Total Reviews: 22
Average Overall Score Given: 8.44545 / 10
Total Forum Posts: 2,590
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Reviews
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Guitar Hero: Aerosmith
Activision has decided to milk the Guitar Hero series for everything it can, and why not? It seems there are plenty of folks willing to buy the same game multiple times even though the cover is different and there are a few different songs inside. Hmmm, I thought that’s what downloadable content was for? You know to add new songs to a playlist. Well regardless, we now have Guitar Hero Aerosmith to play and toss aside. Especially since it seems we’ll be getting a Metallica version of GH later this year and then Guitar Hero 4 arrives in the late fall. I understand there has been many folks calling for band specific versions of the game, but after playing this I have to think that its really not such a good idea.
So is Guitar Hero Aerosmith worth your $60? Well, I guess if you are a diehard Aerosmith groupie then the answer would be yes. Otherwise, Guitar Hero Aerosmith is the same game as Guitar Hero 3, only with different songs and a slightly different progression through career mode. You see as you play through the career mode you’ll be forced to play a certain number of songs and an encore to get to the next venue. The only difference is, the first 2 songs of each set are from folks that have opened for Aerosmith on tour at one time or another. Once you play those 2 songs, you’ll then play as Aerosmith for the rest of the set including an encore. You'll also go up against Joe perry in a head to head battle. Yup same type of battle that you played in Guitar Hero III. Have you caught onto the pattern yet?
Between each set you complete you’ll get to watch a short documentary video of the guys talking about their career and their path towards where they are today. Are there any interesting tidbits? Eh, not really. But again, fans of the band might find it amusing at some points or even entertaining. I for one can only take so much of Steven Tyler to begin with and he honestly becomes quite annoying in these short video segments as well. The one good thing about the video segments is that they are short and you can press the A bbutton to bypass them if you like. Thank goodness.
There are forty plus songs included in the game, most of which are Aerosmith tunes of course. You’ll find hits dating back to the 70’s all the way to their most recent album in 2007. Many of the songs that have made Aerosmith who they are today are included in the mix. I was disappointed to see the “Dude Looks like a Lady” was not one of those songs, even though there is an achievement by this name included in the game. I predict they’ll squeeze your pockets for more money with downloadable content at some point and include this one then. Sure why not, you already have my $120 from buying the same Guitar Hero game this year but with different songs. Sarcasm intended.
Gameplay has not changed at all in this title. As stated, if you played GH3 then you’ll know exactly what to expect from this game with the exception that it’s centered on Steven Tyler and the boys. Included is co-op play, battle mode, single player career, and practice. The same levels of difficulty are included in the game but the game does seem easier even on the harder levels. I normally cannot play on hard at all, and I can actually finish songs completely. Expert is still difficult for me, but I am sure the GH masters will come to find it a bit easier as well. But you’ll find that everything else is the same. Heck even the tutorial is ripped straight out of GH3 word for word including the God-like and Devilish instructors. I mean come on, couldn’t they have at least did Tyler and Perry voiceovers or something.
Graphically speaking the game is right on par with Guitar Hero 3 once again. At times Steven Tyler looks quite creepy, but then again it lends itself to sort of realism when it comes to real life. I’ve seen Tyler look just as creepy performing live. The venues are basically ala Guitar Hero style graphics and animations. Honestly, I really don’t think there was a whole lot of effort put into this game graphically as they already had the basics and just needed to change some colors, shapes and lighting. They did capture some of Steven Tylers signature movements on stage but thats about the extent of any deviance from the GHIII game. The coolest venue is probably the Half Time venue which is basically supposed to emulate the stage and arena that Aerosmith played while performing the Super Bowl Half Time show a few years back. But again, nothing over the top or eye popping. And I honestly think they carried over the same crowds from Guitar Hero III. I mean really, where are the groupie chicks sitting on their boyfriends shoulders falshing their....well nevermind.
Overall, for me personally the game is just a cash cow for Activision and truly not worth the $60. It would be so much more worth the purchase if it were a 30 or 40 dollar title, especially when it’s basically the same GHIII game that just came out a few months ago. If you are a true fan of Aerosmith than you’ll probably want to have this in your collection, but if you are the standard gamer that enjoys the GH series. Just wait for Guitar Hero 4 later this fall, and rent GH Aerosmith to satisfy your possible craving for this game. For first time Guitar Hero players, then maybe one will want to pick this up with the wireless guitar included, but even then I would have to suggest just picking up Guitar Hero III instead, then renting this one at a later time.
Suggestions: If you are going to make band specific games then at least make effort to somewhat change the game and focus on some new content or gameplay specific to the band. Please don’t start releasing tracks as DLC that should have already been in the game to begin with ala Dude looks like a Lady.
Overall Score: 7.2 / 10
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Dragon Ball Z: Burst Limit
Atari brings Dragonball Z to the 360 for the first time. The cartoon itself has a Star Wars like cult following so the game has a lot to live up to in order to meet expectations of many. Graphically, the game lives up to that hype. The artists have captured the beauty of the cartoon and Japanese anime almost to perfection. Colors and character representations are right on and at times you’ll feel like you are actually playing the cartoon. The cell shading in this game is simply amazing at times, and the typical graphical displays you come accustomed to in the television show are definitely mimicked well in this game. There are plenty of characters in the to satisfy the most diehard Dragonball Z fan, and each one is rendered in some great detail.
Dragonball Z is another fighting game that honestly has the feel of Street Fighter games from the past. You’ll have special moves and combos that you can create as well as special power up attacks. All in all, its your typical fighter game underneath with a lot of beautiful graphics and cutscenes laid out over top. Some differences in the fighting aspects of the game would be the inclusion of something called drama pieces. These pieces are used in the middle of the fighting to help your character obtain an edge. When activated, a friend that you choose at the beginning of the match will come to your aid. Sometimes this aid is in the form of defense, or other times it can be in the form of a special attack.
The game itself can be a button masher for some folks and honestly they could be quite successful with that technique as well. There are some blocking and defense techniques that seems to work well, and special attacks can be deflected or countered, as can any move really. SBut for the masters of the game, they will probably be able to takeout button mashers fairly easy. The controls are fairly simple though for anyone to pick up and be successful. You'll find the opponents not very aggressive on default difficulty, but with some tweaks and increases in difficulty they can get almost frustrating. So with that being said, the AI seems fairly balanced and the fighting system does not have a huge learning curve for most folks.
As with any fighting game you’ll have a small array of special attacks to use. You’ll gather an aura which is known as Ki. This Ki builds up automatically as you r match progresses and you’ll be able to release the Ki in small amounts, known as Aura Actions or one large amount known as an Aura Spark. Aura Actions include a Heavy Smash, Mega Crush, Pursuit Attacks, and EX Super Attacks. Your gauge only needs to have one bar full in order to use the Aura Actions, but you’ll need a full gauge in order to launch an Aura Spark. Aura Actions include a Heavy Smash, Mega Crush, Pursuit Attacks, and EX Super Attacks. The Aura Spark includes a Vanishing Move, Vanishing Attack, and Ultimate Attack.. All of which are very powerful but require the full Ki Gauge to initiate.
The game offers a variety of game modes including Z Chronicles, Versus, Trial and a Training mode. There is also a tutorial mode for you get down the basics when first playing the game. But overall the game is fairly simple and it uses mostly button combinations to perform attacks and defenses. The Z Chronicles is your “Career” mode of sorts. You’ll get to take part in actual past scenarios from the cartoon. As you progress through the game mode you’ll unlock even more scenarios to take part. You will also unlock a few characters for use as well. Z Chronicles is good for one play through but honestly that’s about where the fun ends for the casual gamer. For Z fans, it probably lives a bit longer.
Versus mode gives you quite a few modes of play. You can battle against the CPU, or take on another real life player locally. You can also watch the CPU vs the CPU. Oh joy. Where most folks interest lies is in the online multiplayer. There really isn’t anything that stands out about the multiplayer honestly. You’ll fight against live opponents just as you do against the computer. There are Leaderboards of course. But that is about the extent of it.
The trial mode gives you a few different options to play the game. First there is the survival mode which pits you against opponents as long as your health lasts. Your health regenerates somewhat after each round, and opponents get tougher as you progress as well. Once you have played the Survival mode you’ll unlock Time Attack mode. Time Attack is basically what it says. You’ll face a series of opponents and your goal is to beat them as quickly as possible. After you have played Time attack you’ll unlock the Battle Point Mode. You once again face off against a series of opponents, but this time your primary goal is to accumulate as many points as possible.
As I stated earlier there is a training mode as well that allows you to set matches up to your specific wishes. You’ll be able to adjust character fighting styles, difficulty levels, turn moves on and off among many other things. This mode can definitely help you increase your skills against those button mashers online.
Overall, the game does not having a long lasting appeal to the casual gamer. Its fun in the beginning but it quickly gets repetitive with the drama scenes, dialogue and basic fighting. You’ll find yourself repeating the same maneuvers over and over while fighting. There is a large number of characters to use, but in the end even that doesn’t increase the need to play this game on a regular basis. The sounds are taken right from the cartoon itself, and the graphics and backgrounds are beautifully rendered, but again its not enough to make you want to keep putting this game in. For fans of the show, the enjoyment may last a lot longer. But in the end, I have to say that this one is only good for a rental at best for most folks. There isn’t enough unlockables to keep you coming back for more.
Suggestions: Cooperative play could have been huge in this game, and it would have worked very well for both online and a co-op career mode. A unqiue storyline in the single player would have been great, especially if it would have given fans of the show something new to gossip about.
Overall Score: 7.5 / 10
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Battlefield: Bad Company
The second iteration of the Battlefield series on the 360 comes to life as Battlefield: Bad Company. DICE and EA have introduced new gameplay and a seamless storyline into the series and it seems to make the game extremely fun to play online and offline. Battlefield 2 still had many followers online, so is Bad Company enough to entice those folks into the new world that awaits them. Many folks got the opportunity to play Bad Company in a Beta Test a few weeks back, and there is also a demo that gives you a glimpse of single and multiplayer segments. For those that don’t know, you can play the demo an actually gain some rank that will unlock weapons for you in the full version of the game.
