Halo 4 (Multiplayer)

Halo 4 Multiplayer
Developer: 343 Industries

System: Xbox 360
Score of: 4/5

Once again as a fan boy of this franchise I will be as fair as possible. First if your are a fan of Halo 2 then you will love this one. Some of the maps I don't like, they added a few new things to certain games like throwing the ball in oddball to your team. Regicide is a fun game type especially to get assassinations. If you don't have a mic don't worry most people don't use them. The few games you get into with people with headsets do make it more fun and entertaining. The ranking system has changed a little bit and their are new armors to choose from. They added custom load outs for all different game play styles. Included in the load outs is customization mods like having more ammo, more grenade damage or even having your armor ability regenerate faster.  Armor abilities is back from Reach but a lot less important. I will find myself not even using it sometimes.

Visuals: B
Due to the strain of networking the actual detail on the environment is limited. When playing Domination your base will resupply with weapons and vehicles and there are screens around the base that have the timer on them and I thought that was a nice little touch. Having custom armor other than the helmets isn't much of a big deal while playing since the details are small and your not paying attention to them much. The team colors RvB can sometimes become a problem. If it is an outdoor map the red team tends to blend and the indoor forerunner maps the blue team blends in more.

Controls: B+
Fairly standard shooter controls, I did have a few questions when first starting out since some did change. My wife on the other hand had to change the settings to Recon to enjoy it so others may have had to do the same thing.  

Audio: B
Found out that if you have multiple with headsets in the same room that one of those people will lag over xbl. Hearing shots in the distant lets you get a sense of how close you are. The grenades all still sound the same and like I mentioned in the last post a few vehicles and weapons sound a bit different.

Game play: A
Tremendous!! I loved Halo 2 the best and this one plays just like it. It does add a few things like load outs and armor abilities but they don't make or break the match. A major problem with weapons I had was the sniper rifle and the amount of recoil it has. Most maps have a more places to hide so if you dint get a head shot your may not have a chance to kill them. Some maps on SWAT are too big and require the DMR to be productive. Some players (me) are too cocky to use a DMR and play complex with the BR. I have not played a game type that I didn't enjoy. Now some are bad on certain maps but for the most part the matches are very fluent and active. There isn't much camping in this game unless your playing defense on certain game types and if you do decide to camp people hunt you down very fast from multiple directions. 

Replay Value: A+
I can play this game over and over and its nice to mix up the matches every now and again. I did notice that I will play longer if my friends are online. Having daily challenges makes it more interesting in choosing game types to play like CTF or SWAT. You can always progress towards the next level which then you can unlock armor and once you hit 50 you get to choose even more armor mods. Having the game keep track of all your medals and things you do during game is very cool and makes you wanna have a goal.

Halo 4 Part 1 (Campaign)

Halo 4 Campaign
Developer: 343 Industries

System: Xbox 360
Score of: 5/5

As a huge Halo fan I will try and be as fair as possible when writing this review. I will say there is SPOILERS if you haven't played it yet. I will say that I have been let down by Halo 3 and Halo: Reach and was not setting the bar high for 343's first Halo game. I must say they did a tremendous job. The story was fabulous and the best one since Halo: CE. I am very excited for the new story and hopefully involving more Spartans or joining with Master Chief's Blue Team. Knowing the universe of Halo and once I found out how far apart the games were I knew something bad was going to happen to Cortana and once it did I cried a little. Anyone with a soul and has played the games from the beginning would do the same.

Visuals: A
The opening cinematic was just amazing. They could just do a movie with cinematics and I think it would break major movie records. The face capture animation rivals Andy Serkis. It didn't stop there every cinematic that I saw was breathtaking. The scale of the battles in the game with the ships made it feel more realistic that there was a war going on. The actual graphics of the game wasn't that impressive compared to other games out. I can get that because there would be so much lag if the details in the enviroment were any better. A new thing they added but it seemed like it was only the first mission and the last was it being more interactive other than using X to open a door. Fighting a promeathen and dodging falling debris was a nice new touch but I wish there was more to it.

Controls: A-
I had no problems learning the new controls, my wife on the other hand had to change them to the recon setting when not playing SWAT. If you are trying to board a vehicle and it says Hold X. More times than not you will get splattered. I was also not a fan of the banshee's new rolls and looping with the bumper. 

Audio: A+
The music is what drives a Halo game and for Marty not doing it I was kinda skeptical but Neal Davidge knocked it out of the park.There was a song towards the end that just got me pumped up that I could take out anyone and I was invicible. The voice acting was marvelous. It was kinda weird not hearing Sgt. Johnson but Laskey and Palmer grew on me. The conversations between Chief and Cortana made it so Chief wasn't just a trained soldier and that he was still human even after all the years.

