We Cheer - Nintendo Wii Reviews

Customer Ratings:

This is a game for kids who dream of being a cheerleader or for "old kids" who didn't make the final cut for cheerleader and never got over it. It's one to add to the "Get up off the couch and move" list of Wii games and it's a way to get some very good exercise while having some fun.

I just got this today and have been playing with it for the last couple of hours. That's as long as I could play because by arms and shoulders are ready to fall off! This game really gives your arms a great workout and once I get better at it and can follow along with the foot movements it should be an all around great exercise game. (Walking and chewing gum at the same time can be challenging) There is also a "Work out" section that's has a choice of quick or extended exercise routines which involves a lot of footwork as well as the arms. That, BTW is a good way to practice getting the cheer moves down.

There's a Campaign Mode where you can compete with another person for team captain or Party Mode where you can play with up to 4 people and have your own squad. I probably won't be playing in those modes since most of my friends would think this 50-something woman had totally lost it if I asked them to come join my Wii cheerleading squad. (Why didn't they name the game "Wii Cheer"?

I like the music and the cheerleader characters are all bubbly and enthusiastic (perky?) which is good motivation to get moving. They're also chatty with recommendations and small talk, which you can hit the A&B buttons to skip if it gets old after a while.

I barely made it past failing after a couple of hours and that was on the easy songs. It's fun even when you don't hit every beat. I did improve by doing the routines over and over. I've found that watching the cheerleaders is the best way to stay on the beat. A good sense of rhythm helps. It seems to have enough different songs to keep it interesting and challenging.

I'm glad I bought it. It's big, big fun and anything that keeps me exercising for over 2 hours is a good thing.

Update 10/18/08 Well it's almost 1:00 in the morning and I've been playing with this game for almost 3 hours after the rest of the household has gone to bed. I've been trying to clear more stages in order to unlock that song in the trailer, "Walking on Sunshine". I finally did it! This game has become a major addiction.

Also, the points scored in this game are based completely on arm movements (although it makes it easier to stick with the rhythm if you move around a little) so if you're hesitating about this game thinking it involves a lot of jumping around, doing back flips or the splits, not to worry. You could pretty much stand in one place and play this game. It's all in the wild flailing (and precision movements) of the arms. That said, you might want to keep your drapes closed when playing so as not to confirm the suspicions of the neighbors that you are totally out of control.

Update 11/5/08 If you're having trouble hitting some of the movements when it seems like you're doing everything right, and you're using an HD LCD TV, try going into the options menu and adjusting the timing. I ended up setting it a couple points down and this seemed to make all the difference. I think there might be a slight delay between the music and the display with some TV's and this seems to solve the problem, although I'm not really sure how this works. (Still loving this game!)

Update 11/4/09 I just got the new We Cheer 2 and it's just as much fun as this one with some nice additional features.

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I am a grown man who loves rhythm games. I played Dance Dance Revolution on Playstation for months. Then I played Stepmania on my computer for twice that. I am still playing Guitar Hero. My favorite "exercise" on Wii Fit is the stepping one.

Given the empty space between Guitar Hero 3 and World Tour (Aerosmith doesn't count since it blows), I bought this game. It's GREAT and I LOVE it.

The control takes a while to get used to but I find large, flowing movements are generally awarded. The songs are very upbeat. Given my age I absolutely hate the song "Come N Ride It(The Train)", but now I love it since I cheered to it (strange that the opposite happened in Guitar Hero Aerosmith).

The only complaint has nothing to do with the game play. Before and after each song are pep-talks that I just skip, but the loading time for them are a pain. Also, while I have a new-found respect for the athletic part of cheerleading, I still find cheerleader talk to be completely ridiculous. Every Oh. Em. Gee. makes me die a little inside. Like. For sure.

I guess it would have been more socially acceptable for me to like this game if instead of cheerleaders these are all karate masters or something, but it's no more self-delusional than dancing on a foam pad or playing a plastic guitar controller.

I recommend this game to EVERYONE who have enough space in front of their wii to enjoy it to the fullest. I also recommend getting wrist and ankle weighs and turning this into a pretty respectable work-out.

Best Deals for We Cheer - Nintendo Wii

This game is by far the best WII game I have played. It is SO much fun! I played it for 6 hours straight yesturday, and so far today I have played it for 3 hours and Im not done yet! :D

If you are into dancing, and stuff like that than you will like this game. I recommend it for ages 9 and up. For kids younger than 9 it might be a little to complicated. I am 15, and this game is my new obsession :)

Honest reviews on We Cheer - Nintendo Wii

First off...I'm a married man with two children and definitely in touch with my Y chromosome.

That said, who would have thought I'd like cheerleading!?

Well, this game, which I initially bought for my oldest daughter, has become a sensation and addiction for both my wife and I. It provides a fun workout for your arms (and if you have enough skills, your body). You will workup a sweat if you do this game with vigor.

The music is great, and even songs which might have otherwise annoyed me, I've found have worked their way to my Ipod.

My daughter is 6 1/2 at the time of this writing, and I'd have to say the game is much too difficult for her. Its hard for an adult, or at least one who isn't a natural dancer/cheerleader. I'd put this game at just right for those over 11, but it has a steep learning curve as you try to learn what the arrows mean. Easier to just watch what the cheerleader on screen is doing and try to mirror it. This may be difficult however if she turns her back to you, because if you do the same, you'll have to look over your shoulder to get the next move correct.

The game is very (overly)sensitive to mistakes, so you will find some frustrations as it tells you you screwed up when you really think you were on target. I took 1 star off the overall review over this issue, because I think this is a real problem.

Great party game!

11/6/08 small update. Well, I came home from work and my daughter surprised me by showing how she could beat the C'mon N'ride it routine on easy level, after working on it a while. So, with patience and practice, seems a 6 to 7 year old with good self-control can succeed at it.

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This is a great game, but it does have a learning curve. I was almost ready to give up after several failures, but after lots of practice combined with tips gleaned off the internet, I caught on and started passing. I've now passed all the stages and I'm hooked on this game! This plus Active Life Outdoor Challenge and Helix have really brought my Wii back to life.

The game's biggest problem IMO is that the directions and tutorial don't do it justice. First, READ the manual. Unlike most video game manuals that are mainly ad copy plus warnings not to play Wii in the bathtub, the We Cheer manual explains how the "championship" mode works (passing the stages and unlocking songs). Two other points that will help you succeed:

-Mirror the cheerleader! Don't just focus on the lines, like in Elite Beat Agents. Try to copy her arm movements as if you're doing an exercise video. Even following her body will help, like kneeling on the ground, twirling and jumping. Get ready to sweat!

-This game is 3-dimensional. In other words, you're not just tracing lines on an imaginary wall in front of you; you also need to move your arms forward and back and around your body. Watch for when the cheerleader turns to one side, makes swimming motions, hand rolls, hands on hips or puts her hands behind her head; follow along exactly and you'll score! This game really picks up on exactly where your hands are and what direction and speed they're moving. Make big, hard, sharp motions just like a real cheerleader. Keep your wrists straight and lock out your joints. (I picked up those last 2 tips from a cheerleading site, and they do help with We Cheer!)

The workout mode, like another reviewer noted, is a good way to practice and is a real hoot. A fat boy asks you to make him over, and at the end of the workout (2 minutes or 4 minutes long) he becomes a thin "after" picture and presents you with a uniform. The moves are very simple, like squats and step-touches. I just wish you could select a song from the songlist rather than listening to generic music. Speaking of the songlist, it is awesome! It's so great to hear original hits by original artists instead of cover versions.

We Cheer has only a few minor technical flaws. Once a song starts, it has to play all the way through; you can't pause or fail out or abort or even go back to the Wii menu. (That doesn't really bother me, but I know others will complain.) Loading times are a bit long, and I wish there was some way to get rid of the "how to hold your remotes" screen (which comes up even if you repeat a song!) and the instructor afterwards telling you how you did.

I really hope enough people have enough patience with We Cheer to make it a hit and a series like DDR or Guitar Hero. For the sequel, it would be fantastic to have multi-song courses or some way to program your own courses. The E-10 rating seems appropriate; younger kids may be frustrated with the skill level of this game. But if you're a grownup, We Cheer may turn you into a kid again. Whooo!

11/8/08 Since everyone else is updating :) I agree with the others that We Cheer is a magnificent, addictive, unique game that is easily worth ten stars or more. I'm in my 40s and my joints have never felt this loose and flexible, and that's after years of doing workout videos. (I don't like yoga or pilates, and most dance videos emphasize legs rather than arms.) This game has real potential in phys ed classes or community centers that use Wii, especially since it doesn't require a floor pad or balance board that can get beat up from heavy use.

