Review of MLB 11: The Show - Playstation 3

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This will be short and sorta sweetrefer to the comments I'll tack on for a much more detailed critique of this game, for those who are interested (ie: serious baseball geeks, like me).

This year's version of The Show is again clearly aimed at serious baseball gamersmeaning people with a somewhat fanatical interest in a baseball game that plays out like a real MLB game. Meaning accurate player models/performance, believable gameplay, reasonable statistical outcomes, and most of all, challenging to play. Arcade gamers should look elsewherethis is clearly a very serious baseball simand as for the "fun factor" (many criticize The Show series for this), I'd offer that it will likely be a lot of fun, but only for fans who are looking for a challenging game of video baseball, with all the ups and downs that entails. One guy said it perhaps most succinctly: if you grew up, as I did, playing the heck out of the Strat-O-Matic baseball board game, you will recognize MLB The Show 2011 as the visual representation of what you used to love about that game: real stats from real players, and real baseball game outcomes. And, I might add, outcomes that you have a lot of control over, but NOT complete control. More on that in my comment section.

This review will be mostly for people who like to play out a full season vs: the CPU, with their favorite team (single player Franchise mode). I'll mention the other game modes (Road To The Show, Home Run Derby, on-line play, co-op play) only in passing, since I don't use those modes much. I also think it's useful to state one's own background and baseball experience, when offering a critique of this game for others, as what people will/won't like about this game will largely be directly related to that. I am 56 years old, played competetive baseball from age 7 up through a college level, and have remained an avid fan to the present day. I have played most of the pc/PS baseball videogames over the years, starting with DOS-based pc games, up to the present PS3 generation of games. I play through a full season vs: the CPU on All Star level of difficulty, using my home town Chicago White Sox, and ensure each year before I start the season that all the rosters are up to date, and accurately reflect the current real teams. What I want out of any baseball game (board games through videogames) is a realistic baseball experience, that isn't easy to master after a few tries. MLB The Show 2011 is clearly for players like methose seeking an arcade style baseball game, where you can win games, hit home runs, and strike out everybody with regular ease, should look elsewhereyou'll be incredibly frustrated/annoyed/humiliated by this game, if that's what you're seeking. But for those baseball fans like me, THIS is your game: read on.

The new addition to this year's game is the use of the right analog stick to control hitting, pitching, and fielding (baserunning still largely button controlled, same as last year). However, one of the best things about this game is the flexibility it offers: you can play with the old button controls if you don't like the right stick, or you can play with any combination of old/new gamepad controls. For instance, I am playing this current season using last year's zone control/buttons for hitting, but the right stick for pitching and fieldingmore on this below.

To hit, you pull the right stick back(down) as the pitcher is in his windup, and push forward(up) to "swing". It's largely a matter of timing that affects the outcome of any swing, as the only "aiming" you have to do with the right stick is left or right, as you push it forward, to hit pitches on the inside/outside part of the plate. The CPU automatically adjusts for whether the pitch was high or low. I went back to the old button control for hitting after a number of games, but not because I was having all that hard a time with it....it just simply didn't "feel" like hitting to me, especially because of not having to consider whether the pitch was high or low. "Swinging" with the left stick, and having to aim the left stick to a specific zone where the pitch is, to successfully hit the ball (last year's mechanism) just feels more like hitting to me. But to each his ownhitting has always been challenging in The Show series, and this year is no different, regardless of what control you choose. See my comment section for WHY hitting is hard. Hint: it's not because of the controls.

Pitching with the right stick is a major upgrade, IMO, compared to last year. You still select the type of pitch you want with a button, but then pull back on the rt stick to start your windupthe height of the pitch(high or low) depends on how close you come to releasing your pitch (forward on the rt stick) when a meter bar approaches a white linehitting the white line exactly when you push up on the stick means a pitch on the leveltoo soon or too tardy on the release affects the up/down location result. You are also required to aim your upward push of the rt stick to hit the spot laterally, where you aimed before the windup startedhit it exactly, and the pitch USUALLY winds up where you intendedthe more off the target you are with the upward stick motion, the less accurate the lateral location of the pitch. I have stuck with the rt stick for pitching, as I find it much more challenging and interactive than the old model. It IS harder to avoid walking CPU batters, as a result, but much like hitting, success with the analog stick for pitching depends on more than just accuracy with the stick. Comment section for more on that, but in short: strategy, and some baseball know-how/experience counts.

Fielding with the rt stick has some issues, IMO. I use it again because it is much more interactive than the old push-a-button-and-hope-for-the-best mechanism. You move your fielder with the left stick, and throw with the right. You push the stick in the direction of the base you want to throw to, and then a tricolor meter bar will rapidly appear below your fielder. Throw when it is green, and the throw is always on the mark. Throw in the yellow, and it usually is, but better fielders will have better throws when it is yellow, and the chance for an error higher with a less skilled player. Throw in the red, and it is almost always an error, and usually a seriously wild throw, no matter who the fielder is. Pure fielding errors/bobbles on batted balls still seem rather random to me, howeverthough this is supposedly based on the individual fielder's real MLB skills, I'm not entirely conviinced of this yet (ie: I've already had to watch Sox fielding wizard, and future Hall of Famer, Omar Vizquel, bobble a number of routine ground balls). So this is OK, since it's way more engaging now to field, and PERHAPS takes into account more of the individual player's fielding skills, but it has some serious issues, IMO, that affect gameplay a lotsee my comments again for details. Just be prepared for making LOTS of errors, when you first start playing the game. The learning curve isn't all that steep, though, so keep at it. It IS more engaging than last year.

The graphics are again stellar, and easily the best of any sports game on the market currently. Player models are unbelievably accurate and detailed, as are individual player batting stances, pitching motions, and mannerisms. There are a number of new gameplay animations from last year, which add to the fun factor in playing a game. The stadiums are also more detailed and individualized, as are the crowds. The noises of the ballpark and gameplay are also spot-on, with the result being that the incredible visuals in this game greatly add to the gameplay experience. It's totally immersive, and looks like the real thing. All they need to add now are the smells of hot dogs, peanuts, and beer......

The announcers, alas, remain the single weakest aspect of the game, and a main reason why I don't give this game 5 stars. Eric Karros has replaced the annoying Rex Hudler, but Matt Vaskurgian and Dave "Soup" Campbell are back. Karros stuttering, gee-whiz delivery is probably an upgrade from Hudler's ridiculous schtick, but the other two unfortunately have very little new scripting involved in their announcing of a game. It's obvious that very little effort went into upgrading this aspect of the game, and it's too bad, because it was old last year. MLB2k does this WAY better, though the rest of that game remnains inferior to The Show. More in my comments again, but for now, that's all I have to say about THAT.

Rosters are fairly complete, though again most minor league players are fictional characters. It seems that real players exist only for players who have played some games at the MLB levellikely a licensing thing, I suspect.

Not a big deal, though, since again a major strength of this game is that you can edit just about everything, and create players to your wishes as well. Players are all rated for a number of skills, that affect individual performance and gameplay results, and you are free to edit any player that way, should you think the ratings are wrong. I have found that most ratings are OK, with the consistent exception that many fairly fast players have relatively low speed/running ratingsso I edit those accordingly, as I come across them. For on-line users, the game again updates rosters, based on real MLB changes, on a weekly basis.

Other modes again include Road To The Show (I don't use this, but consensus I hear is it's also much improved from last year), Home Run Derby (to satisfy, somewhat anyway, the arcade-game seekers), and on-line play (still apparently a serious lag problem, though), and co-op play, where up to 4 players can play a game at the same time. I'd refer readers to other reviews for a critique of these game modes, since I rarely use them: playing a full season vs: the CPU is all the time I can manage.

In summary (guess this wasn't too short after all): MLB The Show 2011 remains the best baseball game on the videogame market, by far. It has it's appeal mainly to serious baseball fans, though, and will likely be "too hard" and "no fun" for more casual gamers, especially those who don't understand that the best MLB teams LOSE 4 out of every 10 games. I'll add details in the comments section for those interested, as the season moves onand I get more games played, and comments are welcome.

PLAY BALL!!!

P.S. As of this date, no less than 26 professional videogaming review websites rate this game 89.5%, out of 100%.

I'd have to agree.

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Maybe it's the fact that I've purchased this game since '08. Maybe it's because this game is so good that it has spoiled me. But I can't help but feel this franchise has reached its peak and is starting to level off.

First things first, as usual, the graphics are amazing. You've seen the screen shots, watched the YouTube videos, and maybe have even played the demo. If there's one thing The Show fans can count on, it's photo-realism. One graphical complaint I do have is the sky textures. Would it kill them to put in some clouds? Or in night games, maybe the moon? Stars? With so much of the game taking place from the batter's point of view, the sky is constantly on screen. It's just so.. blah.

