier. I ordered the drive on a Sunday and plugged it in my machine Tuesday. Well worth the $100.
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video-games_xbox
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Game is good, Sunday Ticket dysfunctional. Allow me to preface this review by stating I had no intention of buying Madden this year until the Sunday Ticket offer appeared. Other than the rosters, not much changes from year to year to warrant me dropping $60 on almost the same game year after year I typically buy every other year, or one every three years. Of the recent Madden releases, this one has been the most challenging to date if you don't use nano blitzes and 'can't miss' plays...which is a good thing. Far too often in the past I grew tired of the game after a week or two because it was simply too easy (or ridiculously hard) and there was no happy medium. The new precision modifier is great, and a long overdue addition. It's not as glitchy as previous Madden titles, but I can do without the CPU teams running the clock down to the same time after every injury as well as the inability to skip through some cut scenes (penalties come to mind, but there may be others). Overall I give the game itself 4/5.
DirecTV gets an A+ for the thought of including the Sunday Ticket package with the title for an extra $40, a steal! If only it worked as it was intended. I have the fastest internet possible, brand new electronics (Ipad, cables, etc) and have had MAJOR difficulties with the picture quality being a pixelated mess.
Week 1 NFL: All games were more or less perfect after a a few seconds of load time.
Week 2 NFL: Some games would cut out, freeze, but games were watchable for the most part, but it was aggravating when things would cut out briefly.
Week 3 NFL: Total garbage. Every channel was a pixelated mess off and on throughout the day, oftentimes audio was 2-3 plays behind what was happening on the field. DirecTV gets 0/5, as EA Sports has informed us that everything Sunday Ticket related is on their end.
So while I appreciate the effort and the groundbreaking idea, I can't help but feel duped that EA and DirecTV contrived this money grab to get consumers to pay $40 more for a game they don't want. (A simple look at ebay/craigslist/etc will show you how many people bought the game SOLELY for the Sunday Ticket).
It's bad enough that EA is just wrapping up settlements for their monopolistic control over the NFL rights and that DirecTV, while not in litigation, has done the same by being the only host of the Sunday Ticket for years. I guess they felt the need to band together and do what they do best, which is hurting the consumer.
I will not be buying EA titles or DirecTV at any time as a result.
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video-games_xbox
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Love shooting zombies. I must say...I am shocked and surprised that I love this game. I ordered my xbox preowned, and this game was left in the unit. After contacting the seller who told me to keep it, I gave it a two minute try-out. Well. After the first hunter tore me to ribbons, I ejected it and said, Uhmmm, no. I went on a two week spree of buying games (gamestop, amazon, ebay) and got the games I finally wanted. After a week of being stuck in Tomb Raider hell, looking up youtube guides and having 12 year olds tell me how easy it was, I decided I wanted to play a game where I didn't have to solve Not. One. More. Puzzle. Hitman was fun, too, but you get more points for being quiet. Stealthy. Enter Left for dead again. A place where you can just grab a rifle and let off a few rounds.
I am disgusted and appalled to admit I just love taking the butt of a rifle to some intrepid zombie's skull. I find the environment so creepy that sometimes I want to hang back in the safe room a littttttle longer than necessary. I wish you could collect more than one pipe bomb at a time, or stash the gas can in an inventory. I must be a terrible shot, because I'm ALWAYS looking for more ammo. I fall on an ammo stash like a raving lunatic--my character says "Ammo here!" maybe five times.
Favorites--Working as a team to take down tank. When you shoot a teammate by mistake, and Louis yells at me, "Zoey, you gotta cut that crap out!" When someone ELSE startles the witch so we can kill her, and we can end her creepy crying jag. The proud moment when you discover you're top headhunter for that round. The shame when you've discovered you're a weasel and helped your teammates the least.
I haven't played this game with live players because, frankly, I can't imagine making it through a round without AI Bill, Francis, and Louis to repeatedly save my burning bacon. By the end, I found myself so caught up in being part of the team, that when Bill was snatched by a smoker into a horde of zombies, I ran into the crowd with nothing but those pathetic pistols yelling "Bill!!!" We both died of course.
The irony: After ordering many games online and picking up a few from Gamestop, the game I play the most is the one that was left in the xbox by mistake.
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video-games_xbox
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Bioshock 2 - excellent, more than worth its current price point. First, the other reviews are completely right, this is "more of the same". I can't remember the last time a sequel was SOOO similar to its predecessor, giving Bioshock 2 more of a expansion-pack feel then a new game. As far as expansion packs go, this would rank up there among the best! I've gotta say I'm glad I waited to purchase, because not only is the current price well worth-it, it had been a while since I had played the original, making this a lot more fresh then for those who had recently played the original.
If you've played Bioshock 1, you know the mechanics, the gameplay, etc. Its all the same here, just a new story-line, a few different weapons, and a few different foes. But, there is quite a bit of gameplay, making for several more hours worth of enjoyment.
For those that are new to Bioshock, the setting takes place under the sea, in a colony founded by a ideological capitalist purist Andrew Ryan, who's sole dream was to create a capitalist utopia free from any central government, and all the rules, regulations, and taxes that come with. It was a folly effort, as most citizens became bent on a type of "drug" called plasmids, which give you, in a sense, super powers. Scientists became mad with their new-found freedoms, and explored far beyond the ethical-world, altering, among other things, little girls called "little sisters" who suck lifeforce known as "eve" from the dead. They are protected by large guardians in old fashioned aqua-suits, called "big daddies".
In this sequel, you are a big-daddy, meaning you posses the monsterous strength and endurance of one of these creatures. Making you even more special, you even have the ability to use plasmids, seemingly making you the baddest of the bad. But, in this new world, you are no longer the top of the food chain. Splicers have become smarter, better equiped, and chalk-full of plasmids making them both crazy and powerful. Even more damaging are the "big sisters", that's right, you, but in a far more agile and lethal form. In this storyline, the main antagonist is a Sofia Lamb, a psychologist who was brought down by Andrew Ryan for citizens who were having issues coping to a life under the sea. Sofia Lamb used her powers of persusasion to gain control of rapture through a cult known as the "family".
I'll spare you the rest of the storyline, as too many have spoiled it already making reading reviews a dangerous pursuit, but the storyline was pretty good, although far from really memorable or revolutionary, but good enough to not distract from gameplay.
Visually, I think the Bioshock games are beautful and amazing. It combines a mixture of gothic and cartoonish feel, add in some '50s charm and a few neon/red-light district looking atmospheres, and you have a completely fresh and original game style.
Gameplay of bioshock (for those new to the series) is a first-person shooter, but more along the lines of old Doom style, where accuracy is a little less important than games such as Call of Duty or even Halo, and creatures are little more in your face in this game. This makes for more of a "button mashing" experience then some other shooters, which I personally enjoy of this game. You will constantly be side stepping and jumping as you use your weapons, as most weapons will take almost a full clip to bring down an enemy, which means they'll charge right at you as you unload on them. You also get to use the powers (plasmids), meaning you can shoot electricity from your hands to stun opponents, set them on fire, etc. Combining the right plasmid with the right gun is crucial for gameplay, and switching between weapons is easy, pausing the game momentarily if you bring up the weapon/plasmid wheels, or a quick-press switches to the next in line.
New (as far as I know) to this game is a multiplayer experience. I wouldn't say its noteworthy, particularly compared to any of the Call of Duty or Battlefield games, but its entertaining, and as my current only shooter for Xbox 360 (I've been a PS3 up until now), it makes for a pretty entertaining experience, and a little less stressful then some of the other mutltiplayer shooters.
The only real cons I can say about the game are the lack of originality/storyline compared to the first Bioshock, and the environment is far from glitch free (save often!)
All in all, I'm happy with this purchase and had a blast playing it, but I could see how at the original retail price many feel ripped off, as this looks almost ver-batim to Bioshock 1.
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video-games_xbox
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Happy for the updated core, but RTG is Broken. I haven't even started franchise mode yet, which I suspect i'll be a big fan of, but Road to Glory is straight up a broken system. I can't believe this is what they put out, seems to lack any type of quality control. Thankfully I bought this when it was priced at $45, otherwise i'd be SUPER pissed just because of how bad Road to Glory is. Along with the micro transactions, which is just insulting.
Road to Glory:
- Coach Trust is the glaring flaw that I just can't stand in the game, how coach trust is gained and lost is just mind boggling. If i call a fake snap and get the defense off sides for a 1st down...why do i lose 20 coach trust points because the off-sides defender broke up the run play causing me to be sacked...it was a defensive penalty resulting in a 1st down (on a 3rd and 5). How does that lose me a coaches trust? Throwing an interception loses you 100 points of trust, but a touch down is only 25 plus yardage, throw in the fact that you are throwing in practice every play from 35 yards from the goal line, and the fact that the defensive settings are super aggressive for interceptions and it is a lost cause. I get picked off at least once per practice, and that is throwing against very conservative routes where my receiver has a good gap between himself and the defender. Once the ball is thrown my receiver is in molasses and the defender has hyper drive to get a pick. Throw in the fact that I end up with over 350 yards passing, 3 passing touch downs, a rushing touchdown and 2 interceptions...but I have negative coach trust at the end of a game?!? Really?
Due to the coach trust system I am 3/4ths of the way through my Junior year, with the best stats on the team, and cannot start a game because I can't maintain coach trust. (I started 2 games, both with decent stats and lost coach trust each time) Which brings Skill progression...
- Skill progressions literally takes less than a season, only practicing to have an overall 99 parameter. by the time you are a mid year sophomore you are a true beast because of how they dole out the upgrades. Thankfully the XP is not tied to coach trust, or else i would have a negative set for XP due to the above.
Beyond that the mode seems like it would be fun...if it was manageable. I have heard similar stories about RB's who get hit behind the line constantly because of the bad blocking...which is expected when it is the scout team playing the 1st string defense...which also might be why I get hit with so many INTs.
Exhibition:
Exhibition modes are good for 1 vs. 1 games. Only complaint here is the slow menus.
Haven't played anything else with this title yet so can't say what else I like or dislike.
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video-games_xbox
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Should have been a better game, honestly - too much time fighting camera controls. The Final Fantasy franchise is long and storied, with titles ranging from near-perfect Final Fantasy VI and Final Fantasy X to the much-lamented Final Fantasy Mystic Knights and Final Fantasy: All the Bravest. Some of gaming's most memorable scenes come from a Final Fantasy game, from "the" scene with Aerith and Sephiroth in Final Fantasy VII to the Opera scene in Final Fantasy VI. While the franchise has been a fan-favorite since the 80's, in recent years Square has seemingly come under attack after titles like All the Bravest, which is a microtransaction-happy bore-fest, to the utterly broken original Final Fantasy XIV as they felt like betrayals to their fans. More so than anything Square Enix needed a Final Fantasy release in the West that showed that they were still in the JRPG business and they are banking on the re-release of the PSP original, Final Fantasy Type-0 HD.
I will admit up front that I struggled with Type-0 HD, it felt dated and overly simplified when I compare it to other titles in the franchise (like Crisis Core and Tactics). Even after putting in six to seven hours I felt that it was just too simple; for the entirety of the first portion of the game all I did was hold down the X button while circle strafing mixed up with a few character switches and dodges. I did not even have to really button mash, just hold down X to do a standard attack until the enemy I was targeting was dead.
Final Fantasy XIII's combat was fairly automated (which, mind you, I am a big fan of the XIII trilogy) relying more on the gamer to "schedule" the type of attacks with the Paradigm system; Type-0's combat is even less interesting. It is neat to go through and switch characters but I rarely found myself switching away whichever character I chose (note that there are 14 party members, the largest playable party in years), and even then, my favorite character was Sice; something about her look and scythe just did it for me. There are plenty of boss fights that happen later where you are summoning your Eidolons to your side to fight, which changes up the combat a hair, but not by much. Naturally, as the story progresses the combat becomes a bit more difficult, but I was still able to go through and generally hold the X button while strafing/dodging to get through a majority of the fights.
On top of the rather uninspiring combat the graphics are just bizarre. There is a sepia-like filter over absolutely everything which dumbs down the sharpness of the models which is a pity as the character models are actually quite nice. Type-0 HD is a high definition re-release of a game that is a number of years old, and it can look great at times, if a little bland. Character models, as mentioned, look great and the skybox is actually quite stunning, but when walls, floors, and especially doors have, by comparison a lower-quality texture it really breaks the immersion. On top of the mismatched texture qualities I would like to take a moment to speak about the camera movement... Type-0's camera is horrendous.
A slight flick of the right analog stick jerks the camera all over the place, causing it to be quite useless; in truth Square should have zoomed the camera out a bit and locked it, because it is atrocious. it is, without a doubt, one of the worst cameras I have seen in a massive development studio like Square. It is bad enough that I can only take the game in small doses, which is rare, since I normally play RPGs for hours at a time; with Type-0 I am lucky if I can hold out for more than 90 minutes at a time. Simply terrible. On the other hand, Eidolons and the special effects in Type-0, when they are not being obscured by Instagram-like filters, are stunning. My personal favorite Eidolon model is Ifrit, his model is just wicked cool with flames and awesomeness just oozing off of him. It really works for me.
While gameplay is ho-hum and the camera is hurl-inducing and atrocious, the voice acting and music are up to par with past Final Fantasy titles. The opening theme punched me right in the feels and immediately brought me back 25 years to the original Final Fantasy just after you rescue the princess, during the "cutscene" that appears after the bridge is repaired (you oldies will know what I mean...). It is touching and a nod to Final Fantasy's beginnings and the homage does not stop there. Top-notch voice acting/seiyu and the best soundtrack in a Square title since Final Fantasy XII, which mind you is a highly-underrated title, compliment the near-perfect story. I was speaking with our Editor-in-Chief, Nick, about it and really, if you took the gameplay out of Final Fantasy Type-0 HD and simply turned it into a Visual Novel I would score this a perfect 10.
The story is gripping, interesting, and absolutely drags you along; if only Square would cut out the actual gameplay and let players just experience the story. Really, when I compare the story to previous versions, Type-0's story was just as excellent as Final Fantasy Tactics which is really saying something. If Square maintains the quality of the story that is found in Type-0 in future iterations of the franchise, well we are all in for a treat.
Final Fantasy Type-0 HD started with controversy, initially being announced for the Vita then Square Enix then recanted stating that it was for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One only, but despite that I was still very excited for it. I had been without a solid single player Final Fantasy game for a few years (since Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII, which I loved as seen at http://www.chalgyr.com/2014/08/lightning-returns-final-fantasy-xiii.html) so when Type-0 HD was announced I was ready. Unfortunately though, once the game shipped and I loaded it up I was crushed as the gameplay was overly simple, textures were a mix between great and horrid, and good Lord that sepia-like Instagram-quality filter. On the flip side the story is simply breathtaking and the soundtrack is amongst the best in gaming in recent years, however story and music are not enough to save the title for me. In short ... Type-0 HD does not hold up to the storied franchise in some cases, but others it far succeeds more recent titles.
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video-games_xbox
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Works Great. Well I finally am getting a chance to review this GHB SADES SA-708GT Gaming headset. I have been out of town on business, and was disappointed that this arrived in my absence. I did, however, have my 36 year old son at my home, and he was able to receive them, and try them out. He liked them very much. I loved them when I saw them. They are a very nice looking black with blue trim. The headband and ear pieces are of a very comfortable leather construction, and come with just about all the audio jacks needed to connect to most game systems, computers, or cell phones. The cord comes with a controller to turn on the mic, and to adjust the volume up and down. I am not a gamer, I got them just for listening to my favorite music. I have not had a proper headset for a long time. The last one was back in 1979. I slipped these on and set back and listened to music all day today. It was very enjoyable. Clear powerful sound. I could crank it up on songs like "Inside Looking Out" by Grand Funk Railroad, "Over The Hills And Far Away" by Led Zeppelin, or immerse myself in "To The Morning", or "There's A Place In The World For A Gambler" by Dan Fogelberg. I was in heaven. I could listen the way I wanted with beautiful clear separation, and very good noise reduction. Finally I was able to listen to music like I remembered from years ago. My son, who actually plays online games, said everyone told him they could hear him very well, and he could hear them equally as well. Certainly better than his cheap bluetooth set, with a mic built into the cord. This headset is just a simple plug and play system. Just literally plug it in, and play your music or games. It is very comfortable to wear for hours at a time, and It should fit anyone, with the easy adjustable headset. The mic easily folds away, and is almost invisible when you are just listening to music. All and all, I am very pleased with this purchase, but I have to tell you, my son has taken possession of it, and I will probably have to "borrow" it from him, just to listen to music. Oh well, I guess I could just buy another, the price was so affordable that I will more than likely get one for my own. Now if I could just keep that purchase hidden from my other son, who lives in Kai City, Japan. He is one of the biggest gamers of all time, and has every game system ever made, and that is no joke. Well I guess I'll have to send him one, then maybe I can get one to actually keep.
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video-games_xbox
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chatpad and chat headset is highly appealing with its easy set-up, features of the headset. Microsofts Xbox One chatpad and chat headset is highly appealing with its easy set-up, features of the headset, and features of the chatpad itself. As a frequent gamer, I purchased this product to help the communication between my friends and I while playing online through Xbox Live.
The set-up of the chatpad was easy and took a matter of seconds. For the chatpad all I had to do was push the USB portion of the chatpad into the Xbox One controller USB port. The chat headset auxiliary cord was then plugged into the bottom of the chatpad. After doing so there was a short update to the controller and I was able to use both the headset and chatpad.
The features of the mic include a flexible mic which allows the user to move the mic closer or further from their face. The arm of the mic allows the mic to move up and down. This is a great feature as it creates a headphone option, should the user choose to do so. This allows the user to listen to the game play without bothering those around them with the noise while gaming. The mic can also be turned off through the switch on the cord. This switch also allows volume control of the chat within the set volume range. This is set by using the chatpad buttons.
The chatpad has the ability to increase the volume of either the chat or game play and a backlit keyboard upon pressing any button which allows the user to play in any lighting situation. The chatpad also includes two buttons that allow the use of Xbox Ones screen shot feature as well as the recording feature while in game play.
One suggestion I have while wearing the headset is not to wear it for prolonged periods of time. I occasionally have a small amount of pain in the cartilage of my ear when using the headset as the headset rests on the ear rather than over it. Overall, I am very pleased with my purchase and would recommend Microsofts Xbox One chatpad and chat headset due to its easy set-up, chat headset features, and chatpad features.
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video-games_xbox
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Black Eye: Area 51. This game is bad. Bad, bad, baddity, bad. I hate it with the passion of a thousand suns. Here's why:
* It crashes. Constantly. It would crash at random moments, whenever the game tried to load the extremely detailed environments.
* There are a million load sequences that interrupt the flow of the game. And the load screens are repetitive. And the "hints" the game shares with you are useless. Reload frequently? Thanks, Blacksite, I never thought of that!
* It's linear. At one point, the resident tough guy character quotes Star Wars, cause, ya know, the area looks like one of the chasms on the Death Star. When a character points out how linear the game is, you know there's a problem.
* The enemies are boring. There's one actually freaky alien, and it's telling that the thing is showcased in all the art advertising the game. All the other creatures look like they were ripped out of Starship Troopers. There's also the stupid "exploding monsters" which are a tired staple of FPS. Did I mention that one of them is a giant tower that slowly rotates and farts out alien bugs?
* Squad-based tactics? Sure, that amounts to telling people where to go (they never listen) and telling them whom to shoot at (because it's not obvious?).
* Non-destructible environments. Sure, the fuel trucks can be shot. There are crates you can break, but there's nothing in them. The environment is largely static.
* There's also a rail game component. With monsters that shoot projectiles at you. I've never seen this before. All that's missing is the "shoot me in the head" game.
* You can't affect anything the game doesn't want you to shoot at. You can empty an entire clip into your allies heads, shoot their vehicles, and basically act like a moron without affecting the game. And when I get bored, I can really be a big moron.
* You can jump about two inches in the air. There is no purpose to jumping. You can't scale any environment, except to slowly fall down a zip-line like you're on an elevator. In the one area where you can fall to your death, the final boss battle, your dead body stutter-steps down to the ground. This is a fabulous piece of code, let me tell you.
* It's short. I mean, really short. Even for me. I tried to play the game on a much harder difficulty, but the crashing actually drove me so insane that I wanted to at least get my money worth. So I played it on easy to get it over with.
There are some redeeming traits, but none good enough to make the game worth buying. It's got some interesting environments, including a battle in a suburban neighborhood. At one point you receive air support from a chopper flying overhead while you're duking it out on the ground. And the rail gun battles, while rote, are at least scripted to be exciting. There's also the amusing, ripped from the headlines dialogue. None of that saves this stinking fetid pile of excrement.
In the era of Bioshock, Halo 3, and Gears of War, Blacksite is proof that graphics alone are not enough to make a great game. The developers should be ashamed of themselves, but I can't tell you who they are because while I was forced to watch the end credits...the game crashed.
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video-games_xbox
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From a long-time shmup fan, this game is garbage. Im a longtime fan of shmups. R-Type, Gradius V and U.N. Squadron, 1943 and the more recent DeathSmiles and Akai Katana are some of my faves. After months of procrastinating I finally caved and bought this game. What a disappointment. Here's why:
1) In every shooter one of the most important things is to make sure the player can tell the difference in foreground/backgrond graphics, as well as being able to clearly see enemy bullets. OE does an amazing job of ruining that concept- objects that look like youll crash into you'll go right through and vise versa, and enemy bullets are so hard to see against the bright backgrounds its impossible to tell whats going on.
2) Unlimited continues from the get-go and bosses that "run-away" after 3 or 4 minutes makes no sense. I just beat the game on a 2nd play-through doing this before writing this review. All you have to do is hit Start to continue when needed and you can beat the game just like that.
3) Voice acting. Its fine for some games but this in particular its like they got some 10 year old girl with the highest pitched voice to squeak out dialogue. There is a TON of chatter throughout the game and it doesn't let up much at all. I turned it all the way down, only to find out that when you die there's no voice going "ahhh!!" anymore, but there's no explosion sound to signify i got hit. Your character just slowwwwwwwwly falls toward you then off-screen to the left.
4)Your main gun shoots two bullets on screen at once. Two bullets. Thats it. Good luck trying to defeat a boss if this ever happens. (Oh wait! Just refer to #2, silly me!).
5)I paid just $12 for the disc (still a rip-off) but apparently there are 25 pieces of paid DLC. Not only that, the paid DLC consists of the usual gamerpics, skins, extra stages, extra characters, and...music tracks?!?! And the music tracks are.....440 points ($5.50). EACH. SERIOUSLY. Go look on xbox.com yourself. This is an insult, especially for such a niche market these days they have to nickel and dime us to death? Hey Konami, you do you think you are? Capcom?
6) There's this odd text bar that resides above your weapon layout, (bottom left of screen). So when certain characters are yabbering in Japanese it scrolls
the English text. Its small and hard to read but most importantly for a game like this its distracting with no option to turn off. Also, for each music track that plays it will show the song title and composer on the bottom right of the screen. Oh, and cant be turned off either.
