just before xmas HMV were selling Batman: Arkham Asylum for £19.99. But I've only just started playing last night as apparently even though I bought it with the cash my mother-in-law gave me to buy my own present I still had to wait till Christmas day before I could even open the package. oh well, it is bloody top though. I can see a few late nights ahead while I wait for the wife to go to bed before playing
I finished Assassin's Creed II over the long new year's weekend; all told it took me a week (with several fairly long sessions along the way) to reach the end of the game...which turns out to be yet another cliffhanger. While I had a lot of fun and the journey was great, I really wish these games would give us some more closure and payoff for the time invested. Still, overall I really enjoyed losing myself in renaissance Italy and would happily reccommend the game to anyone marginally interested in it. There will also be some single player downloadable content released in the coming weeks; its always nice to see a game that caters to the single player experience.
After that I decided to give Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 a go. I started playing Sunday night and beat the game two days later after a mere three sittings and a total 6 hours of action. Graphically, its one of the best games I've ever seen with near photo-realistic visuals and some pretty interesting locales. The weapons are also varied and interesting and the firefights can get quite intense. As to the storyline itself though, it was quite frankly pure rubbish with a surprise twist 3/4 of the way through that I saw coming a mile away (here's a tip for any developers out there: if you want to surprise your audience, don't hire Lance Henricksen to voice one of your game's key characters). Disappointingly, the Spec-Ops missions are only levels recycled from the main campaign. Haven't bothered trying multiplayer and have no real desire to do so. Oh, and once again, the the game ends in a cliffhanger. At least Assasin's Creed II gave me a proper ending setting up the next game. Here you kill the bad guy and the credits star to roll. I really wish these games would give us some more closure and payoff for the time invested. Now where have I heard that before?
I finished Assassin's Creed II over the long new year's weekend; all told it took me a week (with several fairly long sessions along the way) to reach the end of the game...which turns out to be yet another cliffhanger. While I had a lot of fun and the journey was great, I really wish these games would give us some more closure and payoff for the time invested. Still, overall I really enjoyed losing myself in renaissance Italy and would happily reccommend the game to anyone marginally interested in it. There will also be some single player downloadable content released in the coming weeks; its always nice to see a game that caters to the single player experience.
I also finished this last week after racking up about 16 hrs gameplay and have similar feelings. I absolutely loved the game, I haven't been as engrossed in a game for a good while as I was with this one. It even kept me from playing Uncharted 2. I found myself completely pulled in to Ezio's world. With regard to the end, I always knew it would keep us hanging as it is the middle part of a trilogy, but a hint even as to what might happen would have been nice. My only major gripe is the far too easy combat, I would like it to be a bit more challenging next time round. All in all though I really enjoyed the game and it is definitely a contender for my game of the year, although I did miss a few big titles.
Which brings me on to what to go for next, I need to complete Uncharted 2 but I am very close to the end and then want something to tide me over until Dante's Inferno is released. The contenders are Batman: Arkham Asylum, which i hear nothing but praise for or the Grand Theft Auto DLC pack, Episodes from Liberty City, I also have a couple of games I started and didnt finish (Dead Space, Metal Gear Solid, GTA 4) and could go back to them. Any recommendations anybody? I think I remember reading that a few people here enjoyed Batman.
On a side note, does anybody listen to any gaming podcasts? We have a few good ones over here in the UK. I currently listen to;
Joypod
Gamespot UK Podcast
IGN UK podcast
Gamerdork
1- On Her Majesty's Secret Service 2- Casino Royale 3- Licence To Kill 4- Goldeneye 5- From Russia With Love
I also finished this last week after racking up about 16 hrs gameplay and have similar feelings. I absolutely loved the game, I haven't been as engrossed in a game for a good while as I was with this one. It even kept me from playing Uncharted 2. I found myself completely pulled in to Ezio's world. With regard to the end, I always knew it would keep us hanging as it is the middle part of a trilogy, but a hint even as to what might happen would have been nice. My only major gripe is the far too easy combat, I would like it to be a bit more challenging next time round. All in all though I really enjoyed the game and it is definitely a contender for my game of the year, although I did miss a few big titles.
Which brings me on to what to go for next, I need to complete Uncharted 2 but I am very close to the end and then want something to tide me over until Dante's Inferno is released. The contenders are Batman: Arkham Asylum, which i hear nothing but praise for or the Grand Theft Auto DLC pack, Episodes from Liberty City, I also have a couple of games I started and didnt finish (Dead Space, Metal Gear Solid, GTA 4) and could go back to them. Any recommendations anybody? I think I remember reading that a few people here enjoyed Batman.
On a side note, does anybody listen to any gaming podcasts? We have a few good ones over here in the UK. I currently listen to;
Joypod
Gamespot UK Podcast
IGN UK podcast
Gamerdork
I didn't mind the easier combat in ACII; to my way of thinking, the game's emphasis was more towards exploration and acrobatic platforming so, like the Prince of Persia or Tomb Raider games, the lighter combat makes it that much easier to enjoy the beautiful scenery.
As to other games to play...
Batman: Arkham Asylum was a very good game though truth be told once I finished it I really never felt the urge to pick it up again.
I have the Episodes From Liberty City; I played a little bit of Lost and Damned before losing interest; I'll get back to it eventually but the characters and situations aren't nearly as interesting or compelling as Nico's story to me, which was actually well presented for a game like this.