The new gameplay mechanics utilizing the analog controls require suburb timing, making pitching and hitting challenging yet engaging. Analog controls are also added for fielding.

Also, a pretty important change I'd like to mention: no longer can you simply guess the pitch type and have the game automatically give you the location. For example, in previous versions, you could guess fastball and sit changeup. If the pitcher threw a fastball, an indicator would flash at the exact location where the pitch would end up, whether it was a ball or strike. In '11, you now must guess the location along with pitch type. Simply correctly guessing the pitch will not reveal the pitch location, upping the difficulty of hitting even further.

Returning this year are Road to the Show and Franchise.

RTTS has improved somewhat. Remember those annoying goals, like "Hit and Run" or "Drive in the Run"? Those are a thing of the past. It was a broken system. You'd attempt a Hit and Run, but the pitch could be far out of the strike zone. If you swung at it, you'd invariably miss the ball, failing the goal in the process. Now, each at-bat is rated as Poor, Good, or Excellent. From my experience, there is NO way to gain negative points during an at-bat. Even if you end up hitting into a double play, you could still earn points (albeit, not many).

As usual, you'll spend about two seasons in the minors before being called up to The Show. If you're lucky, a player in your position will get injured or traded, allowing you to ascend the ranks much more quickly.

Franchise allows players to manage everything from ticket prices to concessions. It's essentially the same as last year. Running a team can become a little tedious, especially dealing with injuries. If a player on your MLB roster needs to spend time on the DL, you will have to call up a player from your AAA roster, call up a player from AA to replace the AAA player, and basically do it all over again in reverse once the MLB player returns. And injuries are COMMON. Of course, you could always set all of the tedious decision making to AI control, which is what I did.

One thing that annoys me to no end in Franchise is the way MVP awards are decided. Just like in previous versions of The Show, pitchers are awarded the MVP award at an alarming rate. In real life, a pitcher has won the MVP only once since 1987 (Dennis Eckersley). Since there is an MVP award for each league, that's one pitcher out of the past 46 MVP awards bestowed. In The Show, I've played five franchise seasons and SIX pitchers have won the MVP. Yes, in three of those seasons, both the AL MVP and NL MVP were pitchers. That's unheard of!

The commentating is just foul at this point. Matt Vasgersian has probably not been in the recording studio since '08 other than to say a few new names. Dave Campbell is back to add absolutely nothing to the experience. Where's the excitement? Where's the inflection? Why does everything sound so forced? Eric Karros is new to the booth and an improvement over Rex Hudler (who WOULDN'T be an improvement over Rex Hudler?). But it's marginal. Karros has more energy, but his lines are still painfully generic. Of the three commentators, Karros sounds like he had the most fun in the recording booth.

There have been reports on multiple message boards that the game is prone to freezing. I've personally experienced instances of freezing. The very first time I loaded the game, it froze during one of those opening montages. Next time, it froze on the trade screen in Franchise mode. Luckily, the game hasn't frozen during an actual game.

One other minor gripe has to do with the Home Run Derby. First, there is absolutely no unique broadcaster commentary for this mode, just the muffled PA announcer in the background ("He's down to two outs!"). There's no golden ball as the final out, which could have been a cool touch. And there are no kids running around in the outfield shagging balls! Honestly, when I watch the home run derby on TV, I get a kick out of the kids diving for balls and trying to catch pop ups. I think that would have been such a great addition! Instead, you're just hitting balls into an empty outfield. It just feels a glorified session of batting practice.

Many of you die-hard fans probably think I'm being too tough on this game. But hey, if I buy this game four years running, my expectations are going to be high. Sadly, this game feels like what perennial sports games should never turn into the $60 yearly roster update.

If you are new to the franchise, buy it, hands down. But if you own The Show 10, I'd wait for next year.

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I've had every edition of this series since it started, and I've grown accustomed to the great graphics and the slick presentation. I've always found, though, that the playability needs quite a bit of tweaking to make the gameplay realistic. Thankfully, you have the ability to make these changes with the dozens of settings that you can customize with using the slider bar. I will say that this year's game seems the hardest to play in the MLB series and after hours of tweaking the gameplay settings, I still can't get this right. My beefs:

1. Hitting has become exceptionally hard which is fine if it works both ways (i.e. hard for the AI as well), but it doesn't. I've abandoned the analog controls for now as they are not consistent and seem 'off' a bit (for lack of a better word). I was a very good hitter in the '09 & '10 editions but this year, it's much more difficult. I'm up for a challenge but I think the AI needs to be impacted as well. I'm scoring 0-3 runs per game and haven't hit double digits in hits 22 games into my season (with the Tigers, and there are some good hitters in that lineup). Too many grounders and soft pop flies to the shallow OF.

2. Piching is regressing year-over-year. The AI seems to have no issues hitting whatever I throw at the plate and has the plate discipline of Tony Gwynn or Wade Boggs with every batter. Whereas my pitchers struggle to hit the corners consistently, the AI does so with ease. Guys with a 5.00+ ERA in real-life are studs in this game. There is absolutely zero forgiveness when pitching. I also think this game is to the point in its development where needs to improve pitch recognition and pitch physics. While it has always been tough to see balls vs. strikes on borderline pitches, this year it seems a little more difficult. I don't think there is enough recognition separation between pitches with 15 to 20 MPH differences. I actually think MLB 2K is better in this area. Other than 12-6 curveballs, pitches tend to be flat across the board.

3. Hits into the corner are seldom doubles. I think this game has always struggled with effectively scaling OF speed, throwing accuracy and throwing velocity. Not enough drives into the gap fall. This needs much tweaking to get right and, again, for some reason I have not yet been able to find that elixir in this year's edition.

4. Stealing is, as always, tough. Not enough separation in catcher skills between those you cannot run on and those you can thieve all day. It's been this way for years.

All in all, I do enjoy the game but I'm now looking at MLB 2K11 as a diversion to the somewhat unrealistic gameplay that The Show is becoming more and more. The Show, graphically, blows away 2K11 but in my opinion playing the game is why we buy them.

Honest reviews on MLB 11: The Show - Playstation 3

First off, let me state that I come from the school of thought that if they had done nothing but update the rosters I would consider the game awesome, so what I have seen so far deserves A+ in my opinion. Secondly, let me add that I have no interest in analog control. I tried it for about 30 seconds. I don't see that it adds to the experience for me at all. I am all about playing Franchise on All-Star level with my Cubs and Yankees and I have only played some pre-season games so here is what I can offer.

Graphically I see improvement in terms of the appearance of the players. The biggest thing I have seen with limited playing time is that the movement of the players in the field is, to my mind, significantly more life-like. They move toward the ball in a more natural fashion and I have noticed that if you try to change direction they are not able to turn on a dime, but have to slow down and will move in a much more realistic way. Each individual player's range is actually a factor. I noticed that Soriano will bumble a little bit in LF--I have personally seen him drop flies like a little leaguer (those of you who know Strat-O-Matic will understand when I say he is a definite "5" in LF)so no one can claim this is not realistic.While I am still feeling my way through the settings (that's what Spring Training is for) I am starting to really appreciate the broadcast camera view. I am still getting used to it and it can be a little deceptive when fielding , but the look of it is really pretty.

I have also noticed that the hitters will take their sweet time in between pitches. It can be a little frustrating if ,like me, patience is not your best trait but it is very realistic and really adds the relaxed pace that is a game. And on the subject of issues that arise with a lack of patience, I loooove the balk feature. And I learned you have to be careful. I was getting beat and getting frustrated so I started to hurry and balked a guy from first to third and he scored on a hit. If you don't like it you can turn it off, but I love having to come set . Again--the real feel of the game comes through.

I think the commentary, while largely the same, has improved. Karros is heads and shoulders above Hudler--he speaks in a more relaxed,conversational tone that adds to the leisurely ambience that is baseball--not goofy and on fire all the time.I almost fainted when I heard interaction between him and Vasgersian, when Matt asked him if he agreed that C.C deserved CY Young consideration!

Hitting is very challenging (see edit) challenging, and it almost seems like pitchers are mind readers in foiling your location guesses. You have to be patient, work the count, be aware of pitcher (and umpire!) tendancies. After I had a strike called on a high pitch clearly out of the zone, I took a chance that the wiley pitcher was going to try and get away with that location again, and roped it for a single. I have not tried the contact swing too much, but love the idea that with a 2 strike count you have the option to try to protect a little bit and cut down on the strike outs. The cancel throw feature is also a great idea.

