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Was expecting more like a GTA feeling, but was not at all like that. Too hard to get 100% on the missions, in terms of lies and truths and stuff.
Showing posts with label best price on xbox 360. Show all posts
Showing posts with label best price on xbox 360. Show all posts
Friday, February 6, 2015
L.A. NOIRE THE NAKED CITY AN Reviews
The Game keeps you guessing at every level. You start out as beat cop and with every case you get closer to becoming a great detective. I would definatly recommend this game to all my friends and family. For it is a great intellectually challenging game. The graphics are clear and outstanding, the sound track is perfect for this type of game. So if you want to solve several great mysteries then you must play L.A. Noire.
Wednesday, January 21, 2015
Reviews of Playseat Evolution Alcantara Gaming Seat
If you're serious about driving in the game, this seat is a must have! It is so cool to have the wheel and pedals bolted down instead of everything moving around on your lap or on the floor. The only draw back is the bar that holds the wheel is in a tight spot. Placing the pedals in the right area on the plate for automatic or manual is the key. The G27 manual wheel works perfect with this seat, but keep in mind if you get the seat, be sure to get the shifter holder and assemble them together. It is sold seperate from the seat.
The quality is excellent. I didn't find any defects in the welds or the stitching. It was easy to assemble and doesn't feel flimsy at all.
Having the wheel and pedals stay in place makes it easier to play. The plate that holds the pedals is anchored at the bottom, so will flex a bit due to leverage when you press the pedals hard, but I got used to that pretty quickly. The support for the wheel doesn't move around at all. I didn't get the optional shifter mount since my wheel has paddle shifters.
The seat is comfortable to use for long periods. The cushions are firm and supportive. The bottom cushion lifts off so you can vaccuum under it, which is handy when you have pets that like to sleep on it.
The seat is a velvety fabric with leather on the headrest, and leather accents at your shoulders and thighs. "Playseat" is embroidered in the headrest, a nice touch to add to the feeling of sitting in an expensive race car.
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Really amazed by this seat. Setup was easy and didn't take long. Everything is real sturdy and has held up well. The pedal plate mounted right up to my v2 pedals. Really worth the money!Best Deals for Playseat Evolution Alcantara Gaming Seat
This seat is very sturdy and comfortable. My only complaint is that the back is a little too straight. I solved this with an inexpensive mesh lumbar support.The quality is excellent. I didn't find any defects in the welds or the stitching. It was easy to assemble and doesn't feel flimsy at all.
Having the wheel and pedals stay in place makes it easier to play. The plate that holds the pedals is anchored at the bottom, so will flex a bit due to leverage when you press the pedals hard, but I got used to that pretty quickly. The support for the wheel doesn't move around at all. I didn't get the optional shifter mount since my wheel has paddle shifters.
The seat is comfortable to use for long periods. The cushions are firm and supportive. The bottom cushion lifts off so you can vaccuum under it, which is handy when you have pets that like to sleep on it.
The seat is a velvety fabric with leather on the headrest, and leather accents at your shoulders and thighs. "Playseat" is embroidered in the headrest, a nice touch to add to the feeling of sitting in an expensive race car.
Honest reviews on Playseat Evolution Alcantara Gaming Seat
This product arrived undamaged and in a very reasonable amount of time. It is well built and a lot of fun. Only two complaints: The plastic "seatbelt" openings in the seatback are separated. They should snap together. Lastly it is difficult to get in and out of which I believe could lead to increased wear on the material.Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for Playseat Evolution Alcantara Gaming Seat
I will rate this with 5 star if the Playset will came with some accessory that can hide the cables.Saturday, October 11, 2014
Review of Operation Flashpoint: Red River - Xbox 360
As a member of the military for the past 22 plus years (retiring end of the year) I have had the pleasure of serving on 6 continents (including Antarctica) and have been in various war zones and in my humble opinion this video game is the most realistic military simulator (for the most part) you'll find on consoles today (Battlefield 3 will take the crown mostly from O.F. later this year). I own or owned nearly all of the military shooters on the Xbox 360 and PS3 (Battlefield 2, Black Ops, MW2, Homefront, OF: Dragon Rising, Sniper: Ghost Warrior, MAG, SOCOM etc...) and this game is pretty good.
Gameplay:
I really enjoyed working with my four human teammates and battling tons of enemies across huge battlefields. Each battle can last for an hour or more and very intense. If you enjoy realistic battles that make you work as a team and coordinate together then you will enjoy this game. Anybody who likes to run around and just fire away with no regard to realism then please go play the Call Duty, Halo and Gears of War series and have fun (they are fun in their own way). I like working together as a team throughout a mission and feel a sense of cohesiveness that can only be found with military squads working together to accomplish the objectives.
Example of what I'm talking about happened on my first night of playing. I was playing with 4 teammates on a campaign mission and one of the teammates was a young guy who told us how good Call of Duty: Black Ops (it is in its own way) is compared to other shooters and then complained about why does this game have such huge levels and why he keeps getting killed. Well when we started are mission he took off like you do in games like COD: Black Ops and we all kept telling him to form up and stay together. He kept saying how good he was and how he prestiged several times (etc etc...)in COD: Black Ops. One of my squad mates said this isn't that type of game and you need to stay together and work as a team or you will get killed. Well he went off and decided to take on the PLA on his own and within a few seconds he was on the ground asking for help. We tried to get to him but we got into our own intense firefight and barely made it to him. After healing him we pressed on and he worked for a while with us and then he decided to go off again (geez Call of Duty and Halo players) and he goes around a building and gets a nice tank shell in his face (no saving him now). I will say after that he never went on his own again. I guess him thinking he was Master Chief came to an abrupt end.
Graphics:
The visual effects are top notch. When you take time to look around (not just at the ground and dirt roads) you will see a visually stunning mountain peaks and clouds, and clear blue skies. The dust up when you're in the heat of battle is very authentic and can obscure your view just like in real combat battles in the Middle East (actually the dust ups are more intense in certain areas). The lighting (sun, night vision, stars and moon) are as authentic as can be. The team went out of their way to make sure you really experienced the utmost realism as possible. The guns, the character modeling, vehicles (Humvee's, tanks, Helicopters, fighters, and other vehicles) are top notch (not perfect, again what game is in this area).
Sound:
I really liked the sound of the various weapons. They sounded just like their real life counterparts. The development team worked with real military units in their country to hear and record the real sounds of the various weapons. So to the naysayers (if any) this game has the sound of the real deal. The voice acting was done adequately and is standard nothing spectacular. I will say that I had to turn the speech down because I was very annoyed with the foul language over and over again. My wife was not happy and told me it was not appropriate for a game to have this kind of language in it. Being in the military you hear some foul language once in a while (a few times a week), but not like this over and over and over again. I would advise you to turn it down or off and if you still want to know what the people are saying then put on subtitles. Because of this I can't let my teenage son play this because it's worse than anything he has heard in school (especially because it's so much and way over the top).
Music:
The musical score is standard and not John Williams or Danny Elfman quality but it works for the game. I will say it has a few moments of great sound and then goes back in the background or off at the right time. So you don't have to worry about feeling like it's you, your squad, and the London Symphony Orchestra taking on the enemy in every battle.
PC Version Comments:
In regards to PC it's still a great game, but as most have stated ARMA 2 is better and I can't disagree with that. Both came from the same starting point i.e. Operation Flashpoint 1, but have gone separately like a fork in the road over the years. They both have dedicated fans who adore them both even if neither one of them are perfect (what game is, except Chess and Stratego!!!).
Closing:
I really am enjoying this game on my Xbox 360 (still checking it out on my PC). I somewhat enjoyed OF: Dragon Rising but a variety issues dragged it down for me a little bit. I enjoy co-op missions and look forward to the expansions coming out this month (free for us who pre-ordered). This game has some incredible moments and intense battles that you'll not forget for a long time.
Listen, if you like running and gunning then please go play Call of Duty: Black Ops and Halo and have a blast (they are fun games). However if you want to enjoy realism then please pick up this game and prepare yourself because you will feel the heat of battles and the whizzing of bullets flying by your head. This game will be my top shooter along with Battlefield 2 until Battlefield 3 is released later this year (and yes all be picking of the next run and gun MW3 later this year as well).
Gamplay: 5 stars. Enjoy working with others who work as a team in these very long missions. Those of you who like COD: Black OPS and Halo will learn painfully this isn't a run and gun type of game. Working as team is crucial to your missions success.
Graphics: 4.5 stars. Sometimes I feel a sense of awe on the beauty of the landscape and special weather, lighting and night effects. The character modeling is very well done (again not perfect but well done).
Sound: 5 Stars weapons, vehicles, and environment, 1 star for foul language and dialogue (yes some of the squad mates AI have funny comments).
Music: 4 Stars. Not John Williams but pretty decent. I'm just glad I don't feel like I have an orchestra right behind me throughout the game (I can't recall experiencing that in any warzone I've been in).
Overall: 5 stars. It has it faults but looking past these I'm very pleased and can't wait to form up again with my squad and fight for freedom once again. Semper Fi!!!
1) Prior military: Tank and then Scout Platoon Leader with 1AD in Iraq in 03 and 04. Some people don't think this matters apparently, but I'll hold that it might make a difference in my judgement of a military based game.
2) I love GRAW 2 and think that the COOP missions were the best part of the game. Great online community worldwide. I hated it's campaign. Too linear.
3) I love the HALO series (ODST is still my favorite) but it's online community is still the most obnoxious one I can think of, but enjoy the campaign more than the vs mode.
4) I hate MW1, loved MW2, and thought Black Ops has been the best addition so far. Campaigns are a bit idiotic, but the multiplayer is setting the standard for what it should be.
5) I loved Dragon Rising. Campaign is awesome and that you can do it COOP was excellent and it was hard! It was gritty and real and fun in that patient sort of thinking mans fight instead of running the board like the Spartan 117 guns blazing.
But, on to Red River:
5 stars for fun? No. It requires too much patience to be that much fun. Halo, Black Ops, those are games that are FUN. This is about the realism (for the most part)and forcing you to think the situation out and fight through it intelligently and viciously.
Sound: Solid. I won't rate it on stars, but with a surround sound system, it's pretty impressive listening to the bullets buzz past or the helicopters orbit around you. I will agree with other posters thus far, the swearing is annoying. Honestly, the characters can't hold a candle to the amount or creativity of the swearing my guys used to come up with, but I don't think any of it should have been involved in a video game. That's realistic too, but it's cheesy and forced here. Once again, some computer guy was watching Aliens and thought it would be cool to include as much Hoo Rah! verbiage as he could muster up because that's what military people do. We swear nonstop and say things like "DEAD!" every time we pull the trigger. It gets annoying. On the plus side, the constant grid referencing from the first has been done away with and when your team mates do speak to you, they actually give you information of value. Give and take. Dialogue is moronic, but the effects are pretty great.
Graphics/Video: Maybe somewhere they slack off here, but I haven't seen it yet. Everything looks well rendered and recognizable up close and from far away. Explosions look good, tracers are eerily good, and the environment is beautifully rendered. I did experience some of that random warping going on though with a PLA rifleman sort of skipping around a courtyard while we were rushing him. Movement seems pretty smooth, human rendering looks good, and the depth of the battlefield is just as good as Dragon's was, if not somehow a bit better.
Menu: Still kind of ugly. It works, but it could be better just to get things rolling. I would say they should look at Graw 2 for inspiration and then plagiarize/ steal it.
Gameplay: This isn't Black Ops, and you're not going to go out and Pwn anybody. It's a COOP game, which is AWESOME! Why? Because it keeps those mountain dew fueled 12 year olds off the servers once they realize they are dumber than the AI you're up against. It's humbling, or should be. Working with other sentient beings to accomplish the mission at hand instead of being glory hound campers seems to bring together a good group of gamers and helps make this online experience a lot of fun. They updated a lot of Red River's actions from Dragon Rising, and I think it's for the better:
1)You get a Splinter Cell like grenade ark now to give you an idea of where the grenade is going.
2)The controls are much easier than Dragon Risings and the squad controls were EXPONENTIALLY easier when you're trying to give an order and felt much more intuitive. You could lose yourself in Dragons order menu, Red River keeps it simple. Think of the GRAW 2 menu over the GRAW 1 menu and how much you hated GRAW 1 for putting you through that nonsense. Same here.
3)Dragons enemies were supermen, and those who played it know the frustration of hitting a PLA soldier 6 times at 200 meters just to see him shrug it off and carry on like those were raindrops you sent his way. They drop now when you hit them, just like you ALWAYS have, which seems a bit more fair to me and much more fun.
4)Realism of the weapons seems pretty on. You still have all the fire selection modes that any particular weapon system has, they sound like they should, produce fire like they should, and the ballistics seems pretty solid as well. Overall I'm quite happy and enjoyed the fact that I raked a house with a M2 .50 Cal and killed the occupant inside.
5) Boundaries: I didn't like that my screen started to fuzz a bit and I was told to get back into my Area of Operations...Flashpoint should let me go wherever I bloody well wish, especially if the PLA forces are using it. I'll figure out how to secure my own area and from where, thank you very much.
6) Vehicles: Those are less prevalent than in Dragon, but you never really used them in Dragon anyways. I wouldn't expect my SSG Marine to crawl into a Chinese made APC or tank and be able to operate anything anyways, so it's probably better it was excluded. This does bring us to AI...
7) The AI is horrible. Watching 2 HMMWVs ram into each other at an intersection is just...well it sucks. I couldn't figure out how to motivate my AI to do the right thing and go around. That seemed to be a limited occurrence, but it shouldn't happen. The ODST guys could drive a Warthog around pretty much anything, so I know the programing exists. The game is made for COOP though! Look at the cover. Is it one guy like all the MW games have been? No, it's four. Get online, make some friends, and enjoy it. The games about teamwork, not some idiot Marchinko-Army of One nonsense. The enemy AI is pretty sharp though, and they seem to understand fire and maneuver quite a bit better than your own guys.
8) This is a 1 person per system game. No split screen. Get online, or you're stuck with the aforementioned idiot AI as your back up.
9) I don't know if this should fall in Visual or Gameplay, but I don't think they have their dimensions down quite right yet either. The 200 meters in the game is a LOOOOOONNNNGGGG way out there, and anybody who's shot much knows about what a human sized target looks like at 200. Makes target acquisition and servicing tough.
10) The ability to alter your equipment now is a HUGE plus over Dragon. So much better...From your demo options to sights on your weapons to a set of MW like perks, you can customize now.
11) You can select your player type before the mission, just like Ghost Recon, and go to work with a good set of toys. If you get zapped or join in, you can select the follow on load out too. I can't express how bad that was in Dragon or how fast I looked for that PLA marksman rifle every board and ditched my M16A2 with iron sights as fast as possible.
That's probably enough for now though. Just like Dragon, I say rent it, and if you like it, buy it and jump into the community for some fun and probably long games. I think it's a great game, and fun in its way if you're patient and intelligent. As another reviewer said, if the Army wanted an Infantry sim, this would probably be it. If you don't think a single bullet will incapacitate or kill you on the real battlefield, then back to COD kiddo. We don't want to listen to you whine or betray our position, and you've probably got that spelling test coming up soon anyways.
If you're the kind of person who LOVES Call of Duty and thinks other games are terrible by comparison, this game is not for you.
If you enjoy console FPS games (Yes, console. PC elitists always have something to complain about, especially when it comes to series that began on PC and then moved to console/cross-platform), and you're looking for something closer to a realistic/simulation military game, then this is it! It's not as hardcore as the original PC Flashpoint or the Arma games (the real sequels to the original Flashpoint), but for console players that's a good thing. We've got a controller and a couch, so a more accessible game is better, IMO.
This game is not nearly as buggy as OF: Dragon Rising was, and has MANY feature improvements. Red River is everything I wanted from OF:DR, but didn't get. You can fully customize your loadouts, heal a wounded leg (an annoyance from DR) so you can sprint again, and have a great time playing co-op with friends.
If you want to keep the pure, hardcore feel of previous FP games, you can. Just self-impose some rules on yourself and turn off all your HUD data (the real effect of the difficulty settings in the game). Don't like that the game allows you to heal a wounded leg? Don't do it! Stopping bleeding from a wound and healing the wound are treated in 2 separate steps. Simply stop the bleeding and move on with your wounded limb. Problem solved! Those of use who don't crave the unnecessary difficulty curve or annoyance of limping through a level because of a stray bullet no longer have to put up with it.
