I do like the new PDZ maps... we'll have to hook up soon and give them a try. I only tried bots on it.

I thought King Kong was decent for a movie game, but it was really short, a little glitchy, and some of the gameplay elements were too repetitive (finding levers, lighting brush on fire). It was worth playing, though.

As for the games you're looking at, here's my opinion:

Darkwatch - short FPS. It had a cool theme, but wasn't quite as good as I thought it would be. I'd put it in the average category.
Deathrow - Never Played
Rogue Ops - Didn't like it. Played about 30 minutes of it and didn't play it again. Stick with Splinter Cell if you're going to play a stealth game
Rainbow Six 3 - I have it and played a little. It looks nice, but I never liked the squad based shooters. So, your love of it will depend on that.
Phantom Crash - Never played
Outlaw Volleyball - I really liked the Outlaw series. It has a good volleyball engine at the core, and is very raunchy.
XIII - I played about half of it. Really liked the style, but it could be frustrating as hell.
Star Wars: KOTOR 2 - Didn't like KOTOR 1 as I didn't like the fighting system where you just choose an action and sit back and watch.
Amped 2 - It is exactly what you'd expect...
Pariah - Never played
Alias - As a fan of the TV show, I thought this was painfully average. If you're a non-fan, you would care for it less.
Kill.switch
The Great Escape - Never played

I'll get back to it.

As for the poor AI in Doom 3, I still think that some games are suited for dumb AI... the zombie type, run right at you AI works for Doom 3. I don't think every game should have whip smart out-flank you AI. I like the mixture of AI's. When AI bothers me is when your opponent is supposed to be smart (not a zombie) and they behave like idiots, or if they are supposed to be idiots, but act way too smart. It has to fit the context.

Just got finished owning my brother and friends a halo

The Outfit
XBOX 360

Wow is all I can say about this game, I downloaded the multiplayer demo month's ago and didn't really like it enought to buy it. And the reviews for it are pretty much averaging around 6/10/C+.

After buying the full game however I'm loving it. The story/plot is pretty interesting. It's great trying to storm the enemy's positon and take it over. It has just the right amount of difficulty. Coming around a bend in the road thinking you are going to kick some ass and rolling up on a huge tank blasting you into charcoal bricketts is priceless. It does have some control issues when you are driving vehicles (but if you liked Blast Corps it shouldn't be a problem). You will die a lot in this game but not because of control issues, the AI is pretty good. Graphically it's far from being the best looking 360 game, but it's still pretty impressive when 50 different cannons, tanks, guns, grenades, parachutes, airstikes, and soldiers capping each other off with no slow down issues ever.
Overall it was a great buy for $25 and had I known how fun it is I would have paid $60. I'm hopeful they make a sequel but I doubt it.

B+

Hmmm... that's surprising the Outfit is any good. I always assumed it was pretty average. Perhaps I'll check it out.

I played the game for 1hr and returned it to gamefly the next day. Seems rather boring but probably not my type of game

Wow you found it rather boring? There is always something going on in the game, some danger that lurks around the corner, someone/thing to protect, defend, or takeout. The mission objectives are pretty clear, and there are no hunt for this and that key to access a new area. I was hooked after playing the first 20 minutes once I learned all the controls/commands. But to each his own. I guess that's why it's getting a lot of mixed reaction.

Yeah somehow I found the game very empty and generic. It was basically like Commando with an isometric view. I do admit when I first played it, I was already discouraged by the low score it got at Gamefly and that may have influenced my decision subconsciously. It just seems the controllers are a little too hard to aim

Need for Speed: Most Wanted
XBOX 360

I haven't played a Need for speed game in a long time(since Hot Pursuit), so I thought I'd give this one a spin.
So far it's pretty good, I'm about a third through the game. In the beginning it was way easy and the cops were pussy's. Now that I'm up to blacklist #9 These bitches are agressive! And I haven't even gotten to a point were they are using spike strips and helicopters yet Another great racer that in my opinion outshines Project Gotham Racing 3. The story is pretty good for a racing game, which is rare.

B+

360 racing game rankings to me:

1. Burnout Revenge- A
2. Need for Speed: Most Wanted- B+
3. PGR3- C+

NFS:MW was a surprise... a lot better than I thought it was going to be. On the downside it can get pretty damn frustrating near the end.

It's hard for me to compare games like PGR3 and NFS:MW because they are at the polar opposite ends of the racing spectrum (realism vs. arcade), and it largely depends what mood I'm in. But, I'd give a slight edge to PGR3 as the quality of that game is excellent and it does exactly what it sets out to do... plus it has better multiplayer and seems much deeper.

As for what I'm playing right now... I went back to some of my favorite Xbox 1 titles:

Halo 1 - This game still rocks 5 years later, and doesn't look half bad either.
Dead or Alive Xtreme Beach Volleyball - Damn do I love this game. The people that say it's nothing more than a game about boobs, don't have a clue.
Project Gotham Racing 2 - I remember when this game looked like the bomb... you can really tell the jump between the Xbox 1 and Xbox 360 by comparing PGR2 to PGR3. Anyhow, it's still fun... I love the cone challenges.
Grand Theft Auto: SA - I think I could play this game forever.
ESPN NFL 2K5 - 2 years old and still eons better than anything Madden has done before or after. When is Madden going to get on board with the presentation - halftime show, post game show, weekly recaps, etc.. ???
Half Life 2 - This game still sucks big time. I keep waiting for something... anything to happen!

