Nerd Rating

Tag: 360

  • Review: Spec Ops: The Line

     

    Moral choices in games are not a new thing. We’ve all played games that give us choices that affect the outcome of a game either for the good or the bad. Spec Ops: The Line takes those black and white morality conundrums and smears the line with a new shade of grey where there is no right and wrong, just bad and worse.

    You play as Martin Walker, a captain in the Delta Force Squad. You and two strike team officers, Adams and Lugo, drop down into Dubai to search for a missing colonel. But this Dubai is not the sprawling Arabian city that we all know. This Dubai has been decimated by a massive sandstorm that has left the city in shambles and the number of survivors unclear.

    As you and your men delve into the city you quickly realize that not everything is as it appears to be. The man you are looking for, Colonel Konrad, who vanished trying to evacuate the city, may be the man that has taken over the city with the remains of his unit, the 33rd. Here is where some of your moral dilemma begins when the 33rd begins attacking you and you and your men are forced to kill American soldiers to stay alive. And believe me when I say that this is an easy decision to make when compared to the actions you are forced to take later on.

    That is where this game really sets itself apart. Even with all my playthroughs of the Mass Effect trilogy or Knights of the Old Republic I knew pretty much which direction I was heading in with my decisions. With Spec Ops I was truly sitting there thinking about not just how my decisions affected Walker or his team but also the refugees left in the city. It’s a lot of weight on one’s shoulders….and it’s just a game.

    A game this heavy would not be near as good if the writing was not up to snuff and I have no problem in saying that head writer Walt Williams has crafted and solid script that resonates even now that the game is done. I can only imagine how hard it must be to write for a game and try to get players to truly connect with your character hoping that nothing gets lost from the page to the screen.

    While the gameplay won’t win any awards for innovation, it is a serviceable cover based shooter. Cover doesn’t feel as tight as Gear of War but it gets the job done. There are instances of taking cover on the wrong side of a corner leaving yourself open for a backside full of enemy ammo or not being able to vault over things when you absolutely need to in the middle of a firefight but none of these things make the game unplayable. It is good, not great. The shooting mechanics feel right and the selection of weapons is a good size without being too much to grasp.

    Of course, with almost all games now, there is multiplayer but it is not anything to write home about. You have your basic class and faction selection and weapon loadout. I wish there was more to say about it honestly. It is a bit bug filled and has a few problems. This is a single player game at its heart and I can’t help but feel that multiplayer has been tacked on.

    I did have a lot of fun with Spec Ops: The Line. It is a game that kind of snuck up  and surprised me in a good way especially with its balls to tell a story that is more about what can go wrong with our decisions, not what goes right.

     

    NERD RATING- 8/10

     

    [amazon_enhanced asin=”B006OV5TFA” /]   [amazon_enhanced asin=”B00320JAWY” /]  [amazon_enhanced asin=”B0085NTITS” /]

  • 2012 Fall/ Winter Video Game Preview Part Deux

     

    • Playstation All-Stars Battle Royale- Oct 23 (PS3, Vita)

    There is no hard way to describe Playstation All-Stars Battle Royale. Have you seen, played or otherwise heard about Super Smash Bros.? It’s that….with Playstation characters. Don’t get me wrong, I am not faulting the game for it because I love Smash Bros. and I am definitely going to be getting this. Of course there are small differences in the gameplay but it is still a four player beat em up. Characters are slowly trickling out leading to the October release and include the likes of: Cole McGrath from Infamous, Jak and Daxter, Kratos and Sweet Tooth from Twisted Metal.

     

    • Assassin’s Creed 3- Oct. 30 (360,PS3, Wii U)

    Another year, another Assassin’s Creed game. I will admit I played 1 & 2 but after that I just lost interest in running around Italy and Europe caring about what Da Vinci is doing. Ubisoft was dangerously close to turning this into the Tony Hawk of action games. Then the reveal of Asassin’s Creed 3 came and it showed a switch in timeline to the American Revolution and I got excited. And for the better part of the year, every time they have shown new footage I have been more impressed. You will be running from snow tipped treetops and even commanding ship in cannon battles. Ubisoft has said that this game will also be the end to Desmond’s storyline.

