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DJSteel's Gaming View

Information, Reviews, and Previews on everything gaming
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April 11

Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 2 - 8.5

    Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 2 (GRAW 2) might be one of the longest names for a game on the Xbox 360.  This game is the sequel to the 2006 hit that set the bar for shooters on the next generation level.  Now can GRAW 2 match up to the level of success that GRAW set out with? 
    The first thing that is noticeable on GRAW 2 is the campaign mode is extremely short compared to GRAW or Rainbow Six Vegas.  It consists of three acts that follow the ghosts resolution of a nuclear threat from a group of Mexican militants.  While I felt that the missions overall were fun, I did feel like Ubisoft kind of went through the motions on the single player.  There were a couple things they added/updated.  They brought in quick mission mode and achievements, which allowed you go through individual single player missions and complete all the objectives.  The multiplayer has been revamped though.  The cooperative missions are highly detailed and greatly improved.  The missions are separate entities from the single player missions, much like GRAW.  There are also more coop missions than in GRAW. 
    I hate when companies go through the motions.  Ubisoft did that with GRAW 2.  The single player campaign is more of the same of what you saw in GRAW.  The multiplayer portion is what they really spent their time, retooling the coop campaign modes and adding in some new Live components like score tracking for quick missions.  The bottom line is that the game is great online, but there are better single player shooters out there.

My Score: 8.5


   

Boom Boom Rocket on they live marketplace.

Boom Boom Rocket brings rhythm to the night on Xbox Live Arcade.  A new original title rockets onto the stage from Bizarre Creations (the creators of the critically acclaimed Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved) and publisher Electronic Arts.

The addictive and original Boom Boom Rocket is the first music-rhythm game to appear on Xbox Live Arcade.  Players trigger rockets to the beat of the music while traveling through a 3D cityscape.  The better the player times the explosions, the more spectacular the fireworks effect. The download costs 800 MS Points.

April 03

What is the 360 Missing??

    So it has been over a year since the Xbox 360 has released, and one has to question whether or not the 360 is a complete.  If not , what is missing?  Well let's look at the library of games that are out for the 360 and what the other past systems game libraries included that the 360 lacks.

    First of all, in the realm of shooters, 360 is the king,  You have your selection of Prey, FEAR, Gears of War, Rainbow Six Vegas, Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 1 and 2, plus a bunch of others I failed to mention.  I personally believe the Microsoft is focusing too heavily on shooters.  They need to branch out more and get Japan more involved.  Japanese developers produce some great games for the PlayStation 2 besides just RPGs.  If the Japanese developers would get more work from Microsoft than a game here or there then possibly they would get more support from Japanese consumers.  Many of you would say Ninja Gaiden,  sure that was a great game, but that is a drop in the bucket when you think of the numerous Japanese hits that have released on the PS2.  Okami, Shadow of the Colossus, Ico, and Katamari Damacy are just some of the titles that the Xbox missed out on. Now from what I see on the horizon, the 360 might look overseas a bit more, but if they don't try and get more japanese developers working with the 360, then we'll miss out on jewels like Shadow of the Colossus.  Please let me hear your opinions on the subject.

Castlevania Symphony of the Night - 8.7

    One of the cornerstones of the PlayStation library comes to the Xbox Live ArcadeCastlevania is one of the few series that has the longevity to release on every generation system starting back with the original Nintendo.  While the series is most popular in it's two dimensional format, Konami has tried to push the series to the 3D level on the PS2 and Xbox with little success.  On the Nintendo handheld systems, Castlevania stayed true to it's 2D roots and became creative on developing addicting modes, tricks, and other options to keep their games fresh and all were reviewed to the same high level.  This innovation and development started with Symphony of the NightCastlevania Symphony of the Night features multiple endings, magic spells, morphing abilities, rpg-like leveling, secret weapons, item, and armor combos, and a secret second castle to extend the gameplay to a ridiculous 200.6%.  The achievements are all attainable with the Richter achievement being the longest.

    The Arcade game captured all of the feel and environment of the game.  The soundtrack is great and the control feels a hundred times better with the analog sticks.  But with the good comes the bad, the translated dialogue throughout the game is horrendous and to add on to the level of dialogue, the voice acting might be worse.  Can you voice act in a tunnel?  I think Konami proves that you can.  Even with these issues, I give Castlevania a solid score and the title as the best retro Arcade game in the Xbox Live Arcade library.

My Score: 8.7


March 30

Xbox 360 Elite Annoumcement and My Thoughts

Information from the Xbox.com website:

  • Xbox 360 Elite console: The Xbox 360 Elite is equipped with a premium black finish and three powerful core processors capable of producing the best in HD entertainment (up to 1080p, like any Xbox 360), 16:9 cinematic aspect ratio, anti-aliasing for smooth textures, full surround sound, HDMI output and DVD playback with upscaling capabilities right out of the box.
  • Xbox 360 120GB hard drive: The huge 120GB detachable hard drive allows gamers to save their games and store television shows, movies, music, pictures, trailers, extra game levels, demos and other content available from Xbox Live Marketplace.
  •  Xbox 360 Wireless Controller (black): The sleek black finish of this high-performance wireless controller matches the style of the Elite Console. It has a range of up to 30 feet and a battery life of 30 hours on two AA batteries.
  • Xbox 360 headset (black): Now available in black, the headset lets you strategize while playing together online or trade taunts with your opponents. You can also send voice messages to friends on Xbox Live.
  • Xbox 360 HDMIcable: New to Xbox 360, HDMI lets you get HD video (up to 1080p) and multichannel surround sound, all from one cable.
  • Xbox Live Silver Membership: With this, gamers can chat with friends online, collect achievements and gamerscores, send and receive voice and text messages, and access Xbox Live Marketplace content such as game demos, HD movies and TV, as well as the best in downloadable games from Xbox Live Arcade.
  • One-month subscription to Xbox Live Gold: An Xbox Live Gold Membership provides a complete online entertainment experience. Subscribe to this premium service and engage in competitive online multiplayer matches, tailor your matchmaking via feedback and accomplishments, chat with more than one person at a time, and take advantage of unique privileges in Xbox Live Marketplace and Xbox Live Arcade.

   Looking at all the information as laid out by the gaming sites.  Here are the pros and cons of this console.

Pros

  • HDMI port - This offers better graphic and audio connections for HDTV up to 1080p. 
  • HDMI cable included - This is also valued because high end HDMI cables cost anywhere up to 130 dollars
  • 120 gig hard drive - 100 gigs bigger to download more games, TV episodes, and movies.  The 20 gig hard drive is hardly enough for all the media.

Cons

  • $479.99 - 80 dollars more expensive for a bigger hard drive, HDMI port and cable.
  • Is it elite? - With a HD-DVD Drive and wireless network adapter still missing from the bundle.  This seems like a minor upgraded system
  • We're all the same on the inside - The elite, suppposedly, has the same the internal workings as the Premium and the Core, which if Microsoft has not worked out the kinks with all the failing 360 console (i.e. Red Ring of Death), and could have the same problems the Premium and Core consoles have been having.

Bottom line: Unless you are a download junkie or haven't bought a 360 yet and you want the biggest or best, just stick with what you have and maybe upgrade to the 120 gig drive when you need it. 


And That is just my two cents

 

Xbox Live Recent Games

Modern Warfare® 2
Achieve:
5/50
Score:
60/1000
Borderlands
Achieve:
37/50
Score:
660/1000
NHL® 10
Achieve:
2/40
Score:
50/1000
Madden NFL 10
Achieve:
5/29
Score:
200/1150
Brütal Legend
Achieve:
2/50
Score:
30/1000