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PILACAS
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Posts by PILACAS
PLAYSTATION 3: MAG First Impressions Review
Feb 4th
When I first heard about this game I scoured YouTube to find actual gameplay. It looked really awesome! To think that you can be playing with 255 other people on a map executing on various objectives sounds really cool! Unfortunately, that’s where the coolness factor ended for me. To give you a brief overview of a First Impression Review, it is assumed that the game has been played for a sufficient amount of time to form an opinion. Because this is an online multi-player game only, it doesn’t take long for that opinion to form.
How it all started. Picked up the game at a local Gamestop and came home and loaded up Call of Duty: MW2. Yeah, I’m addicted to that game, I know. Anyway, after two days of MAG encased in it’s original wrapping, I decided to tear it open. The game required about 60MB worth of updating. Once that process was done, I was off choosing a faction. There are three to choose from (S.V.E.R., Raven, and Valor). I chose Valor because it sounded cool. After designing a character, I was off to training. The training portion, or as I call it, the MW2 motor skills brainwashing was actually quite entertaining. The typical run here, shoot five targets there, lob a grenade here were quite useful in getting acquainted with the controls. However, that’s where the entertainment of the game ended for me.
The first four level up exercises puts you into games with 64 players. You gain experience points be eliminating the opposing team. Once your character has passed level four in skill, it opens up more gameplay modes. I was able to unlock the Acquisition mode which allows you to play with 127 other people. It’s where you either attack or defend two prototype transports and escape to the extraction point. Sounds straight forward, right? Well, not so fast… I think the objective of the game as a whole carries massive expectation. To have a ton of people on a map doing their thing sounds amazing. The problem lies in the mechanics of gameplay – which I think Sony and Zipper Interactive have dropped the ball on.
The good: Lag was never an issue for me. Then again, I have Verizon FiOS which rules over everything. Players who have headsets actually communicated within the context of the game. Never heard any annoying 12 year old kids talking to their mom in the background about cleaning up their room. The sounds are THX certified. Which means the environmental audio is spot on as well as the accompanying sound FX. All crisp.
Now for the bad: Here we go. First of all, the controls do not feel as polished as they could be. Collision detection is way off. When I’m looking down the sight of a gun and see an enemy in the crosshairs, I expect to waste his a$$. Not so in this game. There have been occasions when the player remains alive, even at point blank. (It’s also a huge problem in MW2 with the shotguns) When I have a rocket launcher aimed at an enemy and it detonates next to them, I expect them to R.I.P., not this time. The enemies seem to think of it as an afterthought. They live! WTF! (I’m calm, really!) A lot of work needs to be done in executing the basics for this game. I’ll let the graphics slide, but the controls, I can’t. It hinders the gameplay completely and makes it frustrating to play. No one wants to be frustrated when they play, right?
Needless to say, I took the game back and traded it in for a pre-order copy of EA’s Battlefield: Bad Company 2. Which by the way, if you’ve played the demo, by far beats MAG in playability and fun factor. Quite sad considering Battlefield is still in Beta. Moral of this review is it doesn’t matter how many people are playing with/against you at any given time, if you aren’t happy with the mechanics of the control system and collision detection, the game will end up being frustrating. It may even prompt you to type up a scathing review on a gaming website somewhere… I suggest you put your money down on Call of Duty: MW2 (if you haven’t already) or Battlefield: Bad Company 2 which is out March 2, 2010.
If we had a rating system, I’d give MAG a 4 out of 10. One for everyday I owned the copy.
XBOX 360: Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 Review
Feb 3rd
Two months ago, I waited in line at a Gamestop to acquire a copy of this game for the Xbox 360. Not having pre-ordered a copy, I was denied a sale. Remember, we (the writers at Gamersplay) don’t get advanced copies of games — yet… Anyway, I headed to the Best Buy next door and to my surprise, they had a ton of copies. Ca-ching! Sold. By the way, this title has set a ton of records. One of them being that it generated $550 million in the first five days of release.