Bottom line, if you want a game that more closely simulates the actual experience of firing a weapon in combat, and using tactics and strategy to complete an objective, BUY THIS GAME!
If you would rather have guns with no recoil as you fight off 100+ enemies on your own, can take 50 bullets without dying, and only have to walk around a corner and wait for wounds to heal, this is not your game. That's not the game's fault (as other reviewers would imply), that's just not what this game is about.
That being said, OF:RR is a nice change of pace. It's annoyingly realistic in places; for example, if you get shot, you'll have a hard time returning fire, because you stagger realistically. If you don't patch up, you'll bleed out. As another reviewer mentioned, there are no friendly red boxes over enemies. Waypoints can be hard to find. Sometimes you just have to hunker down and figure out what's going on. You can order your squad to do some cool things, like flank left/right, lay down suppressing fire, and go to an objective...but that doesn't always help when you have no idea where the objective is.
Game mechanics are a fresh change. As I mentioned, damage is much more...damaging. You always have to keep your eyes open and check your corners. Likewise, you don't have to put a full clip into an enemy to drop them (hint to COD:BO) which is nice.
The drop in/drop out co-op works well. I accidentally left my game 'open' while playing the campaign, and had some random people drop in. At first I was annoyed, but it ended up being fun. And the actual co-op multiplayer has some nice twists, like the 'last stand' game mode, where you keep fighting waves of AI until you decide to call for extraction. The twist is that if you hold out for a higher score and don't make it, you get no points for the match. You have to gamble between low-risk/low points, or going for high score and risking a big goose egg to show for all your hard work.
Honestly, I meant to cancel my pre-order for this game, but forgot. I felt pretty burned when I pre-ordered Homefront and found it to be a mediocre cross between COD and BF, and swore off of pre-ordering. But after burning most of a Tuesday night on this game, I'm glad I got it. It's something different from the two Big Daddies of military FPS games, and that's quite a feat these days.
PS: the voice acting is superb. Filthy and foul, but not gratuitously so. I heard some phrases I haven't heard since the better parts of my mis-spent youth.
UPDATE: after a week of playing this, a quick point:
As mentioned by another reviewer, the AI for your team-mates is weak...I think the 'solo' campaign is meant to be played co-op. It's brutal when you play offline, but much better when you open the lobby and bring in real people. The co-op missions are nothing short of brilliant, but don't overlook the campaign co-op mode. It plays much (MUCH) better with real people on your fireteam.
Pros
Graphics, are amazing, I dont get why people are being such sticklers about it. Its a video game not real life enough said. But still the graphics are truly breath-taking. The only one thing that pissed me off the most was getting a glare from the sun. Granted its really realistic but can be a pain.
Weapons, they are truly realistic they jam, the muzzle flashes are spot on, The sound of rounds flying over your head and seeing tracers lighting up the sky actually makes you want to duck when you're in the middle of a fire fight. The only one thing I found slightly unrealistic is the sound of incoming or IDF. Me being currently deployed in Afghanistan right now I've had the unpleasant experience of taking rockets and mortar rounds shot at my FOB and in the game they are a tad unconvincing but not a major draw back.
Dialog, Your platoon sergeant has one of the most ridiculously filthy mouths possible, But it is surprisingly close to how we all talk out here, Me personally I talk like a drunk sailor swearing left and right. So I cant complain about it, And not to mention your squad will actually give you good information.
-Music, Is awesome, when you first start the game rolling out on your first convoy they have Symphony of Destruction by Megadeth playing in the background I couldn't think of some better pump up music before your first fire fight other then some As I Lay Dying but that is my opinion. And whenever you get in the back of your HMMWV and start moving out to the next location they throw in some good rock music.
Command Ridicule, Is a lot better and more user friendly the in OF: Dragon Rising, So good job there now only if the AI was good enough to follow the orders you give them.
Gameplay, Is outstanding, The levels are long, firefights are insane, And you can pick the class you want to be (Marksman, Rifleman, Auto Rifleman, Grenadier). And in every class there is different weapons, attachments, perks, and gear you can unlock. They have also thrown in a leveling system which as you progress threw the campaign you unlock previously stated items. And since there are 4 different classes the replay ability is great. You can go threw the campaign as one class and when you beat it you can change to a different one for a different gaming experience. And when you get the opportunity to call off map support like CAS, Mortar/howitizer barrages, and 2000lbs of democracy, Pop a squat and enjoy freedom at its finest.
Healing, When you get hit, You are going to bleed. So bust out that handy dandy first aid kit and patch yourself up or you will bleed out and die. Some wounds will bleed out faster then others and depending on the caliber of the round will also influence how fast you bleed out so keep that in mind, say you get shot in the arm you can go a little bit before you have to patch up before you bleed out. But say you got shot in the chest depending on where it hit you and if it didn't Incapacitate you, you will bleed out a lot faster.
Cons
Your team AI in single player is just ridiculous. You will tell them to hold position behind a wall and next thing you know you have to guys standing in the middle of a street getting lit up like the fourth of july. It can be extremely annoying but life goes on. I can only imagine what it would be like have a full squad commanded by real people but like I stated im in afghanistan and my internet will not let me play on Xbox Live.
I really only have one problem with the weapons and in my opinion they over powered the 5.56 round. I can understand one shot will put you on the ground. But depending on where you hit them its not a guarantee that you will kill them but for some reason I can shoot a guy in the foot with my M4 and it kills him instantly.
this isn't a Pro or Con, But this game is realistic! One bullet in the right spot and your going home in a body bag. You get shot in the leg, and your not going to be able to run or sprint as well as before you got hit, You get shot in the arm, You wont be able to hold your weapon as steady as before... You can see where im going with this. So don't think you can run out in the middle of all hell breaking loose and being able to take a 30 rounds in the chest and be able to crawl behind some cover and you will magically be all good and ready to be a bullet magnet again.
So all in all this games fun value is awesome. There are some bugs with the AI but other then that there shouldn't be anything to serious that interferes with gameplay. And like I mentioned before this isn't Call of Duty so if you where expecting something like that you are sadly mistaken.
Gameplay:
I really enjoyed working with my four human teammates and battling tons of enemies across huge battlefields. Each battle can last for an hour or more and very intense. If you enjoy realistic battles that make you work as a team and coordinate together then you will enjoy this game. Anybody who likes to run around and just fire away with no regard to realism then please go play the Call Duty, Halo and Gears of War series and have fun (they are fun in their own way). I like working together as a team throughout a mission and feel a sense of cohesiveness that can only be found with military squads working together to accomplish the objectives.
Example of what I'm talking about happened on my first night of playing. I was playing with 4 teammates on a campaign mission and one of the teammates was a young guy who told us how good Call of Duty: Black Ops (it is in its own way) is compared to other shooters and then complained about why does this game have such huge levels and why he keeps getting killed. Well when we started are mission he took off like you do in games like COD: Black Ops and we all kept telling him to form up and stay together. He kept saying how good he was and how he prestiged several times (etc etc...)in COD: Black Ops. One of my squad mates said this isn't that type of game and you need to stay together and work as a team or you will get killed. Well he went off and decided to take on the PLA on his own and within a few seconds he was on the ground asking for help. We tried to get to him but we got into our own intense firefight and barely made it to him. After healing him we pressed on and he worked for a while with us and then he decided to go off again (geez Call of Duty and Halo players) and he goes around a building and gets a nice tank shell in his face (no saving him now). I will say after that he never went on his own again. I guess him thinking he was Master Chief came to an abrupt end.
Graphics:
The visual effects are top notch. When you take time to look around (not just at the ground and dirt roads) you will see a visually stunning mountain peaks and clouds, and clear blue skies. The dust up when you're in the heat of battle is very authentic and can obscure your view just like in real combat battles in the Middle East (actually the dust ups are more intense in certain areas). The lighting (sun, night vision, stars and moon) are as authentic as can be. The team went out of their way to make sure you really experienced the utmost realism as possible. The guns, the character modeling, vehicles (Humvee's, tanks, Helicopters, fighters, and other vehicles) are top notch (not perfect, again what game is in this area).
Sound:
I really liked the sound of the various weapons. They sounded just like their real life counterparts. The development team worked with real military units in their country to hear and record the real sounds of the various weapons. So to the naysayers (if any) this game has the sound of the real deal. The voice acting was done adequately and is standard nothing spectacular. I will say that I had to turn the speech down because I was very annoyed with the foul language over and over again. My wife was not happy and told me it was not appropriate for a game to have this kind of language in it. Being in the military you hear some foul language once in a while (a few times a week), but not like this over and over and over again. I would advise you to turn it down or off and if you still want to know what the people are saying then put on subtitles. Because of this I can't let my teenage son play this because it's worse than anything he has heard in school (especially because it's so much and way over the top).
Music:
The musical score is standard and not John Williams or Danny Elfman quality but it works for the game. I will say it has a few moments of great sound and then goes back in the background or off at the right time. So you don't have to worry about feeling like it's you, your squad, and the London Symphony Orchestra taking on the enemy in every battle.
PC Version Comments:
In regards to PC it's still a great game, but as most have stated ARMA 2 is better and I can't disagree with that. Both came from the same starting point i.e. Operation Flashpoint 1, but have gone separately like a fork in the road over the years. They both have dedicated fans who adore them both even if neither one of them are perfect (what game is, except Chess and Stratego!!!).
Closing:
I really am enjoying this game on my Xbox 360 (still checking it out on my PC). I somewhat enjoyed OF: Dragon Rising but a variety issues dragged it down for me a little bit. I enjoy co-op missions and look forward to the expansions coming out this month (free for us who pre-ordered). This game has some incredible moments and intense battles that you'll not forget for a long time.
Listen, if you like running and gunning then please go play Call of Duty: Black Ops and Halo and have a blast (they are fun games). However if you want to enjoy realism then please pick up this game and prepare yourself because you will feel the heat of battles and the whizzing of bullets flying by your head. This game will be my top shooter along with Battlefield 2 until Battlefield 3 is released later this year (and yes all be picking of the next run and gun MW3 later this year as well).
Gamplay: 5 stars. Enjoy working with others who work as a team in these very long missions. Those of you who like COD: Black OPS and Halo will learn painfully this isn't a run and gun type of game. Working as team is crucial to your missions success.
Graphics: 4.5 stars. Sometimes I feel a sense of awe on the beauty of the landscape and special weather, lighting and night effects. The character modeling is very well done (again not perfect but well done).
Sound: 5 Stars weapons, vehicles, and environment, 1 star for foul language and dialogue (yes some of the squad mates AI have funny comments).
Music: 4 Stars. Not John Williams but pretty decent. I'm just glad I don't feel like I have an orchestra right behind me throughout the game (I can't recall experiencing that in any warzone I've been in).
Overall: 5 stars. It has it faults but looking past these I'm very pleased and can't wait to form up again with my squad and fight for freedom once again. Semper Fi!!!
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I wrote a big review for Dragon Rising, which I loved and still do, and was excited about this coming out. Having only played it for a few hours, I will try to give the best impression that I can and reserve the right to update this in a few days after diving deeper into it. To give you my frame of mind in writing this review, I'll throw the following out there:1) Prior military: Tank and then Scout Platoon Leader with 1AD in Iraq in 03 and 04. Some people don't think this matters apparently, but I'll hold that it might make a difference in my judgement of a military based game.
2) I love GRAW 2 and think that the COOP missions were the best part of the game. Great online community worldwide. I hated it's campaign. Too linear.
3) I love the HALO series (ODST is still my favorite) but it's online community is still the most obnoxious one I can think of, but enjoy the campaign more than the vs mode.
4) I hate MW1, loved MW2, and thought Black Ops has been the best addition so far. Campaigns are a bit idiotic, but the multiplayer is setting the standard for what it should be.
5) I loved Dragon Rising. Campaign is awesome and that you can do it COOP was excellent and it was hard! It was gritty and real and fun in that patient sort of thinking mans fight instead of running the board like the Spartan 117 guns blazing.
But, on to Red River:
5 stars for fun? No. It requires too much patience to be that much fun. Halo, Black Ops, those are games that are FUN. This is about the realism (for the most part)and forcing you to think the situation out and fight through it intelligently and viciously.
Sound: Solid. I won't rate it on stars, but with a surround sound system, it's pretty impressive listening to the bullets buzz past or the helicopters orbit around you. I will agree with other posters thus far, the swearing is annoying. Honestly, the characters can't hold a candle to the amount or creativity of the swearing my guys used to come up with, but I don't think any of it should have been involved in a video game. That's realistic too, but it's cheesy and forced here. Once again, some computer guy was watching Aliens and thought it would be cool to include as much Hoo Rah! verbiage as he could muster up because that's what military people do. We swear nonstop and say things like "DEAD!" every time we pull the trigger. It gets annoying. On the plus side, the constant grid referencing from the first has been done away with and when your team mates do speak to you, they actually give you information of value. Give and take. Dialogue is moronic, but the effects are pretty great.
Graphics/Video: Maybe somewhere they slack off here, but I haven't seen it yet. Everything looks well rendered and recognizable up close and from far away. Explosions look good, tracers are eerily good, and the environment is beautifully rendered. I did experience some of that random warping going on though with a PLA rifleman sort of skipping around a courtyard while we were rushing him. Movement seems pretty smooth, human rendering looks good, and the depth of the battlefield is just as good as Dragon's was, if not somehow a bit better.
Menu: Still kind of ugly. It works, but it could be better just to get things rolling. I would say they should look at Graw 2 for inspiration and then plagiarize/ steal it.
Gameplay: This isn't Black Ops, and you're not going to go out and Pwn anybody. It's a COOP game, which is AWESOME! Why? Because it keeps those mountain dew fueled 12 year olds off the servers once they realize they are dumber than the AI you're up against. It's humbling, or should be. Working with other sentient beings to accomplish the mission at hand instead of being glory hound campers seems to bring together a good group of gamers and helps make this online experience a lot of fun. They updated a lot of Red River's actions from Dragon Rising, and I think it's for the better:
1)You get a Splinter Cell like grenade ark now to give you an idea of where the grenade is going.
2)The controls are much easier than Dragon Risings and the squad controls were EXPONENTIALLY easier when you're trying to give an order and felt much more intuitive. You could lose yourself in Dragons order menu, Red River keeps it simple. Think of the GRAW 2 menu over the GRAW 1 menu and how much you hated GRAW 1 for putting you through that nonsense. Same here.
3)Dragons enemies were supermen, and those who played it know the frustration of hitting a PLA soldier 6 times at 200 meters just to see him shrug it off and carry on like those were raindrops you sent his way. They drop now when you hit them, just like you ALWAYS have, which seems a bit more fair to me and much more fun.
4)Realism of the weapons seems pretty on. You still have all the fire selection modes that any particular weapon system has, they sound like they should, produce fire like they should, and the ballistics seems pretty solid as well. Overall I'm quite happy and enjoyed the fact that I raked a house with a M2 .50 Cal and killed the occupant inside.
5) Boundaries: I didn't like that my screen started to fuzz a bit and I was told to get back into my Area of Operations...Flashpoint should let me go wherever I bloody well wish, especially if the PLA forces are using it. I'll figure out how to secure my own area and from where, thank you very much.
6) Vehicles: Those are less prevalent than in Dragon, but you never really used them in Dragon anyways. I wouldn't expect my SSG Marine to crawl into a Chinese made APC or tank and be able to operate anything anyways, so it's probably better it was excluded. This does bring us to AI...
7) The AI is horrible. Watching 2 HMMWVs ram into each other at an intersection is just...well it sucks. I couldn't figure out how to motivate my AI to do the right thing and go around. That seemed to be a limited occurrence, but it shouldn't happen. The ODST guys could drive a Warthog around pretty much anything, so I know the programing exists. The game is made for COOP though! Look at the cover. Is it one guy like all the MW games have been? No, it's four. Get online, make some friends, and enjoy it. The games about teamwork, not some idiot Marchinko-Army of One nonsense. The enemy AI is pretty sharp though, and they seem to understand fire and maneuver quite a bit better than your own guys.
8) This is a 1 person per system game. No split screen. Get online, or you're stuck with the aforementioned idiot AI as your back up.
9) I don't know if this should fall in Visual or Gameplay, but I don't think they have their dimensions down quite right yet either. The 200 meters in the game is a LOOOOOONNNNGGGG way out there, and anybody who's shot much knows about what a human sized target looks like at 200. Makes target acquisition and servicing tough.
10) The ability to alter your equipment now is a HUGE plus over Dragon. So much better...From your demo options to sights on your weapons to a set of MW like perks, you can customize now.
