ZZZzzzzz... huh?

There hasn't been a lot going on lately with the Xbox. I have sent back Mass Effect (sorry, I didn't get far enough to warrant another review). I have Call of Duty 4 on it's way, as well as LEGO Star Wars: The Complete Saga sitting next to the 360 now.

I haven't played Star Wars yet, but I may get around to it this week. Otherwise, it'll be a toss up between Undertow, which is a free download for the rest of the week, or Call of Duty 4 (provided it arrives).

Once I sit down in front of the Xbox again, I'll be back with more reviews.

Mass Effect (Xbox 360)

Publisher: Microsoft
Developer: BioWare
Release Date: 11/20/2007
Genre: RPG
Number of Players: 1
ESRB Rating: Mature


Since I have not completed this game, I don't feel that it's fair to do a full review. Therefore, I will start what will be the first of many serial reviews. This week I will review the character creation, and my first experiences with the game.

When I first heard that BioWare was doing a Sci-Fi RPG game for the Xbox 360, I was pretty excited. I really enjoyed both of the KOTOR games, and hoped that this game would be up to those standards. I must say, so far, I am not disappointed.

The game starts you off by having you "sign in" to a faux mainframe. Naturally, the mainframe has forgotten all the information about you, and it is up to you to update the records... enter the character creation mode. I thought this was a nice step, and in a way makes the character creation part of the game, rather than part of the set up for the game. Of course, after I decided to restart three times, because I did not care of the look of my character, I found this to be a little annoying, as there is no way to quickly skip this step. I applaud the innovation, I only wish there was a way to skip it after you've already been through it once.

The character creation mode itself is pretty solid. There are a lot of options, such as hairstyles, eye color, skin color, male or female, and other visual options. They also ask you other questions, regarding your character's background. While I feel this really helps throw you into character, I have a feeling that this will also play into the story in some way. There are three different character classes, basically it lets you choose whether you want to focus on more mental powers, physical powers, or if you want an even blend. Pretty routine, and since this was my first run through of this game, I picked the balanced character.

Once your character is created, you enter the game. It's mostly cut scenes for the first 10 minutes or so, but when you are finally turned loose, be sure you take some time to learn the controls. I spent a good hour or so dying before taking the time to learn how to use my abilities, and figuring out which weapon to use, etc. Once I had the controls figured out, I was able to play for the next couple hours without dying.

The fact that the fighting appears to be handled more like a first person shooter, and less like the roll of a die, this makes a good gateway RPG for people who are used to games like Halo or Call of Duty. That is not to say that this won't appeal to the die hard RPG players, but it may be a little something different than what they're used to.

All in all it's been fun. I have only been to one large city so far, but thankfully there is a system in place that allows you to jump from location to location without all the walking. I am hoping that this is available in all cities that you visit, because as mentioned in other reviews, the elevators all travel extremely slow. So with these jump points, you're able to skip some of the elevators, and therefore keep some of your sanity.

The story seems pretty basic so far, your typical good guy vs. bad guy... however I'm sure it will become more complex by the time the game is over. Please check in with me again in a week, when I come at you with part two of my review.

Rock Band: Special Edition (Xbox 360)

Publisher: MTV Games
Developer: Harmonix
Release Date: 11/20/2007
Genre: Music
Number of Players: 1-4
ESRB Rating: Teen


Anyone who may have looked at my Gamer Card can see that I have indeed played Mass Effect. Don't worry. A review is coming on that game as well, but probably not till the end of the week. The reason, of course, is that this weekend I have been kept busy playing Rock Band.

Let me start off by saying, if you have a 360, love rhythm games, and can only buy one game ever for your 360... then buy Rock Band. Here's the link.

If you're like me, you're going to look at the price tag and think... I can use the head set for my microphone, and I already have two Guitar Hero guitars, do I really want to pay $110 extra just to get a drum set? The answer is yes. Not only do you get the drums, but you also get a guitar that feels more like a real guitar and, the microphone included in the $170 bundle is way better than using your headset.

The game play is very similar to the Guitar Hero games, but if you played Guitar Hero you'll notice that the guitar and bass parts appear to be cut down. I feel like this gives a more realistic feel, since the guitar/bass isn't used to just fill space. This also makes the guitar and bass easier to play. It is still tough learning to include the orange button, but it seems like Rock Band has looked to ease in the orange button when stepping up to hard in a way that will allow you to spend less time in practice mode, and more time rocking.

The microphone measures your voice against the singer's voice from the song. If you're sharp, than an arrow will appear above the line that shows what note you should be singing. If you're flat, then the arrow will appear below. If you're right on, then your arrow will be in the middle of the line. Since they don't really adjust for male or female singers, it can sometimes be hard for a guy to sing a song like Maps, and at the same time, it can be a little tough for a girl to sing something like In Bloom.