The game is even more visually stunning than last year and I haven't even scratched the surface of what I will see as I am planning for the first time to play all the Spring games to really get a feel for the game and my roster and build that anticipation toward opening day!

If you really love baseball and have the patience for hitting, with no arcade expecatations that you will hit a homer every at bat this game is a real loving tribute to America's past time, and really done in a first rate fashion.

A tape measure home run on this one for me!!

EDIT:

I have played several more games as the Yanks and Cubs in Spring Training and I think that my experience is consistent with the general consensus that hitting is definitely more challenging this year.I am really struggling on All-Star level. I did not have trouble at all in last year's model, but I am averaging like 1 run a game with a team BA of .177. I have won five games out of the twenty-odd that I have played. One, I was down 7-0 in the third and got miffed and simmed it to the end, and lo and behold the CPU had the Yanks win 13-7.One I won against the Nats 1-0 on a suicide squeeze in the 11th after Burnett had a no hitter thru 8 1/3. The CPU is clearly even more develish than last year with spotting pitches, and focus and patience at a much bigger premium. I have never been a slider adjuster, but have found that with this version it is a must to tweak the sliders a bit to generate some offense. As I write I am still perfecting that, but I can say that, unlike Madden in my opinion, this game can be adjusted to play beautifully and the graphics are really just stunning.

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Its an awesome game. So realistic and the picture is amazing. I love the Sox and its so cool to see all the updated players and play as my team in different parks. I bought PS3 for this game and I'm glad I did because it is that awesome.

Review of Sprint Cars 2: Showdown at Eldora - PlayStation 2

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Always been a huge fan of this genre of game and most reviewers do not give the dirt track the respect it deserves. Unfortunately, Sprintcar2 Showdown at Eldora deserves every bad review it gets. I will not get into too many specifics as to why this game should never have been released but here's what SAE offers.

-The same tracks as Sprintcar Road to Knoxville

-The same models and paint schemes for the Modifieds, Midgets and Sprintcars as RTK

-Three new classes Prostock, Latemodel and Wingless Sprintcar (all with paint schemes that look like they took as long to name as they did to complete.

-A Tractor pull mini game (Don't laugh, it's the best thing you will get for your $19.96!)

Sounds like Big Ant just added to an OK game and no harm right? Wrong! What was smooth, fast racing in RTK is now so jittery with a frame rate flucuating like my waistline during the holidays that it completely unplayable even with everything (including all sound turned off.) Also, don't bother starting a career, I had a driver win every race in a series and still finish 6th and under a different name.

If you are even considering purchasing this game please consider games such as Saturday Night Speedway, World of Outlaw 2002, NASCAR Dirt to Daytona and yes even Sprintcar Road to Knoxville.

"Better crippled in body then corrupt in mind"

Imperial Comissar Yarrick addressing Imperial Guard units during an Ork siege

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This game is far from perfect, however it provides the best available video game dirt track action for race fans. Until someone makes a game with dirt late models, sprint cars, and modifieds for PS3/360, this is the game to get.

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I was a big fan of the World of Outlaws PS2 game that came out in 2002 and Road to Knoxville when that came out in 2006. This version really has a lot more to do. They've added late models, pro stock and wingless sprints. The new challenge mode is fun and the tractor pull, while pretty simple, is cool because you can post your pulls to their website. I'd like to see this game on the Xbox 360 someday!!!

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Got this for my husband he loves it. He had been looking for this for awhile keeps him occupied and out of my hair. Lol

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like this game alot, had been looking for it for awhile. sprint car racing is one of the most fun games you can play. anyone will love it.

Buy Rock Band Official Guitar + Rock Band Microphone

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My family had been looking for something to do as a unit and Rock Band 2 has turned out to be consistent fun for weeks now. We are two professionals with a 4-year old boy and 6-year old girl. We can enable the "no fail" mode and play pressure-free tunes at varying skill levels (if you choose to be challenged while having fun with the family). Being able to download music you want to hear or play makes the game very user friendly. We purchased a bass guitar about a week after playing with just the drums, guitar, and microphone.

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Discount Skylanders Giants Triple Pack 7: Fright Rider, Wrecking Ball

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This is one of the late releases of 3 triple packs (#8 and #9 have not hit the US yet) where you can get Wrecking Ball Series 2 and Flameslinger Series 2 (as they have become scarce in current single pack shipments). New dead type Fright Rider is also in limited availability in a single pack.

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shipping came fast and in good condition. My kids love this game and it's pretty fun playing with them, even tho they beat me all the time.

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All the triple packs are great value and good to get three characters in one go. This packs characters were an excellent mix of abilities and element types.

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He leveled them up as soon as he got them. Skylanders Giants figurines are now on his Bday and Christmas lists.

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I started playing with my roommates kid and quickly got hooked. This is just pure silly upgrade the good guy fun!!

Discount Guitar Hero 5 - Xbox 360 (Game only)

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Well I would just like to say, that the average rating of this game is 3 stars. I'm very stunned by that, because this is a good game. I'm going to do a list of pros and cons.

Pros:

+ Excellent graphics, the band on stage has never looked better, and some of the effects are awesome. You either hate them or love them.

+ The song selection is huge, the biggest out of all the guitar heroes, I was really surprised with all the venues they had in career.

+ Is the song selection good? Overall it's more good than bad which is nice, I wish there were some more songs that I knew on the game.

+ The game is fun to play, it's enjoyable, and not as frustrating as some of the other guitar heroes.

+ A lot of reviews, say playing your avatar in the game looks weird and just doesn't fit in. I disagree, it gave me a chance to really make my avatar look cool, sometimes I get sick of seeing the same game characters every guitar hero.

+ The Party Play is a nice feature, I know if I had party at my house, and tons of instruments I would definetely use this feature. It's also fun, if you're to lazy to find a song to play, or just want to relax.

+ Tons of replay value, going back to get the bonuses, or completed every song in career will take a while and keep you busy.

There's a few nuetral spots, that aren't bad at all, but annoy me in some way:

+/Sympathy for the Devil is a fun song to play, but listening to "whoo, whoo," the whole song can get on your nerves.

+/Making a logo, wasn't all that great, I found it to be more annoying than fun when making one, but I felt good when I got it done.

+/I only knew about 3 of the songs when I played this, some of the other guitar heroes, atleast had 5-10 songs that I knew, but not a problem at all since most of the songs are quite enjoyable anyway.

And last but not least the negatives:

This guitar hero didn't do much in progression, what I mean each guitar hero game has some significance in doing something new for the fans, this one didn't do that for me, still a fun game.

The store is gone, instead of money you have to unlock the stuff, and some stuff you can't even unlcok on medium, which is the difficulty I play on, which in general sucks.

Well, Overall this is a really good game, and if you're a guitar hero fan this is a must buy, with great graphics, pretty good song selection, and lots of replay value. I actually mostly bought this so I could get Guitar Hero: Van Halen for free and actually I play guitar hero with the guitar, our family is poor, and I'm only 14 and don't make much money, but still even with this is an awesome game!! Recommeneded for Guitar Hero fans, and people who need to complete their collection.

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We've owned all the Guitar Hero and Rock Band games, often for multiple systems, plus many other music games. We are both musicians. So we definitely were looking forward to Guitar Hero 5 to see what new features it would offer and how it would compare with the many other offerings that exist out there.

First, let me comment that it makes a HUGE difference what equipment you use for any of these games. If your drums suck, then it really doesn't matter what the game does or does not do. You're going to hate the experience because of lousy drum response. So we definitely recommend having wireless guitars, so there's no drag at all on your movements, and an Ion drum kit. Making these improvements in your set are going to give you a vastly superior experience whichever game you go with.

Guitar Hero 5 doesn't do anything groundbreakingly new. We were able to pop it in and start playing on Medium, whipping through songs at 5 stars without much problem. So the mechanics are sound. Hit colored notes with the matching button. Sing on key. The songs are all "real songs" by now which is great no more fake-bands with not-right notes. You can import other songs from past games (in the same series) which is good too.

They've done some nice work with the interface. Each player gets their own view of the fail bar so you can see at a glance how well you're doing, and how you're earning star power. Activating star power implements it just for you, which I disagree with. I think a member should be able to help the entire band. That's always been a complaint of mine with this series though.

They are focusing now solely on stars. You earn up to five stars for performance, one for perfection, and then others through cool challenges. One song might be "hit lots of chords". Another song might be "hit lots of snares". It encourages you to go back and replay songs to get those challenge levels, and to try different instruments.