Of the ones you listed, I'd go with Dead Space. Now I'm not a fan of the survival genre at all (never could even bring myself to finish one single Resident Evil game) but I absolutely loved Dead Space. I've beaten it twice already and have actually been doing a third playthru. The game can best be described as Aliens meets John Carpenter's The Thing; its spooky, atmospheric, and the pacing for me at least was just right. That would be my pick.
Looking ahead, I'm also curious about Dante's Inferno (liked the demo, I'll be curious to see how the whole game is received) as well as Mass Effect 2 (a sequel to one of the better western RPGs released over the past few years) and Dark Void (which gave me a kind of Rocketeer vibe). And of course God of War III in March.
I didn't mind the easier combat in ACII; to my way of thinking, the game's emphasis was more towards exploration and acrobatic platforming so, like the Prince of Persia or Tomb Raider games, the lighter combat makes it that much easier to enjoy the beautiful scenery.
As to other games to play...
Batman: Arkham Asylum was a very good game though truth be told once I finished it I really never felt the urge to pick it up again.
I have the Episodes From Liberty City; I played a little bit of Lost and Damned before losing interest; I'll get back to it eventually but the characters and situations aren't nearly as interesting or compelling as Nico's story to me, which was actually well presented for a game like this.
Of the ones you listed, I'd go with Dead Space. Now I'm not a fan of the survival genre at all (never could even bring myself to finish one single Resident Evil game) but I absolutely loved Dead Space. I've beaten it twice already and have actually been doing a third playthru. The game can best be described as Aliens meets John Carpenter's The Thing; its spooky, atmospheric, and the pacing for me at least was just right. That would be my pick.
Looking ahead, I'm also curious about Dante's Inferno (liked the demo, I'll be curious to see how the whole game is received) as well as Mass Effect 2 (a sequel to one of the better western RPGs released over the past few years) and Dark Void (which gave me a kind of Rocketeer vibe). And of course God of War III in March.
I too played through the Dante's Inferno demo and loved it. I have also just played through the God of War III demo and that too was equally as impressive.
I did start Dead Space and got to about the 8th or 9th level then got sidetracked by other things so didn't complete it but I did really enjoy what I played. I am looking to go back over my unfinished games and get them done so I might start there. The question is whether to start it again as it's been over a year since I last played it. I'll probably load it up and see if I can follow the story, if not then i'll restart it.
1- On Her Majesty's Secret Service 2- Casino Royale 3- Licence To Kill 4- Goldeneye 5- From Russia With Love
Any Xbox 360 owners out there looking for a good game should definitely check out Mass Effect 2. I beat the game last night after logging about 40 hours on it over eight days; I usually don't spend that much time playing but this one reall hooked me in.
As you might infer from the title, this is the second game in what is planned to be a trilogy involving Commander John Shepherd, a decorated human soldier who puts together a team of humans and aliens to battle the Reapers, sentient machines who try to wipe out all organic life every 50,000 years. The first game involved a confrontation with Sovereign, an advance reaper that was preparing the way for its kind's return. ME2 pits Shepherd against the Collectors, a mysterious race of aliens who work for the Reapers and are kidnapping human colonies for some unknown purpose.
A lot of games boast that your moral actions will control the outcome, but ME2 really delivers here. As you recruit your team how you treat them will determine how loyal they are to you which in turn will determine how the game ends. The ending of the game is not a simple WIN/LOSE scenario; companions can live or die based on the choices you've made throughout the game and how you use them in the final battles. If you played the original game, your moral choices from that one are imported into ME2 and impact on who you meet and interact with during the course of the adventure. Likewise, it will be possible to import the choices you make in ME2 into ME3 when it is released. In that way, the three games will form one long, fairly unique narrative that you direct thru your actions.
The gameplay involves lots of quests on a multitude of alien worlds, some solid gunplay and conversations with dozens of characters. You can explore the galaxy in your spaceship, the Normandy, bringing order to the cosmos or stirring trouble wherever you go. You can even mine planets for precious minerals to upgrade your ship, weapons, armor and so on.
Very few games offer this level of interaction and immersion; even after you complete the main quest, the game remains open allowing you to explore further. And of course, there will be additional downloadable content coming in the weeks ahead.
Mass Effect 2 is one of the better games I've played in a long while and really rewards gamers like me who prefer the single player experience with a well presented and deep story. The game has already sold over two million copies in the two weeks since its release so a final chapter seems almost a certainty. If you like these kinds of games you should definitely try it out.
Sony have made a few mistakes with the bond gameing world. take ps1's tomorrow never dies for example.
Tomorrow Never Dies was developed by Black Ops Entertainment and distributed by EA, how was that Sony's mistake? Pray tell
Has anybody been playing Battlefield: Bad Company 2? I picked it up today and have been playing the multiplayer. It is so much more accesible than Modern Warfare 2 and all the better for it. Also the comunity seems much more mature, maybe not in actual age but I haven't encountered any of the racism, homophobia or general ignorance that is so abundant in the Modern Warfare 'community'. These things, and not to mention a great game engine and good pacing make it a far more enjoyable online experience.