7)To piggyback on parts of #5 and #6, the music sucks. Especially the boss music- doesnt fit in at all. Not even in a Parodius kind-of-weird, (that game was actually fun and had some cool tunes though). OE is just blah and boring.
Id give this game zero stars if I could. Please don't make the same mistake I did. Buy DeathSmiles instead. Or DeathSmiles IIX off Games on Demand. Or Akai Katana. Or Espgaluda II. All are for Xbox 360 and are wonderful shoot-em-ups/shmups that are worth your time and money. Not this worthless piece of garbage!
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video-games_xbox
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Destroys the Racing Barrier. An email I wrote in December 2003:
"Dear Criterion Games:
I hear that Burnout 3 is going to focus on wrecking opponents. This is a mistake. It's not going to work. Why turn your brilliant, traffic-weaving Burnout franchise into a demolition derby? Change is good, but this is too much - it's now a fighting game with cars instead of a racing game. Hopefully Burnout 4 will get it right.
Regards, A Fan"
Fast-forward to September 2004. Burnout 3 is now here, and I am now sending them my sincerest apologies. I now invite them to send me a very nasty "We told you so!" response, because they've managed to not only prove me to be completely and utterly foolish for doubting them, they've made what is hands-down the best arcade racing game we're likely to play.
Criterion has managed to tap into some kind of suicidal primal instinct all of us seem to have - the urge to fly through populated streets at near the speed of sound in a sleek automobile (or firetruck), careening headlong into anyone and anything in our path. Better yet, Burnout 3: Takedown now adds the lovely feature of a dream made virtual reality: smashing into pieces that no-good idiot who dared to try and tap you into the guardrail. We've all had those fantasies, right? Now you can live em in the comfort (and safety!) of your own living room.
For those of you who are skeptical, one thing should be made clear up front: Burnout 3 is very different from the first two games in the series. You'll still race through beautifully rendered courses at brain-searing speeds, missing traffic by millimeters. But even though B3 now focuses on making your race opponents wreck in the most ghastly ways possible, the intensity and rush is still here...no, it's actually been ratcheted up to a realm of insanity no racer has ever attained. It's different, but still more than worthy of attention.
One thing Burnout vets will appreciate is the single-player mode has been greatly expanded. There are a huge number of race events - close to two hundred, ranging from single races to burning laps to eliminations to crash junctions to....well, it doesn't get old. Add a ridiculous number of unlockables (including fake headlines, signature Takedowns, forty tracks, seventy cars, etc etc) and suffice to say you could finish the first two Burnout games twice each before seeing all B3 has to offer. You still progress by earning medals - only getting golds will unlock everything - but it's no longer just about finishing first. Peforming Takedowns is essential, and well-worth it, as the game lovingly displays the mechanical carnage you create, but it's not always easy. The AI is wicked this time round, and will even gain grudges for you......and go after you. If you do fall victim, you can always choose to enable the Aftertouch, a brilliant feature that allows you to control your wrecked car, and steer it into the path of your opponents. Revenge has never been so sweet.
Screaming down a Hong Kong-ish crowded street, golden Buddha statue looming overhead, desperately trying to keep your lead when two guys in F1-type racers are inches from your rear bumper.....yeah, it's exhilirating all right.
Crash Mode returns in all its destructive glory, but now it's deeper, and larger. Power-ups litter the course - yes power-ups, ranging from temporary boosts to points multipliers. Add the Crashbreaker - in which your car becomes a literal bomb that you can detonate at any time, and we're talking serious mayhem. And oh yes - this mode can be played co-operatively now. One more thing - there's 100 crash junctions now.
The multiplayer madness continues with Road Rage Mode (whoever takes down the most opponents wins), Elimination (whoever's in last place at the end of a lap is disqualified), Burning Lap (boost as fast as you can without crashing once), and normal Single Race, and there's a lot more meat here than before.
The bad? Well, the default soundtrack can leave a lot to be desired (and turn the announcer OFF, trust me), but this is easily fixed by lovely custom soundtrack support. HINT: Causing wrecks to bluegrass is poetry in motion. EA Games - who now owns Criterion - has plastered advertising signboards all over the courses, and they're kind of distracting in an annoying way. There are also many minor details (you race in car classes now rather than picking any you want, the scoring system is different, no nighttime races or weather changes, no licensed cars (like any respected auto manufacturer would let their lovingly crafted creations get dismantled like this!), Crash Mode repeats junctions) that one could complain about, but the core gameplay is so sublime, well-done, and addictive, it's silly to dock the score for any of them.
Burnout 3 is the epitome of what arcade racing should be: easy to pick up, hard to master, appealing to everyone, unimaginably intense, and unbelievably fun. Mark my words, you're gonna see Burnout 3 on a lot of Best Games of 2004 lists -- it'll be on mine, without a doubt.
Thanks for proving me wrong, Criterion. But I need to ask - what's next? You can't possibly top Takedown....can you?
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video-games_xbox
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The Real Need For Speed: Back To Its Original Roots! Best Yet. While still owning Need For Speed Hot Pursuit 2 for PS2 and occasionally playing it here and there, and every other Need for speed of course when the 360 version was announced i was eagerly awaiting the reviews - Yes I was somewhat disappointed with the initial reviews but in reality the only review that counts is your own, some well written, one mans trash is another mans fortune!
On to the game, all I can say is wow! The graphics are stunning! Just check out the beginning stages with the Porsche Carrera GT all alone at night in a thunderstorm and you'll understand what I mean - The fact that the cars are really licensed in an arcade type game like this is HUGE, finally being able to use real cars with real specs for a bang em up game is great! OK so what if you cant tune your car, i personally think that the tuning aspect of racing games as ruined everything because its all been done before and makes the game less fun and very tedious - Whats even better is how every car you unlock is also unlocked eventually in true police car form! The cars dressed up in black and white are spectacular to say the least!
Damage is cool (takes some banging around to really show but still is nice to see to make more realistic), as is the speed factor which can give you a headache (wait until you drive the reventon - ) , drifting is fairly easy to just pick up, and of course the arsenal of tricks in the bag when racing (not not just the cops can deploy spike strips which comes in handy!) are a nice addition.
The real deal here is the graphics which are hard to beat. The scenery and car detail up to every little thing (like the brake calipers and how the car turns on the HIDs in a tunnel is cool) I love how they also implemented a bio for each car after you unlock it which tells a story about the car itself, very cool -
Will this game eventually get boring, of course, but unless your sitting on the game everyday for hours it should last you awhile - how does it stack up to say Forza or GT5, well if you want to have FUN and feel the adrenaline while racing, this is the game you need, if you just want to race and tune, (which to me an avid car everything enthusiast) gets boring very quickly than maybe this isn't for you - There is just something about the police chasing you at high speeds with incredibly fast cars that just feels right here, no wonder why this game was highly noted at E3!
I haven't tried online or photo mode which are also nice additions, so that review is N/A but i give the game a solid 8.5/9 borderline because of the limit of stages one can play, oh and who needs a story in the this type of game, lets be real, its a racing game, not a knock off movie of the fast and furious here folks (and frankly who buys a racer for the story anyway, geez) This is what Need for speed is all about, back to its roots!!
Word of advice think big red bullseye for a cheaper price tag, say by $20 less - makes it even more worth the buy!
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video-games_xbox
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What is this game supposed to be. The closest I can come to classifying this game is that it is a movie which you spend a lot of time watching, but in which you get to take part, although you are essentially told everything to do and everywhere to go. But at least it fares better as an interactive movie than as an actual game, although the beginning and ending of the "movie" are confusing and the ending is not very satisfying because, for one thing, you take NO PART IN IT. You just sit and watch the grand finale. And I didn't understand most of it.
If the game is supposed to be a horror game, it is a failure. How scary can it be when before almost every attack, the camera turns and zooms in slow motion on the foe. There is almost NO element of surprise in the game. I had just finished replaying <a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Dead-Space/dp/B000X1TC0U/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Dead Space</a> and it is 100x scarier than this (plus has a great variety of foes and weapons) and only costs $20.
If the game is supposed to be a shooter, it is a total failure. If there is any difference in the killing power or capabilities between the revolver, hunting rifle, and shotgun, I couldn't detect it. The flare gun is powerful, but you rarely get it and then only a few rounds for it. You get a grand total of 3 different types of foes, and you spend 90% of your fighting time against just 1 of the 3 and 90% of the time, with the same type of weapon. I've seen reviews where people have complained about the lack of variety of opponents in other games which have 6-10 different types of opponents. Yet, here you get ONE (essentially).
One really odd design feature is that your foes are basically melee fighters, yet you have no melee capabilities other than one little ducking move which doesn't work well, especially when you are being attacked on all sides. Of course, you have your guns, but it usually takes a lot of shots to kill one opponent, if you CAN kill him before having to reload; meanwhile, you get swamped by other foes. Your flashlight (while the battery lasts) and flares (when you have them) provide a little defensive capability up close. At best, they can give you a very small headstart in running away, but as others have said, the run-away strategy is just a tease which does not work.
People have talked about the "beautiful scenery", but a lot of it is shades of gray (being in the dark), and while it has an impressive panorama of scenery, you are not free to explore it. If you want a wide open (sandbox) shooter with truly beautiful graphics and scenery, try <a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Red-Dead-Redemption/dp/B001SH7YMG/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Red Dead Redemption</a>.
Summary: as an interactive movie, I give it 3 stars; as a shooter and/or horror game, 1 star. I can't imagine this game having any replay value (for me, anyway).
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video-games_xbox
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Definitely not a prodigy. So and so many years ago I bought a Turtle Beach X31 headset for about eighty dollars($80), so I could play music and games at night. X31 turned out to be a great product and they are still comfortable and perfectly functional to this day.
This XO Four headset costs MORE and does LESS, while being much less comfortable, and for some, actually painful to wear.
The XO Four 'STEALTH' bundle is essentially just an ordinary XO Four, but packed with a different control device that attaches to the controller. This device functions the same way as the standard non-stealth edition but with the added ability to select between three(3) different bass settings, the first one being normal audio/off and then the other two stages are unnamed.
However as this headset is powered by the controller batteries, rather than relying on it's own, the batteries of the controller are drained rather quickly. I have found myself replacing my controller batteries once every two to three days.
On to the comfort (or lack there of). This XO Four headest blocks external noise much more efficiently than my old pair of X31's, but I honestly wish they didn't. The XO Four has a much tighter fit around the ear than the X31, and smaller ear cups. So if you have big ears this could be a bit annoying or slightly uncomfortable. If you wear glasses like I do though, it feels a lot like someone is trying to give you brain surgery with a screwdriver, as your glasses are crushed against your skull. Wearing a bandana or hat between your head and glasses is something I highly recommend if using the XO Four.
Another annoying bit is the mic boom. Unlike my old X31's which have the mic on a swivel mount with a flexible boom, the XO Four's boom cannot move at all, and isn't all that flexible. You can bend it with some effort to be more out of the the way, but you'll inevitably be trying to bend it back, instead of just swinging it back down in a convenient manner.
The XO Four Stealth isn't all bad though. If you just need something that's a step up from a standard Xbox1 mic and let's you get your game on at night withoutwaking someone in the next room, I suppose it is worth the price, if only just.
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video-games_xbox
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As real as it gets. "UFC Undisputed" is a masterpiece of a video game that does justice to the sport of MMA in ways I didn't believe to be possible. It captures the intensity, challenge, and science that makes mixed martial arts such a treat for fight fans and brings that experience into your home. Essentially, it does for cage fighting what the (previously) unparalleled <a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Fight-Night-Round-3/dp/B000CRSBLQ/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Fight Night Round 3</a> did for boxing and expanded upon it, adding multiple combat styles along with a deep and challenging ground-fighting mechanic to the mix. The result is something that will kick your a$z in every possible sense.
This is the greatest fighting simulator ever made. Just playing it makes me work up a sweat and after my created character's jab/jab/hook combo knocked The Dean of Mean out I damn near jumped up and ran around the room like Chuck Liddell. You really have to work your skills and strategy to get ahead in this game and doing so is extremely rewarding and give you a sense of elation with every victory. I honestly can't say any fighting game has ever done that for me. Building up your character's career from scrub to stud is just a lot of fun. I thought I was hot stuff and built up an impressive record utilizing my muay-thai skills to beat opponents to a pulp while taking them down with judo to wear them out. It worked out well and I felt like a pimp when I broke into the top ten rankings and got to choose to fight The Iceman or Tito Ortiz. Since I like Liddell, I decided I wanted to take on Ortiz. Bad choice. Turns out I didn't know jack about the ground-fightig mechanics and the fight went shockingly similarly to how a real life fight between me and Ortiz would go. He took me down the first time I threw a strike, climbed on top of me, and pounded on my face until I stopped moving. The end. It was ugly. Very ugly. This is to say that to make it in the big leagues in the virtual UFC you are going to need some serious practice. The ground game is complicated and hard to master, but it can be very rewarding as well. Personally, I'd rather stick to kneeing guys in the head, but that's me.
There are six combat styles to choose from. Each fighter gets one striking martial-art and one grappling style of their choice. Each style has their own special moves and stat bonuses to bestow. You can gain levels and new techniques by engaging in training camps and completing certain tasks during your sparring sessions there. This can take forever, but it's worth it once you get access to those headkicks and throws. But I do have to complain that the grappling camps are impossibly frustrating. For example, they'll ask you to counter-grapple a punch and your opponent will only throw kicks or they'll take you down and lay on top of you for minutes on end. I thought these people were supposed to be helping you learn. Honestly, that's the only complaint I can muster at this point. Every other aspect is spot-on as far as I'm concerned. The fact that you have so many ways to train and a limited time to do it and still try to keep you endurance up for each fight adds another layer of depth to the game. The endurance system plays a huge part in the fight itself and it has never been done more realistically. You have one endurance bar which is invisible unless you select otherwise from the options menu. When you attack, the bar diminishes temporarily and the lower it gets, the more susceptible you are to getting knocked out. Taking body shots and other damage diminishes your endurance bar permanently and leaves you with less ammunition to throw down with without opening yourself up to a KO. Managing this requires a lot of strategy and planning because you will be an angry gamer when you spend 2 rounds chasing a guy around the cage throwing everything you have at him only to get KTFO with one punch because you got rope-a-doped while you spent the whole fight tiring yourself out. You gotta think!
The physics in this game are awesome. I actually got an achievement for knocking a mouthpiece 3 meters out of my opponent's mouth by using his own head as a croquet mallet. I mounted him and my first punch caused his mouthpiece to pop out of his mouth and fall to the side of his head and my second punch snapped his head to the side so hard that is hit the mouthpiece and sent it flying across the cage. That is awesome. No wonky collision detection, no clipping to speak of, the whole think looks like you're watching an authentic UFC fight. Almost all of your favorites fighters are in the game and they look great. If you want a true-to-life fight simulator, this is it. There is definitely some room for improvement (in training camps and submissions, mostly), but considering this is the first game to really capture the sport of MMA, one could not ask for more.
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video-games_xbox
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Beautiful game with some of the best controls I've ever seen in a game. This game is truly something special.
When purchasing I was looking for a game that was somewhere between a Triple A title and an Indie game that I could sink about 15-20 hours into and this game fits that perfectly.
Graphics - Absolutely stunning. This game has the visual style of games like Child of Light and Unravel. A gorgeous landscape beautifully rendered for the 2d landscape that you are playing on. Everything from the cutscenes to actual gameplay looks and runs flawlessly. The game is generally pretty bright though it can go from very bright to pitch black levels and still retain its incredible atmosphere that the game creates.
Controls - Some of the best and tightest controls I've ever felt in a game. If you mess up by missing a jump, you know it is your fault. If you fail to dash past an enemy, it's because you were too late hitting the button. As you unlock new moves and abilities the world truly opens to you as you start being able to chain together some extremely fluid movements to reach those hard to get spots on the map. By the end of the game it truly feels like you have mastered all the game has to offer as you beautifully and effortlessly move through levels. The controls, for me, are the best part of the game.
Gameplay - Although I am not really a fan of stories where there is no narration or obvious plot, the story was cute enough and generally easy to follow. The story is definitely secondary though and the gameplay and mechanics truly set this game above others. With each ability point I found and each new perk I unlocked, I could not wait to test it out in game and use it to either back track and find a hidden spot I couldn't get to previously or to find a newer, easier way to defeat enemies that were giving me a problem. There's a good variety of enemies, all with different abilities and strengths/weaknesses for your to learn how to deal with. Most of the game is spent trying to explore areas of the map and defeat the 3 (or 4? haven't played in a month or so) main "dungeons". Most of the main "dungeons" have the main puzzle solving in the game which had the perfect amount of difficulty that never felt unfair. These main areas will test your puzzle solving as well as your ability to master your moves, all of them ending with a great, super fast, super intense running stage that once you pass gives you a great feeling of satisfaction.
Overall - A stunning, beautiful, piece of art that just happens to be a video game. Controls are great, game looks beautiful, and one of the games that I had no problem playing until I beat it 100%. Do yourself a favor and pick this gem up, you will not regret it.
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video-games_xbox
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Great setup, Great charge, Would buy again. First, let me say that it's easy to see how people mess up putting the battery pack in, and do it the wrong way. At first glance it looks like the battery pack +/- contact points should be in contact with the metal springs that are clearly marked with those symbols inside the controller. But if you look carefully, the symbols go the other way. The battery pack actually goes in with the plastic side against those springs, and the metal contact points facing the other way. But it should be obvious that you've done it wrong as soon as you try to put the cover on. The hole in the cover for the charging contact won't line up unless you put the batteries in the right way.
Now, once you've got it set up, it works great. Unlike the 360 version, there isn't a big pack on the back of the controller to drop securely into a large hole on the charging station, so it is possible to set the controller down on the charger and think you've done it right even though you missed. But this isn't Nyko's fault, this is just the nature of the redesign of the Xbox One controller. Nyko has provided two nubs on the base that fit into the back cover of the controller to secure it on the base. So if you set it down and give it a wiggle, it should be obvious if you've got it on there correctly. No big deal, you just can't toss it on the base from 10 feet away like you could with the 360 version.
Next, the display. I like that this one is not really bright. And once the batteries are charged and the green light has displayed for a short period of time, the display turns off completely. When on, the lights are even less distracting than the 360 version. You can still tell if this is charging from across the room, because the Nyko name and controller outline display in a soft white color on the front of the charger. The charging lights just below the outline of the controller display in red first, then orange, then green for fully charged. Those lights are really small square lights that I can't see unless I'm standing right by the charging base. No complaint from me, I like it that way.
The amount of charge is definitely sufficient. I have not been able to completely kill the battery yet. And I've used the controller continuously without charging for at least 24 hours of gaming, and it was fine. The rumble motors didn't even turn off in the controller. Currently, that's the only indicator I'm aware of that shows the batteries are low.
The only thing that I find lacking in this package is the option to plug the base in and charge via USB. I considered one of the other setups because of this option, but ultimately stuck with the Nyko. But I've already got so many things plugged in for my entertainment system, I wish that I could simply plug this into the back of the Xbox One if I wanted to.
Again, this works great. It does it's job quietly, as it should, stays out of the way, and it does it well. I would definitely recommend this to anyone looking for a rechargeable solution for the new Xbox.
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video-games_xbox
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The only game that has ever truly dissapointed me. Being a hardcore gamer all my life, I have never played a game more dissapointing than Gta IV. In fact, it is the only game that has ever truly dissapointed me. This game is also more overrated than any other game I've played, so shame on all those game magazines and websites that gave this game a high rating.
Gta 3, Vice City, and San Andreas are without a doubt three of the best games ever made. Each game introduced new and improved gameplay, graphics, and story. Each one was a big improvement from its predecessor, but Gta IV however is not an improvement. It's not just a step down, it trips and falls down to the last step of the staircase and bleeds to death.
It seems like the only thing they focused on with this game was the graphics. Sure it looks sharp, but it doesn't make the game any more fun at all.
Here's why this game sucks:
the game takes place in Liberty city. Since we already went to liberty city in GTA III, I don't see why we have to go back to it. Sure it looks different, but it's about the same size as before and not fun at all to explore. San Andreas had 3 huge cities plus some country side and other towns to explore, but Rockstar games decided to make the games location boring instead of new and interesting.
Another thing that sucks, is the fact that there are no planes, or quads to drive. Why would they take out vehicles when they should add more to improve the game? I have no idea, I didn't make the game.
You also can't buy up property, or recruit gang members like in San Andreas. It was alot of fun making you're gang stronger and killing other gangs to take over their territory in San Andreas, but they took away that fun feature as well.
With all that said, here's why the game sucks even more. THE DRIVING(along with the rest of the games slow gameplay)! I can't believe I am the only one who noticed this huge flaw. I remember in the old GTA games, driving was a blast. The controls were perfect, the vehicles were fast, and you could drive around corners at nearly full speed. In GTA IV the vehicles are slow, taking forever to accelerate, or slow down, and no matter how well you execute a turn, it always takes forever to make the full turn. The driving in this game feels like your driving a block of ice, on ice because the vehicles have hardly any traction. Some of you might think I'm complaining about this because I suck at driving, but that's not true, becasue I played through this entire game even though I hated it.
If there is anyone who can honestly say they like this games driving better than the old ones, prove it by coming to my house and say it right to my face without blinking.
Not only is the driving slow, but every other little action your character makes is slow. I swear, this character runs slower than my grandma. He also likes to take his time stealing vehicles or climbing over obstacles or simply turning himself around.
So there you have it folks. The gameplay is slow, the game is no fun to explore, and the only thing they improved on was the graphics, which like i said before didn't help at all. The story was ok, but it's really as simple as it gets for a Gta game.
The only thing fun about the game is the missions, but it's hard to enjoy most of the time because of the poor gameplay. I really wanted to like this game for the past 2 years it's been out, but every time I try playing it I find more things about it that I hate.
If you want a great Gta style game I recommend Saints Row 1 and 2. Those games are just about everthing Gta 4 should have been, or you could have more fun playing the older GTA games.
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video-games_xbox
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Nice Strategy - but Could be Better. Dai Senryaku 7 is an old school strategy game, complete with a hexagonal grid map and units to move around the board.
Despite the fully 3D intro sequence, once you get into the gameplay it's all flat. You have a seutp screen with very simple graphics, to choose sides and options. Once you're in actual gameplay, you can "zoom" above the map, but you're just getting a sideways view on the gameboard.
This is similar to Advance Wars. There are different levels of units - tanks, recon vehicles, artillery, boats, aircraft and more. Each unit has a move rate, cost to buy, attack capability, ability to see a certain distance, and so on. With 400+ units, a lot of gameplay comes down to really knowing what your options are and choosing the exact units which will be best for your plans. Maybe you want a lot of fast, long-seeing but low damage units ... or maybe you want a few battlehorses of great strength to march towards victory.
The sounds are about as feeble as the graphics. There are a few clicking noises, clacking noises, and a repetitive background song. Still, again it's not about the view or the sound. You could pretty much turn off the sound and play your favorite songs on the stereo while you played. The terrain types are only vaguely hinted at on the hexes ... but that does the job. You know if it's going to be something your tank can cruise across easily or something that will block the way.