The overall interface for working with songs is less than stellar though. When you're in a given gig (location) you can't easily see all the songs. When you're on the overall list of gigs, you can't easily see which gigs still have songs to do. If you're poking into a given gig to look around, when you come back out it resets you back to your "current gig". The whole moving around the screens is a pain.

The character customization is lacking. I'm female and I found the outfits for women to be on the insulting side. In other games I can create PERFECT outfits that I adore. Here it seems I have to choose from leather bikinis, spiked bikinis or plastic bikinis. I was hard pressed to find something I even remotely liked.

The tutorials are also lacking. The drum star power for example says to use the orange cymbal which we don't have on an ion drum kit. So we did the tutorial which properly showed us as not having an orange track but then told us to hit the orange cymbal. We went through the tutorial and it said "good job" even though we'd never actually implemented star power!! What kind of a tutorial says you've succeeded when you've failed?

They did add some cool features to the locations. For example I was playing "Jailbreak" in the Grease drag-strip location. When the song gets to the parts with the sirens, blue and red lights started flashing and then a burst of flame came out in perfect time to the main crescendo!! Someone did a lot of work with that sort of timing on songs. It really is quite fun if you look for it.

It's always hard to critique a song list. Some people will love these songs other people will hate them. I do like that if you're reasonably good you can unlock new gigs VERY quickly so you can get to fresh songs. That way whichever ones you don't like, you can move past them and get some new ones. That being said, I found fewer songs I adored in this set than perhaps in any other similar game I've played. Maybe this particular one is skewed towards a musical type I'm just not fond of. Some classics are great fun Sympathy for the Devil, Sultans of Swing but many of them are not high on my list. I'm sure those exact same songs are high on other peoples' lists. Just be sure to look through the music list and see if it appeals to you.

I found the very obvious product placements like GIANT T-Mobile billboards in the middle of a gig location to be on the obnoxious side. Surely they could have been done more subtly.

In summary, we're certainly enjoying playing it. The tie-ins with the gig location reacting to a specific song is quite cool. The playing of the music is intuitive and fun. But for me, the characters being not ones I really connect with (due to clothing options) and the song list being weighted (for me) with songs I'm not really fond of gives this only 4 stars rather than 5.

Feel free to contact me with any questions. As mentioned, we play these games a LOT.

NOTE: One more thing to mention! This game was made on SHODDY GAME DISCS and will often give failure messages in older XBox systems. What you have to do is go into the XBox system console and copy the game onto your hard drive. It should run fine once you do that.

Best Deals for Guitar Hero 5 - Xbox 360 (Game only)

This game is one of the very best Hero games available.. Guitar Hero 2, then Guitar Hero 5.. and that's really impressive to me.

Here's a rundown of pros and cons for folks looking to maybe make the purchase.

Pros

1. Party Mode is a blast, you enter into it.. no failing, just jamming.. Songs come to you randomly and people can jump in and out as they please, any set up you want.. 4 singers, sure.. 3 guitarists and a drummer.. fine. The thing I maybe like best about it though, is if no one is playing at all.. it still cranks the music over your surround sound.. very nice touch.

2. The set list is great, very diverse and very fun. Importing your downloads from World tour is a bonus, downloading songs off of World Tours disk(and Smash Hits to come later) is even better. Some of my early favorite tracks or artists: Judith, Deadbolt, American Girl, Band of Horses, Children of Bodom, What I got, Spirit of the Radio and King Crimson.. plus many many more.

3. The career mode is better, yet a lot more simple.. no longer are you trying to collect money, there is a challenge for each and every song.. Hit 300 kicks on Blue Orchid, 250 snares on They Say, these types of challenges made me want to play these songs, even though they were easier drum songs.. and it was fun to achieve the challenge.. I even played guitar and bass, to get complete some of the challenges, which is something I haven't done for awhile now.. as I had become all about the drums, until now.

4. The little things, the change of the drum set up(if you're like me, and use the Rock Band 2 drums, you'll know what I mean) The cymbals are mapped to what they are supposed to be now.. and that adds a lot of fun to the drums.. The menus are easy to navigate through, everything seems very seamless, which is very welcome if you've ever played World Tour. Picking and sticking with your own band is also very cool in quickplay.. unlike Rock Band 2 where your characters always change at random(unless you're in the tour) here you can select your band.. and they stay.. very cool small touch.

5. Many more, but I'll just end this by saying.. for the first time in a long time, I didn't want to go right back to Rock Band 2.. which means this game certainly is worth a pick up. Even by those that are Rock Band 2(only) enthusiasts.

Cons

1. I noticed this quickly.. its not as easy to pick the song you want to select as it should be.. yes, there is a sort function, and a lot of nice ones(drum intensity, or guitar, vocalist or bass intensity. Along with the normal genre and by band sort) but the problem is.. you have to hold down yellow to quickly get down the page, and it just doesn't work.. there is no way to look at each genre and select from there, so that was a disappointment.. Also, say you are trying to test yourself.. so you play Demons on drums.. you pass it.. you want to try the next one in line.. well, you start all the way back at the top again, and have to go through all of the songs(145 on my game with all the imports), so that's a little discouraging. Not a deal breaker, but.. a small pain.

2. The avatar integration is a little silly.. they just don't blend on screen.. sore thumb is an understatement(unless you have your whole band as avatars, then I guess it could be cool)

Honestly, I can't think of any more cons.. I'm sure some will come with time, but I just wanted to give people that were on the fence a heads up.. this game is much, much better then World Tour.. and feels like it added a lot of things that should have been there all along. Highly recommend.

Honest reviews on Guitar Hero 5 - Xbox 360 (Game only)

Ah, the "Guitar Hero" franchise. Wonderfully simple and accessible, yet endlessly complex and challenging. I've played several different iterations, including this one, and of them, I gotta say this one is the best.

When you start up the game, it takes you to the title screen and, interestingly, gives you the choice of either going to the start menu or jumping right into a song. One of my friends chose the song option and spent the next few minutes playing some Nirvana and Garbage, having a great time with the game before even getting to the menu. Not too many games you can say that about.

Once in the game itself, you have all the usual options. New to the game is the ability for all players to chose their own instruments. If you really want to have a band that's nothing but bass and drums, now you can! If your dream is to sing "Under Pressure" with three of your friends, now you can do that!

Additionally the Xbox version gives you the chance to incorporate your avatar. This is a welcome addition, but unless you have a band of nothing but avatars, it looks a little strange. Seeing your small, super-deformed character standing there grooving out next to some other semi-real look people creates a bit of an eye-strain.

The song list is about what you've come to expect and happily it allows you to play songs you've downloaded for previous versions of the game. You say you really like the version of "We Are the Champions" that you downloaded for GH4? Never fear! You can play it in GH5 as well!

There's also several challenges to unlock new gear, new venues and the like, as well as all the usual achievements and extras that you'd expect with the game.

Overall this game does what all sequels should: it takes the best from the previous versions and adds new things. What more can you ask for?

Now excuse me while I kiss the sky... or floor. I'm not well coordinated. :(

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For the nonband-specific GH titles (I think Metallica is the best yet), GH5 is the best. The new system is much more fun than any of the previous ones. In addition, the achievements are challenging but NOT IMPOSSIBLE as many players found previous ones. I love it when popular dead musicians come out on stage to play with you. It's awesome.

Best DISNEY INFINITY Play Set Pack - Lone Ranger Play Set Deals

Customer Ratings:

We got the Infinity system for the WiiU and the kids love it. We got the CARS set, now at a substantial discount, so my boy (4) and girl (7) can play they can play together using the boy/girl CARS combo in the Toybox. This set is a great value for less than $20 (Amazon and Target), since each of the characters is normally 12.99 and Lightning and Holley aren't available any other way.

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If you like Disney infinity, this is a great add on. The cars are fun to race around and side missions are entertaining. It was hard for me to play for more than 2 hours at a time but I like to mix up the playsets so nothing gets boring or old.

Best Deals for DISNEY INFINITY Play Set Pack - Lone Ranger Play Set

SHORT ANSWER: This is an add-on world playset for the Disney Infinity game. You still need the base portal that comes in the base set, and the game CD itself, in order to play with this set. With that said, the Cars playset adds more to the Disney Infinity game than one might originally expect. The Cars world has more appeal to it than just racing, and a lot of the Cars movie "charm" is present in spades. The additional toybox pieces are great for helping build your own race-tracks, as well. This single playset does come with two Cars character figures so is also all you need to play either single player or local multiplayer, making it a great buy for people with multiple kids who all want to play together.