1- On Her Majesty's Secret Service 2- Casino Royale 3- Licence To Kill 4- Goldeneye 5- From Russia With Love
Has anybody been playing Battlefield: Bad Company 2? I picked it up today and have been playing the multiplayer. It is so much more accesible than Modern Warfare 2 and all the better for it. Also the comunity seems much more mature, maybe not in actual age but I haven't encountered any of the racism, homophobia or general ignorance that is so abundant in the Modern Warfare 'community'. These things, and not to mention a great game engine and good pacing make it a far more enjoyable online experience.
I have been meaning to try the demo but haven't had the time. Have you played the single player campaign at all? I'm curious if there is a real single player mode or if it's just a series of ladder matches to basically prepare you for multiplayer.
Lately I've been playing Dragon Age: Origins; an old-school dungeon & dragons style RPG with a storyline that somewhat apes the Lord of the Rings. Unlike most modern RPGs, this one really requires you to micromanage just about every facet of your party, from what gear and weapons they use to how their attributes should be grown and distributed. Its a good enough game with a ton of places to explore and stuff to do (and I haven't even looked at the DLC). I'm probably 3/4 of the way thru but the heavy management aspect means that the action and story lurch ahead in fits and starts since you have to spend so much time on the stats screens tweaking everyone.
Hope to pick up God of War III for the PS3 this weekend; it's gotten very solid reviews and seems to bring the story of Kratos to a satisfying conclusion.
I've only played the first few levels of the solo campaign, but what I have played has been enjoyable. I've been sinking most of my recent gaming time into Heavy Rain which is fantastic. Definitely worth a try if only just for the experience. It's a very dark game.
1- On Her Majesty's Secret Service 2- Casino Royale 3- Licence To Kill 4- Goldeneye 5- From Russia With Love
Just thought I'd bump this thread to give a quick shout out to 2008's Battlefield: Bad Company. I'd been contemplating picking up Bad Company 2 but was a little leery about selling out $60 so I decided to instead pick up the first game, which sells new for only $20. I'm about 2/3 of the way thru the single player campaign and have been having a lot of fun.
The game can best be described as Call of Duty meets Kelly's Heroes. Like its more famous modern warfare counterpart, you are part of a team of soldiers tasked with using all kinds of modern weaponry to complete a series of missions. But in a deviation from the serious (and in my opinion grossly overrated) CoD games bad company's story unfolds with its tongue firmly in its cheek. Your squad is a bunch of misfits and after a few missions your commanders deem you AWOL and disavow knowledge of the missions you were undertaking. Taking a cue from the classic Clint Eastwood movie, you and your squadmates decide to make the best of a bad situation and go after horde of gold being illicitly held by a mercenary.
Graphically, the game looks quite good despite being two years old. You get a ton of weapons to use and they're all quite fun (the sniper rifles being particularly effective and satisfying). You also get to pilot all kinds of vehicles from trucks to tanks to speedboats to helicopters. The missions themselves are all nicely open-ended, giving you a variety of ways to accomplish your tasks. The environments are nicely detailed and almost completely destructible. If a sniper holed up inside a house is giving you trouble, for example, you can just lob a grenade (or fire a rocket), either killing your enemy or leaving him exposed for easy termination. Or if you're really feeling rowdy, commandeer a nearby tank and just blow up the whole building out from under him.
Your squadmates exhibit some spotty AI and you'll be doing the bulk of the work, but they do engage in some humorous dialog and are a generally fun bunch of soldiers to hang around with, considering they're all borderline felons.
The game also has a bunch of online multiplayer modes which I haven't even tried as I prefer the single player experience.
After being totally underwhelmed with Call of Duty's pretentiousness and morally questionable gameplay, Bad Company has been a welcome surprise combining nice visuals with fun gameplay. I'll definitely be picking up Bad Company 2, which seems to improve on this game in every respect, once I finish this one up. But for anyone looking for a fun, good looking, good playing first person shooter without laying down a lot cash, the original Battlefield: Bad Company is definitely worth a look.
Anybody looking for something different should check out the new game Alan Wake, a clever horror/mystery with more than a passing resemblance to a Stephen King novel.
You take on the role of famed horror novelist Alan Wake. Alan has been suffering from a bad case of writer's block and, in an attempt to get his creative juices flowing again, he and his wife go on vacation, renting an old cabin on the outskitrts of a quaint, quiet little town. Before you can say "The Dark Half", Alan's wife disappears and he finds himself in the middle of a horror story that bears all the hallmarks of one of his books. He even keeps finding pages of a manuscript clearly written by him, the only problem is that he can't remember writing it. If Alan is going to save his wife, he needs to figure out the mystery of this manuscript and confront the dark presence that has thrown him into his own waking nightmare.
In addition to sporting some very nice graphics and being one of the best written and acted games I've seen in a long time, Alan Wake throws a lot of homages to many staples of the genre. The story is, as I mentioned, right out of Stephen King, and as you explore the world you come across TVs playing reruns of an old show called Night Springs, which bears an eerie resemblance to The Twilight Zone. The Night Springs segments are really well presented and well written. I've come across three so far and they're so entertaining by themselves that I've stopped to watch each one from start to end.
The game is laid out like a TV show and each level is presented as a new episode, complete with a recap of what came before. The game features an interesting cast of characters, controls well and makes clever use of light and darkness in dealing with your foes (you shine a flashlight on your foes to weaken them before taking them out with a variety of weapons). Definitely worth a look, especially if you're a horror fan.