     

    • Assassin’s Creed 3: Liberation- Oct. 30 (PS Vita)

    Finally! A big name game to play on my Vita! A man can only live on so many Minis and old PSP downloads. This side story to AC3 sees you take control of a female assassin in New Orleans and the surrounding swamp lands. It will take full use of all the Vita’s features like the gyroscope and front and rear touchpad. Whether those are used well remains to be seen but I am just glad to have a big title on the Vita. I do have to question Ubisoft releasing this the same day as AC3. It seems like it will just get lost in the big release of AC3 and other games.

     

    • Need For Speed: Most Wanted- Oct. 30 (360, PS3, PC, Vita)

    EA has finally done their long running Need For Speed franchise a massive favor by handing over the reigns to Criterion Games, the creators of my favorite racing franchise Burnout. A large open world environment welcomes gamers who will be racing around and evading cops. All info about racing times and takedows, etc. will be loaded automatically to servers and compared to friends in real time. The game is a beauty and seems to keep the spirit of Burnout alive, just in a different package.

     

    • WWE 13- Oct. 30 (360, PS3, Wii)

    THQ has fallen on about as hard a times as you can have without completely going out of business. But one bright spot is the resurgence of their WWE license last year. By going back and starting development over from scratch and using a vastly improved physics engine, WWE 12 enjoyed massive sales. Now that THQ has raised the bar it is now their task to try and surpass that and they are hoping to do that with the addition of the Attitude Era. The WWE Legends this year will be Attitude Era stars and allow you to play through storylines and shows set in the good old TV-14 days.

     

    • Halo 4 (360)

    Halo 4 is going to be a massive seller this fall. Of that there is no doubt. But even with the millions of guaranteed sold copies that will fly off the shelf this fall this game may be one of the biggest gamble ever for Microsoft. Bungie has left and gone their own way so it is up to 343 Studios to carry on the banner of Master Chief and they have to straddle a thin line of keeping faithful to the original Halo game while trying to blaze a new trail in the Master Chief saga. The first gameplay has looked very good and one can only hope the multiplayer can reach the heights of previous installments.

     

    • Call of Duty: Black Ops 2- Nov. 13 (360, PS3, PC)

    I am the first one to admit that I am not a big Call of Duty fan. I haven’t truly liked a COD game since the first Modern Warfare. I keep praying Activision doesn’t turn this into Tony Hawk but I understand you gotta keep striking while the fire is hot and the COD fire is still burning strong. I will say that I am decidedly intrigued about Black Ops 2. With it’s futuristic take on the franchise, to the script written by David Goyer and music done by Trent Reznor Treyarch is trying to hit the right notes to make me pick this up. And for the COD series, that may be a win.

     

    • Hitman: Absolution- Nov. 20 (360, PS3, PC)

    Eidos is becoming the king of bringing back dormant franchises. While about everyone has seen their footage of Tomb Raider, which is due next year, this fall they are bringing Agent 47 out of mothballs for some more garrote wiring fun. The gameplay is not ground breaking but it looks much smoother and forgiving that previous Hitman iterations. I hope this game turns out as good as it’s looking cause Agent 47 should have many more stories to tell.

     

    • Far Cry 3- Dec. 4 (360,PS3,PC)

    Far Cry is back and it is going back to the jungle. Leaving behind the African savanna for a setting like the first game will be a welcome addition because while I liked Far Cry 2’s openness I did not like the African setting. The thing that really has me excited is the four player co-op play with it’s own story and set of objectives. And one can assume getting mysterious powers during the game will be a guarantee.

     

    One omission is the Wii U. Since there is no release date confirmed I thought I would give the set games their time. We do know that New Super Mario Bros. Wii U should be a launch title as well as EA just announcing that Madden NFL 13, FIFA 13 and Mass Effect 3 would all be available for the Wii U at launch.