LONG ANSWER: This playset is, of course, for the Disney Infinity game. With it, you can play in the Cars world as well as add Cars-themed pieces to your own toyboxes. Initially, when my 5-year-old daughter stated that she wanted this playset I was a bit skeptical. I was under the impression that all it would offer was some car racing; which is something you can actually do in the base sets already. I was very pleasantly surprised to find this playset actually offers more than just racing.

The Cars world, itself, has a lot more to it than just having the player race constantly. Like pretty much all of the other Infinity game worlds, this one is open-world. This means you are put into the middle of the Cars world, and allowed to roam around freely doing what you want. There are tons of side quests you can accept to do, but you are also free to just ignore them if you choose. Doing certain ones does open up new areas and items to the game, but it is completely possible for someone to just have fun driving around Radiator Springs without ever doing a single quest.

The missions, themselves, have variety. Some of them are definitely more inspired than others, however. There are the pre-requisite fetch quests (made a little more fun by being able to speed wildly to pick up the items), as well as regular racing quests. There are also destruction derby style quests where the object is to destroy as much of the scenery as possible (a lot more fun than one might initially expect), and trick quests where the object is to perform flips, rolls, etc off of ramps. All in all, they are not always the most inspired of quests, but they are usually still fun enough as to not feel like a chore.

Graphics-wise, Radiator Springs looks wonderful. The color palette for this one was nicely chosen, and gives you that mid-western, desert/canyon feel. This makes it all the more enjoyable to drive around in it. Almost all of the characters from the Cars movie are present, and you get a lot of your missions from them. There are even cute little touches in the game world from the movie; like the ability to knock down Luigi's tire tower, etc.

Most of the terrain is also skillfully set up to be a joy to drive through; with plenty of stuff to run into and destroy as well as ample scenery that acts as make-shift ramps and the like. There are plenty of levels to the environment as well, making exploring all the more interesting.

The story-line is not a very strong presence in this game, however. Do not expect any type of over-arching, epic storyline to add color and perspective to your game-play. Most of the quests are one-off tasks that the individual characters have you do; nothing that has any larger meaning for the game world. Considering the Cars gameplay is open-world, this is not too uncommon of that type of gameplay, however.

The actual character figurines and playset piece are of high quality and sturdiness; much like all of the Disney Infinity pieces. There is still the fatal flaw that if you lose that clear playset master piece (in this case, a clear piston cup), then you are no longer able to play in the Cars world unless you buy the complete set again. Disney REALLY needs to offer a way just to buy the playset master piece for people with children prone to misplacing things. This is one of my largest complaints regarding the whole Disney Infinity game; those playset master pieces are just too important (losing them locks you out of that world), and Disney provides no way to replace just them. You either by that whole set a second time, or you go without.

In addition, there is not much reason to buy any additional Car character figures past the two that come with this set. Unlike other worlds like The Incredibles, where each character figure plays somewhat differently in their world than the others of the set with differing powers, all of the Cars play exactly the same as each other. There is no difference between playing as Lightning McQueen from that of playing as Toemater, except how they look in the game. This can be a benefit, though. Once you have this one set, you no longer have any reason to spend any additional money on any of the other Cars pieces.

Overall, this set adds some good variety to the Disney Infinity game. It is a lot more than just racing, like I initially though. I would not bother buying any more Cars figures past the ones that come in this set, however. They provide nothing extra to the experience.

I hope this review helped at least one person decide whether to purchase this set or not.

Honest reviews on DISNEY INFINITY Play Set Pack - Lone Ranger Play Set

This was a birthday gift for my grandson. it did not look like

Much to me.......Boy was I wrong.!!!!!!!!! He loved it. It looks

like a couple of small cars but is so much more. It is an interactive

game and he still hasn't been able to tell me everything it does.

he gets excited every time he talks about it.

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Love being able to play as the iconic characters of cars in their environment, but also being able to use those pieces and characters in Disney Infinity's toybox mode to build my own car tracks.

Cheap Resistance: Fall of Man - Playstation 3

Customer Ratings:
List Price: $29.99
Sale Price: $19.35
Today's Bonus: 35% Off

The games for the PS3 do not seem to have very many 2 player games that DON'T require internet. Which is one reason I enjoyed this game so much, because it was an actual two player game and both players could play the entire storyline (not just certain chapters like some games that say they are two player). My boyfriend and I loved playing this game. The graphics are pretty good, the storyline isn't bad, even though I would like to skip over the whole 'movie scenes' that they do and get back to the actual game.

Overall, this game is fun and I thought it was worth the money.

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Playing this game today makes this seem like old graphics, but at the time these were the new and high end graphics. I love this game so much. The best part is how awesome it is playing the campaign split screen. It says you can play up to 4 players split screen but I only have 3 controllers and it hasn't been working with 3. Maybe you can only play with 1, 2 or 4 players. The game can be kinda challenging, especially at the beginning before you regenerate any health. I wish you didn't have to pick up health but its not so bad. (You pick up health and you also regenerate 1 4th of your health). The chimera are so cool and I have the second game too. I highly recommend this game. I can almost call it a classic but it is still kinda next gen. BUY THIS!

Best Deals for Resistance: Fall of Man - Playstation 3

one thing i do is if i criticize something, then i will compliment when necessary.. so this is me apologizing for the rating i gave because the game did not show up.. well as expected the game showed up.. the disk was virtually scrach-less, and i am very happy with my purchase!!

Honest reviews on Resistance: Fall of Man - Playstation 3

LLEGO A TIEMPO TODO BIEN GRACIAS POR POR TODO,

ESPERO SEGUIR COMPRANDO CON USTEDES

LLEGO A TIEMPO TODO BIEN GRACIAS POR POR TODO,

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Awesome game, my dad got right into it. It was a gift for him and he is extremely picky, normally gifted games sit on the shelf forever.

Best Phineas and Ferb: Across the 2nd Dimension - Playstation 3 Deals

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List Price: $19.99
Sale Price: $19.30
Today's Bonus: 3% Off

Ok, so let's get this disclaimer out of the way first: I've done reviews on lots of games but I have an 8 year old son show loves Phineas and Ferb, so this was pretty much a must-purchase.

And if you're ANY kind of gamer, this game will not challenge you at all. I beat it in less than 3 hours. So in that case (maybe if you want an easy platinum trophy?) you could rent this in a weekend and get everything.

For everyone else, those who have kids or maybe a spouse who doesn't play video games that often, this game is easily accessible. It's literally impossible to get stuck and not know what to do next. The combat is simple (I stuck with the Baseball gun the entire game and it worked fine). The platforming can get semi-difficult at times in a couple stages but other than that it's a very linear, straightforward game.

The replay value, since this is such a short game, is buy buying everything from the store, and playing the mini-games (A Claw Game and a Skee Ball game). The claw game will also give you figurines and sound/appearance mod chips which means you won't have to buy them in the store.

Graphicwise, the game looks awesome during the stages but if you've watched the cartoon the cutscenes are just awful. I would think with something as powerful as the PS3, they could make the actual characters look a lot better.

The sound is very good in the game, especially with the ability to change the sounds on the weapons. The kiddos will love that one (i.e. they shoot and their weapon moos for example).

The game controls are very sharp, the developers nailed that one.

However, I do have a couple gripes:

There are times I fell right through a platform, even though I clearly landed on it.

The only "replay value" is if you're a trophy hunter or want to buy everything. For a near full retail title ($40), getting only 3 hours of real gameplay to beat the game simply isn't acceptable in 2011, even if this is a game geared towards kids. Spyro was too and would give at least 15-20 hours.

There isn't a ton of originality in this game, as I saw elements ripped off from several (Ratchet and Clank, even Super Mario Bros 3!).

So, as with most of my reviews, here's the bottom line:

If you have a kid who's just starting to play video games, or one that loves the show, definitely buy it. But understand the actual going through the game is very short.

If you're any kind of a gamer you'll crush this game in a couple hours.

Not a lot of replay value unless you're trying to get everything.

This IS one of the better "cartoon/movie" based games I've played so if you've got kiddos, definitely make the purchase!

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This is a fun game. I've been playing it for a few weeks with my boys (5 & 3 year old). They really enjoy the animated TV series so we purchased the game as a reward for good behavior. My 5 year old has picked up the game mechanics quite well and even my 3 year old can play, although he frequently just runs into a corner/wall and doesn't help with objectives he still has a blast. Luckily because of the game machanics applied to player 2, player 2 is automatically dragged along with player 1 as player 1 progresses through objectives. I've found this to be especially helpful when I play with my 5 year old and it also allows a younger sibling to play along allowing them to be part of the action, while not disrupting gameplay and frustrating an older sibling.