Well that definitly sounds different than your average first person shooter. haven't purchased any new games in awhile, everyone has been too busy, so the old 360 has been getting a rest, but I may just look into it if I can find some time.
I opened up my XBOX the other day after having the 'Open Tray' error for a month or so on and off -- gave it a good clean and elevated the laser a tiny bit, put it back together and -{ works again !
Sadly my XBOX live just ran out ! So I'll have to cope with *shudder* offline play for a bit.
I love playing Left 4 Dead & Left 4 Dead 2 though, and I'm quite great at it, so if anybody needs any achievements on them ! I'll be back online next month, my gamertag is stjimmy456 just like my username here, so hit me up or send me a PM.
Picked up Halo Reach, played a little and so far I like it. I immediately noticed the music. Love the Halo games.
I got this myself this past weekend and have been slowly working thru it, trying to thoroughly explore each level before going on to the next. I'm on what I think is the last level so I will probably finish the campaign in the next day or so.
Since the game is a prequel to the original Halo and closely follows events in the Halo 'canon' anyone moderately familiar with the overall story (as I am) will pretty much know what happens and that detracts a bit from the game's freshness. The campaign also has a dark and very downbeat tone to it so that when you finish a level you often don't get that positive sense of accomplishment that usually comes from beating a challenge.
One area of the game that I really enjoyed was that it allowed you to fly some cool vehicles. One level has you going into outer-space to engage in some Star Wars style dogfighting. Its actually quite easy (probably the easiest level of the game) but a lot of fun and a visual showcase. Later on you pilot an advanced copter-like vehicle over a ruined city which is also quite effective.
Despite some criticisms I do like the game, especially the little nods to the original as you approach the climax (look for a few cameos from some old friends). The music (especially the opening theme) is also well done and the game displays some nice graphics (again, the opening sequence as you fly thru space towards the planet Reach is quite effective).
This will supposedly be the last Halo game that original developer Bungie will be making. Microsoft owns the rights to the franchise and there will of course be future Halo games so it will be interesting to see who they tap going forward.
Oh, one more thing Barry: the Halo: Reach looks really sweet in 2D>3D mode on my new TV.
just installed the dashboard update it took a while to download last night but it looks pretty good and now over here we can buy films from the marketplace (not sure that I ever would but its nice to have the option) now just need my kinect to turn up on time and we're away
Are you actually buying a Kinect, Agent_M? If yes, please be sure to post some impressions. While I'm intrigued with the tech, there really aren't any compelling games out for it yet so I'm waiting a bit to see how it shakes out.
I also installed the new dashboard last night; while it works well enough I can't say I'm crazy about the bright white/bright green color palette.
Yup mine was sent on saturday so it should arrive on release day wendsday. I don't usually go for launch day with new tech as in most cases its bugged to heck or drops in price the week after I buy it but I thought what the hell I got a bonus from work, I might be able to get the wife involved and with a little one on the way I'm not going to be leaving the house any time soon.
I also would be curious to see what you think Agent M, like Tony said, the technology looks really good, but I haven't seen any game that make me want to buy the device. I don't see myself, or my son, jumping up and down manipulating a raft down a river. SO be sure to let us know what you think.
A couple weeks ago I downloaded my first movie off of the 360, it was Wall Street. Thought I would watch the original again before seeing the sequel. I opted for the HD version and was disappointed to discover that it took about 5 hours to download. I don't know if that is the norm or not, but it will be awhile before I download a movie again.
I also would be curious to see what you think Agent M, like Tony said, the technology looks really good, but I haven't seen any game that make me want to buy the device. I don't see myself, or my son, jumping up and down manipulating a raft down a river. SO be sure to let us know what you think.
I seem to remember a Star Wars game being in development for Kinect; that is the kind of thing that would get me to give the device a longer look.
A couple weeks ago I downloaded my first movie off of the 360, it was Wall Street. Thought I would watch the original again before seeing the sequel. I opted for the HD version and was disappointed to discover that it took about 5 hours to download. I don't know if that is the norm or not, but it will be awhile before I download a movie again.
After a promising start, the video capabilities of the 360 have really gotten left in the dust and to this day I'm still not sure how the Zune add-on for the 360 works as it seems some stuff is streamd while other stuff must be downloaded. The counter-intuitive interface doesn't help either.
Since buying my new TV I've been introduced to the wonders of video streaming thru a company called Vudu. They've been around for a few years and were actually one of the pioneers of video streaming before being bought by Walmart. The Vudu service is widely available via apps on lots of new TVs and Bluray players (as well as their own settop box) and allows you to stream movies to your TV in full 1080p hi-definition over a wireless connection. The picture quality is amazing (at its highest resolution it looks almost as good as a full 1080p BluRay) and the movies even support full 5.1 digital surround sound. As long as your router isn't juggling multiple users even the relatively slow 802.11/g protocol used in most wireless devices works great. Renting a movie for 24 hours costs between $3 and $5. Best Buy offers a similar service called CinemaNow and there are reports that NetFlix will be revamping its video streaming services to offer the newest movies at hi-def resolutions.