I began playing the single-player campaign. It was cool. The gameplay brought me back to the Call of Duty 4 days. The controls were second nature, like riding a bike. You never forget it. After getting to the second mission, I decided to play the multi-player campaigns exclusively. Why you ask? I was going on vacation in early December 2009 and wanted to level up my character as much as I could so that when I returned, I could be at-par with my friends. Needless to say, my friends have never caught-up — so far. I have been playing this game non-stop, every single moment I get the chance. I’m not a hard-core MW2 player as others I’ve seen online, but compared to my friends, I’m pretty much labeled as addicted. There are 16 multiplayer maps in the game. Hard to imagine that there are that many, but if you’ve played it as much as I have, the maps are beginning to feel a bit old. Currently as I write this, my character is at 1st Prestige level 50. It’s still interesting enough for me to pick up the Xbox controller almost every night, but my gameplay has since been cut down from all-nighters to an hour max. The graphics are sharp as I can see movement well beyond the scope of my gun. Then again, it helps to play on an 52″ HDTV. The sounds are crisp and typical of this type of genre as the gunshots and AC130 planes hover above the map. One of the coolest features of this game are Kill-streak awards. The concept behind this is for every consecutive kill you make (without dying), you unlock a reward. Rewards vary from drop packages, to being a gunner on a gunship chopper, and even the ultimate tactical nuke strike — which by the way, ends the game for everyone playing. In order to get this coveted reward, you have to kill 25 enemies (24 with the hardline perk) without dying. The best I’ve done is 13. I know, lame for the hardcore players, but pretty awesome in my book! There are a ton of gameplay types from Free-for-all to Cage Deathmatch. I haven’t played all of the game types, as I seem to gravitate towards Team Deathmatch Express, Ground War, and Domination. Domination in my opinion is a great experience point collector for your character as points are awarded whether or not you kill people in the opposing team. There are plenty of weapons to choose from and can vary and even change the experience you have in matches. In general, the weapons seemed balanced, except maybe for the top of the line shot-gun in Akimbo mode. Those seem to get me EVERYTIME and can get quite annoying. Still though, it doesn’t detract from the game as a whole.
The Xbox Live system has been solid and the multiplayer games are hosted by a random someone in the party. There have been times I’ve been frustrated with my skillz and have left the game leaving the rest of the gamers waiting for the system to find a new host. Haha! At least I can disrupt their gameplay in that sense! Anyway, the multiplayer experience is top-notch. It’s so good that I haven’t finished the single player campaign yet. I’ll get to it soon enough as the multiplayer is wearing on me. I don’t know how other gamers can replay Prestige level three or more times. Who has the time??? I can’t wait for the fine folks at Activision to release new maps which will give this game new life when they do. For now, I’ll continue chugging along the MW2 bandwagon. This game has not been a disappointment. Also, IF we had a rating system in place, I’d give this game at least a nine out of ten joysticks, thumbs up, whatever you think is cool. If you haven’t purchased this game yet, do it now! There is still hope for you!
Welcome To GAMERSPLAY.com
Oct 27th
Prepare for the onslaught… The onslaught of game reviews! Check back soon for reviews of the most recent and popular games for all gaming platforms!
XBOX360: The Beatles Rock Band Review
Oct 27th
So I’ve had this game for a few weeks now. It’s one of those games that I have consistently played since it’s release. Then again, aside from the games I bought from a Burger King promotion a few years ago, this is the only game I currently own for the XBox360. The game is visually stunning and colorful. The animated breaks between levels are thoughtfully done. The music is awesome if you’re a Beatles fan, and if you’re an exclusive Rolling Stones fan, the music is lame — according to one of my colleagues who is a hard core Stones fan. Anyway, the music is awesome. Whether you’re in “Quickplay” or “Story” mode, the instrument you choose (in a single player game) stands out in the music. For instance, if you’re an awesome Rock Band bass player like myself, the bass sounds pop out a little more. It’s the same for the other instruments. This means you can hear how awesome you’re doing in the game, or failing miserably like I do when I play the guitar on Expert mode.
Speaking of modes… For Bass guitar, easy is way too easy, and can be quite boring. Medium is still too easy, and a little less boring. Hard mode can be challenging, but still too easy. Expert mode is just right if you have at least 10 previous hours of Rock Band time. I noticed a few songs in Expert mode were way too hard, but when I bump it down to Hard mode, it was way too easy. The Guitar and Drum modes are a bit more challenging in the Hard and Expert modes. As far as the Vocal mode goes, as long as you’re singing in the range of the right frequency, you’re all good.
I finished the game playing Bass guitar on Expert mode in two weekends. I haven’t unlocked everything yet, but the beauty of this game is the replay value. So, when I’m in-between playing Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 and Forza (thanks in advance Miles for letting me borrow your game), I’ll be on Rock Band: The Beatles desperately trying to complete ANY song on Expert mode using the Guitar. This is the game that keeps on giving, until you go crazy trying to collect all of the photos and can’t because your skills suck no matter how many times you play “I Saw Her Standing There” or “Helter Skelter” on Bass. (Do not attempt after a long day at the office — you’ll only aggravate yourself)
Overall, this game is a keeper. Glad I chose to keep the “Guitar Hero 2″ guitar. The game is fun with all devices connected and everyone is half drunk. Now that’s a party! You can find it for around $60 for just the game. It’s $130 for a generic band set plus game, and $250 for the Special Edition — which I don’t think it’s worth it, even for a Beatles fan like myself. If we had a rating chart, I’d give it an 8 out of 10 stars/joysticks/happy faces, etc…
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