While I definitely appreciate the hexes from a battle strategy point of view, they are a royal pain with a joystick that moves in 4, not 6, directions. Also, if you're a fan of plots, you'll be disappointed. You get a RED ARMY!! going up against a BLUE ARMY!! and someone has to win.
There is a map editor - but it's on the difficult side to use and you can only have a top-down view of what you are doing. It would have been nice if they made this more full featured. Also, you are given 8 "sides" (i.e. countries) to play with, but it would have been great if you could create additional sides, i.e. name your own country and mix up your own batch of units to fight with.
Still, if you can get over the various hurdles and just hunker down to treat this like a type of chess, focussing on the pure strategy in one-on-one combat, you'll find a lot to enjoy here. I just would have thought that a "version 7" of a game that they would have really polished up some of these aspects of the game.
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video-games_xbox
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A Really Solid DBZ Game. This is a really solid DBZ game. I do not understand the hate! I have been extremely enjoying my time with it.
Graphics:
The graphics are great. They are very bright and colorful, and display the characters, auras, and ki blast perfectly! There isn't anything to complain about here.
Sound:
The sound is excellent! They have all the standard flying, blasting, etc etc that we have been listening to for years. This is not a bad thing though, as it immediately feels familiar and correct. The voice acting is also quite good. By far the best part of the sound though is definitely the music. The music is a great mix of metal style instrumental tracks, and even DnB type of stuff. I want a soundtrack!
Gameplay:
This game is basically Budokai Tenkaichi 5 (with the 4th being the first Raging Blast of course). A LOT of the gameplay in the Tenkaichi games makes it way here. The main difference is that super and ultimate attacks are mapped to the right control stick. This may seem odd, but it actually works quite well, and I have no complaints. This game really plays like the show, and not like a traditional fighter (like Street Fighter or the original Budokai series). There is total freedom to move about the stage on the ground and air. This is a very fun fighting system that has but one major caveat: learning curve. I played the training 3 times, and I am still learning stuff as I play. Some things are not explained in the training, but I am starting to understand it more as I play on my own. I am only about 6 or so hours into the game, so the learning curve should be all but completely gone by 10 or so.
Game Modes:
There are quite a few game modes. The main on is called Galaxy Mode. There is a "path" for each and every character with many actual fights being represented, and quite a few what-ifs as well. The only story is at the beginning in their little intro speeches, so that is admittedly a little disappointing. There is also an Ultimate Zone mode, which are fights under certain varying conditions. These can be quite tricky! There is also a 1p vs CPU & 1P vs 2P standard battle mode. There is a Training and Tutorial mode. You can play through the World Tournament and the Cell Games with customizable settings. There is also an Xbox LIVE multiplayer, which is actually rather good and very laggy.
Overall:
A very fun DBZ fighting game. It is great to look at, and even better to listen to. I think it is fair to say though that this game is mainly for DBZ FANS ONLY. Non-fans may still have fun, but this game has so much DBZ goodness to enjoy that it puts a smile on your face. That is lost on a non-fan. The included OVA Plan To Eradicate The Super Saiyans is a testament to this notion as it isn't even dubbed, just subbed. If you are a fan, get this game. You will not regret it! I rate this game an 86% for DBZ fans and more around a 70% for non fans.
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video-games_xbox
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if you have seen the sale videos realize that it does not look like that on the 360. I would give it a 3.5 review but amazon does not allow anything but whole numbers
This is an update of my old review. now that I have had a chance to play it and have now played DA2 I feel I can give you a better review. I may update again after I play it on XBOX ONE.
graphics: alright, about par with dragon age origins and DA2, if you have seen the sale videos realize that it does not look like that on the 360. the colors feel muted, the background and vistas look flat, definitely not as pretty and the load screens are long. also there are glitches like enemies walking around after the fight is over, items you looted still being on the ground, random movement glitches during conversation scenes, an annoying progress glitch during some cut scenes where stuff freezes and you either have to wait for the game to sort itself out (can take upwards of 10 min) or hit skip button and miss a portion of the scene.
Game play: one thing I don't like and it is the other reason its a 3.5 instead of 5 is that this game still suffers from the same issues that bioware's other great game, mass effect 2 and 3, suffers from. namely the dumbing down of the level up interfaces and combat system to attract the non RPG gamer. this is shown in several ways.
leveling up and character customization: now you can no longer assign skill points in to various stats. you can pick abilities and have 4 trees to choose from but I can't put extra points into dexterity or strength, or something like cunning. it is all done for you based on the skills you pick, as a means to "streamline" the game and there needs to be an option to turn it off. part of the fun of bioware RPG's is being able to put more strength into your rogue so he can duel wield swords.
Class specialization: the whole specialization part has been changed as well. I enjoyed it in DA:O when I chose the warrior as my over all play style but I could further specialize by choosing Templar or champion or berserker or some combination of both. or start as a basic mage then become a warrior mage that uses blood magic. now it is an option to pick a specialization but it appears you can only pick one (down from two) and you have to go on an annoying fetch quest to unlock it.
game play: this has some of the most glaring problems with the game (out side of glitches). the devs took the only good part of DA2 (its dumbed down and streamlined action combat system) and dumbed it down further. they removed all sustain abilities from the game and removed the menu combat wheel and replaced it with just a potion wheel. this has had a double negative impact on the combat. first because there are no sustain skills the warrior class is now at a big disadvantage.
before you could activate a defensive or offensive stance and at the cost of a portion of your total max stamina you received a bonus to your stats as long as it was active. now to tank you need to have 3 abilities in your quick select menu and never ever remove them or you are toast. on top of this the removal of the combat menu means that the only the abilities you have mapped to buttons can be used. this is a problem due to the fact that you have way more abilities then you do buttons, and for a class like warrior there are 3 essential skills that you never get better versions of that you must have mapped at all times or you can not tank. it makes the battle system the most boring and repetitive part of the game, the exact opposite of what the changes to the battle system were meant to do. just another way the EA is ruining games to make money.
Companions: this is a mixed bag, you see the return of fan favorites like Illiana and Varric but the rest are just missing something. I mean iron bull is fun and Cole is interesting but the rest just feel like they are flat in comparison to the past 2 games companions. they feel like they lack depth in areas. I mean they all have their moments but, I just can't put my finger on it.
exploration: I will say that the addition of a jump button gives a new and interesting dimension to exploration. also the exploration areas are huge, I mean skyrim huge. but this also works against them because I can get lost in certain areas and it has become much harder to find collectable items in this new environment. it is not always apparent what your "sonar" ability is trying to alert you to.
add on to this some story inconsistencies and way to many fetch and collect quests, and a lot of missed opportunities with your base and the role of the inquisition and this game is a improvement over DA 2 but falls far short of its overall potential. it would be better to wait for the game to come down in price and/or wait for the devs to fix some of these issues with patches and DLC.
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video-games_xbox
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Hope everyone has a Gold account. My entire family is in love with PvZ. My 5 year old son has been begging for this game since December, and has actually spent the last 20 days counting down to the day this game was supposed to arrive. Imagine our disappointment when we discovered that you HAVE TO HAVE A GOLD ACCOUNT TO PLAY?!?!?!? Seriously? Does Popcap, or rather EA, think I'm going to fork over the money for a 5 year old to have a Gold account? Only one person in my house has a Gold account, so it looks like we'll just have to share and try not to get too upset when someone else uses some plants that you've purchased. We are horribly disappointed.
We were really looking forward to all 4 of us being able to play together to defeat the zombie waves, but again, no such luck. No split-screen with this game (or with this version, I see some of the other reviews mention Xbox One has split-screen). More disappointment.
I really wanted to like this game. Honestly, I did. I guess the best I can say is that if you're buying this for yourself and you have (or want to have) a Xbox Live Gold account, then go ahead, it might be worth $30 (maybe). If you had hopes of co-op play (split-screen, all in the same room, awesome family fun) then look elsewhere. If you're buying this for kid(s) and they don't have Gold accounts, and you really don't see the point of getting them a gold account just so that they can play this particular game every once in a while, then DON'T BUY THIS GAME.
I didn't think I'd ever say this about PvZ, but this is absolutely ridiculous and I wish we had never heard about this game.
UPDATE: I've added another star to my rating because of how much fun my son is having playing this. Since this game is played online, you do hear other people talking. So far I have not heard any inappropriate language, and I stay in the room while he's playing. I did hear an absolutely hilarious conversation between a very nice man and another 5 year old. I briefly considered finding my husband's headset to let my kid join in the discussion, but I didn't want this poor guy's head to explode from trying to decipher two 5 year olds at once. From what I've heard, it seems the average age of people playing (or at least, people talking) is between 5 and 7 years.
It's still annoying that you have to have a Gold account... my son and husband take turns playing since we have no intention of paying for another Gold account, especially for a 5 year old. I do not remember seeing this requirement when I pre-ordered the game back in December. To be honest, I didn't look to see if it was online only since I was buying a PvZ game. Scratch that. I was buying a PvZ game aimed at children. I get why there's online play, really I do, but why there isn't a solo board available is beyond me.
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video-games_xbox
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Terrible Game. Unfortunately it looks as if I'm going to reiterate what everyone's been saying about this game...Terrible. To start off I bought it for the 360, now I know the huge difference in gameplay and graphics that there can be between the two. I myself do both, sometimes I like to play on my pc, others my 360, this was a 360 choice so this is my 360 review for this game. Graphically it is substantially substandard to what should be expected from a late era 360 game. The character models and the gun textures are much better than Bad Company 2, however it starts and ends there on the betters. The environment maps are good, character models and textures are good, and the gun models and textures are Ok. Unfortunately no matter how "pretty" the surroundings are you're irrevocably drawn back to the game's basic design flaws. The campaign is awfully scripted, the ai on both sides is terrible, enemies spawn out of thin air in front of you, and possibly kill you because you don't know what's going on. So bugs and glitches abound everywhere, no excuse for such highly marketed game. Campaign took me around 4 hours to beat it on medium difficulty, so even that is substandard for modern shooters. I did enjoy the scenery though, mountains were done beautifully, but horrible gameplay ruined it. FPS drops are terrible for the 360 in many places. Weapons felt weak in the single player as well, unless I headshot someone it seemed to take around 3 or 4 bursts to make sure they were dead. I see alot of people complaining about the story, I believed the story was great, following realistic special ops situations, instead I believe it was the developers fault for not building around the characters and locations, that is where they failed. Basically everything COULD have been A+ instead it was D- to F. So long story short. Graphics: F. Where we are now graphically in games, there's no excuse for such ugliness to grace my 60 inch HD panel. Singleplayer: F. Missions are realistic, but are ruined by extreme scripting, terrible ai on both sides, remember your team is supposed to be all "Tier 1" not ww2 russian conscripts, bugs and glitches are aweful. Campaign is way too short, even for today's standards for single player campaigns. Controls: B+. I like how they brought back the ability to cover and lean in and out and up and down, however I thought they weren't near as smooth and bad company 2 or modern warfare 2. Sound: A. I thought the sounds were good all around for the most part. Multiplayer: Didn't even try it, the single player was so bad and everyone else had already convinced me not to, so there you go. So I'm tired of writing this review so you see where I stand now if you even got this far. I rate this game well below modern warfare 2 and bad company 2, somewhere along the lines of History Channel's: Civil War, nah not quite that bad. It was bad though. Save your money get is used, if EA lets you.
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video-games_xbox
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A Good Game. I've been a big fan of the series since Civ II. I've enjoyed all of them, and I enjoyed and am still enjoying this one as well.
Pros:
.Detailed environments, the graphics have been an issue for others, but I for one don't see the problem, they're a good match with the type of game that CivRev is
.I like the new throne room design
.Expansion of the "Great People" introduced in Civ III, and altered in Civ IV
.Armies are easy to work with
.Reworking of the barbarian system is a nice change. Now you get settlers very frequently from clearing certain camps
.Bonuses from tech discovery, one of my favorite additions, its nice to be rewarded for this, feels good to get a great person for getting to Invention first
.They've finally done away with producing workers, and its been at the back of my mind since Civ II, no more mass terraforming and wasting time building roads and railroads, and the new system happens to be a good one, you just pay for the construction
.I like that they will be adding new content for it, I no longer have to scrounge around civ fanatics for new stuff, no offense guys
Cons:
.Limited customization-this was my only major complaint, but it's a big one, I enjoyed the immense options when it came to setting up your game and map, this has been done away with in favor of standardized maps
.Not as many playable civs, this may or may not be an issue for some, for me, I liked being able to play as multiple civs and leaders, but on the flip side, the civs are vastly more developed
.Scenarios, the scenarios are *alright* but I miss the ones where gameplay, civs, civ traits, were altered in favor of interesting matches
.Some of the babbling advisors can get on my nerves
.Dan Quayle is no longer at the bottom of the reputation scale, this one was just personal
Unfortunately, I haven't gotten the chance to explore the multiplayer capabilities yet
All in all, a good addition to the Civ collection, but lacking in certain areas
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video-games_xbox
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More of a PC game than a console game. Dragon Age: Origins is a fantasy strategy role-playing game made by Bioware, the creators of the sci-fi epic RPG game, Mass Effect. The main story is about your character becoming a Grey Warden, one of the last of a legendary order of the guardians(Similar to the Spectres from Mass Effect). With the return of an ancient foe and the kingdom engulfed in a civil war, you have been summoned by fate to unite the lands and eliminate the threat. The game allows you to create your own character with unique facial design and voice; whoever you create will become the main character of the game. Although the name and the cover art seems amazing at first sight, the gameplay will screw you over, if you're playing on a console.
~Pros~
-The story is quite interesting
-Straight, gay, or lesbian romances
-Quite strategic, although I haven't been able to master it
-Over 70 hours of gameplay, leaving you in a world full of different races, friendlies and enemies alike
-Cinematic scenes, choose what you want to say. Unfortunately, your character doesn't talk, only during combat
-Teammates that have mixed feelings about you; one can agree with your current situation and like you for it and the other can disagree and hate you for it
-Impressive sounds, both for combat and exploring
-Has that medieval RPG feeling to it
-Good music, it's what you'd expect in a medieval RPG
-Similar combat and control to that from Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic
-Able to control teammates and use their abilities in combat
-Copies come with the Blood Dragon Armor code for both Dragon Age: Origins and Mass Effect 2
-Different types of skills, such as herbalism for potions and coercion for charisma
-Different races to choose from, male or female
-Wide variety of weapons, armor, and talents
~Cons~
-The combat is very difficult and a little confusing, on consoles
-Controls are a little confusing, if you're not too careful
-Visuals are somewhat poor for cutscenes, not bad for combat though
Overall, the game isn't bad. If I played it on the PC, I would've rated the game better than what it really was. Still, it's worth buying for the Blood Dragon Armor in Mass Effect 2. I think it should be a PC-only game rather than a console game. It's not that I hate consoles or anything; it's just that this game isn't really designed for consoles, though Star Wars: KOTOR was also for the original Xbox, so I really don't know either way. If you've played this game, you'd know what I would be talking about.
3 out of 5, I mean, for consoles.
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video-games_xbox
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From the mind of a player new to Destiny. After reading reviews of Destiny upon its initial release, I decided to steer clear of it for the first year. Everyone seemed to talk about how repetitive the game became after several hours of play. But the brief time I had with it at a friend's house during its release month has stayed in the back of my mind. To put it simply, the gunplay left me feeling extremely satisfied every time I popped an enemy in the head and watched their body topple over. It felt as good as playing Halo, yet it wasn't.
Unlike several reviewers, my perspective on this edition of the game is that of a completely new player. People like me, and perhaps also players who have purchased NO dlc up to this point, are clearly the target audience for this version. And I can tell you, from that perspective, this is a fantastic game. After playing more than 30 hours of this game in just the past 10 days, I still have things to do, and that is just on my first character. The game really does boil down to a race for better gear, but with more than one way to get there, the journey to it is a blast.
Several cut scenes make the new Taken King story missions cinematic in nature. This makes for what could be considered Destiny's epic "campaign," although the conclusion comes a little too quickly.
Where Destiny really shines though, is in the multiplayer. This is to be expected of an MMO. The competitive multiplayer is a unique and very fun side of the game in its own right. It is just needs a bit more variety and perhaps a ranking system to be on par with the multiplayer of other first-person shooters. It does however, give you the ability to come home after work and play 10 to 15 minute games of Destiny without having to worry about character building or leveling. That is the beauty of it though. You CAN level your character without ever leaving the small corner of this game that is competitive multiplayer. Strikes give you the option to play with others cooperatively. The difficulty of these range anywhere from casual to almost unforgiving. This is where Destiny truly shines for me. The hardest strikes force you to communicate and work together if you want to finish. This concept is only built upon once you finally make it to Destiny's six-player cooperative raids.
Destiny still has a lot of expanding to do if it is to ever reach the level of content an MMO like World of Warcraft has. But at the same time, it is not that kind of MMO. It is in several ways the first of its kind, and still offers enough content to make sure new windows of opportunity open long before the previous ones close. It already has me wondering just how big in scale Destiny's next major release is going to be. If you have yet to experience Destiny, this is an incredible time to jump in.
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video-games_xbox
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Can't Believe It Took Me This Long to Play This - Absolutely Brilliant. I hate to admit this, but I purchased this game back in September of 2012 and I finally got around to playing it for the first time a few weeks back. Unfortunately, thats one of the downfalls of having such a massive backlog of games, games like this can easily get swallowed up and forgotten. Anyways, in the mood for a flying game, I finally decided to unwrap this baby and finally give it a spin. Now that I have done so, I am in absolute awe that it took me this long to finally play this game. As the title of my review states, its absolutely brilliant!
One of the best aspects of this game is its as difficult as you want it to be. It has various difficulty setting which take it all the way from being easy, to extremely challenging, and I do mean challenging!! The amount of content included is really impressive. Most games pale in comparison. There is campiagn, dynamic campaign, tournaments, versus, events and if that wasn't enough, there is an editor that allows you to make your own missions. Again, most games pale in comparison!
All that being said, its the game itself that really shines. Its just brilliant with everything that you would expect from a great flight simulator. The combat is tense and exhilarating and the graphics are beautiful. Each of the planes have a unique feel to them and are rendered in amazing detail. Not to mention, the damage modeling has to be seen to be believed. This is honestly the best combat oriented flight game I have ever played, BY FAR!! I honesty can't think of another game that I enjoyed this much.
Bottom line - I enjoy writing reviews, but I rarely do so for video games. It really takes an incredible game to motivate me to write a review for it. So the fact that I am even writing this review is a testament to this games quality. The fact that I had this game for over 2 years before actually playing it is a just a crime. This is without question the single best combat flight sim I have ever played on a console, by far. If your looking for a quality combat oriented flight sim....look no further. This is really as good as it gets. I sincerely hope we see a Birds of Steel 2 for Xbox One/PS4 someday soon. It would be a real crime not to have a single sequel for this game.
5 stars and then some!!
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video-games_xbox
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One of the best platformers... Ever. Few games ever bring me back to that boyhood feeling I got when I first opened up Super Mario World on Christmas Day. It was magic. I didn't want to bother with the countless other presents under the tree. This was it! The one! I remember my parents calling me back into the room to "finish opening gifts." Never had this felt so agonizing. I wanted to play! When I finally placed that cartridge in the SNES, it was as though I could understand all the constellations... like I developed a 5 type of taste... :) I literally played until my thumbs blistered. But I didn't stop there. My friends and I would then put band-aids on them so we could continue. It was a magical game with imaginative levels, creative game play mechanics, and, at the time, awesome graphics. There was a great deal of depth of play throughout its "96" levels and I enjoyed every one.
In approximately 20 years of gaming since that day, I have not encountered a 2D platformer that could hold a candle to it. Until now. Rayman Origins is extraordinary. While it doesn't introduce much (if any) new ideas or game play to the genre, it takes what it borrowed and perfects it. It is beautifully rendered, has significant depth, surprising replayability, and a very good difficulty curve that will at once be fun for new comers, but still significantly challenge even the most avid gamers. After a week of play my thumbs began to hurt- a feeling I haven't had in ages.
The way of 2D games has kind of been relinquished to DLC over PSN or XBLA. While there are some great ones out there, they do not have the same depth, beauty, and sheer amount of content. Rayman Origins is well worth the money. It is not only one of the best platformers of all time, but it is also, perhaps, one of the best I've played on any of this generations consoles. You would be remiss to pass on this.
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video-games_xbox
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Werewolves? Where? Wolves. In spite of what a lot of game sites proclaimed, Operation Darkness does not suck. It has issues, definitely, but overall, it's been a blast to play. Of course, SRPGs are not for everyone.
The premise is a cool mix of Nazi / Occult / Werewolves / Vampire lore and after a while, your crew develops some pretty interesting powers. However, getting to that point is half the battle.
First, the camera is really annoying. You cannnot see the entire battlefield, the enemies sometimes start off a million miles away, and you have to manually move the cursor all across the map to find your targets. You can use the triggers / bumpers to scroll through your targets and allies, but you cannot assign action, i.e. attacking, from this mode. You spend most of the time just scrolling across the giant maps.
Occasionally, the menus are wonky as well. More than once, I've gone to enter the 'attack' command and I accidentally locked in the 'finish turn.'
As for gameplay, it's about what you'd expect from a SRPG. Starts easy, but the difficulty ramps up quickly. Some of the missions can be 2 hours long, and there's no saving your game until the mission is over, one way or another. As an added bonus, your squad mates can die during the missions. Forever.
You can carry a modest supply of medicine, and you do have one specific mate who can raise a fallen comrade. However, the fear of losing characters sticks in your mind and changes how you proceed through the missions. 'Run & Gun' is a bad idea in this game.
As for the good: It's a war game featuring Nazis and monsters. That's a pretty cool premise. And the combat, in spite of it's flaws, becomes addictive. Also very tense. I did a lot of fist-pumping and / or cursing during this game.
I've read mixed reviews about the voice-overs. Personally, I thought they were great, exceeding what I expected from your typical RPG archetypes. Basically, your team is made up of Cloud, Aeris, Tifa, Barrett, Red XIII, Vincent and Cid (or insert your favorite JRPG names here.)
As for the enemy bosses, they're all cool, and not that difficult to beat. The only problem is that they summon hordes of lesser enemies with them. Sometimes, you have to adjust your fighting strategy on the fly.
The missions are hard, but even with all the camera problems, they're not cheap. The only times I've failed missions is when I did something stupid, like when I rushed a low-level character into the mix, hoping for some quick level-ups. Or when I shot one of my own guys in the back. Yeah, that was dumb.
Actually, the game is pretty forgiving of certain blatant screw-ups you might make: I brought my fire-starter up next to a tank, hoping to take it out quickly. But by moving, I blew my chance for her powers for that round. She was a sitting duck. Then, however, the tank rolled off in the opposite direction, allowing my character to fight another day.
It's difficult, it's fun, it's clunky and sometimes nerve-wracking. But it's exactly what I expected. If you like SRPGs and you are a patient gamer, you'll enjoy this one.