Well after a lot of cocking about (don't ask but if you're in the U.K DO NOT USE Home Delivery Network Ltd) I got my Kinect from tesco last night. finally managed to get a go on adventures last night for about half a hour and so far I'm pretty impressed.
There was only a minimal lag that i could see, it will be interesting to see over time if this gets more noticeable as the games become more advanced/indepth.
You will need a lot of space for the best results and I think mounting the unit on the wall about the T.V will help this as you wont need to stand so far away. This was a supprise as I thought being closer to the screen would be better but for some reason it's the other way round.
I have a feeling the speech recognition/activation could be the dark horse of the system I found it more fun to be able to shout at the screen to play discs ect than the hand waving. Lets face it we've all dreamt of being able to say "Computer, arch" and have the comuter respond in Majel Barretts voice.
I just finished Call of Duty: Black Ops. The game breaks from other Call of Duty Titles as it focuses mostly on one character, Alex Mason, and takes place during the cold war. Mason is on the hunt for two Russians and a Nazi scientist who plan to unleash a deadly nerve gas on America. During the course of the 15 levels the story intersects with many real world events such as the Bay of Pigs incident.
The game was a lot of fun with a story that was pretty interesting. It also wasn't marred by any foolishness like the infamous and tasteless airport level from the last Call of Duty game. The action was intense and quite cinematic from start to finish but never really chaotic like prior games as you almost always had pretty clear objectives and there was little confusion as to where to go or what to do next. Particularly impressive was the final level, which played a lot like one of the commando raids from the classic Bond movies as you lead a squad of marines and assault a Russian freighter off the coast of Cuba before heading down to the villain's underwater base.
The game, in a first for a major release, also supports a full stereoscopic 3D mode. I played thru the entire campaign in 3D and it definitely made for an even more immersive experience.
My son had to have that game as soon as it came out so I picked it up for him, but he mostly plays multi-player. He did play some of the campaign, not sure how far he got, but he said he liked it. I have tried to play some of the COD titles, but the games, as Tony mentioned, were very chaotic and I am just not that quick. This sounds a little more my speed, so perhaps I will give it a shot.
My son had to have that game as soon as it came out so I picked it up for him, but he mostly plays multi-player. He did play some of the campaign, not sure how far he got, but he said he liked it. I have tried to play some of the COD titles, but the games, as Tony mentioned, were very chaotic and I am just not that quick. This sounds a little more my speed, so perhaps I will give it a shot.
Give it a try Barry; I found the game to be pretty forgiving. Also, try to master the zoom-and-fire technique of aiming your weapon at an enemy, holding the LEFT TRIGGER to look down your scope and then pressing RIGHT TRIGGER to fire. That move is pretty integral to effective combat.
The dreaded ring of death reared its ugly head last night, so the game playing has ceased. I originally bought an Xbox in December, 2006 and it died, I believe, in December, 2008. I sent it to Microsoft and they replaced the machine free of charge. That machine lasted until December of this year, what is it about December? My plan is to buy a new one, in hopes the hardware has been improved and the console won’t die in December of 2012.
Will be searching out the various deals, as I know the price is seldom reduced, but they sometimes package things together. My son does not save too much to the hard drive, so I don’t think I need an upper end machine, just the basic will be fine.
The dreaded ring of death reared its ugly head last night, so the game playing has ceased. I originally bought an Xbox in December, 2006 and it died, I believe, in December, 2008. I sent it to Microsoft and they replaced the machine free of charge. That machine lasted until December of this year, what is it about December? My plan is to buy a new one, in hopes the hardware has been improved and the console won’t die in December of 2012.
Will be searching out the various deals, as I know the price is seldom reduced, but they sometimes package things together. My son does not save too much to the hard drive, so I don’t think I need an upper end machine, just the basic will be fine.
This exactly why I have steered clear of the 360. I have heard too many stories of the system failing.
The dreaded ring of death reared its ugly head last night, so the game playing has ceased. I originally bought an Xbox in December, 2006 and it died, I believe, in December, 2008. I sent it to Microsoft and they replaced the machine free of charge. That machine lasted until December of this year, what is it about December? My plan is to buy a new one, in hopes the hardware has been improved and the console won’t die in December of 2012.
Will be searching out the various deals, as I know the price is seldom reduced, but they sometimes package things together. My son does not save too much to the hard drive, so I don’t think I need an upper end machine, just the basic will be fine.
Sorry to hear about your 360 Barry. Your best bet, and probably also least expensive route, would be to see if you can find one of the 360 Arcade models that don't have a hard drive as you should be able to simply detach the hard drive from your current model and slap it onto another console.
You can also buy one of the new Slim 360s which, with their consolidated design are supposedly more stable and reliable. I own one and can attest that it is very fast and quiet. Models both with and without a hard drive are available; just be aware that the hard drive from your current 360 will not work with the Slim model.
And if it makes you feel any better, in the 5 years since the console has been released I have purchased, at one point or another, no less than 5 consoles, 3 of which have died on me.
I'll be sure to let you know if I come across any deals.