A few new twists have been brought into the series. A mixture of Mercenaries and Battlefield add a whole new style of play and storyline. In single player mode you play the role of Preston, convicted of a crime by the military and sent to Bad Company as his punishment for his crimes. Bad Company is mainly made up of misfits from the military branches. As you continue through the storymode gold becomes your main objective while doing dirty work for the military. Online play is also highly focused on obtaining gold and defending you stash. While the single player is great and enjoyable to play, the online play is really where Battlefield stands out.
There are plenty of collectables and unlockables scattered throughout the single player and multiplayer. You’ll search buildings and crates in hopes of recovering new weapons and gold bars in single player, while in multiplayer you’ll earn credits to purchase new weaponry and gadgets when ranking up. There is ranking system online that consists of 25 total ranks and you move through those ranks based on the amount of points you accumulate as you play online games. You earn points for kills, vehicles kills, assists, defenses, etc. There are many similarities to the Call of Duty 4 ranking system in this sense and why not, it works well.
The graphics are very well done with high resolution explosions that look very realistic at times. The terrains are details, and the destruction is abundant across the maps. You’ll be able to blow holes into buildings to get a better shot at enemies hiding inside, or maybe you’ll mow down a tree line with a 50 cal or tank to get a better view. The ability to blow holes into buildings definitely adds new gameplay strategies in online and offline play.
Once again, Battlefield is loaded with drivable vehicles. You’ll be able to hop into all sorts of light armor and jeeps, tanks and attack gunships. The vehicle controls are extremely simple and will allow for anyone to hop in and ride off into the sunset to fight their enemy. But be careful as there is plenty of anti-vehicle weaponry at the disposal of your enemy. From heavy artillery to laser guided missiles and rocket propelled grenades. Again all of which are easy to use and can take you out in a heartbeat if executed properly.
You’ll also be able to earn patches and medals to proudly display in your profile which is viewable at badcompany.ea.com. Speaking of the website, you’ll be able to view your statistics and upload battlefield moments from online game sessions for your friends to view and behold. One of the really cool things you can collect while playing online is another soldier’s dog tags. You do this by sneaking up on someone and using your knife to take them out. You’ll be able to brag to your buddies about taking their dog tags as well!
In typical Battlefield fashion that maps are huge and expansive. Even though multiplayer is 12 on 12, you’ll feel like there are many more folks playing then thee actually are. Part of this reason is because of the spawn system. When you get killed, you are returned to a screen that allows you to select your soldier class, weapon kit and where you would like to spawn. You can either respawn with your squad or back at the closet base to pick up a vehicle or just get out of the action for a moment. You’ll also see what your squad mate is doing before deciding to spawn on him which is cool because if he is in the middle of a fire fight with 5 enemies you may not want to spawn there.
As mentioned previously there have the ability to select your soldier class and weapon kit before entering the battle, and you’ll have the ability to change up that kit each time your die. The kits are as follows: Assault, Demolitions, Specialist, Support, and Recon. Each kit has its own set of weapons, gadgets and unlockables. Each kit is also designed for a specific task. For instance the scout is obviously your sniper kit and will allow you to use laser strikes to drop a barrage of missiles onto enemy vehicles and e have been many complaints from folks about he lack of proximity chat, the limit of 4 man squads, etc. But all of this comes together online very well if the game is played correctly. Don’t get me wrong, proximity and team chat would be welcome editions to the game but the lack of them does not make the game any less fun. You have to remember that this is not your typical team deathmatch, but more of an objective based game online. If you are labeled the defenders than it’s your responsibility to see that the gold creates stay in tact and out of enemy hands. If you are the attackers, well then it’s your responsibility to destroy the gold crates by arming them with a charge or just blasting the crap out of them with conventional weaponry and lsowly push the enemy front backwards until you take over their base. Many folks don’t take into account that you can disarm a charge as a defender once it’s been armed. You’ll here a siren and a red flashing light will be illuminating the area alerting the defenders that the crate has been armed with a charge. What’s frustrating is many folks continue to just run and gun and ignore the alert. This can make the game frustrating. But when you get into a room or squad with folks who know how to play the game it becomes very strategic and team based. That’s what the game is all about.
While working as a squad you’ll receive radio communications from HQ which will inform you of things happening on the battlefield. When you or one of your squadmates identifies a hostile whether it’s a vehicle or a sniper, you’ll be alerted by this and a red icon or dot will show up representing the enemies location on the map and on your screen. If an enemy gets out of your line of site, the dot will eventually go away unless another member of your team has their sites set on him/her. You’ll also receive communications when under attack from behind or when your gold crates have been armed with a charge.
The sounds are nothing over the top, but are still very well done. Tanks sound like tanks, choppers sounds like choppers, etc. You’ll here the distant explosions and gunfights as you hear in most shooters. There is some comedic relief in the single player storyline and the voice acting is pretty well done and gives the story some personality. Will you fall in love with the characters? Eh, probably not, but they do keep the storyline moving along. The lack of proximity and team chat tends to bum some folks out, but it really isn’t a glaring issue as stated earlier.
Overall Battlefield Bad Company is a great game and a step up from the previous Battlefield title on the 360. Folks will have fun with the game for quite a while, and any additions of maps and possible game modes will only help this game maintain a long game life online. There are plenty of maps, weapons and unlockables to keep folks busy for a while. As well as the ranking system for folks to obtain those officer ranks will keep folks playing.. But will some folks go back to COD4 fairly quickly? Yes. While this game is great, it really doesn’t stand up to the bar that COD4 set back in November of 2007.
Suggestions: The inclusion of team chat or proximity chat would be a big plus in the game. Team chat could definitely add to the strategic value of the gameplay. Would love to see more stat varied weaponry as well and maybe the addition of some new unlockables or special equipment for each class. Overall though, great game.
Overall Score: 9.1 / 10
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Deadliest Catch Alaskan Storm
Finally the wait is over and Deadliest Catch: Alaskan Storm has steamed its way onto shelves across the US and Canada. Greenwave Games, Liquid Dragon Studios and the legendary Hansen family bring you a pure crab boat simulation of what it’s like to be a Bering Sea crab boat Captain. So has the wait and numerous delays been worth their weight in gold? For the casual gamer, this game may not appeal, but for hardcore simulation gamers and fans of the show Deadliest Catch on Discovery Channel the wait has been more than worth it. Honestly there is a cult like following for this game that is almost scary. We’ve seen the clan thing is big in shooter titles, but to see something like that taking place in this game is simply amazing and scary at the same time. There are many folks that are simply fanatical about this game.
The game is inspired by the Hansen Family who own one of the most popular boats featured on the Deadliest Catch Show. Captain Sig, Edgar and Norman Hansen put their heads together to come up with a game concept that would allow fans of the show and gamers to experience what it is like to work on a Bering Sea crab boat. You’ll take the role of Captain on one of five boats featured in the game, or you’ll have the opportunity to create your own boat from those boat templates. Your primary goal is to catch as much crab as you can during the fishing season but you have secondary tasks to keep an eye on such as keeping up crew morale, giving them breaks, plotting course and pot strings, etc.
There is a general concern among gamers that the game is based on a TV show. The general TV/Movie based games tend to be well, really bad in most cases. You need to get that thought out of your head when considering a purchase of Alaskan Storm. This game carries the Deadliest Catch name and features boats from the show, but it is NOT based on any storyline from the show. The game is focused completely on what it is like to be a Captain on a Bering Sea crab boat. So clear your head completely of any thoughts that this is your typical TV show game. That is furthest from the truth.
Some of the stand out features in this game include: 34,000 miles of actually Alaskan coastline recreated in with great precision and detail, Four true to life Bering Sea Harbors, 20 real life fisherman, five authentic Captains and crab boats. Another big feature is the inclusion of the US Coast Guard for the first time in any video game. You’ll have a chance to pilot the 370 foot USCG Cutter Mellon.
Alaskan Storm features several modes of gameplay for you to enjoy. You’ll have your standard career mode where you will progress through King Crab and Opilio seasons. You also have a few mini games and challenges that you will need to complete in order to unlock some boat upgrades that can be applied for single player and multiplayer use. Speaking of multiplayer, yes, there is a multiplayer mode that will pit you against up to 7 other Captains online competing see who can make the most money in an online season. Those online seasons can last anywhere from a few minutes to a few hours. All of which can be controlled by the host when setting up the match. There is also a virtual tour of the Northwestern that will allow you to completely free roam the vessel and learn a lot of interesting tidbits about the fishing industry and the boat itself.
The general physics in this game are simply amazing when it comes to the wave simulation on the Bering Sea. Since the weather is completely dynamic and in real time, you will experience calm seas at one point and then a storm could roll in and you’ll find yourself hanging on for dear life as the boat sways and rolls through 40 foot seas. Depending on the intensity of the storm and the time of the season, the storm could produce small nuisance swells all the way up to high winds, snow, icing, and 40 foot swells. You’ll have to focus on keeping the boat upright and keeping your crew safe on deck as you continue to do the task at hand. Sometimes you just have to grin and bear the weather in order to make some money, other times you can run for cover.
The graphics in the game have high point and low points. The water looks simply amazing and the sunsets on the Bering Sea are simply breathtaking. The boats rolling through the seas look outstanding and there is a lot of attention to detail on every vessel. Some folks have expressed concerns about drab terrains, but all in all it’s the top of the world folks. Its rock, ice and snow! What kinds of textures are you expecting truthfully? And seriously, why are you even worried about the land masses when your primary focus should be on the water and trying to haul in the crab. A few things I have noticed that have been a little disappointing would be the pile of crab that is dumped out of your pots. It literally looks like a pile of, well, I really can’t use that word in a professional review. I really think some more attention could have been paid to some of the smaller details in the game such as this. This is one of those things that’s painfully obvious and in plain sight throughout the game. This one thing could have used more attention in my opinion. It doesn’t detract from gameplay, it only takes from the overall visual experience.
The sounds in the game get a bit of a mixed emotion from me. The boat engines and standard workings on the deck of the boat are pretty much what I would expect. The ambient sounds of the sea are present as well such as the pesky seagulls that follow your boat around the sea looking for a quick snack. What the game is lacking in is the voice category. One thing that many fans will be disappointed in is the fact that Mike Rowe didn’t make it into the game. His voice has become a staple in the Deadliest Catch series and would have been .a top notch addition. The voice acting in the game is a little on the dare I say corny side at times. There are a few times I would rather the crewmember just salute me with one finger rather than say something. The mood would come across so much better in those instances. As an overall, the sounds are just a mediocre portion of the game. On a good note, how can you go wrong when Bon Jovi fires up the vocals in the opening title screen. That makes up for all below standard sounds!