11) You can select your player type before the mission, just like Ghost Recon, and go to work with a good set of toys. If you get zapped or join in, you can select the follow on load out too. I can't express how bad that was in Dragon or how fast I looked for that PLA marksman rifle every board and ditched my M16A2 with iron sights as fast as possible.
That's probably enough for now though. Just like Dragon, I say rent it, and if you like it, buy it and jump into the community for some fun and probably long games. I think it's a great game, and fun in its way if you're patient and intelligent. As another reviewer said, if the Army wanted an Infantry sim, this would probably be it. If you don't think a single bullet will incapacitate or kill you on the real battlefield, then back to COD kiddo. We don't want to listen to you whine or betray our position, and you've probably got that spelling test coming up soon anyways.
Best Deals for Operation Flashpoint: Red River - Xbox 360
This is a very simple game to review:If you're the kind of person who LOVES Call of Duty and thinks other games are terrible by comparison, this game is not for you.
If you enjoy console FPS games (Yes, console. PC elitists always have something to complain about, especially when it comes to series that began on PC and then moved to console/cross-platform), and you're looking for something closer to a realistic/simulation military game, then this is it! It's not as hardcore as the original PC Flashpoint or the Arma games (the real sequels to the original Flashpoint), but for console players that's a good thing. We've got a controller and a couch, so a more accessible game is better, IMO.
This game is not nearly as buggy as OF: Dragon Rising was, and has MANY feature improvements. Red River is everything I wanted from OF:DR, but didn't get. You can fully customize your loadouts, heal a wounded leg (an annoyance from DR) so you can sprint again, and have a great time playing co-op with friends.
If you want to keep the pure, hardcore feel of previous FP games, you can. Just self-impose some rules on yourself and turn off all your HUD data (the real effect of the difficulty settings in the game). Don't like that the game allows you to heal a wounded leg? Don't do it! Stopping bleeding from a wound and healing the wound are treated in 2 separate steps. Simply stop the bleeding and move on with your wounded limb. Problem solved! Those of use who don't crave the unnecessary difficulty curve or annoyance of limping through a level because of a stray bullet no longer have to put up with it.
Bottom line, if you want a game that more closely simulates the actual experience of firing a weapon in combat, and using tactics and strategy to complete an objective, BUY THIS GAME!
If you would rather have guns with no recoil as you fight off 100+ enemies on your own, can take 50 bullets without dying, and only have to walk around a corner and wait for wounds to heal, this is not your game. That's not the game's fault (as other reviewers would imply), that's just not what this game is about.
Honest reviews on Operation Flashpoint: Red River - Xbox 360
First off, I'm not mad about it breaking tradition, because I never played the original. I'm a Battlefield guy, with some COD thrown in because that's what all my friends play. I'm a grown-up, with the slow reflexes to match...so the high-speed paintball feel of COD multiplayer is really not my thing. I like Battlefield, because it's more about staying alive and taking objectives than COD, where it's run, kill, die, respawn, run, kill, die...That being said, OF:RR is a nice change of pace. It's annoyingly realistic in places; for example, if you get shot, you'll have a hard time returning fire, because you stagger realistically. If you don't patch up, you'll bleed out. As another reviewer mentioned, there are no friendly red boxes over enemies. Waypoints can be hard to find. Sometimes you just have to hunker down and figure out what's going on. You can order your squad to do some cool things, like flank left/right, lay down suppressing fire, and go to an objective...but that doesn't always help when you have no idea where the objective is.
Game mechanics are a fresh change. As I mentioned, damage is much more...damaging. You always have to keep your eyes open and check your corners. Likewise, you don't have to put a full clip into an enemy to drop them (hint to COD:BO) which is nice.
The drop in/drop out co-op works well. I accidentally left my game 'open' while playing the campaign, and had some random people drop in. At first I was annoyed, but it ended up being fun. And the actual co-op multiplayer has some nice twists, like the 'last stand' game mode, where you keep fighting waves of AI until you decide to call for extraction. The twist is that if you hold out for a higher score and don't make it, you get no points for the match. You have to gamble between low-risk/low points, or going for high score and risking a big goose egg to show for all your hard work.
Honestly, I meant to cancel my pre-order for this game, but forgot. I felt pretty burned when I pre-ordered Homefront and found it to be a mediocre cross between COD and BF, and swore off of pre-ordering. But after burning most of a Tuesday night on this game, I'm glad I got it. It's something different from the two Big Daddies of military FPS games, and that's quite a feat these days.
PS: the voice acting is superb. Filthy and foul, but not gratuitously so. I heard some phrases I haven't heard since the better parts of my mis-spent youth.
UPDATE: after a week of playing this, a quick point:
As mentioned by another reviewer, the AI for your team-mates is weak...I think the 'solo' campaign is meant to be played co-op. It's brutal when you play offline, but much better when you open the lobby and bring in real people. The co-op missions are nothing short of brilliant, but don't overlook the campaign co-op mode. It plays much (MUCH) better with real people on your fireteam.
Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for Operation Flashpoint: Red River - Xbox 360
To start off with this game is not your fast pace close quarter FPS like the call of duty series, And kinda but barely relates to the Battlefield series. This is a military combat simulator where you are a squad leader of a fireteam. So if you are expecting to be that guy who runs around and kills everything and the only tactics you know are run and shoot then you are set up for failure. This game is supposed to simulate an actually combat environment. Its not to see who has the highest kill to death ratio and what level prestige you are. So if anyone is expecting a game like Call of duty don't even bother this game will eat you alive. Now that we got that out of the way onto the actual game review.Pros
Graphics, are amazing, I dont get why people are being such sticklers about it. Its a video game not real life enough said. But still the graphics are truly breath-taking. The only one thing that pissed me off the most was getting a glare from the sun. Granted its really realistic but can be a pain.
Weapons, they are truly realistic they jam, the muzzle flashes are spot on, The sound of rounds flying over your head and seeing tracers lighting up the sky actually makes you want to duck when you're in the middle of a fire fight. The only one thing I found slightly unrealistic is the sound of incoming or IDF. Me being currently deployed in Afghanistan right now I've had the unpleasant experience of taking rockets and mortar rounds shot at my FOB and in the game they are a tad unconvincing but not a major draw back.
Dialog, Your platoon sergeant has one of the most ridiculously filthy mouths possible, But it is surprisingly close to how we all talk out here, Me personally I talk like a drunk sailor swearing left and right. So I cant complain about it, And not to mention your squad will actually give you good information.
-Music, Is awesome, when you first start the game rolling out on your first convoy they have Symphony of Destruction by Megadeth playing in the background I couldn't think of some better pump up music before your first fire fight other then some As I Lay Dying but that is my opinion. And whenever you get in the back of your HMMWV and start moving out to the next location they throw in some good rock music.
Command Ridicule, Is a lot better and more user friendly the in OF: Dragon Rising, So good job there now only if the AI was good enough to follow the orders you give them.
Gameplay, Is outstanding, The levels are long, firefights are insane, And you can pick the class you want to be (Marksman, Rifleman, Auto Rifleman, Grenadier). And in every class there is different weapons, attachments, perks, and gear you can unlock. They have also thrown in a leveling system which as you progress threw the campaign you unlock previously stated items. And since there are 4 different classes the replay ability is great. You can go threw the campaign as one class and when you beat it you can change to a different one for a different gaming experience. And when you get the opportunity to call off map support like CAS, Mortar/howitizer barrages, and 2000lbs of democracy, Pop a squat and enjoy freedom at its finest.
Healing, When you get hit, You are going to bleed. So bust out that handy dandy first aid kit and patch yourself up or you will bleed out and die. Some wounds will bleed out faster then others and depending on the caliber of the round will also influence how fast you bleed out so keep that in mind, say you get shot in the arm you can go a little bit before you have to patch up before you bleed out. But say you got shot in the chest depending on where it hit you and if it didn't Incapacitate you, you will bleed out a lot faster.
Cons
Your team AI in single player is just ridiculous. You will tell them to hold position behind a wall and next thing you know you have to guys standing in the middle of a street getting lit up like the fourth of july. It can be extremely annoying but life goes on. I can only imagine what it would be like have a full squad commanded by real people but like I stated im in afghanistan and my internet will not let me play on Xbox Live.
I really only have one problem with the weapons and in my opinion they over powered the 5.56 round. I can understand one shot will put you on the ground. But depending on where you hit them its not a guarantee that you will kill them but for some reason I can shoot a guy in the foot with my M4 and it kills him instantly.
this isn't a Pro or Con, But this game is realistic! One bullet in the right spot and your going home in a body bag. You get shot in the leg, and your not going to be able to run or sprint as well as before you got hit, You get shot in the arm, You wont be able to hold your weapon as steady as before... You can see where im going with this. So don't think you can run out in the middle of all hell breaking loose and being able to take a 30 rounds in the chest and be able to crawl behind some cover and you will magically be all good and ready to be a bullet magnet again.
So all in all this games fun value is awesome. There are some bugs with the AI but other then that there shouldn't be anything to serious that interferes with gameplay. And like I mentioned before this isn't Call of Duty so if you where expecting something like that you are sadly mistaken.
Thursday, September 18, 2014
Discount Need for Speed Most Wanted - Playstation 3
List Price: $29.99
Sale Price: $19.99
Today's Bonus: 33% Off
The premise behind NFS: Most Wanted is this: In Fairhaven City, there are 10 drivers who are the "Most Wanted". Take them down, you get their car. The goal: Become the most wanted driver in Fairhaven City.
Ok, so the story's lame, but you didn't have one at all in Burnout Paradise either. That's not really important to racing fans, as one look at NFS: The Run's reviews will tell you. What DOES matter are the cars, how do they control, modes available, upgrading possibilities, and multiplayer. Again, this is a review in process, so I can address all of these outside of multiplayer at this time.
It's really hard to pin down the driving controls in this game at this early stage. We're not talking Gran Turismo level of difficulty, but it's also not as easy as the original Burnout Paradise, or even Blur. Think the controls in Ridge Racer Unbounded, but MUCH less touchy, and you're getting in the right ballpark. My best guess: If you're familiar and have played the NFS series, you'll be at home here.
As for the cars, no more going through ranks 1-20 to unlock. Every car in the game is available at the start. Now the danger of this, of course, is that you'll find one you fall in love with and really have no need/desire to find all the rest (Why would you bother with the Delta Lancia when you can drive/upgrade a Porsche, for example)? All you have to do is look for the cars with an badge above them, choose the car and it's yours to drive. It's definitely a step in the right direction away from what a "typical" racing game would force you to do (aKa Gran Turismo, forcing you to grind for money to buy them).
As far as single player is concerned, I am a little worried that the modes are a little on the bare side. The various events in Burnout Paradise were diversified and had cars to match them. In NFS: Most Wanted, it's pretty much limited to races, evading the cops and maintaining a certain speed through the course. In short, it's got the potential to get old in a hurry. However, you'll probably be too busy seeing if you're beating your friends, smashing billboards and the like to be worrying about that.
Each car gives you the ability to upgrade various functions, such as tires, transmission, boost, etc. This is done by earning Speed Points, which you pretty much earn doing anything in the game. Now of course, for the completionists (like me), it will be fun going through and upgrading every car fully, giving an vast array of options for attacking different races (example: lightweight chassis give you more speed and are better for fast races, but suck when trying to go against the cops. Off road tires help you on those races, but you lose grip on pavement, etc). It'll be fun seeing online who gets the perfect combinations to set the best times.
And for now, that's it. As I get experience in Multiplayer, I will update my review, but it definitely seems to be at least as good as Burnout Paradise's, which is a testimony as to why there is still a good online community existing in that game 3 years after release.
Bottom line: NFS:MW takes it place alongside the other racers on the PS3 (GT5, Burnout Paradise and NFS:HP) as the best you can buy. There is an incredible amount of depth and layers in this game to unwrap and discover. Criterion, you did it again!
**UPDATE #1 31 October 2012**
Multiplayer is definitely as diverse as in Burnout Paradise if not moreso, given that many of the cars (including the ones you receive from pre-ordering) are only able to be used in Multiplayer. Players who invest the time in the various races/race layouts with the proper cars/mods will have a definitive, FAIR advantage over those who do not, but given the chaos that is traffic in this game, there's a chance a person ending up in last can still make up ground for a good finish. Outside of the racing events, there are also ones that involve getting away from the cops (wreck your friend=them getting busted and disowning you) as well as who can drift the most, get the most air, break the most billboards, etc. in a certain time frame. While the single player, for those who dump a ton of time into it and find their favorite cars, probably has a short life span, when you start talking about multiplayer, and get a few friends who have this game, and the replay value goes through the roof as you try to "top" your friends to be the "Most Wanted".
If anything, multiplayer has reinforced my opinion that this quite simply is one of the best racers on the PS3, the best one released in 2012, and deserves your purchase.
***Update #2 10/31/2012
I'm seeing some questions about how this compares to NFS:Hot Pursuit. Keep in mind, Criterion's goal was to make this game a "spiritial" successor to Burnout Paradise (released in 2009). In terms of gameplay, NFS:HP and NFS:MW are different in terms of modes as well as scope (open world, explore at your leisure vs. rigid routes), but similiar in that you can wreck the cops when you are being pursued. The cops will use spike strips and roadblocks, no EMP or helicopters that I've seen. Your cars do have "mods" which can offset the roadblocks and spike strips (much like you had in HP for the racer). Online is much deeper IMHO vs. Hot Pursuit, even when you consider the DLC that EA/Criterion have released over the life of NFS:HP.
My verdict is NFS:MW will ultimately be much deeper and have more replay value then NFS:HP. But both are OUTSTANDING games in their own aspects.
Also, in another simularity to NFS:HP, NFS:MW will allow you to utilize your own soundtrack that you have on your PS3. I think you'll definitely want this as there's nothing memorable about the soundtrack I've heard so far from the game, and some of them are downright annoying. Why ALL racing games don't have this as an option I have no idea. It definitely enhances the enjoyment of the title!
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This need for speed is not like the previous most wanted. No visual car customization, no buying cars, and especially, no story line whatsoever. And no hood view for the cars. I dont know if this is just me or any one else but i hate bumper and 3rd person view and thats all there is. I loved the hood view from the previous most wanted. Is it that hard to put it into a game?Best Deals for Need for Speed Most Wanted - Playstation 3
My grandson loves games like this.; He requested this particular game for Christmas. Think he was pretty happy to get it. He will have a lot of fun with it.Honest reviews on Need for Speed Most Wanted - Playstation 3
Apparently when you buy this game, there are really cool cars that you cannot unlock unless you pay extra for it! Like in-app purchase. For $60, I was expecting to get everything this game has to offer, and not half of the game or even 3/4 of it.Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for Need for Speed Most Wanted - Playstation 3
This game is really fun if you like CONSTANT crash cutscenes. Every time you bump a car, guard rail, or pole, you will have to watch a 10 second scene of your car crashing. Often times, you will come out of one of the crash scenes to find that the game has placed you directly behind another vehicle which causes you to crash yet again. This is the most annoying thing about the game and really characterizes the game for me.For fans of the original Most Wanted, this game is disappointing. The game has a similar premise, but they have removed the storyline, customization, manual transmission, exciting pursuits, and the ability to plow through roadblocks. The graphics of the game are incredible, but the gameplay is lacking. The cars do not handle well at all. Unlike the original, hitting roadblocks now causes, you guessed it, a crash scene that stops your car in its tracks. Lastly, the game is very easy. I was the #1 Most Wanted racer before I had taken down Most Wanted #6-10. I got enough points to be first simply by tricking out a few cars; speaking of which, all of the cars are available from the start and races unlock performance upgrades. The Most Wanted races are very easy; in fact, they are easier than the races required to unlock car upgrades.
Multiplayer is no fun whatsoever; I give multiplayer a 1 out of 5 rating. You are placed in the open world with other racers. The game will randomly select events and races for you. Some of the events it chooses make little sense and are very repetitive.
Overall, this game is fun, but it is also VERY frustrating. I would recommend this game to people, but I want them to know that this game is not the original. The graphics are really the only improvement to the original; the other changes made to the game are a major downgrade.
