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November 28, 2005
No Xbox 360: I’ve got a Big Red One instead
I didn't get an Xbox 360 on launch day. I wasn't worthy. The true hardcore fans either pre-ordered months in advance or they camped out overnight. My attempt to buy one was laughable; I left at 6:30am and went to Wal-Mart. A group of four guys stood in front of the door, all 360-seekers, waiting for the store to open at 7am. This Wal-Mart in Pleasanton closes at 11pm; I had called the day before and they assured me the 360s would be sold when the store opened. When I saw such a small line I did a fist pump, yeah baby, I got it! The joke was on me when the sales clerk opened up the door and said: "We sold all the Xbox 360s at midnight. We had 75 people in line and the manager didn't want to make them wait overnight." I was mad as hell, but what could I do? Everywhere I drove, I found lines of hungry gamers who camped out at Best Buy, Target, and Circuit City. I knew the people in those lines exceeded existing inventory. In a last ditch attempt, I drove to Costco at 9am. No one in line, yes, god, maybe there is a chance! Then I saw a sign that said: "We are not currently selling the Xbox 360."
Bummer. But every cloud has a silver lining. I have all these new Xbox 1 games that I barely started playing, including Call of Duty 2: The Big Red One. It turns out to be a pretty nice WW2 FPS, even though the graphics can't hold a candle to the 360 game. I must confess that I didn't like the first Call of Duty on the Xbox. I didn't like changing characters in different locations as the war progressed. The BRO fixes that by making you a member of America's "Fighting First" infantry division. You join the team as they prepare to kick Rommel out of Africa, and stay with them as they help kick Nazi butt across Europe. You can carry two weapons and a bag full of grenades. The weapons are standard grade WW2 material, and so is the level design. In one mission, I had to storm an airfield, take out Nazis room by room, and wind my way through to an anti-aircraft turret. While the Americans fought the Nazis in the sky, I manned the turret and shot down a number of German planes. The sound effect was so awesome on surround sound speakers, that I think Ol' Grandma Hardcore should refrain from playing the level-it might crack her bifocals!
The sound design in Big Red One is the most spectacular thing about the game. You get a lot of vehicle and turret variety. I think it's an enjoyable shooter; a lot of reviewers are knocking it because it does nothing to advance the WW2 genre, but what can? Oh yeah, the real Call of Duty 2 for Xbox 360. OK, maybe you should rent BRO from Gamefly like I did. Nuff said.
Comments
Is the 360 backwars compatible? So I can play my first gen xbox games on it?
Posted by: Secure Steve | November 28, 2005 6:07 PM
So you get to go through WWII in the Big Red One. Great, but is it narrated by Robert Carradine?
Posted by: Ron | November 28, 2005 7:24 PM
Steve, you can only play a small list of Xbox 1 titles on the 360. See this list on IGN for more details:
http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/666/666344p1.html
Posted by: Kid Flash | November 28, 2005 8:13 PM
Ron, it's not narrated by Carradine (had to look that one up on IMDB), but one of the soldiers sounds very much like a cast member from Band of Brothers.
Posted by: Kid Flash | November 28, 2005 8:15 PM
Cool! By the way, when the restored "Big Red One" comes out on DVD, as it surely must soon, be sure and track it down. It's probably the best WWII movie I've ever seen, especially since the *entire* plot is "The Big Red One fights its way through WWII."
Posted by: Ron | November 29, 2005 1:56 PM