Gameplay: B+
It was actually difficult to play on Normal for me so I dumbed it down to easy just to beat the campaign. I never got lost on maps, they sometimes did take a bit for a way point to pop up telling me where to go. I did run out of ammo a lot and that was a bit annoying since I missed the battle rifle so much. Frag grenades are about useless unless you can catch a group of grunts in one spot. I was so happy to hear the flood was not apart of this game but that meant more forerunner which meant more maps with nothing but gray landscaping. There may have only been 8 missions but those missions were long with only 2 starting points if you wanted to stop. 

Replay Value: A-
With it being a great story like Halo:CE that is worth playing over and over. Add on top of that of playing with friends and earning achievements but the goals to add xp to your multiplayer makes playing certain levels a bit of a desire to get. 

XCOM: Enemy Unkown

XCOM: Enemy Unknown
Developer: 2K Games

System: Xbox 360
Score of: 2/5

I had recently rented this game based on recommendations from the guys at roosterteeth during one of their pod casts. I wasn't able to rent Halo 4 that day so I tried out something new and I must say I knew nothing about this game going into it.  This game is a military/alien invasion themed game. It is squad based 1-6 members and its also turned based. You were able to perform 2 actions per turn or if you "dashed" (moved an extra few spaces) it counted both. It also pertained RPG style elements with researching new weapons and upgrading the old. It also allowed you to change the name, look and even voice of your characters. It did not however let you change their nationality. As your members got kills they ranked up and were granted further abilities which comes in handy. Would be a really good game to download on the PC. 

Visuals: C
The cinematics were good if the game would have been on the original xbox. Reminded me of the Playstation game Destroy All Humans and Mars Attacks. The players are big and bulky, almost replicas of Gears of War. There were small action cut scenes sometimes when running and shooting weapon, it did add a nice change of pace but nothing spectacular. Your base of operations could have been better. It looked like a 2d scrolling game on Sega. Being the commander it could have been nice to walk around the base to get to certain places not just hit down then right to move. The scenes for the autopsy were repetitive, she looked the same, said the same. Only the creature changed. There was a few destructible objects in the game, cars and trees mainly. Some of the "maps" were the same just with a different mission. You are able to launch an interceptor to take down UFO's but not actually control them, and when they launch it looks exactly the same as Halo: Reach, ship model and launching. 

Controls: A+

Super easy, rotate, move, click. Bumper to change abilities. 

Audio: C

If you let the game go through the mission briefings I did notice that each type of mission was exactly the same as before just a different location and setting. If your looking for a game for the story this is not it, most lines are repeated several times. Very little music and the sound effects were basic syfy. Nothing exciting or distinct.

Gameplay: B+

The mission selection was a nice feature that allowed you to respond to 3 different ones each had their own rewards and difficulty. You did have to also think about what the other countries would have felt if you ignored them too many times. They could leave the council and you would lose funding. The first couple of missions were mostly a tutorial but after the 3rd time restarting you no longer have the tutorial. I mentioned that you could lose funding which could be bad since that is the main thing in the game is money. No money means no new weapons, troops, buildings, etc. You also have to have a certain amount of power to run all the facilities so making power plants are a must and also satellite up links. If you don't have them it takes longer to find the aliens around the world. 

Replay Value: C
Other than the achievements there isnt much replay value to this game. The missions are fairly similar, the upgrades, research will all be the same. 

Assassins Creed 3

Assassins Creed 3
Developer: Ubisoft
System: XBox360
Score: 5/5

SPOILER ALERT....SPOILER ALERT

Okay so I got that clarified so if you don't want to find out what happens then stop reading now. I also want everyone to know that I rent these games so I only have 5-7 days to play them, a wife, a dog, and work 34-40hrs in that week. So I had to run through the story and not do a lot of the side missions. Also my notes I write on a notepad as a play them then I just put them in order that I write them in the correct category.  I must say I do enjoy history a lot and the first half of this game was all about the revolution then the back half turned into all about hunting the Templars. Oh and Paul Revers midnight ride, hes riding shotgun and your in charge of the horse. I did enjoy that they added you into the history very subtly. In the Ezio games money was a big thing with buying shops and what not, but if you are playing just the main story, money is not that important. If you are playing a full game then its very important. Achievement Hunter update, sit through the credits, you get one just for doing that. Then it leads to an epilogue so you can go back and complete the rest of the achievements.