Let’s move onto the game and gameplay itself. The game starts you out in a tutorial to give you the basics on piloting your vessel into a dock and around the harbor. You’ll head out to sea and drop a few pots, learn how to use all the tools at your disposal in the wheelhouse as well as how to command your crew. Once you have finished the tutorial you’ll unlock career mode. This is where the real simulation and fun begins. Its time to see what you have and how that will translate into profit by the end of a season. One of the great features you will learn to use in the tutorial is what is called Fast Travel. This comes in quite handy online for sure. Fast Travel allows you to travel quickly from point A to point B by setting a waypoint. In the single player mode, fast travel only allows you to avoid actually driving the plotted course yourself which could in fact get a bit boring if going a long distance. When in fast travel mode in single player, the clock will tick in real time as if you were driving in real time. Where as online, the season clock does not deplete when you use fast travel meaning you only use a few seconds compared to a few hours of the game clock when driving yourself. Very innovative idea and again it comes in quite handy. You will still have to drive the boat to pick up and drop pots and perform other tasks, but this is a great travel system for getting to your favorite fishing spots without losing much time online or having to fall asleep at the wheel when in single player mode. This mode does not detract from the game in anyway when used.
When you start your career mode, you’ll be asked what boat you would like to use. You can select from 5 real life boats and Captains, or you can select the customize option and create your own boat. The boat editor is very basic and only really consists of you selecting a boat template from the existing real life boat. You’ll then paint the boat to your own specified colors, including trim, hull etc. The paint system is very cool because rather than giving you standard colors to choose from, you in fact get to use a color wheel which gives you literally millions of options. Once you have painted your vessel, slap a name on it using the text tool, and then select your wheelhouse style. You’ll be able to upgrade parts and special items on your boat as you finish each season. It’ll take money though to make these upgrades so be sure to do well.
Before leaving the harbor you’ll have to hire a crew, buy some bait, fuel and pots. When hiring your crew you’ll have to assign job titles to each person specifically so be sure to read their description to see what job they are best suited for. Each crew members takes a share of the total profits at the end of the season, so make sure you don’t have all high percentage crew members on board your boat or you will make no money. You’ll have to take a look at their stamina and morale levels throughout the season and try to keep them rested and happy or some may in fact quit on you, get hurt often or just have a bad attitude which brings the whole crew down. If your crew’s morale is low, they aren’t going to work very well for you.
This game is very technical and it has multiple facets for you to understand and learn to become successful. Let’s first discuss a few terms for those that aren’t fans of the show. You have 2 types of crab you are in search of in the game which are King Crab and Opilio crab. You’ll only be fishing for one crab species per season, both in single player and multiplayer. To catch crab you have to use something call a “pot”. This is basically a trap that allows crab to enter, but they cannot get back out once they have entered. Each pot is loaded with bait and dropped off the side of the boat to the sea floor. You then have to let the pot “soak” in the water for several hours to allow for crab to enter and fill up the pot. Each pot is part of something call a “string”. A string is basically a line you take where pots are dropped at intervals. In the game when you actually go through the process of dropping a pot, it actually represents 5 pots dropped so a string of 40 pots would mean you only have to drop 8 actual pots. This helps speed up the game little in a sense.
So your goal in the game is to drop strings in areas where you think the crab may be. You’ll use a fish and game survey chart to show you hot spots and give you starting points but a lot of the time you will have to use instincts and single test pots to determine where the crab are at. The crab move and migrate realistically on the sea floor, so where you might have been hitting them one time may be bone dry the next time you drop pots there.
Using a menu system you’ll have to command your crew to drop pots, pull up pots, break ice or take rests. From time to time more specific actions will be taken on an individual basis such as cooking a meal for the crew or fixing something on the boat. When you approach a line that you set for a string, or maybe a string you already dropped, you’ll have to tell your crew what action you are about to take. If you select drop pots from the menu, then your crew will prepare a pot for dropping into the sea. This includes getting the buoys ready, bating the pot, closing the lid and dropping it into the sea on your command. If you selected pull up a pot, then your crew will stand ready to retrieve a pot that has been soaking. They’ll throw a hook, pull up the pot and sort the crab. The third option in the menu is breaking ice. Your boat will collect ice on the Bering sea in the winter months and you must keep that ice from collecting on your boat or it will become unstable. Your crew will come out with sledgehammers and break the ice from the boat. This takes time and energy so be sure to rest them up after the task is complete. The final option is to give them rests. Some crew members will ask for individual breaks, and you can give it to them but there are times when you give the whole crew a break. These breaks raise moral and bring back energy of course. Breaks are usually given when traveling from string to string or heading into port.
As you pull your strings, you will get crab counts which add to your total crab weight and obviously your profit at the end of the season. You’ll keep the crab in a hold which will keep them alive until you get to port. Well most of them anyhow. When you finally go to port to offload, you will sell off your crab and will receive costs for crew shares, fines, and stored pots retrieved once a season is over. The final standings for both the single player and multiplayer aspects are based solely on profits and not the actual amount of crab in pounds caught.
The multiplayer aspect of the game is very similar in all aspect of the game with the exception of a few things. Instead of facing off against 5 AI boats, you’ll now face off against up to 7 other live Captains. One of the cool features but also down sides is the voice chat system in the game. To add a sense of realism, you will use a radio style communication system which will only allow you to converse with one other player at a time. Some one can hail to you and you will hear them, but you’ll have to switch to their channel in order to speak with them thus ending your conversation with the person at hand. In competition aspects of the game, it’s a great feature. But in social aspects of the game it’s a dagger in its heart. There is no group chat at all. It is neither in the pre game lobby or the post game lobby. Communication is just one on one throughout the entire match.
Overall the game is a great in depth simulation and the gameplay outweighs many of its bugs. The game is not perfect by any means and could definitely use some polishing via a patch for some of its issues. Most of the bugs are cosmetic and do not detract from the overall gameplay. They are annoyances more than anything. There are a few bugs that will be discussed among forums that could probably use some form of downloadable patch or update. But in my opinion no game is perfect and every game has something it can do better in one area or another. Most fans of the show will absolutely go nutty over this title, and casual gamers who take the time to get into the game will enjoy it as well. Will everyone enjoy the game? Absolutely not. It’s a love it or hate it type of game, but in the end I think more will love it than hate it. Greenwave Games and Liquid Dragon Studios have done an outstanding job on recreating the job of a Bering Sea crab boat Captain. And to all of those folks that have been wondering what its like, well here is your chance. I would highly recommend this game to anyone that watches the show or is a true life commercial fisherman. I would also recommend it to anyone that has the least bit of curiosity; you will not be disappointed in the depth of the game.
Suggestions: Group chat is a must!!! Please either send out a patch to include this OR at least be sure to include it in DCAS 2 if there is such a title in the pipeline. Try to include a few more real life boats or add some downloadable content. New crab variations would be cool as well. Make the boat editor even deeper and customizable rather than just using a template of already existing boats. Other than that, great job guys on making a good game. Definitely broke the unfortunate mold of shooters and racers on the 360. Kudos.
Overall Score: 8.2 / 10
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Kung Fu Panda
Jack Black has become an icon in the minds of kids young and old with his recent host appearances on Nickelodeon Kid’s Choice awards. Well Jack is back as the wannabe Po the panda in “Kung Fu Panda”. As a father, the game is perfect for my 7 year old daughter, but just as fun for my 11 year. Heck its just as fun for me, but no comment on my age. Panda is a great modern day action platformer that has lots of stuff to collect, smash and throw. This is one of those quality fun games to sit down and play with your kids, since it does have local multiplayer. You’ll unlock even more multiplayer options as you progress through the single player levels.
The story is basically about this panda bear named Po whose dream is to be a kung fu master. He happens to fall into a circumstance, literally, that names him as the next Dragon Master, an elite kung fu specialist. Well lets just say that our panda friends isn’t in the best shape of his life, and isn’t the most graceful thing on 2 feet, err 4…no I mean 2.
The game offers a lot of variety in attacks from strong to fast. All of which are upgradeable after each level using the coins that you collect while smashing your way through each area. The stronger your attacks the better chance you’ll have against the stronger and larger enemies later in the game. You also have special attacks, which are upgradeable as well, that you can learn as the game progresses. One of my favorite is a belly flop maneuver that has Po jump up in the air and slam into the ground sending all close enemies flying into the air. This will destroy most small enemies immediately and do significant damage to larger ones. As you progress through the levels the game teaches you new attacks and special maneuvers. Some levels are even designed to help you master your techniques.
Another special maneuver your Panda performs is called the Panda stumble. Basically, you stumble and fall into your opponents and sometimes enough to even go into a panda roll. You’ll basically be a big bowling ball of destruction rolling through the level knocking off enemies and collecting coins. At some points you’ll be forced into the panda roll as to proceed further in the level you’ll have to roll along a predetermined path. Be sure when rolling to keep your eyes open for coins and special hidden icons.
Most enemies are not difficult to defeat but will take some thinking on your part. Usually larger enemies can only be killed using strong attacks, while much smaller enemies can be destroyed using the fast attacks. The previously mentioned special attacks come in quite handy at anytime or circumstance.
As I mentioned earlier, there is a lot of collecting to do in this game typical of any platformer. Be sure to break everything as you progress through the level to try and maximize your coin total. As I said, these coins are used to upgrade your characters abilities as well as buy some new costumes. So be sure to collect as many as you can. There are special icons located through out the levels as well. You will unlocked special content and new multiplayer modes for finding these.
Each level will also give you specific items to find such as family vases, fireworks and more. Some of these items are required to complete the level, while others just help you finish the level at 100%. If you like achievements, you’ll always want to collect everything you see in order to complete that 100% perfect level. Food items will replenish your health and shiny white globes of energy will increase your special energy. Be sure to use these items when up against tough bosses in order to stay alive.
The level design is very basic but perfect for this style of game. You’ll follow a linear path in each level with very little deviation. You’ll have to solve some puzzles in order to get to certain areas such as using a giant crossbow to pop confetti balloons blocking your path. Or maybe you’ll need to bounce on trampolines to get to a high point of the level. You’ll also have some balancing acts where you’ll have to take you tubby body across a thin rail or rooftop holding left or right to keep your balance. Always be on the lookout for hidden items though, as again this will allow you to complete the level at 100%. You miss one and you’ll have to go back and play the level again to get your 100% if that’s what you want. There are 13 levels in all for you to explore and complete. Some of those levels allow you to play as other characters from the movie as well.
