Game Diary, Monday's game play

The weekend came and went way too fast. The streak was preserved and we now sit at 338 straight days. This post will focus on Monday's game play. I was able to sneak in some Fallout3. Enjoying a waste ridden Pittsburgh, collecting some billets, and hack some raiders to pieces with my new axe. It was great. I also got sucked into yet another beta session of 1 vs. 100.

More importantly I was finally able to finish up Wolverine : Origins. This wolverine game is a solid game. I would rate it a high 7 or low 8 if I would officially review the game. The single player campaign was ton of fun to play through. The controls were awesome. A few wolverine moves really stood out. A few stand out moments really make this movie game stand out. I can confidently say that this one of the best comic book character, Hollywood movie, tie in games out there right now. I highly suggest giving this game a spin. I have not played the DLC that was recently released, not sure if is worth it or not. There was some "bonus" stages that consisted of 1 on 1 match up against another AI wolverine. Not sure what the purpose really was of these arena stages. They were boring. Games at least worth a rental.

Check back tomorrow as I push farther into The Pitt.

Thanks for reading.

Game Diary, catch up edition.

Sorry for the diary outage, I was on another vacation. This time I stayed home and played video games, lots of them. So the streak is safe and on going at 332 straight.
I rented a few new titles Wolverine : Origins, and Terminator : Salvation. Both titles play off the Hollywood movie releases. One succeeded the other failed, as a video game at least. Play Wolverine if you get the chance, pass on Terminator not worth the 5 hours it takes to complete the game.

I made a ton of progress with Fallout3 and started the first of the 3 DLC's tonight. I am inching ever so closer to the new stuff. With the new DLC already installed I keep stumbling upon new places and faces. I just can't get enough of this game.

The usual suspects also found their way into my console. I played some NBA2k9, Pacman, Ms. Pacman, Madden, RockBand2, Forza2, and Arkadian Warriors. Darth Slagus and myself got to co-op Arkadian Warriors and the game just loses something online. The camera angle is a little limited, I guess that must be it. Still worth the few bucks for the download. I should mention that I also participated in a few more Beta rounds of 1 vs. 100. It is a great idea, and pretty fun. A great chance to relax and play with a party of friends. I will probably play one or two more rounds but really wait for the series to go live. I want some prizes for my efforts!!!

Check back tomorrow as I finish up Wolverine, and push deeper into Fallout3.

Thanks for reading.

Terminator Salvation Review

This blog wouldn't be a service to the gamer world if it did not spread the word on Terminator Salvation. I recently had the chance to play this game, and thankfully it was only a rental. 4 hours people, I repeat 4 hours people, is all it took to play this game all the way through on medium difficulty. Don't get me wrong the 820 G's were a nice welcome, but the experience was not worth them. Lets get into this review.

First the highlight. Singular. The controls, a basic duck and cover system is the key element here. With some elements of Gears of War 2 blended with a flank system reminiscence of Ghost Recon the robots never know what hit them. Spoiler: most robots weak points are their backs. Funny, they figured out time travel, heat seeking rockets, and laser weapons, but not how to put a piece of sheet metal over their battery packs. A simple fire sequence and limited weapon choice round out the average display.

Graphics, here is what I didn't understand. The game is about robots...not the background. So even though the setting is pretty, the robots look second rate. I just felt more time was needed to make the futuristic atmosphere pop. Not horrible, but not excellent either. Just blah.

Story, I guess it follows the movie, I haven't seen the movie. Pretty straight forward, best part it is over quick. Nothing exciting, or worth remembering.

You won't be seeing cool robots like him in this game.

Replay value : NONE. The split screen mulitplay is not even worth mentioning.

Random complaints. The game has a horrible health system. I simple red meter is slowly depleted until it starts flashing, then you die. No way to refill this meter, no health packs, and no recharges. After battle encounters the meter just fills up. That is another complaint I will get to. The health scenario wouldn't be that bad if you could save. No save option at all. Hell, you can't even tell when the game auto saves. There is no way to end the game and be confidant you just saved. I found a few times replaying a section or two because I thought the game auto saved.

Ahh the battle sequences. Basically this game boils down to this. Each stage will have about 5 to 6 robot battle sequence. You will run to each sequence, figure out where to duck and cover, flank the robots. Win battle, then run to next sequence. This would be fun if there was any variation. You get 8-9 gun variations, but nothing worth noting. A few handguns, machine guns, and rocket launchers cover the basic requirement. Sure you get the obligatory ride on the back of a car and shoot a turret stage, and those weren't really exciting either.

What really pisses me off is the $60 price tag. Checking tonight bestbuy.com still has this title listed at $59.99. I would be really upset if I had blown $60 bucks on this title. Games like this do more damage than good for the industry. A new gamer on the scene, who enjoyed the movie, could accidentally buy this and be completely discouraged from the genre. There are perfectly good movie video game cross overs, check out Wolverine : Origins.

At the end of the day Terminator Salvation is a rental if you have a rent one get one free coupon. The 4 hours of your life you won't get back, the hour of enjoyment you do get will not be worth it.

Thanks for reading.