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


   

    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.

    One of the cornerstones of the PlayStation library comes to the Xbox Live Arcade.  Castlevania 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 Night.  Castlevania 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

• 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

    Aside from the Halo games, no other franchise has as much success on the Microsoft console as the Rainbow Six franchise.  Both Rainbow Six 3 and Rainbow Six: Black Arrow both had great successes both in the single player game and online on Xbox Live.  The franchise took a couple steps back with Rainbow Six: Lockdown. Many gamers felt Ubisoft lost the realism that was prevalent in the prior Rainbow Six titles and became an arcade shooter.  Many people were unsure that Rainbow Six Vegas would follow the same successes that followed Rainbow Six 3 and Black Arrow or would it become a mediocre arcade title like Lockdown. 

    Graphically Rainbow Six Vegas is amazing.  Ubisoft captured Vegas with glitz and glamor of Fremont Street to the grit and grime of industrial warehouses to the architecturally complex casinos and buildings.  You can see every little detail and design in the textures and character models.  The best demonstration of the graphical power of this game and of the Xbox 360 are the moments in the helicopter flying above the disheveled streets of Las Vegas.  The view is just amazing. Other graphical advances that help recreate the realism of Rainbow Six Vegas is the addition and/or enhancements of the visual effects from flashbangs, smoke grenades, incendiary, and tear gas.  The flashbangs sear the images on your screen in a flash of bright light, the tear gas give off a great blur effect, and incendiary grenades catch enemies on fire on explosion. 

    The campaign mode is great.  The story is intense as you move from the streets of Mexico to Las Vegas in a cat and mouse chase of a suspected Latino freedom fighter who, as the story develops takes your team hostage and leaves you for dead. Your mission is to get your team back and to stop the terrorist from her devious plans. There are only two difficulties in which you can play the campaign with, either realistic or normal.  Realistic can be tough if you've never played the game before but after you get used to the controls and the enemies, realistic gets much easier. As you progress through the story, Rainbow Six Vegas provides checkpoints so that if you die, you would not have to start the mission over again.  Also in some of the various levels, RSV also provides equipment supply points so that you can change your weapons before you go into particular situations or just resupply your grenades.  The weapon cache in the game is amazing.  You can saddle up with anything from a sub machine gun to a sniper rifle to a shield and a pistol.  The game also offers single player terrorist hunts which allows you to setup up the difficulty levels and number of terrorists. 

    The multiplayer experience is second to none.  They offer a huge variety of levels, various mission types including coop missions and terrorist hunts, and various unlockable equipment like armor, weapons, and apparel.  When you first log onto live you are asked to create a profile and then build the character's experience and rank in a very rpg-ish experience.  As you get further along you unlock items which you can use in the multiplayer missions.  Some of the other multiplayer missions are retrieval, attack and defend along with your team and solo survival and sharpshooter.

   The controls are passed down from the it's predecessors so there are no major changes.  There is a button that allows you to push up against a wall for cover and with a push of the analog stick you can move out of the cover to fire.  Release the analog and you'll move back into cover.

    Overall I believe this is the best title on the 360 to date.  There are not many that can provide the level of realism, the replay value along with the multiple achievements create a definite keeper in the rotation game in your 360.   There are some minor bugs.  One is that some walls you can't attach to for cover.  Another is if you complete the game on Normal, you will not be able to get the 100 pt achievement that is available. 

My Score: 9.6