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video-games_xbox
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Avoid it like a bad sci-fi movie. I was fairly excited for this game since it was developed by the same people who worked on Wipeout and Wipeout XL - two of my favorite futuristic racers along with Pod Racer. But after playing it for probably more than 50 hours and getting over the eye candy I must say those guys have lost their pizzazz.
What an utterly boring experience this was so far. Quantum Redshift is trying to be a cross between Wipeout and Pod Racer while poorly copying elements of both. Let's start with:
Design, Graphics, Sound and Style.
I don't know who artistically directs at Curly Monsters but it really feels like it's a programmer. This game is a smorgasbord of visual effects and detailed textures which are put together without any merit or visual sense.
The ships look like something out of Jetsons with bump-mapping that adds absolutely nothing but a tired effect seen so many times in bad 3d art. There really is nothing even remotely appealing about these bulbs with engines attached to them. Both Wipeout and Pod Racer put this to shame even though they are much older games.
All but one of the maps in this game are a terrible cacophony of colors neither of which leaves a distinct impression. I really can't remember what distinguished one from another. I was really surprised to find out once I got deeper in to the game that all the tracks are absolutely flat. Don't expect to find any head-spinning-hair-raising dives, jumps or loops you might have seen in Wipeout, Pod Racer or XG3- it's all straight-aways ending in sharp turns rarely going up or down.
Other elements which compose maps are nothing to be excited about either. You get your lifeless tracks, with no cheering crowds, and boring and unoriginal architecture which at most times makes no functional sense.
There is only one track that is really unique, moody and fun - the Yuri Galitz's track, but it too suffers from the same problems.
The visual effects here can be found aplenty. In fact it seems that the entire game is designed around the effects. You get your droplets, inversed color count downs, flashes, shaders, reflections, bump mapping, and so forth. Really makes for a great Xbox tech demo. This doesn't make the game unfortunately, just distracts long enough for you to buy it and then realize that besides a pretty coating you don't get much at all.
The now infamous droplet effect is so abused you get tired of it before you start to really appreciate it. There are more ponds, rivers and lakes for you to dip in here than weapon powerups. It also seems very odd that the ships don't make any splash effects on the water. You'd think something hitting water at 600mph would make one hell of a wave, bit it doesn't.
Powerups are also nothing but shapeless blobs with shader effects applied to them. A lot of things in QR feel like this - an afterthought.
As to the sound - there is really not much to say about it other than Curly Monsters shouldn't have wasted their time making it surround. The effects are so plain and boring it hurts. All you hear is your bumps on the walls, and the monotone sound of the engine.
Environment is also shallow - aside from the Galitz's track it really feels like some flashy futuristic nothing. There is no theme - nothing really looks `post-apocalyptic' as the game was advertised as. Really no vision to appreciate here.
Gameplay
This is an area where this game out-does its style in bad. I remember reading a lot of previews before QR was released all of which hyped the depth, fun and fast racing it has to offer.
Well, the depth of this game is its mediocre vehicle upgrades which don't even deserve to be compared to Pod Racers upgrade system plus the short stories through dialogs/monologues of curvy babes in latex you witness before each race. One can only wish that Curly Monsters would spend as much time on design and gameplay as they did on the curly features of the character models.
You also get the `cultural element' as all the characters speak in their native languages and the countdown before each race is also in the language native to the track. This is cool, but hardly worth it alone.
Like I said above all the tracks are a combination of long straight-aways ending in sharp turns. Every racer should have a couple but not like this - in QR you can never really appreciate the speed because you have to constantly brake before another 90d turn.
Handling is a little slidy too, but given the hovering nature of the game it's alright. I still don't think a ship traveling at 500-900mph could slide like this though.
Conclusion
I reserved my copy and got it the day it came out - and I am really disappointed. I don't think this is a fun game, and if you think it might be - rent it first and play it for at least 10 hours then ask yourself if you really got to have it.
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video-games_xbox
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Horrible, even for an xbox 360 game. The idiots at ubisoft got together one day and decided to make the worst role playing game in the history of role playing games.
What they ended up doing to accomplish this was take every negative factor from all past role playing games, and jam them all into one horrifically bad excuse for a video game.
The dialogue in this game is completely irrelevant. There is no reason to pay attention to any of it, anything you need to know you'll figure out on your own. There is hours of spoken dialogue in this game, none of it bears any purpose. Characters speak, but they say absolutely nothing. Conversations that go like "How are you?" "I am ok." "You look cold" "I am cold" "Thank you". After that waste of programming code, you're allowed to continue on. The spoken dialogue is also done by what have to be the most unproffesional voice actors I've ever heard. They either over emphasize the idiotic personality of the character, or don't give the character any personality at all. You will speed click through all the dialogue in the game, that is if you end up wasting your money on this game.
The game is just one long straight line with random encounters along the way. I spoiled the entire game for you right there. You run forward, fight some monsters, and win the game. That's not worth sixty dollars in my opinion. Ubisoft deliberately released a game after putting absolutely no effort into making it interesting. You get one town of irrelevant and annoying dialogue, where the high point is running around collecting tickets. Final Fantasy X was just a game where you run forward throughout the whole thing, but at least they realized that they had to make their characters slightly interesting.
The battle system is slow, and makes the turn based system of battle look even more ridiculous than ever. It's like the battle system from koudelka, you're on your own grid and use ranged attacks against your enemy who's on their own grid. This is the most irratating system for turn based battle in my opinion. Ubisoft will probably explain that they thought long and hard about it and decided to make a turn based battle system that let's you use strategy to defeat your enemies, they just forgot to plan the actual enemies in the game around this concept. What I mean by that is you fight enemies who can attack every square on your grid, and you gain abilities where you can attack every square on their grid. Chess it is not, more like turn based Rochambeau.
The menus in the game are very time consuming, and were obviously just thrown together and abandoned. You make a weapon in one menu, quit that menu, open a different menu, equip the weapon. You buy a skill in one menu, quit that menu, open a different menu, learn the skill, back out of that part of the menu, equip the skill. Ubisoft apparently thinks that when you make a decision to own something, it's for the sheer joy of knowing that it's not being used as a part of your repitoire.
One are where they obviously invested (wasted) alot of effort was in making neat little companions, which they call "golems". There's alot of them in this game, so you can have fun making them and looking at them. You'll only use one at a time, so the other sixty will have to wait in limbo. Each one is designed to be unique and speak one of two styles of japanese, slow and menacing or high and hyper. They even wrote biographies for each golem, they explain their uniquely irrelevant details.
This game is literally the worst game out for the xbox 360. Yes, even worse than perfect dark zero. Shame on you microsoft, and shame on ubisoft.
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video-games_xbox
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3 games and they still can't make a good one. I guess that's why Cod sells so much and why CoD fans love the series so much is that it uses the same bland template over and over again, yes the action is good, you get to see crazy things you probably won't be able to see in other games, but it's still hasn't innovated whats so ever, same boring bland flat cliche story of kill the bad Russian, same boring game mechanics.
Story was somewhat boring, it's whats called a flat story, which means the action dulls out, in a good story it's more of a roller coaster where you have you have your downs, then it builds up to a high action scene, or some combination of that. The story also makes fine use of the cliche kill the the bad Russian terrorist before he blows up the world. I also found myself once a good way into the story, not really caring about the characters, as you're switched between characters in different parts of the world, which kills any attachment to the main character, so in a way it's hard to care about your character which a bad sign for a vg. Boring, forgettable characters where if you asked me who was who, I couldn't tell you. The campaign was a bit longer than I expected but it's still just about 7hrs, also the sign of a not so good game.
Graphics were pretty good, no jaggies on the 360, sounds were terrible, guns sounded like airsoft guns, and explosions sounded like fireworks. And seriously, hiding behind a mailbox should not save your life, nor hiding under a light tent should save you from a mortar strike. Gameplay mechanics, boring, nothing innovative so goes w/out saying that there's 0 creativity, bust in the door, slow-mo, shoot the guys, yawn. Veteran difficulty is annoying, instead of making the AI harder like in Halo, you have a lowered health and more bulllets are sprayed at you.
Multiplayer, still just as bad, I only tried this as they said that all of the modes could be played offline, which I took as bots, which it doesn't have, the only truly offline mode is spec-ops which is MW's form of zombies. This is why I personally prefer Halo and what actually makes it a better game, balance. Only in MW3 could someone of lesser skill (noob) kill a better player, how? The noob could play more and get good attachments and guns, and be able to kill a better player more because he has a better gun, attachments, perks, etc. In Halo everyone starts out w/ the same loadout (depending on game type), meaning it's truly based on skill who kills who. It's also based on who sees who first, I started noticing that alot, once your being shot at, there's pretty much no way you can make a comeback, again, not based on skill. There's also no vehicles of any kind in the map.
Overall, the campaign is kinda fun, get to see cool action scenes you won't see anywhere else, stories not so good, boring mechanics, crap multiplayer.
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video-games_xbox
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If you don't own a 360 but own a xbox, this game is fun, but not as good. This review is for the single player version only because I don't have Xbox Live. I've heard that the Live version on plain xbox isn't any good but I don't know. People continually say that this game stinks on the Xbox. I don't know what they are talking about, maybe they don't like the change of a good series such as Ghost Recon but the change, although strange, is a good one. Just to know the rating is actually 4 1/2 stars not 4. The game is a mix of Ghost Recon (obviously) Star Wars Rebpuclic Commando, the hand motions and the way you put your squadmate into positions is like the Brothers in Arms series. There is even a mix of Rainbow Six in there. Having the game in different versions for the different consoles is a good idea so if Ubisoft desides to make another Ghost Recon game (they probably will) they know which way to make it. I would say the two best ways to make this great game would be in the Xbox version or 360. The update in first person view is a very good idea, I like first person better but not when there is no gun there. I wuold say that Ubisoft should allow you to swap weapons again, but if they are going to let you to swap weapons I would make sure you can only hold four weapons or so, not as many as you want. And if they let you swap your weapons I would make it take a long time because if you were to swap weapons on a real battlefield (Tom Clancy is war) you would have to find some more ammo on the body at the same time. Even though swaping isn't really necessary since the weapons you get are weopns that fit the current situation, and if you aim wisely you shouldn't run out of ammo that easily. Also the reloading times are a little short of a Ghost Recon game but they are still a good length. Unlike the current games of Rainbow Six, they are getting weirder and weirder with each game and more and more unlike a hard tactical game, with weapons that reload too quick. The graphics are pretty stunning although on the xbox I can say that they rate in second place (with Half-Life 2 in first place) the hot sun of Mexico looks pretty good in this game, with dark nights and blinding days, this game's graphics can pass several other games which rate high in visuals. The sound is great especially with the explosions of grenades, and bombs. Now for the storyline, being a Tom Clancy Game the storyline has to be threatning and it is. I won't reveal much, but I can easily tell you that it takes place in the years of 2013, or 2014, I forgot. And that during the crisis, a new Warfighter System has been created for the U.S. and who better to test it than the worlds best war stoppers: The Ghosts. During this revolution of technology something terrible happens (I will not tell you). So overall Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter is a great xbox game and is worth a but, if you hate changes in a series like this than don't complain when there is a new technology of fighting you have to expect some changes, to me they are great changes. Go out and have some fun with this game. 4 1/2 out of 5 stars.
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video-games_xbox
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Kicking off 2010 with style and hair. Though I consider 2011 technically the start of the new decade, Bayonetta along with Darksiders has been branded the first games of the new decade, the rip-roaring start to what should be a fantastic year yet an unbelievably crowded first 4 months of 2010. Bayonetta, developed by Platinum Games who worked on Viewtiful Joe and Okami, have basically made what people want to describe as the "action genre evolved", the new standards to which the next Devil May Cry or God of War have to live up to. While there's definately some moments that I can legitimately say no game has ever done for, there's other parts where I lament its inclusion or wish something was tweaked so it wasn't a certain way. Essentially the game, unless you're an action-game master, might be a tad too difficult for people with nimble reflexes, good understanding of the combat and some rare instances of almost needing clairvoyance to avoid the "where'd that come from?" deaths. For in Bayonetta you have one of the most fluid battle systems to be in a game, you also have trial-by-death moments, a tonally-off storyline and parts that don't give the game any favors. Least we'll get one hell of a sequel though. Possibly.
Story: You play as Bayonetta, an Umbran Witch part of a clan that's more or less on the "bad side" which wars against the forces of Heaven, or the Lumen Sages. Having been re-awakened after 500 years of being sealed away with no memory, Bayonetta embarks on a quest to discover her past, her connection to a little girl named Cereza and artifacts known as the "Eyes of the World". The problem with the game as a whole as far as its story is concerned is that its hard to tell when the game is taking itself seriously and when it's poking fun so the game is either really serious with slapstick thrown in or satire/comedy with odd pathos moments mixed in. Not to mention for some people it might be hard to follow and outside of Bayonetta herself, the characters aren't incredibly likable but like Devil May Cry, story is just an aside to the action.
Graphics: Graphically, the game isn't quite a "holy ****!"-esque stunner but the game is very-well animated with the character animations for moves, certain levels such as Paradiso levels looking flat-out gorgeous while enemy designs, especially bosses, are imposing, weird and screen filling. In fact there's one boss in the game that practically eclipses the final boss of Shadow of the Colossus and that guy was a tower. But then the game does do this weird stylistic thing where cutscenes play out more like animated comic strips with no lip-sync but just a character pose and lines of dialogue which jets around to another frame to present another look at the cutscene. It'll either be cool or just...weird.
Sound/Music: Another oddball soundtrack which combines jazz and epic orchestral themes and part of it just doesn't work. While we're a long ways to the awful metal track that permeated through Devil May Cry, at times you'll hear a nicely done orchestral theme and then you run right smack into a jazzy theme and yes, even a J-pop song and unlike some games which usually one J-pop theme with the main type of music throughout, it goes back and forth so much and the music itself might not seem that memorable either. Voice acting also is somewhat stilted and while Bayonetta and the character Jeanne are nicely done, everyone else is kind of ridiculous and the mastermind behind the whole ordeal is so droll in his voice and thanks to a long cutscene, you might be in a snooze before you realize you gotta fight the dude.
Gameplay: Bayonetta is similar to Devil May Cry's battle system where a certain command is used to start a move as opposed to say Ninja Gaiden or God of War which was a combination of X/Square and Y/Triangle but here, there's things like "tap forward twice and Y" or "rotate left analog and B" but what makes Bayonetta work as an action game is just how well it works and God of War 3 does have its work cut out for it because I'll be honest with you, I button mash God of War yet I learn Bayonetta/Devil May Cry systems. One especially useful tactic is Witch Time where if you press RT when you're about to get hit you activate a bullet time for a few seconds which allows you unfettered access to wail on enemies without fear of being attacked though strangely as you progress in the game certain enemies aren't even affected by Witch Time and you just dodge the move regularly. In addition, Bayonetta has guns and unlike DMC's candy shooting pistols, they're nicely useful here and with guns strapped to her feet and held in her hands, that's 4 guns to use on enemies and it's fun to "breakdance" and just spin around on the floor and shoot everything in sight. And you can also buy abilities that'll change you into different forms such as the Panther (a fast runner and quick getaway in battle), Crow (a flight-based attacker that flies for a bit) and Bat (click RT when you've just gotten damaged and you turn into a bat, negating that damage though I can never get the timing down). All in all, there's a huge arsenal of moves to use and with a loading screen acting as a training ground with move lists ready to be read and used, it's fairly easy to pick.
That being said, Japanese game developers, especially when it comes to action games tend to be, well, a lot more better than the average player and at times it feels like that's how the game was made, a game for experts. Granted there is an easy and very easy mode but for most people, Normal tends to be the default and when you're getting your ass handed to you regularly in normal encounters, bosses that are very cool and inventive but some take way too long (final boss for sure) or quicktime events that come out of nowhere, it might frustrate a few new players and I've beaten Ninja Gaiden 2 on Mentor (well, Sigma 2 I should say, NG2's a mess) and even I was having problems though I suppose practice will make perfect. However, that doesn't excuse certain sections of the game that quite frankly don't work, the out-of-the-blue Quicktime events or the astronomically high prices of the accessories which practically encourage farming or replaying to the Nth degree. Some might enjoy it but I like it when I can afford everything reasonably, not replay a mission 12 times to afford one thing only to find out there's 10 things I gotta purchase.
Bayonetta is certainly a better feeling action game all-around though certain issues I have with it will most likely be corrected if they ever do a sequel but as a first game, this thing is top-notch but to avoid mentioning certain problems it has I think would be a mistake but give it a try, it'll either be the best action game all year or one of the better ones that could've been the best.
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video-games_xbox
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Grand Theft Addiction. Liberty city is a scary place where the entire community is in chaos, even if they don't know I am the main cause of it. A preacher catches my eye and there he is preaching at the top of his lungs of salvation. I start a brawl and the police shows up to arrest the preacher. I cannot believe it when the cop points a gun at him and barks that he put his hands up. Then he opens the door and gets in the police cruiser and in a matter of seconds he is running away from the cop and he chases after him. In the end I wind up pulling a shotgun and killing him. To say that this is just a game is such a understatement and a crime. To be honest this is to me the only game that lived up to the hype. I had no doubts that Sam Houser would deliver and did he ever. I have gone into this game with a valor of a GTA veteran. It is fun and addicting the missions are well balance and challenging, you must think outside the box. But the most interesting thing in the whole game is the storyline, I was watching the cut scenes and wishing they would never end. Niko Bellic is a complex character and he is quite clear of his objective he must make money anyway he can. The other characters complement the story greatly and the way they integrated the system of relationships that vastly give this game hours upon hours of drunken mayhem and lap dances. The mechanics of the game are extremely complex and just plain realistic. Jacking cars has had cool animations like the times where I demolished my vehicle and it wouldn't start and Niko would scream "Start you turd." Oh, man this game has broken new ground and definitely should receive Game of the Year don't even argue please. I don't care if Fable 2 and Gears of War 2 comes out it will never be this integrated. For goodness sake the way you can spend hours upon hours in the city that never values life. There is one thing I would like to say about the hookers in the game, I mean, Oh, my god there is going to be hell to pay for that I really can't go into detail but you know what I am talking about. I really think this game will have people steamed that this is sort of explicit. Don't you dare say I'm hating or complaining it is kind of...um, cool? Just don't let the kiddies hit the strip club because...graphic and strange noises. This the perfect game no buts about it. Play this game.
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video-games_xbox
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Really Cool Idea but it Just Doesn't Work. Real World Golf for the original XBox had a pair of gloves you wore - connected to cables - that let you actually "swing" your hands and have the golf ball react appropriately. This was in pre-Wii days!
Here's how it works. There's a unit on the floor. Two cables are on swivel joints and come out of that floor unit to a pair of gloves. You velcro those gloves onto your hands. The cables extend and retract smoothly as you move the gloves. So as you swing your hands in a golf swing shape, the gloves track your progress and know what you're doing.
Standing in front of a large screen TV, swinging your hands, holding onto a "mini-club" (so you don't hit your lamp or other living room items), it really is "like being on a golf course". So in that sense this setup is far more realistic than any button-pushing version of golf could be.
I give them great kudos for the interface. You push your hands out to zoom along the course. You wave a hand to move in that direction. It is very Virtual Reality type of stuff, like you saw on the Tom Cruise movie "The Minority Report".
Now, with all of that said, the golf gameplay is NOT great. No matter how cool the interface is, it doesn't do much good if the game itself is not well done.
You can't fault the graphics too much. This was after all a low-def game and the maps it was rendering were very large. They are a bit clunky, but that's fine. The game should have been about balls and physics, not about whispers of grass.
But the golf game has issues. If you set it on "easy", you pretty much have a guided missile that always goes into the hole. That's fine if your aim is just to walk through the course, but even beginners to golf should get some accurate feedback so they can improve. I tried swinging the club wildly from high left to low right and I still putted right into the hole. To say it was forgiving would be an understatement.
My boyfriend who actively plays golf every day or two tried it at pro level. Even there the sensors were just not very accurate.
I understand that this was a huge challenge for them to create. They had to try to "guess" based on the cable being pulled quickly or slowly exactly what your hands were doing. I know that is hard and I give them credit for even trying this at all. It was a great idea - but it just didn't work out well.
I think the clearest indication that they had problems is that they never came out with a version for the XBox 360 or PS3. Apparently they just gave up. With the Wii being able to do this type of sensing without wires, I think that is the way to go in the future. Cables just can't sense the fine details of where your hands are moving in three dimensions.
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video-games_xbox
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Nice idea...very poorly executed. I really wanted this game to be great. I played Modern Warfare 2, got hooked, raged like every other person who's played that silly game, and then put it down, just really hoping that a BALANCED, FUN, and CONSISTENT game would come along.
Having been toted about as a "MW2 killer," "Best tactical FPS to date," "<fill in gushing modifier/overhyped statement>," I really had high expectations for the game. Watched my roommate play it on PC, looked awesome, so I bought it.
I haven't been less impressed by a game in years.
1) Console controls are just flat-out retarded. The only control that makes any sense and matches the standard controls used in EVERY CONSOLE GAME THAT INVOLVES SHOOTING A GUN (including RPGs) is that Right Trigger = Fire weapon. Every other control was obviously mapped by PC designers without any consulting with console designers or players. Vehicle controls are even more impossible. Makes me feel like I'm playing with my toes instead of my hands.
2) Assault rifles empty clips in 1 second. I think they shoot 5 bullets at a time. If you ever turn the corner and find yourself face-to-face with an enemy, holding down the trigger on an ASSAULT RIFLE is akin to having a single-round bolt action sniper in your hands - hold down trigger, 1 second later you're reloading (or more likely DEAD and looking at the enemy's screen who has 90+ health - or my favorite, 0% and still running around).
3) Multiplayer is one of the least tactical I've experienced. Allies don't cooperate. Party chat = total exclusion from team. Half the team wants to snipe when we're on offense, plinking away at the infinitely respawning defense instead of ever advancing to take an objective. Other people seem to think the point of the game is to stand by the UAV control stand waiting for it to respawn - again, most notably on offense when MOVING FORWARD is key.
4) The longest games ever - fully replenishing 75 tickets when the offense destroys objectives? Restarting the pool makes defense (and offense, for that matter) a tiresome exercise. Call it 5 per player regained every time you cap, and be done with it.
5) When you're getting absolutely creamed by the opposition (e.g. you have 5 tickets left and 7 bases to destroy), the game flashes in huge letters: "VICTORY IS NEAR - MAKE THE FINAL PUSH." I almost feel it's taunting me in a moment of utter desperation and frustration.
6) Dust is everywhere. Dust explodes in massive quantities, usually right in between where you're looking and where the enemy is, precluding visibility for 10 seconds. Very annoying - spend more time hiding waiting for the stupid dust to settle or your never-recharging health to creep back to living than playing.
7) All cover is 1 foot too short. Gears of War at least gave you cover that shielded your whole character. BFBC2 seems to think it better to shield you up to your pecs and call that sufficient. And there's no prone, so hiding behind the only indestructible things on the maps like boulders still leaves you watching the silly death cam (camera just falls to ground at 90 degrees) instead of shielded from fire.