Visuals: A+
The cinematics are just amazing, the best I've ever seen in a game. The opening cinematic just grabbed me and pulled me right into the story. If you haven't played any of the other games that is fine, it catches you up in the beginning. In game shadows were perfect, every tree, animal, person, rock had a shadow that moved with the day changing. I did notice a few new climbing animations, parkour style jumps over fences and low walls, and sliding under objects and down hills which made it not the same boring things from the other games. LOTS of characters on screen. One of the first big battles I was involved in had a full regiment of red coats and I could go up and fight them all if I wanted too. So they got into the naval battles of the revolutionary war and the few that I did looked amazing, great lighting and the waves made a huge difference. So I thought this would be under game play but its not because in the trailer you see Connor climbing into one window running through the house and jumping out the other. Don't get your hopes up this is just an animation (a good one) but there are very few spots this can happen in. I did it twice through the same window. I'm not sure if they had this in Revelations but corner peeking with assassinations are awesome and so helpful on missions where you have to follow someone. One major plus is that in the cut scenes if your quiver is empty then it shows it, but one major flaw is if you change outfits it doesn't change it in the cut scene. So once I finally changed the outfits I noticed you could not preview you before you bought it nor change it at your homestead (at least I didn't figure out how to). So I had to change at shops around town.  I found that annoying when I finally changed my outfit.  The swim animations are very good, the swim fast animations are very awful, need to have Michael Phelps do the animations so it looks more realistic.

Controls: A
Nothing really changed much control wise from all the other games, same buttons, same wheel function. There were a couple of missions where the camera angle was awful just because the rooms were small and there was no where to turn. So one of the problems I had with the controls is that when you fast traveled you never faced the way you wanted to go, so if your in the frontier and you wanted to go to New York, when you fast traveled you didn't go to the beginning of New York but to the edge of the frontier and you faced back into it.

Audio: A+
First big thing I noticed was that Ben Franklin was a PIMP. He taught yea how to treat the local women and the native women. Him being a womanizer was portrayed very well. You finally get together with your father to fight a common cause in a few of the missions and I must say the banter between the two are hilarious. The music was amazing, while being chased it got my heart beating a little faster. The SFX were spot on, snow, wind, deaths, oceans, creeks. All sounded amazing.

Game play: A+
I noticed that while lock picking is a neat and a nice change of pace if you are playing with your TV turned down its a pain to do since you cant hear whats going on. The AI was a lot better than the other games, and one thing I noticed was that there wasn't the same old groups walking around the same beaten path the whole game. I have played AC, AC2, and AC:BH and I didn't mind the refresher missions on the free running and weapon usage. When attacking with your hidden blade it seemed like it did take longer to kill someone and a lot of the time you just wounded them. It is a nice change but in bigger crowds I just used the tomahawk to finish them off. While running through the snow in the few missions you have during the winter if you get off the path then you could run into snow banks and that made your character slow down a lot. I mentioned character before because I spent the first 5 to 6 hours as Connors' dad which you don't see in the trailers, plot twist hes a Templar!! He saves your mom and they hook up then she finds out that he was a Templar and shes an assassin. A major source of income in the game is hunting and not running around with a rifle but either using your bow and hair perched up in a tree or a snare. If you are really quick you can snag a beaver with your hidden blade. They put in tree climbing which comes in handy in a few situations but not a game changer. It was fun to set a hidden trap (explodes) on a road, climb up in the tree above it and watch the patrol walk into it and wipe them all out. I also had some kids following me around Boston so I found one of the few trees, climbed up and they were still there so when a patrol walked by I threw my rope dart, hit the guy held back on the joystick and hung him from a tree and the kids went a running. So in many other AC games the best way to travel would be over rooftop. Not in this one, there is a lot of guards at all times of the day. I almost think they wanted you to be on the streets to feel what it was like during that time.  If you are an achievement hunter I will say that the 50 gamer points for full synchronization is not enough. I am by no means good at this game so it could be easier for some than others. So I must say when the few missions with Miles happens and you finally fight he is BA. I mean Chuck Norris would be scared. The kills are the most gruesome Ive seen and you cant even do them as Connor. So at the end your are trying to kill Lee and I must say it sucks, you spend 2 sequences trying to kill him, you wound him, beat him up and he always gets away. Then you finally kill him and its just a cut scene, I was like WTF. I noticed that they involved people on your homestead but I couldn't figure it out, not sure if I just didn't play enough but if it works then that could be a major source of income. If your looking for more Assassins to help out like in BH then good luck. I ran into one the whole game and that because it was involved in the main story. So not only does the environment look nice it plays nice. If a guy is up against a fence you can kick him and he'll flip over, if you "throw" a guy too close to a wall he just slams his head into it.