The graphics and animations are spot on for this game. Very colorful backgrounds and goofy looking characters will have all kids giggling. While we’re not talking movie quality animation, it is still good and enjoyable to watch. The voice acting is right on with the actual actors in the movie taking part in the voice over. While I wasn’t ever sold on Jack Black as a panda bear prior to the movie or game, he does a good job convincing us that his character is a carefree teenage panda with one goal in mind. That goal is to become a Kung Fu Master!!!
Overall as a father on this Father’s Day weekend in the states, I would highly suggest this game to all dad’s for their kids. I myself love a good platformer, and is that game genre is up you alley then you aren’t to old to play this game. Great humor, animations and storyline add to the fun and keep the game interesting and moving along at a good pace throughout. This one is definitely a good break from the typical FPS’s and Racing games we typically see on the Xbox 360 anymore.
Suggestions: Online multiplayer mode could have probably been a lot of fun with this game. I would have liked to have seen a little more open level design, but overall the game was pretty good and a lot of fun to play.
Overall Score: 7.8 / 10
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LEGO Indiana Jones: The Original Adventures
Traveller’s Tales brings us another installment of the beloved LEGO series only this time its themed using the Indiana Jones Trilogy. Once again the geniuses writing the storyline do an outstanding job of not only capturing the main plot of the film and famous scenes, but manage to include their own humor intertwined. The game looks fabulous and every Indy detail you would expect can be found in this game. And how can you not get excited as soon as you hear the famous Indiana Jones theme song trumpeting in the background as soon as you hit the start screen. Some of my favorite scenes from the movies have been recreated in LEGO fashion and done with class, humor and professionalism that is unmatched. Tt Games should be proud of what they have put together with all of the LEGO themed games thus far.
The game includes over 60 playable characters, including everyone favorite :ShortRound. Holding true to past LEGO iterations you’ll be able to go in and replay levels in Free Play as anyone of these characters. Once again as with the Star Wars series, some characters must be used on or to complete levels in free play mode. As you progress through the story mode you’ll unlock new characters, as well as gain the ability to purchase unlocked characters in the “store”. You’ll gather LEGO studs as you have in the past from destroying objects throughout each level and use these to make your purchases.
You’ll begin your journey with the Raiders of the Lost Ark. Along with a crew of explorers and guides; you make your way through the forest looking for a hidden temple that is home to the treasure you are seeking. Along with the help of your guide, you’ll make your way through the jungle and into the temple where your treasure resides. You will encounter booby traps, jungle natives, giant spiders and even an occasional alligator. The game itself really focuses on using both characters throughout the level. At some points you will use both characters to solve puzzles, and you cannot solve the puzzle without doing so. Also you now have the ability to carry tools and extra weapons with you. The tools such as a wrench or a shovel need to be sued to uncover objects or fix broken machinery. You will have to switch to the character that has the tool in which you need to complete your task. If you require a tool but do not have one, there will always be one hidden in the vicinity of your location. Do a little searching and breaking things and you will find it. From time to time, you’ll have to backtrack in a level a little with items you find in order to complete tasks you ran across earlier.
One thing you will notice is that the storyline or level design does not always hold true to the movies. For instance, your backstabbing guide in the first scenes of the movie actually does not make it back out of the temple. In the game, he’ll be alive and well at the end of the level. Well for obvious reasons not only pertaining to gameplay, they can’t be killing off characters in the game. As for the level design, its full of puzzles and redesigned to make the game enjoyable. You all remember the room that holds the treasure in the original movie. A bit boring actually for a video game level if you ask me. The developers spruced up the room with moving platforms, alligators and water to make things more interesting. If it weren’t for the developers own vision, the level would probably be a bit boring. The same can be said about every level. There are similarities to the storyline, but in essence its transformed into what would make a good game and make the scene fun un a video game
Once you have completed the first level, including running from the natives to get into the awaiting plane on the river, you’ll be whisked away to Barnett College. Barnett is basically your home base where you’ll be able to spend your hard earned LEGO studs, select levels and lots of other stuff. At this point in the game you will now have unlocked the other 2 movies in the trilogy and you can play them whenever you like. You do not have to play the movies in the order they appeared. Jump around from movie to movie if you like. Be sure to explore Barnett College as you’ll find lots of goodies scattered throughout the level. You’ll find an area where you can piece together your own LEGO characters, basically known as the art room. Or you can go check out the artifact pieces you have collected throughout each mission. Whatever the case, there is plenty to do in Barnett College alone.
LEGO Indiana Jones is great for all ages. Some of the puzzles are a little more complicated and will require some thought, while others are pretty much no brainers from the start. As I suggested earlier in the review, you’ll be required to work hand in hand with your partner in the game to complete some puzzles. At some points, you will take control of character “A” and move into a certain position. Then by pressing the “Y” button, you’ll switch to character “B” and complete the task at hand while the other character waits in position for you. This will involve stepping on buttons to allow the other to cross a certain area, or having your partner push a moving platform or item into place so you are in position to get to a higher normally unreachable point.
Indy comes equipped with his famous whip which allows you to swing across ravines, trips up enemies and destroy anything and everything in site. There is even a romantic side to Indy with his whip. Try snapping your whip at one of your female companions when you have a chance and you’ll see what I mean. Indy, you dog! You'll be able to fit yourself with new weapons, tools or hats that help you complete certain tasks at hand. The bazooka is a pretty fun weapon to mess around with. The game also features many vehicles and animals at your disposal including motorcycles, trucks, cars, bikes, elephants and horses. And man those horses can throw you pretty good. Hold onto those reigns!
Honestly, there is really only one downside to the entire game. That would be the exclusion of online co-op. For some reason that option was left out of the Indy game, yet it was present in the Star Wars: Complete Saga game and will be present in LEGO Batman at the end of the summer. Not sure what the thinking was in this maneuver, but it’s a bit inexcusable. This game would have been all but perfect had you been able to team up with a buddy on Xbox Live and run through the levels. The game does allow you to play with 2 players locally on the 360, but that’s it. This is definitely a disappointment. The game does have the Free Play mode which allows you to select a group of characters and go back into a level to complete tasks that you were unable to perform in story mode. You’ll be placed into the level with 8 characters at your disposal dependant upon your initial selection, each of which has certain abilities that allow you to complete objectives and reach places you couldn’t before.
Overall, LEGO Indiana Jones is a must have for any fan of the LEGO genre or of the Indiana Jones movies. It holds true to the trilogy storyline and includes quite a few characters, secrets, and goodies to keep you entertained for quite a long time. They have captured the film character personalities perfectly and you’ll come to love the game characters just as you did in the movies. Indy has the same sly ladies man demeanor in the game that he carried in the film. And Willie is just as annoying in the game as she was on screen at times, especially with her scream ability that can break glass!
As stated earlier folks of all ages will find something enjoyable in this title which seems to be the trend with every LEGO themed game coming along. The folks at Traveler’s Tales are really onto something with the LEGO series and I honestly hope to see it continue for quite some time. Can you imagine a LEGO Master Chief????
Suggestions: For the life of me, I cannot understand why online co-op was not included in this game. In today's video game world, that is almost a must and its in the Star Wars game as well as the upcoming Batman. The ball was dropped here for sure. I'd also love to see online adversarial play in the LEGO world. Can you just see Team Deathmatch in LEGO style??? That would be too awesome!
Overall Score: 8.6 / 10
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Viking: Battle for Asgard
Sega brings us the first Viking genre game on the 360, and they did a fairly nice job with it. You play as Skarin, a Viking given immortality by the Gods in order to fight against Hel and here Legion army. The game has a strategy feel along with the standard hack and slash style gameplay that provides just enough variety not to get overly repetitive at any point. You’ll come across times when button mashing is almost a must in order to stay alive. The biggest feature boasted by Sega is the epic battles. You’ll be able to lead an army of Vikings and dragons into battle at certain points during the game. Other than those times though, the rest of the game is hack and slash mixed with stealth moments.If you love blood and gore, then you will love the finishing moves and assasination moves performed by Skarin.
Camera angles can get a little bit clunky at times while trying to attack or even maneuver through tight spaces, but overall there wasn’t a major glaring issue. At times it seemed that button responses didn’t exactly coincide with what I was trying to do, but again nothing terrible or unplayable. The graphics themselves were good for the most part. At times there seemed to be some choppiness when you would have large amounts of legion warriors surrounding you and attacking, but again nothing unbearable. On the topic of sound, there is really nothing standing out about the game’s sounds. To me the sounds are basically what I would expect to hear, and the voice acting is ok. Not brilliant, but ok.
Without giving away too much, the storyline seemed to go very well throughout the game and seemed to be progressing to an epic finish. Unfortunately for me, I thought the story failed miserably in the end and was greatly disappointed in the outcome of things. At times throughout the game, the storyline did seem a little strange and certain moments seemed out of place as well. So if you are looking for a game with a dramatic and engrossing story, you may want to look elsewhere. This game is mostly about the gameplay.
You’ll travel across 3 islands which are broken up into sections. These sections contain tasks for you to complete. Most of the tasks are centered around clearing an area of the Legion forces. In the beginning of the game you don’t have much at your disposal other than your sword. You can obtain throwing axes from the local merchant, and can carry up to 3 on your person at a time. These axes can come in quite handy as they take out several legion when thrown into a group. You’ll also be able to purchase flame pots from the merchant, which in an essence are grenades that can hurled into legion crowds as well. The merchant also has the normal health packs and what not for sale.
As stated, you will start the game with a limited set of attacks and weaponry. As you progress through the game you will learn new attacks and have the ability to upgrade you weapon with gold found throughout the regions. Be sure to find all the gold you can as you explore since you’ll be needed a lot of it when learning special moves in the battle arena. The battle arena, one located in each of the three regions, allows you to learn new advanced attack maneuvers. You’ll be instructed to perform the task and once performed you’ll be granted the ability to use this move in battle. The moves cost you gold, and start small in price but range to 8000 gold for the final attack. Many of these abilities and maneuvers come in very handy throughout the game, so be sure to learn all you can early.