Discount Army of Two: Platinum Hits - Xbox 360

Customer Ratings:

Generally, this is a good shooter. At its heart, it's a co-op game where you team up with either an AI partner or a real life partner to take out numerous terrorist threats the world over. Is it groundbreaking? No. Is it entertaining? Yes. It's a good game that has good gameplay and graphics. However, it still doesn't compare to its cousins like Gears of War and Call of Duty 4. That being said, you will still most likely have a good time. The aiming and shooting mechanic mirrors that of Gears where you pull left trigger to aim and then shoot with right trigger. The game is unique in that it does require team work with your partner to get through some of the levels. The "aggro" system is a prime example of this. One partner essentially steals the spotlight and attracts the attention of most of the enemies, enabling the other partner to stealth around the battle field and get a better shot. I also like the ability to customize your weapons and gear (all for a price). Afterall, the point of the game is to get paid, and you do get paid handsomely for killing ruthless terrorists and protecting key targets. It's a fairly linear game, but you do have some options of completing secondary objectives that might take you off the beaten path. You would be hard pressed to get lost as there is a "GPS" system that basically shows you the path to take to complete the mission. I think most shooter fans will like this game. It just didn't grab me quite like Gears or COD4 did.

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It's been quite a while since I first saw the teaser trailer for Army of Two. When I did all those months ago, I figured it was some kind of high tech, science fiction sort of game... you know, an unstoppable duo wielding the latest in death dealing weapons and the best armour that science could create.

I figured that it was going to be dealing with blowing away aliens or the like.

Well, I was wrong.

Well, partially at any rate.

The game does touch on some of this, a pair of former Rangers named Elliot Salem and Tyson Rios, who end up quitting the military to go for a Mercenary Company known as SSC, the Security and Strategy Corporation.

The beautiful part of the game is that it is very heavily story driven. You're mercenaries, and you get paid by the mission, and you can get bonuses of cash throughout by completing secondary objectives.

This cash can be used to buy better weapons you have your primary typically an assault rifle, but you can purchase different types, all the way up to a mini-gun. The secondary weapons are handguns but you can also purchase sub-machine guns, such as the P90. Finally you also have your special weapon which is typically a sniper rifle, but you can even buy anti-tank weapons to use.

Now, if you don't have enough money after a mission to purchase a new weapon, you can always upgrade your existing weapon to increase its damage, accuracy, ammunition capacity and aggro.

So, you can really customize your weapons. Hell, you can even `pimp' out your weapon, getting it covered in gold plating, if you so desire.

As for the game, it's divided up into six missions, played over a thirteen year period, starting in 1993.

You start in Somalia, then head to Afghanistan and fight your way though an old soviet military complex. From there you fight in Iraq, and then mission four takes place in the Philippines, on the Aircraft Carrier the USS Constellation. Mission five takes place in China and finally the last mission of the game is in a flooded downtown Miami.

Throughout the game there are numerous cut scenes, all that adds to the depth of the game world and the story behind it.

If I had a complaint about these cut scenes is that several times the walking animation of the various characters involved was really jerky, not smooth or natural in any way. But I only noticed this I think twice through the entire game.

While I'm on it, the animation was beautifully rendered. It didn't quite have the rag-doll effect that I've been growing accustomed to seeing in many of these first person shooter games, and the blood and gore was really toned down.

Frankly, I wouldn't expect any less from an Xbox 360 game.

The sound effects were well done as well. Each weapon had its own unique sound. It's a good thing I don't usually play these games with the sound cranked, because if I did, I'd probably have damaged my ears every time a rocket was launched and it exploded!

Despite the fact that there is little in the line of gore, this game isn't for children. The F-bomb is dropped with frighteningly regularity, and it does deal with mature subject matter, although there isn't any nudity in the game.

Game play is your typical Xbox 360 first person shooter. You don't have a health score, but you can tell how badly you are injured as your screen will start to turn red, and you're breathing will become hard and laboured. If this happens, make damned sure you find cover and give yourself a short period of time to recover!

If you take too much damage, you'll get knocked flat on your armoured rear, so make sure that your partner is close at hand, or you are dead. See below for more on this...

You have plenty of places to hide in the game environment, so make good use of them. Duck behind desks, or small walls or even glass doors to evade enemy fire. That did kind of annoy me, as I would have much preferred to see you be able to shoot through objects like this, but that too is minor.

Unlike many other Xbox games I've played, this one has very little in the way of environmental kills. There are occasionally barrels or propane containers that you can shoot and cause them to explode, but I found that they were few and far between.

One thing that you can't ignore is the use of your partner. You have three commands that you can use on him. Stick close, head out and draw fire, or stay put and cover. These can be used to varying degrees, such as if you want your partner to go ahead and draw fire so you can get into a better position to cause some serious damage.

This is especially useful when you run into heavily armoured opponents who can only be hurt if you get behind them and shoot them in the back, or machine gunners who are hidden behind full shields.

Of these three commands, you have two levels of aggressiveness... blue which means defensive, or red which means offensive.

Now, as I stated above, if you or your partner get badly injured, you can call them up to help you. You will get dragged away, and while you're being dragged, you can still fire your weapon at the enemy. Once you're behind cover, your partner will heal you and you're ready to fight once again.

You'll know if your partner is in trouble as he will call out for help. If this happens, get to him quickly... if you don't he'll die and you'll have to start from the last checkpoint.

One thing that really took me by surprise was the scope of the game. Several levels, starting with the USS Constellation, were amazingly huge! You really felt like you were fighting on the deck of an American carrier!

Even in Miami, several of the maps you fought on were incredibly large, like the airport. Plenty of places to hide, but also if you were unlucky enough to get caught out in the open, well as Hudson would put it, Game over man, Game over!

Combat was, once again, typical of an Xbox 360 game. You could see the damage meter above your targets and this helped you to know if you were actually hitting the target or not during combat. You could zoom in a little closer by hitting the left trigger, or if you were using your sniper rifle, you'd be able to zoom directly in for a nice head shot. You know, one shot, one kill.

Hitting the head was also a good way of taking down your enemy with a minimal expenditure of ammunition.

There are also two ways of replenishing your ammo supply. You could pick up ammo off the bodies of certain enemies after you dispatched them, or you'd get re-supplied between missions. The ammo dropped by the enemy always looks like golden packs, so make sure you grab when you can.

Be warned, the enemy isn't stupid. They don't like getting caught in the open, and they will use cover to its full advantage. Watch out too, while you're at it, as they like to drop more than F-bombs on you. Stay too long behind cover in one place, and they'll toss a nice little grenade your way.

There are a couple of times throughout the game you'll get to drive vehicles, or control a parachute as you drop in on your mission. Make sure you have your sniper rifle at the ready as you drop in during the parachute phase, as it'll reduce the number of enemies you have to face once you hit the ground.

The driving sequences were pretty standard fare, with you controlling the vehicle while your partner provided cover-fire. I guess if you're playing two player mode, you could quite easily take control of the gun instead of driving.

Oh, as you fight, you'll gain aggro. This means that the enemy is targeting you and you alone, unless your partner presents himself as an easy target. This can be a bad thing, if you don't have anywhere to hide. But, while the aggro is on you, you can send your partner out to take out the opponents while they concentrate their fire on you.

The reverse works as well, you can send your partner out to attract the fire while you get into a better position to take out your enemy.

And, if you find a riot shield to use, don't hesitate!

Finally, as with the aggro overkill meter, several times during the game you'll have to fight back to back. When this happens, time will slow down and your weapon will do a great deal more damage. You'll have to keep turning in a circle in order to take your targets out, so don't just aim for one location only, or you'll get yourself and your partner killed!

Ok, Pros of the game...

Smart AI for both enemy and your AI controlled partner.

A wide variety of locations world wide to fight in.

Map size for some of the missions.

Upgradeable weapons.

Some very entertaining mini cut scenes. Watch em carefully!

Co-op sniping!

Cons of the game...

Some of the larger maps don't have too many save points, and it can get frustrating.

Only about six hours of play time.

Some of the movement in the cut scenes were very jerky and un-natural.

Would have liked a larger variety of weapons, more ways to upgrade, upgradeable armour, and the ability to pick up your opponents weapons.

I haven't tried out the multiplayer part of the game, so I can't comment on it.

Overall, it was a solid, enjoyable game with lots of potential that was put to excellent use.

4 out of 5

Best Deals for Army of Two: Platinum Hits - Xbox 360

If you're like me, you love video games. You love shooters, and more than that, you love to share the fun with a friend. Sure, it's a blast to have multi-player where you can kill each other, but what the industry has been lacking til now is a game meant to be played with a friend. Army of Two delivers.

First off, there's various modes where you combine forces with your characters, including a dual-sniper mode that allows you and a friend to coordinate sniper shots to take down two foes at the same time. You'll still depend on your friend taking the voice-cue from the game, but if they don't know how to fire when the game tells them to, it's the least of your worries. There's also back-to-back mode, which looked a LOT like the final shoot-out scene in Mr. & Mrs. Smith very cool how the characters twist and turn around each other to shoot the badies.

