O' Bungie, how I love thee...

Bungie is a company that is well known for pleasing their followers in more ways than one...XD. They've always put out quality games, content and updates that appease the masses and never seem to disappoint. The Halo 3 Beta was the start of something new, showing gamers that their incesant ravings in forums weren't just that; they were actually being paid attention to. The Halo: Reach Beta followed suit and the masses are saying that this will be epic.

Getting to the point, Bungie loves their gamers as much as their games. They produce pretty cool swag, from hoodies to action figures and even the good old Master Chief themed Xbox 360 back when Halo 3 debuted. Now with Reach on the horizon, Bungie took it upon themselves to make Microsoft's new baby, the "slim" Xbox 360 into something actually worth having.

 

Sporting a sweet brushed silver exterior with Bungie's designs all over the console and controls, the Halo Reach Limited Edition Console is definitely a buy for me. But its not all about looks; Bungie also added an easter egg here and there: on start up you'll hear the invisibility that you've come to know and love start up and when you eject a game you hear the horrifying sound of your shield having to charge up. Toss in a copy of the game and what more to you need in life? A k/d spread as good as mine XD.

All in all, I know for a fact that I'm getting this, and possibly a Gears one if its cool enough.....I'm gonna have four 360's now....hmm...

--Armand

Reaching Out For Reach (Its Almost Here *squeeeee*)

Cue the ominous vocalization track; its Halo time. That’s right folks Bungie’s brainchild turned Microsoft’s cash cow is back and goddamn it looks good. This time around we’re playing Halo: Reach; set before the downfall of the Elites, rise of the Brutes, deaths of the Prophets and the destruction reigned down upon all of their terror-filled bodies by the one and only Master Chief John-117. This will be Bungie’s second Halo game without neither hide nor hair of the Chief and one can only speculate its success.

Reach should be at least somewhat familiar to those who have read the best-selling book by Eric Nylund: The Fall of Reach in which you see the beginning of a hero; John-117. It’s a planet in Epsilon Eridani system, and the birthplace of the Spartan-II’s.

We see Halo: Reach though the eyes of Noble Team who are assembled after a teammate goes MIA (Spartans are never listed as KIA) and the seemingly silent “Rookie” type character. As far as the campaign goes that’s all that I really know.

The multiplayer on the other hand has been completely revamped. There are so many differences between this game and all the past titles. Here are just a few:

Adversarial balance between Spartans and Elites – The Elites are now bigger and faster, they also have better shields and also regenerate health without health packs; they can also evade (a roll). The Spartans have better aim with more precise weapons as well as the ability to sprint and are definitely the teamwork unit.

There are Armor Abilities now; kind of like a loadout in most other FPS games. For instance you get the assault rifle with the jetpack and sprint with the DMR (Dedicated Marksman Rifle). Not a real customization feature but definitely not reminiscent of the BR/AR combo and pick up as you go. It does offer the possibilities of expanding gameplay in the sense that you, as a jetpack trooper can nick the sniper rifle and boost to a perch almost out of harms way, if it’s within your boost range of course (falling damage is back).

Armor Lock is a timed invincibility that also lets out an EMP burst that’s strength is dependant on the time it’s held for. It leaves you immune to vehicular and melee as well as guns but renders you immobile. Just imagine you’re the lone defender of your flag and your teammates are at the respawn screen. Give the other team a run for their money by Armor Locking and bursting just as your teammates sprint and fly to your rescue.

Assassinations aren’t really new to the Halo scene but the way they’re conducted in this game definitely is. There’s still the typical button mashing silliness equated with trying to beat someone down before they get you but if you are lurking around the map in a blindspot, you can hold down the melee button to trigger a third person assassination animation, which in my opinion, is totally worth the time it take to execute it.

Weapons have been overhauled. No more do they look like little toy guns. Now the weapons look mean. And the new ones aren’t pulling punches either. On the Covenant side there’s a plasma grenade launcher and something called the “Focus Rifle”. For the Spartans though, there’s a nifty little grenade launcher that, if you hold the fire button, will cook the grenade, seemingly indefinitely and then blow up in your enemy’s face.

There’s going to be a lot of Shriekers on Day 1…..I think I might just play with my speakers muted for a few days. This brings back memories of when the Halo 3 beta went live….not only did I thoroughly enjoy lasering people, I enjoyed the mute option for all the 11 year olds that somehow conned their mothers into buying them Crackdown. Let’s hope they didn’t buy their kids ODST huh?