Comments
www.scottacademymartialarts.co.uk
After that I decided to give Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 a go. I started playing Sunday night and beat the game two days later after a mere three sittings and a total 6 hours of action. Graphically, its one of the best games I've ever seen with near photo-realistic visuals and some pretty interesting locales. The weapons are also varied and interesting and the firefights can get quite intense. As to the storyline itself though, it was quite frankly pure rubbish with a surprise twist 3/4 of the way through that I saw coming a mile away (here's a tip for any developers out there: if you want to surprise your audience, don't hire Lance Henricksen to voice one of your game's key characters). Disappointingly, the Spec-Ops missions are only levels recycled from the main campaign. Haven't bothered trying multiplayer and have no real desire to do so. Oh, and once again, the the game ends in a cliffhanger. At least Assasin's Creed II gave me a proper ending setting up the next game. Here you kill the bad guy and the credits star to roll. I really wish these games would give us some more closure and payoff for the time invested. Now where have I heard that before?
http://www.cnbc.com/id/34740865
I also finished this last week after racking up about 16 hrs gameplay and have similar feelings. I absolutely loved the game, I haven't been as engrossed in a game for a good while as I was with this one. It even kept me from playing Uncharted 2. I found myself completely pulled in to Ezio's world. With regard to the end, I always knew it would keep us hanging as it is the middle part of a trilogy, but a hint even as to what might happen would have been nice. My only major gripe is the far too easy combat, I would like it to be a bit more challenging next time round. All in all though I really enjoyed the game and it is definitely a contender for my game of the year, although I did miss a few big titles.
Which brings me on to what to go for next, I need to complete Uncharted 2 but I am very close to the end and then want something to tide me over until Dante's Inferno is released. The contenders are Batman: Arkham Asylum, which i hear nothing but praise for or the Grand Theft Auto DLC pack, Episodes from Liberty City, I also have a couple of games I started and didnt finish (Dead Space, Metal Gear Solid, GTA 4) and could go back to them. Any recommendations anybody? I think I remember reading that a few people here enjoyed Batman.
On a side note, does anybody listen to any gaming podcasts? We have a few good ones over here in the UK. I currently listen to;
Joypod
Gamespot UK Podcast
IGN UK podcast
Gamerdork
I didn't mind the easier combat in ACII; to my way of thinking, the game's emphasis was more towards exploration and acrobatic platforming so, like the Prince of Persia or Tomb Raider games, the lighter combat makes it that much easier to enjoy the beautiful scenery.
As to other games to play...
Batman: Arkham Asylum was a very good game though truth be told once I finished it I really never felt the urge to pick it up again.
I have the Episodes From Liberty City; I played a little bit of Lost and Damned before losing interest; I'll get back to it eventually but the characters and situations aren't nearly as interesting or compelling as Nico's story to me, which was actually well presented for a game like this.
Of the ones you listed, I'd go with Dead Space. Now I'm not a fan of the survival genre at all (never could even bring myself to finish one single Resident Evil game) but I absolutely loved Dead Space. I've beaten it twice already and have actually been doing a third playthru. The game can best be described as Aliens meets John Carpenter's The Thing; its spooky, atmospheric, and the pacing for me at least was just right. That would be my pick.
Looking ahead, I'm also curious about Dante's Inferno (liked the demo, I'll be curious to see how the whole game is received) as well as Mass Effect 2 (a sequel to one of the better western RPGs released over the past few years) and Dark Void (which gave me a kind of Rocketeer vibe). And of course God of War III in March.
I too played through the Dante's Inferno demo and loved it. I have also just played through the God of War III demo and that too was equally as impressive.
I did start Dead Space and got to about the 8th or 9th level then got sidetracked by other things so didn't complete it but I did really enjoy what I played. I am looking to go back over my unfinished games and get them done so I might start there. The question is whether to start it again as it's been over a year since I last played it. I'll probably load it up and see if I can follow the story, if not then i'll restart it.
As you might infer from the title, this is the second game in what is planned to be a trilogy involving Commander John Shepherd, a decorated human soldier who puts together a team of humans and aliens to battle the Reapers, sentient machines who try to wipe out all organic life every 50,000 years. The first game involved a confrontation with Sovereign, an advance reaper that was preparing the way for its kind's return. ME2 pits Shepherd against the Collectors, a mysterious race of aliens who work for the Reapers and are kidnapping human colonies for some unknown purpose.
A lot of games boast that your moral actions will control the outcome, but ME2 really delivers here. As you recruit your team how you treat them will determine how loyal they are to you which in turn will determine how the game ends. The ending of the game is not a simple WIN/LOSE scenario; companions can live or die based on the choices you've made throughout the game and how you use them in the final battles. If you played the original game, your moral choices from that one are imported into ME2 and impact on who you meet and interact with during the course of the adventure. Likewise, it will be possible to import the choices you make in ME2 into ME3 when it is released. In that way, the three games will form one long, fairly unique narrative that you direct thru your actions.
The gameplay involves lots of quests on a multitude of alien worlds, some solid gunplay and conversations with dozens of characters. You can explore the galaxy in your spaceship, the Normandy, bringing order to the cosmos or stirring trouble wherever you go. You can even mine planets for precious minerals to upgrade your ship, weapons, armor and so on.
Very few games offer this level of interaction and immersion; even after you complete the main quest, the game remains open allowing you to explore further. And of course, there will be additional downloadable content coming in the weeks ahead.
