Since Last Fall the entire community of shooting fans have focused themselves mainly on the award winning shooters Halo3 and Call of Duty 4.  Week after week, they sat one and two on top of the XBOX Live Leaderboards being the most played games on the service.  Their online options are rivaled by none as both games share many options that catapult each games multi-player components into being the best in the history of online shooting games.  As the heat from the summer forces most of us into our air conditioned basements we are finally tiring of those great online shooters and looking for something else to play.  Enter Battlefield: Bad Company.  Battlefield: Bad Company follows DICE’s 2006 release Battlefield: Modern Combat as it tries to improve on its average 77 out of 100 rating on Metacritic.com.

After playing the demo for a week straight I was thoroughly impressed on the scope and scale of the game as my son and I ruled Oasis on a consistent basis.  We had a great time and were very excited for the final release of the game.  After picking up two copies of the game we plopped them in out boxes and continued to play online for 3 straight hours as we were eager to see all we could see on the first night.

My excitement soon faded to disappointment though because as soon as I got online I noticed the faults with Bad Company’s lack of online options.  One game type, no clan support, no lobby system for online clan matches, are just a few of the games online faults.  Have developers ever played COD4 or Halo3?  Did anyone notice how great MP games are loaded with options for people to experiment with.  The three gripes that I listed above are inexcusable in this day and age .  The game does run smooth but I think the online functionality of the game is just terrible.  Man do I wished they would give you a Helicopters only Team Death Match mode, how fun would that be.  Or better yet, what about a Tanks only CTF game, the possibilities are limitless.  My question is why?  Why not give us the option to play the game the way we want to play it.  Make your “get the gold crates” game type the default but at least let us play the way we want to play.

As the game lacks any real features that make up a top notch shooter’s online functionality it gets 10’s across the board from me for the games fun factor.  Yes, it is missing a lot but when you pop it in and hit the online battlefield but you always have a great time playing even if you can only really ever get three other friends in your games.  The game is just plain fun, whether your crashing your teams only helicopter into a group of tangos running for cover or whether your on foot trying to take down that tank with your nube tube your always having a blast.  It’s the kind of fun that makes you want to come back every night.

The graphics of the game are excellent.  While not the best out there, the graphics sure make up for the lack of MP features and really add to the fun of the game.  Trees sway in the wind, the character animations are great, the buildings and smoke look realistic, and the landscape of the battlefields look amazing.  This is definitely a high point for the game as it looks like some of the better shooters out there.  The graphics of the game complement the controls quite well as the controls of the game lie somewhere between the hardcore shooter and the arcadey shooter.   The precision in aiming is not on par with COD4 but they are OK for a game with the scope and magnitude that this multi-player game offers.  One issue that I do have with the controls however is that they are generally too fast for my old ass as I literally had to dumb down the sensitivity to bar one.  The default sensitivity was way too fast and my reflexes are not what they used to be.  It seems to me that the controls are more dependent on what gun or class you picked as they tighten up a little more depending on your kit.  No matter what gun or kit you use you can bet that anything you pick is going to sound completely awesome.  I dare you to shut your eyes and just listen, after a minute or two you will think your in the middle of Saving Private Ryan 2 or Platoon.  The sounds in the game are that good and coupled with the great graphics it is a real stimulating experience for two of your 5 senses.

All in all the game is pretty awesome but I am still having a hard time with the way EA and DICE delivered the game without key options in place that would have made the game one of the best online shooters ever.  If you want a team based game to play because you need something for your clan to compete in then pass this game up when your at your local Control Pad but if you want to run around crazy for the next four months playing with a few friends in hectic online battles then this game is a definite buy.

8.3

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A Real Beauty

When I picked up my PS3 I knew that the Playstation Network that Sony offered its customers was far inferior to Xbox Live and it’s Marketplace but what I did not take into account was the quality of the games that Sony offers compared to the quantity of games that Microsoft offers. Now don’t get me wrong, the 360’s Arcade has a few great hits but none of them can hold a candle to the PSN’s PixelJunk Monsters.

What’s This?
PixelJunk Monsters is an exciting strategy game that pits you, the turtle, against wave after wave of enemy creatures all hellbent on consuming your precious offspring. What separates the game from most in the arcade lines of both consoles is that instead of actually shooting the bad guys yourself, you build towers anywhere on the map to do your shooting for you. Well you can’t build the towers just anywhere as that would be too easy, the path that the monsters take is lined with trees and by running to a tree and clicking a few buttons you can transform that tree into the tower of your liking. If a band of flying bugs comes in from the entrance where they spawn you would build Anti-Air Towers, if a huge number of creatures came at you but were all slow movers you would build Cannons. The game proceeds down this path the entire way, waves and waves of enemies come and its up to you to decide how to defend you base.

Graphics & Sound?
There are some Arcade games out there that are really easy on the eyes and while there are some that look as if the designer’s secretary threw the graphics together while he was out to lunch. PixelJunk Monsters doesn’t necessarily go to either one of these extremes but the game does look good. On my 1080i HDTV it looks smooth and colorful and it is really a joy to watch and play. There aren’t a vast amount of colors since we all know that grass is, green, and trees are, green, but the colors are vivid enough for me to be happy while playing as every map has roughly the same grassy-forested theme. The creatures and trees are all cell-shaded which gives the game a very nice and clean look. The sound is really disappointing as it pretty much had my ears bleeding from the start. Like many Arcade games it seems as if they just threw the sound in the game because all games need sound but when the game’s pace quickens the sound does also which adds a nice touch when playing. There is nothing like a band of fast spiders coming at you as the sound puts you in the mindset that you have to hurry up and build or all your little babies will bite the dust.

Overall Review
Developers make arcade games different from standard console releases. A good arcade game is one that you can pick up and play anytime without having to get all caught up in a long drawn out story. It needs to be able to play quick when you have just a few minutes to do so and it needs to be fun and interesting. The only thing I want to see is a multi-player add-on which would pit you against others on the PSN network but it has all the traits which makes it a MUST BUY for anyone who is looking for a good game on the PSN. The mix of strategy and fun gameplay is unparalleled on either console and for $7.99 it is a steal to purchase.