-Armand

MARVEL VS. CAPCOM 3!!!!!!!

Yes ladies and gentlemen, the best arcade fighter to EVER be created officially has a SEQUEL!!!

Today at Captivate '10 Capcom has officially unveiled their teaser trailer for MARVEL VS. CAPCOM 3!!!

I have been playing Marvel Vs. Capcom: Clash of Superheroes and Marvel Vs. Capcom 2: New Age of Heroes for the last 12+ years and finally, finally Capcom has listened and is taunting us with a trailer for the Marvel Vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds.

Surprising to me though, this game will only, (it seems right now), be released on the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 consoles, not in the typical two player arcade machine style. Why they're doing this is beyond me. I don't know how many thousands of quarters and arcade tokens I've used on those two games.

I used to live in Manhattan when I was younger, and everyday after school there was only one place you could find me. The arcades. There were several back then; two in Chinatown, quite a few on Broadway itself; most are closed down now though. But before my parents forced me to move to Florida, I made damn sure that I broke the high score on every MvC2 machine I could get my little hands on. Up until four years ago in fact I had the high scores on six different machines in Manhattan and two in Queens and even the one in Brooklyn that wasn't smashed in. When I last checked though most of those famous arcades had went out of business or were bought out and made into something else. At that time I still had four high scores, my machines in Queens and two in Manhattan. Now though, it seems like the era of the arcade is dead, there's only the one arcade still open in Queens; the others all closed, (one became a Chuck E' Cheese).

That's neither here nor there. What's relevant is the fact that this game has officially debuted but doesn't have a release date yet. There are hints at new characters though; in the teaser trailer you clearly see Resident Evil's Chris Redfield fighting the Hulk on a building. I really hope the rumors are true; supposedly the character list from MvC2 has been doubled. I honestly, am giddy with excitement. I love this game, like, severely love this game. I even have the special Marvel Vs. Capcom 2 Tournament Edition Fight Stick for the Xbox 360.

Thoroughly excited and definitely gonna follow this like a hawk.

-Armand

Final Fantasy Shouldn't Be Ported.....Ever Again

The Final Fantasy Series has been well known to be an exclusive title. Always on one console, always looked positively stunning in comparison to other games. Then, by some unknown un-godly force, Microsoft aquired it and released it on the Xbox 360 at the same time as the PlayStation 3 version.

My only question is why. Why would Square-Enix even think about porting such a title to the Xbox? No, I'm not a PS3 or 360 fanboy in the least but I do solidly believe in the ability to keep particular titles completely exclusive. I never want to see Halo or Gears of War on the PlayStation 3 nor do I want to even imagine Kratos or Kingdom Hearts on the Xbox 360. I sure as Hell didn't want to see Final Fantasy XIII, a title that I've been waiting for years to be a half-assed port onto a console that doesn't, in my opinion, have the ability to play it in all its glory.

Final Fantasy XIII is a visually stunning game that has a very unique ATB system that puts Final Fantasy XII to shame; graphically alone it is jaw-dropping, let alone its amazing take on gameplay. The 360 just doesn't do the game justice. Having waited in line for hours to get the game for my trusty ol' original PS3, it would be an understatement to say that I wasn't completely out of my mind with excitement to play it. I got home, turned the volume up to 11, plugged in the HDMI cable I was saving just for this moment and pressed New Game. I didn't stop smiling even after I'd hit my last save point the next day, (I called in), after 13 hours of play, (I match the first play binge to the title number); I didn't stop smiling even when I died my first time.

I did however stop smiling once I popped my 360 copy of the game in though. I turned the volume up to 11, plugged in the HDMI cord and pressed New Game. I didn't smile one bit. The sound just felt like someone was holding a blanket up over the speakers and the graphics....the graphics were just bad. I didn't even make it past the first mini-boss before I turned it off and traded it in. Not even kidding. When Lightning, the one of the main characters, attacks, she's supposed to have sparks flying off of her and her attacks; beautifully done in the PS3 version but in the 360's version, it looks like square confetti. Monsters were missing polygons and attacks were sometimes slow and once I had a creature that literally just stood there as I wailed on it.

Not only that but it came on three separate discs; installing should have helped the load times, it didn't at all. I couldn't stand the load times in the least and then of course it loaded into a crappy rendition of a game that really shouldn't have been done in the first place.

I actually returned my copy of the 360 Final Fantasy XIII the next day. I couldn't believe the disappointment I got from that port. I don't know what they were thinking but goddamn I'm glad FFXIII Versus is PS3 only....