There's a lot fo the game that depends on two people helping each other, but there's also a lot of subtle things added in that make it fun enough to want to talk about. Not only can you congratulate your co-op buddy with a high-five or smart remark (via game controls), you can also insult them or give them a well-deserved headbutt for overwhelming idiocy in the line of duty.

The great part for me is that as you advance, you make money. You can then use this money to outfit yourself with new and more powerful weapons, armor, and even facemasks. (The facemasks are the best part, as you can get ones that with a desert motiff, a "street" motiff, or my favorite, a clown face!!!) you can also save your money to focus in areas you're good at. I'm a sniper, so I spent most of my money getting the latest and greatest sniper rifle.

The story line is solid, the game controls take bit of getting used to, especially with all the bumper use, but all in all I have to say this is the best 360 game yet this year.

Honest reviews on Army of Two: Platinum Hits - Xbox 360

Finished this on "professional" (the highest level) with my 14 yr old son in about 5 hours. After about a week of messing around with it and trying it on-line (the connection often drops or lags in the middle of the game) we are back to playing Call of Duty 4 on-line. If you don't have COD4 definitely get that first.

As the name implies it is meant to be played by two people. If you get dropped, your partner can revive you as with Gears of War. But, if you get dropped in a bad spot, your teammate can drag you to cover and revive you there.

You get paid for completing objectives and taking out bad guys. You get to use the money to buy weapons or upgrade the ones you have with new barrels, stocks, grenade launchers, silencers, etc. You can even get your guns "pimped out" with gold plating. My son really likes customizing his weapon set.

The games is built around teamwork. One of you gets the bad guy's attention blind firing a big loud gun (pimped guns get more aggro too) and your partner sneaks up on their flanks and takes them out. You even get a meter which measures how much attention you are getting (the game calls this "aggro"). The more aggro you aquire makes your character actually glow read and your partner gets a little transparent. Get the aggro meter way up and you get something called "overkill" which puts everything in slow motion and gives you unlimited ammo and 2x damage. There's a couple of other teamwork things like coop sniping (sniping two simultaneous targets) and "back-to-back" which is alot like the overkill thing except you and your partner take out bad guys while standing back-to-back.

Story and movies (that you can't skip) are above average. The graphics don't come close to COD4 or Gears.

The language is very graphic and not just an occasional S**T or D**N as in COD4. This game makes frequent use of F*** and M*****F***ER. Violence level is actually kind of tame compared to something like Gears or COD4. For example, there is no limb or head removal (as with Gears) or blood splats on the walls (as in COD4).

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A great game to play with a buddy (or wife:-) for co-op play. Playing solo with the AI is okay, but not nearly as enjoyable as with a *real* partner. The AI does a good job, but the dialog variety is a little weak and doesn't provide you with any game feedback, i.e., "Watch out on your left." Also, avoid using your GPS; it's too much hand-holding. It's more fun to explore and figure out your route and objectives on your own. The game is fairly linear, so what's the need for the yellow-blinking brick road?

Things that would've given it a higher rating in my book:

1. more AI instructions, i.e., go left, right, forward, etc.

2. more levels! Too short going solo. Good length for co-op though.

3. customizable armor, i.e., speed versus protecting, custom paint to match the masks, etc.

4. more innovative co-op moments

We're looking forward to Army of Two... er... uh... 2!

Batman: Arkham Origins - Xbox 360 Reviews

Customer Ratings:
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first off .... i LOVE Batman!!!!

i've always loved Batman since i can remember, and these days there seems to be no shortage of Batman to go round!

over the years we've been Lucky enough to experience some truly amazing Batman comics, cartoons, toys, movies and video games.

unfortunately we've also been duped every so often into falling for the shameless license exploiting cash grabs!

after playing through some awesome moments in 'Arkham Origins' i honestly believe the makers REALLY wanted to make a great game

a game they could be proud of and one that we'd all praise and love!

but due to whatever reason the game is quite amiss in a number of many MANY areas!!!!

now before i start picking it apart i'd like to say that i'm glad i bought it and am getting enjoyment from it for the most part, .....BUT

i just can't begin to describe JUST how choppy the game plays!

ESPECIALLY the hand to hand combat!!!

i mean, that's the whole meat and potatoes of the game right there!!!

though while not completely unplayable it's hit or miss, and i do mean that literally!!!

this games big draw is the HUGE amount of Boss battles and when you face off in a very long drawn out battle where split decision precision timing means the difference between winning and having to restart a level all over again, it gets very VERY frustrating!!!

speaking of restarting from the beginning? IF you DARE try 'i am the night' if you die it's game over and you to have to restart from the VERY beginning of the game! highly increased difficulty coupled with faulty gameplay, this mode is only recommended to the most hardcore or those who want an ulcer?

but if you actually DO complete 'i am the night' mode you'll be rewarded with a very cool Batman 'Arkham Origins' Avatar.

somewhere along the way i also unlocked a 'Joker' Avatar, but i don't recall exactly how and when i did it?

the broken non-responsive controls in this game are a sin and really hold it back from that greatness that it could have been!

but besides the faulty controls there are glitches A PLENTY!

i think my favorite moment was in challenge mode when an enemy was holding a crate over his head to throw at me and i couldn't attack him.

he just stood there till the match was over still holding the crate over his head!

another instance my character went inside an elevator, and as the elevator rose my character didn't rise with it.

but more frustrating is when your game freezes and you have to restart your console

or even WORSE if your game save corrupts and has to be deleted!!!

that was probably the most glaring example of lack of quality control and gameplay testing!!!!

from a design point of view, visually and cinematically the game is a masterpiece!

the story is intriguing the voice acting is VERY good! and though it was at first jarring not to hear Kevin Conroy voicing Batman

i really grew to enjoy the vocals Roger Craig Smith provided! there are moments he sounds truly intense and powerful!

and then he also knows when to bring it back and play the cool and calculating Batman!

the Back and forth between him and Martin Jarvis as Alfred are a pleasure to behold.

a decent amount of voice cast return from Arkham City,

but a real thrill was to hear Robert Costanzo from Batman the Animated Series reprise the voice of Detective Harvey Bullock!

i'm still adjusting to hearing Troy Baker voice Joker. he's doing a decent enough job of it (not many would dare follow in the shoes of the AMAZING Mark Hamill)

but i think Baker's best Joker moments are when he makes the roll his own and has fun with it, rather than the moments where he sounds like he's trying to emulate Hamill. but that's just my own personal thoughts. even still, i think he did a good Joker and i hope to hear him voice the character again in the future.

one thing that really was frustrating was the new branching upgrade ladder!!!

i honestly DO NOT see the point of why you can no longer just immediately chose the combat boost upgrades instead of having to upgrade your armor first?!

when i'd play 'Arkham Asylum' or 'Arkham City' i'd upgrade every combat boost available before leveling up my armor even in the highest difficulty setting.

both games had such tight fighting controls, you could avoid taking damage with enough practice.

not being able to upgrade my special takedown boost from 8 hits to only 5 hits right away really made me notice how broken the combat really is.

even after i purchased the upgrade, the combat is vastly improved but overall control issues continue to be tiresome!

grapnel boost/gliding through the city also feels a bit disjointed and not as fluid as it was in Arkham City.

it seems there are less areas on the building to grapple and launch from?

soaring through the city just seems a lot less fun than it was last time!

the City is much larger than previously and while environments are reminiscent to there previous version, they are fresh and new.

the model of Gotham City is Gothic and it is beautiful! and seeing the city and hearing the powerful Musical Score is a wonder to behold!

despite all the glaring issues and flaws, there are things to enjoy here.

and Batman fanatics are in for a REAL treat! .....especially if you are a real Comic enthusiast!

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*************fans of 'Killing Joke' and 'Mad Love' will just love what happens with The Joker!!!!!!!*************************

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everything else aside the big question is WOULD I RECOMMEND THIS GAME?????

my answer to that would have to be, if you are a Batman fan? then.... YES!

but be warned ..... there is a LOT that needs improvement!

and although it's nowhere near as BAD as 'Batman: Dark Tomorrow' but the game requires a lot of getting used to it's flaws and hiccups.

so here are the pro's and con's

Pros-

beautiful environments

fantastic character models

great musical score

engaging story

brilliant voice acting (for the most part)

excellent cinemas

plenty of missions

lots of Boss battles

return of most fan favorite moves

return of most gadgets

Cons-

game freezes and needs to be restarted

awful collision detection in combat

non responsive controls

combat does not flow as smooth

aim of quick-fire gadgets is terrible

some of the special moves are now inefective

camera issues

difficult to navigate city

'game plus' mode not as good as 'Arkham City' IMO

upgrades locked in set sequence of availability

dark knight system challenges locked in set sequence

game save files will corrupt from time to time

i am enjoying Arkham Origins for Batman experience it delivers

there is so much potential here!

but the true shame is that with all the issues, the game is only a 3.5 when i know that with more polish it could have been a 4.5 or even 5.0!