The drums, which are my personal favorite, is probably the one instrument in Rock Band that most closely mimics the real instrument. While there is a difference between difficulty levels, you are using all of the drums in each level, including the kick pedal. This makes it harder to just jump in and start playing the drums, but at the same time, it makes it easier to move from one difficulty to another when you're ready. The hardest thing here is trying to move your foot independently of your hands. I feel like Rock Band does the same for the people who drum their fingers to the beat of their favorite songs what Guitar Hero originally did for air guitarists.

Of course even sliced bread has crust, and here is Rock Band's crust. The durability of the instruments. There have been countless reports of the drum's bass pedal breaking, or the drums not registering a hit on a fast beat. There have also been some people having trouble with the guitar only registering upward strumming. While not as common, there have been people who have had trouble with the included USB hub (my only problem is that the attached cable isn't long enough) and trouble with the microphone.

To Harmonix's credit, they have an excellent return policy set up, and while replacement parts were taking a long time to ship when the game first released, by the time I ran into problems I had my parts within a week. I'm also happy to report that I have not had any trouble with the new parts that were shipped either. So that being said, by this time, the instruments you receive today will most likely be free of defects.

So now that I've talked about the instruments, let me talk about some of the main reasons I enjoyed this game.

Band World Tour - This game mode allows you to create your band, pick a leader and play your way to the top. The practice of touring is kept somewhat realistic, in that you play gigs to earn cash for clothes, new hairstyles, etc. You enter competitions for various things such as Vans, Buses, Jets, etc. to allow you to play in locations further and further away from your band's home town. The only downside to this mode is that in early reviews, it sounded as though you would be able to create your band with a mix of local, and on-line members. Unfortunately, this does not appear to be the case. Also, until you've unlocked a lot of songs, this mode can be quite repetitive.

Ever growing list of tracks - It seems like every week, or at least every couple of weeks there have been new tracks released for Rock Band. While the tracks aren't always favorites of everyone, it does show that the Rock Band library is growing, and with the release of full albums in the future, this feature will just get better and better.

Online play - So, this isn't really that big a feature, and in fact, it's less big once they removed Band World Tour from the online options, but there's still a Band Quick Play, and online head to head. Who knows... maybe they can add the Band World Tour sometime in the future?

So that's the basics, and here's the rundown.

Graphics – Obviously this isn't where they focused their efforts, but the graphics are pretty good. The venues all seem to have their own theme, and you're given quite a bit of options when it comes to creating your character.

Sound – I had planned on removing this category but honestly, sound is pretty important to a music game. The songs sound great, but while there's an option to remove the original vocals, you still can't hear the person singing through the TV so well. (I'm only using my TV's speakers, so this may change with a real system). Another thing to comment on is that the drums are loud. I mean, seriously... hitting the drums can in some cases overtake any sound coming out of the TV. There are various mods listed online to try and quiet down the striking of the drum pads, but I haven't tried any, so I can't say how well they work.

Gameplay – Ha. Is this even a question at this point? This game is crazy fun. This is one of the few games that my wife enjoys playing, so that should say something. Each of the instruments play differently, and so it's easy for everyone to find something they like. Even on easy the most tone deaf vocalist can feel like Pavarotti.

Lasting Appeal – This game has it in spades. Once you get tired of playing all the songs that are available with the game itself on guitar, you can switch to singing, or to the drums. Once that gets boring, you can bet they'll have another long list of songs available to purchase on the Xbox Live market place. At $2 a song, or $5 a 3-song pack, it's fairly affordable, and at least worth picking up a few of your favorites when they become available.

Overall – If you haven't guessed by now, I'd give this game my vote for game of the year. There have been some people ask me before when trying to decide between Rock Band and Guitar Hero 3, which one to buy. After purchasing both of these games, and giving them both a fair shot, I can honestly say that I believe Rock Band to be leaps and bounds over Guitar Hero 3.

Fight Night Round 3 (Xbox 360)

Publisher: Electronic Arts
Developer: EA Chicago
Release Date: 02/20/2006
Genre: Sports
Number of Players: 1-2
ESRB Rating: Teen


So, if my last review wasn't necessary because the game was already out for several weeks, then typing this is just a waste of time. I'd like to write up a review of Mass Effect, but to be true to my theme, this week was spent playing Fight Night Round 3.

Not a whole lot of back story here. If you were a fan of the previous Fight Night games, then there's nothing here that would keep you from wanting to play this one. Again they give you the option of using buttons or the analog sticks to control your punches. The offer several modes of play, including Career Mode which is fun if you're enjoying the boxing, but if you're just there to unlock new gear (which is done through special event fights) then buckle in. The game does not move fast, and it can take around an hour to get your popularity up high enough to get a special event fight (on easy difficulty).

