Xbox 360 Quick Reviews
As you can tell, I’ve been very busy with work this year. Not a lot of time to post on this blog. That doesn’t mean that I haven’t been making time to play. Here are some quick shotgun reviews of a number of Xbox 360 titles that have come out over the past few months. Old news I’m sure, but just my take on them:
Call of Duty 3
I really loved COD2 last year and played it through multiple times on all difficulty levels. Online was great – especially once they issued that patch. So, you can imagine that I was very excited when that hot robot chick Aris from Gamestop called me and whispered staccato like in my ear that this disk was ready for pickup. I had heard that the production had been shifted to Treyarch, the dudes who make Tony Hawk games and thought – yeah I guess that will be okay. So I get home, pop it in and select the highest, most kick-ass-metal advanced difficulty listed and start up a new game. I watch the cut scene and get into the action. And like 20 seconds later I’m dead. No problem, just out of practice I guess. Start again – dead in 30 seconds. Damn! I put my ego aside and start yet another game and reduce the difficulty to just regular Joe difficulty. It is still pretty challenging at the mid level difficulty. Okay, I’m not going to bore you with all the different level details – you can read that on another one of those professional sites. What I will tell you is that… well… I hate to say it, but COD3 is just not as good as COD2. I remember playing COD2 and thinking, “damn my eyes are hurting me – oh yeah, I’ve got to blink every once in a while”. It was way more immersive than COD3. What is interesting is that COD3 tries to add elements to make it more immersive but they just aggravate the hell out of me. How on earth is it enjoyable to rotate an analog stick to row a boat while getting pounded by the enemy? Eh? I don’t need to play friggin’ DDR every time I want to plant explosives. It’s lame! There are all kinds of useless sequences that just kill the momentum. The only time I enjoyed these “rotate the right thumb stick” sequences was when you get to control the large mortal guns. You can also now grab grenades and throw them back at the enemy if you have the dexterity of a garden weasel. I found hitting RB then X nearly impossible at these times. I died more often than not when trying to throw back grenades… but I suck at video games so you may have better luck. Of course there are the useless sequences of enemies popping out of nowhere and holding a rifle to your throat – you have to quickly play Track-N-Field with the trigger buttons (you never lose) to get him off you and then press the special Shenmue button that appears on screen.The other big – and I mean HUGE gripe I have with this game is that when you load up your last saved checkpoint, the game forces you to sit through the last LOOOONNNGGG cut scene. No way to skip it. This is the most annoying thing ever. Aside from a few gripes, the game puts you in some very fun scenarios and there are some great online maps as well – read about somewhere else.
Gears of War
What is left to be said? This game is simply the best offering on Xbox 360. Period. So many ‘Wow!” moments in such a short game. Perfect online and offline Co-op gameplay. Online kicks ass. Saws, Curb-stomps, Krill, Berzerkers, Driving the Junker, Torque Bows, Train Station, That giant crab thing… this game is everything your’ve heard.
F.E.A.R
I bought this for the PC when it came out a year or so ago. I spent 45 minutes installing it then at the very end of the installation routine it bombed out and spent more time un-installing. I then tried it exactly one more time – unsuccessfully. I waited for the Xbox 360 version to come out. F.E.A.R. is a great jump in and go type FPS that employs the best use of “bullet time” since Max Payne. They really have nailed the feature so that it is not a lame gimmick like in so many other games. Additionally, the environments are extremely interactive – you can break/knock many things lying around as you progress through the levels. The enemies are pretty smart, although there were a few times that they would be frantically looking at a wall as I came up behind and killed them. There are some great spooky startles throughout the game but I wish there were more. The creepy little girl is done well but you’ve seen her before. Some of the levels get repetitive and you start wishing for some new environments. The game also crashed on me once – just as I defeated the 2nd of 2 Will Robinson robots in a yard with a burning car. It was very unfortunate because it took me a few tries to beat. Just as the blue explosion cloud appeared – freeze. The most annoying thing is that the volume on the telephone answering machines and Dell Brand Inspiron laptops (Did we mention these are Dell Brand? They’re right down the hall from the Dell XPS Desktops!) is barely audible. I played with the volume settings and still could barely understand what the callers were saying. There is an ‘Instant Action” game mode that involves you trying to rack up the best score in 15 minutes. At least they’re trying something new. Pretty good game.