SUMMARY:
Pros:
Beautiful graphics
Large, open world
Large selection of cars
Cons:
Lack of customization
Crash scenes
Repetitive races (many of the races for each car are exactly the same)
Lackluster pursuits
No penalty for being busted by the cops
Easy and short
Monday, September 15, 2014
Best EA Sports Active 2 - Xbox 360 Deals
3 1/2 stars out of 5
The "2" in EA Sports Active 2 is actually a little misleading. The first EA Sports Active came out for the Wii in May of 2009, and the second, titled "More Workouts," came out 6 months later, adding much needed core exercises. This game, in essence, is the third in the series. Needless to say, I've been a fan of the franchise for a while, and it has been a great addition to my workouts. I decided to sell my Wii recently and upgrade to XBOX and Kinect, especially after hearing EASA 2 would be out soon after launch. However, being the third iteration in the series, this title for the XBOX is a bit of a step backwards.
Pros:
+ The addition of a heart rate monitor is great! It's accurate, stays put on my forearm even during the boxing workout, and it's easy to connect.
+ No more Wiimote and Nunchuck getting in your way. You don't have to decide between having the leg strap fall off of you or cut off the circulation to your right foot. This allows you to finally use your own weights instead of the included resistance band. There is even a setting adjustment for players wanting to take advantage of this feature.
+ The included resistance band is much more... resistant than the previous band. Your arms will now feel the burn on curls, raises and presses.
+ Step aerobics and boxing is a lot of fun. Both exercises have seen improvements and work well with the Kinect.
+ The game FINALLY recognizes my jumps! One frustration with the Wii was its inability to recognize jumps during downhill inline skating. No more, Sports Active fans!
+ Intensity is not a problem with this game. I completed medium intensity workouts and my heart rate stayed at about 70-80% of my maximum.
+ Lots of stats. You want stats, you got 'em. This game will tell you your average heart rate, calories burned, percent completion, and will give you graphs to measure your intensity. It will even tell you how many of each exercise you've ever performed, ever.
+ Achievements. Nothing like increasing your gamerscore and getting in shape at the same time, am I right?
Cons:
Motion-controlled menu interface. It is useless. Tip: Once you get your heart rate monitor connected, turn on your XBOX 360 controller as well. If you're expecting to have a controller-less experience with EASA 2, you will be spending a lot of time inadvertently hitting the wrong options and correcting your mistakes.
Voice recognition. I thought this would be a pretty cool addition. Yeah sure, I'd like to pause my workout simply by saying "Pause." But try to do anything else and you'll find out that it's not worth it. Want to skip an exercise? "Pause." "Skip exercise." "Select." (Are you sure?) "Skip exercise." "Select." It's not a fast process and a little more than annoying if what you say doesn't register the first time. Also, during my first exercise, I somehow managed to bring up the radio on two occasions (by voice prompt I'm assuming) and COULD NOT get it to go away. I had to pull out my handy controller again and hit "X" to get rid of it.
"Show Me How" is a pain! My first workout was 42 minutes long, and I bet I managed to accidentally trigger this selection about 30 times. I'm not sure if it was a phantom voice prompt or arm movement that triggered it, but it really put a kink in my workout.
No real-life trainers. It's a small complaint, but I think it's worth mentioning. In the first EASA, you learned how to perform exercises from actual human beings, which not only helped you with your form but also made you think, "Hey, if he/she can do it, so can I." Instead, EA has replaced these trainers with generic computer renderings tirelessly performing alternating jump lunges. Were the developers too rushed to include them? Or just cheap?
Trainer prompts and suggestions. One of the best features of the first EASA was the helpful suggestions given during your workout, telling you to focus on breathing or tighten your glutes. They were spouted often but always changed and were generally helpful. Now, they are overly repetitive and not useful. Yes, I know I should keep my pushups low, but if I go any lower, I will actually just be laying on the floor. Tip: after you've have one go through all of the exercises and heard all the trainer has to say, go to game settings and turn off all trainer input. You'll be happier doing the running drills when you're not being told to keep your back straight every 10 seconds.
Overall, EA Sports Active 2 does give you a solid, heart-pounding workout at home. But it feels as though EA made a last minute port instead of tailoring their SA franchise for the Kinect. Controls are finicky, graphics are a bit lacking, and sometimes you'll scream at your console for once again "showing you how" to do something you already know how to do.
Verdict: If you already have one of the previous Sports Actives for the Wii, skip this one. For 100 dollars, it's not worth upgrading. But if you are new to workout games, have an XBOX, a Kinect and an endless supply of patience, I'd say go for it. You will get a good balance of cardio and muscle sculpting workouts, and achievements will have you chasing new goals constantly.
Pros:
-Heart rate monitoring. Your heart rate is an extremely useful tool for getting the most out of your workouts, working out safely, working out effectively, and a very good way of gauging your intensity. Beginners always have a hard time knowing whether or not they're working out with enough intensity, or if they're putting unnecessary stress on their heart. For those with heart conditions, I wouldn't even consider another fitness game.
-Resistance training and weight settings. You can use resistance bands for many of the workouts used by the game, or you can change a setting so that you can use your own dumbbells (up to 30 pounds, as far as I can tell). Resistance training is an important part of any serious workout.
-9 week program. This is a great feature for beginners and those that have been out of the routine for a while. It puts you on a routine with three selectable levels of intensity, four days a week for about a half hour per day. These workouts are great. I struggled to finish the Medium setting the first time through as a former athlete who's spent a little too much time couch gaming over the past few years and eating too much fast food after being too lazy to get back into my routine after an illness. For a while, expect these routines to take as much as an hour out of your day. Another plus here is warm-up and cool-down at the beginning and ending of each day's routine. Other fitness tools neglect this extremely important aspect of a good workout. Where is the stretching? It's unfortunate that good stretching wasn't thrown into the warm-up and cool-down portions.
Cons:
-Customization. I haven't explored this feature a great deal yet, but there doesn't appear to be an extensive level of customization.
-Stat tracking. This is pretty much a joke. The elaborate stat tracking that was posted is essentially just you answering a roll call. Did you exercise today? Yes. Did you eat healthy? Yes. Okay. Its making sure you participated, which is great, but I want to monitor my body's specific progress. It doesn't even have an input (that I've seen), where you can input your weight each day after weighing yourself on a scale, which I find sad considering you can mark down your participation in outside activities and have it count toward your progress. Why can't I record my weight progress, EA? Wii Fit lets you do it, and appears to be a superior tool for monitoring your results progress. If you have both, continue doing your Wii Fit Body Test daily as a supplement to EA Sports Active 2.
As I've said, these are initial impressions and may change. I intend to update this review as I discover new ways it excels and fails. At the end of day one, my body is feeling the too long unfamiliar feeling of a great workout.
UPDATE (11/19/10) Dropped from 4 to 2 stars.
Just completed my second workout and wow... just wow. I am about 8 feet from my TV because my living room is narrow but according to other Kinect games like Kinect Adventures and Dance Central have no problem detecting all of my movements easily. The second routine has a lot of workouts on that involve sitting on the floor, consecutively. Not only does the game force you to be standing at the beginning of each one of these to be recognized by the Kinect, but it also would not recognize anything my legs did while on my back no matter what I did. When I was supposed to be doing V crunches, I was having to kick one leg up in the air as high as I could just to get it to count a rep so I could just move on to the next workout. I tried lying sideways, straight forward, angled, closer, further away. NOTHING worked. I had to skip 2-3 workouts because of this. 8 feet should be plenty. Today, I was genuinely annoyed that I wasted an hour out of my day I could have spent getting a real workout. After this, I am really leaning toward selling it, as I don't have the 10-12 feet this apparently requires for floor workouts.
UPDATE 2 (11/22/10) Still 2 stars.
My wife and I have both done additional workouts with EA Active 2, moving the Kinect both above and below the TV, recalibrating everything as well. This thing still will not pick anything up that goes on when you're on the floor correctly, aside from pushups. It appears to be a result of the couch being at our backs. If your feet get near the couch, it can't detect your feet properly anymore. Again, my couch is about ten feet from the TV; supposedly plenty. If you take even one step forward, it tells you that you are too close once you lie down and won't track the movements anyway. No other Kinect game I've tried so far has had this problem.
I'm hoping this one can keep me motivated a bit longer.
I'm just going to go through a quick list of the Pros and Cons.
Pros:
Voice navigation through the game's menus is pretty awesome. Being able to skip workout tutorials just by using my is pretty awesome. You can also navigate through the in-game music choices to skip tracks if you feel the need.
Syncing with EASportsActive.com is good stuff. Sometimes during my lunch break I like to check in on my fitness schedule to know when my rest days are. You're also able to change attributes on your account like weight and have it sync back to the Xbox.
Workout tutorials are very helpful. Videos actually show you the way to hold the weights and how to perform the exercise. The trainer tells you where you should feel the burn so that helps you know if you are doing it correctly.
Kinect Sensor makes this game so much easier. One thing I hated about the Wii version was constantly pulling the nunchuck out of the leg strap and having to try to fit it back in there on the next exercise. No more fussing with that. Kinect just tracks your motion with its camera, so there is nothing to hold on to. Some exercises require weights, so the only thing you will switch back and forth between are exercises not requiring weights and exercises requiring weights...
Being able to use free weights rather than the resistance weight band. I grabbed myself a couple of 5 lb. weights and entered it into my game profile and went to town. When you set up your profile, you tell it how heavy the weights are, and it uses that information to help calculate your calorie burn. The game comes bundled with a resistance band if you don't have any weights of your own.
This isn't an EA Sports Active pro, more of a 360/Kinect pro. Achievements are awesome. I have a feeling the lust for every achievement point in this game will be one thing that motivates me to keep playing. Setting up your account and getting through your first workout session nets you about 30 points. I can't imagine how tone I will be after collecting them all.
Cons:
I consider the bundled heart rate monitor both a pro and a con. It is interesting to see your rate spike when you're really pushing it, and I can see how it would give you a more accurate calorie burn reading, but the fact that it increases the price of the game to $99 makes it a little harsh. The rate monitor just isn't that important to me. I haven't tried out two player mode yet, but I don't think the monitor is required for the exercises, just recommended, so no need to pick up a second one if the person you play with isn't super into it. I will probably let my fiancée wear it if she wants to when we work out together because it just isn't that important to me.
The exercise accuracy tracking with Kinect is a little sketchy. Sometimes the machine just has no idea what I am doing, especially when squatting. I'm willing to put part of the blame on myself, I have only had the game for an evening, so I am not in good enough shape to squat as low as it wants me to. I also had pajama pants on rather than my usual workout shorts. I recommend wearing shorts; I think it will help a lot. The accuracy also seems a little off when jogging in place. It really wants you to power jog and whip those arms back and forth to burn more calories. I think it uses the arm movement as a way to judge if you are actually running. Sometimes you really have to exaggerate your movement to get it to pick up that you're actually running in place quite fast. I'm willing to give the machine the benefit of the doubt. Next time I will be wearing shorts and after a few more weeks I should be able to squat lower, so I will try to update this after that. I feel the trade off in accuracy is totally worth not having to flail around with the Wiimotes though. I am hoping now that Microsoft has sold over a million of these things they use the data gathered to release a patch that improves accuracy across the board.
Load time. It seems to take an awful lot of time to load in between the workouts. I am going to install the game to the Xbox HDD, and I think it will eliminate that problem. To be honest, I needed the extra 30 seconds of rest time tonight, but listening to the Xbox wind up like a jet engine between every workout is a pretty scary thing to witness.
I wished the game allowed you to use the voice navigation for personal music selection using music streamed over a network or mp3s that are stored on the Xbox HDD. Rocking out to my own tunes or a podcast while working out would be pretty amazing to me. There is nothing to stop you from putting the ingame music volume to mute and using the Xbox guide button on a remote to get a playlist going though.
That's all I have to say for now. After a couple of weeks I will try to post more thoughts. I played on medium tonight and will be turning it down to easy next time. I am not overweight, just out of shape. The heart rate monitor needs a panic button for out of shape bozos like myself. :) And the only reason I gave it three out of five stars for "fun" is because exercise will never be fun to me.
Here's what you need to know if you are considering getting Active 2: it can be frustrating at first but it is a great way to get a workout if you STAY PATIENT and TWEAK YOUR SETTINGS and MAKE SURE YOU HAVE ENOUGH PLAY SPACE. Kinect seems like a great product to me, but it is a bit touchy and oversensitive, also most of the games out for it so far don't really use it as well as they could, Active 2 included.
Before you even think about getting this game check out your play space. First make sure your Kinect sensor can "see" the floor( it cannot be pushed back into a deep shelf on an entertainment center for example). Then make sure Kinect is at least 4 feet off the ground, and has at least 8 feet of clear space in front of it. These are the minimum requirements for Kinect to function. If you have nowhere that you can get the Kinect 4 feet up, 8 feet out, and able to point at the floor you should stop reading right now and get a Wii or a Playstation Move. These are the absolute minimum requirements for Kinect to function and if you don't have the space, don't waste your money.
Once you have your play space cleared, get it as bright in the room as possible. Open shades and turn on lights. Then run the Kinect calibration program.
If you have the play space and have your Kinect working right, there are 2 things you need to know to avoid the extreme frustration that Active 2 can cause.
First, TURN OFF THE VOICE COMMANDS. They cause the "show me how" tutorial videos to play over and over in the middle of your workout when you don't say a word but somehow Kinect goes deaf when you actually want to use them. Would be a good idea if they worked but they are worthless and you are better off forgetting they exist.
Second, STAY STILL IN THE MIDDLE OF THE PLAY SPACE BETWEEN WORKOUTS AND ON ALL FLOOR EXERCISES. The floor exercises can be the most annoying, horrifying exercise in frustration you have ever experienced. If you don't let Kinect keep track of you before you sit down it will constantly freeze and make you press A to re-connect. Stay standing still directly in front of the camera on the pushups, crunches, arm planks, etc until you see "sit down and face the sensor" on the screen.
If you do both of these things Active 2 will work the way it was intended to about 95% of the time and it will kick your butt, make you sweat, and generally give you a solid workout.
Two player Active 2it kinda works....but.....
Two players works very well on some exercises, especially the running and mountain biking. The floor exercises are completely broken with 2 players. My husband and I could not get the game to stop freezing on 2 player crunches no matter what we tried, the sensor would lose track of the right hand player and freeze immediately whenever we started to sit down. Jumps can get dangerouswe collided painfully on the side to side jumps trying to stay within the play space. There are also many exercises that cannot be played with 2 players and the game will remove them from the workout when 2 players are selected, cutting down your workout time and potential calories to be burned. Two player mountain bike racing or sprints would be fun as a party mini-game. It would also probably work as a serious workout if you create a custom one to eliminate floor and jumping exercises.
The heart rate monitor that comes with Active 2 is simple and works perfectly but isn't really required, it should be optional because it makes the game come in at a pricey $100.
The ability to make your character appear on the screen with free weights instead of the resistance band is nice, it doesn't really change any of the exercises and nothing was preventing you from ditching the band in favor of the weights before. It is still a nice touch though.
Overall, if you have an Xbox, you are planning to use Kinect for more than just Active 2, and you have the right amount of space and a little patience I would recommend this game for a good workout. Because of the small but frustrating glitches and the price tag, I would not buy an Xbox and a Kinect just to play Active 2, it is just too expensive.
SPACE
EA Sports Active needs more backwards space. This is probably the biggest shortcoming of most Kinect games at the moment, and that is that the space to the sides (as you face the sensor) is usually enough, but you need more space at the back. For EA Sports Active to start working 'properly', make sure you have sufficient back space.
RECOGNITION
The game will by times 'forget' who you are. This is rather silly, as you sign in with an idea and therefore should be the still the same person throughout the game. However, whenever the sensor loses you the game goes into re-identifying you. This is a hassle, and you will need patience to accept it as one of its shortcomings at the moment.
Again, stand back. I found that when I'm too close to the sensor it'll lose me -so stand back.
Also, between workouts, be ready to face the camera again at the beginning of each session. If you turn at those points to drink water or shuffle the cat away, it will go into the re-identifying mode again.
When this happens, stand back again in your space and wait. It may say for a few seconds that it cannot find you and that you are now a VISITOR, but just stand patiently and hopefully it'll find you. So far, it has always found me within a few seconds.
CONTROLLER
As mentioned, this game has been clearly designed for the Wii, and then when they found out that PS3 and Xbox will release the Move and Kinect respectively, they quickly transformed it for these consoles. For PS3 Move it'll work, but the problem is that the menus and not entirely Kinect-friendly. Make sure your Xbox controller is nearby at all times, as you will need to hit that green A button frequently to progress through tutorials and other menus. Don't fret over it, that's just the way it is for now. I am positive that EA sports Active will make adjustments for Kinect in the future, but that will only be expected by the 3rd release.
