XBox 360: November 2006 Archives

Gamespot has an online video show called Button Mashing. It's basically a game show where they get players to compete against each other on a series of videogames. This particular episode had players squaring off on NES RC Pro Am Racing (loved that game to death), The Warriors, and Marvel Ultimate Alliance. The winner, Homer from Pleasanton, CA, got a big surprise at the end: he got to fly to LA and challenge Jack Black! Black is funny to me no matter what he does. He goes down in flames on Fight Night but redeems himself on Project Gotham Racing 3. Black actually conquered PGR3 on the Platinum level, spending months on the achievement. Then he took a picture of himself, giving the finger to Bizarre Creations: "I was so mad because it was too hard...I hate you designer!!!" The Black section of the video starts at 14:30 minutes if you want to skip to that point. Nuff said.

External Link:
Button Mashing at GameSpot

I don't really have any expectations from EA's Superman Returns game when it ships this month. It might be cool to fly around an open city, but I wouldn't pay $60 for the experience. It could be a rental or something to pick up a year from now when it's $20. Team XBox has a cool video showing Bizarro in the game. According to this article at GameSpy, you get to play as Bizarro for a while. I think it's hilarious to hear his voice: "Bizarro must do good...bizarro must kill people. It fun being hero by destroying city." Huh, I think there's a lot of cool ideas from the Bizarro world. A Bizarro Sims game, where you attrack people by ignoring them? A Bizarro Grand Theft Auto, where you do random acts of goofy kindness? What else could be done? Nuff said.

November is the most expensive month out of the entire year, because this is the time of year when all the shiny new games are released for the consoles. Forget about the Wii and the Playstation 3, I'm sticking with the XBox 360, because there are so many damn titles and not enough time!

My local GameCrazy called me Monday and let me know Gears of War would arrive Tuesday at 6pm. You can imagine how happy my wife was to hear this news--NOT--I swore this game would keep me so busy that I wouldn't need any more until 2007. Luckily I had pre-ordered and showed up early--by the time the game arrived, there were 30 people waiting for it. In my small bay-area suburb, that's a lot. (I was glad that I was the oldest gamer in line--someone has to give these kids a good role model.) I had initially been hesitant about Gears of War because of the third person perspective, but the video previews, CliffyB's video-game rock star status, and the Metacritic rating in the 90s made this a must-have. Gears' pre-release hype reached Halo-like levels, but it seems justified. The graphics are so incredible that screenshots really can't do them justice. Not only are the brightness, detail, colors, and architecture fabulous, but the "camera" following your character really gives it a documentary-like feeling. I am still getting adjusted (or Scott McCloud might say my brain is getting re-programmed) to playing Gears-style, by taking cover, flanking around the enemy's side, and getting my shots in at strategic targets. I haven't dared to play multi-player yet without making some headway through the single player mode. I like the story, what little there is of it, about Marcus Fenix (the main character) and his squad of space-marines fighting the alien-horde called the Locust. The BradyGames guide for Gears of War gives more background on Fenix's history than I've seen in the game, but I've only played a few hours.

Last week, I picked up F.E.A.R. for the Xbox 360. It seems ridiculous to pay $60 when you can get the PC version for considerably less, but that's how much I love my flat screen TV! F.E.A.R. is a more traditional first person shooter with a strong storyline. I went back and played it briefly after Gears, and boy, the graphics just can't compare! The warehouses, docks, and office buildings that you stalk your enemies in just seem drab in comparison to Sera (Gears' planet). But F.E.A.R. is still a lot of fun, because the enemy AI in this game in almost human-like. They hide behind crates, they flank you, and never hesistate to take a good shot. F.E.A.R. has an amazing "Matrix-like" or Max Payne-like slow-motion effect that you can use to take them down when you are in a tight spot. It's good for a few seconds and it will recharge after a short time. Besides the campaign mode, F.E.A.R. has an Instant Action mode that plunges you into four settings filled tons of bad guys to kill. I've become so addicted to Instant Action that I've lost hours to it already. Despite telling myself I'm just going to play one round, it's like saying I'm going to eat one Lays potato chip. Your score is uploaded to XBox Live and you can see how much you suck compared to the other sharpshooters in the world. I thought I had finally mastered some fundamental F.E.A.R. gameplay when I received an Achievement during an Instant Action round. You can imagine my disappointment when I found out I had achieved 5 points for becoming "Suicide King"! Nuff said.

External Links:
Gears of War Metacritic Score
F.E.A.R. Metacritic Score

Gears of War Achievement List
F.E.A.R. Achievement List

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