One of the moves you learn is a stealth attack that allows you to sneak up behind enemies and take them out without alerting their buddies nearby. You basically sneak up on the enemy and hit the “X” button when prompted. To early or to late on the button and you risk being seen by the enemy. This attack comes in quite handy when infiltrating camps full of legion personnel as it allows you to deplete numbers silently before actually outright attacking the bases. Don’t be afraid to use the maneuver often as there will be times you regret running into a camp Rambo style and then find yourself swamped by every legion warrior in the vicinity.
As you progress through the regions you will find and rescue other Vikings which will be added to your Viking army. Finding these Vikings are crucial to completing each section of the vast world. We’ll discuss more on this shortly. You’ll be given tasks by the leaders of each Viking group rescued in order for them to commit to joining your fight against the Legion. Some of these taks include clearing out caves or camps of Legion and returning a Legion banner or flag as proof. As stated, once you begin to build up your numbers you will be allowed to summon your Viking army to help attack certain points in each map. By simply calling up your map, you can order and attack of a region. Your Viking friends will march into battle with you and help clear out the Legion at hand. This option is not available on every Legion encampment. Only at certain predetermined points of the map are you allowed to do this, and you can see this by calling up your map and looking to see if the option is available to you.
During these epic battles your Viking brethren will fight by your side and attack the legion on their own. Along the top left hand corner of your screen you will see your health bar, and then a red bar underneath. This red bar represents how much charge you have to release a power up on your weapon. You can power up your weapon using the upgrades purchased from the weapon specialist in each Viking base. You’ll be able to choose from 3 power ups: ice, Fire and Lightning. These attacks have multiple levels of upgrade but you can only upgrade them when the game allows you which seems to be linked to once per region with exception of the final region. When you power up your weapon during a Viking attack on the legion, all those Vikings in range of you will also have their weapons powered up for the duration of the power up cycle. Other than this power up, your attacks and the weapon at hand will be your only upgrades. Later in the story you will get another upgrade of your weapon, but it falls within the storyline so its not really anything you need to purchase or obtain.
Your ultimate goal in each of the three islands is to take back the main city under legion control. To do so, you’ll have to gain the ability to summon dragons. In the first city of Darkwater, you must charge a dragon stone and take it to a summoning point located in the lower portion of the map. Once you have charged your stone, and summoned your dragon you will now be able to order and attack of on the legion inhibiting the city of Darkwater. When you attack a city with your Viking army, the dragon will accompany you and will follow your commands to attack certain points on the battlefield. Your primary objective is to destroy the Legion Shamans to end the battle. The dragons attack is only available when you have dragon stones available. As you defeat Legion Champions, Giants and Shaman you will gain Dragon stones to launch more dragon attacks. Each target will tall you how many dragon stones are needed for an attack when viewing your map. While all this is taking place, your Viking brethren will continue to fight and destroy the legion until no Shaman is remaining. Each of the three regions allows you to summon a dragon which in the end gives you 3 dragons at your side for the final battles. Sounds great huh? Well, unfortunately even with more dragons you still only had one command as you did when you only had one dragon. So having more dragons doesn’t really benefit you at all.
Overall, the game was enjoyable to play. Difficult and frustrating at times, especially some of the areas where it was key to use stealth to infiltrate Legion camps and achieve a goal. But after some trial and error, and mapping out your plan of attack or non attack for that matter, you can always get through a map. The maps were vast and the tasks to complete were many in the end. The game itself will probably only take around 6 hours to completely finish which may make it more of a rental than a purchase for some folks. Viking offers to levels of difficulty for you to play, and the higher difficulty does add a bit of a challenge, but its not overly difficult and may actually in fact not be considered difficult by advanced gamers. I think the game could have benefit more from a deeper leveling up, a stronger storyline, and possibly a wider variety of weaponry. Again, good game and I would recommend anyone to play it, but it does seem to be lacking in some areas.
Suggestions: I would have definitely liked to have seen some more upgrading with the weapons, and possible a variation in weapons available other than the typical sword and axe combination. I would have also liked to have seen a leveling up system for your character rather than just the advanced moves that you purchased and extra health. Finally, something just wasnt right with the story, especially in the end. I felt extremely disappointed by the final cut scene and almost robbed if you will of my time. Overall, I had fun with the game but it was lacking in a few things such as those I mentioned.
Overall Score: 6.8 / 10
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Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Vegas 2
Ubisoft brings back the Rainbow Team in the second installment of the Vegas Series. Rainbow Vegas Six 2 features a once again terrorist ravaged Las Vegas, and it’s up to the Rainbow Six team to put an end to the threat. You’ll traverse through casinos, back alleys, parking garages, and roof tops to carry out that goal. Terrorists are at every corner awaiting your ammunition to be sprayed heavily upon their positions.
At first glance, Vegas 2 seems to be Vegas 1 with new maps and missions, but after a little playtime you’ll come to realize there is a little more to it than that. Not a lot, but enough to make it worthy of a purchase for any Rainbow Six fan. Its definitely a must buy for any first timer to the series. The graphics are not eye-popping but compliment the game pretty well for the most part. There are some texture issues here and there, but nothing glaring that will take away from your gaming experience. At times there are a few framerate issues, but again nothing overwhelming or totally distracting. Sounds in the game are generally the typical sounds one would expect from any FPS. The ambient sound of a casino in the background definitely adds to the overall effect and reality of where you are fighting this terrorist war. You have to love putting a few bullets into a slot machine and having it drop its contents all over the floor, while it rings “Jackpot”. Probably the only way I’ll ever be able to get one of those things to dump its winnings for me. As for gameplay, you have 2 person co-op in the story mode, 4 player co-op terrorist hunt, and the typical online play with your general modes of play for any FPS.
One of the coolest features is the ability to continually unlock weapons and level up your character in any gameplay mode through the acquiring of XP. So now when playing 4 player terrorist hunt with your buddies, you will not only reap the XP from the terrorists you kill, but you’ll also gain a final XP reward for completing the mission as well. As you level up, you’ll unlock new weapons, accessories and gear that you can equip to your fully customizable character. The game also features the “Create-A-Face” mode using the Xbox Live Vision cam as the first iteration of this title did. The feature seems to work pretty well, but will take away some customizable options for you character when using a Vision Cam face. As stated, you’ll be able to equip your character with all types of gear and weapons. Heavy Armor will help those that take a lot of enemy lead into their body, but it will slow you down and lessen your maneuverability greatly. Light Armor can be worn to give you better agility and overall quickness. Most folks will find a happy medium somewhere in between.
Once you have your character customized, you can than use them in any game mode. Want to go online and show your handsome mug to the world? Then go for it. Maybe you just want to be a star, then play through the story mode as yourself. Allowing you to use your character in any game mode is a definite plus in this game. For those that are veterans of the Vegas 1, you’ll be treated to some unlockables immediately upon creating your character. You’ll also gain rank immediately as reward for your prior service.
The leveling up in Vegas 2 is very well done, and as stated each game mode gives you XP which counts towards your overall rank and level. You have 3 different areas of expertise (A.C.E.S. in game) to level up: Marksmanship, CQB, and Assault. Each area of expertise has certain requirements such as long range shots, headshots, grenade kills, stealth kills, etc. which will earn you XP points for accomplishing. The highest number level is 20 at the time of release, but that will take some time to obtain. Each level is attainable by gaining a certain amount of XP points. Once you have obtained a rank, your current XP is reset in a matter of speaking and you then have a new goal in XP points to obtain. When I say “current XP”, I am referring to the amount of XP you are currently gaining towards your next rank. Your overall XP is always visible to you and is never reset. In other words, to obtain the highest rank, which is Elite, you will need to gain 400,000 XP points in total. Good thing you gain XP in all games modes!
In the story mode you will play as Bishop, the team leader. If this is an online co-op match, you will play as Bishop or the first player on a local machine will always play as Bishop. The second player will play as your companion. You have 2 other AI controlled members of your team, and only Bishop has the ability to control them and direct their actions. There are achievements to play as Bishop’s partner so you’ll want to do both. The story mode doesn’t sway much from the original in gameplay. You’ll want to stay in cover as much as possible and use your team mates to gain strategic advantages. At times, you will be prompted to use your team members to disarm bombs, open locked doors, etc. Again, only Bishop can command the team members to do so.
Story mode can be played using split screen or on a system link. You can also play story mode online with another player whether it be a private match to invite one of your friends, or just a public match that allows any Xbox Live player to join. Again, if you are hosting the game then you will always play as Bishop, and the joining player will play as a member of your team. Unfortunately as you can tell by reading this, story mode is only limited to 2 players. Disappointingly 4 player co-op for story mode was not included with the final release of the game. Hopefully, a later update will come along and resolve this.
On the bright side, when playing Terrorist Hunt, you can have up to 3 players join you in your fight against terror. Again, this can be done locally or on Xbox Live. For those that do not know, Terrorist Hunt is a game mode that pits you up against a predetermined number of enemies on a map. It’s your team’s goal to eliminate all terrorists on the map. The game ships with 12 maps to do your hunting, with more on the way via downloadable content no doubt. As stated earlier, you and your buddies can accrue a lot of XP playing Terrorist hunt. The higher the difficulty, Realistic being the hardest, the more XP will you will gain from killing enemies and completing the mission at hand. You can change out your guns and equipment between matches. There are times when you’ll definitely want to have a shotgun in your arsenal, so keep that in mind.
Online Adversarial mode ships with 5 modes of player versus player action. These modes are: Team Deathmatch, Deathmatch, Attack and Defend, Team Conquest, and Team Leader. Deathmatch and Team Deathmatch are self explanatory and nothing out of the ordinary. Attack and Defend will pit 2 teams against each other. Both teams fight for control of an objective, with one basically attacking the location while the other is defending it. There are 3 types of objectives in this mode of play. First “Item Extraction” has one team trying to locate and recover and item while the other teams goal is to stop them. “Hostage Rescue” consists of one team trying to free and extract hostages while the other team tries to put and end to the rescue. Finally “Demolition” sees one team trying to plant and detonate a bomb while the other team tries to diffuse it before detonation. Team Conquest is your basic capture and hold type of territories game. You must locate and hold 3 satellite transmitters for a total of 30 seconds each to win this mode. And last but not least is “Team Leader”. This mode consists of teams supporting and protecting a team leader who is making his way to an extraction point to win the game.