Mass Effect 2 is one of the better games I've played in a long while and really rewards gamers like me who prefer the single player experience with a well presented and deep story. The game has already sold over two million copies in the two weeks since its release so a final chapter seems almost a certainty. If you like these kinds of games you should definitely try it out.
http://ps3.ign.com/articles/107/1072875p1.html
James Bond- Licence To Kill
Tomorrow Never Dies was developed by Black Ops Entertainment and distributed by EA, how was that Sony's mistake? Pray tell
Has anybody been playing Battlefield: Bad Company 2? I picked it up today and have been playing the multiplayer. It is so much more accesible than Modern Warfare 2 and all the better for it. Also the comunity seems much more mature, maybe not in actual age but I haven't encountered any of the racism, homophobia or general ignorance that is so abundant in the Modern Warfare 'community'. These things, and not to mention a great game engine and good pacing make it a far more enjoyable online experience.
I have been meaning to try the demo but haven't had the time. Have you played the single player campaign at all? I'm curious if there is a real single player mode or if it's just a series of ladder matches to basically prepare you for multiplayer.
Lately I've been playing Dragon Age: Origins; an old-school dungeon & dragons style RPG with a storyline that somewhat apes the Lord of the Rings. Unlike most modern RPGs, this one really requires you to micromanage just about every facet of your party, from what gear and weapons they use to how their attributes should be grown and distributed. Its a good enough game with a ton of places to explore and stuff to do (and I haven't even looked at the DLC). I'm probably 3/4 of the way thru but the heavy management aspect means that the action and story lurch ahead in fits and starts since you have to spend so much time on the stats screens tweaking everyone.
Hope to pick up God of War III for the PS3 this weekend; it's gotten very solid reviews and seems to bring the story of Kratos to a satisfying conclusion.
The game can best be described as Call of Duty meets Kelly's Heroes. Like its more famous modern warfare counterpart, you are part of a team of soldiers tasked with using all kinds of modern weaponry to complete a series of missions. But in a deviation from the serious (and in my opinion grossly overrated) CoD games bad company's story unfolds with its tongue firmly in its cheek. Your squad is a bunch of misfits and after a few missions your commanders deem you AWOL and disavow knowledge of the missions you were undertaking. Taking a cue from the classic Clint Eastwood movie, you and your squadmates decide to make the best of a bad situation and go after horde of gold being illicitly held by a mercenary.
Graphically, the game looks quite good despite being two years old. You get a ton of weapons to use and they're all quite fun (the sniper rifles being particularly effective and satisfying). You also get to pilot all kinds of vehicles from trucks to tanks to speedboats to helicopters. The missions themselves are all nicely open-ended, giving you a variety of ways to accomplish your tasks. The environments are nicely detailed and almost completely destructible. If a sniper holed up inside a house is giving you trouble, for example, you can just lob a grenade (or fire a rocket), either killing your enemy or leaving him exposed for easy termination. Or if you're really feeling rowdy, commandeer a nearby tank and just blow up the whole building out from under him.
Your squadmates exhibit some spotty AI and you'll be doing the bulk of the work, but they do engage in some humorous dialog and are a generally fun bunch of soldiers to hang around with, considering they're all borderline felons.
The game also has a bunch of online multiplayer modes which I haven't even tried as I prefer the single player experience.
After being totally underwhelmed with Call of Duty's pretentiousness and morally questionable gameplay, Bad Company has been a welcome surprise combining nice visuals with fun gameplay. I'll definitely be picking up Bad Company 2, which seems to improve on this game in every respect, once I finish this one up. But for anyone looking for a fun, good looking, good playing first person shooter without laying down a lot cash, the original Battlefield: Bad Company is definitely worth a look.
You take on the role of famed horror novelist Alan Wake. Alan has been suffering from a bad case of writer's block and, in an attempt to get his creative juices flowing again, he and his wife go on vacation, renting an old cabin on the outskitrts of a quaint, quiet little town. Before you can say "The Dark Half", Alan's wife disappears and he finds himself in the middle of a horror story that bears all the hallmarks of one of his books. He even keeps finding pages of a manuscript clearly written by him, the only problem is that he can't remember writing it. If Alan is going to save his wife, he needs to figure out the mystery of this manuscript and confront the dark presence that has thrown him into his own waking nightmare.
In addition to sporting some very nice graphics and being one of the best written and acted games I've seen in a long time, Alan Wake throws a lot of homages to many staples of the genre. The story is, as I mentioned, right out of Stephen King, and as you explore the world you come across TVs playing reruns of an old show called Night Springs, which bears an eerie resemblance to The Twilight Zone. The Night Springs segments are really well presented and well written. I've come across three so far and they're so entertaining by themselves that I've stopped to watch each one from start to end.
The game is laid out like a TV show and each level is presented as a new episode, complete with a recap of what came before. The game features an interesting cast of characters, controls well and makes clever use of light and darkness in dealing with your foes (you shine a flashlight on your foes to weaken them before taking them out with a variety of weapons). Definitely worth a look, especially if you're a horror fan.
Sadly my XBOX live just ran out ! So I'll have to cope with *shudder* offline play for a bit.
I love playing Left 4 Dead & Left 4 Dead 2 though, and I'm quite great at it, so if anybody needs any achievements on them ! I'll be back online next month, my gamertag is stjimmy456 just like my username here, so hit me up or send me a PM.
I got this myself this past weekend and have been slowly working thru it, trying to thoroughly explore each level before going on to the next. I'm on what I think is the last level so I will probably finish the campaign in the next day or so.
