NBA 2K8 - XBOX 360

I picked it up a couple of weeks ago and just forgot to post my thoughts here. I've been playing the "The Association" part of the game, which is pretty much like Franchise for any other sports game. What I've noticed under my first two attempts to get one going, was that it was suprisingly a hard game to play. I gave myself seven games to get my self going in each attempt, and both times I ended up 1-6 with the Boston Celtics with Pro being the difficulty which is only one step up from rookie, which is just about insulting in how easy it is.

For some reason I would get behind by like ten points or more at the end of the first quarter, make a run during the second and third, and then just completely lose it in the fourth. I'd lose each game by like ten or more points. And the one game I was able to win was only because I made a 15 point comeback in the fourth quarter.

Then I realized I had the "progressive fatigue" on, which means if I played Garnett for 30 minutes (9 minute quarters - anything higher and the scores become absurd) in one game, he'd be wrecked for the next which means I'd have no chance in that game since everyone else would be tired. And the CPU substitutions (which I just leave on because it's easier) are insane, especially if someone is at the free throw line, which means there are players coming in and out constantly. There have been several times in the game for some reason, where a Pierce would go to the bench while someone was at the line, only to turn around to go back to the scorer's table. It makes no sense, but it's a minor thing. Once I figured out the fatigue thing, I just shut it off and have been able to win three games in a row since then.

It's a good game overall, but almost impossible to win at if you don't shut that fatigue thing off.

Quick hit:

Zack and Wiki:

A unique console game. Point and click puzzle game. Quite imaginative. Quite fun. Also can be quite annoying at times. The controls are not as intuitive as they think. And some are just awkward. 2 instances come to mind. Sword fighting is awful, the Wiimote breaks LOS with the sensor all too easily when in the sword fighting stance, causing lots of death. Then there was throwing the anchor... I had no idea how to throw it... and after looking it up on the intronets, if I managed to toss the damn thing it would have been out of sheer dumb luck, and I may not have known how I did it. Unfortunately these two of the biggest problems came on the last two levels and really made me want to hate the game. But I calmed myself down and remembered that most of it is really good.

Graphics: 8
Sound: 8
Hours Played to Money Spent Coefficient: 9
Gameplay: 7.5
Personal Bias: 8.5

Overall Score: 8.2

The Simpsons Game - I got this one for me, but the wife got a hold of it first. Now, I'm pretty much stuck just being the "go to guy" who has to get through all the frustrating parts (the tough platform jumps, or when she is stuck on a puzzle).

From what I've watched and played... it's a lot longer than the 4 hours long that I was told by somebody that shall remain nameless (Roid). It has some very humorous moments and great new animation in full HD. It also has a great premise in jumping into different game worlds. I also love the jabs it takes at the company that made it - EA. It's neat to see that EA has a sense of humor enough to allow the game to skewer it so badly.

However, at it's core it's full of trite platforming with bad camera angles and frustrating moments. It could have been something really good, but falls apart too often in execution. Of course, this could be because I get to play only the really hard parts. My wife seems to enjoy it a little more than me.

I'm leaning toward a C+, but we've got a couple more levels to go until the end... so it could move a little.

took me around 4 hrs but were you were probably collecting items in the game. It was like only 13 levels although quest like Neverquest were optional

Currently playing through Conan and Eternal Sonata, which are different on sooo many levels from each other in both the style of animation and gameplay.
For example, one awards you with achievements for dismemberment, impalement, decapitation of your enemies, and saving of topless maidens, while the other asks you to defeat evil pumpkins (or was it onion heads, not sure) with your trusty umbrella. See and compare for yourself:
Conan

Eternal Sonata


Both games are a blast to play (again, for very different reasons) but are very anti-achievement -- Eternal Sonata has awarded me with about 30 points so far for the last 20 hours of gameplay and the bosses in Conan take a long long time to defeat.