     

    This fall doesn’t look as strong as last year but there are still many quality games to be had including some new IP’s which is a nice breather from the sequels.

     

    Happy gaming everyone!!

    [amazon_enhanced asin=”B007XYBUBE” /] [amazon_enhanced asin=”B002I0GZHW” /] [amazon_enhanced asin=”B0050SXFKE” /][amazon_enhanced asin=”B0050SYLRK” /]
    [amazon_enhanced asin=”B007BJNR6C” /][amazon_enhanced asin=”B0050SWTAQ” /][amazon_enhanced asin=”B0050SWSQQ” /][amazon_enhanced asin=”B0050SWR6M” /]
    [amazon_enhanced asin=”B0085L2T0A” /][amazon_enhanced asin=”B0085L2T14″ /][amazon_enhanced asin=”B0050SYX8W” /][amazon_enhanced asin=”B007XVTR3K” /]
    [amazon_enhanced asin=”B007XVTR5S” /][amazon_enhanced asin=”B002I0K50U” /][amazon_enhanced asin=”B002I0H2G0″ /][amazon_enhanced asin=”B0050SXX88″ /]
    [amazon_enhanced asin=”B0050SYV70″ /]

  • 2012 Fall/ Winter Video Game Preview Part 1

     

     

     

    • Borderlands 2- Sept. 18 (360, PS3, PC)

    Time for more cell-shaded, weapon upgrading madness on the planet of Pandora. New characters, weapons and equipment mods are just the beginning to this sequel of the best-selling shooter. Three new classes (Gunzerker, Ninja and Commando) will be introduced and every weapon will be brand new for the sequel. While the single player was fun in the first game the real insanity was in the two or four player co-op mode which one can only guess will be even crazier this go round. Not to mention the insane collector’s editions for the game.

     

    • Street Fighter: 25th Anniversary Collector’s Edition- Sept. 18 (360, PS3)

    Capcom is celebrating the 25th anniversary of Street Fighter with a $150 collection that includes: Street Fight X Tekken, Super Street Fighter 4 Arcade Edition, Super Street Fighter 2 HD Remix, Street Fighter 3: Third Strike Online Edition, a Street Fighter Blu-Ray documentary, Street Fighter 2, 4 and Super Street Fighter 4 anime movies, every episode of the Street Fighter anime series, an 11 disc soundtrack set, 64-page hardcover book, replica Ryu belt and an eight inch Ryu statue. Tired of reading yet? Say what you will of all the collector’s editions these days it seems Capcom gets it with this release.

     

    • Family Guy: Back to the Multiverse- Sept. 25 (360, PS3)

    Maybe getting lost in how awesome the South Park game slated for next year is looking is the fact that the Griffins have a game coming out this fall. Whether it is written by manatees or not remains to be seen but we do know that the game is being written by the team that does the show and that Activision is not shying away from an M rating. A sequel to the season eight episode “Road to the Multiverse”, the game sees Stewie and Brian making their way through alternate realities as Stewie’s evil brother Bertram tries to kill them.

     

    • World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria- Sept. 25 (PC)

    Blizzard is unleashing the pandas on us!! Have you ever wanted to play as Po from Kung-Fu Panda in Azeroth? Well now’s your chance mofos! And you know Blizzard has to keep their gravy train rolling so you will be able to buy the game in three editions (standard, deluxe and collector’s). How much do you want to panda around?

     

    • Resident Evil 6- Oct. 2 (360,PS3)

    Set to have three branching storylines with three past Resident Evil characters, Resident Evil 6 is certainly the most ambitious of the series but I hope that it turns out better than the soul sucking that was Resident Evil 5. Chris Redfield, Sherry Birkin and Leon Kennedy take over main character duties with a large interconnecting story that will span the globe.