8) Enemies in campaign do the annoying Halo CE Flood-like fall to ground like they're dead, then get up and shoot you after you think you've killed them. They also spawn in the middle of an area - poof, outta nowhere. Not along the edge of a map, not in a building that you have no way to be in when they spawn and be caught off-guard by an enemy literally spawning behind you as you try to recover the slower-than-frozen-molasses health. Or a freaking tank poofing from the aether 10 feet in front of you and blowing you back to the last save before you can even turn to stare the 20-foot cannon's bore.
9) Language is annoyingly vulgar. I swear - I don't claim to have a clean mouth. But when the game I'm playing is more vulgar than I am myself, it gets old - quick.
10) Constantly trying to best MW2 - again, I'm no lover of MW or Infinity Ward, but it just gets old - quick. Almost every turn of the corner, and there's some snide comment trying to belittle MW, when the game scarcely even offers as much as the game it's knocking did. You can't trump a competitor if you're just as flawed as it was. Makes the whole thing feel like a "Video-game response" to a video game post made by Infinity Ward instead of a respectable independent game.
The only thing I can say that it gets right are headshots. The game legitimately awards headshots for lining up headshots, unlike COD/MW2 where headshots are seemingly awarded via a random-number-generator rather than true skill.
Also, snipers have been balanced for once in a game. No more ridiculous snipers whose recoil would realistically blast the right half of your body off yet you can fire it like an assault rifle. Requiring 2 body shots is also a nice change from typical sniping mechanics.
These last two points are what saved it from a 1 star. Great IDEA - just very poorly executed. If my roommate didn't play it as much as he does, I'd have returned it inside a week. Rent this silly rip-off, don't buy it.
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video-games_xbox
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Excellent. The dead have risen and the world has been thrown into ruin. A band of survivors gathers together to try to escape the chaos, but find that their greatest enemy may not be the walking dead, but themselves.
Much has been written about Telltale's computer game adaptation of Robert Kirkman's The Walking Dead comic series, usually involving such words as 'amazing', 'intense', 'emotional' and 'cried like a three-year-old'. They are not far off. With The Walking Dead, Telltale have achieved what may be the finest computer game adaptation of a pre-existing franchise in gaming's history, something that supports the original story whilst also standing completely on its own two feet.
The Walking Dead takes place in the same world as the comics (but not the TV series, which is an alternate reality) and is canon to them. The developers - working alongside Kirkman - take advantage of this to show off the backstory of comic characters Hershel and Glen, but for the most part the focus is firmly on the original characters created for the game. Chief amongst these is the player-controlled protagonist, Lee Everett. Lee is a criminal who was on his way to prison when the zombie apocalypse broke out, and some of the game's tension comes from whether he is honest or not about his background to his new-found friends.
The core relationship of the game is between Lee and eight-year-old Clementine, a young girl he rescues from a zombie attack on a house. A long-term goal of the game is to reunite Clementine with her parents (if they are still alive) in Savannah, Georgia, but as the game continues Lee becomes convinced that the chances of her parents still being alive are very slim and takes on a father-figure role himself. The relationship is well-portrayed by the writers and actors, with the apparent oddness of an unrelated non-parent (who is also a convicted felon) caring for a young girl he just met being addressed. The characterisation is extremely strong, though to so more of it may risk spoilers (a problem for any review of the game).
The game has echoes of events from other incarnations of The Walking Dead, such as whether it's a good idea to teach young children how to use firearms against zombies or not, but Telltale puts their fresh spin on each idea as it comes up. Particularly well-handled is the way that the same major worldbuilding bits of information from the graphic novels are discovered by this group of characters, but in a rather different manner to the comics. For example, the knowledge that everyone will become a zombie when they die (regardless of whether they are bitten or not) - a major revelation in the comics and TV series - comes up almost immediately in the game, whilst a more minor piece of info about the zombies that the comic series threw in almost immediately takes a long time to come up in the game, and is much more decisive (and horrible).
The Walking Dead's storyline is impressive, with the zombies acting as a catalyst for how the characters interact with one another and deal with the pressure of a crumbling civilisation. The game hits many of the same beats as the TV series and the comics, but in a much more immersive way due to the way your decisions have lasting consequences, and some events can be changed. The dialogue is well-written, with each of the five episodes having its own self-contained plot and thematic arc as well as contributing to the overall storyline of the game. Given the lack of time (even at 15 hours, there a lot of characters to get through), Telltale achieve an impressive amount of depth for each character in the game as well. In terms of writing, structure and pacing, The Walking Dead is excellent.
Where the game comes off the rails a bit is the gameplay. Simply put, you spend the majority of your time watching The Walking Dead, rather than playing it, and most of your controls are based around choosing dialogue options. The sections where you get to take control of Lee, talk to other characters at leisure, explore areas and solve puzzles are the most fun in the game, but also the rarest (roughly boiling down to one or two such sections per episode). There's also a significant number of irritating Quick Time Events as well. It's a tribute to the writing skills of the team behind the game that these issues are not the total game-killers they'd be in other titles, but it does make The Walking Dead less of a game and more of an interactive comic (though still a very good interactive comic).
More problematic is the fact that the game is sold as one where your choices matter, but the truth of that is up for debate. At one stage you choose to save one character or another and this leads to some different character scenes and dialogue for a while, but ultimately has no long-term ramifications. The major beats of the plot and most character deaths also happen regardless of your dialogue and choices, with what you do more impacting on other characters' reactions to you and what they do rather than anything substantive in the storyline. Oddly this doesn't seem to matter: moreso than in most games, it's the journey that matters much more than the resolution.
The Walking Dead (****) is an intense, well-written and extremely atmospheric adventure game, but one where you do not have as much control over what is going on as what is promised or written. How much of an issue this is will be up to the player, but I found it easily ignored in favour of the smart writing and the fascinating character relationships. The Walking Dead: Season 1 is available now on PC, X-Box 360 (UK, USA), PlayStation 3 (UK, USA) and iPad/iPhone. A second 'season' will be released later in 2013.
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video-games_xbox
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Paid $60 for it, and I will stand by my purchase. Homefront is a breath of fresh air in an all too crowded FPS genre.
Campaign:
I have played about 2 and half hours of the story so far, and from reading other reviews I can tell I am about half way through it. To this point I have enjoyed the game and I have not experienced any game breaking glitches or have had any significant frame-rate slow downs. The story hits close to home and it feels as if you (Jacobs) doesn't really understand why he is being searched out by both the Koreans and Americans but is just following orders in an attempt to survive. I will try to update this portion when I finish the campaign...
Multiplayer:
I got home pretty late on release day so I only hopped into two matches and there was definitely a learning curve to figure out the game mechanics, how battle points worked, and all the upgrades that you can use them on. I must admit I was disappointed the following day when the servers were down and I was eager to get into another match and continue to learn the new systems that KAOS had put into this game. But I also understand that having servers without issues is for the most part unheard of these days. Call of Duty: Black Ops and Battlefield Bad Company 2 both suffered early on from this issue but had a big enough following to survive and the players were willing to wait for a fix. Hopefully this issue will not hurt the community for Homefront because when I finally got back into a multiplayer game it was a really good time. The game play is fast paced but the huge maps keep it from becoming too hectic, even while there is a ton going on. This is the other impressive feat that Homefront brings a 32 player match with absolutely no slow down. I really hope the community continues to grow because this is a very promising IP and I would love for the studio to get a chance to make another game.
Graphics: Normally graphics do not make a huge deal to me as long as the gameplay is fun, but I have seen a lot of people comparing this game to PS2 graphics and that is a joke. First off, Homefront never stated it would be revolutionary graphically the way Battlefield 3 is with the new frostbite engine. What you saw in the Homefront gameplay trailers is exactly what you get and it sure gets the job done. Could it have been fine tuned? Sure, but that costs developers tons of money and that is a big risk to take as a new IP in the FPS genre where games like Call of Duty and Battlefield have such a strong grasp on a huge portion of the community.
Homefront isn't perfect but it is refreshing and a promising new shooter and hopefully it will deliver on a big enough scale to bring the studio back with the desire to put a little more polish on the game and produce the hit that it could very well be. This is a very solid game with truly addictive online multiplayer, its just not the groundbreaking game that people are searching for as games like Call of Duty continue to become repetitive as they slowly follow Activision as they lead them into the same grave where they have just buried Tony Hawk Pro Skater and Guitar Hero.
7.5/10
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video-games_xbox
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Nothing to get excited about. I reviewed this based off of how they improved the game from last years game. I believe that is how they should be reviewed because we already know that last years game was fun and a success and we know they could spit out the same game and it would still be fun, but I want to see improvement. So without further ado, here is my review.
-The presentation: The LeBron stuff was new and brought a different feel to the game but was otherwise nothing to go crazy about. But at least they tried something new. The most underwhelming part of the game was when I started my first game it felt like I was playing 2K13. I was legitimately concerned that I had gotten the wrong game because of the way the game look and sounded int he game presentation (not really but you get my point). Overall that was upsetting.
-The gameplay: The gameplay did not change much but it did have a few minor improvements. The passing was better but there were still too many sill passes that came out of nowhere. The layups were much better with less open layups missed (although there were still more than I think there should be for NBA players). Overall there were slight improvements to the game but it still felt like the same game as 2K13.
-Steals: The most annoying thing in my opinion was the stealing on the game. You might as well hit X every time the player that you are guarding is dribbling because you have a VERY HIGH chance of stealing it. It goes both ways, you lose the ball a lot and the computer/player that you are against can have it stolen from you very easily. I mean I was stripping point guards like D-Rose and Jrue Holliday over and over again. I would say that was my number one negative in the game. Stripping the ball from a player is a hard thing to do in basketball let alone in the NBA.
In the end I would still say that this is a very solid NBA video game and anybody who wants a basketball game should get 2K14. But the disappointing part of the game is for the players that would like to get the new game every year (such as myself) and try the new and improved gameplay along with new features, which this game is lacking compared to past 2K games. I hope this helps on the decision process on whether to buy it or not.
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video-games_xbox
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Great sound, comfort, and versatility. I bit on these when they were super cheap about a week ago, but I'd feel good about the purchase even if I'd paid the current asking price of $80.
As of the end of last week, Polk is still sending out the Xbox One adapters, but I'm not sure how many more boxes are marked for the promotion. I haven't received the adapter yet, but will try to update my review when I do. The adapter kit can be obtained by e-mailing a support person (Ken, I think) who shows in the Polk Audio reviews/support page of the product. The kit includes an adapter to plug the headset into the Xbox One controller and a boom microphone.
I tested the set out pretty extensively over the weekend, listening to music and playing games on my PC and Xbox 360. This is my first gaming headset (outside of the chat-only ones), so I can't much compare to others, but here's my experience distilled into bullet points -
1. For the Xbox 360, one cord attaches to the headset and another links to the controller and passes through to back of the console, via a thick cord and an audio processing module that attaches USB power and Toslink sound to the Xbox. The cord length from controller to console is generous - I'd guess about 15'. Where the headset attaches to the controller there are volume knobs for the game and mic audio, which can be pressed to mute either one. There is also a power button and an equalizer button that cycles between presets for Shooters, Racers, Movies, and Music, the first and third produce Dolby Headphone sound.
The mic is hidden inside and muted when not in use. I haven't tested it yet. The sound is great to me: I had no trouble at any point discerning the direction of a sound and was able to pick up on a number of additional audio and musical cues that I could not using my TV speakers. Listening to the music in Fable 2, Assassin's Creed 2, and Halo Wars (I have a big backlog; I know...) was sublime and so was telling where my dog's bark came from (or from where those damnable gargoyles were mocking me), where a guard spotted me, and the location of a Wraith was great to experience.
2. For non-Xbox devices, there is also a 48" standard 3.5mm audio cord. The audio quality was a huge step-up from my computer speakers (mid-range logitech 5.1), earbuds, or other headphones. Voices were clear, bass low without turning muddy, and every instrument distinct. I only wish there was an on-cord volume control - these things are very loud if you happen to plug them into a device set to 100% volume, as my PC usually is. I found 10-15% to be fine given how well the set keeps out noise from without.
There is a button on the cord to answer phone calls if you're plugged into a phone. I haven't used this feature.
3. Comfort. At one point I wore these for four hours straight. That might tell you all you need to know, but if not... They are pleasantly heavy (to me, over half a pound), the padding is not lacking and the phones fit around my ears easily. There is a bit of ventilation around the outside of the phones, which seems to help keep the inside from getting too hot. As the padding is covered in leather, you can get sweaty where it comes into contact with your skin.
4. Build quality/other. These don't block all sound from the outside, but even at minimal volumes, the real world won't interfere with whatever you're listening to. I haven't had these long, but the build seems good. The ports are solid, cables thick, and frame a metal, plastic, leather combination, that, while obviously plastic in places, doesn't feel fragile anywhere. The fit is adjustable and when not in use the phones can be laid flat.
In short, the only thing I don't love is the lack of volume control on the 3.5mm cord. This is a versatile, high quality headset and is absolutely worth a look (listen).
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video-games_xbox
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Great tool for learning or improving guitar. I've been "playing" guitar for over 20 years. I've never been very good. Sure, when I was a kid I could pump out some power chords with a ton of distortion and jam along with other friends of mine from school, but that's about it. I've quit and started up a dozen times since I was a teenager.
I recently purchased a fairly nice acoustic guitar and realized I have a lot of practice to do to be semi-decent. I tried Rocksmith 2014 and was hooked. It was a little challenging to balance the noise from the acoustic over the TV, so I went and got a cheap Squier strat to keep learning on. Much better! I've been so hooked that in less than two months I've sold that guitar and bought a much nicer Telecaster.
If you know the basics of playing guitar then you'll be able to jump right in. I just went to the learn a song section and started off running. The first time you play an arrangement it will dumb it down big time. Almost to the point where it isn't fun. But then you play it again and it adds notes and chords in and gets progressively more difficult. It's a really cool way to learn songs. I've yet to master any of them but I can get to about 75% difficulty on most songs that I've tried.
What's even cooler is that after you run through a song, the game will think and suggest things for you to work on. It may be a diagram of a chord, or a quick lesson on various techniques like bends and slides.
The best part is the store where you can buy new music. They release songs every week (I think) so it'll never get old. I've never been one to spend much on downloadable content for video games but this is a different story since it keeps things fresh and you can never stop learning if you don't want to.
One tip: If you've ever read guitar tabs you're probably used to seeing the low e string on the bottom of the graph. Well Rocksmith flips it around for some reason. Maybe it's easier if you're just starting out, but for me it was driving me mad. I found that you can flip it in the game's settings though so if you are a little confused at first, try that.
Overall I'm really stoked on this. I can't sit through lessons or even a 5 minute youtube video to improve my skills, but this makes learning fun again. I highly recommend this for all levels of guitar players. Even if you're fairly good, you'll have a good time!
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video-games_xbox
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Only three stars. This game is amazing if you know how to play it. If you're the run and gun type and
you don't like games like G.R.A.W. or Rainbow 6 then you best turn away now and
buy something else. This isn't just a game, it's a combat simulator plain and simple.
There's no room for trigger happy gun play here.
The campaign is O.K., it's a bit short and I feel they didn't take advantage of the
actual size of the map. 80% of Skira will still be basically unexplored even after completing
the campaign. I would have been nice to pick out your own kits, but you can't. One thing
you can do is scavenge weapons, ammo, and equipment from crates and your fallen foes.
The physics are top notch, sniping never felt so satisfying when you actually have
to work for it. You have to compensate for bullet drop, the terrain even goes into the
bullet physics. A good example is that your bullet will actually travel farther,
faster, and a little more accurate when compared to shooting at targets uphill. Also,
the pistols have a small range. No more sniping with a wee little gun. That doesn't
mean your rounds won't disappear after a certain distance though. They'll either just stray
far from the target or fall to the ground. I've been caught in the head by a stray bullet or two.
The vehicles are fair. Jeeps are easily defeated along with APCs. Helis don't
stand a chance to a clip or two from an M16 either. In all honesty it all feels
too weak.
Multiplayer is great... Well the co-op missions are. I tried to versus but I seemed to be the only one
on so I just gave up on that. The campaign is co-op for up to four players, but you also have other
missions as well. Fire Team Engagements is what one is called. They are short missions which can be
very fun. You have a few longer and more difficult missions as well included in the DLC packs for this game.
All in all this is a very fun game if you've got a couple of X-buddies to play with.
ALSO, if you feel your PC can run this, then go for that instead. There's a free mod called "Island War"
where taking the whole island is your objective with 3 other friends. Best thing I've played in years.
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video-games_xbox
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Got lazy with this one. I'm a fan of this entire series, including Origins. I was beyond excited to see this final installment, and although it is a fantastic finish in some ways, there is at least one shocking omission. First, the good.
The game is gorgeous. There is a lot more color this time around, a greater variety of weather effects and fantastic textures that were simply not possible on last gen hardware.
Controls are fantastic and familiar, and they have managed to streamline gadgets during combat. I had never used them before, but this time around they are much nicer.
I haven't had one "reversal failure" which were pretty common in the earlier games. When you hit that Y button, it WILL reverse. I'm glad they fixed it.
The batmobile--many have complained about the large amount of time spent in the car. While I can see their point, it is not necessary to spend all that much time in there if you don't want to. You can still travel around the old fashioned way, which is often faster in many cases. The controls on the rig are pretty solid although you don't have a lot of chances to really open it up and haul butt. I will say that many of the plot elements feel contrived, and you can tell they look for every little chance to force the batmobile into every task, and it can get annoying.
Overall, the game is a very large step forward and an improvement on what we've seen before. Now...the bad.
The game doesn't quite feel right. Batman versus an army just isn't the kind of thing many people were expecting. They obviously needed an excuse to put the batmobile in and give it something to do, which is apparently blowing up countless drone tanks. The whole "military" element just feels very out of place.
Where is everyone? I loved the older games because you could wander around and get in huge fights, even outside of missions. Most of the people are gone and fights are far fewer and far between.
Some of the upgrades are just silly. You wouldn't believe how many gadget upgrades there are for you to get so you can upgrade your gadgets for GLIDING only. Seems ridiculous to me to waste hard earned points on increasing the number of gadgets you can use while gliding. Is anyone really going to use four or five gadgets per glide? Maybe....
The one REALLY bad part of the game is the sole reason why I shaved off one star. The old style of Challenge Maps are gone. Yep--gone. I don't know about you, but that was what kept me coming back to the games. You finish the campaign and then keep coming back to kick the tar out of some punks. I am shocked, to say the least, that they would remove these from the game, as that was one of the best features of the series. They blew it here, and there's no other way to say it. All that is left is a "challenge" map that is little more than a training opportunity, and not a very good one at that. The bad guys appear out of nowhere, since it is "virtual reality." Unfortunately for the player, if you are very good you can wipe out the first wave before the next batch appears, which ruins your combo AND your score. So sloppy.
In their horribly overpriced season pass, they do make reference to "advanced challenge maps," which may be the older type of maps that many of us love, but those should have been included in the core game. SHAME ON YOU, Rocksteady, for stripping a priceless feature from the game.
***UPDATE***
After playing the game some more and getting all the DLC, I had no choice but to deduct a star from the rating. Why? Because the DLC, aside from being painfully overpriced, is incredibly lacking in content. The challenge maps from the previous two installments have been turned into an EMBARRASSING outing this time around, and you don't even get the "good" ones until you buy the DLC called the Crimefighter pack. Unfortunately, there are VERY few maps, and you do NOT get to pick your hero. You play with the person that is assigned to the map, period. It is like they got incredibly lazy with the DLC, and the pathetic DLC is little more than an insult to formerly loyal fans of the franchise.
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video-games_xbox
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Based on franchise mode ( 0 stars . It may be unfair to rate this game based on 1 aspect of it, but since EA has been unfair to it's customers, it makes us even. Let me first say I do know a little about video football games as I have played just about everyone made since the early days of Magnavox Odessey, Bally Astrocade, Vic 20 computer, all the way up to the 360. The early days games were simple, and you just played them. Later it got to where you could coach them, then it got to where you could manage them, and just watch a simulated game. In recent years, it's the managing, coaching, and simulating aspects that I have become hooked on. So my rating for this game is based soley on that. It does look good, but I don't really like the way it switches from gameplay view to cutscene view so often, as it disrupts the flow of the game. As far as playing the game, most people seem to like it, but I absolutely hate the play calling menu. Now as for why I give it such a low score, and the reason I returned it the next day. There is no owner mode, and you might as well say there is no franchise mode either, because it totally sucks. The new menu system is cumbersome. There is no fantasy draft. You can't watch a simulated cpu vs cpu game. HOF players randomly appear on other teams, and the fatigue system doesn't work. Now, I would have forgiven all this if I could have just coached ( no coach mode ) and made player trades. Well, you can trade players, but it is totally screwed up. You can trade any dud on your team for the greatest player on any other team, and they will accept the trade. I don't know if the game was rushed and incomplete, or if EA doesn't care about people that like franchise mode, or they are just completely incompetent. All I know is, if you have a 360 and crave a good pro football game with franchise mode, you're out of luck, as they won't even make standard xbox Madden games, or 2k Sports games backward compatable. For EA to charge 60 bucks for this is disgraceful.
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video-games_xbox
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Xbox One is a worthy upgrade over the xbox 360. The Xbox 360 was a great console, despite the infamous "red ring of death" which interestingly has been a plague on ps4 consoles. I, however, am not here to review those. The new xbox really ushers in the feeling of the future in a GOOD way. Some have accused it of being gimmicky and I have to disagree.
Voice Command: Just walking in the room and being able to turn your console on and play the game by talking to it makes for great fun. The home screen is just as user friendly, with my only upset is that feeling you get when you say the phrase wrong in front of onlookers and the xbox sits there idly. You have to say things precise so the xbox does not accidently do something you are discussing in chat.
Kinect Camera: The connect is a nice and mandatory gadget for the xbox one. Here is what made me so happy with the connect. Remember the days of typing 25 numbers/letter codes? The xbox one has an infrared scanner that works like a barcode reading machine and instantly applies the download. The previous connect may have done this, my 360 was never attached to one before. The camera also facially recognizes you and logs you in with a bunch of friends if you all sit together. A neat feature.
The looks: Many critics argue how boring and dull the system looks, and how it looks weird sitting under their tv. Not to be sounding too harsh but what a load of bullocks, pardon my British, that is. I think it looks okay, its not like my eyes bleed every time I see it or think to myself, "God this xbox does not match my drapes, couch, dog, slippers, carpet, family picture, coffee table or finely imported lampshade...hmmm guess I will go vent my rage in reviews." (rant over) its a relatively large box with shiny black and dull black sections. Half of the top is for cooling and I had my xbox one on for over 14 hours straight (more on that later), with no adverse affects. Try that on xbox 360!