More pics:

Assassin's Creed (PS3)

A top drawer game. It has its problems, namely the repetitiveness of the game, but most games are repetitive. The biggest problem really was that there was just no variety. I could only kill like one of the guys using ACTUAL stealth. Incorporating some Hitman qualities in the game would have worked wonders. (multiple ways to kill someone, mostly) The one button combat is rather simple, but was also quite satisfying to me, and running across the roof tops was a blast. The game is rather beautiful to look at (except for faces... but hey, nothing is perfect). The cities themselves were gorgeous, and the animation was very fluid. The voice work could have used some tweaking, especially for Altair, who sounded extremely bored.

Graphics: 10
Sound: 8.5
Hours Played to Money Spent Coefficient: 9.5
Gameplay: 8.5
Personal Bias: 9.0

Overall Score: 9.0


By the way, remember that IGN reviewer who reviewed the PS3 version of Assassin's Creed and said the frame-rate at times became "downright unplayable"? I believe I ran into frame rate "issues" in 3 separate split seconds, and I would hardly call those 3 split seconds "downright unplayable." Hell, I would hardly call them "noticeable." So yeah, I'm inclined to call his review a load of shit.

I am frankly surprised his review has yet to be amended, as the major difference he mentions between the 360 and PS3 version is ohh... I don't know... umm... false?

I've heard a lot about Eternal Sonata, mostly good, but it looks like the complete opposite of a game I'd want to play. But, if you say it's good dolemit3, I may check it out someday. Every once in a while I like to play a game that is off my beaten path.

As for your AC review, Squee... are you through with it yet? I remember being pretty forgiving of the repetitiveness at first, but after I save the 100th citizen trapped in the exact same situation, saying the exact same thing, I was a little less forgiving. That was a weird game for me.... I think I mentioned it here already, but I saw it as half brilliant and half complete garbage. I've never seen a game that was that polished and awesome in some respects, yet so horribly wrong in others.

My wife and I completed the Simpsons game... we played co-op for most of the last as the last levels got a little hard for her. We ended up going back through and got all of the collectables. My wife is now every bit of an achievement whore as I am! She's addicted as hell. Every game she plays she is constantly checking to see what she's missing, and gets pissed off when she can't get all 1000. She might even be worse than I am now.

As for the Simpsons, I believe we had over 20 hours into the game at the end. I liked the idea of the level parodies (the GTA:SA parody, Medal of Honor, Pokemon, etc...), but it would have been so much cooler if each level played like that game. Instead it was just the same iffy platform game mechanics into every level that was inspired by another game.

Still, the humor was top notch and it was fun. My final grade is a B.

Yeah, I finished the game. It's rough around the edges and could definitely use some tweaking. I didn't mind the repetitiveness of it that much, though and for some odd reason I still felt like saving every citizen and going to every viewpoint even after my health was maxed. The combat is fun, if simple. I think it's a great game that could have been amazing if they took some tips from Hitman (an Amazing series itself). Like, more creative ways to assassinate your targets. The fact I was only able to stealth assassinate one of the 9 guys irks me. Most games are repetitive, meh. Rinse and repeat. With some help Assassin's Creed 2 could be an all time favorite.

Probably the closest game similiar to Eternal Sonata that I would play would be Lost Odyssey. It has much better graphics too

Eternal Sonata has a completely different art style. It's neither better nor worse, just different.

Well, I'm not running right out to get Eternal Sonata... I've still got to play Mass Effect and probably even COD4 before I get to that. I'm just saying that a few months down the road when I'm bored with GTA IV and ES is 25 cents on Ebay, it looks like a game I might pick up and try for the hell of it... it's got pretty good reviews and everybody who plays it seems to like it. I'm certain it's not my type of game and that I'll play 3 minutes of it and go back to a football or basketball game, but I'll try it anyways.

Try the demo before investing your 25 cents. You can make a phone call with that money if you don't like the game.

No More Heroes A-/B+
Great game. Very fun and I would have given it a solid A if some of the things such as scrolling text in some of the side missions AND if its graphics werent worse than GTA: Vice City. Man the Wii really needs to do something about its consoles graphics because Im stepping back into the decade of the Y2k bug.