Generally online play is not too bad. There are some frame rate issues, and a bit of lag to deal with at times. But overall, the maps are laid out nicely for lots of action. Spawn killing/camping shouldn’t be too much of an issue since you respawn with a temporary invulnerability shield. So be sure to take cover as quickly as you can when respawing. With the amount of maps, and the various modes of gameplay this title should keep the online community busy for a while. And again, we all hope for plenty more of content via Xbox Marketplace in the near future.
Overall Rainbow Six Vegas 2 is not a huge upgrade from Vegas 1, but it’s still a good game regardless. Most diehard Rainbow fans will definitely have this in their game library from day one and be satisfied with the final product. And as stated earlier, if you are new to the series, then this is a must have. 4 player Co-op terrorist hunt is a favorite among many and definitely adds to the value of this game. The Xbox 360 definitely has its fair share of First Person Shooters and only a few of those shooters really rises to the top of the heap. Vegas 2 can be considered one of those titles.
Suggestions: The exclusion of 4 player co-op in story mode was a bit disappointing. This mode is a definite must have for this type of game. Other than that, another solid addition to the Tom Clancy library of video games.
Overall Score: 8.6 / 10
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Army of Two
In this modern day of gaming online cooperative play seems to be increasingly important among gamers. Army of Two delivers on the premise, and does a pretty good job as well. While you won’t find anything too innovative about the co-op play, you come to learn that teamwork in this game is definitely a priority.
Army of Two is a first person shooter that sets you as a soldier or mercenary for hire. You’ll be dispatched, along with your partner, to locations to take out high profile terrorists and leaders that the regular military is not willing to undertake or be associated. As a private military you get paid for everything you accomplish while in the field. All objectives are worth a certain amount of cash, and your livelihood and well being depend on you getting paid. Its your job! This cash that you earn is used to purchase and upgrade new weapons, attachments, body armor and facemasks. There is a little bit of customization for each weapon that allows you to customize the weapon to your style. We’ll discuss this more a little later in the review.
This game will seem very familiar to folks that have played Gears of War or Splinter Cell titles of the past. Army of Two has a cover system, and a fire from cover system as GoW had. Comparisons to Splinter Cell come in the co-operative actions you partake and assisting your partner to areas not obtainable by your self. Remember using your partner to lift you up to a higher level, and then pulling your partner up after you. Well that’s in this game. Sure, I guess you can say “How else are you supposed to get to higher places?” Well I understand that, but this really does seem like a direct rip off of the Splinter Cell series. The gun fighting and shooting blindly from cover come both from Ghost Recon and Gears of War, and again feel like direct rip offs of the aforementioned games.
Graphics and sounds in this game are what can be expected of the next generation console. While again, it’s nothing that is going to pop your eyes out of your head, its acceptable. There is some destructibility of the levels through gunfire, explosions. The frame rates are smooth and do offer a great gaming experience that is easy on the eyes. That’s a definite plus in most books. Some of the gunfire sounds are pretty generic, and the voice acting is not terrible. Some of the dialogue can get a little annoying though. Overall, sounds in the game are ok though.
The storyline, while nothing over the top, is your basic hunt down the bad guys and save the world story. You’ll play as one of two ex-Army Rangers that have decided to work for the private military as mercenaries and get paid as you progress. There are a few twists and turns in the story as you progress, but again the story isn’t what’s going to grab your heart and soul for this game. There are not a lot of cinematic interludes to break up the action, and the missions seem to flow fairly well from one to the other.
One thing that Army of Two boasts as innovative and new to co-op play is a feature called “Aggro”. When you have aggro, this basically means that all the attention is on you from the enemies. This will allow you partner to sneak around enemies unnoticed, and ambush them from behind. Some enemies require you to do this as it’s the only way to kill them, so be sure to learn how to use the aggro. You can transfer this agro to your partner at anytime using the dpad if you are taking to much fire and are close to dying. This will in turn direct the enemy’s attention away from you in order for you to recover health. Some agro is obtained by the weapons you carry and how they are equipped. A more powerful weapon such as a heavy machine gun will draw attention from enemies quicker than a standard sub machine gun. So you’ll have to work with your partner and equip yourselves properly to accomplish your goals previous to each mission. One thing I did find interesting was when your partner goes down, you have to stop what you are doing and go heal him. If he dies, then the level is over and you'll have to restart. You can drag him into cover if needed, or heal him right on the spot he was injured, your choice. The game uses a health regeneration system which you use automatically when in cover. But take too much damage and you'll sit on your rump and have to wait for your partner to heal you or die.
A second and truly the final innovative feature that Army of Two can boast is the use of your environment as a shield. You’ll be able to wield certain things such as metal doors or car doors as a shield. One guy will hold the shield and move forward while the partner follows closely in formation behind the shield bearer providing fire on the enemy. You can use a melee attack on enemies as well when in this shield formation which is pretty cool. Honestly this really is about the only innovative feature I can recognize in this game.
While I wouldn’t consider the parachuting levels innovative in any way, they are quite well done graphically and mechanically. At times you will have to parachute into hostile territories. One team member will be in control of the weapon and the other will be in control of guiding the parachute down to your landing point. You’ll want to make sure to carry a sniper rifle as it makes the most sense to snipe your enemies before you get to close for them to shoot you. One thing though….I didn’t see any kind of effect on the parachute trajectory when using a sniper rifle. Wouldn’t you think the recoil and kick of a sniper rifle would at least cause you to sway a little in the air? I’ve never fired a sniper rifle while parachuting, so maybe I am wrong in thinking that.
As stated above, as you earn money from completing your goals you’ll be able to buy new weapons and customize those that you have. You’ll even have the opportunity to “pimp” them out if you like. This usually consists of diamonds, gold and shiny parts covering your weapon. Gold weapons, huh? Hmmm, very Call of Duty 4 reminiscent don’t you think? And the pimping out really is not that much of a wow factor. The pimping out option is cut and dry and only allow you to specifically add set modifications. There is no personal customization other than the way you mix and match the options available to you. About the only thing this does for you, is jack up your agro on the weapons stats. There are points throughout the game that give you access to the weapons supply store. Usually this takes place prior to each mission. You’ll be able to switch out weapons, buy new ones, and upgrade dependant on the cash you’ve obtained from the previous mission or missions. You’ll be able to switch out your stock, barrel, ammo, attachments and pimp the weapon. You’ll have the following categories to choose from when in the store: Primary Weapon, Secondary Weapon, Special Weapons and Armor. You’ll have the opportunity to buy different masks to give your character a different look, but again these masks are preset in design and do not allow for any kind of customization. So as a whole the customization aspect of this game is very linear and will not add much variety to setting you character apart from others you may encounter online.
As we discussed earlier, cooperative play is the key aspect of this game and is the main focus of the gameplay. You can play through the single player campaign with the AI, but the game really thrives and lives on playing with human partner. You’ll have actions that you can perform with your partner such as helping each other get to higher points on a map, switching weapons (a useless option), and co-op sniping. The only actions that you will really find useful are helping each other get to higher points on the map. The others are kind of pointless. Oh by the way, if you want you can interact with your partner in celebration by way of a high five, playing an air guitar jam session at any time you want….Whoop-die do.
You’ll have 4 options to choose from when starting a campaign: Single Player, Split Screen, Private Co-op and Public Co-op. Single Player will put you side by side with the AI of course, and I will say that the AI is fairly smart in this game, but you’ll do most of the killing it seems as there will be times when he just stands around admiring the scenery. Split Screen allows you to play through the campaign locally with a human opponent. Of course, a private co-op game allows you to play with your buddies online. The only thing is, when creating a match you can only load up a co-op game from the last checkpoint you obtained. You cannot load up a certain level. Its either the last checkpoint or the beginning of the campaign. Public co-op play basically allows any players to join you that are looking to complete the campaign with another real live person instead of the AI.
Online versus play consists of 2 vs. 2. No 4 vs. 4 or 2 vs. 2 vs. 2 vs. 2….Only 4 people to a game lobby and that’s it. This is somewhat disappointing as the game could have been all the more interesting having multiple pairings roaming a map at a time. It would completely change strategies going forward and planning your assaults. There are only 3 game modes available to play: Warzone, Bounties, and Extraction. Rounds length can be set to 10, 15 and 20 minute increments. And these game modes can be played on a whopping 4 maps.
In Extraction your primary goal is to rescue and carry POW’s or VIP’s to a safe location. These objectives are randomly spawned throughout the map. When playing Bounties, you’ll have to find and eliminate certain targets such as gang leaders. Warzone is a combination of both Extraction and Bounties. You’ll have additional objectives to accomplish throughout the match as well which will increase your cash intake. The primary goal of all these game types is to make money. More money. And even more money. You’ll face off against your human opponents as well as AI opponents in these matches which can deter and change your strategies a little for each objective.
All in all, the multiplayer of this game is where the fun factor lies for most. The campaign is short and nothing too spectacular. Many of the bosses are basically the same and most of the AI enemies are pretty lousy shots. A lot of folks will stand by this game due to its cooperative play, but unless EA plans on completely supporting the title with loads of maps, weapons and game modes in the future this game will be more of a flash in the pan. Multiplayer is fun for a while, and will satisfy most. So if you are looking for a good co-op game then this one may be for you. If you are looking for originality, you'll find some here, but most of the game is a combination of several great aspects of other big name games.
Suggestions: Please support the game with more online game modes, weapons and maps. Also allow for more character customization to give players more unqiue opportunities to stand out from others online. Campaign was was way to short, and maybe some missions could be added later.
Overall Score: 7.7 / 10
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Lost: Via Domus
Lost is a huge primetime TV fan favorite, and Ubisoft has decided to bring you its version of the show in Lost: Via Domus. You’ll play as a photojournalist headed back to the US on Oceanic Flight 815. And as with the TV show, the flight mysteriously crashes onto a remote island in the Pacific Ocean. You’ll interact with the real life main characters you’ve come to known on the show. As with the show, everyone has a hidden past including yourself, and it’s your goal to redeem yourself to gain passage off of the island. You come to realize early in the game that your troubled past also means that someone wants you dead, but who?