Within the career mode you are presented with a variety (read: 3) mini-games that are used to raise your stats. They're fairly simple, and while the boost to your stats isn't anything spectacular, it is done so that the game makes you focus on what aspect of boxing you want to follow, speed, or strength. You can also attempt to be an all around fighter, but as a result your stats will not get very high, as the mini-games add to some stats while taking away 1% from the others (with exception).

After you're in the ring, the boxing is pretty straight-forward. You can throw everything from jabs to hay makers, even though the game is a year old, the graphics are still rather decent. In between rounds you are presented with the cut man interface, where you can mend cuts, and reduce swelling in order to keep your boxer in the ring and off the mat.

If there is one beef I have with the game, it's that EA decided to not go with the GameFace face designer. Instead you are given some generic face shapes and features. It is possible that with all the swelling and cuts that show up on your face the longer you box, it may not have been possible to realistically add this to a custom face. My hope is that they can adopt the new Gameface that was added with the latest Tiger Woods game into the next Fight Night game.

Graphics – Pretty decent. It's obvious that they were trying to add things for the early adopters of HD. The bodies sweat, and spit/blood flies when the boxers are punched in later rounds. There is some crazy modeling issues with some of the ring girls, but as far as the playable elements go, the game is still easy on the eyes, even after games like Gears of War.

Sound – I think I'm going to remove this category from future reviews until I have a sound system in which to properly test this.

Gameplay – Fun. This game has single handedly been keeping me from breaking the seal on Mass Effect. Of course, I know that once I open Mass Effect, it's quite possible that I will not be able to pry it from my 360 for a while.

Lasting Appeal – I feel like this is an unfair category for any sports game as there is no real "end" to the game. They have done a good job of keeping the game fresh with various difficulty settings, and by allowing you to box it out over Xbox Live.

Overall – It's a good game. It's not the best game ever made, but seeing as you can now buy this for around $17, it's definitely worth picking up if you enjoy boxing games.

Assassin's Creed (Xbox 360)

Publisher: Ubisoft
Developer: Ubisoft Montreal
Release Date: 11/14/2007
Genre: Action
Number of Players: 1
ESRB Rating: Mature


When Assassin’s Creed came out, I honestly wasn’t sure what to expect. I hadn’t seen any previous footage of the game, and had only heard information from friends about what the game is about. Since the game has been out for several weeks, it’s probably not even necessary to explain it all, but here goes.

Assassin’s Creed is a little difficult to explain. You are playing the role of Desmond, a bartender who was kidnapped by Abstergo Industries and forced to relive his ancestor’s memories via a device called the Animus. You spend a majority of the game in this machine playing as Altair, an assassin during the Crusade.

Altair is given the task of killing nine high profile men from within the kingdom in an attempt to spread peace. The opening mission helps to set up the entire plot starts with you botching an assassination, and costing you your ranks and weapons. Both are re-acquired through the completion of various missions.

The actual assassination tasks actually consist of other smaller tasks that make up a sort of reconnaissance portion of the game. There are several reviews who have marked down the game because these tasks become quite repeatetive, but it is not necessary to complete all of these tasks before you assassinate your target.

Along with this task there are several other tasks that will allow you to earn gamer points. Things such as killing combos, counter attacks, and flag collecting. The later is my least favorite activity, as unless you’re using a strategy guide (and have downloaded some of the corrections from Prima’s site) it is next to impossible to find all 100 Kingdom flags. Thankfully, these tasks only award you gamer points, and do not affect the story.

All in all I was pleased with this game. It was a lot of fun, and while the flag seeking is nothing short of tedious, it is optional, and could be done in between other objectives. While I wouldn’t buy this game, I do recommend at least renting, or maybe buying used, but since there is no multiplayer, once you’ve completed the game, there’s really nothing bringing you back.

Graphics – Fantasic. The buildings look great, as do the characters. Everything seemed to flow together nicely in the animations, and once the city loaded, you could travel anywhere within those city limits without slow down.

Sound – Not sure. I feel like this is going to be a hard one for me to judge considering I don’t have a surround sound system. I feel like there were times when I was hiding and probably could have used positional sound to know which way a guard was coming from. All in all with what I had, I wasn’t that impressed.

Gameplay – Great. The movement was pretty easy to get down. I did run into some problems with the jumps, particularly around water when the character jumped in a slightly different direction than I had anticipated. The fighting was fun, although it gets a little ridiculous towards the end of the game with you fighting wave after wave of guards. I’m sure with better planning on my part, I could have cut down the numbers before getting into such a situation.

Lasting Appeal – There really isn’t any. I am not one of those people who believe that every game has to have multiplayer, but even in games that are solely single player like Bioshock, they are releasing new content to make the game play different. I can’t see them doing anything like that here, nor are there different difficulty levels to further challenge you once you’ve completed the game.

Overall – It’s a great game. I wouldn’t buy it new just because once it’s beaten there’s not reason to keep it, and trade in value for games is ridiculous, but if you can rent it from your local video store or from a service like Game Fly I would. In fact… I did.