Performance: This is a tricky subject. The xbox jumps on the wifi easily and fast, and the screens and apps seem fine and maybe a hair faster than a 360. The big fault is that downloading games can and will take some time. This is why i had my xbox one on for 14hours straight. Your mileage may vary but overall it will take some time (ryse, forza 5) and some are not bad (zoo tycoon and cod: ghost). The console does not stutter or lag once your in the game and that is fine for me. Also, the nice thing is winding up a 360 in a bunch of processes makes it sound like a vtol aircraft is taking off in your room. With half the top for cooling the system purrs quieter than a kitten.
ps4 competition: Here comes the flame war, just read some 1 star reviews. Sony and Microsoft fanboys rage against each other and the reason I chose xbox one over ps4 is because the hate sony spewed. Plus I love the fact that the ps4 is having its own red ring type troubles. Before I am labeled a microsoft lover, I am not. To me I am nintendo through and through. They don't throw stones, they just put out what they are happy with, they do not push the envelope they just improve their formula. Kudos to wii u.
Overall: This system is a good and worthy upgrade. Quieter, more advanced and graphically superior (4k ready). An unfortunate side note I do not have cable on this particular tv so all the tv functions will have to be read on another review, sorry internet. If your unsure of the ratings give it a try, I was not upset and have not looked back.
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video-games_xbox
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Graphics 1-0 Gameplay. Okay, that may be overstating it, but the gameplay is the only weakness in an otherwise outstanding soccer simulation.
For instance, how can one argue with the sheer number of league licenses on this game? The real teams, the real players. The stadiums look real, the players' faces are in the game, teams have all three kits available for every match!
You play a whole season as your favorite club. You soldier through the domestic league fixtures. Throw in a domestic cup competition and (if you are lucky) an entry in the Champions League! Player injuries and suspensions give you the feel that you're running the club on a day to day basis, making the decisions a manager would face. Do I rest my star player in the league game so he's fit for the cup game? You decide.
Unfortunately, gameplay does not quite hold up its end of the bargain. When you first play this game, you think to yourself, "This game is hard! I'll get better with practice." Well, you do. But then you begin to notice that no matter how good you get the CPU still wins all the 50/50 air balls. The CPU defenders take the ball anytime they are near, while your defenders are stuck to the pitch like a moth on flypaper. I've played the game for a month now and have never scored on a corner kick. I've also never seen a penalty kick in a match. That seems odd to me.
The most disappointing aspect of gameplay is the "Dynamic Ball Control." It sounds like a very promising idea, that you can use the second thumbstick to a execute special dribble move. Unfortunately the move takes so long from the time you press the thumbstick until the player actually executes the move that the defender has already taken the ball. In real soccer you employ this type of move as a reaction to the defender to keep the ball away from him. The fatal flaw in this game version is that you have to anticipate (instead of react) in order to have any chance of success.
So, in recap, kudos to EA Sports for upholding their reputation for securing team and league licenses. They employ those licenses to make an outstanding looking game. We hope, however, that in future versions they can tune the gameplay to match the amazing visuals.
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video-games_xbox
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Annoying - Inferior to Similar Products. I have and use a number of workout "games" across both the PS3 and Xbox 360 platforms, including EA Sports Active 2 for the PS3, The Biggest Loser Ultimate Workout for the Xbox 360, and Your Shape Fitness Evolved for the Xbox 360.
There are advantages and disadvantages to each. Of the three, The Biggest Loser is the least satisfying and the most annoying.
The implementation of Kinect for this game relies heavily on the placement and tuning of the Kinect sensor. Even with precise placement, you will receive inaccurate feedback (e.g., you're doing the exercise "wrong" according to the game when you're doing it perfectly). Some of the cues are oddly placed and annoying; receiving feedback like, "You're really feeling that upper body, aren't you?" when you're doing a lower body exercise is annoying. Worse, the game will repeat inaccurate feedback repeatedly, in a very, very short period of time. I personally find it very distracting not only to not be receiving "credit" for doing the exercise properly but to incessantly receive feedback that is not applicable to the activity you're currently performing. Some exercises are associated with the wrong cues. For example, the Roundhouse series requires a left lunge and a right side kick. After doing that you switch sides but after telling you to switch sides, the audio cue tells you to perform the same movement as on the left side when that's incorrect; switching sides means a right lunge and a left side kick. I've found that exercises where you are laying on the floor don't register well although that could be a function of the positioning of my Kinect sensor--I can't be sure and can't fault the game for that without knowing what the root of the issue is.
I've also noticed that the user interface doesn't respond well to the Kinect sensor (even though it works fine in other games); you may find yourself having difficulty navigating screens whereas in Your Shape Fitness Evolved, by contrast, the navigation seems to work without a hitch.
Anyhow, although I exercise between five and six times weekly, it's not something I enjoy. Minor annoyances like those presented in this game make an already burdensome task more burdensome and less enjoyable. If you have other exercise games, it's not a terrible idea to try this; however, if you're looking for a single exercise game for the Xbox 360 platform, I would recommend Your Shape Fitness Evolved over this title.
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video-games_xbox
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Better than ever before... but still has its issues. I'll be honest: I get sports games a couple years too late. I appreciate the updated rosters and graphics, but I don't really see the need to sink 60 bucks into a reiteration of what came last year. That's why this review is coming now.
Overall impression - Madden 10 impressed me with the best graphics I've seen from them yet, smarter play, and more options, but left me wanting more.
I'll break the game up into four segments and review each one separately Football has three phases, offense/defense/special teams, so those will be three, and the other one will be game features. Since this last one feeds into the others, I'll start there.
Game Features - Two big pluses here. First, say it with me, Madden Moments. These delightful little minigames set you up in places from the real games during the season (including the Super Bowl) where you job is either to repeat a great comeback, finish one that never happened, or stop a downfield drive. Let me tell you, they get tough. My other favorite feature was the difficulty system. Yes, the difficulty system. I'm a very casual madden gamer, but I like to be challenged when I do play. Sadly, I felt like the older games set up "pro" way too easy and "all-pro" too hard. I could beat pro every time, often by several touchdowns, but try as I might, I could not beat the better teams in all-pro. Madden 10 fixes that, not only making All-pro a manageable, though still challenging, difficulty, but offering the Madden IQ feature which allows you to choose a difficulty which is tailored completely to your skill set. If you can air it out like a pro, but can't run to save your life, Madden will give you a tough pass d, but a fairly soft run d. If you like the traditional difficulty, you don't even have to bother.
Franchise is not much different that it's been in the past. NFL Superstar is no different than recently (sadly), but you can cheat out the system. Usually, you'd start with a real NFL rookie, or make up your own 65 overall player who then struggles along for a few years before he turns out good. If you don't want to bother with that, just make up a player and put him on a teams roster, he'll then show up as a "real" NFL rookie and you can play as a perfect player.
Offense - Much better than Madden 8 (my most recent madden acquisition)! My biggest takeaway from 8 was "wow, football players never fumble that much in real life". I do not exaggerate when I say that about 40% of the time, if you pulled a juke, truck, or stiff arm right before a hit, you would fumble. It made running impossible. Madden 10 has an immensely improved running engine, which required skill, but allows even a casual gamer like me to make highlight reel plays... and it doesn't feel cheap either. You actually feel like you did something when your rusher breaks two tackles at once. Madden accomplishes this through their new tackle system which allows you to fight for yardage by moving your runner even after the tackle animation begins. You can even break tackles this way if you man outmatches the other. Passing is also more realistic. Defensive coverage is tough, but they have their weaknesses (HINT: USE YOUR TEs).
Biggest downside for me was the fact that you can't turn of "precision passing", that most abominable and inconsistent of glitchy game features. The idea is that you can use your move stick right before you throw to throw a ball in front of, behind, or to either side of a receiver to lead him away from defenders. Great idea, terrible execution. Sometimes precision passing does next to nothing, other times it overthrows a wide open receiver by about ten yards or dumps the ball straight into the arms of a waiting defensive player. Annoying as it is, though, the passing is better overall than in recent years.
Defense - Also a major upgrade. Defense is smarter, bigger, faster and if you have no idea what you're doing, just don't move your man and Madden will control him for you. Your pass defense is greatly improved... usually. I have to say that some low-tier defenses seem to have NO CLUE how to stop the same guy from getting wide open on the exact same play five times a game as happens to me when I play my brothers. Another thing which at first bothered me a little but I have come to like is that open field tackles rarely bring down a rusher or receiver 1v1. Unless your man is a lot bigger and tougher (or you manage to get a good hit stick on him), you're going to slow him down, but an experienced player will shake you 9 times out of ten. Sound glitchy? Yes, but it's really not. That's how it works in the NFL usually too. The thing is, the defense is so much smarter, that even if you miss that first tackle, chances are there'll be another two guys waiting to bring him down in a yard or two.
Special Teams - Terrible. I don't know about anyone else, but I thought that after all these years, Madden would have FINALLY come up with a kick and punt return system that allows for varied and exciting plays. I am very glad that you are now capable of actually returning every punt a few yards (something you simply couldn't do in past iterations of this game), but the special teams is still flat and boring. Granted, when you DO get that touchdown, it's pretty awesome. The problem is that such amazing plays almost never happen, and the non-TD returns follow a pre-determined, repetitive, meaningless pattern. I'll gain 6-7 yards ever punt return, usually shake a tackle before my inept blockers fail be yet again. I'll make it to about the 32 yard line on a kickoff before my inept blockers simply let go of their man right before I reach him. Yes, Madden... thank you for failing... again. I don't know about anyone else, but the lack of solid special teams play really disappoints me.
Sorry to leave you on a sour note. The game really is good, worth the lower investment is requires now (2011... actually a day away from 2012.) It really is an upgrade from past maddens. However, it will leave a picky gamer wanting just a little bit more.
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video-games_xbox
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A sure contender for 2010 Game of the Year. The first Mass Effect was a fantastic sci-fi adventure that has become one of the defining games of the Xbox 360. Therefore, expectations were very high for Mass Effect 2, and most pleasantly, this game exceeds the first in just about every conceivable way! Bioware has truly outdone themselves in fleshing out the Mass Effect universe and in creating a cast of characters that truly have a life of their own.
The game starts out with a bang, in the form of a jaw-dropping opening sequence that had me staring at the screen in disbelief. The story gets better from there as we're introduced to the Illusive Man (played expertly by Martin Sheen) and get familiar with working for the Cerberus organization. What follows is roughly 30-40 hours of sci-fi perfection. In what is probably a first in gaming, your choices and decisions that were made in the first Mass Effect carry over into this game (using your completed save file from the first game), noticeably molding the state of the universe. This is astounding. Characters that died in the first game are remembered, your love interests from the first game act accordingly when you meet them in this game, and the attitude of the characters reflect what you allowed or disallowed in the first game. It's truly remarkable, considering all the variables from the first game. If you never played the first game, or never finished it, the game defaults to a standard set of circumstances. But to know that you had a direct impact on how your Mass Effect 2 experience rolls out is a wonderful thing. Plus, throughout Mass Effect 2, you make several key decisions which you know are gonna come back to haunt you in the inevitable Mass Effect 3!
Gameplay-wise, it's important to point out that the RPG elements of the first game have been drastically scaled back. Gone is the micromanaging of weapon upgrades, omni-gel, and the detailed leveling up mechanics that the first game relied on. When a character gains a level, you can only upgrade one of four attributes. Weapons are upgraded using a simple system where you can level up only their general effectiveness, with no options. While this may turn off some of the fans, I personally found this change to be a wholly welcome one. It streamlines the game so you can concentrate on the action. And this leads me to another gameplay change. Missions are more shooter-based than they were in the first game. A very effective cover mechanic has been introduced and aiming and shooting is more fluid and responsive. Basically, though I hate to say it, it's reminiscent of Gears of War. The overall mission structure, however, is just like in the first game, so it definitely still has the feel of Mass Effect. Returning from the first game is the dialog wheel, only this time it's more interactive and is designed to make the dialog flow smoothly. It works flawlessly and you feel more engaged in the conversations than ever!
Mass Effect 2 is more of a character piece than the first game. The number of playable characters doubles from that of the first game, but unlike that game, you have to make the characters loyal to you lest you suffer the consequences. This, in my opinion, is where the game falters a bit. The main story really only encompasses 4 or 5 missions. The rest are made up of "loyalty missions", which are basically requests for help that your squad members ask of you. They have nothing to do with the main story, though they do serve as excellent backstory for your comrades. So essentially you do a mission to recruit a character, and then do their loyalty mission. This results in a rather disjointed experience since you can only partake in the main story (which is nothing short of excellent) in only small bursts. This is kind of a double-edged sword though, since by the end of the game where you must select team members to perform certain tasks, you really feel like you know them well. Not since Final Fantasy VII have I felt so familiar with the characters in a game. The loyalty missions aren't bad, I just wish they were more integrated with the game's overall story.
It's probably a no-brainer that anyone who liked the first Mass Effect probably already got the second one. But if you haven't played either game, I strongly suggest you play the first one first. It's a wonderful thing to shape your own game experience, and I wouldn't want anyone to miss out on that! Mass Effect 2 is definitely one of the best games of 2010, and probably the best on Xbox 360 for sure.
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video-games_xbox
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Not for most gamers. To start off, I love the environment in this game (besides the sloppy frame-rates). The problem I have with Dark Souls is there is no way to tell what you exactly have to do. I understand that this is suppose to be an RPG.. Which I don't believe it to be so because the game is extremely short 5-6 hours if you play through without dying every five seconds. I'm about 10 or so hours into the game and I feel like I have done absolutely nothing productive. Cleared the ghosts out of New Londo Ruins, couldn't go any further needed a key, have no clue how to kill the boss in the room by the blacksmith. (One shots me with lightning anytime I step foot into the room). The Taurus Demon was bugged in my game, he never flinched back after ******* him up from the tower you fall from. Black Knights are a bitch to kill, sometimes harder then actual bosses. I finally figure out I have to go through the Gargoyle location (because of the cut-scene). The problem is, I can't kite him to a corner and kill him that way (because apparently he can breathe fire, and kills me) can't get anywhere near him or he flies away, or smacks you with is main-hand weapon, or his axe tail. I know his weakness is his tail BUT how the **** do you attack it if he's always flying in the air, and whenever you get close to him he flies away. (I presume you have to use a bow to get him to fly down, but I never got around to killing him again because it pissed me off so much).
Then the secret hideaway for the guy in the golden armor (never tells you what to do, just says he'll give you something, but personal tags by players online suggests that he is a liar, so I decided to kill the mother ********, just like I did to the Sun Knight by the Dragon on the bridge. He drops better armor and weapon then you'll get for some period of time, unless you get really lucky from world drops which I never do, besides somehow getting the ghostblade from my 6-8ish play-through of New Londo Ruins. (Yes I died a lot in that place, STUPID GHOSTS).
One problem I do have is weapon balancing. Why does a small sword do more damage then a claymore? That I never understood. And why are the firebombs so useless unless you are 5ft from someone?
At this time I rated this a 3 star because I'm not totally in love with the game, nor do I hate it. I find it to be a decent game for someone who plays a lot of RPG's... I just felt this game is a little to hard for causal gamers. (which is basically everyone on the planet, unless you guys are still playing NES games which this reminds me of). I don't remember the last game that has challenged me this much, and I play everything on the hardest difficultly for achievements :P
ALSO, I would greatly appreciate any help from people regarding boss battles so I have a better experience rather then getting pissed off at something I have no clue how to do. I mean I could figure it out after awhile, but I'd rather spend an hour dying on a boss I know how to fight then 3 or 4 hours dying to a boss not knowing what the hell I'm suppose to do.
Overall, I find this game to be extremely well-thought out (not the storyline the actual game) have no clue what the storyline is because they never explain it at the beginning. I guess I have to play Demon Souls to figure it out, even though it's not suppose to be it's sequel?
And YES,I understand people will bash my review because "I'm complaining about it being hard", but games are meant to be fun, most of the time this game isn't fun with all the bugs and glitches that occur at some bosses. I just feel that there should be some explanation where you need to go in a quest-log rather then you aimlessly wondering around this hell hold not knowing what lies behind every corner. But,a good thing is, no matter how pissed off this game makes me, I will complete it, it's one of those games that makes you want to beat it so you have some sort of accomplishment even though you have no clue what the hell is going on in the story, or if there is even a story to begin with. (which I'm sure there is).
Again, I would be up for any suggestions regarding bosses and certain areas in this game that could and will help my experience as a whole. If you want to help you can email me at mlglordvader@yahoo.com, or, just reply to me on here, whichever you feel more comfortable with. I don't learn from my mistakes I need an adult :( haha.
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video-games_xbox
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This is a very nice looking system. I AM NOT A PS4 Fanboy. I want to get that out of the way. I have owned every system made by Microsoft, starting with XBOX to this current model. However, eventually each system has, at one point or another, stopped working. Clearly, Microsoft has a problem with their quality control. This system never even worked, right off the bat. Let me explain.
I very excitedly open the system, set it up, and turn on the power. This is a very nice looking system. It just feels very well built. I turn on the system. I eventually get to the screen where I have to select my internet connection. This is mandatory. YOU MUST have a internet connection set up in order to use this system. PS4 makes it optional, however. So, I select my internet connection, put in my password. Done. The system starts loading to get to the next screen. The system turns off, then restarts. I'm like "huh? OK let me try this again." I get to the same internet connection screen. I put in my password again. The system shuts off, then turns on again. "OK," I say to myself. "Something is clearly wrong here." I try again, a few more tries. IT DOES THE EXACT SAME THING. Sometimes I can't even get pass the welcome screen without it shutting off and then restarting.
I then contact Microsoft support. They tell me it's because of my TWC wireless internet connection. I'm like "OK well I have never had this happen to me before, but I will go ahead and troubleshoot." I follow all of the rep's steps, and then attempt to play my system again. It still doesn't work. I made a huge sigh, never again will I ever purchase a system made by Microsoft. This system clearly has a defect, so if you are thinking about purchasing this system, just beware. I will go ahead and keep playing my PS4. At least that system has never had any issues.
Thanks for taking the time to read my review. I really didn't want to say anything bad about this system, as I was very much looking forward to playing some "Halo, Master Chief Collection" and some "Gears of War, Ultimate Edition." Unfortunately, Microsoft has left me no choice, as I feel it is my duty to warn other fellow gamers of what may happen if they purchase this system. Microsoft needs to get their s$%^ together and get their quality control "under control."
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video-games_xbox
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Priceless.... Until it breaks. Alright, maybe I had a lemon for a controller, but I can not tell everyone how much rage built in side of me when i saw my 50 dollar controller sitting next to my Xbox 360, useless.
I had two wireless controllers, and both got a fair amount of use for about two months. The one that came in the box was awesome, and is still good, however I bought a second one, and after many dismal tappings of the center 'X' button, I've decided it's killed itself. Why? I don't know. I've kept them in excellent condition, never banging them, away from dust, a seemingly perfect habitat for my little controller. It doesn't work, doesn't turn on, doesn't budge, it is now a 50 dollar paper weight, and after much bickering to Xbox 360 support, I've given up hope on ever getting any money back for it. So, is that consistent with all wireless Xbox 360 controllers? Maybe not, but being as relatively thrifty as I am I can not tell people how frustrating it is to have blown money on something so seemingly safe, only to get no help from microsoft on getting my money back.
All that said, I do love the controllers. My rating is biased because I just lost one of them, however up until that point they worked flawlessly. Sometimes I would go downstairs to turn on my Xbox 360 only because I could, and the fact that there is no wire makes for easy set down, as well as no messy cords hanging around the console. They fit perfectly into the hand, and getting the Xbox 360 to recognize them is extraordinarily easy. If I hadn't had that one huge complaint, I would have given this controller a 5, and who knows, maybe I'm the only person in the world who has had this trouble, so there is nothing to worry about. Either way, you gotta have a controller to play, and there is always a chance that it'll mess up, so spending that extra $10.00 more than the wired controller is definetely worht it.
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video-games_xbox
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Not what I had hoped for, but not terrible. The first thing that I noticed when using it is that the voice quality you hear is very good. I couldn't tell a difference from the standard wired headset. However, after speaking to a friend of mine over Live the very first thing he says is that I sound "funny". He described it as my voice having a high pitch. The general consensus among my three regular play buddies was that the wireless headset makes me sound "like a robot."
Also, the range sucks. Maybe it is 30 feet without any obstructions, but walking around my house it only goes half as far as my regular controller with wired headset would.
I also have to echo the comfort issues mentioned by a previous reviewer. You have to fit your ear through the ear piece, and after a while this is uncomfortable for me. They do provide an extra piece that is slightly smaller, but how is this supposed to help if the standard loop is already too small? I definitely agree, they should have gone with the simple and proven method of a hook.
Don't get me wrong, I still like the headset and will continue to use it as I find it to be less of a hassle without the wires, but it definitely doesn't meet the expectations MS made for it with all the things they have been saying about it. Improved voice quality? Yeah, right.
If you are on the fence about this headset, I'd tell you not to get it. If you are really interested in it because you want the convenience of being completely wireless while playing your 360, I'd say go ahead and get it - just readjust your expectations of it.
******UPDATE*****
After using this headset a little bit more, I feel compelled to update my review. This thing definitely goes into the DO NOT BUY column. After anything resembling an extended play period with this thing on, my ear really starts to hurt. The two ton anvil to break the camel's back though is feedback and interference. The headset is highly vulnerable to interference from other wireless devices operating on the same frequency. When my laptop is on with wireless near me, my friends tell me the quality of the sound from me decreases dramatically. I have a laptop, desktop, 360 adapter, and phone system all operating on the same frequency. It's a very typical setup and if you are reading this review I bet you have something very similar too.
The interference creates FEEDBACK. When using this headset people will hear lots of static coming from you when you are talking, and often even when you are not talking. Makes you a liability to your team in online games. I wish I could change the rating I gave it to 1 star. It's terrible and not worth the money.
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video-games_xbox
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Great FUN. After seeing the bad reviews that were posted about this game I figured I needed to post one that was more accurate!
We have had this game for several months, and we have had a blast playing it. It was a CHALLENGING game which some games just are not. I have read the other reviews on it and am disappointed others did not have as much fun with it as we did. We mainly played on multiplayer co-op because I am not very good at video games, and needed my husbands help quite frankly. Which now I am able to play it by myself since I have gotten better at video games period. I am much better at the arcade styles, like Tetris and things like that. SO for me to be able to play this game and enjoy it, and the other people who probably play ALOT of video games confuses me. I agree that some of the screen shots are hard, because you don't play in split screen like most when you do 2 player. Its one screen, so you just have to work WITH the other player to make sure that the screen is to the best of both of your advantages. Also, I admit that some of the controls for the vehicles were difficult, but its not anything someone cannot get used to. Come on if I can do it, an avid xbox player should have no problems. I think that if the controls were boring like a normal game it would have made this game less challenging and less fun.
I also seen a comment on how the game saves. There are alot of games that do not save unless you pass the level, which is how this one is. You reach a few checkpoints on the level, so that way if you die you return to that checkpoint and not have to start all over, but if you quit at a checkpoint, with the level unfinished, yes you have to start all over on that level.