     

    • Dishonored- Oct. 9 (360, PS3, PC)

    Bethesda continues on their roll with this steampunk/stealth game that looks like Bioshock had a baby with Half-Life 2 in Victorian London. Completely in first person players take control of a former bodyguard who goes on a mission of revenge for being framed for a murder. Players also have the option to play the game without killing anyone ala Splinter Cell. But with the kill animations looking as sweet as they do that will not be an option for me.

     

    • Fable: The Journey- Oct. 9 (360)

    After absolutely loving Fable 2 and being more than disappointed with Fable 3 (and we won’t even get into Fable Heroes) it seems like the ambitious series started by Peter Molyneux was on shaky legs. Enter Fable: The Journey and their less than stellar showing at E3 over a year ago and that seems to have put everything on life support. Heck, Fable: The Journey is being touted as the reason Molyneux left Lionhead Studios….the studio he created. But the game is still barreling towards an October release date with all Kinect controls set in the land of Albion and one can only guess if it will be a Kinect revolution or Kinect Star Wars 2.

     

    • XCOM: Enemy Unknown- Oct. 9 (360, PS3, PC)

    Don’t worry fans of the original XCOM from the looks of gameplay videos the guys over at Firaxis are doing a good job of keeping the originals heavy strategy roots while also giving today’s gamer a bit more of a shooter vibe from this reinvention of the 1994 game. Squad mates have certain abilities like mind control and stealth ability to enhance the strategy battlefield experience.

     

    • 007 Legends- Oct. 16 (360, PS3, PC)

    Activision is back back in the 007 game after their solid remake of Goldeneye. This time they are taking on a variety of different Bond films which get their own expansive mission essentially linking all the movies together. To date the movies that have been announced are: Moonraker, On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, License to Kill, Die Another Day and the newest Bond film Skyfall which will be released as free DLC when the movie launches in November. The game even has Richard Kiel and Michael Lonsdale back in their roles of Jaws and Hugo Drax respectively. As a huge Bond fanatic (beyond a fan) this is one of my most looked forward to games this fall.

     

    • Doom 3: BFG Edition- Oct. 16 (360, PS3, PC)

    Hard to believe it has been eight years since Doom 3 blazed onto the PC with some of the best graphics ever seen in a shooter. And actually when you go back and look at the original Xbox version it can still pass for a first gen 360 title. Not too shabby for a game almost a decade old. Now the classic shooter is getting an HD upgrade and being packaged as the BFG edition. Only 40 bucks will get you Doom 3, the Resurrection of Evil DLC, a new single player campaign called The Lost mission as well as the original Doom and Doom 2 with achievement points and trophy support. It just may be the best video game deal of the holiday season.

     

    • Medal of Honor: Warfighter- Oct. 23 (360, PS3, PC)

    In the battle to overtake Call of Duty, EA has put a lot of focus on their Battlefield franchise and even though their reboot of Medal of Honor sold well it seems like the original war shooter franchise is kind of the red headed step child of the house that Madden built. This year brings a sequel titled Medal of Honor: Warfighter which is based on actual missions written by real Tier One operatives. With all the early attention that Battlefield received way before it’s release last year, it seems the new Medal of Honor is almost here with no fanfare. The franchise may have to settle for second fiddle….or third.

    [amazon_enhanced asin=”B0050SYK44″ /][amazon_enhanced asin=”B0050SX9VO” /][amazon_enhanced asin=”B0085O6XF4″ /][amazon_enhanced asin=”B007Z3UUF0″ /]
    [amazon_enhanced asin=”B007Z3UUDW” /][amazon_enhanced asin=”B0050SZBP6″ /][amazon_enhanced asin=”B0050SXLQC” /][amazon_enhanced asin=”B0050SY4DG” /]
    [amazon_enhanced asin=”B005C2D2MO” /][amazon_enhanced asin=”B005C2D1YI” /][amazon_enhanced asin=”B0050SY8UK” /][amazon_enhanced asin=”B006WQR3GA” /]
    [amazon_enhanced asin=”B006WQR3V0″ /][amazon_enhanced asin=”B007V9NHMQ” /][amazon_enhanced asin=”B007V9NHM6″ /][amazon_enhanced asin=”B008E6ZXRM” /]
    [amazon_enhanced asin=”B008E6ZXTA” /][amazon_enhanced asin=”B0050SY5BM” /][amazon_enhanced asin=”B0050SWZHS” /]