Replay Value: B
The game is already 40+ hours of your life, its not like you make any choices that could determine the outcome of events but the sheer fun of this game makes me want to rent it again.

Side note: If anyone is interested in helping write reviews for Playstation, Wii, or PC games let me know. I am needing help in doing reviews on new games on those systems.

NBA2K13

NBA2K13
Developer: 2K Sports
System: XBox360
Score: 3/5

So I decided to stick with the sports theme for another week before I get into AC3 and H4. This was my first time playing a 2K sports basketball game in a very very long time (Dreamcast long time). Okay the fact that this game has Justin Bieber and hes like 6'2 and a 92 overall. That alone should have told me not to rent this. I will say one major thing I didn't like was having to setup an account before I even could play anything.

Visuals: B+
So creating a guy was very detailed. You had a handful of different animations to pick from for the my player creation. It involved the shot, layup, crossover, just about anything that you do as a player. The non game animations are a very nice touch to the game. With the draft interview the GM's were the same suite and a different voice. The post game interviews is very generic with the people and there animations.

Controls: C
I will have to say that while on defense the player moved way too much for the lack of movement on the controller. On offense the control movement isn't as bad but it just feels slow to me. If you attempt to steal its a solid second for the game to decide if he needs to stick his hand out or do a lunge and if you do a lunge (not by choice) that takes you out of the play for a solid 5 seconds.

Audio: B
If you like Rap music this has a very good soundtrack for you then. Jay-Z is not only involved with the Nets but he is also a producer on the game. The commentary I must say is one of the better commentaries I've heard for a sports game. While doing interviews during the draft and press conferences my characters voice was very Lebron James soundings. I couldn't find where to change it in the player creation or a place to change it later. I do think that I recognized a tune from MLB The Show.

Gameplay: B+
When playing my player if you passed the ball and that player didn't score within the next 3 seconds you were not giving an assist and there was even one time that I passed Vince Carter to 1 step and dunked and I was not awarded with the assist. One of the things that EA games lack is a draft that doesn't suck. I must say this was entertaining to watch. It did get annoying with Stern saying the same thing over and over. It was a nice touch to see me walk across the stage. My player had an addition that I liked and that was being able to choose an endorsement between Nike and Reebok. You are able to do drills to improve your player which is very helpful but the drills only last 30 seconds but the loading takes 2 minutes to load up. There needs to be a tutorial on controls and how to shoot. I haven't played a NBA game in a long time and it took awhile to get the timing down for shooting and even with really good players I couldn't do it well. A major flaw I did encounter was trying to complete an in game challenge is that my team was down by 15 and I had to cut the lead to 5. Doesn't seem that hard but when they move me from PG to SG to SF and then to PF. I'm like what the crap I am a 5'10 PG trying to guard Paul Gasol. Lets just say I didn't cut the lead to 5 and I played from the 2nd quarter all the way to the end. If you don't get a challenge that makes you play the whole game you will only play 5-6 minutes a game since your a crappy player. The bad thing about that is if you play your 6 minutes in the first half you sit out the entire second half. As a crappy player with a 68 overall and me just being awful at the game completing drills and getting a payday every 2 weeks is the best way to level up your guys attributes.

Replay Value: A-
Given enough time and some tweaks the myplayer would be a good replay value with all the things that you can do that doesn't involve playing. You can also play at different positions and different play styles. I didn't play a lot of the franchise but there is a lot too it and if your a basketball fan then you will enjoy playing this over and over again.  As being a sports game if you like the sport the replay value if great if you don't then this game is not worth buying.

Side note: If anyone is interested in helping write reviews for Playstation, Wii, or PC games let me know. I am needing help in doing reviews on new games on those systems.

NHL 13

NHL 13
Developer: 2K Games

System: Xbox 360

Score 3/5

So my latest adventure took me to the arenas of NHL 13. I have not played a hockey game in a long time so I was a bit rusty on teams and controls. I played My Pro and was drafted by the Edmonton Oilers and then I played GM mode and was the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Visuals (B+)

Okay so in My Pro the visuals were not that impressive compared to GM. I have noticed then in other games where you are just one player. Some of the hit animations are really good just as long as it’s in open ice. If you get along the boards they get knocked down and flail like a fish. The bodies don’t bend to the hit on the boards they slide out as they are falling down. The puck is hard to see sometimes. The off screen indicator is way too big and I sometimes missed the puck because I was off by just a tad. If there are a lot of people around the puck is impossible to follow in the up/down camera view.  The fans in the stands were common and not that exciting. There just as many fans with away jerseys as home but the hat trick scene is neat but they have had something like that from the SEGA days. I did like the part if you are on the boards the fans will get up and smack the glass and it is also possible to break the glass with a hit. I would have liked to have seen a “white out” game or at least the option on GM mode as a fan promotion.