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Winter snow falling,

Batman has glitched through the floor,

the game auto-saved

will they patch this game?

At least fix Burnley Tower?

Why did I buy this?

Best Deals for Batman: Arkham Origins - Xbox 360

This mess was not ready to be released. Glitches galore! Game freezes frequently causing you to have to restart. Boss battles have HUGE difficulty spikes. Be prepared to play many of the boss battles over and over before you can get past them. VERY FRUSTRATING! This is further exasperated by the broken/non responsive combat controls. Had to restart several missions due to the inability to interact with other characters or controls in the environment. Had multiple corrupt save files. If you must play it, wait until it's in the bargain bin.

Honest reviews on Batman: Arkham Origins - Xbox 360

I am not a gamer that is close or follows the Batman story or development outside the games/movies. So whatever story is developed I enjoy very much. I just play games because I enjoy them. I remember trying the demo for Asylum and loved it because I fell in love with the fight system. I'm a perfectionist and the fight system really challenges me and also annoys me when I know I can do better. With that being said I am glad WB Montreal kept the fighting/predator system the same. Here are my thoughts of how I view the game of just being a gamer.

Here are some of bad things first for some people:

1. Lack of innovation: This might drive some players crazy because there is not really anything new to the fighting/predator moments. At the same time if you are a fan of the older games...why change something that is great? There are some new things that were added but not much different from the base of the old games. The only new things seem to be the detective mode, where scanning crime scenes go more in depth and you need to find evidence. There is also multi-player which I have not tried yet.

2. Lifeless: Since this is a prequel you are doing missions across Gotham city and of course Arkham City before it was converted for the inmates in AC. I wanted to see civilians in the street and traffic but there was nothing. In AC there were those helicopters flying around and would follow you if they spotted you, there's not much going on in the air this time around and I felt alone in the city which should be full of life.

***SPOILER***

When you run in to Joker for the first time and he blows up the building across the street. Then Batman grabs Joker and asks "How many innocent lives did you take?" I felt nothing because you don't see life in the city to make that connection to the citizens in the game.

***END SPOILER***

3. Prequel: I mostly hate prequels because you always know what the future outcome is going to be with some of the main characters. I liked to be surprised. Like I said above I don't follow Batman stories outside the movies/games. Introducing some lesser known villains was a plus and it helped balanced that out for me for unpredictability.

4. Freezing: I have had the game freeze up on me 4 times already within the first 24 hours I had it. There is no pattern for it and it's random. It happened to me on the title screen the first time I started it, when I was in a fight, when I was gliding around, and when I was upgrading my abilities. It seems like many people have run into freezing issues and hoping this is something that can be patched.

Now for the good things:

1. No learning curve: This could be a good or bad thing for players but for me this was good. Why change anything if it's something we fell in love with in the first two games? I loved being able to dive into the game without having to look up the controls.

2. Challenge: Even though fighting and predator is copy/paste, I found myself dying a lot more in boss fights and even a couple of street fights. Since I am a fan of the fighting in this series I paid close attention to detail in the fighting. It made me think WB Montreal put more thought into the beginning of Batman and I saw that in the fighting.

As you level up, you are limited to what you can upgrade because you can only upgrade certain abilities as long as you follow the upgrade trees. I liked this because you can't start off getting the combo finishers after a 5x hit combo as soon as you level up and pick it. This means you're stuck with 8x hits before using a combo finisher for awhile. There is no such things as perfect hits anymore as well (which is replaced by an alternative later in the game). It made gang fights a lot more challenging and made me think "this is perfect" since this is a prequel. Batman should not be an expert yet and this made me feel like Batman was "learning" and grew into the fighter he was in AA and AC.

3. Story: Seems like a lot of people are finding the story boring and ill admit at the start it felt boring until there was a good turning point within a few hours of game play. I thought the voice acting is also incredible. I knew Mark Hamill had retired from the Joker's voice and they were using someone new for Batman as well. I had to look up the voice actors as I was playing it because Joker sounded identical. I could tell the difference with Batman, but the actor was still great for him.

Final Thoughts:

The game has its ups and down and I am thoroughly enjoying it. I'm looking forward to multiplayer and challenge maps. If you liked AA and AC, this is worth a buy. I think most of the down sides is just players being picky.

I was very worried hearing that WB Montreal was taking over this game, but in the end I am very happy with what they did. There was so much worry and buzz around WB being the new developer that I was almost expecting this game to be bad. In the end I find myself smiling because WB Montreal stuck with what we loved in the game and tried to add some changes of their own. I loved that it was something I was familiar with, unlike others might not like the lack of innovation.

People complaining about the lack of innovation are just bored with the game period. I love the fighting in the game and it will be awhile before I am "tired" of the game play.

For example Assassin's Creed. I loved those games, but when I got to the 4th game (Revelations) I was so bored with the repetitive game play it took me over a year to finally force myself to finish the game and play Assassins Creed 3. Its part of human nature to get bored of things and I wouldn't be surprised if I got bored with the next Batman game like I did with Assassin's Creed.

It's almost seems like lose/lose for WB. Players will complain that everything is the same, but at the same time if WB had changed up the game play, those same people would be complaining how it's not as good as the "older" games. If you are one of those players...move on already.

If you loved the first two games, you will love this one as well. Don't over think it before you buy/rent the game because you will get lost in it like you did with the others.

Thanks for reading and I will update this as I complete the game and try multiplayer.

**UPDATE 10/27/13**

I made a mistake in my original review above. I said there were no such things as perfect/critical hits anymore. As I got near the end of the story I noticed my combo meter building up faster then normal. I looked into my upgrades and critical strikes was unlocked. I am not sure what unlocked it but it is not something you can manually level up to unlock.

Multiplayer was actually a lot better then expected. It's very hard finding a match at this time and it's probably because not enough players have finished the story before moving on to multiplayer. Since the game is new, I expect to see matchmaking to speed up by next week when more people finish the story and definitely a huge spike in players after the holidays. Currently I have only played in 2 matches and it took about 5 minutes to get 7 other players to join in a match.

Playing the 2 matches was actually pretty fun. The controls are very similar to Gears of War since you play as henchmen with weapons. Aiming/zooming is the same as Gears and you can take cover behind objects. Its basically 3v3v2. 3v3 are henchmen and the other 2 are a team of Batman/Robin. Basically its a domination style match while Batman/Robin can interrupt you. Batman and Robin get their own score by building up "intimidation".

I don't know how the scoring works in the end, because after both matches, the heroes won both times. It is random if you're playing as a henchmen or a hero. Of course if you play a hero, the controls are all the same like they are in single player. The best way to describe it right now is Gears of War mixed with Batman. There are other multiplayer modes as well but I was only able to play one mode since the others were still locked?

**UPDATE 10/28/13**

I changed my rating of the game overall to 4/5 stars. It probably should have been this rating from the start but all the freezing in the game is really starting to get to me. After reading many forums and seeing other reviews on here its a common technical problem for everyone.

Now I'm trying to get through game mode+ and when I'm trying to be more focused and into the game, it freezes up on me and I have no idea where the last save is going to be. Because of the constant freezes, it makes me more aware of the save icon in the corner of the game because I am always ready for the game to crash or freeze. Obviously that is not something you should have to be aware of when playing a game like this! If this gets patched then I will change my rating back to 5 stars. Since this is a very common problem, it probably should be patched soon... we can only hope.

**UPDATE 10/29/13**

This might be my last update for awhile since there is really nothing more to go over. I did do a few more MP matches and got to see how bad the online servers are.

They are a little laggy because when you knock someone out as a hero, the player's body could be 5 feet away as you are punching the ground to knock them out, and it still counts as a KO. If the host leaves the match, it will try to find a new host, but in the process it won't ever transfer to a new host and you will have to reset the game. Same thing happens if you finish a match and a lot of other players leave, the game will try to find another session for the remaining players to join and it gets stuck in that process and you would have to reset again.

Until they patch the freeze issues for single player, I wont bother continuing game mode+.

**UPDATE 10/30/13**

Game developers WB Montreal has acknowledged problems with the game.

"We are currently reviewing and validating issues that have been reported to us," Warner Bros. told X360A. "Updates will be deployed once we have fixes available."

**UPDATE 11/8/13**

Put the game in today to find an update! Since I wasn't sure what was updated I looked on WBM website. Looks like they fixed some on the random infinite falling points. I was able to play 3 hours without a crash or freeze even though they said they were still working on the crashing and freezing. They are still working on the corrupted game files too.

**UPDATE 11/12/13**

I continued my story and that is where the freezing happened again. The update must have fixed something because I only froze 2 times in 2 days which before it would be 4-5 times a day. With my last update I was doing the challenge maps and I guess those are fine for not freezing up on you.

