Happy belated Thanks Giving

I just got done with two days (three dinners) worth of Thanks Givings lol, not to mention I had a happy turkey birthday.

Anyways, I got Lost Odyssey for my birthday, and while I haven't got to play it much, I have realized it is quite the cool game. It's been a while since I played a JRPG, FF10 was the last one I played, but I didn't get to finish it, and FF7 would be the only one I've actually finished (about 7 years ago). But I like the twists they added to the combat system, as well as how the items work. Hopefully this game will deliver in story (I've heard nothing but good things though).

But the reason I didn't get to play LO as much in the past week, is I had gotten a copy of Fallout 3 from the library. What an absolutely amazing game. I wasn't a huge fan of the studios first smash hit on the 360, Oblivion, but I do enjoy this game. It keeps the aspects of Oblivion that I did enjoy (massive world, bunch of little extra quests), but it improved it vastly. Many more enemies, a very cool combat system, a much improved lock pick system (personally I hated the tumbler system), and I much prefer the environment that the game is set in. I'll have to get this one for Christmas or something.

Also, never play King Kong. I rented this one as well, I forced myself to finish just for the 1000 gamer score. Such a bad game...

Anyways, back to watching 50 first dates :)

Avatars are a go.

The NXE is a go. The entire new update is great, and I am loving the layout of all of the menus. Currently I only have 2 issues, 1 of which is when you go to the fiends list people who are in a party with your friend get named before your actual friend (which forces you to use the guide button often). Also you can't seem to make your game row the main row. So you're forced to look at the spotlight stream upon boot up. But these are minor issues, and I'm sure will be corrected with time (well maybe not the spotlight thing).

But the big thing is the Avatars. These little guys are pretty solid. While the NXE didn't come with a huge array of clothing or other options, they already have more designs planned to release soon, along with achievements unlocking outfits, and probably a huge selection of purchasable content for them. I tried to get as close as I could with my avatar, decided to go with the suit how ever for a day or so, but no I don't dress that well :(.

Anywho, NXE is a great update, and I am glad it wasn't a let down. I've even seen many of the nay sayers from when they saw it at the E3 conference say it's a great update, so I'm sure it's bound to impress.

NXE

With the New Xbox Experience (NXE) just around the corner, I figured I'd make a little post about some of the questions I still see people asking every day. The questions I will cover are some of the more simple things, that do make people question this update.

First is the gamer pics and themes. Many people were and still are upset about this update, feeling that the new layout, along with the addition of Avatars that they will no longer be able to use the gamer pics and themes that they paid for. This is simply not true, and as you can see from the screenshot above (taken from a video Major Nelson made himself), his avatar is one thing, and in the upper right hand corner is the gamer pic he is using as another. This clearly shows that you are free to use which ever, when ever you please. Themes on the other hand, will look different than before, so not all themes may look as cool as they did with the previous interface (personally I hated every theme I tried because of the adds and layout of the old interface), but you are free to use them as before.

Second is about using the old interface. Many people want the option to use the old interface with the new update. While this is not an option, you can how ever use the blades by pressing the guide button (for the non tech savvy people, this is the Xbox button on your controller). It's a miniaturized version of the blades. While this offers quick navigation for some not used to the new UI, I don't believe it supports all of the new features, nor access to the market place or Netflix.

People also are asking about the price and size of this update. The price is free as always, and the size is about 125 MB (give or take). This how ever is a concern for people with arcade models of the 360. If you do not have a memory card, or an HD by now, you will need one to experience the new update (how ever if you don't play online at all, this won't affect you at all).

For people who don't have internet connection and wish to use the update, as with all previous updates to the Xbox 360's UI, there will be a download you can burn to a CD, as well as other options.

Also, people still seem to be confused by the "rip and play" option being added to the 360. Installing your games does NOT mean you can install the game to 360's HD and return/sell/throw away/give to friend to play/ect. It simply means 2 things. Improved load times, as well as less wear and tear on the optical drive. You WILL have to have the disk for the game you are wanting to play in the system while playing. This is insure that you do in fact have the game, and are not trying to violate any copyright laws.