Since the game is a prequel to the original Halo and closely follows events in the Halo 'canon' anyone moderately familiar with the overall story (as I am) will pretty much know what happens and that detracts a bit from the game's freshness. The campaign also has a dark and very downbeat tone to it so that when you finish a level you often don't get that positive sense of accomplishment that usually comes from beating a challenge.
One area of the game that I really enjoyed was that it allowed you to fly some cool vehicles. One level has you going into outer-space to engage in some Star Wars style dogfighting. Its actually quite easy (probably the easiest level of the game) but a lot of fun and a visual showcase. Later on you pilot an advanced copter-like vehicle over a ruined city which is also quite effective.
Despite some criticisms I do like the game, especially the little nods to the original as you approach the climax (look for a few cameos from some old friends). The music (especially the opening theme) is also well done and the game displays some nice graphics (again, the opening sequence as you fly thru space towards the planet Reach is quite effective).
This will supposedly be the last Halo game that original developer Bungie will be making. Microsoft owns the rights to the franchise and there will of course be future Halo games so it will be interesting to see who they tap going forward.
Oh, one more thing Barry: the Halo: Reach looks really sweet in 2D>3D mode on my new TV.
www.scottacademymartialarts.co.uk
I also installed the new dashboard last night; while it works well enough I can't say I'm crazy about the bright white/bright green color palette.
www.scottacademymartialarts.co.uk
A couple weeks ago I downloaded my first movie off of the 360, it was Wall Street. Thought I would watch the original again before seeing the sequel. I opted for the HD version and was disappointed to discover that it took about 5 hours to download. I don't know if that is the norm or not, but it will be awhile before I download a movie again.
I seem to remember a Star Wars game being in development for Kinect; that is the kind of thing that would get me to give the device a longer look.
After a promising start, the video capabilities of the 360 have really gotten left in the dust and to this day I'm still not sure how the Zune add-on for the 360 works as it seems some stuff is streamd while other stuff must be downloaded. The counter-intuitive interface doesn't help either.
Since buying my new TV I've been introduced to the wonders of video streaming thru a company called Vudu. They've been around for a few years and were actually one of the pioneers of video streaming before being bought by Walmart. The Vudu service is widely available via apps on lots of new TVs and Bluray players (as well as their own settop box) and allows you to stream movies to your TV in full 1080p hi-definition over a wireless connection. The picture quality is amazing (at its highest resolution it looks almost as good as a full 1080p BluRay) and the movies even support full 5.1 digital surround sound. As long as your router isn't juggling multiple users even the relatively slow 802.11/g protocol used in most wireless devices works great. Renting a movie for 24 hours costs between $3 and $5. Best Buy offers a similar service called CinemaNow and there are reports that NetFlix will be revamping its video streaming services to offer the newest movies at hi-def resolutions.
There was only a minimal lag that i could see, it will be interesting to see over time if this gets more noticeable as the games become more advanced/indepth.
You will need a lot of space for the best results and I think mounting the unit on the wall about the T.V will help this as you wont need to stand so far away. This was a supprise as I thought being closer to the screen would be better but for some reason it's the other way round.
I have a feeling the speech recognition/activation could be the dark horse of the system I found it more fun to be able to shout at the screen to play discs ect than the hand waving. Lets face it we've all dreamt of being able to say "Computer, arch" and have the comuter respond in Majel Barretts voice.
www.scottacademymartialarts.co.uk
The game was a lot of fun with a story that was pretty interesting. It also wasn't marred by any foolishness like the infamous and tasteless airport level from the last Call of Duty game. The action was intense and quite cinematic from start to finish but never really chaotic like prior games as you almost always had pretty clear objectives and there was little confusion as to where to go or what to do next. Particularly impressive was the final level, which played a lot like one of the commando raids from the classic Bond movies as you lead a squad of marines and assault a Russian freighter off the coast of Cuba before heading down to the villain's underwater base.
The game, in a first for a major release, also supports a full stereoscopic 3D mode. I played thru the entire campaign in 3D and it definitely made for an even more immersive experience.
Definitely worth a look for shooter fans.
Give it a try Barry; I found the game to be pretty forgiving. Also, try to master the zoom-and-fire technique of aiming your weapon at an enemy, holding the LEFT TRIGGER to look down your scope and then pressing RIGHT TRIGGER to fire. That move is pretty integral to effective combat.
Will be searching out the various deals, as I know the price is seldom reduced, but they sometimes package things together. My son does not save too much to the hard drive, so I don’t think I need an upper end machine, just the basic will be fine.
This exactly why I have steered clear of the 360. I have heard too many stories of the system failing.
Sorry to hear about your 360 Barry. Your best bet, and probably also least expensive route, would be to see if you can find one of the 360 Arcade models that don't have a hard drive as you should be able to simply detach the hard drive from your current model and slap it onto another console.
You can also buy one of the new Slim 360s which, with their consolidated design are supposedly more stable and reliable. I own one and can attest that it is very fast and quiet. Models both with and without a hard drive are available; just be aware that the hard drive from your current 360 will not work with the Slim model.
And if it makes you feel any better, in the 5 years since the console has been released I have purchased, at one point or another, no less than 5 consoles, 3 of which have died on me.
I'll be sure to let you know if I come across any deals.