There are a few glitches on the game, but nothing major that we haven't been able to handleand get passed. I have seen quite a few games with glitches why shouldn't this one be different?
OVERALL, we love this game and have a GREAT time playing it. If it weren't for the few minimal glitches I would have rated it 5 stars!
Its not perfect but it is fun!
We have almost completed the game, we have made it to the last level. And we are looking forward to another Monster Madness coming out!
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video-games_xbox
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I am a fan of the series, so Rick band 4 is great to me. Rock Band 4, in my opinion didn't get the love it deserved when it was first launched in 2015. Whoever is at fault - either Mad Catz for the lack of production of peripherals at launch like Harmonix claims, or if it was Harmonix for the lack of promo to get sales up like Mad Catz claims, or if the genre just ran it's course from over saturation in the 2007 to 2011 stretch. You can claim who or whatever you want, but the truth is, Rock band 4 is a solid title, and still a fantastic party game for everyone!
I was able to get all my Rock Band 3 songs over to Rock Band 4, which to me surprise also included all the Rock Band 1 and 2 tracks. Apparently, if you have exported your Rock Band 1 and 3 track into Rock band three on your Xbox 360 in the past, they come along in the $15 export purchase for Rock Band 4. I was aware of this, as I ready it was to late to export Rock Band 1 and 2 into Rock Band 4, but that's only if you are trying to export them directly into 4. I already exported them into Rock Band 3 for my 360, so they all came over to 4 which was a pleasent surprise.
There is a $30 expansion to Rock Band 4 called 'Rivals' which adds online play and a couple of offline/local play options as well. There is some people complaining about paying the $30 for an add-on of online play, and although I can see where they are coming from, I am also willing to support Harmonix and purchase it. Harmonix is an independent company now, and they are some what on their own. PdP, who took over for Mad Catz when they went under helps out, but there is still licensing that they need to cover for music and to keep servers up and running, ect. So I purchased the expansion without any issues.
Game play wise, there is not much to talk about. If you are a fan of previous Rock Band titles, the core game play is exactly the same. They didn't go into a different direction like Guitar Hero Live did, so it is new, yet familiar game play. One of the things I absolutely love is the new peripherals. I have not used the PDP ones yet, but Mad Catz did a great job designing the new instruments - for being plastic controllers of course.
The drums are pretty solid (wireless as well which is nice). The pads are more rubber type instead of Rock Band 1's original clacky and ridiculously loud pads, which makes them a LOT more quiet. They still make a little noise, but nothing more then a standard drum practice pad would.
The guitar itself has a very well done quiet strum bar. The buttons have nice clicks to them, and are nice in size, although if you are use to playing with older Guitar Hero controllers like I was, it will take a little getting use to, but not a deal breaker at all. One of the best features I think, is the audio and video sync option the controller has. I play through a surround sound system, and when the 4k tv and surround sound system both have volume, you can clearly hear latency. So what I do is, turn the TV all the down, turn the surround sound up, and then use the game's calibration tools. The guitar controller has built in Mic and video sensor, making it a breeze to calibrate the game to your sound system of choice. For audio, it makes a click sound and you just hold the guitar up to the speaker. Within seconds the audio is calibrated. You then do the same for video. You just hold the guitar up to the TV, start the video calibrator, and it flashes white on the screen to calibrate the video. The end result is a dead on accurate setup, making it easier to hit notes on the screen. I ended up manually calibrating the game at first, and I was missing notes and runs I was clearly hitting. But once I used the auto calibrator, it ran fantastic.
The add on DLC songs is where it is at, as the on disc sound track is not the strongest. I knew this going in, but I love a lot of the DLC they are offering on the store. Each song is $1.99 or there are special collection packs you can get.
Overall I love Rock Band 4. Some of the customization options for your characters are a little lack luster,and even the the Rivals expansion adds some more to the collection, it's not as strong as previous installments of the game. But if you are into it for just the good 'ol fun game play, you can't beat it.
If you are a fan of the franchise, I would recommend Rock Band 4. Esecially if you plan on buying the Rock Band 3 export and the Rivals expansion. With the band bundles currently being about $170 here on Amazon, it is the cheapest it has been since it launched. I am enjoying the title very much.
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video-games_xbox
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One step forward, two steps. I recently picked this up with high expectations, I thought it would be the next web of shadows with improved gameplay, a great story, and hours of fun!
Meh.
First, let me just say the visuals and sound are just great! As you can probably guess, you've got four Spidey universes to travel around, the Amazing Spiderman universe, the Ultimate universe, Spiderman 2099, and Spiderman Noir. Each universe has their own look and feel to it, each with their own art designs as well as alternate takes on certain Marvel super villains. What about the voice work? Just great. Each Spidey has their own voice actor, and each one of them gives their own spin on the character, and all the while making you chuckle at their wise-cracks (... except for Noir Spiderman... he's more of the Batman-ish one of the group).
The story is... bland. Mysterio steals some magical stone tablet. Spiderman breaks it, every single universe is in danger, and it's up to the four Spidermen to put the stone back together... but, UH-OH! Should a villain get a hold on one of the fragments, they'll develop powers beyond their wildest dreams. Generic, but the writing for the characters is pretty solid. There were just moments where I couldn't stop laughing. So far, everything is going fine... and then we get to the gameplay.
Remember the open world free-roaming that has been dominating consoles for the past couple of years? This is NOTHING like that. Think... Spiderman: the movie, with it's mission themed levels... except even more dumbed down. Each and every character has a set path they must journey through, fight hoards of enemies, then fight the level boss. They run away, another 10 minutes of beating down swarms of enemies and saving random people from sudden death, until you reach the boss once again, who's now jacked up on the power from the stone tablet. Beat them down. Get the piece of the tablet, and then DO IT ALL OVER AGAIN WITH A NEW BOSS AND A NEW SET OF HENCHMEN! Doesn't that sound like the best darned Spiderman game ever? Oh, wait. Each Spiderman has their own skills of course. Amazing Spidey has the basics, Ultimate has the symbiote suite and a rage out mode, 2099 can go super fast and he's the only character with this free-falling segments every once in awhile in his stage, and Noir has a Arkham Asylum inspired "Take down the bad guys without being spotted" thing going on... except, a lot more simplified and just... boring.
Well, what about the lasting appeal? Save for some small achievements you can pull off, buying abillities, and unlocking alternate suites, I doubt anyone will be revisiting this title again.
Overall, I say pass unless you're a dedicated Spiderman fan, or at the very least rent it if you in the slightest bit interested. It will take no time to get through, and with little going on for the gameplay, I doubt you will be back for seconds.
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video-games_xbox
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Simply put: Not a good game. I wanted this game to be a hit. I was so excited on game release day. The game looks and plays terrible. I knew by the end of the first night that the game was awful and half-hearted.
I'm just like everyone else -- I've never really experienced lag like this, ever, on any 360 game. Some matches are lag free, most have some moments of stutter, a few linger, and a good chunk are unplayable. The net code for this game must be terrible. Even if you think you are "lag free", play a round with bots and you'll notice how incredibly smooth the game is unless it is on-line.
The graphics are... out dated. The style and detail are great, but the engine seems to be almost a throw back. The visual customizations for your character and weapons are great -- except when you are actually playing you don't even notice it because it is mostly "not there".
The technical aspects of the game -- classes, goals, abilities -- are mediocre at best. There isn't really a lot of motivation to use any of the various abilities most of the time. The classes seem bland and only relevant temporarily while you need to achieve the mission objective. The variety in weapons is seemingly wide, but it is more like a list of weapons whose primary distinction is its irritating shortcoming.
The maps are well done with a multitude of paths to traverse, secondary objectives can open up short cuts or block progress, and that might be the game's only real upside.
The parkour thing is ehhh. It is highly disorienting and inconsistent, and even though it is titled, "SMART", it isn't. If you aren't straight enough on to something you won't parkour it... and sometimes you'll parkour something at your side totally throwing you out of whack.
Lastly, every mutliplayer game -- which this basically is -- has one gigantic potential weakness: the actual players. So far I've not run into many people who bother to try to work with their team at all. That can make for very easy victories, or very painful and drawn out failures. I found a little fun in the co-op campaign, but then the enemy bots are... akin to card board pop ups at a gun range. ...and no voice chat? I know, I don't want to hear the idiots, either -- but we can't really coordinate in a meaningful "team manner" while playing this "team oriented" game. A strange choice and just an example of one of many strange choices they made in this game.
Time will tell if they can patch up the game and fix the incredibly poor quality online experience, performance/technical wise. The game is just generally weird and not good. After about five hours of on-line, solo challenge, and bot play I can safely say that this game is just not good. I've heard the PC version plays better.
I'll probably put a bit more time into this game just in case, for some reason, I'm actually missing the fun part, but I'm pretty sure this game is a flop.
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video-games_xbox
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A game that's not focused enough to know what exactly it wants to be (and squanders opportunity in the process. On the surface, Watch Dogs looks like another GTA or Saint's Row, and with its open Chicago to explore, cars to steal and people to shoot, you'd be forgiven to mistake it for just such a game. At others, it's more concerned being a stealth game where open conflict is probably going to lead to certain death. This leads into the hacking part of the game, which sounds interesting and at times almost reminds me of an Episode of 'Person of Interest' (eavesdropping on phone conversations for instance), but after a while that feels older than it ought to (likely because there are no actual game mechanics behind it...hacking is reduced to pressing a couple of buttons). Missions are repetitive, AI is uneven, the visuals are subpar (especially on the X360 version apparently, which is unfortunate) and a game that's billed as an open-world game full of choices feels so much more limited than it ought to. The freedom is a ruse, it's more like you have the illusion of freedom. The game holds your hand throughout and really doesn't ask you to make any difficult choices. That's scripted for you.
As for your character, Aidan Pearce, he's quite possibly the least interesting video game protagonist since the square in Adventure. He's two-dimensional, uninspired and his getup looks like a nerd's idea of cool and tough. I guess they got that last part right. A game that hits on as many pertinent issues as this (personal privacy, security, ethical hacking, etc.) should have something more poignant to say, but it manages to side-step or ignore just about every point it could make in favor of settling things the way things generally are in video games, with bullets. Watch Dogs is a game that brings a lot of interesting ideas to the table, then manages to drop them all in favor of a game you've already played before, and probably had more fun playing the last time. Ultimately, the game is about as focused on its narrative as it is on its gameplay, and in either case, if you're looking for something more, both will leave you cold (and very, very bored). It's a shame really, because there are good ideas here waiting to be explored, but if they had, I wonder if Watch Dogs would have sold as well as it has? UbiSoft took the safer bet on this one.
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video-games_xbox
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A review because of all the negative reaction. I purchased this game 2 days after launch. This is important because I missed most of the server issues that are the main complaint of most reviewers. A lot of the people that have only console experience with games will probably be turned off due to the server issues and that is a shame. They will miss a truly enjoyable experience that will continue to develop over its life span.
People that have experience with MMOs will tell you that a game like this will have issues during the first week or so. It is hard to be able to stress test this many people trying to play a online only game at once. While this is no excuse it would be unforgivable if the developers weren't so great at working on the problems. They kept the gamers in the loop and considering their problems they handled it all well. Now some may say it is unforgivable to put out a game that doesn't work and take peoples money. I think the support and work on the servers redeem this apparent failure and shows just how much they want the game to work and be enjoyable.
I am enjoying running around and having other people doing the same quest as you and being able to co-op it without having to join a group. The graphics are not amazing but if you are looking for that in an MMO I feel you shouldn't be playing MMOs. I think games now have to justify their price tag. If a game is going to cost $60 then it must entertain me for longer than 10 hours. I would prefer to get around 1 hour per dollar I spend. This requires enjoyment in core gameplay and enough variation to break up the monotony in said core gameplay. This game includes PVP a few different quest types and Ark fall events. These have broken the gameplay up into a enjoyable ride with choices to advance the story or perform small tasks to level and gain equipment.
This game is not perfect. Some of the flaws are in the user interface being less than user friendly. Some hiccups in the larger ark fall events when there are a lot of people in one area. But server drops I have only experienced once and I am enjoying the story line so far. The side quests provide an nice break from the story and a few challenge type quests you can compete with other people on your respective console of choice.
I would give this game a 4.5 but felt that a 5 would help cancel out the people that were disgusted by the initial server problems and made a knee jerk reaction and gave it a 1 star while not playing the game and were harsh on the game before giving it a play through.
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video-games_xbox
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This game is great fun. I have followed Borderlands for years. I first saw it probably three years ago in a gaming magazine and it grabbed my interest then. The final product has changed some, but I have to say I love where they have gone with it.
Like some I was worried about the graphics prior to playing the game. Now that I've played it though I think they match the atmosphere of the game and I love them. They lend another dimension to the atmosphere of the game and this game has a lot of atmosphere. It really is a game that focuses on the fun, with lots of humor sprinkled in, tons of guns with big explosions and enemies that explode beautifully and run around yelling curses at you. True to the advertising there are thousands and thousands of guns here.
The game plays like a first person shooter with a hint of RPG elements thrown in. There is loot to pickup but it is all money, guns or ammo. And that is fine because you won't want to spend all your time looting when it is so fun to shoot. There are 4 classes to pick from, but aside from having a unique action skill their customization doesn't add any additional abilities and they can all use all of the guns you come across (the skill points you spend are focused on adding damage to certain gun types or boosting your ability to take certain types of damage). This lets you pick the character you want to play and still play them your way. Want to snipe with the big guy, go for it. Want to blow things away with the Siren. You can. I wish there were more diversity in the skills you can upgrade, but I can understand why they kept it simple. Don't fix what already works so well.
Like all first person shooters this one can get a little monotonous at times, but I have to admit they have done an excellent job keeping you interested. You won't find a lot of different enemy models, but the enemies will behave differently and use different weapons and attacks on you, and there is a lot of diversity in how, and with what weapons, you go about gunning them down. The gunning is just so dang enjoyable that I can shoot bandits for hours without getting bored. The use of elemental damage (either from your guns, your skill points, or from barrels found sprinkled around the enviroment) is done well and used a lot. If you find yourself struggling on a hard boss look for a barrel of corrosive poison or combustible fuel to blow up, or equip a shocking or exploding weapon and go to town.
While the single-player is loads of fun the co-op is even better. You can group with up to 4 friends, and when you join a game you have the choice of using a default character or importing one of your own saved game characters. If you use your own then the loot and experience is saved. And the game also allows you to play any character you want, so if you all want to be Brick you can. While grouped like this the enemies will scale up in strength and difficulty and drop better loot to keep things challenging and rewarding. My only complaint with the mutliplayer is that you can't play split screen on your xbox and still join a game over xbox live with your friends. I don't know why they don't let you do that, but I can live with it. But it would have been fun because my wife plays split screen with me, but can't join me when I play with my other friends. Boo!
My final verdict for Borderlands is 5 stars, and I rarely give a game 5 stars. If you are thinking about getting it I say get it. This game is great fun and even after you think you are done with it, it is fun to pick it back up and just go gun down some more bandits or skaggs. Boom! Exploding headshots!
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video-games_xbox
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An expert Lefty guitar controller user's review. As far as guitar controllers go, this is right up there near the top. However, I will be writing this review from the standpoint that as someone who plays on the expert setting, simple functionality just doesn't cut it, and some of the available songs require extraordinary skill, spectacular design and solid engineering of the guitar controllers to appropriately allow players the chance to succeed.
>>The Look<<
The XBOX 360 Wireless Rickenbacker 325 guitar controller for The Beatles: Rock Band looks beautiful. The fret buttons sit flush with the neck of the guitar, the whammy bar is long and elegant, it's just an overall good-looking peripheral to add to my ever-growing collection. Over the past few years I have used seven different guitar controllers from both the Guitar Hero and Rock Band franchises, and this one is by far the sexiest.
>>Function<<
As with all Rock Band guitar controllers, the thing that has always turned me off about them is the strum bar. It is too clunky. Now, having gone through countless hours of frustration using guitar controllers from Guitar Hero 3 and Guitar Hero: World Tour, this guitar is like a dream. But I play on Expert, and when I am playing songs that require extremely precise or quick strumming, this guitar really doesn't cut it. It's really hard to put my finger (ha ha) on what it is about this guitar controller, and the Rock Band ones in general, that I dislike. Because I think if I had begun playing Rock Band, never having experienced Guitar Hero, I would prefer these controllers. But my weapon of choice (even these days), is the white X-Plorer guitar controller from Guitar Hero 2.
See, the Rock Band guitars don't make that clicking sound everyone seems to complain about. For me though, I like that clicking sound. It helps me keep time with the song and be more precise. If a song bridges to a quiet section it does get slightly irritating since you're hearing a loud clicking noise every time you strum, but the Rock Band guitars, with their silent strumming, really throws me off. Like I can't FEEL the song. I can't describe it. Sometimes when I use this guitar controller I feel like if I'm going nuts on a song and hit the strum bar too hard I'm going to break it right off. It just sticks out too far for my liking.
The fret buttons feels exactly the way they should, and here the Guitar Hero franchise could take a page out of Rock Band's book. They sit flush with the neck of the controller, and are stiff. But though they are stiff, I have never had a problem with the game not registering when I'm holding a button down. The only complaint I can make about the fret buttons is that (perhaps for support? or something?) the frets are all separated by a plastic divider. And they get in the way when I have to do hammer ons and have to slide my hand down or up the neck. The Guitar Hero controllers have them beat in this area, as all of their frets are raised, which makes sliding fingers up and down the neck quickly is almost painless. Ideally I would like to leave the Rock Band generic guitar frets inlaid in the neck but remove the stupid dividers from them.
The whammy bar is too big. I understand that's what you get when you are doing a recreation, and so I cannot mark this guitar as sub-standard and lower my rating, but it is still the truth. Maybe because I am so used to the X-Plorer controller with it's short stiff whammy bar that this one just seems huge and almost useless (I like not having to remove my hand from the immediate strum area just to use the whammy bar, and so I generally don't even bother with the whammy bar unless it's a long sustained note). You also have to work around it if you, like me, are a lefty and play the guitar "upside down." My thumb rests right near where the whammy bar is located on this guitar. Again, I can't deduct points for that since it's a recreation, it's just a fact.
>>Balance<<
Fail. This is one of the most important parts of the guitars design, and in this area, this guitar controller fails miserably. The body of the guitar has a nice heft to it, but the neck is very light. Now, I wouldn't call it cheap, but compared to the weight of the body, it makes the guitar feels very weird. I think this guitar would be much easier to handle if they weighted the neck down more to balance the controller out. Obviously the design of these controllers is all about trying to please the most people possible, so perhaps rather than adding weight to the neck they could lighten up the body. It makes the guitar feel weird and clunky that it is so unbalanced.
>>In Conclusion<<
Let's face it, these guitars are all about personal preference, whether you're righty or lefty, your difficulty level, and what you can adapt to. The best, most responsive guitar controller I have ever used was the one that came with Guitar Hero: Aerosmith. I would still use it, but it gave out, and to buy that by itself is far too expensive to justify. Out of the seven guitar controllers I have ever used, this one comes in third, slightly behind the white X-Plorer. And only behind that one because I need to be able to really play the hell out of the guitar controller when I'm using it, and this one feels too awkward to be able to do that effectively. If you play on Hard difficulty or below, this guitar will absolutely work beautifully for you, no doubt about it. If you play on Expert though, you might want to pass on this guitar. Even though it is solidly built with reasonable response on the strum, this is not the kind of precision I require.
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video-games_xbox
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Pretty good. STORY
As a newcomer to the series, I found the story to be somewhat difficult to follow, though it is not surprising given that it is the fourth entry in the main series. From what I could figure out, you play as Desmond Miles, as Desmond Miles as Ezio Auditore, and as Desmond Miles as Ezio Auditore as Altar ibn La-Ahad (I'll explain later in this email). Desmond is part of a fraternity of assassins who call themselves "The Assassins". The Assassins are an organization sworn to protect civilization from collapsing by assassinating the corrupt and stealing from innocent bystanders to pay for expenses and then bribing criers to keep their mouths shut about certain activities. On the opposite side, we have the Templar Order, who seek to advance civilization and to destroy The Assassins. The Templar order and The Assassins Guild continue their fight into our present time, with the Templar Order now being funded by Abstergo Industries. The fate of the entire world rests on which side can find an artifact of ultimate power first, if the wrong side wins, society will collapse. Altair and Ezio are ancestors of Desmond whose memories he can experience first hand through a machine called an Animus, which was designed by Abstergo Industries. The Animus allows individuals to remember ancestral memories, which seem similar to Jungian archetypes, and live through them as though they were there themselves. Desmond's ancestors had first hand experience with this artifact that everyone wants to get their hands on, called the Apple of Eden.
Desmond has been left in a comatose state after certain traumatic events happened in the previous game and was put inside of an Animus in the possession of the modern Assassin's Guild to save him. Inside the Animus Desmond meets the disembodied consciousness of Subject 16, an individual whose physical body is dead but he lives on in the Animus as data. Subject 16 informs Desmond that his mind is fragmented and that the only way to put it back together is to separate Desmond's memories from Ezio's, the only way to do this is to live through Ezio's memories until Ezio has nothing left to show Desmond. As Ezio in 1511 Constantinople, (Ezio being the main focus of the story who the player will spend the most time playing as. Desmond experiences Ezio's quest to find the true origins and purpose of the Assassin's Guild, something Ezio finds out by experiencing Altair's memories through artifacts called the Masyaf Keys. Ezio has to find all of the Masyaf keys to unlock Altair's library so that he may know the ultimate truth behind The Assassin's Guild before the Templar Order finds them, while simultaneously helping The Assassin's Guild maintain a strong presence in Constantinople and stopping a Templar plot against the Ottoman government. As Altair, you play through his life as he struggles to keep his family and his Guild together through a period of betrayal and civil war within the Assassin's. The story was interesting, engaging, and had a great sense of adventure, if a little strange.
CAMPAIGN GAMEPLAY
The gameplay is fun for the most part. The series' trademark free-running mechanic works very well. And I did enjoy the cinematic feel of the action-packed missions. Melee combat is simple but functional for the most part, and the finishers are brutal and satisfying, though the blood animation looked a little two dimensional which looked wrong given how pretty almost everything else in the game is (a very minor complaint that doesn't really effect gameplay however). Finishers can run a little long and leave you vulnerable to attacks from your enemies, which wouldn't be a problem if finishers were manually activated just for kicks and giggles, but finishers happen automatically so you can't just decide to not use them if say you were surrounded by a large group of enemies or your health was running low which happened frequently enough to me to become an annoyance rather than the nice piece of gory eye candy it was meant to be. I found ranged-combat to be very annoying. Ranged weapons, with the exception of bombs, use an auto-aim system that never seems to lock on to the target you want to put down (not saying it never does, just its always a pain to lock onto the right target), especially if you're on a rooftop, no matter how low it is, you will almost never get a lock right away which can be very annoying in missions that require you to kill targets on the ground from the rooftops. A free-aiming system would have been much more intuitive. Of course, the highlight of combat is performing assassinations which require you to sneak up on your enemies, or ambush them from above. Sometimes sneaking in a crowd can be a problem however; since the "steal" command and the "fast walk" command share the "A" button, they run simultaneously when you press or hold "A", making you pickpocket any passerby whether or not you wanted to.