Pros:

-Cooperative play

-Player 1 centric (letting player 1 control pace and objectives)

-You don't die when you run out of health (you have to shake the control to 'revive')

-Simple controls

-Its Phineas and Ferb, duh

Cons:

-None that I can think of

So far, great game.

Best Deals for Phineas and Ferb: Across the 2nd Dimension - Playstation 3

When I started to play, it only took me two days to finish the story. There were 4 HI-DEF episodes in the hybrid disc so that was a good thing.

However, I felt that the creators were going way too easy on the consumers and heres why:

1. You would never get a game over or actually lose completely. Like health is really needed.

2. The levels are too short and mostly obvious by the way.

3. Its not really as accurate as the movie.

4. The Dr.Doof robot(Final Boss) did not convince me that it was an actual boss battle but a run.

5. The ending itself was stupid and pretty lame.

Overall, maybe the little kids would enjoy and then get bored by the end of the week. Yeah, NOT worth spending $39.99 to keep, but maybe as a rental. If you got all the acheivements, good for you then.

Honest reviews on Phineas and Ferb: Across the 2nd Dimension - Playstation 3

My son just turned FOUR last month and he and his dad finished this game in a few HOURS!! Should def. take longer to beat at retail of 49.99. Disappointed, BUT my son LOVED it!!!!!

Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for Phineas and Ferb: Across the 2nd Dimension - Playstation 3

This really is a great game, full of great graphics and put together very nicely. However, as others have stated, the game is very easy to get through and beat.

The game is broken into six worlds, each with 2-5 levels, requiring a somewhat linear progression through the game to acquire characters, weapons, prizes, etc. Very easy to navigate through but many of the levels will literally take only minutes to complete.

As a reference point, my 4-year old and I play a decent amount of PS3 games mostly the Lego series (Batman, Batman 2, Indiana Jones, Lord of the RIngs, etc.) We can play a Lego game for weeks (we only play a few hours of PS3 per week) but had the Phineas and Ferb game completed in two nights with about 2 1/2 hours of gameplay. We went back through the game a second time to acquire the coins and prizes we missed, decked out the characters in various alternative costumes, and mastered each of the levels to the fullest extent. All in, including the second time through the game, we spent about 7 hours playing it.

I would easily give this game five stars if it had more levels, worlds and a tad more difficulty to it. With any luck we may see add-on's or a sequel to the game. It is, again, very well put together but don't expect to play this game for hours on end and have it still mesmerize you.

Best Xbox 360 8' Component A/V Cable Deals

Customer Ratings:

Good video and stereo audio quality. Nice cables. The color coding and labels on the plugs could be better it's difficult to tell which plug is which.

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This cable fits snugly in both my Xbox 360 and TV, provides great picture quality and is plenty long for most applications at 8'. The only reason I don't give it 5 stars is that the 5 cables on the TV end do not line up in the same order as the 5 inputs on the back of the TV itself, I assume this should be pretty universal and not just an issue with my TV. It does not cause any issues but is merely a minor annoyance.

Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords Reviews

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A New RPG

The first Knights of the old Republic (KOTOR), was one heck of a game. It took everything that people loved about the classic trilogy and expanded universe of Star Wars, and packed it neatly into an epic RPG where everything you did had either light side or dark side properties. Sure there was light-saber combat, but the game was more about storyline and immersion than anything else. The countless hours of voice-acting and intriguing dialog choices, to say nothing of conversations that would or would not take place depending on what you did, created an experience that sent shock-waves through the video game world. Of course there were also some bugs to be found (okay, a LOT of bugs), and some of the mini games were pointless (anyone else get tired of playing gunner when it's almost impossible to lose?), but on the whole, that game was awesome, giving you everything from jedi mind-tricks and choking of smart-mouths with the force to dancing with twileks and finding out your own dark "Luke, I AM your father" secret. So naturally, the second KOTOR has a lot to live up to.

You Should Not Have Come Back

If the first KOTOR was A New Hope with the plot twist from Empire Strikes back, this one is probably Empire Strikes back with the plot and pacing of A New Hope. In a move that sits particularly well with me, the dialog and plot are both much darker and much funnier this time around. I knew that from the moment I found myself half-naked talking to a prisoner in a cell in a station where hundreds lie dead on the ground and psycho droids roam the halls. As the title of the game suggests, this time around everything revolves around the Sith (well, that and finding out why you were banished in the first place). Pretty much the whole has you playing cat-and-mouse with the Sith, trying to figure out who exactly the real bad guys are. Is is the tortured zombie Darth Sion, who is only kept alive by his own hatred and dark-side power, lusting for revenge on his old master? Is it Sith Lord who wears the creepy Sith Mask, so consumed with hunger for force energy that entire planets are devoured by his hunger as he roams the galaxy in his ghost-ship? Or is the true villain the one who manipulates these Sith fools, using them to make YOU stronger?

Pluck of an Old (Fashioned) Sith

Instead of the same old questions of simple "Do I kill the guy or give him ALL of my money" good and evil, a lot of situations in this game are gray areas. You COULD help someone, but it may hurt them more in the long run. You COULD listen to someone's innocent comments, only to discover that they are pure evil. And you COULD hurt someone very much by allowing them to get too close to you. Really, if there is one thing that makes this game fascinating, is the way that puts such a wonderful spin on things, making you repeatedly question your actions and why you are doing the things that you are, forcing nice people to kill when YOU are the good guy, making people betray their master to serve YOU. Perhaps the ultimate question of the game (and it's proved by the very end) is just how far are you willing to go in order to help someone you believe in or destroy something that you hate. Far more is at stake than just the Jedi and the Sith, or even just the Republic. What will you do? Sacrifice your soldiers or save the galaxy?

The Weapon of a Jedi Knight

Some people will undoubted become irked at the fact that they can't have a light saber from the get-go. But storyline is key here, and now that almost all the Jedi are dead, and most of the Sith as well, light sabers are becoming a little rare. And what with people hunting Jedi down and all, well you get the picture. Consider this though, what is a Jedi without his light saber? Have you ever thought about it? A jedi who's an expert marksman would be a dangerous foe, and a jedi with a sword is kind of like a samurai... And much to my delight, when you begin the game you DO have force powers.

I Want to Learn the Ways of the Force

When I heard about how this game was going to have all these new force powers, at first I was irritated. Great, more confusion, more head-scratching and decision making distracting me from the game. But as the game progressed I discovered something wonderful. Instead of forcing you to choose, the game helps you along by making the choices far more obvious. Certain types of Jedi gain certain abilities automatically (bonuses that come from leveling up in a certain style), and certain super-cool powers can only be obtained by types. In other words, a weapons master can't throw lightening around like a jedi master. More choices, but the impossible ones aren't shown, and the crucial ones are automatic. Nice.

Fastest Ship in the Galaxy

Really you've got to love most of the changes that have been made in this game. The card game has been expanded and so has the racing (and both have gotten a lot more sophisticated). You can break down components, build new ones, create upgrades, choose fighting styles You have three extra levels of Jedi on top of the old for dark side and light side, and dialog options change depending on your skills. Of course the game is also a lot easier on normal now (which some may not like), and there is a lot more soloing this time (which adds to the narrative, but forces you to use certain characters). I particularly loved the fact that Jedi can now equip armor of certain types and still use force powers. That and the fact that I never ran out of money (like I frequently did in the first game the first time around).

From a Certain Point of View

What really makes this game shine though, is the story. Granted, it may not be as ambitious as the first game, and a few critical moments could have been better (I wanted a LONG battle with the main villains, not a quick death for one of us), but on the whole I think the story of this game is better. Essentially you start the game full of questions and end it in a similar way, but along the way to the answers to your main questions you pick up a variety of characters who are just full of surprises, and keep you guessing as to how you should play things out.

You can try to get close to one character or another, but inevitably you're going to alienate someone, and as certain characters will give you bonuses as you teach each other various techniques, you're likely to quickly start playing favorites. While some characters will just plain shut up if you have nothing to talk about, and others will allow you (glitch time) to have the same conversations over and over again, on the whole the character interaction is incredible, augmented by some wonderful voice-acting. Depending on what you say and do, you may find yourself with not only a love interest, but a love TRIANGLE, and in this game no one is quite what they seem (even the droids).

While the influence you exert over others (turning them light or dark side and opening them up to you) is great, many will doubtless be delighted with the prospect of training their own apprentice(s) in the ways of the Force. There is just something insanely cool about training your own private army of Jedi, don't you think? Of course it can go so many ways depending on how you play...