Anyhow with the above flaws I still mentioned above, No More Heroes is a very solid game. Its very open ended and pretty much plays like a hybrid of Grand Theft Auto and a hack/slash Zelda game. The humor and wackiness is really out there and for anyone over the age of 15 should enjoy this game. I highly recommend game buffs to buy it too.

Thumbs up

The Sims 2

There is one word to describe this game: addicting. I spent 6 straight hours playing it and didn't even notice. The graphics and overall gameplay are a HUGE step up from the first film, and it really feels like a soap opera now. Sims have memories and full life cycles, wants, fears and aspirations, and this makes them far more realistic characters. The building tools are greatly improved and there are many more options. This is a must-have for any PC owner.

A+

Rez HD (XBL arcade game) - Very solid arcade game... it's kind of a trippy audio/visual rail shooting game. Probably my 3rd favorite arcade game behind Geometry Wars and Pac Man CE. However, it can be frustrating to die at the end of a level and have to start all the way over. Plus, I'm still figuring some things out, and the tutorial kind of sucks. I'm giving it a B+ right now.

COD 4 - About 5 or 6 levels in on the single player, and have played a little multiplayer. A lot better than the earlier versions set in WWII. The levels are pretty fun so far, especially the helicopter one where you are shooting the baddies on the ground. Too early to stamp an official grade on it, but it's shaping up to be in the B+/A- area for me.

Crash of the Titans

I just finished it... An OK game. It gets repetitive and jacking titans is a good idea but in some cases the execution is just terrible... You just have to be lucky enough so they don't attack you and you have enough time to jack one of them. If they start attacking there goes your life, considering you can't defend against their special attacks...

Portal:

Short Review:

Quite possibly the funniest game in creation. The last few levels are particularly hilarious. "It says you are adopted, which is also funny" And the song at the credits, oh my. So damned funny.

It has great puzzling gameplay to go along with the fantastic script as well. I paid 60 bucks for 5 games, but I probably would have paid 60 for this alone. I just would have been more upset about its very short play time. (3-4 hours) I can't wait for the 2nd one.

Graphics: 9.0
Sound: 9.5
Hours to Money Spent Coefficient: 9.5 (factoring in 5 games for 60 bucks... divide by 5! 12 bucks)
Gameplay: 10
Personal Bias: 10

Overall Score: 9.7

It was a tough choice this week to pick between this:


or this:


I decided to take the risk and buy my first Call of Duty game.
First impressions: the game looks absolutely amazing and so is the gameplay. Currently playing on Veteran and it takes me about 50 tries to get to every other checkpoint. The only negative point I see is the lack of online coop mode (still have to try the multiplayer though).

The Bigs (Xbox 360) - Regular baseball games can be a little boring, which is why I tend to prefer the over the top versions, like the now defunct MLB Slugfest series. The Bigs walks along that same path, but it's a little toned down compared to Slugfest and Blitz. The Bigs doesn't have the funny announcers (it's actually very bland), the ability to punch somebody, nor does it have players that get so "hot" they burst into flames. It does have the very fast pace and over the top homeruns and pitches as well as few offbeat play modes (like pinball).

It's fun, and the series shows some promise, but overall it's a tad repetitive. After playing a few games you will have pretty much seen it all. This is purely arcade ball... no franchise mode, no real statistics, and no true baseball schedule. I'll give it a C+/B-.

No More Heroes: Not finished yet score/I stopped to play something better.

It's an alright game, but the GTA world sucks and is a constant waste of time. The lightsab... I mean "Beam Katana" gameplay can be fun, but is a bit too repetitive.

The boss battles however are quite cool and are really what make the game. It's unfortunate that there's so much stuff to do before each boss battle.

Current Score 6 bosses in.

Graphics: 7
Sound: 8
Hours to Money Spent Coefficient: 7.5
Gameplay: 7.5
Personal Bias: 7.5

Overall Score: 7.5

What could be better than NMH thats very recent? Oh are you like playing Jumper and Spiderwick Chronicles