The overall feel of the game gives you the sense of watching a television show. At the start of each level, after the first level, you’ll get the “Previously On Lost” style of replay which shows you keys events of the storyline from the previous mission. While not overly important, it does add a little neat spin on things and makes you feel like you are watching and participating in a TV show. The graphics aren’t off the hook, so don’t prepare to have visuals that will knock your socks off. Some of the areas, such as when exploring a cave can become quite dark, even when torches are lit and you at times can lose your way. The sounds are quite basic as well. No real ambience when traveling through the jungle that I would have expected such as exotic animal noises and such. Voice acting is done by the original actors of the show and seems to be well done but again, nothing over the top.
The story starts out with the plane crash of course. You somehow miraculously survive the crash, as other have, and now must find your way through the jungle to the crash site. You come to realize quickly that your character has lost his memory and you have no recollection of who you are Now your main objective becomes gaining your memory back through personal items, talking with other characters and taking pictures. The game uses a question and answer system to gain information and progress through the storyline. You’ll collect items lying around the scenery in order to use for trading to acquire other items that you need. You’ll also use these items to help with recalling your memory at points. The game makes use of a journal which you’ll use throughout the game. Its broken into 4 categories: Quest, My Memories, Help and Completed. You’ll access the journal to view what you need to complete and what has already been completed.
There are several puzzle-style missions in order to achieve items and certain points of the story line. As stated earlier, you are a photojournalist with amnesia. At certain points in the game you will trigger a flashback. These flashbacks can be triggered by speaking with certain individuals or during certain events during the story. During these flashbacks, the screen will become blurred and you’ll be viewing a part of your past. Your goal is to take a snapshot of key elements in the flashback, which you can see in micro flashbacks prior to entering the memory. If you capture a successful snapshot, you’ll regain some key elements of your memory. There are also hidden items in the sequence for you to find and reveal even more things from your past.
The flashback sequence adds to the overall storyline and helps you regain your memory. Its not very difficult, and the entire flashback will replay from the beginning if you fail at capturing a successful snapshot. As stated, these sequences are not difficult and are more of a side mission to aid in revealing the whole picture of the story.
There are two puzzle-style missions found throughout the game. One mini game has you accessing computer files using simple logic. It’s a fairly simple and straight forward process. The other has you restore electric panels to working order within the plane wreckage. These missions have you reconstruct a circuit line with different watt fuses. These fuses can be picked up throughout the game, so be sure to pick up any fuses as you run across them. You’ll have to match up the total power of the circuit marked in colored ink on the board to the final red squares that change each time you put a fuse in. Three types of fuses each take a certain amount of power away from the overall circuit, so you will have to figure out the right combinations. Once you have figured out the puzzle, and restored the panel to working condition you’ll be able to proceed further into the story.
As you progress through the storyline, be sure to interact with anyone and everyone you can as each of these individuals will provide clues to you in conversation. You also want to be sure to explore areas thoroughly in order to find all items. There is some action in the form of shooting enemies once you have obtained a gun. You can only shoot certain enemies and items, and these will be marked clearly by crosshairs. Again, nothing really over the top here, it’s just something else to do within the game and will help you progress.
The game is pretty basic and straightforward when it comes to how you play it and what you need to do to accomplish your goals. It’s hard to say if passionate Lost fans will find this game inviting as its got its own storyline with a few tie ins to the actual first two seasons of the show. As stated a few of the main characters that have been around the show since the beginning of the show are there to help you on your journey. Overall, the game does not really stand out as a fabulous must own title, but if you like puzzle solving quest based games then this one should be right up your alley.
Suggestions: A bit more action in the game would have done wonders than question and answer sessions, and puzzle based mini games. Give the ability to play as other characters within the story.
Overall Score: 6.8 / 10
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Lost Odyssey
We all know Hironobu Sakaguchi’s work from the classic Final Fantasy series. He combined great storytelling together with traditional RPG gameplay to create enjoyable games for everyone. Now Sakaguchi brings that successful formula to the 360 with Lost Odyssey. Does he succeed in establishing the traditional RPG as a viable genre for today’s gamer?
You start the game as Kaim Argonar, an immortal who has traversed the world’s wars fighting to stop them over the last 1000 years. But Kaim has lost his memory, and as he completes his current journeys his primary goal is to try and regain his memories that have slipped him. This proves to be key to the storyline of the game, and not so much a side story. The city of Uhra depends on the production and consumption of magic energy to protect and defend their city. But something strange has happened at the construction site, Grand Staff. Kaim is summoned by the Uhra Council to travel to Magic Staff and find out what issues lie there. Due to your immortality, they have deemed you as the only one who can travel their safely.
Another immortal, Seth Balmore whom you had met earlier in a cut scene, will travel with you on your journey. You’ll also be accompanied by a mortal, Jansen Friedh who dabbles in magic, and at times can just be plain annoying with his dialogue. You’ll find out why he accompanies you fairly quickly in the story. So that’s your starting party. You'll gain other party members as the story progresses.
The first 30-60 minutes of the game contains some fighting sequences, but focuses more solely on establishing the storyline through many cut scenes. You’ll make your way from the initial battlefield you start on, to the city of Ulhra. The cut scenes are very well done, and you’ll honestly get to know the characters very well just by watching these scenes. Something that Mistwalker emphasizes very well in this game is facial expressions. You’ll know exactly what a character is feeling or thinking at times by just watching their facial gestures. It’s actually amazing at times what they have accomplished with the facial movements of each character. This is one of the outstanding and innovative features this game can boast, and is something basically no other game has yet even come close to mastering.
The game itself is your traditional turn-based style RPG, and you truly will feel like you are playing a game from the last decade at times with the exception of the beautiful graphics. For any fan of Final Fantasy or any other traditional JRPG, this is a must have. You’ll have various, skills, weapons and magic at your disposal throughout the game. You will collect new items by exploration, and obtain some items only through auction houses and shops. As with any traditional RPG, you will gain party members to help you in your quest. You will increase their skills and abilities as well as yours throughout your endeavor. The weapons you will use are pretty basic and don’t have much upgrade ability. You will use rings to enhance certain aspects of your attacks such as strength, defense, etc. We’ll talk more about the ring assembly system in a bit, which is a welcome addition to the standard RPG gameplay.
One thing I noticed while playing, all battles would take place randomly without any kind of notice. In more recent RPG’s, including the most recent Final Fantasy for the 360, you can actually seek out enemies to fight because they are visible throughout the land. In Lost Odyssey, you do not see your adversaries until are in the fight screen. All landscapes are barren of enemies making it difficult to just run around and level your character up. Part of this is probably based upon the linear nature of the game. While each area you traverse allows you to roam freely throughout, you are still headed to one destination to move forward to the next area. So in all honesty, the term “open-world” applies, yet it doesn’t apply. I think the game would benefit more from displaying random enemies throughout the worlds, and allowing you to level up a little faster than the game allows you now.
Customization of your characters is very limited unfortunately. There are no clothing upgrades that we have grown accustomed to with more recent RPG’s. Your character will look exactly the same at the end of the game as it did when you started the game. Fairly disappointing aspect of the game in my opinion. Weapons are very basic and have no upgrade ability either, other than the ring &t; it receives if wearing a ring. You’ll be able to swap out current weapons for more powerful weapons, but there is no option to enhance any weapon really. What you have in hand is what you get. As an immortal you will also be able to learn skills, but only when you “Skill Link” yourself with a mortal in your party. Mortals are the only ones that have the ability to learn skills as they level up on the battlefield. As the mortal learns a new skill, you can set your immortal characters to “skill link” with that mortal and over time they will learn that skill as well. This is the only way you can learn a new skill with your immortal.
One of the more interesting concepts in Lost Odyssey is the ability to create rings that enhance your characters. Rings are used to enhance attacks, magical abilities, HP recovery, etc. You’ll gather ingredients from battles, in auction houses/shops, talking with NPC’s, and finding hidden items throughout levels. When you view the ring assembly menu you’ll be able to see “ring recipes” for any type of ring you have some or all the ingredients in order to create. If you have all the ingredients, you can just click on the name of the ring type and you’ll be asked if you would like to form it. If you only have some ingredients, the ring type will be grayed out, but you’ll be able to see what ingredients you still need to locate. As you discover new ingredients, new types of rings and their recipes will come available in the list. Even though you have 5 fingers that could where a ring, you can only wear one at a time. Again, a disappointing aspect to the game.
The battle system is pretty straight forward in the game, and pretty much what you would expect from this turn-based RPG. You’ll see the order of the player attacks in the lower left hand corner. The game integrates a system call “The Wall” that allows you to put more powerful characters in the front row of a battle formation, while the lesser characters or magical characters can remain in the back row. The folks in the back row will take less damage than those in the front. Your “wall defense” is known as Guard Control or GC. You’ll be able to see the status of your GC in the upper right hand corner of the screen during battles. GC can be replenished using certain spells or skills.
Now when wearing a ring, the “Aim Ring System” comes available when in battle. As stated Enhancement Rings add special effects to an party member’s normal attack. The Aim Ring System determines how much strength the effect has during a normal attack. When attacking an enemy, using your normal attack, you will hold the right trigger. Holding the right trigger causes an outer ring to shrink in on the target ring. You want to release the right trigger when the outer ring overlaps the inner ring. You’ll receive a rating of Perfect, Good or Bad based on your performance. Get a perfect and you maximize the rings effect, but get a bad and rings effect will fail.
The typical RPG status ailments are all here during battles such as Paralyzed, Sleeping, Poisoned, Frozen, etc. All of these ailments can be cured using items in your inventory that you have purchased or found. You can cause these ailments on your opponents as well using various items, skills or spells as well. If all the members of your party are “KO’ed” then you will be reverted to the last checkpoint. But you can revive individual characters during the battle. Immortal characters will revive themselves during battle after a duration of turns has passed or you can revive them with spells or items. Mortal characters can only be revived using items or spells.
Once a battle is over, you’ll get the Battle Results screen. This will show you experience you have gained, as well as any items obtained or skills learned. That’s the battle system in a nutshell. Again, nothing totally out of the ordinary, but its definitely a system that works well with this game.
