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

]]> http://2ndpersonshooter.wordpress.com/2008/06/29/battlefield-badonlinecompany-multi-player-review/feed/ 0 monster09 http://2ndpersonshooter.wordpress.com/2008/04/19/king-kong/ http://2ndpersonshooter.wordpress.com/2008/04/19/king-kong/#comments Sat, 19 Apr 2008 02:52:28 +0000 monster09 http://2ndpersonshooter.wordpress.com/?p=34 ]]>

One might wonder why I am reviewing a game that is older than dirt and that’s first appearance was on the original Xbox and to that person I would answer, “because I can, lol.”  In all seriousness, the reason for the review is because if you play the game today it is pretty much a solid rental or cheap buy that will give you 5-8 hours of entertainment while netting you an easy 1000 Achievement points if your inclined to play a game that is over 3 years old.

My son has this King Kong/Achievement fetish lately so after his flag football game last Sunday we ventured up to our local Gamestop to get the game which we bought for $12.  The games visuals are totally outdated when comparing them to today’s FPS’s but battling the great dinosaurs that are in the game is a fun as every encounter leaves you waiting for the next.  I couldn’t help but compare King Kong’s T-Rex to Turok’s.  Both are big, nasty, and full of heart wrenching roars as the T-Rex in King Kong would probably give the one in the latest Turok game a fair battle if they ever were to meet.

The game uses the standard FPS control scheme which controls quite well and the sound is also a pleasant surprise.  There are a few different weapons that you use in the game but arguably the best for me was when I was able to find and throw spears at my enemies.  At first it was tough but then I learned how to aim and I was able to hit anything that pissed me off.  The story in the game was ripped straight from Peter Jackson’s movie but the presentation was well done as you could follow the story easily even if you lived under a rock and had no clue who or what King Kong is.

I recommend this game for anyone who wants a quick 1000 points and for only $12 it is well worth the purchase especially if you get it at EB Games or Gamespot.  Those companies let you trade in your used games if you beet them or did not like them as long as it was within a week of initially buying it.  So do what I my son did, buy the game, keep it for under a week as you beat it and get the points, and then trade it back in for another game while getting the full value of what you payed for it.  Sweet deal if you ask me.

What do you get when you throw Tomb Raider, Gears of War, and a Hot Blond in a blender? The answer to that question would be found on the Playstation 3 and developed by Naughty Dog. Uncharted is the name while exploration and from-behind-cover-gunfights is the game. The hero of the game is Nathan Drake, part Indiana Jones with a mix of Laura Croft without the huge breasts, and your primary objective is to find the treasure that Sir Francis Drake was looking for back in the 1800’s.

After booting up the game I was immediately impressed with the opening cut scenes as they laid the foundation for the gorgeous visuals that I found throughout the game. The game is linear by design but the draw distance is up to par as you think your really in a much bigger world than your actually in. Just as the graphics shine throughout the controls do also. The shooting mechanics in the game are phenomenal as Naughty Dog has done the cover and shoot mechanic better than anyone I have seen yet. Popping in and out of cover never gets old as wave after wave of piraty-looking terrorist are after you and your companion Elena.

The story in the game was excellently crafted and easy to follow as long as you paid attention to the cut scenes. As intriguing as the story was the sexual tension that developed between the stories primary characters, Drake and Elena. Their love/hate relationship was comical at times and really helped develop the pace of the game when the story slowed down a little.

Naughty Dog took the blueprint for Uncharted right from the manual on “How to Make Video Games”, as there are a variety of game play elements that are used to break up the monotony of running around in the 3rd person view taking cover and shooting bad guys. There is an on-rails shooting level as well as a few levels where you man a jet ski when searching for the lost treasure. The game also boasts the best water effects I have ever seen in a video game, if you thought Far Cry had good looking water, you need to check out Uncharted.

Overall this game is definitely a must buy for all you PS3 owners out there as it took me a good ten hours to beat. The controls, graphics, story, and sound are all on par with the best games on the market today.