Splinter Cell – Double Agent
Historically, I have a bad pattern with the Splinter Cell series of games – I never finish them. I boot them up, marvel at the graphics, die a few thousand times and then something more enjoyable (than dying) is released and I move on. So far, I am still playing SCDA and haven’t given up yet. I got distracted with some other releases because so much came out at once, but not given up. This game looks fantastic and is less sneaky and more action bases. I’m an impatient person – freely admit. Sneaking around gets tedious to me. I know lot’s of folks love it. So far there have been some great levels and gameplay presentation. I’ll go back to it… eventually.
Rainbow Six: Vegas
This series has been hit and miss with me in the past. This current outing is definitely a hit. I absolutely love the tight controls and easy direction of your team. Occasionally there is difficulty focusing on a zip line, but I’m pretty sure that’s my lack of hand-eye coordination. The graphics are beautiful and the experience is very immersive. Sound is great also. I have not completed it yet – but can’t wait.
Viva Pinata
Quickly: Should you get it? Yeah, I think so. Cool packaging, Pick up and go gameplay, great graphics, $50.00 first party pricing, doesn’t become “work like” as other sandbox games can. There you have it.
Burger King – Sneak King, Bumpin’ Booty and Pocket Racer
These were Waaaayyyy better than I ever expected. They play in both the original Xbox as well as the 360. Both versions look identical. The production quality is shockingly good. There is something oddly satisfying about sneaking up to a construction worker and throwing hamburgers in his face. The bumper cars game is more fun than Fusion Frenzy and Pocket Racer is hilarious. They’re only 4 bucks each – cheaper than some Xbox Live Arcade games. Go get them.
Xbox 360 HD-DVD Add on
I had to check around town to find one of these in stock but eventually did. The unit is very nice. The product is visually appealing for yet another component out on display in your setup. Best part… it’s optional (hear that Sony?). I was at the CES show last January and seriously could barely tell the difference between DVD and HD-DVD or Blu-Ray. It just seemed minor to me. So I thought I’d give it another look in the privacy of my own home. The package comes with a free copy of Peter Jackson’s King Kong. This is a favorite movie at my house and I had the perfect critic to compare DVD to HD-DVD on hand. I called my 11 year old son into my office to check out the HD-DVD King Kong not letting him know if was anything other than the regular DVD he is used to watching. He came in and watched a few minutes then said, “This looks way better on your TV dad. How come it doesn’t look this good in the front room?” There you have it. I then told him about the new HD-DVD player and he asked what other movies I had. Off to a good start. The picture is incredible. More color, more detail, more contrast. The in-movie menus are nice as well. I have no intention of re-buying my DVD collection. I’ll just pick up HD-DVD versions of new items I’m interested in going forward. It will be interesting to see where the format goes.
Call of Duty 3
I really loved COD2 last year and played it through multiple times on all difficulty levels. Online was great – especially once they issued that patch. So, you can imagine that I was very excited when that hot robot chick Aris from Gamestop called me and whispered staccato like in my ear that this disk was ready for pickup. I had heard that the production had been shifted to Treyarch, the dudes who make Tony Hawk games and thought – yeah I guess that will be okay. So I get home, pop it in and select the highest, most kick-ass-metal advanced difficulty listed and start up a new game. I watch the cut scene and get into the action. And like 20 seconds later I’m dead. No problem, just out of practice I guess. Start again – dead in 30 seconds. Damn! I put my ego aside and start yet another game and reduce the difficulty to just regular Joe difficulty. It is still pretty challenging at the mid level difficulty. Okay, I’m not going to bore you with all the different level details – you can read that on another one of those professional sites. What I will tell you is that… well… I hate to say it, but COD3 is just not as good as COD2. I remember playing COD2 and thinking, “damn my eyes are hurting me – oh yeah, I’ve got to blink every once in a while”. It was way more immersive than COD3. What is interesting is that COD3 tries to add elements to make it more immersive but they just aggravate the hell out of me. How on earth is it enjoyable to rotate an analog stick to row a boat while getting pounded by the enemy? Eh? I don’t need to play friggin’ DDR every time I want to plant explosives. It’s lame! There are all kinds of useless sequences that just kill the momentum. The only time I enjoyed these “rotate the right thumb stick” sequences was when you get to control the large mortal guns. You can also now grab grenades and throw them back at the enemy if you have the dexterity of a garden weasel. I found hitting RB then X nearly impossible at these times. I died more often than not when trying to throw back grenades… but I suck at video games so you may have better luck. Of course there are the useless sequences of enemies popping out of nowhere and holding a rifle to your throat – you have to quickly play Track-N-Field with the trigger buttons (you never lose) to get him off you and then press the special Shenmue button that appears on screen.