-Armand

Cliff, you read my mind man....

Well the news has just broke and some of the features I was pining for in Gears of War 3 are a reality. 4 player online co-op campaign!!!! ANYA is a playable character!!! DOUBLE BARREL SHOTGUNS!!!! The Lambent are confirmed even though we knew it was coming for sure. Unconfirmed still are rumors about underwater levels, mech suits and underground traveling explosives. But what is confirmed is the:

RELEASE DATE IS APRIL 5, 2011!!!

Brush off your Gears of War 1 & 2 folks; replay that story, practice your multiplayer and get ready, we've got less than one year until one of gaming's most insane trilogies is completed.

-Armand

Gears of War 3, you're so beautiful.....to me....

Not to sound like another drooling fanboy but....ZOMGOMGOMGOMG GEARS 3 TRAILER!!!!!

Alright, that's out of my system....let me wipe the drool off my mouth and get on with it. I've watched the amazing teaser roughly 23 times now, taking note of what appears to be new features as well as kicks into the story line:
 24*
First I noticed, and what everyone else probably noticed, was that everything was ashen. Literally, the bodies I assumed were oddly placed statues literally turned to dust when touched, or in the trailer's case slammed into. This is more than likely a new plot twist to the already amazing storyline that the Gears of War series has brought to the table. I also noticed that everything was ashen in place; as if it had happened without warning a la Pompeii. A cataclysm maybe? Something the Locust did? Something the humans did in an effort to save themselves?
 26*
Another thing I noticed was good ol' Delta Squad; they've had some upgrades that's for sure. Firstly a new squad-mate!!! Tell me that's not Anya! Marcus is totally getting some and she's killing Locust, sheer awesome. The armor seems a little less bulky in my opinion. Not only was Dom not rocking sleeves, Marcus and the rest of Delta weren't either. It seems that the full body suit is now just the leggings with a vest type upper body cover. Weapons seem to have changed as well. While "Anya" was sporting the typical lancer, you'll notice Dom was handed a rifle with a normal blade for a bayonet; the kind used during the Imulsion Wars where it was human vs. human. Marcus was rocking a "new" double-barreled shotgun (I say new because the barrels were horizontally lined up not vertically) and shot what looked like two separate blasts without cocking it.
29*
On the same note, Delta looks....older. Not literally, as if 10 years had passed but they look tired. Cole is bald and looks more muscular than before and Baird is rocking a cap n' goggles but I couldn't tell more than that. Marcus looks the same as he always has in my opinion; battered, bruised, scarred but never beaten. Dom though, looks more serious than he has in the prior two games. Where his face used to show a joking and optimistic individual now shows someone who seems apathetic and resigned. People who've played the first two games know **SPOILER ALERT** (for those who haven't but will) that Marcus and Dom found Dom's wife deep in the Locust Hollow and Dom did what he had to do and shot her. **END SPOILER ALERT** You even see him in the trailer gaze at a conveniently placed ashen figure of a mother and child as it gets run down by a Locust; he stares it for too long, stares at the Locust as it's about to kill him and just kind of accepts it. When Marcus blasts the creature away Dom winces as if he wished the Locust had killed him.
41*
Also very noticible in the trailer is the Lambent attacking both sides. It makes me wonder if the Locust are really as big a threat as they used to be and if some how the humans would be teaming up with them to exterminate the common threat.
42*
What I hope we'll see in this Gears is a much better multiplayer for one. I want a multiplayer where the Host isn't running around invincible. I want a multiplayer where stopping power on a gun actually works when it should (stopping some chainsaw-happy 8 year old) and when it shouldn't (making you flinch four times in a row after the person shooting you is already dead and you're just standing there unable to move). I also want bigger team choices, up to 8-10 per team would be AMAZING for larger scale fights but still retaining the choices of your typical 5v5 Warzone and such.

Something else I hope we'll see is 4-player (well 5 player now with the looks of the trailer) co-op for Delta Squad's missions. 2 player was great, but there's times when the scale could've been more enjoyable if there were three or four people helping. The Unreal Engine can put out thousands of enemies but can't handle 4 player co-op campaign? C'mon now.
53*

* = # of times I've watched the trailer

-Armand

Day One Bribery, Even on XBL?