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The first Weekly Achievement Grab is brought to you by all the shooter’s out there that like to throw wave after wave of suicide bombing terrorists at you while you work hard to eliminate every last one of them before they blow you to smithereens. IF you are going to give Army of Two a proper play through then you might as well use this guide when playing the game. This weeks Grab will show you how to get the most out of your Army of Two Achievements if your just interested in playing through the game to enjoy the shooter.

This Grab will net you 350 points and couples the single player game’s Achievement’s with some of the multi-player’s. To get YOUR 350 start the game on the Contractor difficulty level and get through all 6 mission’s of the game while using the Partner AI and by using your Assault Rifles to amass 250 enemy kills, doing this will net you I75 points and will set you well on your way to YOUR 350. While playing through the campaign make sure you do a couple key things some of which practically happen automatically. First, you have to collect all the information cases in the game, kill 25 martyrs, kill 25 heavy armored enemies, heal your partner once, kill 50 enemies while in Back-To-Back, and purchase 3 weapons. Accomplishing these feats will net you another I40 points with the only two multi-player Grab’s to go. Next, you have to go online and finish a versus ranked match while never needing to be revived, this will get you two more Achievements, as you earn an easy 35 points which ends your first Achievement Grab. For completing this Achievement Grab you get YOUR 350 and officially become an Achievement Whore and a huge gaming dork.

At the beginning of this generation there were three major consoles that entered the market all vying for the industries top spot, the Wii, Xbox 360, and PS3. The problem with this fact is that only two of the three are legitimate gaming consoles. While the Xbox 360 and the PS3 are machines whose internal specs are usually optimized for their systems’ games, the Wii is stuck in the mud with its major selling point being a gimmicky controller thats only utilized in game play half of the time while the only new titles that come around are Playstation 2 ports. In my opinion, when I think of “Next Gen”, the Wii does not enter the picture.

Since in my mind there are only two true “Next Gen” consoles I think to pick an early winner one would have to rule out the PS3 and go with the XBOX 360 entirely. The reasons for this are simple, the 360 has the library of games and the Live service. Sure the PS3 has games and you can play some of them online but neither compares when looking at the games and services that are found on the 360. It seems that almost every game that runs on both consoles runs better on the 360 and while your whoring out yourself for thay almighty Gamerscore you can actually communicate with people via an XBOX Live headset. It just does not get any better than that.

People say that this is Sony’s year though and that Microsoft has screwed up by throwing all it’s cards down in the 360’s first two years by releasing Halo 3 and Mass Effect already but I would beg to differ. What does the PS3 have to offer this year? Haze, Metal Gear 4, Little Big Planet, Motorstorm 2 and Resistance 2. Sure there are a few more First Party games coming to the PS3 but these are the heavy hitters and they all should be pretty damn good but the 360 has a few games coming also. Ninja Gaiden 2, Too Human, Fable 2, Halo Wars, and Gears of War 2 can definitely stand up to anything that Sony has to offer and all these games will utilize the 360’s Live service which allows for finding buddies at the click of a few buttons.

Will Sony’s Home have what it takes to dethrone XBOX Live? I highly doubt it. Sony could have just copied Live and one upped Microsoft by making it free but that would make too much sense. Instead they took the PC MMO Second Life and made it their PS3 Live. Hey Sony, when I hop online to play with my friends the last thing I want to do is walk around a virtual world to find them. What are they thinking? They want to be different, they want something new and fresh but this is not it. I think Home will fail miserably but Sony would never admit it even if it did.

As it turns out my vote is for the XBOX 360 for winning the console war. It is rather early for a clear cut winner but I am basing my decision on what I have seen from both consoles thus far. For now, I will keep playing on Live, keep playing my PS3’s First Party games, and keep letting my Wii collect dust as it sits there making sure my ten month old does not get at my HDTV manual.

The first Weekly Achievement Grab is brought to you by all the shooter’s out there that like to throw wave after wave of suicide bombing terrorists at you while you work hard to eliminate every last one of them before they blow you to smithereens. IF you are going to give Army of Two a proper play through then you might as well use this guide when playing the game. This weeks Grab will show you how to get the most out of your Army of Two Achievements if your just interested in playing through the game to enjoy the shooter.