If you have anymore questions, feel free to post a comment and I will edit as soon as I can. Otherwise, enjoy the NXE on November 19th!

GEARS OF WAR!

Gears of War 2, finally arrived on saturday afternoon, and that day I proceeded to complete the game on casual in about 9 hours. And I must say..... WOW!!!!

First off the graphics are absolutely astonishing, and they broke away from the color pallet of the first game and brought in a much wider spectrum of color. Even the levels where you fight under ground are colorful in most cases. And the action is so heavy in this one. They altered there engine enough so you could be fighting more then 4 guys at once, and what a difference it does make. Not to mention the cut scenes are vastly better because the war sequences are more then a few guys (such as the moment they introduced RAMM in the first game).

The story is also delightfully entertaining, but has some sad moments here and there throughout (not that the story is all happy considering it is a war game). I don't wanna say to much for anyone who reads this blogs sake, but I will say that, yes you will have plot openings at the end of the game, and no they don't close up all the loose ends of the first game. But considering Epic stated around the time of launch of the first Gears of War that the game will be a trilogy, if you wanna find out what happens, you'll just have to wait!

The games play is also much improved from the first. The cover system seems more fluid and you get in and out of it much cleaner then in the first installment. Also they improved upon the roady run so you can do it for as long as you can find space to run into, and it's more agile to move while running as well, so you can turn around obstacles to get from point a to point b quickly. This also brings up stopping power. I love this addition to stopping power. Obviously the people at Epic were not happy with the roady run in, shotgun to the chest, roll out strategy that was so commonly used during the first installment. So to counter them adding unlimited time to roady run, they added this stopping power feature which makes it where if you are getting shot at, it does phase you and slow you down and in some cases even stop you dead in your tracks. This definitely cut down on the shot gun users from the first games multiplayer. They also made the shotgun less powerful to help a bit, but still a close up shot from it will put down your opponent.

In terms of multiplayer however, currently there is some issues with match making, where it takes usually over 20 minutes to find a match for most folk (some people say they always get a match, but I doubt it). This is a major issue, and I am sure the team at Epic are making huge efforts to get it resolved so I will not hold it against them (Epic should do a beta next time though!). The bots however are very smart, the AI in this game is almost astonishing, so you can use them for multiplayer matches with your friends, and sometimes even lose if you crank up their skills to insane, so even if you can't get a match going online, you can still practice by yourself, or indulge in Horde Mode!

Horde Mode is the new mode added in Gears of War 2 where you do just what the title says. Fight against a seemingly endless horde of wave after wave of Locusts. Currently the only way to play this mode on public matches is in normal difficulty, and I'll admit, it's no cake walk. The mode ends when your entire team dies before they finish a wave, or you finish all 50 waves. The waves include every enemy from the campaign outside of the giant monsters (Reavers, Burmaks, ect.) and no bosses, but that does leave Bloodmounts (a new really tough and fast enemy) Along with the Boomers which now carry everything from rocket launchers to chain guns. I honestly couldn't fathom being able to find 4 other players, or myself being good enough to fight against the wave 49-50 Bloodmounts on the insane difficulty. But I'm sure with time, it'll happen. Horde mode is a great success in my book, and I am glad they incorporated a non competitive mode to the game, which allows you to team up with up to 4 friends to fight against waves of challenging enemies.

In all besides a few minor glitches with the multiplayer which I trust will be patched, I'd definitely have to give Gears of War 2 a ten out of ten rating, and is a must buy for anyone who is into tactical shooters.

Bellow is two videos. The first is the trailer of the game, and the 2nd is a video diary from epic about the graphics. But always feel free to check out more at Gametrailers.com or at Gamespot.com

EFFIN Best Buy!