Deus Ex 2.
Not as good as Deus Ex1 (to small levels) but then a fine sequel to part 1. Still I missed the freshness of part 1 which was the kickass game by the time then.
But you should play Deus Ex2 when you liked part 1. It has some nice explanations and the story from part 1 is well further developt.

Lords of the Ring:Battle For Middle Earth B

Basically your typical strategy game but I have never really played a traditional tactical game on a console before. My gripe is the controls are very hard to use on a 360 compared to if you play it on a regular PC. All in all a pretty good game if you have the patience to memorize which buttons are which


Prey B-/B

Thank goodness, its nothing like Doom3 or Half Life. The graphics look wicked on the 360 and the best part is Im getting a good hang of the motion sickness whichout having to constantly rest every 30 mins. Some parts of the game get reallyh repetive but thats how most first person shooters are

Fifa World Cup 2006...Great Game by I think the Winning Eleven series is better.

Halo, this game never gets old, one of the best ever

Good man, I'm glad you picked it over it's underwhelming sequel.

Perfect Dark Zero - A-

First game I played on the 360 and I love it. Haven't played online yet, obviously (still need to get Live and the wireless adapter), but this game is a blast. Graphics are amazing.

Glad somebody else likes the game... I thought I was the only one.

Is most of the game set in that alien world, or does it mix up the environments? In the demo I loved the bar area, but got really tired of the alien world.

When I get my 360 back, I'll probably get it regardless...

The bar is only in the beginning but the more I play it, it kind of gets disappointing because its set entirely in the alien world. There is a nice twist in the game because there are levers in the game that lets you rotate the environment you are in upside down kind of like in the Matrix Revolutions. Theres also a feature inside of the game that may make it less fun or more fun for the player is when your character dies, he gets resurrected back in the alien world. I understand that it could be a nice feature for those who dont want to reload or reboot the game but it also takes away the danger of dying

Randomly picked up Gladius again after a two year hiatus. I got about 5/8 through the game then randomly stopped. I think that's when I got Metroid Prime 2 or some other game that took over my life. Needless to say, though, I've put the game off for a while. It's a great game that went totally unnoticed. The game is basically about you heading a schools of Gladiators and going around and winning battles to raise the levels of your characters, gain repuation for the school, etc. The gameplay is much deeper than it is at first glance, although the length of the game (I'm at around 50 hours right now, and I'd guess about another 15 hours) does amke it feel repetitive. It does have a story, although to be honest it isn't very itneresting, and the voice acting is weak. Thankfully, the story "disappears" throughout the game because of all of the battles. The amount of detail in the game is staggering, though. There are THOUSANDS of equippable items, hundreds of playable characters, dozens of arenas, hundred of leagues, dozens of tournaments...EACH and EVERY thing has it's own history. The items are quite varied in uses, with a lot of interesting designs.

And the classes...there are so many and so varied. There are six classes, outside of the storie's main heroes...Heavy, Medium, Small, Beast, Support, and Arcane. The first four are mostly face-to-face melle type combat, but can have some ranged attacks/spells. Support is Archers, Peltasts, Gungnirs. Arcane includes deeply magic combatants...Summoners, for example. Each has their own distinct advantages. Leveling up is easy. You don't really determine much how much your stats increase. But every level does warrant you skill points, with which you can buy various skills with...some of them attacks, some of them actual "innate" skills, some of them spells, some of the defensives.

Additioanlly, I'm not even technically halfway through the game. There are two different campaigns, and while they both take place in the same world, the latter is supposedly much more difficult. I'm eager to start it and see how different the stories are.

The sheer amount of variety in the gameplay is staggering. You're school can be anything you want. Your battles can take on wholly different strategies, depending on which characters you decide to pick, where you place them, which skills you decide to buy, and which items you decide to equip. Want a school of nothing but Bandits? Go for it. Get a combination of bears and wolves. Get the strongest Centurions and just relentlessly beat the shit out of your opponents.

So, yeah, I like the game. A lot. And the chances that anyone else ever played it are slim, since it had very underwhelming sales. So I highly recommend the game to everyone, especially in such a slow summer for gaming.

DDR Ultramix 3!

I still think my favourite mix of that game is the Korean edition of the 3rd mix.

So the version I just played?

I'm not sure. If it has Shock by Goofy...or Goofy by Shock, then it is. That's my favourite DDR song.

NCAA Football 07
XBOX 360

Leaps and bounds above Madden 06, but it's still lacking in some areas.

Right off the bat if you play Sports games on the 360 it's a well know fact that getting acheivements is as easy and quick as Tony's Dog humping your leg. But NCAA 07 puts a newspaper swat to the head screeching halt to this. First acheivements can only be unlocked by playing on the default level (Varsity skill level & 5 minute quarters). No longer can you adjust the game to long quarters and play the cpu on very easy to get 1000 points in 1 game. Also there are over 50 acheivements so they are really broken up well.

As for the gameply itself it the old NCAA that rolls out every year with minimal changes. And what bugs me about it come on EA you have gotten lazy.

C+