This Grab will net you 350 points and couples the single player game’s Achievement’s with some of the multi-player’s. To get YOUR 350 start the game on the Contractor difficulty level and get through all 6 mission’s of the game while using the Partner AI and by using your Assault Rifles to amass 250 enemy kills, doing this will net you I75 points and will set you well on your way to YOUR 350.

While playing through the campaign make sure you do a couple key things some of which practically happen automatically. First, you have to collect all the information cases in the game, kill 25 martyrs, kill 25 heavy armored enemies, heal your partner once, kill 50 enemies while in Back-To-Back, and purchase 3 weapons. Accomplishing these feats will net you another I40 points with the only two multi-player Grab’s to go.

Next, you have to go online and finish a versus ranked match while never needing to be revived, this will get you two more Achievements, as you earn an easy 35 points which ends your first Achievement Grab. For completing this Achievement Grab you get YOUR 350 and officially become an Achievement Whore and a huge gaming dork.

Achievement’s Earned-16 of 37

Mission 1 Complete-30

Mission 2 Complete-30

Mission 3 Complete-15

Mission 4 Complete-15

Mission 5 Complete-15

Mission 6 Complete-15

My Virtual Friend-35

Seven-six-two Millimeter-20

My Kind of Case-40

Fission Mailed-20

IF It Bleeds We Can Kill It-30

Out of Debt-15

Beast With Two Fronts-20

Weapon Specialist-15

Boots On the Ground-10

Surviving the Game-25

Arguably the Xbox 360 has enjoyed the lead in the console war thus far when comparing it and the PS3 but word around the community is that the PS3 is on the rise. It seems that people are now going to be propelled to buy a PS3 simply because Blue Ray has won the HD format war. That and the fact that the PS3 is finally coming out with some games are the two main reasons that advance these assumptions that are being made about the console. I have two questions that need to be answered. Who is going to pay $400 for a Blue Ray player six months from now when Blue Ray players start popping up everywhere cheaply, and what PS3 exclusive games are coming out that warrant this “the PS3 is on the rise” attitude?

So Blue Ray has won the HD format war.  That’s great news for Sony but all that means is that for now they might sell a few thousand more PS3’s because some of these people have waited to buy a next gen system until the industry had picked a winner between Blue Ray and HD DVD.  Does Sony think that they will get another 100,000 PS3 sales because of these events that have taken place?  I think not.  The hardcore gamer already has their system of choice, they don’t have to go out and buy a new system just because the format war has been won by Blue Ray.  I think we need to remember that less than 20% of the households in America even own HDTV’s and when manufactures finally see a winner in the format war I bet ya a dollar that the price of Blue Ray systems will drastically drop in the next year.  If I already own an Xbox 360 do you think I am going to go spend $400 on a PS3 just for Blue Ray or am I going to go to Wal Mart and get a stand alone Blue Ray player for $96.88?

So the PS3 game library is ready for a significant upgrade which will let Sony overtake Microsoft?  Yes, it took the PS3 over a year but finally they are putting out some quality games for the system.  Uncharted, Ratchet & Clank, and Warhawk are all great games and a much needed addition to the PS3’s slow rising library but where does Sony go form here.  As I look down the list of upcoming releases I don’t see very many games that sound good to me.  Sure, you get Metal Gear 4 in June or whenever they release that soap opera but don’t you actually watch more of that game than play it?  And better yet, you have to buy the online mode of the game for a total separate price and game and it won’t be available when MG4 releases.  Wait a minute, Grand Turismo 5 is coming in April, great but isn’t that just a $40 demo with the real game coming in the Fall?  Haze will be here in May but that game has been pushed back more times than the original Xbox game BC.  The best exclusive game that the PS3 has this year is Little Big Planet which also ships in the fall.