**UPDATE 11/19/13**

Changing back to 5 stars since my freezing issues appear to be gone.

I was able to complete new game plus. Throughout my whole play through I only froze up 2 times which are the freezes I mentioned in the last update. It feels stable enough now for me to try I am the night mode. Tried to get into multiplayer again but it couldn't even match me up with one other person. Not sure if most people gave up on multiplayer or if they are having server issues.

**UPDATE 11/25/13**

I tried I am the Night mode. It does add extra excitement while playing it. I actually played it for a couple of hours and got to Gotham's Police Department. I ended up dying in the predator mode in the GCPD building. Weapons definitely do more damage in I am the Night mode because I took a shot gun shot in the back and died with almost 75% of my health left.

I read that physical damage from punches do more damage to Batman as well, but after getting hit once or twice, it appeared to be the same amount of damage in normal mode. I think they just added extra damage to weapons. Even though I was a couple of hours into the game and died, I wasn't even upset because I hadn't felt that excited or felt that awesome for taking on Death Stroke and not even losing half my health.

Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for Batman: Arkham Origins - Xbox 360

I got about 20 hours into the game, ignoring the game freezes, and occasional glitches as i could but then my save dike got corrupted and I'm afraid to restart cause my file may get lost again. The game is fun when it works so there is that. I tried asking for a refund from wb. As a response they deleted my comment and blocked me on Facebook and havnt responded to my email so add terrible customer service to issues with this game.

Review of Universal Media Remote X360

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I love having this remote and not having to deal with messing with the controller. It works great, the only down fall is that you have to have the remote pretty much pointed directly at the xbox, unlike a controller that you can use at any angle. I still love having it though!

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Vigilante 8: 2nd Offense Reviews

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I rented this game for a few days and I enjoyed it. I own Vigilante 8, and I love it so I thought this game would be cool too. And it was, except it was so much like the first one that it was much too simple and the only thing different was the car and arena selections. When I returned the game I sat down and played the first Vigilante 8 and enjoyed it much more than the second. I guess it's just me because I'm used to the first one so much. I recommend this game for anyone to rent because it is an excellent car-combat game, just like it's prequel. Try them both, you'll have a great time.

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This game is so phat, that I would play for hours.Only I can't, becuase it would freeze after around half an hour. But that didn't stop me from having much fun. I suggest that you buy it if love blowing things up in a garbage truck or a volkswagon (your choise). Once you get used to the control you will have a lot of fun. And if you were wondering, theres no peds to run over. :)

Review of Steel Series Spectrum 7xB Headset for Xbox 360 (Black)

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List Price: $179.99
Sale Price: $73.41
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Customer review from the Amazon Vine Program Unpacking this thing is a little scary, what with all the cables and parts. But not all of them are needed, thankfully.

The build quality looks good. The transmitter the size of a deck of cards. However, see below:

Pros:

Easy setup

Sounds great, with some isolation from external noise (but also see Cons below)

Comfortable for hour-long stretches. (I'm wearing glasses.) Probably shouldn't play for much longer than that at a time.

Interference-free wireless performance, so far

30-foot range (but I only need 10 feet or so at most)

Choice of USB, 3.5 mm, or RCA input

Disassembles for easy packing (if you do that a lot)

Retractable mic boom! Very nice.

Decent directional sound performance (but see below)

Great balancing of chat versus game sound via "LiveMix" setting. This is a very nice feature that dials down the game volume when you're chatting.

Auto power-off (after about 5 minutes)

Connects to Mac or PC as well

Cons:

Mic "only compatible with Xbox 360"

They could have varied the button design a bit more to enable you to distinguish them more easily by touch

Although they tout their crystal clear digital transmission, this offers analog inputs only ... weird. So the channel separation is limited, not as good as real Dolby Digital. Seems like a waste. However, it's certainly good enough for gaming, if you're not a purist.

Pricey!

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Customer review from the Amazon Vine Program Last week I just bought my Astro A40 5.8 wireless headphones for gaming. I returned the nightmare setup I tried from Turtle Beach with the DSS mated to the new Earforce X12. But then along comes this set I had never even heard of. I have to say the first thing I liked was the look AND feel when I opened the box. For the selling price I would hope so.

A nice feature if you take your gear to friends homes to game is these break down easily (into 5 pieces) for easy transport. It included ALL the cabling you need though I was sort of surprised it does NOT use any optical cable. It works just fine so who cares. Next you sync it and enjoy a very nice & rich sound. It has audio presets to play with and though I am now already spoiled by my other brand 7.1 surround headset, these do REALLY well. They honestly do. I also like the LiveMix setting that will lower the game volume for game chat for you. I REALLY found myself enjoying this in my online play.

Comfort. I wear eyeglasses and these are much more comfy than my Turtle Beach X12's were. I can go about 45 minutes to an hour before any pain. My Asro's I can wear till I fall asleep with NO pain with glasses but I paid a steep price for that much comfort too.

Controls are fairly easy, MUCH easier than those on my Logitech 7.1 Surround headset I just sold today from my gaming PC. And just to clue you, these are made for the XBOX only but buy a couple cable options (I bet you already have ALL you need laying around now!) and these will also work with your PS3 and PC as well. I really don't know why they don't make this knowledge available and offer to sell you this to expand their presence in the marketplace????? Anyway, these sound wonderful. Warm, mess with the different presets to get the sound you prefer and NO hiss, NO popping, NO hassles! So no, it doesn't not sound as wonderful as my Astro A40's.....But at way less money it sounds better than I ever expected. I can't believer I had never even heard of this company before! I would give these a solid 4 but for the asking price I feel surround sound should be included. Also they need to explain the options of multi-platform use. So for sound quality, an honest 4. For value, not so much? So 3 stars overall.

Best Deals for Steel Series Spectrum 7xB Headset for Xbox 360 (Black)

The popping and crackling the headphones suffer from make them practically unusable. I gave the set the benefit of the doubt due to being within range of 20 or so routers but then I moved and am now only within 2 (including my own) and the problem persists. I've tried moving it, wrapping it foil to no avail.

They are pretty comfortable. They are on-ear not over-the-ear like I expected but still comfortable. I wear a 7 and 3/4 cap and the headset fits well in its fully extended mode. The mic works very well (or so I'm told by those I talk to) and the sound quality is very good with great bass for a wireless package.

Honest reviews on Steel Series Spectrum 7xB Headset for Xbox 360 (Black)

I bought this wireless headset to use for my pc. I know its a Xbox headset but it read in the description it was pc compatible. So I bought the thing and found it needed the 360 controller to plug into for the microphone portion. And although it has no cords running directly to the system it has quite a bit of setup i.e. the transmitter has cord to the system for power and another for the r/w audio cables, and a cord from the mic to the controller. Not the most plug and play setup. If all I were to use was my console this would be a great wireless option, but for an easier and more complete pc experience (albeit not of the high quality) I would rather use my 30$ Plantronics.

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I bought a pair of these after doing research on other similar wireless gaming headsets. I do not own another pair of headsets to compare these to.

The Good:

-Three Different Sound Qualities

-Sound quality itself was great

-Live Mix which separates your friend's voices from in-game sounds

-Extremely Comfortable, and I have a big head

The Bad:

From 11 feet away with a direct LOS, continually received crackles and pops in my headset. I didn't notice static, just every now and then would have a crackle and pop, sometimes disconnecting the sound for up to three seconds unless I moved my head. I attempted the following:

-Attempted to move the mixer around, away from the wireless router.

-Turned cell phone off

-Turned laptop off

-Turned baby monitor off

-Turned every wireless contraption off

I still continued to receive crackles and pops from what I imagine is the headset losing connection.

Also, upon plugging the voice dongle between the controller and the headset, I received a constant stream of static in my headphones. It's extremely noticeable and I had to unplug the dongle after a minute or two. I attempted to try an additional two times with no success.

These headphones also somehow seemed to affect my wireless router range. The same day that I plugged this in (and the mixer stays on even if the XBOX is off) I could not access my internet 20 feet away from the router. I could previously walk down the street a little bit and still have connection. I turned off the mixer, and bam, I could walk down the street and access the WIFI like normal. It also caused signal from the router to be dropped as well. I'm no tech geek so I can't back this up with frequency lingo, but I'm attempting to look at this logically. It has to be these headphones.

So now, if my wife wants to use WIFI upsairs while I'm using my headphones downstairs, she hasn't been able to. That, along with the crackling and popping noises, has made me reconsider the purchase. Returned the headphones, I expected much more from this product. For reference, my setup was an E2000 Wireless Router, Wired Xbox 360, Baby Monitor, these headphones.

Reviews of Warhammer 40,000: Fire Warrior

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First of all, ignore every other review you read here at venerable ol' Amazon.com

Even if they had a good point, it was lost by the use of 8 year old grammar.