It also seems to me that the characters in this game have a much stronger sense of identity and personal agenda than in the first game, and the conversations feel more personal. In particular I found the new female characters fascinating, as the manipulate Kreia tries to teach you, protect you, and control you, the Handmaiden tries to preach to you, learn from you, and respect you, Mira tries to decipher you, and Visas just plain worships you (or does she?). The frustrating but interesting thing about the characters is that you'll only get certain ones if you are light side/dark side and you can only figure out what they're really up to if you use your powers of persuasion in a concentrated effort. And of course there are also characters that will or will not join you depending on whether you are male or female (how about that?). Some people will completely overlook this part of the game and not talk to anyone, but they will never understand the true motivations of the characters, and certain won't have any padawan learners to educate in the ways of the force.

All in all, the story and characters are pretty great, and definitely worth playing the game through more than once to see the full scope of. Your fist time through will doubtless still leave you wondering about the future at the end of the game, as some big questions are still left unanswered (can you say KOTOR III?).

The Droids You're Looking For

And then there's the droids. Is it possible for our psychotic assassin droid to get any more sarcastic and cynical (and demented)? And what about our little astromech droid? Now you can converse with the cute little guy the way Luke and Obi-Wan did with R2 (how cool is that?). In addition to these guys though, you also have a floating orb that follows your resident mechanic/melee expert, and a new floating torture/assassin droid that is more than he seems.

What a Piece of Junk

Alright, I'll admit it. While this game has better facial detail and probably more terrain detail than the previous game (and better battle animations to boot), there are some glitches that are simply inexcusable. Yeah, there are a LOT of load times that shouldn't be there (the ones for races are particularly bad), and while you get used to them, they still are irritating. But that's nothing. During battles with vast amounts of baddies, the frame rate occasionally drops to about 0, and you'll have no idea how you (or someone else) just died. Sometimes (and I thought this most irritating of all), the dialog will be cut off and the cinematic (in-game not pre-rendered) will go black. Ugh. THAT ruins drama. And then there's times when your characters will just stand and do nothing in a battle (not good), or someone who is supposed to follow you won't (ARGH!). And of course the graphics aren't exactly state-of the-art. I mean they are better, but they're still look more like something from the N64 or PlayStation than the X-Box. Do these flaws (and others) make the game unplayable? No. But they do take away that vital fifth star...

I Have a Bad Feeling About This

There were times early in the game where I was so incredibly sucked-in that I could think of nothing else except that I hadn't played a game I enjoyed this much in ages. The storyline really is that good. There were moments when I thought this was going to be the greatest game I ever played (the flying creature from The Phantom Menace who faked being fooled by my mind-trick was one for the ages, as was Mira's description of how to deal with a guy that a girl likes). Some of the lines characters said were so close to classic Star Wars lines I was laughing hysterically (not to mention some of the wacky things you could say in reply). And no matter how slice it, saving the galaxy, fighting dark lords and wielding light sabers is mighty cool. Sadly though, glitches, gameplay flaws, and weak confrontations with the biggest bosses left this one a bit short of perfect. It's still definitely worth playing though. Especially if you liked the first KOTOR. It's also nice and long. It took me 50 hours to beat the first time through. May the force be with you...

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If you love KOTOR (Knights of the Old Republic) you will love this. Might be because this is KOTOR 2. It has the qualities that we loved from the last game. However, there are a few changes. For one I have not noticed any dialogue between my party while traveling. All dialogue between party members is now done on the Ebon Hawk. Workbenches now creat items as well as customizing them. Skills have more use now because they are used to create better items in the workbench. Speaking of customizing lightsabers are now much more customizable with 5 slots for upgrades. Party memebers gain or lose influence points depending on how you treat them and if they agree with you. The more influence you have over them the closer their alignment is to yours and also other benefits may arise.

Well I think you must've heard plenty of good things about this game, but here are a few things I didn't like. The biggest of which is the ending. Don't worry I won't give it away. Suffice to say that it was highly anti-climatic as well as being a cliffhanger. In fact it is anti-climatic in a few more areas other than the ending. However, the story was still engaging if you can follow it. It is a bit cryptic at times and confusing, but if you could follow Metal Gear Solid 2 you can follow this. Another big problem is that it is glitchy. I didn't have any problems, but I've heard many others complain about it. Especially those with modded Xboxes. The romance options in this game never really come to fruition. Except for one, there never seems to be any resolution to the romances. Also you do not get your lightsaber until a good long way into the game. This wasn't a problem to me and added a sense of importance to obtaining one. Also lightsabers are much more powerful than in the first so it makes sense to make them rarer.

Despite all that this game is great! It is definitely worth buying if you are a fan of Star Wars and the first game. The quests are new and interesting. There are quite a few moral dilemmas. Not much if any of the quests from the previous game were recycled. Which is a good thing...

Best Deals for Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords

Knights of the Old Republic II is a good game. Maybe even a very good game. Which is a pity, because its prequel was one of the greatest games of all time. The sequel doesn't live up.

The game mechanics are virtually identical to the original, which is fine. There are a few minor tweaks. The workbench can now be used to create items, not just upgrade them, and there's a new "lab station" that can make medical items and explosives. Both of these stations are much more common than the workbench was in the original. You can now switch among several "forms" which give bonuses to some attributes and penalties to others. Pazaak has been improved with the addition of some new cards, plus the first play alternates between the contestants. Other than that, there's not much in the engine that's new.

Which, again, is fine. The original's mechanics worked well and there's no need to change them. But the original achieved legendary status by building a powerful and compelling storyline on top of those mechanics, and here the sequel falls short.

The characters aren't as interesting. Your character's motivations are far less clear. There are times when a character's actions become cryptic for nothing more than the sake of being cryptic. The game shows you many cutscenes where your main character is not present, so you will gain knowledge that your character is unable to act on, which can be frustrating.

I found KotOR II much easier than the original. Virtually none of the enemies provided a challenge. I frequently found myself opening a door, facing up to a dozen foes, and slicing through them like butter, only to open the next door and do it all over again. There is an adjustable difficulty level, which I left on Normal... I can't imagine what Easy must be like.

While leaving the engine pretty much alone, Obsidian abused it by throwing more at it than it can handle. Occasions where the frame rate drops are frequent, sometimes unacceptably so. In a few instances, it dropped to less than one frame per second. I also encountered one hard crash while playing. Fortunately, the game autosaves frequently.

Ironically, I was compelled to play the game almost continuously through and completed it in a single weekend. This was because I kept waiting for it to get better, waiting for the dramatic improvement that would make it a worthy sequel. It never came, and the ending was as disappointing as the rest of the game.

My advice to those who played and loved the prequel is to play KotOR II, but keep your expectations low. Perhaps then the disappointment won't be as bitter.

Honest reviews on Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords

The original KOTOR is my fav. game of all time, but I bought Halo 2 and KOTOR 2 and Halo 2 is blowing KOTOR 2 out of the water (but it wouldn't if there wasn't so many bugs and I could actually enjoy the game). THERE ARE WAY TOO MANY BUGS AND GLITCHES. I CAN'T EVEN GET PAST A VITAL POINT IN THE GAME. BUY THIS AND PRAY THAT YOUR COPY ISN'T BUGGY.

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I remember playing the original "Knights" a year ago and absolutely falling in love with it. It was the first game where I could unabashedly say it was perfect. The graphics were beautiful, the RPG mechanics were well balanced, and the battles were fun to play. Above all this, however, was an captivating story with the most interesting and deep NPCs I've ever encountered in an RPG. It's a lot to live up to. Mechanically, the sequel exceeds the original with nifty new features like the lab station and some enhanced force powers and abilities. Storywise, the game tries valiently but falls just short of the mark.

It tries really hard to differenciate itself from a typical Star Wars story, and in that in succeeds. It's not just about "light side" or "dark side", there are many shades of grey. Good deeds can have bad consequences, and vice versa. It's a nice theme, and I wish it was carried a bit further.

While the NPCs aren't nearly as deep as the original game, they are still more interesting then most typical RPGs. Where the first game revealed the characters' backstories to you slowly over the course of the game through conversations, this game opts to show you cutscenes where the characters interact with each other. This is a nice touch in some respects, but frustrating as well becauase your avatar is not present during these scenes and you can't act on the information you learn.

The plot in "The Sith Lord" is very deep, although at times it is VERY confusing. Most of the time, I had no idea why my character was doing what she was doing. It was as if there was a huge amount of backstory that was never revealed. I kept waiting for the big revelation that would explain everything, but it never came.

The end of the first game was perfect. Events were moving to a close and building up to a satisfying conclusion. Not so with the sequel. The end of the game comes extremely suddenly, not to mention out of nowhere. When the closing credits blasted onto the screen, I could only stare in dumbfounded annoyance as the controller fell from my numb fingers.