Controls (B+)

Like I mentioned earlier it has been awhile since I’ve played a NHL game and I must say the controls were difficult to pick up on. There were a lot of combinations to remember. Skating took some time to get used too since they are using a new game engine for it but once I got used to the realism it was pretty easy, oh and the skating backwards is awesome. I do recommend that if you haven’t played a NHL game in awhile to do the tutorial.

Audio (A)

All I’m going to say is that Zombie Nation is only good in an NHL game. Hearing the fans boo when you come onto the ice or score a goal is a nice. You can hear the players yell offside if it occurs. The sound effects are pretty good for a sports game. The commentary is not repetitive unless you suck at something like the face off  then they let you know about it over and over. The beginning of the game is repetitive letting you know something about the team. NCAA and Madden have done away with actual artists doing the soundtrack in the menu screens but NHL hasn’t and I must say that it’s not bad.

Gameplay (B-)

To create a player (male or female) is a pain in the butt. I had trouble finding it, couldn’t figure out how to change the name. Make sure you go to the creation zone and make your person first not just go to “Be a Pro” because it’s not there. While in “Be a Pro” after your line shift you can simulate to the next time that you are out on the ice. The problem with the line shifts is regardless of your stamina if there is a whistle even if your guy is on for 10 seconds they pull you off. In “Be a Pro” it is very difficult to score goals since your guy is awful (68) for me. But once I played with Sidney Crosby I had no trouble running up the score which seemed a bit unrealistic scoring 5 goals even on the default settings. If your player sucks it is much harder to maintain puck control. The defense will just poke checks and your push is over.  “Be a Pro” your AI teammates do the same thing over and over. They advance it deep into the zone on the wings and turn it over which doing that doesn’t allow for an offense to be set up. In GM it’s much different and you are able to make passes back and forth and across ice to get an open shot.
 

Replay Value (C-)

If you’re not a fan of hockey then don’t bother with this game. The “Be a Pro” isn’t bad once you get going, and now a days you can “Be a Legend” so that helps playing over and over again. Other than that it’s a good rental. Not much done to keep people playing season after season.

                

Minecraft XBL Review

Minecraft
Develpoer: Mojang

System: Xbox Live Arcade
Score of: 4/5

So right now I am in the process of finishing a log house on the hill surrounded by water on the 3 sides, I may end up making it all the way around with a bridge leading to it, not really sure. I also have constructed a mine all the way down to the bottom of my map. I plan on building a replica of a baseball or football field someday. I have seen a few on youtube and as a sports fan was mighty impressed.

Visuals (B)

Ok so the game is just blocks. Everything that you build with is blocks, even your person is made out of blocks but yet they are pretty detailed. Plenty of items to make but the one thing I find a problem is the axe and hoe are very similar with the icon on the screen.  Some of the blocks could be a different color for example the clay could be more of a brackish red instead of gray.

Controls (A-)

They are basic controls which is super easy for a basic gamer, not a lot of things that the buttons do. I did have a problem with taking a photo and uploading it to Facebook. If you are new and didn’t do the tutorial the controller icon and the corresponding letter is on the screen in the bottom left.  

Audio (B+)

Got a nice quiet melody to some of the songs, kind of reminds me of Elwyn Forrest in World of Warcraft. If you put a few hours into the game and you actually pay attention to the music they do repeat. I don’t think there is a lot of songs but you get wrapped up into what you are building and don’t much attention.

Gameplay (A)

The best thing to do is to play with friends.  It makes the game more entertaining especially if you are playing on peaceful. It is also helpful that you are creative. You need to have some ideas of what you want to build. Start with a basic home, then get materials required to build something extravagant. I highly recommend you check out videos on youtube, there is plenty of awesome structures to recreate.

Replay Value (A)

So I know a major issue these days is paying for a game, playing it for 8-10hrs and beating it. This is not one of those games. I have put in about 12hrs just to build a basic living area on my own. If you’re bored with it then try and recreate a building. More and more people are getting it so you may have a lot of friends who have and play it.