THIS game may be the saving FPS for PS2, and while not getting the commercial support, from a technical standpoint may be the only thing Sony has against the Halo Juggernaught. With so many once loyal MoH fans turning their backs on Rising Sun (im not sure why) PS2 needs a hit. FPS are entering a new era, spearheaded by Halo and hopefully DOOM3, unfortunately, both are for XBox (fine for me, ive got both ps2 and the x)leaving PS2 a tad High And Dry.

Enter Games Workshop and their remarkably gritty British gaming world of Warhammer 40,000. While merry ol' England may not at first seem to be the source for grit, as compared to our own oliver stone and quentin tarantino culture, their form of grit is one born of apathy. Look at so many examples of their darker exploits, like Judge Dredd and Death's Head. Very Dark properties indeed.

So how does WH40K jump onto that bandwagon? By dooming us all. In the FAR FAR future (40,000 is the YEAR) we are a species consumed with warfare. An archaic symbol of a once proud Emperor now sits immortally on his Golden Throne, kept alive through unnatural technical means, while mankind breeds enormous super soldiers capable of spitting acid, crushing a mans skull with a few fingers, and wear huge explosion proof armour suits. Vicious Aliens, including Eldar (think space elves, but more violent) Orks (think orcs, and...well, yeah...orcs.) and Tau (think techno-samurai) amongst many others which come and go (necrons=terminators, etc)

not to mention the thousands of Space Marines who joined the daemonic forces of chaos and were changed by the hell spawned powers of the Warp, returning these Chaos Marines to murder and plague that which they once loved.

Pretty dark eh?

well this is the world this game takes place in. a thriving gaming community has kept Games Workshop in business for a couple of decades now, despite costing around $5 per miniature (and a typical army would be about 30 soldiers or so, to begin)

I myself run 3 armies (Sisters of Battle, Chaos Marines of Khorne, and The Dark Angels) and yet this game far supercedes any expectation i could have had.

instead of you being the space marine, noble and gallant (think Sega Saturns' Space Hulk) you are a young Tau, whose people have been attacked and kidnapped by self righteous human space marines.

Now.

Take THAT storyline concept, give it the same gameplay mechanics as Halo, and the scripted event on the fly concept that MoH: Frontline gave us, and youve got Fire Warrior.

thats quite a buildup, so ill throw in the bad and ugly...

Its ONLY on PS2. but like i said, ps2 deserves its fair share of fps too.

Enemy graphics get a little stale. Yes we all know the xbox can out perform the ps2 any day, but still, for the first few missions the humans look identical, only 3 colored suits!

Look response is a tad slow. this is mainly a design flaw in the ps2 compared to the analog controllers on the xbox remote.

auto-save

i hate auto-save, because i invariably die just before i hit the next one and will have to re run the entire mission.

but dont let those stop you. this game is excellent, and makes good use of every inch the ps2 can give.

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THIS GAME ROCKS!!! (pun)

Of course a lot of gamers belch out that one for the lamest games around. But in this case I find it to be right on the money.

First let me say that I hate DARK games..Let me see doggone it! And Warhammer 40K is about the darkest game I've come across, It still rocks. Thank the gods for the nightvision option, I do wish it lasted a little longer.

I love the original 40K book/board game, but putting that aside, this game still rocks. The 40K theme is just an added bonus. It did take me by surprise that I would be fighting against the Imperium though, but what the hay Space Marines have to die too.

As far as the controls, like the above/below review mentioned, it's just like 4 or 5 other games. Left view, right move, it even lets you set the movement/sight ratio to let your controller's sensitivity move you along faster or slower. L1 fire, SQ change weapons, I had it down after the first level. Which you have to or you DIE, over and over.

Graphics are great, yes it is a little dark, but when you can see I find the scenery more than adequate, if you HAVE the time to look around. Because, this is a very fast pace game, if you stand in one spot for more than a minute you'll be attacked.

Weapons, weapons, who's got the weapons? I/you are always on the look out for the biggest and badest guns. Some shoot fast but aren't powerful, some are powerful but don't hold many bullets or refills are hard to come by. I found it best to have a Tau weapon for power and carry an enemy gun so I can have plenty of refills, seeing how you can grab reloads from the fallen. The occasional melda-guns are really powerful, but you can rarely fill one up with ammo. They are placed close to strong enemy though, so I usually grab one use it up then drop it for the one I had before. Note, take notice if you only have one or two rounds chambered in your weapon, there's nothing worse than jumping out into a crowd of angary space marines and having to reload.

Fire Warrior isn't just smash and grab. Although a lot of the main play is run threw, there are a few curve balls they throw at ya, from time to time, I think just to give you a little break between white knuckle battles. I had to sit and scratch my head a few times, wondering just where the heck to go.

And almost every level has a secondary O.P. that you may choose to pass up, but they're usually out of your way, run go figure this out and still make it out in time, "kinda things" that I didn't start getting until my second trip threw. You have to beat the game on normal mode before hard mode kicks in. (If you pause the missions are listed on the screen as well as the option to hear the last few radio broadcasts.)

The AI is as good as any of the latest PS2 games I've played Red Faction, TimeSplitter 2, although none of them will knock Halo off the top shelf. Yes, you do have the random "Stuck Feet" when you just happen to step in the perfect place, your just stuck in the mud, can't move, but what games don't have those. And yes some of the sergeants with grenades throw them at walls killing themselves, I say, thank goodness I don't have to kill that grenade totin' S.O.G.

The commodores and captains in the beginning are kinda hard to beat, considering the weapons you have to start with, but this just prepares you for the real fighting with the heavily armored Space Marines to come later in the game. Some of the Terminator/monsters in this game are just unbelievably tough, as they would be in "Real Life".

OK..so there's got to be a negative! Well, if I had to find fault with this game, I'd say it would be the lack of a backpack. Yes, you can carry a hand full of grenades and you do have a primary and secondary weapon, even a sword if you run outta ammo. But gimme a back pack, an extra health or 5 would help a good deal and we all like collecting odd trinkets threw our games. Medals, rare pistols, a flaming bayonet something out of the ordinary. But really health and a full clip of bullets is all a real Tau warrior needs anyway.

All this said, if you like first person shooters this one is a must have, if you like 40K this is a must have, if you like a game that can keep you on the edge of your seat for many many hours, this is the game for you.

But be prepared, When you hit the ground you better be running, and shooting and looking for ammo and health. Or you'll DIE DIE DIE!!!!

Oh yeah..Did I mention this game is DARK!

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Putting occasional and minimal strength language and "after effects" in defeating an enemy, I personally hold this game higher than those who have found the Halo series their home. With an excellent story, horrific plot twists and bosses that would make a space marine cry, this game truely gives a more hands on experience of what Warhammer 40k could really offer someone. I recommend this game to anyone who calls warhammer cool, because this is just plain awesome!

Honest reviews on Warhammer 40,000: Fire Warrior

The action and story in this game is intense and captures you from the first battle. The one down side to this game is that the graphics are just average at best. With such a great story and pulse pounding action I am disappointed with the lack of detail in the graphics. The graphics remind of DOOM or Duke Nukem, not what you expect in todays gaming world.

But with that said the story in this game is fun, new, and exciting. All of things I have been missing in first person PS2 games. With better graphics this game could have challanged HALO easily.

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Ive been a 40k fan for awhile and have been eagerly anticipating the release of this game. It kept getting pushed back and pushed back, building my hopes up each time. So when it finally came out I snatched it up. Playing around a bit I realized it was not what I had expected. So far the single player is cool, but not ground breaking. The biggest upset however came in the multiplayer mode. A limited number of weapons and levels paired with the lack of bots make for an almost boring experience. Dont get me wrong I like this game, but if not for the 40k theme this title would bring little to the table. If your looking for a good FPS for PS2 pick up Time Splitters 2 or Red Faction 2 for they both offer hours worth of variety that Fire Warrior sadly just doesn't have.