LYING-DOWN EXERCISES
When an exercise comes up that needs you to lie down, DON'T just lie down. Wait until it prompts you to do so, and only then lie down. For some reason Kinect searches for your face first, and when you go lie down it loses you and then goes into re-identifying mode again. You'll have to stand up again and do the whole thing again.
So keep standing, wait, and let the game tell you to go down and then do it. It should save you some time on the identifying hassle.
Then, while lying down...(see below)
LIGHTNING vs FLOOR EXERCISES
Before Kinect was released, I had read that some developers had problems with Kinect in that it couldn't recognize people when sitting or lying down. It was mentioned that some of these developers found other unique ways of overcoming this problem by analyzing the shadows of your body. Knowing this, I can safely assume that EA had this problem when they designed the Kinect version of Sports Active 2. So what I did was to ensure that I had some kind of "shadow" while doing lying-down exercises by having my nearby lamp shine on me from the side. Sounds weird, eh? But so far no problems with lying-down exercises.
Once you accept these shortcomings for this product, things tend to go smoother. From the reviews I had read beforehand I had expected something horrendous, but turns out my workouts had been going pretty smoothly for the last few weeks. As I am not much of a fitness geek (and that's exactly why I got this) I cannot give feedback on the contents and structure of the training, thus restricting my review to the technical issues clouding this game at the moment.
On the positive side: other games have proven that Kinect CAN track well and that menus CAN be designed intelligently to accommodate Kinect. It's now up to EA to ensure that future releases are designed around Kinect, and not Kinect adapted around their Wii/PS3 Move interfaces. Given then that this is their first try with Kinect I'll give them a 4-star rating, but if they cannot improve these shortcomings by the 3rd release of Sports Active, I'll definitely only rate it a 3-star show.
Finally. This game is doing more for me that Your Shape Fitness Evolved. There is more variety here than in Your Shape. The menus run quicker too. Though Your Shape is still a good beginner's experience for now (as we hope future releases will be broader), I'd say if you were to chose between the two then go for EA Sports Active 2...even with the higher price tag.
The "2" in EA Sports Active 2 is actually a little misleading. The first EA Sports Active came out for the Wii in May of 2009, and the second, titled "More Workouts," came out 6 months later, adding much needed core exercises. This game, in essence, is the third in the series. Needless to say, I've been a fan of the franchise for a while, and it has been a great addition to my workouts. I decided to sell my Wii recently and upgrade to XBOX and Kinect, especially after hearing EASA 2 would be out soon after launch. However, being the third iteration in the series, this title for the XBOX is a bit of a step backwards.
Pros:
+ The addition of a heart rate monitor is great! It's accurate, stays put on my forearm even during the boxing workout, and it's easy to connect.
+ No more Wiimote and Nunchuck getting in your way. You don't have to decide between having the leg strap fall off of you or cut off the circulation to your right foot. This allows you to finally use your own weights instead of the included resistance band. There is even a setting adjustment for players wanting to take advantage of this feature.
+ The included resistance band is much more... resistant than the previous band. Your arms will now feel the burn on curls, raises and presses.
+ Step aerobics and boxing is a lot of fun. Both exercises have seen improvements and work well with the Kinect.
+ The game FINALLY recognizes my jumps! One frustration with the Wii was its inability to recognize jumps during downhill inline skating. No more, Sports Active fans!
+ Intensity is not a problem with this game. I completed medium intensity workouts and my heart rate stayed at about 70-80% of my maximum.
+ Lots of stats. You want stats, you got 'em. This game will tell you your average heart rate, calories burned, percent completion, and will give you graphs to measure your intensity. It will even tell you how many of each exercise you've ever performed, ever.
+ Achievements. Nothing like increasing your gamerscore and getting in shape at the same time, am I right?
Cons:
Motion-controlled menu interface. It is useless. Tip: Once you get your heart rate monitor connected, turn on your XBOX 360 controller as well. If you're expecting to have a controller-less experience with EASA 2, you will be spending a lot of time inadvertently hitting the wrong options and correcting your mistakes.
Voice recognition. I thought this would be a pretty cool addition. Yeah sure, I'd like to pause my workout simply by saying "Pause." But try to do anything else and you'll find out that it's not worth it. Want to skip an exercise? "Pause." "Skip exercise." "Select." (Are you sure?) "Skip exercise." "Select." It's not a fast process and a little more than annoying if what you say doesn't register the first time. Also, during my first exercise, I somehow managed to bring up the radio on two occasions (by voice prompt I'm assuming) and COULD NOT get it to go away. I had to pull out my handy controller again and hit "X" to get rid of it.
"Show Me How" is a pain! My first workout was 42 minutes long, and I bet I managed to accidentally trigger this selection about 30 times. I'm not sure if it was a phantom voice prompt or arm movement that triggered it, but it really put a kink in my workout.
No real-life trainers. It's a small complaint, but I think it's worth mentioning. In the first EASA, you learned how to perform exercises from actual human beings, which not only helped you with your form but also made you think, "Hey, if he/she can do it, so can I." Instead, EA has replaced these trainers with generic computer renderings tirelessly performing alternating jump lunges. Were the developers too rushed to include them? Or just cheap?
Trainer prompts and suggestions. One of the best features of the first EASA was the helpful suggestions given during your workout, telling you to focus on breathing or tighten your glutes. They were spouted often but always changed and were generally helpful. Now, they are overly repetitive and not useful. Yes, I know I should keep my pushups low, but if I go any lower, I will actually just be laying on the floor. Tip: after you've have one go through all of the exercises and heard all the trainer has to say, go to game settings and turn off all trainer input. You'll be happier doing the running drills when you're not being told to keep your back straight every 10 seconds.
Overall, EA Sports Active 2 does give you a solid, heart-pounding workout at home. But it feels as though EA made a last minute port instead of tailoring their SA franchise for the Kinect. Controls are finicky, graphics are a bit lacking, and sometimes you'll scream at your console for once again "showing you how" to do something you already know how to do.
Verdict: If you already have one of the previous Sports Actives for the Wii, skip this one. For 100 dollars, it's not worth upgrading. But if you are new to workout games, have an XBOX, a Kinect and an endless supply of patience, I'd say go for it. You will get a good balance of cardio and muscle sculpting workouts, and achievements will have you chasing new goals constantly.
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There are some ways this product falls short, and others where it excels.Pros:
-Heart rate monitoring. Your heart rate is an extremely useful tool for getting the most out of your workouts, working out safely, working out effectively, and a very good way of gauging your intensity. Beginners always have a hard time knowing whether or not they're working out with enough intensity, or if they're putting unnecessary stress on their heart. For those with heart conditions, I wouldn't even consider another fitness game.
-Resistance training and weight settings. You can use resistance bands for many of the workouts used by the game, or you can change a setting so that you can use your own dumbbells (up to 30 pounds, as far as I can tell). Resistance training is an important part of any serious workout.
-9 week program. This is a great feature for beginners and those that have been out of the routine for a while. It puts you on a routine with three selectable levels of intensity, four days a week for about a half hour per day. These workouts are great. I struggled to finish the Medium setting the first time through as a former athlete who's spent a little too much time couch gaming over the past few years and eating too much fast food after being too lazy to get back into my routine after an illness. For a while, expect these routines to take as much as an hour out of your day. Another plus here is warm-up and cool-down at the beginning and ending of each day's routine. Other fitness tools neglect this extremely important aspect of a good workout. Where is the stretching? It's unfortunate that good stretching wasn't thrown into the warm-up and cool-down portions.
Cons:
-Customization. I haven't explored this feature a great deal yet, but there doesn't appear to be an extensive level of customization.
-Stat tracking. This is pretty much a joke. The elaborate stat tracking that was posted is essentially just you answering a roll call. Did you exercise today? Yes. Did you eat healthy? Yes. Okay. Its making sure you participated, which is great, but I want to monitor my body's specific progress. It doesn't even have an input (that I've seen), where you can input your weight each day after weighing yourself on a scale, which I find sad considering you can mark down your participation in outside activities and have it count toward your progress. Why can't I record my weight progress, EA? Wii Fit lets you do it, and appears to be a superior tool for monitoring your results progress. If you have both, continue doing your Wii Fit Body Test daily as a supplement to EA Sports Active 2.
As I've said, these are initial impressions and may change. I intend to update this review as I discover new ways it excels and fails. At the end of day one, my body is feeling the too long unfamiliar feeling of a great workout.
UPDATE (11/19/10) Dropped from 4 to 2 stars.
Just completed my second workout and wow... just wow. I am about 8 feet from my TV because my living room is narrow but according to other Kinect games like Kinect Adventures and Dance Central have no problem detecting all of my movements easily. The second routine has a lot of workouts on that involve sitting on the floor, consecutively. Not only does the game force you to be standing at the beginning of each one of these to be recognized by the Kinect, but it also would not recognize anything my legs did while on my back no matter what I did. When I was supposed to be doing V crunches, I was having to kick one leg up in the air as high as I could just to get it to count a rep so I could just move on to the next workout. I tried lying sideways, straight forward, angled, closer, further away. NOTHING worked. I had to skip 2-3 workouts because of this. 8 feet should be plenty. Today, I was genuinely annoyed that I wasted an hour out of my day I could have spent getting a real workout. After this, I am really leaning toward selling it, as I don't have the 10-12 feet this apparently requires for floor workouts.
UPDATE 2 (11/22/10) Still 2 stars.
My wife and I have both done additional workouts with EA Active 2, moving the Kinect both above and below the TV, recalibrating everything as well. This thing still will not pick anything up that goes on when you're on the floor correctly, aside from pushups. It appears to be a result of the couch being at our backs. If your feet get near the couch, it can't detect your feet properly anymore. Again, my couch is about ten feet from the TV; supposedly plenty. If you take even one step forward, it tells you that you are too close once you lie down and won't track the movements anyway. No other Kinect game I've tried so far has had this problem.
Best Deals for EA Sports Active 2 - Xbox 360
I preorderd this game and had a chance to pop it into the 360 and play it tonight. I own both of the previous Wii EA Sports Active games (for Wii) and enjoyed them both, but ended up falling off of the exercise wagon after a while.I'm hoping this one can keep me motivated a bit longer.
I'm just going to go through a quick list of the Pros and Cons.
Pros:
Voice navigation through the game's menus is pretty awesome. Being able to skip workout tutorials just by using my is pretty awesome. You can also navigate through the in-game music choices to skip tracks if you feel the need.
Syncing with EASportsActive.com is good stuff. Sometimes during my lunch break I like to check in on my fitness schedule to know when my rest days are. You're also able to change attributes on your account like weight and have it sync back to the Xbox.
Workout tutorials are very helpful. Videos actually show you the way to hold the weights and how to perform the exercise. The trainer tells you where you should feel the burn so that helps you know if you are doing it correctly.
Kinect Sensor makes this game so much easier. One thing I hated about the Wii version was constantly pulling the nunchuck out of the leg strap and having to try to fit it back in there on the next exercise. No more fussing with that. Kinect just tracks your motion with its camera, so there is nothing to hold on to. Some exercises require weights, so the only thing you will switch back and forth between are exercises not requiring weights and exercises requiring weights...
Being able to use free weights rather than the resistance weight band. I grabbed myself a couple of 5 lb. weights and entered it into my game profile and went to town. When you set up your profile, you tell it how heavy the weights are, and it uses that information to help calculate your calorie burn. The game comes bundled with a resistance band if you don't have any weights of your own.
This isn't an EA Sports Active pro, more of a 360/Kinect pro. Achievements are awesome. I have a feeling the lust for every achievement point in this game will be one thing that motivates me to keep playing. Setting up your account and getting through your first workout session nets you about 30 points. I can't imagine how tone I will be after collecting them all.
Cons:
I consider the bundled heart rate monitor both a pro and a con. It is interesting to see your rate spike when you're really pushing it, and I can see how it would give you a more accurate calorie burn reading, but the fact that it increases the price of the game to $99 makes it a little harsh. The rate monitor just isn't that important to me. I haven't tried out two player mode yet, but I don't think the monitor is required for the exercises, just recommended, so no need to pick up a second one if the person you play with isn't super into it. I will probably let my fiancée wear it if she wants to when we work out together because it just isn't that important to me.
The exercise accuracy tracking with Kinect is a little sketchy. Sometimes the machine just has no idea what I am doing, especially when squatting. I'm willing to put part of the blame on myself, I have only had the game for an evening, so I am not in good enough shape to squat as low as it wants me to. I also had pajama pants on rather than my usual workout shorts. I recommend wearing shorts; I think it will help a lot. The accuracy also seems a little off when jogging in place. It really wants you to power jog and whip those arms back and forth to burn more calories. I think it uses the arm movement as a way to judge if you are actually running. Sometimes you really have to exaggerate your movement to get it to pick up that you're actually running in place quite fast. I'm willing to give the machine the benefit of the doubt. Next time I will be wearing shorts and after a few more weeks I should be able to squat lower, so I will try to update this after that. I feel the trade off in accuracy is totally worth not having to flail around with the Wiimotes though. I am hoping now that Microsoft has sold over a million of these things they use the data gathered to release a patch that improves accuracy across the board.
Load time. It seems to take an awful lot of time to load in between the workouts. I am going to install the game to the Xbox HDD, and I think it will eliminate that problem. To be honest, I needed the extra 30 seconds of rest time tonight, but listening to the Xbox wind up like a jet engine between every workout is a pretty scary thing to witness.
I wished the game allowed you to use the voice navigation for personal music selection using music streamed over a network or mp3s that are stored on the Xbox HDD. Rocking out to my own tunes or a podcast while working out would be pretty amazing to me. There is nothing to stop you from putting the ingame music volume to mute and using the Xbox guide button on a remote to get a playlist going though.
That's all I have to say for now. After a couple of weeks I will try to post more thoughts. I played on medium tonight and will be turning it down to easy next time. I am not overweight, just out of shape. The heart rate monitor needs a panic button for out of shape bozos like myself. :) And the only reason I gave it three out of five stars for "fun" is because exercise will never be fun to me.
Honest reviews on EA Sports Active 2 - Xbox 360
I have been using Active 2 for Kinect for 3 weeks and have completed 5 workouts in the 9 week program. I used the original Active for the Nintendo Wii a couple times a month for about a year.Here's what you need to know if you are considering getting Active 2: it can be frustrating at first but it is a great way to get a workout if you STAY PATIENT and TWEAK YOUR SETTINGS and MAKE SURE YOU HAVE ENOUGH PLAY SPACE. Kinect seems like a great product to me, but it is a bit touchy and oversensitive, also most of the games out for it so far don't really use it as well as they could, Active 2 included.
Before you even think about getting this game check out your play space. First make sure your Kinect sensor can "see" the floor( it cannot be pushed back into a deep shelf on an entertainment center for example). Then make sure Kinect is at least 4 feet off the ground, and has at least 8 feet of clear space in front of it. These are the minimum requirements for Kinect to function. If you have nowhere that you can get the Kinect 4 feet up, 8 feet out, and able to point at the floor you should stop reading right now and get a Wii or a Playstation Move. These are the absolute minimum requirements for Kinect to function and if you don't have the space, don't waste your money.
Once you have your play space cleared, get it as bright in the room as possible. Open shades and turn on lights. Then run the Kinect calibration program.
If you have the play space and have your Kinect working right, there are 2 things you need to know to avoid the extreme frustration that Active 2 can cause.
First, TURN OFF THE VOICE COMMANDS. They cause the "show me how" tutorial videos to play over and over in the middle of your workout when you don't say a word but somehow Kinect goes deaf when you actually want to use them. Would be a good idea if they worked but they are worthless and you are better off forgetting they exist.
Second, STAY STILL IN THE MIDDLE OF THE PLAY SPACE BETWEEN WORKOUTS AND ON ALL FLOOR EXERCISES. The floor exercises can be the most annoying, horrifying exercise in frustration you have ever experienced. If you don't let Kinect keep track of you before you sit down it will constantly freeze and make you press A to re-connect. Stay standing still directly in front of the camera on the pushups, crunches, arm planks, etc until you see "sit down and face the sensor" on the screen.
If you do both of these things Active 2 will work the way it was intended to about 95% of the time and it will kick your butt, make you sweat, and generally give you a solid workout.
Two player Active 2it kinda works....but.....