I'm being very critical here. Kotor 2 is an extremely good game, far better than most RPGs out there. As a followup to its precesessor, it fails although it does try hard.

NBA Live 08 - Xbox 360 Reviews

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After quite a few years of dissapointing releases the NBA Live series has done itself proud with NBA 2008. The biggest improvement being the realistic games play, and the shotting, passing and all-round movement graphics.

GAMEPLAY Simply outstanding. With 100s of different moves and the control you have over the dribbler with the right analog stick, the gameplay is more realistic then ever. The rebounding battles are fantastic. The new OWN THE PAINT feature is great, with posting up giving you an array of options to use in order to create your shot. The artificial Intelligence is also greatly improved, with defensive covers switching and helping each other out, and back door cuts etc.

GRAPHICS Looks better than ever. Not as huge an improvement as the gameplay but it really looks great, and the players have their own features and facials are great.

LONGEVITY Fantastic, you can play untill the end of time with the great dynasty mode with more features than ever, statistics and management options making it even more enjoyable.

FEATURES The new international mode has been introduced. As yet only 8 countries to choose from but a big step in the right direction with world championship mode. As well as this feature all the usuals, practice, dynasty, all star weekend etc.

SOUND The commentry in particular is excellent this year. With far less repetitions, and far more natural talk in what is actually happening in front of you.

OVERALL BUY THIS GAME!! Finally an NBA game with non stop enjoyement and realism, you wont be disapointed.

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I definitely have some gripes about this game but they weren't enough to make me put my controller down. It is fun but how much the little things bother you will certainly be a factor in how much you enjoy this game.

GAMEPLAY (the most important part): The controls are nice. I don't have any problems getting my guys to do what I want them to do. The use of the right stick to do crossovers, spins, etc. is nothing new but still works really well.

The CPU will still violate your personal space when you are trying to maneuver, making it hard to get past them unless you can blow by them before they get to you. As far as the Pro-Hop feature, or whatever it's called, it doesn't seem to work for me. I've coughed up the ball each time I've done it.

As a previous reviewer mentioned, jumpers are hard to come by and scoring your points in the paint is the optimal way to do it. I have more success with mid-range jumpers than long-range and 3s. One possible reason for this may be the addition of the Hot Zones, which tell you where a player is prone to making/missing shots. I don't pull it up all that often but it's very possible I'm taking shots from the cold zones.

Easy layups are still missed far too often. The split isn't 50/50 but I'd guess it's somewhere near 80/20 (making/missing).

Rebounding is more evenly distributed than in past games. I've never been able to grab rebounds and my CPU teammates always got out-rebounded as well. This year your teammates will do a very good job at grabbing those boards to get you started on your fast breaks.

Fast breaks work pretty well, provided you adjust your Transition Style to allow for more fast breaks. By default it, it is a 50/50 split for fast breaks and taking it up the court slowly.

Reach-in fouls are called a little too much in this game but offensive and shooting fouls are called just about as much as you would see in a normal game, maybe a bit less. Adjust the sliders to fit your preferences. As far as shooting fouls go, you definitely get your share of "and 1s."

There is a slight learning curve with free throws. I didn't play Live 07 so I'm not sure if it is the same system or not. It consists of you pulling down on the right stick and then pushing up at the right moment to successfully make your free throw. If you miss, there is an overlay that pops up giving you hints on what you did right and wrong. Overall, it works pretty well once you get the hang of it.

Alley-oops looks a little cheesy because the flight of the ball is like half of a McDonald's arch. I know they are supposed to be lob passes but the trajectory just looks funky. I've yet to miss an alley-oop though.

AI: The CPU AI still makes the PG the one you have to worry about the most. Who needs Elton Brand when you have Sam Cassell? Kevin Durant? The Luke Ridnour/Delonte West combo is what will bring the Sonics to the promised land. They will also use up most of the shot clock, so you can forget about both teams consistently pushing it up and down the court.

ANIMATION/GRAPHICS: I think the graphics are great. Everything just looks really clean. The lighting is great. Player models work out well, for the most part. Baron Davis looks spot on, as does coverboy, Gilbert Arenas.

The animation is great too. Baron Davis' stepback jumper looks just like it does in real life. Gone are the days when the CPU would set a pick and your guy runs into him and just looks like he is running in place. Now you actually see some effort by your player to get around the pick.

MISCELLANEOUS: Commentary by Marv Albert and Steve Kerr is done pretty well. You won't hear too many repeat phrases in one game but they will probably repeat it in the next game.

The menu system works well, as you use the D-pad to navigate pre-game and in-game menus.

The music hasn't been too inspiring yet, but this is all subjective. I prefer to hear more upbeat music but so far I've only heard lower BPM songs.

There are online leagues as well. I believe you can go with a public league or create a private one. There is also supposed to be a patch released in the near future which will allow for 5v5 games.

OVERALL: It's the things like the frequency of missed layups and CPU PGs being beasts that make me give this game 3/5 stars. The former shouldn't even be an issue and I can't understand why EA wouldn't address this. It really is a downer. Despite the missed layups, I rated the fun factor higher because of the improvements in gameplay. These improvements compensate for the shortcomings, leaving you with a fun, yet slightly frustrating experience.

Best Deals for NBA Live 08 - Xbox 360

Every year, it's the same debate. Should I get the newest incarnation of NBA Live with all it's promises of better gameplay than the year before or should I stick with the reliable, yet bland 2k series? Well this year, I actually find myself playing NBA Live 08 more than I do NBA 2k8. That's not a knock to 2k8, but I find Live 08 to be a more straight-forward basketball experience. There are no crazy gimmicks that detract from the gameplay.

So what's new this year? Everything. The game has been completely rebuilt from the ground up with gameplay being the biggest improvement. Low post players can now dominate the paint with a variety of offensive moves (spins, hook shots, pump fakes, etc.) Cross-overs and juke moves using the right thumbstick are more fluid and realistic and new signature moves are also a nice addition. For instance, while holding the right trigger and pushing either the dunk or shoot button, your superstar will pull off a power move only unique to him that increases the chances of having the shot go in. There's even a nice video tutorial during the shoot around session at the main menu which shows each superstar's primary signature move.

The graphics have been given a complete overhaul and surprisingly, I found that the player models in Live 08 were much better than the ones in 2k8. Facial modeling is superb and dead on. EA really went out of their way to create eaThe courts look accurate and are cleanly rendered. The crowds are also very nice and don't resemble spray-painted card board boxes as they do in other sports titles.

Despite the vast improvement in this year's game as opposed to the year before, there are still a couple of glaring problems that are downright maddening. The worst is the ridiculous loading times before a game. I once clocked it at four minutes. Online games are not much better.

The A.I. substitutions can also be a little loopy as point guards will occasionally be substituted for centers. Point blank shots near the rim tend to clang off the metal and there are instances where a player with the ball will be standing clearly out of bounds and nothing is called.

Despite these bugs, I still enjoy playing Live 08. It's not much better than 2k8, but I appreciate the fluidity of the controls and the excellent visuals and player models. Good job, EA.

Honest reviews on NBA Live 08 - Xbox 360

I follow both EA and 2k sports basketball games....as I am an avid basketball fan. Both offer unique styles of gaming. Seeing no review of this game made me write a brief one.

NBA Live 08 is a great game. I would consider it the first next-gen basketball title to date. The graphics are very polished, textures and all, and is by far the best looking basketball game made to date. The updated physics are great, much more realistic than the past Live games of the series.

Dynasty mode is great as usual, all-star weekend is great(3point contest and slam dunk contest), practice mode, and so many others. The variety of modes is a good add on. The online play is great, with online leagues that work great, never having to play at a certain time or set schedule.

Controls are near perfect, but some delay. The dribbling moves dedicated to the right thumbstick are still present, and are remarkable. The game plays more uptempo compared to a 2k game, as Live always has...but that's what we love. The ability to post up, run offense, isolate and drive by your man, run pick and rolls, as well as many other things make this game a must have. The only con is the arcade style, which makes it to easy to get to the rim and dunk at times. Other than that, I have invested many hours and days into this game the past year, and definitely think it is a turning point in EA's Live series franchise. With 09 coming out, and it's demo displaying even more realism and physics, they got it right with this game, and are only building from it!

Easily the best 360 basketball game to date....a close one to 2k8, but Live08's graphics make it the true next gen experience!

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This is one of the best basketball games made to date. Last year's version was not very good but when I played this game I immediately noticed the difference. This game is very smooth and the graphics are amazing. No more glitches. The new game modes are great as well. I recommend this game to any sports fan.