Well, right now I have time to post on my blog because...... Best Buy didn't get my copy of Gears of War 2 to me on launch day as promised. So now, I can't even watch Justin.tv because almost everyone is playing Gears of War 2, and I don't really wanna play anything else because I was all set and ready to spend a day shooting locusts. Well the day wasn't a complete loss I suppose, saw Madagascar 2 which was really funny, short, but funny. And I spent some time shooting away in Gears of War 1 (haven't beat it on hardcore yet since I made my new account). All I can say is, I do hope it arrives tomorrow. Nothing like having this urge to want to play something, that makes you want to do nothing else but sit on the couch and watch for the mail man. :\

Games games games.

Lately I've been over at Justin.tv watching game streams (something I normally do, but I took a break to explore fable 2). And they've been playing a ton of Fallout 3. I must admit, the game looks great, and watching others play it has definitely cleared up some fear I had for the games combat system. So this title I may be looking into getting around xmas of this year. But I've been looking at Dead Space as well due to the lack of fear from Silent Hill. But I may skip on that title just because I'm looking for an RPG. This November is the release of The Last Remnant, which is an RPG that is supposed to have a wonderful story, as well as great game play. It looks great I will admit, but I will have to wait and see how it turns out. So Lost odyssey is currently my title of choice if I had the option to play an RPG right now (other then getting a PS1 memory card to play my copy of FF7). From everything I've read, Lost Odyssey seems like a solid title, with many hours of game play; which is exactly what I am looking for. So many titles... So little money...

But despite all this confusion on what to get, November 7th can't come soon enough. Gears of War 2 will be releasing next friday, and I am extremely excited. With all of the improvements they've done to the game, on top of the expansive story they've promised, I just can't wait to be playing this game. I also just cannot wait to be giving Horde mode a spin. Something about up to 5 human players facing off against 50 waves of constantly harder and harder opponents sounds like great fun. I loved the first gears and I just cannot wait to get going on this one as well.

Fable 2

Been playing Fable 2 pretty much non stop for the past few days, exploring and defeating hordes of enemies, and I must say this game is great. While the story does end with a kind of "What in the world just happened...." feel, I do believe this was intentional to leave the game open for download content (which I know makes me happy).

Fable 2 takes place long after the events of Fable, and you find yourself in a world much different from before. The world is more populated, more savage, and with out heros. Your quest begins with your childhood just as the previous game did, and quickly moves to adulthood (no 2-3 hours spend growing up this time around). I would love to talk about the events of the game, but I really don't wanna ruin a single aspect of the game for anyone who is looking to buy this title, or has it and has yet to begin playing it. But I will say, it is interesting to see that the choices you make as a child actually change the world when you are an adult.

Now, as for how the game plays, I'll have to say the new design of game play is wonderful. The spell system which is now a 1 button spell system, is very well implemented, and works flawlessly. Through charging up your spells, you can have access to 5 spells, 5 ranks of 1 spell, or anything in between (such as rank 1, 3, and 5 shock, and rank 2 and 4 time control). The melee system is still rather the same, giving you the option to mash your X button through the entire game to hack and slash your way through enemies. And the ranged system seems more open in this game then I remember in the original Fable. Giving you the ability to just shoot your way through the game by mashing Y, or being able to blow off someone's head with a well aimed fire from a gun, cross bow, or rifle.

The experience system is still the same set up, where you gain general EXP, as well as EXP based on what kind of attacks you performed, although spending it is much improved. No more traveling back to some far away zone to get new spells or abilities! Built right into the menu system is the skill builder, which allows you to get new abilities and skills as you go.

I am kind of upset by the lack of really cool looking armor in this game how ever. Lion Head took the game down a new path by removing armor rating from equipment to convince people to play the game with different paths (you can go from the beginning to the end in just your under-garments or even a chicken suit). But they didn't give a ton of options. I believe there is about 15 full costumes and of course you can alter them by picking different parts for your own over all look, and you can also change the color of them with dyes, but I was still expecting more styles including cool looking plate or some sort of actual armor (hopeful in DLC with areas to play in... I'd probably pass on a clothing pack unless it was free).

Over all I'd say the title is great, and I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys an RPG.