Two players works very well on some exercises, especially the running and mountain biking. The floor exercises are completely broken with 2 players. My husband and I could not get the game to stop freezing on 2 player crunches no matter what we tried, the sensor would lose track of the right hand player and freeze immediately whenever we started to sit down. Jumps can get dangerouswe collided painfully on the side to side jumps trying to stay within the play space. There are also many exercises that cannot be played with 2 players and the game will remove them from the workout when 2 players are selected, cutting down your workout time and potential calories to be burned. Two player mountain bike racing or sprints would be fun as a party mini-game. It would also probably work as a serious workout if you create a custom one to eliminate floor and jumping exercises.
The heart rate monitor that comes with Active 2 is simple and works perfectly but isn't really required, it should be optional because it makes the game come in at a pricey $100.
The ability to make your character appear on the screen with free weights instead of the resistance band is nice, it doesn't really change any of the exercises and nothing was preventing you from ditching the band in favor of the weights before. It is still a nice touch though.
Overall, if you have an Xbox, you are planning to use Kinect for more than just Active 2, and you have the right amount of space and a little patience I would recommend this game for a good workout. Because of the small but frustrating glitches and the price tag, I would not buy an Xbox and a Kinect just to play Active 2, it is just too expensive.
Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for EA Sports Active 2 - Xbox 360
As many have pointed out the pros and cons of this game, I would like to just give some feedback on what I've discovered with the Kinect version in the last 3 weeks of using it. To know what kind of exercises you can expect and the programs connected with it, read the other reviews as they are fairly adequate in their explanations. On some of the game's current shortcomings I just want to add a few pointers below:SPACE
EA Sports Active needs more backwards space. This is probably the biggest shortcoming of most Kinect games at the moment, and that is that the space to the sides (as you face the sensor) is usually enough, but you need more space at the back. For EA Sports Active to start working 'properly', make sure you have sufficient back space.
RECOGNITION
The game will by times 'forget' who you are. This is rather silly, as you sign in with an idea and therefore should be the still the same person throughout the game. However, whenever the sensor loses you the game goes into re-identifying you. This is a hassle, and you will need patience to accept it as one of its shortcomings at the moment.
Again, stand back. I found that when I'm too close to the sensor it'll lose me -so stand back.
Also, between workouts, be ready to face the camera again at the beginning of each session. If you turn at those points to drink water or shuffle the cat away, it will go into the re-identifying mode again.
When this happens, stand back again in your space and wait. It may say for a few seconds that it cannot find you and that you are now a VISITOR, but just stand patiently and hopefully it'll find you. So far, it has always found me within a few seconds.
CONTROLLER
As mentioned, this game has been clearly designed for the Wii, and then when they found out that PS3 and Xbox will release the Move and Kinect respectively, they quickly transformed it for these consoles. For PS3 Move it'll work, but the problem is that the menus and not entirely Kinect-friendly. Make sure your Xbox controller is nearby at all times, as you will need to hit that green A button frequently to progress through tutorials and other menus. Don't fret over it, that's just the way it is for now. I am positive that EA sports Active will make adjustments for Kinect in the future, but that will only be expected by the 3rd release.
LYING-DOWN EXERCISES
When an exercise comes up that needs you to lie down, DON'T just lie down. Wait until it prompts you to do so, and only then lie down. For some reason Kinect searches for your face first, and when you go lie down it loses you and then goes into re-identifying mode again. You'll have to stand up again and do the whole thing again.
So keep standing, wait, and let the game tell you to go down and then do it. It should save you some time on the identifying hassle.
Then, while lying down...(see below)
LIGHTNING vs FLOOR EXERCISES
Before Kinect was released, I had read that some developers had problems with Kinect in that it couldn't recognize people when sitting or lying down. It was mentioned that some of these developers found other unique ways of overcoming this problem by analyzing the shadows of your body. Knowing this, I can safely assume that EA had this problem when they designed the Kinect version of Sports Active 2. So what I did was to ensure that I had some kind of "shadow" while doing lying-down exercises by having my nearby lamp shine on me from the side. Sounds weird, eh? But so far no problems with lying-down exercises.
Once you accept these shortcomings for this product, things tend to go smoother. From the reviews I had read beforehand I had expected something horrendous, but turns out my workouts had been going pretty smoothly for the last few weeks. As I am not much of a fitness geek (and that's exactly why I got this) I cannot give feedback on the contents and structure of the training, thus restricting my review to the technical issues clouding this game at the moment.
On the positive side: other games have proven that Kinect CAN track well and that menus CAN be designed intelligently to accommodate Kinect. It's now up to EA to ensure that future releases are designed around Kinect, and not Kinect adapted around their Wii/PS3 Move interfaces. Given then that this is their first try with Kinect I'll give them a 4-star rating, but if they cannot improve these shortcomings by the 3rd release of Sports Active, I'll definitely only rate it a 3-star show.
Finally. This game is doing more for me that Your Shape Fitness Evolved. There is more variety here than in Your Shape. The menus run quicker too. Though Your Shape is still a good beginner's experience for now (as we hope future releases will be broader), I'd say if you were to chose between the two then go for EA Sports Active 2...even with the higher price tag.
Sunday, August 3, 2014
Review of Datel Wired Wildfire 2 Controller White Xbox 360
Written by my teen:
Likes: It's programmable, has LED mode display, and makes other gamers angry because my guns shoot faster than theirs. Dislike: wish the wire was longer.
Likes: It's programmable, has LED mode display, and makes other gamers angry because my guns shoot faster than theirs. Dislike: wish the wire was longer.
Tuesday, July 15, 2014
Planet of the Apes - PC Review
This is a creative twist on the original film(Heston, McDowell) It starts out with Astronauts Ulysses(very Taylor-like), Sophie last name unspecified(who looks -a lotbetter than Landon but gets gunned down, darn!), and Romulus(doesn't like the heat, much like actor Jeff Burton), and Rodrigis(a rotting corpse like Stewert) crashlanding on a 'host planet' as the ship calls it in a desert(Forbidden Zone. kewl!) and abandoning the self-distructing ship and going through desert, widlerness, and corn field(not giving away plott, all in movie) and getting clobbered by apes(gorrillas). This is where the similarity ends. I'll say no more.
Planet of the Apes is an action/adventure game where the main character is a two-fisted ape whacking space ferrer(Captain Kirk, Taylor, Han Solo, ect.) But it is not like the original in that the Apes are stronger than he is and acting covertly is more often than not, the answer. Most fights I've been in with the gorillas have left Ulysses bruised severely and critically wounded. Being stealthy is important here. If you like Quake or Unreal, you may not like this, their is more hand to hand and less power wheapons to waste the apes. The only wheapons in this game(worth mentioning) are the rifle, and the Laser rifle. The Laser rifle is at a much later stage(I haven't conqererd that level yet.) You don't actually start using projectile wheapons until much later, like the second half of the game. This game is as much about adventure as it is abot action, and thier's a lot to explore in the Ape city alone. Levels 4-7 are almost completely devoid of Apes, only two I've encountered total, however, it is very interesting and if you like adventure games you'll love that section of the game!
My only gripe with this game, is the keyboard only interface, which is keeping me from winning those ape brawls I keep getting myself into. Ulysses ain't as strong as the apes but at least give me a good interface to keep him fight'n. Keyboard only! Not mouse, not controller like it says on the box. I have written Ubisoft about it and hope for a reply within 3 days.
Limited save games would not be an issue with me except for the input problem. I can't fight as well with keyboard. ALT(or any other key) doesn't respond like a mouse button or good ole controller pad. Keep your distance. When you get a gun, shoot'em in the back of the neck like they did your astronaut friend at the beginning. That'll show them damn dirty Apes! Once they start forward, that ALT key is slow!
That aside, it's a great game with an excellent sound track and good special effects. Whether you thought the new movie was a flop or not I highly recommend giving this game a try, you can always take it back if you don't like it. This game deserves some credit.
Anyway, being an avid Planet of the Apes fan, I was pleasantly surprised by meeting all the old characters (Cornelius, Zira, Dr. Zaius, and even General Ursus!). But this is where my biggest gripe about the game comes in. The voice acting! I can stand the keyboard only interface and outdated visuals, but the protagonist sounds like he has a lisp, Cornelius sounds like he is in his eighties, and Ursus is just plain bad. The fact that the other humans talk don't help much. My other gripe is the lack of in-game saving, but since this game is quite easy with low enemy placement, that didn't present a problem.
Nova is introduced as a red-haired Lara Croft like gal who kicks ape butt, but she seems to be well versed in the English language, which kinda confuses me, as in BTPOTA, Nova is having a tough time to speak... Taylor even helps her out by going (No...oo..ova... Ta..aa..aaylor... No.oo.ova!). I kinda think it is possible that humans speak, as we do meet mutants in the second movie, but every human in this game can talk, which kinda contrasts with BTPOTA, where Zira says the only human she knows who can talk other than Brent is Taylor, but enough about that.
The controls are reminiscent of Tomb Raider, and the camera work is quite lacklustre, to the point of giving me multiple headaches. Actually, come to think of it, this game is really similar to Indiana Jones: The Infernal Machine in both controls and graphics.
If you are searching for a shoot-em-up type game, this isn't for you. A vast majority of the time, you have to put up your dukes against damn dirty baboons, and the few weapons in the game that I have found include a club, knives, a gun, a machine gun, and a laser gun. All variations of the gun are essentially the same, with the only differences being effects and small physical alterations. The combat is remniscent of boxing arcade games, where you press back to dodge blows, and then beat the heck out of the other guy... I mean ape. And don't expect realistic effects with the guns either. The only gun with any visible effects is the laser, while all others just cause smoke to billow up and you cant see the bullet or any markings of damage. It also takes roughly the same amount of hits to kill an ape with a gun as it does with your fists, and the hits are not body specific. One weird thing is that all the enemies I encountered have some sort of honor system, whereby they take turns attacking you. While you duke it out with one ape, the other one waits patiently for his turn.
Do look forward to tons of fun RPG action, as you get to enjoy revisiting the Planet of the Apes, and my particular favorite was finding out where the humming in BTPOTA was originating from. There are tons of surprises, and even lots of cool scenes.
All in all, a cool game which is sort of Indiana Jones on the Planet of the Apes in a loin cloth. Don't be put off by the controls or the visuals, as they kinda grow on ya after a while, and if you do buy this game, don't go reaching for your hintbook or put off by what seems to be impossible puzzles, as running around experimenting helps alot. On a personal note, this is probably the first game I played looking at the walkthrough once only! And lastly, let me quote a previous reviewer:
Must buy.
Get this game.
Its Planet of the Apes
Enough said
The plot line itself is simple but relatively fun. However, some of it just doesn't make sense (or at least not to me), so you may have to look online for a sectionalized walkthrough for the occasional hint. The game was relatively bug-free. The forced-character interaction with major characters is relatively seamless. All in all it was a fun game. but then again, it cost me under ten bucks (as compared to an average $50-$60 for a new game), so perhaps that had a lot to do with it.
Planet of the Apes is an action/adventure game where the main character is a two-fisted ape whacking space ferrer(Captain Kirk, Taylor, Han Solo, ect.) But it is not like the original in that the Apes are stronger than he is and acting covertly is more often than not, the answer. Most fights I've been in with the gorillas have left Ulysses bruised severely and critically wounded. Being stealthy is important here. If you like Quake or Unreal, you may not like this, their is more hand to hand and less power wheapons to waste the apes. The only wheapons in this game(worth mentioning) are the rifle, and the Laser rifle. The Laser rifle is at a much later stage(I haven't conqererd that level yet.) You don't actually start using projectile wheapons until much later, like the second half of the game. This game is as much about adventure as it is abot action, and thier's a lot to explore in the Ape city alone. Levels 4-7 are almost completely devoid of Apes, only two I've encountered total, however, it is very interesting and if you like adventure games you'll love that section of the game!
My only gripe with this game, is the keyboard only interface, which is keeping me from winning those ape brawls I keep getting myself into. Ulysses ain't as strong as the apes but at least give me a good interface to keep him fight'n. Keyboard only! Not mouse, not controller like it says on the box. I have written Ubisoft about it and hope for a reply within 3 days.
Limited save games would not be an issue with me except for the input problem. I can't fight as well with keyboard. ALT(or any other key) doesn't respond like a mouse button or good ole controller pad. Keep your distance. When you get a gun, shoot'em in the back of the neck like they did your astronaut friend at the beginning. That'll show them damn dirty Apes! Once they start forward, that ALT key is slow!
That aside, it's a great game with an excellent sound track and good special effects. Whether you thought the new movie was a flop or not I highly recommend giving this game a try, you can always take it back if you don't like it. This game deserves some credit.
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Like most other reviewers said, the beginning of the game is more or less a rip-off of the original POTA movie with Heston, even going to the Stewart corpse and crashlanding. Even the set is exactly like the original albeit with a modern twist.Anyway, being an avid Planet of the Apes fan, I was pleasantly surprised by meeting all the old characters (Cornelius, Zira, Dr. Zaius, and even General Ursus!). But this is where my biggest gripe about the game comes in. The voice acting! I can stand the keyboard only interface and outdated visuals, but the protagonist sounds like he has a lisp, Cornelius sounds like he is in his eighties, and Ursus is just plain bad. The fact that the other humans talk don't help much. My other gripe is the lack of in-game saving, but since this game is quite easy with low enemy placement, that didn't present a problem.
Nova is introduced as a red-haired Lara Croft like gal who kicks ape butt, but she seems to be well versed in the English language, which kinda confuses me, as in BTPOTA, Nova is having a tough time to speak... Taylor even helps her out by going (No...oo..ova... Ta..aa..aaylor... No.oo.ova!). I kinda think it is possible that humans speak, as we do meet mutants in the second movie, but every human in this game can talk, which kinda contrasts with BTPOTA, where Zira says the only human she knows who can talk other than Brent is Taylor, but enough about that.
The controls are reminiscent of Tomb Raider, and the camera work is quite lacklustre, to the point of giving me multiple headaches. Actually, come to think of it, this game is really similar to Indiana Jones: The Infernal Machine in both controls and graphics.
If you are searching for a shoot-em-up type game, this isn't for you. A vast majority of the time, you have to put up your dukes against damn dirty baboons, and the few weapons in the game that I have found include a club, knives, a gun, a machine gun, and a laser gun. All variations of the gun are essentially the same, with the only differences being effects and small physical alterations. The combat is remniscent of boxing arcade games, where you press back to dodge blows, and then beat the heck out of the other guy... I mean ape. And don't expect realistic effects with the guns either. The only gun with any visible effects is the laser, while all others just cause smoke to billow up and you cant see the bullet or any markings of damage. It also takes roughly the same amount of hits to kill an ape with a gun as it does with your fists, and the hits are not body specific. One weird thing is that all the enemies I encountered have some sort of honor system, whereby they take turns attacking you. While you duke it out with one ape, the other one waits patiently for his turn.
Do look forward to tons of fun RPG action, as you get to enjoy revisiting the Planet of the Apes, and my particular favorite was finding out where the humming in BTPOTA was originating from. There are tons of surprises, and even lots of cool scenes.
All in all, a cool game which is sort of Indiana Jones on the Planet of the Apes in a loin cloth. Don't be put off by the controls or the visuals, as they kinda grow on ya after a while, and if you do buy this game, don't go reaching for your hintbook or put off by what seems to be impossible puzzles, as running around experimenting helps alot. On a personal note, this is probably the first game I played looking at the walkthrough once only! And lastly, let me quote a previous reviewer:
Must buy.
Get this game.