In addition to the regular gameplay, the game also features two other mini games, the first being, "Den Defense", which is essentially just an Assassin's Creed themed tower defense game. You build up your defenses and try to survive three waves of Templar forces, followed by a giant siege weapon. In this mini game, although Ezio is forced to stay in one spot on the rooftops throughout, you are able to, in addition to choosing which defenses to deploy and where, can shoot enemies using your wrist mounted gun using a free-aim system (something that like I said before, would have been better off just being the default way of using ranged weaponry in the main game).
The other mini game is a series of entirely optional first-person puzzle missions called "Desmond's Journey". Each mission in Desmond's Journey must be unlocked by collecting a required number of "Animus Fragments" that are scattered across the campaign's open-world map. The missions take the player through a strange temple-like program that represents Desmond's memories of his life up until the events of the first game. As the player makes progress, you hear more of Desmond's monologue explaining where at his life he's remembering. Within Desmond's Journey, there are Multiplayer Emblems hidden throughout that you will want to keep an eye out for. The puzzles aren't that challenging, and Desmond's Journey won't take too long to beat, there are about 5 missions and each should only take about 5-13 minutes to beat, but I found it an enjoyable distraction from the main game.
The game is open-world, meaning that the players are free to roam around a gigantic area, to activate missions, you have to go to a specific location on the map. The open-world of Assassin's Creed revelations is nice, but felt as though it lacked a sufficient number of things to do in it, or at least things to do that could remain interesting. Interaction with the open-world mainly consisted of killing enemies, invest in real estate, shopping, finding collectibles, or just randomly picking fights with innocent bystanders. I'm not saying all of that isn't fun, but most of it got old pretty quickly. Killing enemies could have kept the game fun, if there were more variety to them. Eventually you just start seeing the same group of enemies over and over again, eventually I just kind of avoided dealing with them to save me the tedium of it; my guess is that Ubisoft was trying to keep things historically accurate as to what types of enemies would have existed for Ezio to fight. As for investing in real estate, it wasn't really a fun thing to do but is somewhat necessary, you have to buy shops in order to buy merchandise from them, such as armor, medicine, weapons and gadgets. Of course the game provides you with some open-shops to start with so that you aren't screwed from the get-go, but I still found it kind of annoying, at least at first, after a couple of investments I was making more money than I knew what to do with, which took the fun out of shopping for upgrades. Collectibles aren't hard to find either, and in fact most of them reveal themselves on your map, and save for a few animus fragments, none of them were hard to aquire, so other than to unlock more Desmon'ds Journey missions, collecting things on the map just felt kind of pointless and boring.
The AI in Assassin's Creed: Revelations seems very wonky. If you are higher up then an enemy who is trying to engage you, they will often climb up and down the same ledge over and over apparently not sure how to get to you and occasionally, enemies will unintentionally commit suicide by jumping off of rooftops and drowning themselves in the ocean. Guards armed with flashbangs will relentlessly spam them, stunning themselves as well as the player, pointlessly dragging out an encounter with an enemy rather then making them a worthy challenge, making it a frustrating waste of time to fight them rather than a fun challenge. Once when I was fighting on a rooftop with a guard armed with flashbangs, it threw one directly in front of itself. The guard stunned itself and fell backwards off of the roof, killing itself.
MULTIPLAYER
By far, my favorite part of "Assassin's Creed: Revelations" was the multiplayer, and in fact, the multiplayer for this game is one of my favorite multiplayer experiences ever. Fair Warning: multiplayer access requires a Uplay passport, they come included with new copies of the game, I believe you can download them separately for around ten dollars however. Most modes in multiplayer revolve around a cat-and-mouse cycle; players are assigned both targets and pursuers, you chase down and kill your targets while your pursuers try to chase down and kill you among a crowd of NPCs (non-playable characters) resembling the players' avatars. When pursuers are near you, a subtle whispering can be heard through your speakers, you have to pay attention and learn to recognize it among the chattering crowds or else you will fall prey to your enemies, which presents you with two options, try to catch the pursuer off guard and stun him or just run like hell and try to lose him. The game will punish you for trying to stun by directly confronting your pursuer as opposed to catching him off guard by killing you anyway, so when dealing with opposition you have to think it through. The same applies for killing targets, you have to think through how you are going to kill them, if you just charge at them, not only can they see you coming, but so can your pursuers. The game will also reward players who kill with variety and creativity, killing an opponent by jumping from a high altitude and assassinating him can get you an aerial kill bonus. Most of the game modes are the standard issue, like capture the flag and deathmatch, including team variants of each, but the unique gameplay make it something truly special. And like in most multiplayer games, Assassin's Creed: Revelations features a perk system that improves as you level up (increase your rank), allowing you to make certain combinations of perks that fit your style of playing. Another cool feature in the multiplayer, is the fact that it too has a story. As you level up, in addition to the aforementioned perks, you also unlock cut-scenes that tell the multiplayer mode's story and your character's progression through it; you are a member of the Templar Order working with Abstergo Industries using the animus as a battleground against other Templars (other players) trying to prove yourself to the order by showing your abilities for promises of riches and glory. One problem I had with the cut-scenes though, is that they will keep playing, even after the next match has begun, leaving you vulnerable while you try to watch it.
To summarize, its a good game weighed down with a lot of flaws, that has a great multiplayer that is unlike anything I have ever played before. I'd give it a 3.5/5
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video-games_xbox
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Generic shooter, Good Ideas, Poor Execution. First, let me say that I am reviewing this game simply on the multiplayer aspect.
Likes: Large scale, objective based combat is what I signed on for, and Homefront presents that in spades. The Battle Commander mode adds a nice touch in that it gives you targets to hunt down while you trying to survive. Vehicles on the battlefield is also good. That the vehicles don't require hours of practice to learn to control (Battlefield 3, take note) is incredible for those of us who never got the hang of flying AND shooting at the same time on B:BC2. Love that the levels are full of holes to hide in and buildings to scale; some of the maps have incredible heights for snipers to shoot from with enormous fields of view.
Dislikes: It shouldn't be a surprise to anyone buying this game at this point that it has been plagued with server issues. Sometimes you can connect, sometimes you can't. When trying to connect with a party, half of the party gets into a game, and half gets left behind (or worse, put on the other team). This makes playing a round with more than one or two buddies (can you believe there is an achievement for playing a round with a party of 16? Never can get more than 5 into a room at a time) without somebody getting kicked. The weapon selection is somewhat short compared to other FPS on the market, particularly in the realm of sniper rifles. While some weapons have interchangeable scopes, silencers, and other attachments, the sniper is stuck with the default weapon, no room for expansion. The weapons and custom class setup is woefully unbalanced; higher level players have, quite frankly, a significant advantage that makes it hard for lower level players to get a sense of contributing to the matches.
Overall, there are better FPS on the market, but not many that will let you get 32 people running around on the same map. The maps are pretty lifelike, but a tank should be able to blow down a wall in a farmhouse instead of bounce off of it. Lack of hardcore mode, problems getting into matches, and "inventory" issues when customizing classes get this game knocked down from great to mediocre in this regard. When I'm playing alone, it's fun. When I'm playing with a group, it makes my head hurt.
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video-games_xbox
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The controller the XBone should have included for free. This is the quality of controller that *should* have come with the XBone. The controllers for the 360 were tanks. I threw mine across the room in frustration many times and it is still going fine after most of a decade. The one that came with my XBone, I tossed it onto the bed as I walked to the bathroom on the first day, it rolled off and broke one of the sticks.
The elite controller is built like they all should be. You can literally feel the build quality just by picking it up.
Now the caveats and the reason for taking off a star: While I like the idea of being able to customize things by selecting my stick height and whatnot, they fall off all the time. I've had to tear the room apart looking for the thumbsticks several times just because they snagged a charge cord or something and popped off while I was picking it up.
The paddles on the back side, I've barely used. I suspect they would be of more use for FPS players than a generalist like me. The bits do stick on well, the magnets work just fine. They just are magnets and you are supposed to be able to take them off easily.
Then there is the real, hidden, dark side. The "rubberized" grips. They feel great, love them to death. But unless you wear gloves while gaming with this controller, it is only a matter of time before they start to "bubble" up and peel off. The fault really isn't with Microsoft, it is that rubber. As it gets exposed to oils from your skin, or that piece of pizza you just ate, it warps. I even had this happen with the Otter Box case on my iPad. Exactly at the points where my hands always held it, it started to swell and get distorted.
That swelling got bad enough that I had to replace mine and now I am super mindful of what gets on those grips. My old controller works just fine, but I had to get one of those rubber covers for it to hold the grip panels somewhat flattish.
TL;DR - Great build quality, bad rubber grips, keep track of your bits/store it in the case, way too damned expensive.
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video-games_xbox
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SupCom 2: Rushed For Release. The developer Chris Taylor mentioned during an interview that he felt the learning curve of the original game hurt sales. It is clear Supreme Commander 2 has been simplified with the hopes of bolstering sales to a more general audience. The result is that this game is not an RTS-fan's RTS. It is was planned to be an RTS for the casual, and that is fine.
The problem is that this was clearly rushed out to arrive before StarCraft 2 comes and dominates the market. The lack of time to redesign GPG's matchmaking service led them to poorly integrate with Steam - resulting in a virtual matchmaking nightmare, as most players can only join a handful of games at a given time out of the "hundreds" that are allegedly open. The lack of time also led to no mod support, only a single 8 player map (the original game had nearly a dozen), no ladder play (they are aiming to have it out "soon"), and no map editor.
Simply put, if you and your two friends want to play a casual 3v3 against some random strangers, good luck finding your friends, or anyone able to connect with you. And assuming the lobby connects to everyone, the map selection is so poor that there is little to do once you have all arrived. Competitive players will abandon this quickly as well, due to the lack of a properly integrated ladder and match making service. Instead of Supreme Commander 1's policy of "something for everyone" Supreme Commander 2 literally has "something for no one."
In short, this product in no way resembles Supreme Commander 1, which may or may not be a bad thing depending on how involved you want your RTS games to be. But the level of polish this game is completely unacceptable for a modern product. The developers clearly had StarCraft 2 chasing them in their minds as they pushed this one. And that is unfortunate, it had potential to be something interesting and different, rather than a "get the money and run" game that will be in EB's bargain bin in a month.
This review may be subject to patches as the game itself is fixed, but given the developers' track record with patching games, expect this to stand.
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video-games_xbox
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Worth the Wait. The answer is a definite yes. I have not even finished the game yet b/c I have been engrossed in side missions. I have two different saves going one good and one evil. I played the 1st hour of the vault about 5 times and each had something different about it depending on my decision. I ventured on as my good guy and someone wanted me to detonate a bomb in the middle of a town and I thought the money sounds good but a shotgun blast to this guys face sounds even better. Even though it took like 4 blast b/c my weapons condition I was living the life of my good guy with a vengeance against evil. As my evil character I came to the town and decided to take the offer and leave the town in ruins. After stealing a lot of stuff and making myself even more evil I decided it was time to go. So I went off to his base and watched from a distance a amazing site of a giant mushroom cloud. I did miss out on some side quest though since everyone in the town died.
This is what I have been doing since getting this game and I don't want to rush through it. This is exactly what I hoped this game would do. My time thus far as been greatly enjoyed and I haven't even made an attempt for the main quest yet. Though I have completed some side quests that really offered no real benefit and I felt like it was worthless to nothing. In Oblivion I felt like what I did really made a difference and this game in a little way is lacking it in certain side quests.
Is there any problems with the game of course the answer is yes. I do wish character development was a little better and I think I prefer Oblivions system of leveling up over this one but its still awesome none the less. Is this Oblivion with guns in some ways it is but it is so much more than that. I could not bring myself to lower it down to that especially when I target someones head and watch it in slo mo as the guys head explodes in chunks all over the place or taking a laser pistol and severing someones head with it. There is even more to this game than just exploding body parts though it is an enjoyable one.
A few annoyances are that the graphics are great but not overly awesome. The detail to the environment is kinda what I expected with a lot of gray tones and a overall bleak atmosphere. I think some people think after a nuclear war there would be a lot more green or something b/c I have heard gripes about the look of the game. The VATS camera can be annoying sometimes and there is a lot of slo mo so if you don't like that than you might want to get used to it. The character models are kinda stiff and the voice acting does kinda overlap with the same people. I think thats how it was in Oblivion though. The whole part with a couple side quest not really benefiting you that much is kinda a let down.
Even though I didn't find the gameplay as deep as Oblivion I enjoyed it a lot more. This game should not be rushed through and do yourself a favor if you get it and take your time with it. So much to do and see and there is something around ever corner most the time.
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video-games_xbox
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Fun and at times frustrating. This is an interesting game for those in love with zombie apocalypses. It is different in that there are no game-saves to go back to if you screw up. The game saves after you end a mission (arrive back at base). If you die, you're gone. I lost two of my best people early on and almost quit. I decided to try again and see what I could do. In very short order I cleared the center of the town of all the zombie hordes and infestations and got things going again. My new best character made it up until the very end of the game.
It's tough. It really is. The zombies come in mobs and will overwhelm you. You cant pause it to take meds to get your stamina up or to recover from wounds. Guns really aren't all that effective. Even if you knock the zombies down they get up again after one shot. It takes too long to reload to make it worthwhile carrying much ammo. I found myself hardly using guns at all, except for grenade launchers.
The story line is interesting and the characters are good. There is even character development as each character has a history and certain predilections that affect game play. The graphics are just "OK" despite being reworked for X-BOX ONE. My biggest complaint is that you get very little help from the other characters. You have to earn reputation to do anything, and you often find yourself trying in vain to find somebody to go on a mission with you, or to spell you so you can recover your stamina and from your wounds.
There is so much to do, and the emergencies come up so fast, you'll be on your way to one and halfway across the map when you are summoned urgently back to base. When you then don't complete the original mission, you get "scolded" for letting it slip by, as though you could have done anything about it. You get the idea that everyone is helpless. The AI could be better. Not for the zombies. You don't expect much out of them, but to watch people walk into trees and fences and get stuck between them, really wears on your patience when hordes are closing in.
All in all though, it's a good game. I recommend playing it without aids, that is, without looking at Wikis and walk-thrus. It's more realistic that way, given you can't go back to previous saves. Go whole hog and get the full apocalypse experience of "no backs." That's what I did, and gruesome as it was, I didn't regret it.
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video-games_xbox
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I like it. Better than I thought. Lol I was hesitant to buy this game because of all the bad reviews I read. I watched gameplay of this game online but even that didn't convince me that well. A lot of people kept saying the controls were bad, gameplay was bad and that the game took away the survival aspect of past RE games. Not to mention some said the game was too difficult. Oh well.
After almost 2 years on the market I decided to just take a chance on this game since I was bored with my current games and never played this before and since i am a RE fan and the fact I paid less than $10 for this game brand new I figured why not. I am not new to the RE serious although I never played any of the side RE games on other systems. I played RE1 back in 96, RE2 in 1998, RE3 in 99, Code Veronica on the the Dreamcast when it came out and then on the PS2, RE4 and RE5 and I loved each and every one. I own RE1, 2, 3 and code veronica on my PS3 and I have RE4, 5 and now RE6. I am not going to do an in debth review since so many others who liked this game said pretty much the same I will say.
Graphics: Very good. Nice shadows. Not a lot of lag, if any because I haven't experienced any
Sound: Very Good. Some sounds were recycled from previous RE games but it's nothing bad about it. I like the music in the game too.
Acting: Good. I can say that since RE1 the acting in all RE games afterwards has been much better.
Controls: Good. The tank controls are gone although I never had no serious issues with them. You use both analog sticks to move around. Like in other games AND YES YOU CAN FINALLY SHOOT AND MOVE AT THE SAME TIME!
Gamplay: Good. The game is broken in 4 campaigns. Leon, Chris, Jake (a new character) and Ada. They did a patch on this game so ADA is unlocked from the get go. No need to beat the first 3 campaigns first. Chris's and Jake's campaign have a lot of action. Leon's action doesn't pick up til about the 3rd chapter or so. Ada's is about the same as Leon's although her's seems a little more difficult plus she is the only one that does without a partner.
Each campaign is broken up into 5 chapters. Each chapter is about 1 hour long including the cut scenes. The story line is a bit confusing compared to other RE games. They took away the "notes" you would find in game that would tell a little bit more about what was going on. The game autosaves now, no more typewriters. The menu systems is different. In RE5 your weapon (or whatever you put in the slot) corresponds to the directional pad. In RE6 its a little similar but now everything has its place. Left and right on the D pad sorts through your aresonal. Up and down deals with your grenades and first aid sprays (yes, those are back lol) Your herbs have their own slot.
No more merchant and weapons can no longer be upgraded. You get skills that can help in combat. All characters have improved moves now. You can dodge punches yourself without waiting for a prompt like in RE4 and 5. I wouldn't say this game is an improvement over RE4 and 5. At least not to me. It's still good and better than I thought. Infinite ammo returns but this is the first RE game that I have played that does without an infinite rocket launcher. There is a LOT to do in this game though so it should keep you busy for a while.
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video-games_xbox
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A review of the game on story mode: not online. Having played this just at home via the story mode, I found it to be really well thought through, innovative and fun. The thing is with most shooter games is you have to find the subtle differences between them to really enjoy them for what they are.
Liked:
1) Unique maps and hordes: You get a feeling of how crazy war can get with the amount of people up against you, my cousin played it on easy and he found it a struggle to keep up with the hordes of bots they throw at you.
2)Mission lay out: How everything accumilates to a single objective, this is really good because it actually provided more to the story then say, with <a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Army-of-Two/dp/B000RHZ9JI/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Army of Two</a> which did have a plot, i just found this one quite a lot more interesting.
3) Unlimited restarts? No way!: Ok so that might not be on the top of everyone's lists, but I find it more of a challenge in games to have fewer chances to restart your mission because you try a lot harder. I found with a lot of xbox games recently that it just would restart you over and over without any real consequence, in the end you just getting the hang of it and doing what you learn after 10 times in. However all it would do is revert you back to where the mission starts in this game, which is good, there is no point to having to go all the way back to the start of the game with 10 lives only.
4) Awesome guns, shame you cant just pick them up: You need to go and fin a specific weapons container to get anything going, unlike other games where you can swap with team mates or just pick them up off the floor. Still, i guess it makes you want to conserve bullets but in the heat of the moment losing out and having to revert to a seemingly difficult-to-aim handgun (although very affective) is annoying. Conceptually, the guns and little toy weapons (cars and helicopters) are aweseome and fun to have a go with. Give the auto lock in with rocket launchers and enjoy blowing tanks away!
5) Give it a go online: This might be worth the whole thing depending on how the online experiance goes for me. Give it a go, you will probably enjoy it more.
Did not like:
1) Objectives, once there, are easy: I prefer something a little more difficult then placing a bomb on something, or just standing in an area to secure it (this is with respect to not telling you the final objective, find it out for yourself!) although it is difficult at times to reach objectives with hordes of bots attacking you etc, the moment you complete the objective they all suddenly dissapear? i dunno just not realistic.
2)Game is fairly short: Like most shooter games, but I found this one to be terribly short, maybe there is much more of a focus for the online gaming side of things? Either way, took me three days of playing (on and off during a working week, inbetween work, gym and going out)to finish it off.
Apart from that, I found this game quite fun, not the best title to come off the xbox so far, but its certainly worth it unless you are the purest of elitest shooter gamers in which case you might not enjoy the story mode all that much.
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video-games_xbox
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Alot of fun and a lot of exercise. I bought this game (and the XBOX 360) because I needed something that was fun that would get me to exercise. I have always been less than enthusiastic about exercise but loved to dance, so I thought it would be a solution. I was right beyond my wildest dreams! First, it is so easy to pop the DVD into the XBOX -- with the hard drive it saves what you have done so that there is no messing around with computer controls to get started. There is a progression in difficulty so that you start with the beginner 's Game Mode Lite (my grandaughter calls it Game mode lame, but I don't care.) The advanced modes are incredibly complex, so I know that I'm not going to run out of challenges any time soon -- probably never. You only need about a 4' x 4' space in front of the TV for the game mat, unlike exercise videos that seem to assume that you have a home gym with 20' of clear space in every direction. The songs are hot -- great rock (although I'm not as fond of some of the rap) -- and surprisingly, some of the slow songs are harder than the fast ones. You get a letter grade as well as a numerical score after each song, and for someone conditioned to school, you just can't allow yourself to be satisfied with a C, so you do it again. I had said to myself that I would do it for at least 20 minutes per day, but find I am not satisfied until I have danced for at least 45 minutes. And, I am sweating and loving it! Finally, for someone who hates to go to the gym and really doesn't have the time, this requires no more time than the hated treadmill currently cluttering up my living room (it's going to the garage this weekend and possibly onto E-bay after that). So, it is loads of fun, it's convenient, it's great exercise (although I find I'm just thinking of it as a game more and more)and it doesn't clutter up your house with ugly gym equipment. We've bought other XBox games and they are all pretty good (Never thought that I would be playing video games)but this is still the best!
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video-games_xbox
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Sleak and Sexy. My first Xbox was pretty old and crappy. I did not even realize how much until I bought my first nice TV and realized my Xbox did not have an HDMI port.
I was about ready to bite the bullet and just go buy a new Xbox Elite. Then I started hearing rumors of a "Super Elite" Xbox coming out. So I waited a little while and was rewarded with the MW2 Edition Xbox Bundle being announced. 250gb hard drive, HDMI input, I was sold. So I bought it, transferred my hard drive data, and sold the old box and ended up not paying that much out of pocket for the new Xbox.
That was a couple years ago and I have never had an issue with my Xbox. The only issue was that I was not willing to run Ethernet all over my house, so the Wi-Fi adapter was added. But I found I was getting a dropped signal a bit too often.
So while that was not a dire issue, it was not ideal. Then came the "new" re-designed Xbox. Smaller, sleeker, and built-in Wi-Fi. Nice, but not really worth dropping another $300. But good things do come to those who wait. While I am a fan of the MW series, I am by no means obsessed. But it does seems that they do come out with Xbox bundles that are worth it to me at the right time. Here is a new Xbox. Built-in Wi-Fi. Cool sounds when turned on and off. Ok, those really don't matter. But what does matter is they pushed the hard drive up again. Now 320gb. Now, I own maybe 15 games, plus have a bunch of demos on my hard drive. And even then I only use about 40gb. The draw of this new box was twofold. The built-in Wi-Fi, but also the ne hard drive for this reason. With Comcast/HBO/other TV channels soon to be coming to Xbox Live, I find that a 320gb DVR sounds like a pretty good deal!
Plus, using the same formula as before, I am selling the old setup and when all is said and done, will be paying maybe $40 out of pocket.
And in another couple years I will probably do the same, although from what the web claims, it will be for the next version of Xbox, 720 maybe?
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video-games_xbox
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