Discount Rise of the Argonauts - Xbox 360

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Rise of the Argonauts is a strange game. The idea of creating a game around the saga of Jason and the Argonauts is a great one, and has lots of potential. The idea of creating a Mass Effect type game set in ancient Greece is a great one, with lots of potential. RPG-type power up system mixed with hack and slash gaming is a great idea too

The problems come in on the "but..." end of things. Great idea to use the Argonauts myth, BUT they basically wrecked that by making the game have absolutely zero to do with Greek mythology. All the character names are the same, but none of the characters are doing anything that they're supposed to be doing. The Argo is full of all new people, ie, NOT the actual Argonauts, and the quest for the golden fleece is still the same in name but they want it for a completely different purpose

None of the character relationships are the same either. People who are half-brothers in Greek myth are uncle and nephew in this game. People who are married in Greek myth are vague acquaintances in this game. People who live in completely different eras are united in the same time and place. No idea why they would do this, its completely unexplainable

One might as well have a Bible game that has Noah, Moses and Jesus wandering through the desert for 40 years together with the Jews, and at the end of it they fight the battle of Armageddon. That's the kind of hodgepodge you're faced with here

The dialogue trees are a good idea it seems, at first, until you realize that absolutely nothing you say makes any difference. Regardless of your choice, the people you're talking to will give you the same item or response. Occasionally you will talk to them and they will just repeat themselves over and over til you get to the part of the quest that causes them to change to a new set of selections

Tons of bugs too. Occasionally you'll talk to people who aren't there. People will appear and disappear for no reason. You select certain "god powers" which are basically just power up attacks from the D pad, and when you push down it gives you the power that's on the right, or you push up and get the down power. Just totally unexplainable things like that

Don't get me wrong, none of that makes the game unplayable. Its a pretty decent game, fun to play if a little unchallenging. I'm maybe 15 hours into it and plan on beating it before I put it down. Its by no means a 5 star game though, not another Mass Effect like some people here are claiming. Not a 1 star game either, like some people are saying

Basically if you want a game with lots of sword fighting and not much chance of actually dying, this is it. A game with lots of choices but no consequences if you make a bad one, this is it. A game that plays out like a movie, but not a movie you'd really want to see twice. Here it is

Hope that helps you make a decision on whether or not to give it a try

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I agree, I don't understand how gaming review sites and magazines can condemn games so quickly, seemingly without being able to point out specific flaws. They tend to fall in step with each other in fear of writing a disagreeable review. This game should be a lot of fun and great for anyone with an inkling of Greek mythology. It provides a lot of new fun little features like using achievements or combat feats instead of experience points to boost abilities that set it apart, despite being too "streamlined in both action and RPG elements" for the boys over at IGN.

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If you are in the mood for an RPG that changes the rules of Action RPG's then this is your game.

I've played the game for about 10 hours now, and I must say it has thrilled me and lured me in as much as Mass Effect did from last year.

This RPG comes highly recommended if you like great dialog, character relationships, story, simple yet elegant fighting systems, and logical game direction!

You will see some reviews giving this game a low score based on the fact that they think conservations are boring and that they think the pacing is too slow. You'll also see reviewers note that this game has too many technical flaws.

Both those claims are rubbish, there are frame rate issues, but what game doesn't have them, reviewers are spoiled and it shows when they dog on a terrifically neat title with no hype, such as this one.

Please give this one a try, I promise it is a hidden gem amongst the holiday crowd of guns and blood.

Thank for reading,

Mika'il

Honest reviews on Rise of the Argonauts - Xbox 360

I thought this game was great. I am not the type for RPG games typically, as I usually lose interest too soon before finishing it. But for some reason I really got hooked on this one. The story line was fantastic, and game play was fun. Some say it is repetitive, but I don't see it that way. It WAS an easy game, and definitely NOT challenging. However, in the overall context of the game I think making some of the action scenes too difficult would drag the game on too long. I would guess it took about 12 hours or more to finish the game. (Not being a RPG gamer that is a long game for me).

Great story, great graphics, strong gameplay.

A big downfall of the game is it seems nearly impossible to level up your character in one pass-through of the game. In the game the leveling up is done by pleasing the gods and uncovering stars in constellations. I didn't see anyway to go back and replay areas to finish these side projects.

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I spent a solid few hours playing this game and enjoyed every second of it. When I read the various reviews for it, I couldn't quite understand all the hate it was receiving. It seemed like people were judging it more for what they wanted it to be than what it was.

The story borrows liberally from the actual myth of Jason and the quest for the Golden Fleece and throws in a rather who's who of Greek mythology. It threw me off at first but I went with it, because I honestly felt that knowing what each twist and turn held in store by following the original source material verbatim would have been boring. I rather enjoyed having some of the big names from mythology on my side, rather than adhering strictly to the (incredibly long) list of actual argonauts. I'll take Achilles and Pan over Talaus and Zetes pretty much any day of the week. It made things feel a bit more epic, if slightly deviating from what the title might suggest.

The combat was by no means inadequate, it just wasn't anything particularly groundbreaking. Hack and slash from the moment you pull your weapon to the moment you put it away. I felt it was very reminiscent of the game Jade Empire in that you had multiple ways of approaching an opponent, some more effective on a given opponent than others, and ways to evade what they threw at you. Simple and effective, but by no means innovative.

The voice acting was suspect at times, particularly among the civilian extras. It didn't detract from the overall story though, and I think the story was actually very intriguing once you put aside the fact this wasn't the tale of the Golden Fleece you were immediately familiar with. I found some of it formulaic, but other bits did actually give me moments of surprise.

For those who felt there was far too much dialog, I can see your point to a limited degree but it IS a role playing game after all, what exactly did you expect? If all you want is to butcher things in a pseudo Greek mythological world with the occasional bit of story added in, the God of War series is that way -->.

Also to those of you who want to negatively hold this up to Mass Effect (one of my own personal favorite games of all time), I'd say you need to take a closer look at what Mass Effect really did that was incredibly innovative. And to that I would say: Not much. Mass Effect just did it better than others had before it. If you want to call quality "innovative", then that says more about the state of gaming than anything else.

To run the list:

1) Neither game had a particularly awesome combat setup. FPS was hardly something ME did first, nor best. Just like hack and slash melee wasn't a new trick RotA was attempting. Don't tell me that pointing targeting reticule at target was in anyway different than the other FPS games that came before. The biotics with the guns was no different than using a blaster and Force powers in Jedi Academy.

2) The visuals in both were less than stellar. ME made up for ridiculous looking humans with more well-done aliens, but I also though that Pan was particularly well done in RotA. Backgrounds and such I'll give the nod to Mass Effect.

3) As far as story, ME's was very enjoyable and I think THIS particular area was where RotA showed its flaws. Very little of what you say has any major impact in the outcome of the story. You can periodically choose to kill or not kill someone, to take or not take an item, but at the end of the day the destination remains the same whether you chose all Ares answers or all Apollo answers, and I think it could have been a lot better with more open choices, rather than 4 ways of saying the same thing to achieve the same outcome. ME beats it here, but I also thought the Knights of the Old Republic game did this better than even ME unfortunately. Both had lengthy dialog parts, the difference is that ME was (if you did the optional quests) just plain a longer game, so the talking seems more broken up.

I did like the fact that you had to actually remember (or properly guess) things said to you in order to make some of the dialog scenes go more smoothly. (The debate of the Golden Fleece, specifically) It gave everything a bit more cerebral tone than just having the right and wrong answers colored in blue and red. Gave you reason to pay attention to the dialog anyway.

Rise of the Argonauts is more like Jade Empire than it is Mass Effect. If you enjoyed Jade Empire, give this a look. You'll find a lot of it very familiar and it's a good way to kill a few evenings of casual play or 1-2 days at most of power-gaming through it.

Despite its faults, I found it to be an enjoyable game to sit through and it gave a unique new spin to material that had been beaten into the ground repeatedly by books, films and other games. A fun twist on classical material.

Discount Gioteck XC4-HQ High Speed HDMI Cable - Xbox 360

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The cable is as good as it says but you can only use it on some DVD players & PS3 devices as its made for the PS3 because of cable's head size, but there are cheaper products and they work all sort of HD devices.

So this item should be purchased for only if you can afford it and you want to use it with PS3 but it does a good job on my DVD player also so i'am giving it 4 stars****. good luck and have fun.

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Review of Axis & Allies - PC

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I am 40 years old, and not a hardcore PC gamer. I do love traditional strategy games, and played everything from chess to Risk and the A&A board game growing up.

I only own about three or four PC games. I quite liked the first PC version of A&A, as it was like the board game, but sped up with the computer rolling the dice, etc. When I heard about this release, I couldn't wait, and eagerly shelled out the $49.99 (I see it is already only $45.99 here on Amazon).

I just wanted to let you know where I was coming from before I gave my review. My initial impressions are mixed, but overall, I am somewhat disappointed. This may change as I play more.

I have to say I love the idea. The traditional board game strategy, with the ability to "micromanage" the battles in real time. In fact, in the WWII mode, you can play the whole game from the game board perspective, using the computer to resolve the battles based on relative strengths, or you can choose to do any particular battle, offensive or defensive, in the micro mode, and then on that level, it is like a whole new game, with great graphics and all.

The biggest disappointment as a fan of the traditional board game version and the original PC version, is that on the board game level, it is not much like the original game. You do not start out with choices like ships, subs, and planes to deploy, only infantry or mechanized infantry. The Ocean spaces on the board do not serve as any type of natural barrier, as any type of piece can move to any adjoining space. So, for example, German infantry can attack Great Britain as easily as Russia on the mainland. In fact, as another reviewer mentioned, if you choose to play the board game level, and not use the real-time strategy level to resolve battles, the game is simply a rush to deploy infantry and gobble up territory. If you play the U.S., the game will be over in about 5 or 6 turns as Moscow and London fall before you can really get in the battle.