Its Planet of the Apes
Enough said
Best Deals for Planet of the Apes - PC
It is a good game for a casual action/adventure(graphic adventure) fan if only it worked in Windows XP. In fact, aside from its native OS it doesn't work at all! Very rigid flaky program. The content and gameplay is really quite fun, not anything breathtaking or revolutionary but a nice ride. I am willing to write about it not working in XP but it will never work because unless some win 98 emulator comes along(via a selfless 3rd party like DOS Box's Sourceforge), this game will be long forgotten by all. Such is the world of "The Planet of the Apes". If you have an operating PC that is compatible with 98 don't ever run it off the CD-ROM it is the worst experience ever, always do a full install of both disks and you'll never be kicked out of the awesome climax of movies(what little thier are). Like the animated series, the apes and "primitive' humans sound very civilised. "Nova's" voice is more pleasant than a phone operator's(since it is also "Zira's" not to mention every other female character in the game) and she is not the primate that that character concept was written for. Your main character, Ulysses is taken from the book, and is the most savage of the bunch(despite his lisp). Just because you can just walz in and take out a bunch of chimps doesn't mean you should. Play it with the better half of valour for a real experience. The gunsite navigation is cool(you dodge based on the point of view of the ape sniping you), remensecnt of the animated series with the Pink Panther style inky black-to-vivid contrast colors and garish post-appocoliptic atmosphere, especially the artwork in the city. The end game is cheesy.Honest reviews on Planet of the Apes - PC
I am not a big video game player but I am a big POTA fan. Having said that, I love this game!!! It is so well put together. It is well thought out and a lot of fun. It is not full of mindless violence. In other words, although their is some violence, this game requires the player to have a brain, too. I am at an advanced stage of the game and look forward to finally beating the game but will be sad when its over. I wish UBI Soft would come out with another one. Good job UBI Soft!!! I can't say enough about the game so I'll leave it at this: Buy it. Play it. Live it. Love it.Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for Planet of the Apes - PC
This is not a knock-off. As such, the movie feels as dated at the movies. The game itself is fun, but in a retro-kind of way. The game play is clunky at times and counter-intuitive, but the interface is relatively simple and easy to use. It is almost like playing "Thief 2" but not quite as cool. Not early as much shooting as a game like Quake or Doom, as you are often a captive and must escape almost naked, overpowering the next guard you see with a knife, club, or even your fists (good luck with that!). The puzzles are mostly character intuitive, being that you can figure them out by looking around a little, and making note of what your character has been told or discovered along the plot line.The plot line itself is simple but relatively fun. However, some of it just doesn't make sense (or at least not to me), so you may have to look online for a sectionalized walkthrough for the occasional hint. The game was relatively bug-free. The forced-character interaction with major characters is relatively seamless. All in all it was a fun game. but then again, it cost me under ten bucks (as compared to an average $50-$60 for a new game), so perhaps that had a lot to do with it.
Thursday, June 12, 2014
Review of Panasonic 3DO FZ-1 System - Video Game Console
Background:
The 3DO interactive Multiplayer system was one of the first dedicated CD-ROM based game systems. Launched in 1993, at a price point of $699.99, it was intended as a standard from which various manufacturers and developers could work from. The 3DO company did not manufacture the game units, instead they licensed out the idea for a small fee in royalties.
Ahead of its time, it boasted a CD-ROM drive (capable of playing games and photo and music CDs) as well as powerful 3D graphics capabilities. The system could be used as a CD player, and had standard AV outputs including component and S-video. Among other innovations were controllers that could be daisy chained together (physically linked together through a connector port on the back of each controller), and a built in game save ROM.
Some reviewers state that the 3DO was only slightly less powerful than the Sony Playstation, a system that came out two years later. In this, the 3DO was definitely ahead of its time.
The 3DO system sold a significant number of units, but never gained enough traction to compete with the main players at the time (which included SNES and the Sega Genesis). The high cost of the system made it out of the price range of most of its potential audience.
Over 130 games for the 3DO were produced. At the time, Full Motion Video (FMV) was considered the latest advance in video games. There are a good number of FMV games available for the 3DO, many of them fairly cheesy. Towards the end of the system's life cycle, a number of adult themed games were produced, making it one of the few major consoles to feature adult oriented content.
But FMV were not all the games produced for the system. The 3DO also featured numerous 3D based FPS's, space based shooters, racers and a few fighting games.
Sadly, the system faired poorly in the market and was canceled in 1996. The 3DO Company went on to become a software publisher.
The system:
The FZ-1 is the first version of the 3DO Interactive Multiplayer that Panasonic produced. Physically, it bears a very close resemblance to the alternate Goldstar model, the main physical diferance being the embossed Panasonic logo on the top. I've read that the Panasonic FZ-1 is preferable over the Goldstar model because it has fewer compatability issue with certain games.
Both units are fairly heavy. The later FZ-10 used a top loading tray similair to the Playstation. The original FZ-1 form factor is nicer in some regards because one is able to stack other equipment/consoles on top of it, a bonus when space is limited.
The FZ-1 features a front loading CD Tray and standard AV outputs (meaning that standard AV cables may be used.) This includes standard an RF connection, Composite video, stereo and, unusual for the time, S-video. S-video is extremely nice to have as it was the best display standard available at the time and has the cleanest image. Unlike the updated "slim" version in the FZ-10, the FZ-1 requires the use of a program CD to access the system's game save rom. In this the FZ-10 is superior as it's a lot less tedious to delete save files, and used units these days will often be sold without the needed CD.
The Games:
The 3DO has a fairly small library of games compared to other systems, though the games cover the full range of genres from RPG, FPS and space shooters to fighting and racing games. A number of games such as Star Control II and The Need For Speed are especially memorable. The 3DO was also the platform for the only strategy based tie-in game for the movie Jurassic Park entitled Jurassic Park Interactive and the 3DO version of the infamous Night Trap is considered by some to be the best available. Overall, a good number of the 3DO's games are entertaining and ahead of their time, though there's some garbage on the system (Plumbers Don't Wear Ties).
Many developers went out of their way to use the CD capabilities of the 3DO and as the result, the system's games often boast CD quality music. Street Fighter 2 Turbo is an example of this. The music in the 3DO port is actually better than in the arcade version. This sets it apart from the systems it competed against early in its life cycle.
In addition, a good number of games use Full Motion Video cut scenes or high quality pre-rendered animations, both available due to the additional space allowed on a CD. Along the same lines, a good number of the games feature FMV gameplay, but this type of game covers only a small portion of the game library.
PROS:
* AV connections use standard cables including S-video.
* Native S-video support makes this system display better on modern flat panel TVs than many of its contemporaries.
CONS:
* Limited game collection (about 140 games), many of them mediocre or worse.
* Small consumer base makes games harder to find now.
* Controllers could be better.
* Many 3DO games were ported to other systems after the 3DO's demise.
BOTTOM LINE:
The 3DO is a good system, but the limited catalog of games makes it less desirable to the average gamer. An interesting footnote in gaming history, it's likely to appeal only to the vintage gaming enthusiast. It certainly lacks the legs of the NES, Genesis or SNES.
The FZ-1 is a good model though I would say it's a toss-up between this one and the FZ-10. The game save program manager of the Fz-10 is a nice feature, but the FZ-1's form factor gives it a little extra appeal. Since both systems contain much the same hardware, it's mostly the cosmetic differences that purchasers will need to decide on.
Best-selling game Return Fire Successor M2 canceled Developer The 3DO Company Manufacturer Panasonic, Sanyo and GoldStar Retail availability NA October 4, 1993
JP March 20, 1994
EU 1994 Discontinued 1996
list of games 3D Atlas
Advanced Dungeons and Dragons Death Keep
Advanced Dungeons and Dragons Slayer
Alone In The Dark
Alone In The Dark 2
Ballz: The Director's Cut
Battle Chess
Battlesport
BC Racers
Blade Force
Blonde Justice
Brain Dead 13
Burning Soldier
Bust-A-Move
Cannon Fodder
Captain Quazar
Carrier: Fortress at Sea
Casper
Club 3DO: Station Invasion
Corpse Killer
Coven
Cowboy Casino
Crash N' Burn
Creature Shock
Crime Patrol
Cyberia
Cyberdillo
D
Demolition Man
Dennis Miller That's News to me.
Digital Dreamware
Dinopark Tycoon
Doom
Dragon's Lair
Dragon Lore
Drug Wars
Endlessly
Escape From Monster Manor
ESPN Beach Volleyball
ESPN Golf
ESPN Golf: Mental Messages
ESPN Interactive Hitting
ESPN Let's Go Skiing
ESPN Let's Play Soccer
ESPN Let's Play Tennis
ESPN Step Aerobics
Family Feud
Fatty Bear's Birthday Surprise
Fatty Bear's Fun Pack
FIFA Soccer
Flashback: The Quest For Identity
Flying Nightmares
Foes Of Ali
Fun 'N Games
Gex
Gridders
Guardian War
Gunslinger Collection
Hell: A Cyberpunk Thriller
Horde
Ice Breaker
Immercenary
Immortal Desires
Incredible Machine
Iron Angel Of The Apocalypse
Iron Angel of the Apocalypse: The Return
Jammit
John Madden Football
Johnny Bazookatone
Jurassic Park Interactive
Killing Time
Kingdom: The Far Reaches
Lemmings
Lost Eden
Lost Files Of Sherlock Holmes
Love Bites
Lucienne's Quest
Mad Dog McCree
Mad Dog II: The Lost Gold
Mathemagics: An Interactive Learning Cube
Mazer
Mega Race
Microcosm
Mind Teazzer
Myst
Need For Speed
Neuro Dancer
Night Trap
Novastorm
Off-World Interceptor
Olympic Soccer
Olympic Summer Games
Out Of This World
PaTaank
Panasonic Demonstration CD
Panasonic Sampler CD
Panzer General
Perfect General
PGA Tour 96
Phoenix 3
Plumbers Don't Wear Ties
PO'ed
Primal Rage
Psychic Detective
Putt Putt Goes To The Moon
Putt Putt Joins The Parade
Putt Putt's Fun Pack
Quarantine
Quarterback Attack
Real Pinball
Return Fire
Return Fire: Maps o'Death
Rise Of The Robots
Road Rash
Robinson's Requiem
Sample This!
Samurai Shodown
Scramble Cobra
Seal of the Pharaoh
Sesame Street Numbers
Sewer Shark
Sex
Shadow: War Of Succession
Shanghai: Triple Threat
Shelley Duvall's: It's A Bird's Life
Shock Wave
Shock Wave: Operation Jumpgate Shockwave
Shock Wave 2: Beyond The Gate
Sid Meier's C.P.U. Bach
Slam 'N Jam '95
Slope Style: An nteractive Learning Cube Instruction.
Snow Job
Soccer Kid
Space Ace
Space Hulk: Vengeance of the Blood Angels
Space Pirates
StarBlade
Star Control II
Star Fighter
Star Wars: Rebel Assault
Stellar 7: Draxon's Revenge
Strahl
Super Models Go Wild
Super Street Fighter II Turbo
Super Wing Commander
Supreme Warrior Fighting
Syndicate
The Daedalus Encounter
The Last Bounty Hunter
The Life Stage: Virtual House
The San Diego Zoo
Oceans Below
Space Shuttle
Theme Park
Toon Time In The Classroom
Total Eclipse
Trip'D
True Golf Classics: Pebble Beach Golf Links
True Golf Classics: Waialae Country Club
True Golf Classics: Wicked 18
Twentieth Century Video Almanac
Twisted: The Game Show
Virtual Vivid Sampler
Virtuoso
VR Stalker
Way Of The Warrior
Who Shot Johnny Rock?
Wing Commander III: Heart Of The Tiger
Wolfenstein 3D
Woody Woodpecker 1
Woody Woodpecker 2
Woody Woodpecker 3
World Cup Golf: Hyatt Dorado Beach
Zhadnost: The People's Party
Japanese games.
Achieve Peace: An Almanac For Improving Your Fortune
Aesop's Fables: The Ants and the Grasshoppers Vol. 1
Ai Shogi
AV Girl Mahjong
Bakusito
Battle Pinball
Belzerion
Battery Navi
Bonogurashi
Confrontation: Wax Water game.
Crayon Shin Chan: The Big Magic.
Doctor Hauzer
Dragon Tycoon Edge
Emit Vol. 1
Emit Vol. 2
F1 GP
Flopon the Space Mutant
Fumin's Toy Box
Ghost Hunter Series: The Mask of Black Death
Global Defense
Graduation: Final
Graduation II: Special-Neo Generation
Grand Chef of the Kingdom
Grimm's Fairy Tales Vol. 2: Hansel and Gretel
Grimm's Fairy Tales Vol. 3: Little Red Riding Hood
Hello Kitty Toy Box
J.League Virtual Stadium
Kamachi's Museum
Kerokerokeroppi and the Origami Experts
Macaroni Interactive
Mahjong Enlightenment Sky: Heaven Sent
Marine Tour: Diving Spot Guide
Masters: Harukanaru Augusta 3Sports)| T&E Soft
Mitsumasa Anno's Four Seasons in Pepperon
Miyuki Nakajima
Montana Jones
Monoshiri Freedom School
Moon Cradle
Multimedia Cruising
Murphy's T.V.
Neo Organic Bioform
Nice Body
Nobunaga's Ambition
Oyaji Hunter Mahjong
Paddock Note '95
Penthouse Interactive:Virtual Photo Shoot Vol. 1
Peter Frankle: Tower of Challenge
Pretty Soldier Sailormoon Fighting)| Bandai
Prime Suspect
Princess Maker 2
Puppet Tales
Pyramid Intruder
Romance of the Three Kingdoms IV
Royal Pro Wrestling
Rush'n'Fire Megadas
Shanghai: The Great Wall
Sensu no Tensai
Super Mahjong P. IV
Susono Country Club: Golf Course Multimedia Tour
Takeru
Tarot Card Fortune Teller
Theatre Wars
The Deep Blue Fleet
The Doraemons
The Letter That Overcame ime
The Tower
Together With Nontan: TheStar's Gift
Twinkle Knights
Ultraman Powered
Virtual Cameraman Part 3
Virtual Puppet Reika
Winners Take All
Winning Post
Yu Yu Hakusho
But if you are looking for a very unique experience, off the wall games, fun games, family games, adult games. Then the 3DO is perfect for you@@
The 3DO interactive Multiplayer system was one of the first dedicated CD-ROM based game systems. Launched in 1993, at a price point of $699.99, it was intended as a standard from which various manufacturers and developers could work from. The 3DO company did not manufacture the game units, instead they licensed out the idea for a small fee in royalties.
Ahead of its time, it boasted a CD-ROM drive (capable of playing games and photo and music CDs) as well as powerful 3D graphics capabilities. The system could be used as a CD player, and had standard AV outputs including component and S-video. Among other innovations were controllers that could be daisy chained together (physically linked together through a connector port on the back of each controller), and a built in game save ROM.
Some reviewers state that the 3DO was only slightly less powerful than the Sony Playstation, a system that came out two years later. In this, the 3DO was definitely ahead of its time.
The 3DO system sold a significant number of units, but never gained enough traction to compete with the main players at the time (which included SNES and the Sega Genesis). The high cost of the system made it out of the price range of most of its potential audience.
Over 130 games for the 3DO were produced. At the time, Full Motion Video (FMV) was considered the latest advance in video games. There are a good number of FMV games available for the 3DO, many of them fairly cheesy. Towards the end of the system's life cycle, a number of adult themed games were produced, making it one of the few major consoles to feature adult oriented content.
But FMV were not all the games produced for the system. The 3DO also featured numerous 3D based FPS's, space based shooters, racers and a few fighting games.
Sadly, the system faired poorly in the market and was canceled in 1996. The 3DO Company went on to become a software publisher.
The system:
The FZ-1 is the first version of the 3DO Interactive Multiplayer that Panasonic produced. Physically, it bears a very close resemblance to the alternate Goldstar model, the main physical diferance being the embossed Panasonic logo on the top. I've read that the Panasonic FZ-1 is preferable over the Goldstar model because it has fewer compatability issue with certain games.
Both units are fairly heavy. The later FZ-10 used a top loading tray similair to the Playstation. The original FZ-1 form factor is nicer in some regards because one is able to stack other equipment/consoles on top of it, a bonus when space is limited.
The FZ-1 features a front loading CD Tray and standard AV outputs (meaning that standard AV cables may be used.) This includes standard an RF connection, Composite video, stereo and, unusual for the time, S-video. S-video is extremely nice to have as it was the best display standard available at the time and has the cleanest image. Unlike the updated "slim" version in the FZ-10, the FZ-1 requires the use of a program CD to access the system's game save rom. In this the FZ-10 is superior as it's a lot less tedious to delete save files, and used units these days will often be sold without the needed CD.
The Games:
The 3DO has a fairly small library of games compared to other systems, though the games cover the full range of genres from RPG, FPS and space shooters to fighting and racing games. A number of games such as Star Control II and The Need For Speed are especially memorable. The 3DO was also the platform for the only strategy based tie-in game for the movie Jurassic Park entitled Jurassic Park Interactive and the 3DO version of the infamous Night Trap is considered by some to be the best available. Overall, a good number of the 3DO's games are entertaining and ahead of their time, though there's some garbage on the system (Plumbers Don't Wear Ties).
Many developers went out of their way to use the CD capabilities of the 3DO and as the result, the system's games often boast CD quality music. Street Fighter 2 Turbo is an example of this. The music in the 3DO port is actually better than in the arcade version. This sets it apart from the systems it competed against early in its life cycle.