Gears of War
What is left to be said? This game is simply the best offering on Xbox 360. Period. So many ‘Wow!” moments in such a short game. Perfect online and offline Co-op gameplay. Online kicks ass. Saws, Curb-stomps, Krill, Berzerkers, Driving the Junker, Torque Bows, Train Station, That giant crab thing… this game is everything your’ve heard.
F.E.A.R
I bought this for the PC when it came out a year or so ago. I spent 45 minutes installing it then at the very end of the installation routine it bombed out and spent more time un-installing. I then tried it exactly one more time – unsuccessfully. I waited for the Xbox 360 version to come out. F.E.A.R. is a great jump in and go type FPS that employs the best use of “bullet time” since Max Payne. They really have nailed the feature so that it is not a lame gimmick like in so many other games. Additionally, the environments are extremely interactive – you can break/knock many things lying around as you progress through the levels. The enemies are pretty smart, although there were a few times that they would be frantically looking at a wall as I came up behind and killed them. There are some great spooky startles throughout the game but I wish there were more. The creepy little girl is done well but you’ve seen her before. Some of the levels get repetitive and you start wishing for some new environments. The game also crashed on me once – just as I defeated the 2nd of 2 Will Robinson robots in a yard with a burning car. It was very unfortunate because it took me a few tries to beat. Just as the blue explosion cloud appeared – freeze. The most annoying thing is that the volume on the telephone answering machines and Dell Brand Inspiron laptops (Did we mention these are Dell Brand? They’re right down the hall from the Dell XPS Desktops!) is barely audible. I played with the volume settings and still could barely understand what the callers were saying. There is an ‘Instant Action” game mode that involves you trying to rack up the best score in 15 minutes. At least they’re trying something new. Pretty good game.
Splinter Cell – Double Agent
Historically, I have a bad pattern with the Splinter Cell series of games – I never finish them. I boot them up, marvel at the graphics, die a few thousand times and then something more enjoyable (than dying) is released and I move on. So far, I am still playing SCDA and haven’t given up yet. I got distracted with some other releases because so much came out at once, but not given up. This game looks fantastic and is less sneaky and more action bases. I’m an impatient person – freely admit. Sneaking around gets tedious to me. I know lot’s of folks love it. So far there have been some great levels and gameplay presentation. I’ll go back to it… eventually.
Rainbow Six: Vegas
This series has been hit and miss with me in the past. This current outing is definitely a hit. I absolutely love the tight controls and easy direction of your team. Occasionally there is difficulty focusing on a zip line, but I’m pretty sure that’s my lack of hand-eye coordination. The graphics are beautiful and the experience is very immersive. Sound is great also. I have not completed it yet – but can’t wait.
Viva Pinata
Quickly: Should you get it? Yeah, I think so. Cool packaging, Pick up and go gameplay, great graphics, $50.00 first party pricing, doesn’t become “work like” as other sandbox games can. There you have it.
Burger King – Sneak King, Bumpin’ Booty and Pocket Racer
These were Waaaayyyy better than I ever expected. They play in both the original Xbox as well as the 360. Both versions look identical. The production quality is shockingly good. There is something oddly satisfying about sneaking up to a construction worker and throwing hamburgers in his face. The bumper cars game is more fun than Fusion Frenzy and Pocket Racer is hilarious. They’re only 4 bucks each – cheaper than some Xbox Live Arcade games. Go get them.
Xbox 360 HD-DVD Add on
I had to check around town to find one of these in stock but eventually did. The unit is very nice. The product is visually appealing for yet another component out on display in your setup. Best part… it’s optional (hear that Sony?). I was at the CES show last January and seriously could barely tell the difference between DVD and HD-DVD or Blu-Ray. It just seemed minor to me. So I thought I’d give it another look in the privacy of my own home. The package comes with a free copy of Peter Jackson’s King Kong. This is a favorite movie at my house and I had the perfect critic to compare DVD to HD-DVD on hand. I called my 11 year old son into my office to check out the HD-DVD King Kong not letting him know if was anything other than the regular DVD he is used to watching. He came in and watched a few minutes then said, “This looks way better on your TV dad. How come it doesn’t look this good in the front room?” There you have it. I then told him about the new HD-DVD player and he asked what other movies I had. Off to a good start. The picture is incredible. More color, more detail, more contrast. The in-movie menus are nice as well. I have no intention of re-buying my DVD collection. I’ll just pick up HD-DVD versions of new items I’m interested in going forward. It will be interesting to see where the format goes.
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