Day one incentives are something that's been around as long as I can remember, whether it be some sort of cool unlockable weapon, maps or even just some silly gamerpictures. Lately you'll get more....interesting incentives. After pre-ordering Tekken 6 I was handed a calendar for instance; and after pre-ordering God of War III I was given armor that helps me beat the game quicker (which I have yet to even download). This goes the same for most of EA's titles; Mass Effect 2 and Battlefield: Bad Company 2 both give you access to tons of free DLC through built in networks only attainable by getting the game on Day one, lest you shell out roughly $15 extra for the networks later on.

Well, it seems that getting DLC on the first day yields some rewards as well; or so Microsoft is showing us:

Yep, that's right. For spending $15 on the Stimulus map pack for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, and not being able to play it until later that evening due to updating hiccups, we get a week of free Xbox Live service. I dunno about you but that's kinda weak IMO. Seriously, the price point should've been set at $10 at most and the testing for this update fiasco should've been worked out when the DLC was being considered.

I can't say much for IW on this one but to Microsoft - My PS3 is, for the first time ever, beating out my 360 in usage.

-Armand

Microsoft has done it again. No not in a bad way this time; they've actually done something I can appreciate as a gamer: Microsoft's Game Room.


It's an old gamer's paradise with titles from companies that rocked the late 70's and 80's such as Atari and Intellivision. It's design is similar to PlayStation's Home apartments where you can place furniture in an apartment or "space" and have friends visit. Its much better in the sense that you have multiple levels with possibly hundreds of ways to make your Arcade different from the next guy's. Even better than just visiting your Arcade your friends on XBL can actually play your games that you have displayed in your different rooms and try to beat your high scores.

Now we all know that Microsoft never gives us anything for free....or do they? They actual Game Room application is free to download to all and upon doing so you are taken to the "Showcase Arcade" which is pretty much like a new car show room; it displays the props and decor you can attain and they even let you demo the full version of all the games once. Upon entering you're given 20 Tokens which you can use for extra plays and such for the showcase and for your friend's Arcades as well. You get more Tokens by having your friends visit your Arcade so the more you have and the more enjoyable it is, the more likely you'll have a lot of tokens coming to you.

Like I said you can only demo the games once. What if you want to keep that game so you and your friends can play it? You have to cough up some good old MS Points. In all actuality, its a very decent price for these games; 240 MSP for owning the game on your 360's Game Room or 400 for owning it across all platforms. All Platforms? Yep, if you have a Window's Live enabled phone or even your Windows computer you will be able to play your games where ever and whenever you have your devices. Not too shabby MS....not too shabby....

But what kind of games are we talking about here? Most of us don't want to sit around playing Football in there all day long. Microsoft has answered that too. These are the games that I grew up playing in Manhattan arcades and my buddies' Atari way back when; day one released two game packs that had a total of 30 games ranging from some of my personal favorites like Lunar Lander, Centipede and Yar's Revenge to some such as Adventure, Night Driver and Sub Assault. Not only that but starting sometime late April, we're going to be getting about 7 new games every week!

Another great thing about the Game Room is that these are copies of the original games; there's no boost in graphics or sounds and no crazy modifications to them either. Keeping to the roots of the games was something I was honestly worried about but after playing all 30 of the games, I can say that I approve. The only thing I can see wrong with the Game Room though is that there is no "head-to-head" mode where you directly go against a friend. Also there are several two-player games but unfortunately, multiplayer is restricted to local only.

Customization is an interesting system in the Game Room. You start off with the same knick knacks that everyone has, the same themes for your rooms and the same layout. In order to get more items and themes you have to buy and play the different games to achieve different medals for each of them. The medals are all worth different point values and all contribute to your level. Bronze is 2, Silver is 3 and Gold is 5. Once you get enough to add up to 20, you *insert FFVII sound here* level up! all the way to 50 if you're tough enough. This allows you to receive a lot more items and let's you make your Arcade your own. You can place up to 8 game cabinets in each room and you have three floors with four rooms on them in a circular fashion (see picture above). Instead of just filling it up with cabinets you can add things such as jukeboxes or giant 80's sneakers and from the ceiling you can hang a disco ball if you want. That's only the 80's theme though, there's a "Lost Temple" theme, "Haunted Mansion" theme and more with props that fit.

From someone who grew up beating high scores on some of these games, I honestly thank Microsoft for bringing a simpler time back to us. Its good not to forget our roots or how difficult games were back then. I can beat Halo 3 on Legendary with every skull on in a day but landing a lunar module on the side of a cliff with 53 fuel left? Yeah, its hard. My verdict for Microsoft's Game Room is a 4.5/5, a definite must have for anyone who's a fan of the glory days.

-Armand