In addition, a good number of games use Full Motion Video cut scenes or high quality pre-rendered animations, both available due to the additional space allowed on a CD. Along the same lines, a good number of the games feature FMV gameplay, but this type of game covers only a small portion of the game library.
PROS:
* AV connections use standard cables including S-video.
* Native S-video support makes this system display better on modern flat panel TVs than many of its contemporaries.
CONS:
* Limited game collection (about 140 games), many of them mediocre or worse.
* Small consumer base makes games harder to find now.
* Controllers could be better.
* Many 3DO games were ported to other systems after the 3DO's demise.
BOTTOM LINE:
The 3DO is a good system, but the limited catalog of games makes it less desirable to the average gamer. An interesting footnote in gaming history, it's likely to appeal only to the vintage gaming enthusiast. It certainly lacks the legs of the NES, Genesis or SNES.
The FZ-1 is a good model though I would say it's a toss-up between this one and the FZ-10. The game save program manager of the Fz-10 is a nice feature, but the FZ-1's form factor gives it a little extra appeal. Since both systems contain much the same hardware, it's mostly the cosmetic differences that purchasers will need to decide on.
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The 3DO Interactive Multiplayer (often called simply 3DO is a video game console originally produced by Panasonic in 1993. The original edition of the console, the FZ-1, was referred to in full as the 3DO REAL Interactive Multiplayer. The console had advanced hardware features at the time: an ARM60 32-bit RISC CPU, two custom video coprocessors, a custom 16-bit DSP and a custom math co-processor. It also featured 2 megabytes (MB) of DRAM, 1 megabyte of VRAMResolution 640×480, 320×240 60 Hz for NTSC version, and 768×576, 384×288 50 Hz for PAL version with either 16 bit palettized color (from 24 bits) or 24 bit true color.Units sol 2 million Media CD-ROM CPU 32-bit 12.5 MHz RISC CPU ARM60 Online services Planned but canceledBest-selling game Return Fire Successor M2 canceled Developer The 3DO Company Manufacturer Panasonic, Sanyo and GoldStar Retail availability NA October 4, 1993
JP March 20, 1994
EU 1994 Discontinued 1996
list of games 3D Atlas
Advanced Dungeons and Dragons Death Keep
Advanced Dungeons and Dragons Slayer
Alone In The Dark
Alone In The Dark 2
Ballz: The Director's Cut
Battle Chess
Battlesport
BC Racers
Blade Force
Blonde Justice
Brain Dead 13
Burning Soldier
Bust-A-Move
Cannon Fodder
Captain Quazar
Carrier: Fortress at Sea
Casper
Club 3DO: Station Invasion
Corpse Killer
Coven
Cowboy Casino
Crash N' Burn
Creature Shock
Crime Patrol
Cyberia
Cyberdillo
D
Demolition Man
Dennis Miller That's News to me.
Digital Dreamware
Dinopark Tycoon
Doom
Dragon's Lair
Dragon Lore
Drug Wars
Endlessly
Escape From Monster Manor
ESPN Beach Volleyball
ESPN Golf
ESPN Golf: Mental Messages
ESPN Interactive Hitting
ESPN Let's Go Skiing
ESPN Let's Play Soccer
ESPN Let's Play Tennis
ESPN Step Aerobics
Family Feud
Fatty Bear's Birthday Surprise
Fatty Bear's Fun Pack
FIFA Soccer
Flashback: The Quest For Identity
Flying Nightmares
Foes Of Ali
Fun 'N Games
Gex
Gridders
Guardian War
Gunslinger Collection
Hell: A Cyberpunk Thriller
Horde
Ice Breaker
Immercenary
Immortal Desires
Incredible Machine
Iron Angel Of The Apocalypse
Iron Angel of the Apocalypse: The Return
Jammit
John Madden Football
Johnny Bazookatone
Jurassic Park Interactive
Killing Time
Kingdom: The Far Reaches
Lemmings
Lost Eden
Lost Files Of Sherlock Holmes
Love Bites
Lucienne's Quest
Mad Dog McCree
Mad Dog II: The Lost Gold
Mathemagics: An Interactive Learning Cube
Mazer
Mega Race
Microcosm
Mind Teazzer
Myst
Need For Speed
Neuro Dancer
Night Trap
Novastorm
Off-World Interceptor
Olympic Soccer
Olympic Summer Games
Out Of This World
PaTaank
Panasonic Demonstration CD
Panasonic Sampler CD
Panzer General
Perfect General
PGA Tour 96
Phoenix 3
Plumbers Don't Wear Ties
PO'ed
Primal Rage
Psychic Detective
Putt Putt Goes To The Moon
Putt Putt Joins The Parade
Putt Putt's Fun Pack
Quarantine
Quarterback Attack
Real Pinball
Return Fire
Return Fire: Maps o'Death
Rise Of The Robots
Road Rash
Robinson's Requiem
Sample This!
Samurai Shodown
Scramble Cobra
Seal of the Pharaoh
Sesame Street Numbers
Sewer Shark
Sex
Shadow: War Of Succession
Shanghai: Triple Threat
Shelley Duvall's: It's A Bird's Life
Shock Wave
Shock Wave: Operation Jumpgate Shockwave
Shock Wave 2: Beyond The Gate
Sid Meier's C.P.U. Bach
Slam 'N Jam '95
Slope Style: An nteractive Learning Cube Instruction.
Snow Job
Soccer Kid
Space Ace
Space Hulk: Vengeance of the Blood Angels
Space Pirates
StarBlade
Star Control II
Star Fighter
Star Wars: Rebel Assault
Stellar 7: Draxon's Revenge
Strahl
Super Models Go Wild
Super Street Fighter II Turbo
Super Wing Commander
Supreme Warrior Fighting
Syndicate
The Daedalus Encounter
The Last Bounty Hunter
The Life Stage: Virtual House
The San Diego Zoo
Oceans Below
Space Shuttle
Theme Park
Toon Time In The Classroom
Total Eclipse
Trip'D
True Golf Classics: Pebble Beach Golf Links
True Golf Classics: Waialae Country Club
True Golf Classics: Wicked 18
Twentieth Century Video Almanac
Twisted: The Game Show
Virtual Vivid Sampler
Virtuoso
VR Stalker
Way Of The Warrior
Who Shot Johnny Rock?
Wing Commander III: Heart Of The Tiger
Wolfenstein 3D
Woody Woodpecker 1
Woody Woodpecker 2
Woody Woodpecker 3
World Cup Golf: Hyatt Dorado Beach
Zhadnost: The People's Party
Japanese games.
Achieve Peace: An Almanac For Improving Your Fortune
Aesop's Fables: The Ants and the Grasshoppers Vol. 1
Ai Shogi
AV Girl Mahjong
Bakusito
Battle Pinball
Belzerion
Battery Navi
Bonogurashi
Confrontation: Wax Water game.
Crayon Shin Chan: The Big Magic.
Doctor Hauzer
Dragon Tycoon Edge
Emit Vol. 1
Emit Vol. 2
F1 GP
Flopon the Space Mutant
Fumin's Toy Box
Ghost Hunter Series: The Mask of Black Death
Global Defense
Graduation: Final
Graduation II: Special-Neo Generation
Grand Chef of the Kingdom
Grimm's Fairy Tales Vol. 2: Hansel and Gretel
Grimm's Fairy Tales Vol. 3: Little Red Riding Hood
Hello Kitty Toy Box
J.League Virtual Stadium
Kamachi's Museum
Kerokerokeroppi and the Origami Experts
Macaroni Interactive
Mahjong Enlightenment Sky: Heaven Sent
Marine Tour: Diving Spot Guide
Masters: Harukanaru Augusta 3Sports)| T&E Soft
Mitsumasa Anno's Four Seasons in Pepperon
Miyuki Nakajima
Montana Jones
Monoshiri Freedom School
Moon Cradle
Multimedia Cruising
Murphy's T.V.
Neo Organic Bioform
Nice Body
Nobunaga's Ambition
Oyaji Hunter Mahjong
Paddock Note '95
Penthouse Interactive:Virtual Photo Shoot Vol. 1
Peter Frankle: Tower of Challenge
Pretty Soldier Sailormoon Fighting)| Bandai
Prime Suspect
Princess Maker 2
Puppet Tales
Pyramid Intruder
Romance of the Three Kingdoms IV
Royal Pro Wrestling
Rush'n'Fire Megadas
Shanghai: The Great Wall
Sensu no Tensai
Super Mahjong P. IV
Susono Country Club: Golf Course Multimedia Tour
Takeru
Tarot Card Fortune Teller
Theatre Wars
The Deep Blue Fleet
The Doraemons
The Letter That Overcame ime
The Tower
Together With Nontan: TheStar's Gift
Twinkle Knights
Ultraman Powered
Virtual Cameraman Part 3
Virtual Puppet Reika
Winners Take All
Winning Post
Yu Yu Hakusho
Best Deals for Panasonic 3DO FZ-1 System - Video Game Console
Best system ever created. If you are looking for the best graphics, smoothest gameplay or coolest titles dont buy the 3DO.But if you are looking for a very unique experience, off the wall games, fun games, family games, adult games. Then the 3DO is perfect for you@@
Honest reviews on Panasonic 3DO FZ-1 System - Video Game Console
I love it play very well I had one when I was a Kidd and now my grandkids get to play itFind helpful customer reviews and review ratings for Panasonic 3DO FZ-1 System - Video Game Console
Just like the one I've owned for years....before it short circuited!! Have been playing on it since I got it for Christmas. What a great gift!!Saturday, May 31, 2014
Best YT HDD Hard Disk Drive Case for Xbox 360 Slim (Black) Deals
I picked up an Xbox 360 slim for a few dollars the other day, but all of my DLC was saved on the drives for my various "old style" Xbox 360s. So, this was a nice cheap way to just move those hard drives over to the slim. All it took was a pair of Torx wrenches and 5 minutes of time and now my 60 GB drive is sitting inside the new slim.
Sunday, May 11, 2014
Cheap Killzone: Shadow Fall (PlayStation 4)
List Price: $59.99
Sale Price: $49.00
Today's Bonus: 18% Off
****TOO LONG; DIDN'T READ VERSION:****
+ amazing visuals
+ open world/choice
+ perfectly balanced weapons and classes
+ perfectly balanced maps
+ intense online gameplay
lack of cut-scenes in single player
public voice chat is MIA, but should be added in a future update
+/reviewers knocked this game and battlefield for the campaign mode, yet it held no weight in battlefield's score, meanwhile, reviewers pretty much ignored the multiplayer portion of this game (the best part of the game).
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Completely different from all of the other killzone games. The color scheme is no longer dark and gritty. It's futuristic and colorful. The missions are no longer "shoot your way from point A to point B." They're somewhat "free-roam to which objective you want to attack first." The graphics and sound are amazing. The only downfall is the cut-scenes. There are barely any, and they don't really flesh the characters out.
No more one shot kill scrubby marksman sniper rifle. The new rifle is bolt action and requires you to "zoom out" after every shot. The new turrets are actually useful. They can hold down an area easily if placed properly and are very strong. Portable spawns are back in the form of spawn beacons. The classes are perfectly balanced. Where one class has better guns (Assault), it will have weaker abilities. Where one class has weaker guns (Support), it will have stronger abilities. A good user can dominate with any class. This is the first online multiplayer that I say "is about as perfectly balanced as it gets." The online battles are close up and intense. The maps are not symmetrical, but are fair and do not give any team an advantage.
The "professional" idiot reviewers judged this game solely by the single player and paid no mind to the multiplayer. However, they said battlefield had a terrible campaign (like bf3)too, but BFs campaign held almost no weight in the scores. Don't listen to those morons. They will say the same thing about two different games, but weigh those same complaints differently in the overall score. No fanboy here, I like both games and owned multiple entries of both series. I just wanted to put this out there for the potential customers that might have be scared to pick up Shadowfall. They took a big risk, and I couldn't be happier with it.
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Game is great, visuals are great, it's a nice change of pace fps from call of duty. I was a xbox guy last generation but made the switch to ps4, this game is kind of like halo, not as good, but a good substitute. Better than what it has been reviewed by the so-called experts. I haven't beaten the game but it's challenging and overall, a good time. The multiplayer is something you must try if you pick this up. Very fun!Best Deals for Killzone: Shadow Fall (PlayStation 4)
Excellent Game! Most people think this is like all other Killzone games, its far from it. Most people dont know this game uses the same engine as Destiney.This game is eye popping candy, with excellent surround sound. Visuals are stunning, and the game play is fantastic with controlls that most FPS gamers are familiar with.
The story is okay, with only a 24 man mulitplayer, which is the only thing that takes away from this game, however the graphics and game play will have you looking the other way.
This game really shows off what the PS4 really can do, and to get this kind of performance you would need to pay 1,600$+ for a gaming PC to get it.
I highly Recommend this!
Honest reviews on Killzone: Shadow Fall (PlayStation 4)
Summary: After the Day1 update and we were able to play some multiplayer I have to say that if you're a fan of the multiplayer of previous Killzone games, definitely get this. If you're in more for the campaing and single player thing, maybe stick with what we all know and get some of the third party games out there like Call of Duty: Ghosts PlayStation 4 or Assassin's Creed IV Black Flag Limited Edition PlayStation 4I'm probably not the best person to review this game if you're looking for a comparison between previous games in the series and this one since I've already played a couple of hours of Killzone 3 Playstation 3, the prequel to this. I'll keep updating the review as I play more of the campaign.
Graphics 10/10: Some of the levels are incredibly big and really detailed. Character models have improved, even though they looked good on the PS3 you could still see some jagged borders, especially in facial animations. Particles and explosions look a lot better too. As a game that will probably help define the launch of a new generation of consoles, it is probably a good baseline to what we can expect this year and I can't wait for the games that come out in the following years.
EDIT: I give it 10/10 after I've seen the entire campaign. Man oh man how this game looks cool!
Sound 10/10: I feel like sound design/music get forgotten in videogames most of the time. If it's bad people will notice but if it's as good as this, people take it for granted. Before playing Killzone I thought that for FPS, one of the best sound designs I've heard was Battlefield 3 Playstation 3 or Battlefield 4 PlayStation 3 and this game's is probably up there too. If you can play this with a big surround sound system, you MUST do it (I still can't use my PS3 virtual surround sound headset)
Controls 8/10: The main complaint I've had with this series is the way they handle movement as opposed to how CoD and BF do it. Maybe I'm just used to the other ones a lot more but it takes me a while to get the feel of it. Maybe "heavier movements" would be the correct way to describe it. Sniping on this game is fantastic, just way until you do it.
Plot 7/10: (In progress). From what I've seen so far, it started setting plot lines in a good way, you can tell it's building the tension for a big ending (I hope), good voice acting helps a lot because it makes it more believable.
EDIT: What I said that it's building tension for a big ending/climax... nope... didn't happen. Just finished the campaign and besides admiring how beautiful every level is the story leaves a lot to be desired. It does not reach the level of action and excitement we've come to expect from a big AAA shooter like this
Having played Knack (PlayStation 4) (you can check out my review of that one too!) and this, I think I'm going to spend most of my time on this one for the first couple of weeks.
Next week: Need for Speed Rivals PlayStation 4
Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for Killzone: Shadow Fall (PlayStation 4)
Heyyy, who put exploration in my Killzone? Shadow Fall is quite a departure from K2 and K3. The maps in the campaign are huge, full of nooks and pathways that lead to rooms with mundane things such as domitories, restrooms, storage houses, often with nothing much of interest to pick up in them. Thats actually a GOOD thing. Exploring a facility and finding these non-essential places greatly adds to the immersion of the game, like a Fallout or Elder Scrolls game does.These NPCs need places to sleep, places to uh, relieve themselves, places to hang their coat and boots and the end of the day. The amount of detail really makes this game world feel lived-in. What I disliked about the past two Killzone games was that for the most part, pretty much led you down a one way path with not much else to do but kill kill kill. In Shadow Fall, there are stretches of the game where you wont encounter enemies for several minutes at a time encouraging the player to explore and do the little tasks on your mission's to-do list.
Great improvement for the series. It kinda reminds me of the first Killzone, but better. Gameplay wise, the controls are weighty, but have more snap when going to your sights. Best of all, NO AIM ASSIST. So every kill you get is really accomplished with your skill and not the game helping you lock on to the enemy like in CoD.
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