Also, the technology doesn't have things like heavy bombers and super subs, etc.

I really wish that on the game board, turn by turn level, the PC game was true to the Board game. I agree with others that if you are an A&A fan you are in for a disappointment.

Other complaints I have are that, for example, the tool bar has fancy graphics, that I think are unnecessary, and cut down on the viewable area of the map, which should be a prime focus in designing the interface. Also, the tool bar has separate buttons for moving and attacking, so you have to click the piece you want, then click move button or attack button, then click the territory you want to move to or attack. And if you click the move button, then a hostile territory, it tells you you can't move to a hostile territory, you must attack. This three-step process seems like such a waste, when the two actions are mutually exclusive. Why can't you just drag the piece to the space you want, and then the computer should be able to know if it is friendly you want to move there, and if it is hostile, you want to attack? This is just one example.

Finally, keep your manual handy, as although there are PCtutorials, they only deal with the real time combat level, and you'll be unable to figure out how to play the board game level, because of problems like the one I just described above, without digging through the book.

Now, having said that, I am trying to learn this game better, and enjoy it in its own right. I think that is possible. And I haven't tried many of the campaign options, so they might be fun also. It does have great graphics, and that is why I gave it 3 stars (instead of 1 or 2).

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but if you wanted to buy a game like Axis and Allies then avoid this game like the plague. Like all RTS games there is little real strategy to the game. It is simply who can build the fastest and move around the board the fastest. The lack of naval and air power is amazing. Oh, those units are there, kind of. They are strictly a tack on to the RTS portions of the game. You do not actually build them like you did in A&A. There is literally nothing to stop the Germans from invading Britain in the openning rounds.

As the Americans, I defeated 6 Japanese units, 2 armored and 4 infantry in China, with only one defensive unit as they call them. Eventually through constantly beating their attacks each turn, I was able to destroy the majority of the Japanese army in Asia. There was no strategy to it. It was basic RTS. Build as fast as you can and rush them out there in mobs. This game exemplifies why I hate RTS games in general and I really wish they had added this feature in some better fashion. RTS games have no strategy in the real military sense. I guess there is some, but in my experience they are simply building as fast as possible and rushing your men out in massive mobs. This is not why I buy military games.

Again, if you like the standard RTS games out there, this might add an extra dimension, which you might like. But, and this is a huge but, if you wanted a game like the old A&A with a little bit of RTS added on, then this is not for you. The RTS is clearly a distraction from the old game and not an addition. I consider this game to be the biggest waste of my money in several years.

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Reading the previous reviews many have rated it bad because people are expecting something like the board game. If you read the comments it says "INSPIRED BY THE BOARD GAME" It does not say exactly like the board game.

I have the board game and I love it, Whenever we can get a group of people we play.

This PC version is great it has great graphics "smoke, construction, fires, explosions, ect. ect."

It is pretty cool on how the construction is portrayed.

The battlefields and the missions get harder and harder.

Overall if you are expecting a board game do not buy this get the board game. If you are looking for a PC game with great graphics then buy this game.

Honest reviews on Axis & Allies - PC

First of all, this game has the wrong title. If you love the board game, you will be sadly disappointed. If you want the board game on PC, you can still find it offered by other vendors but the AI is horrible. Aside from that, the RTS in this game is great and very addicting. There are flaws of course, such as the fact that you have to constantly pause the game to issue commands because your units are too stupid to show any logic for themselves, such as being able to get out of the battle before being wiped out or to fix a burning building they are standing right next to, etc. But overall, it if very fun to play the campaigns and the RTS and AI is very good.

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Then this is NOT it. Don't waste your money.

I finally upgraded to XP SP2 and my A & A (Hasbro Version) stopped working. So I thought it was time to upgrade my version of A & A. As I read about the new version, I was really psyched at the potential of mixing the board game and RTS. However after spending time playing it today, I can honestly say it is a WW II RTS game bearing the title A & A with a computerized board game. While the computerized board game portion of the game may show a board that resembles the A & A map, the game doesn't resemble A & A very much beyond that. No ships or aircraft to control in the WW II portion. Imagine taking a territory and you get to keep all your armies and the enemy loses only one and gets to retreat. Huh? Germany can invade Great Britian with troops straight from Europe. What happened to control of the air or sea? This has both Moscow and London falling quickly if you are the US. Another sticking point, you can only have one battle per turn. ??? You can only cross one boarder at a time. Huh??? No tanks crossing two territories. I am not sure how the "quick resolution" of a battle is accomplished in the backend. On several occasions I attacked my opponent whom I totally out numbered and I lost. I think someone posted something similar happening to them also. I ended up losing one guy and all forces retreated. Huh??? What if I don't wnat to retreat? One battle I was attacking Japan, however if Japan leaves no armies in Japan you can't attack. What??? Is this a feature? I'll just leave my homeland empty and I'll never lose. Several turns later Japan has a country full of armies.

To be fair to the programmers on the RTS side, it has some cool stuff. Little things like snow falling off the trees in the background. Tanks running over trees, tank tracks in the snow...

It seems to me that those who gave it a great review are looking at it from an RTS perspective. Those that gave it a bad review were looking at it from a "computerized version of the titled board game". Two reviewers must have been out late smoking something or work for Atari. TimeGate or somehow associated with selling the product. Sam you are the only one that says "It stays true to the board game". Tim another reviewer even says "not your board game anymore" and Diego "I am sure it will be a great PC game" obviously puts you in the "haven't played it so you shouldn't review it". Play it then tell us your thoughts.

In the end it is a good "Age of Empires" World War II version, however it is far from the name Axis & Allies board game I have known and what I thought I was purchasing.

I wanted a computerized version of the board game. Instead I was really disappointed because it is just a wolf is sheep's clothes. Atari came out with a good game and unfortunately attached the name of another game to it. I was so pumped up to play it, however the delta between my expectation and the delivery is just too great.

Have I expressed my disappointment....

If Atari or TimeGate happen to read this, all you need to do is take the WW II portion of the game and make that part more like the actual board game or Hasbro version (tuning it up a bit) and both sides will give it a thumbs up. It seems to get thumbs up from the RTS gamers. However those who buy it thinking it is like the board game are going to continue to be very disappointed. From the 50/50 reviews I would say it might be half of the customer base, although I think is is more 60/40, some of the reviews are obviously peppered.

Blade Kitten Review

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Due to some limitation with the engine, this game is capped at 30 frames per second. Normally, 30fps isn't so bad that's more or less what I get in Crysis, yet Crysis looks and feels fantastic on my machine. But on this game, 30fps feels WAY too low and makes everything feel blurry and choppy whenever you're moving, which is basically all the time. I gave it a few tries, but I eventually had to stop because of eye strain. The gameplay didn't seem particularly fun either (and I've read several reviews that say it's lacklustre), so it just didn't seem worth the trouble to plug through this blurfest and give myself a headache.

Maybe it looks great on a CRT monitor, and maybe different people's eyes have different sensitivies. But on my LCD monitor, it just looks horrible. I've played loads of games, and this is the the first time this has happened to me.

There's a free demo available on Steam (and no doubt elsewhere too) so I urge you to try that before you buy. I wish I did.

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I have the same problem as reported earlier the game does not activate even though the key supplied by Amazon is accepted by the game installer.

I will update if anything changes.

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Wish I could review the game itself, but all I get is the demo. It's the activation keys. Tech support at Securom tells me the key Amazon gave me wasn't valid. Try contacting the publisher. So I thought I'd try emailing Amazon instead, since I'd been working with Atari support already, and they were somewhat clueless. The nice folks at Amazon apologized for the problem, and gave me a different activation key. Unfortunately, it also doesn't work. Clearly there is some breakdown in communication between Atari, Securom & Amazon. Who, what or why that is, I can't say. What I can say is, do not to waste your time or money on this game. (purchased as digital download from Amazon)(Non-Steam version)

Honest reviews on Blade Kitten

Graphics look great, but its hard to enjoy this game when you are getting sick every 15 minutes. Don't know if the colors in the game are too bright or all the movement in the game thats causing it. I gotten sick playing First person shooter games and I never thought I'll get sick playing Side Strollers... Heard from friends they also gotten sick playing this when even though they never gotten sick before playing other games..The gameplay is not really fun either with the difficultly and frustration of fighting enemies with a floating sword...

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The game is short, the combat is simple and easy, and occasionally you will get stuck in a wall.

However, the game is a nice 2D platformer where you can go almost anywhere in the level. The focus is on exploration and gathering secret items, though you can just run through, sword swinging (which does earn an achievement if you're fast enough). It's a $5 game with a catgirl as the main character. It even has a good bit of humour. And when you inevitably end up stuck in a wall, it will move you out soon enough.