  • Review: Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater HD

    When Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater released on the Playstation in August of 1999 I don’t think anyone, even publisher Activision, knew just how immensely popular the game would be. I remember staying up late nights with friends trying to find all the SKATE letters and attempting to find the hidden video cassettes in every level.

     

    But like with any game that finds huge success there would be sequels. And in the case of Tony Hawk boy would there be plenty of them. THPS 2 and 3 were still very good skateboarding games but soon after we were under the deluge of Bam Margera cameos and skateboard peripherals. Ten sequels in ten years will tend to thin out creativity (you listening Call of Duty?).

     

    Now almost two years after the last Tony Hawk release Activision has decided that old is the new new and gotten developer Robomodo to remake Tony Hawk into a powerhouse again. What has come of that is Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater HD which takes the best levels of Tony Hawk 1 and 2 as well as a healthy bulk of the original soundtrack and given them an HD facelift.

     

    Let’s get this out of the way early. This game is freaking fun. No more loading tunnels for open worlds or trying to do a kickflip on a fake skateboard that won’t read your tricks. This is straight up Tony Hawk like you remember from way back (13 years….wow) and it controls just as good as you remember. Tricks and grabs are assigned to the button layout as well as the grind and jump. Spin is attained by control stick or the left and right triggers. Sound familiar? Manuals are back as well and can make for some sick combos.

     

    If you are reading this and thinking to yourself, “Nothing sounds different”, well for the most part you are right. And that is what is so refreshing about this game. The first time you bust through the glass into the Warehouse stage it’s like a warm feeling of better days when you were young and it was only plastic cars.

     

    Stages are unlocked the old fashioned way, by earning it. Collecting SKATE letters, hidden DVD’s, doing certain stage specific tricks and trying to get the progressively higher scores will have you skating on. And with this being a “best of” game from THPS 1 and 2 you will gladly keep grinding away to unlock the next stage so you can relive more memories. I already mentioned Warehouse as one of the levels and in addition you get: Mall, Hangar, School 2, Venice Beach, Marseille and Downhill Jam.

     

    The new in the game is mostly good with modes like Big Head which has the players head inflating slowly and the only way to keep it from exploding is to keep up your combo total. It’s also good to see online leaderboards added to the title because what’s better than comparing your high scores to you friends? Why comparing it to the entire world. You will find out quickly that no matter how good you think you are there is always a 14 year old in Seattle way better. That to me is a challenge.

     

    The only place I would say that trips the game up is the roster of skaters. Gone are the days of Bob Burnquist, Bucky Lasek and Rune Glifberg. Now we gets the likes of Andrew Reynolds (huh), Chris Cole (again, huh) and Riley Hawk, Tony’s son (dang we’re old). But you can still play as the Hawkman and also use your avatar on 360 so even my only gripe about the game is a minor one.

     

    Graphically, the team at Robomodo have done a great job sprucing up this 13 year old title. While it is not going to challenge Crysis in a graphics contest it is leaps and bounds about the original PS1 classic. It really is the perfect blend of playing a new game while remaining familiar.

     

    Finally the soundtrack is a big winner. While it doesn’t boast all the tracks from the first two games you get a great collection that includes: Powerman 5000, Goldfinger, and a host of new tracks. I dare you to not start singing Bring the Noise when it comes up on any level. Remember music? Yeah, I do too.

     

    So should you download Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater HD? Only if you want a game with smooth controls, awesome soundtrack and that good feeling you get when you remember back to better times….and better games.

     

    NERD RATING- 8/10