Given the information above one can only wonder how people think the PS3 is finally on the upswing, but if they are, and they are finally turning it around, and this is getting better, its sad to see how bad it actually was for the PS3 in the first year of its existence.

This month across the 360 galaxy you will find a few exclusive games with downloadable content for Mass Effect leading the charge in the shooting genre. Just Cause 2 is also listed by IGN as a March release but look for that one to be pushed back to summer or fall.

If your looking for a PS3 exclusive shooter in March then you might have to look to next year as there are only a few PS3 exclusive titles coming this month at all and none of them are shooters or anything in the action/adventure genre.  If your looking for exclusivity then check out Hot Shots Golf: Out of Bounds because its the only exclusive title that is coming in March that is worth anything.

OK, I will admit it, I am not a GTA fan but with the release of GTA4 next month I figured I would give it a chance. I tried playing the other games to no avail, I hated the targeting systems most of all and I really could not understand why every quest in the games were either fetch quests or the standard “go kill this guy” quest. Where is the variety in gameplay? There is none, and thats my problem.

At least with other open ended games there is variety in gameplay. Look at Oblivion for example. Yes, its not entirely the same as the GTA games but the games are more similar than you think. What makes Oblivion stand out more than GTA is the fact that you can play Oblivion like so many other games. It’s a shooting game using magic if you want it to be, its huge open ended RPG if you want it to be, its a fast acting action game if you want it to be. GTA is just GTA, there is only really one way to play the game, yes, its open-ended but why play a game like that which is so close to real life. Is it really fun to jack cars in the game? Is it really fun to go kill so and so? Is it really fun to take that thing to that guy? No its not.

In Oblivion its not like real life, yes, there are a bunch of fetch quests out there but the depth of those quests is a story in itself. I have played Oblivion for about 50 hours and I remember at least 5 quests that stuck in my mind because of how well the story was done. Has anyone had that experience with any of the GTA’s? I highly doubt it. What makes GTA such a hit is the culture of GTA and that it was the first of its kind. It came out with a roar when the Playstation 2 needed a killer app. At that time you were hard pressed to find a title that would let you jack cars and kill people at will and the original GTA let you do just that. But these days games need more. They need more than just messed up gimmicks in their games but they need the gimmicks because there is only so much you can do with a real life open ended games like all the GTA’s. gimmicks are what sells the games nowadays.

In GTA4 I guess you can get drunk now, what? Who does Rockstar think plays these games? Yes there is a rating for the game and its the parents responsibility to oversee what their kids play but we all know that there are thousands of kids out there that will play the game. Doesn’t Rockstar know that drinking and driving is illegal in real life but they put a drinking and driving mini-game into GTA4. Now some will argue that killing people is illegal also but most of the normal people in the world know that killing people and jacking cars is wrong and usually they abstain from those activities. Drinking and driving is different though. Having a d&d mini-game is just wrong. I can imagine the fifteen- sixteen year olds sitting around playing GTA4 one night and getting to the d&d mini-games. I think thats bad karma and I am a dad who lets his 7 year old play Call of Duty4 and whatever else he wants to play.

If the D&D mini-game is not as bad did you hear about the new Achievement that Rockstar put in its old/new title Bully:Scholarship Edition? Well word around the podcast community is that you can get fifteen Achievement points if you kiss a boy. I think thats a little strange but the podcaster who will remain nameless(because I cannot remember his name) tried to argue for this saying that it was like one of those choices you have to make in Bioshock whether you save or harvest the Little Sisters. I think this argument was totally pathetic, kissing a boy in a video game while playing as a boy has nothing to do with the conscious decision you had to make whether or not you saved or harvested the Little Sisters, its just a stupid gimmick to get people to talk about the game.  What other developer puts such ridiculous aspects of gameplay into their game just to drum up interest?

The point I am trying to make is that their are better alternatives to GTA4. There are other games out there that will give gamers a better experience. Yes, its early but one can only look back at the past, the other GTA’s were the same thing over and over. Hopefully with GTA’s new cover and targeting systems the GTA franchise will be reborn without getting the positive reviews just because its another GTA.