You’ll travel over land and sea throughout this game battling enemies and revealing a great storyline as well. The world is vast, and as mentioned while somewhat linear in the end, each area has a lot of points to explore. Be sure to explore as much as you can to find new items, dreams and storylines. At times the story can beomce quite and emotional ride, and you'll find yourself having sympathy for the characters involved. A large part of that is once again due to the excellent work done in facial expression and display of actual feelings. There are a few mini games found throughout the game as well, such as one called the Music Box. You’ll spend many hours in this game if you want to experience everything it has to offer. Lost Odyssey spans 4 disks. For those worried about the switching of disks, have no fear. Switching disks does not take away or interfere with your game experience at all. Loading times were a concern among many before the retail version hit screens, but I am happy to say that the loading times between areas are mostly on the short side and acceptable. If you are looking for an standard turn-based RPG, then this game is most definitely for you. While it doesn’t offer anything hugely innovative, the story is well done making the game quite addicting. The battle system works well for the most part, and the enemies are a decent challenge as you progress further into the game. Check it out if you are interested in the RPG genre at all.
Suggestions: The game is great with a few minor flaws. Retail Packaging comes to mind first and foremost! Please find a different way to package multiple disc games. The Japanese received an actual case that had a spot for each of the discs, while the North American version had 3 discs piled on one another and 1 disc in a sleeve tucked on top of the manual. Make enemies visible within the world for easier leveling up abilities rather than running around hoping to find an enemy. Add character customization, upgradeable weapons and armor.
Overall Score: 7.8 / 10
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Frontlines: Fuel of War
Modern society is completely dependant upon the world’s oil supply. Each and everyday millions of people consume the world’s oil in one way or another whether it be heating, driving or operating machinery. What would happen if that oil supply ever ran out?
Frontlines: Fuel of War takes on that very scenario in this objective based game. The western world, primarily the US and Europe, have formed the Coalition, while the east, consisting of Russia and China, have formed the Red Star Alliance. You play as the Coalition throughout single player on a quest to stop the RSA from taking over the remaining oil supply located in the Caspian Sea region.
THQ and Kaos bring us this modern day shooter with a fantastic storyline and some unique multiplayer gameplay. The creators of the classic “Desert Combat” and members of the R&D team for Battlefield 2 team up to bring us this brand new shooter. Dedicated servers allow THQ to push the amount of online players in a lobby to 50 for the first time in a console shooter. From experiences thus far, the games have been lag free so it looks as though THQ has really beefed things up and the servers will hold up quite nicely. The maps are laid out very nicely in order to accommodate the vast number of players per game and they also make for some interesting strategies. The game offers both single player and multiplayer modes.
Single player is a pretty straight forward style of campaign. You go through 7 levels, taking objectives to proceed further towards your final goal. The storyline is great, and makes you think what could really happen if the oil supply were to ever run out in real life. In my opinion, the single player career works as a great tutorial to prepare yourself for online battles and I highly suggest giving it a run through. But with this game, the online multiplayer is where the game shines.
Single player and multiplayer are similar in that you have to take objectives in order to win. These objectives are grouped along the frontline in each map. You will need to take the entire grouping of objectives on the frontline to advance towards your final objective. In single player, you and your squad, The Stray Dogs, will take objectives one by one advancing to one final objective to finish the level. There are 7 levels in total to finish the campaign. Enemies do not take back objectives in single player as they do in multiplayer for the most part; they are only out to kill you. Now multiplayer is a whole different story and we will get into that a little later in the review. Also in the single player mode, once you secure an objective the game uses its autosave feature so you will start at the last secured objective in the event you die before taking your next objective
The single player campaign allows you to select from 3 difficulty levels, with normal being the default. You can adjust one level up or one level down in difficulty if you prefer. Enemy AI at the normal difficulty is not stupid, nor is it the smartest AI either. At times, they’ll keep heavy fire upon you, but then suddenly seem to ignore the fact that you could still be hiding around the corner regaining health, and direct their attention to someone else. You can then jump out and gun down the opposition pretty quickly with little to no resistance. Your squad mates seem to help you quite a bit which is a welcome change from most squad based shooters. They will gun down enemies, use various weapons and drive vehicles without the retardation factor seen in some games.That’s not to say that they will never just stand around, or run the wrong way. It just doesn’t happen constantly.
The multiplayer experience will traverse across 8 maps, some large and some small. You’ll be fighting in close combat streets, or sniping across oils fields and mountain valleys. The best way to describe the online play rather than using the typical "objective based" term would be to call it a virtual tug-o-war of sorts. Both teams battle to secure objectives and move their front line closer to the final objective. The vehicles you have at your disposal will be dependant upon the map you are playing and yes, you’ll even be able to fly jets You’ll also pilot gunship choppers, transport helicopters, tanks, anti-aircraft vehicles, hummers, etc. Vehicle controls are a very good mix for both novice and elite pilots. The combat system in Frontlines focuses completely on teamwork between squad mates. Running as a lone wolf will more than likely get disgruntled team members rather than completed objectives. So keep that in mind when you go running off to go solo in the closest vehicle. A squad leader can give highlight targets, send commands and even act as a respawn point as long as he/she is still alive. When part of a squad you’ll also be able to see squad member highlighted on the map. A great feature in the game is the inclusion of VoIP chat in every game. All squads receive their own private VoIP chat channel which allows them to communicate only with each other without the hassle of excessive or annoying open chat during the game. No more trying to talk over the singing 10 year old that just won’t shut up all game. Let alone just a few seconds to allow someone else to talk.
You’ll have access to multiple weapons, both allied and enemy. You can pick up weapons and trade out to secondary weapons by pressing the “Y” button. In the weapons selection screen, you’ll be able to select your primary weapon, secondary weapon or your specialized “roles” which include drone control, airstrikes, ground support and EMP technology. I’ll discuss the roles shortly. Ammo boxes are located throughout maps and only require you to walk up to them to load up on fresh ammo. One thing to keep in mind is that if you prematurely reload, you drop the entire clip and any remaining ammo in that clip before loading up a full clip. You have 6 weapon classes to choose from in multiplayer:
• Assault: Assault Rifle w/grenade launcher, Pistol, and Frag grenades
• Heavy Assault : Heavy Assault Rifle, Pistol and Frag grenades
• Sniper: Sniper Rifle, Pistol, Frag grenades
• Anti Vehicle: Rocket Launcher, Pistol, Anti Vehicle Landmines
• Special Ops: Sub Machine Gun, Pistol, C4
• Close Combat: Shotgun, Pistol, Frag grenades
It’s been said that the weapons/targeting in Frontlines is not very good. Most notably the sniper rifle and its supposed inability to one shot kill. I can say for a fact that the sniper can and will take kills in one shot if you hit what you are shooting at. If you have been hit by a sniper, you know that it does damage just by seeing the blood red screen and knowing you are close to dying. But I am glad to see that you MUST be perfect with the sniper rifle for one shot kills rather than having an abused overpowered weapon. But in general, all the weapons seem to work very well for the task they are meant to do.
Along with the weapon class selection, you can select a specialized role. These roles allow you to use special weapons and abilities. This is where the game can get very interesting online. Each role has 3 levels in which you obtain by killing opponents and completing objectives. Your roles show on the lower right hand corner and become yellow when that ability level is obtained. A good squad will have player of each role enlisted in battle and can work together. One of the extremely unique but fun roles is the ability to control drones. Some drones have weapons such as machine guns or rockets, while other drones are used strictly for detonation purposes and spying. Each drone can be used in various ways, and many users will probably get very creative with their uses. Drone controls mainly consist of basic thumbstick movements as well as trigger and bumper presses.
At the time of release, online game modes only consists of the frontlines mode in which you grab objectives to move the battle lines closer to the final objective. As in single player, you gain all the objectives on the frontline and the front moves forward to the next set. The difference with multiplayer is, now you have an enemy that can take back objectives you have already completed. Hence the importance of having a squad or multiple squads that works together in search of a common goal. If you lose a previously secured objective to the enemy, than the front line will once again move back to the prior point and you will not have access to the next set of objectives until you recapture the enemy secured objective. The online play can be a complete chess match which can include guarding of objectives, sniping, use of vehicles for quick movement of squad members, etc. I am sure there will be folks out there looking for strictly death match and capture the flag style games, but honestly, that is not the point of this game and unnecessary.
Many people have been concerned with the graphics after playing the single player and multiplayer demos. While I will admit that the graphics are not eye-popping, I cannot see how anyone can say they are terrible. Yes, there are some jaggy edges at some points, but nothing unbearable. The only downside that I have seen in the graphics is some slowdown when a lot of action is taking place on the screen at one time. The screen can tend to get a little jumpy on occasion, but again it’s nothing unbearable. People tend to compare games to the big boys of the industry, and sometimes that’s just not fair. This game holds its own in the graphics department, and more so in the gameplay.
One of the things I noticed immediately was the great sounds both distant and present. While the sound of a tank firing can be pretty typical and easy to replicate in most war games, the sound of impact the shell makes and the explosion thereafter in the distance is well done. You will also notice that sounds generate from the direction they are coming from. Say an explosion occurs behind you, the sound will be less prevalent than if you were facing it. The same goes with fired weapons and vehicles.
What makes this game a lot of fun are all of the little things and new innovative things. I had no idea that a parachute could be deployed when falling from greater heights or flying vehicles until I fell off of a smokestack and the command to deploy chute appeared on the screen. Very cool feature! You can also jump out of helicopters and jet to deploy your chute as well. Could come in handy when you are about to get shot down. Many folks have called this a Battlefield 2 rip-off and I have to say it’s quite the contrary. The developers have taken many things that worked well in both Desert Combat and Battlefield 2 and packaged them into a brand new game. Frontlines is probably the first squad based shooter that makes you focus completely on teamwork to be successful. Sure you’ll have a good game or teo playing as a lonewolf, but you’ll have a lot more success working with team members in a squad. This in itself should be something that all clans should look forward to. Summing the game up, anyone that has enjoyed Battlefield 2 or any squad based shooter should definitely think about picking this one up. Frontlines: Fuels of War combines great things that have been enjoyed across multiple titles into one nice package with an immersive style of gameplay that really sets a bar for squad based shooters. You won’t regret adding this to your library of 360 games.
Suggestions: Include in-game clan support as this game just beckons for such a feature. Of course downloadable content including new maps, weapons, and possibly vehicles would be a plus. New innovative game modes rather than the typical deathmatch and capture the flag. Also a co-op feature would be a definite must have in future iterations of the game.
Overall Score: 8.6 / 10
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Burnout Paradise
Take me down to the Paradise City, where the grass is green and the girls are pretty! But is the grass really greener in Parad | |
