Review of Armored Core 2

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When we got a Playstation 2, the first PS2 game we put into it was Armored Core 2, by Agetec. This game style is definitely one we enjoy a great deal. Unfortunately, it appears they rushed this game out the door a bit too quickly.

The game design is really neat. Like most mech games, you start out slowly, getting money to customize your mech as you go. There are 50 'ranked' robots for you to fight your way through, as well as 35 missions to undertake to earn fame and fortune. There are hundreds of parts to choose from to customize your bot.

You can also go head-to-head by linking your PS2 to a friend's with the cable. Unfortunately the PS2 doesn't currently support modem play, so someone has to carry the unit to someone else's house to do this.

The plots are interesting with three factions trying to get control of Mars, the missions you choose help influence the fate of these companies. The customization is almost overwhelming. You can custom-design your own logo with their built in paint program, buy parts for a huge variety of systems on your mech, and then test it out in various arenas against various foes.

Why the disappointment, then? The learning curve on this is VERY steep the screens and layout could have been done much more intuitively. The game also runs extremely slowly. Sounds lock up, visuals will stick on the screen, etc. If you've spent hours and hours (if not weeks and weeks) working on designing the perfect mech, the last thing you want is for system failures to cause you to lose missions and die in battles.

A true mech fan might overlook these problems and enjoy the game, but those out to test the true power of their PS2 might want to look at other options.

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I bought this game because I was looking for a non-sports title for my PS2 and wanted something with a little more combat than SSX (excellent game see reviews). I'm glad I read reviews of it before I bought it! Armored Core 2 is a very good game, but it does have its flaws, and there is a learning curve involved. Some people may not want to take the time to get past the initial phase of the game.

The premise is simple you're on Mars and own a mech, a remote-controlled, armed robot. Mars is controlled by several corporations, each with their own agenda, and they're looking for hired help to help them get what they want. That means you. You provide help by way of accepting missions. From time to time, corporations will contact your advisor with opportunities. You can review the mission, see how much it pays (sometimes you get an advance), and choose to accept or decline. Upon completion of the mission, you'll get whatever portion of the reward you're owed, as well as any bonuses you may have earned, but you have to pay to repair any damage to your mech and you have to pay for ammunition that you've used.

You can also earn credits (money) and parts by beating other mechs in head-to-head combat in the Arena. The Arena is a ladder-based challenge system as you beat each opponent, you move up one rung and receive a correspondingly larger bonus. You don't have to pay for damage or ammunition in the Arena.

Here's where the work comes in. At first, you've got a very basic mech. Especially if you're not familiar with mech combat, as I wasn't, you'll get beat in the Arena or fail to complete missions. The expense of failing a mission is usually enough to set you back too far to continue, so you'll want to restart the mission. Easy enough? Think again.

The game doesn't lend itself well to this kind of progress (intentionally so, I think). If you want to redo a mission, you have to load a saved game (save after EVERY mission!), accept the mission, and start over again. It's not a quick process. Then again, it can still be done. In Arena mode, you can simply choose to fight the battle again, and can do so over and over until you win, although the losses are kept in your record.

As you progress through the missions, you get more offers, your ranking improves (you have a completion percentage based on how far you've gone), and you learn more about Mars, the corporations, and other things that are happening. Eventually, you'll have a well-armed mech and will be more able to do what you want. Corporations will also make more parts available to you, especially if you've been working for them, so don't think you're limited to the weapons, legs, and other parts you see when you start.

After each mission and Arena battle, you can take your credits and spend them in the Shop. Here's where Agetec makes up for the missions you sell parts back for 100% of the purchase price, so you can experiment to your heart's content (well, maybe your wallet's) when you upgrade your mech. However, you can't get everything you want. Your mech has an energy limit and weight limits for the legs and the core, and you can't spend more money than you have. If you're too heavy or can't afford required parts, you can't go into battle.

The control scheme is typical for mech games, which means if you were expecting to use the analog sticks for movement, you'll be disappointed. In their defense, this system is more realistic. After all, if your mech has legs, it's not going to be able to spin around very easily! It takes a bit of getting used to (and you need to know that the L3 and R3 buttons are the analog sticks push in to use), but once you've got the controls down, you'll be ready for battle. You can even use a USB mouse to design your emblem (the logo for your mech), and if you've got skills, you can design a really cool emblem.

The gameplay itself is good, although if there are many missiles on the screen, you'll definitely see some slowdown. Aside from that, it's nice once you've become accustomed to the controls, and there's something satisfying about taking out a plane or a chopper with one well-aimed missile. It's not all brute force, though. You'd love to be able to lay waste to a facility, but when you finish the mission and get your bill for the ammo, you'll wish you were a little more conservative.

You can play head-to-head against a friend, either in split-screen mode if you've got one PS2, or if you have two PS2s, two TVs, you each have the game, and you have one i.Link cable, you can play on your own systems.

There are many different types of mechs you can build, and the missions that you accept, in theory, steer your progress through the game (I've not played more than one game, so I can't verify that). I think the replay value of the game is pretty good, if you're a mech player, and I'm looking forward to going back and replaying some missions.

I've had a lot of fun with this game, but I've also had to be patient with it. If you've got the time, and if you like mech combat, this is a good game for you. If you're considering this for a younger person, or if you're new to the mech arena, you may want to look for something else.

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First off, this game is very hard. You have 32 difficult missions to complete, all the while trying to advance through around 50 other challengers in the Arena. The graphics are smooth and are beautifully rendered using the PlayStation 2's great processor. You didn't need to play this game's predecessors, because the storyline in this game kicks off from the beginning. It is an intertwining plot about heroism, sacrifice, betrayal, and mysteries of another race, particularly, the Martians.

Another great thing is that there are over 200 parts you can earn and find in missions, the shop, and the Arena. Customizing your mech is one of the great aspects of this game. There are thousands of combinations, insuring you that your mech is unique.

For all of you parents out there, this game has only robot violence, no "blood and guts" as in most other video games. For the kids, this game insures a challenge, so don't be afraid to lose.

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Dont let the title of this review turn you away from the game. But belive me, it is completely true. I loved AC 1 and PS2 I knew would deliver. It did thankfully. The graphics are smooth and there is absolutely no clipping. No pixels when your up close and only minor slow down in mission levels (this happens very seldom, usually when 10 missles are flying at you with 20 MTs shooting at you, which is only like 2 levels.) AThe game is fun, but only once you break through the begining of the game because I couldnt tell you how many times I got the ... kicked out of me and had to dig myself out of debt. Some of the first couple levels are [very] hard, as are some of the later missions. As the title reads, once you play the 4-5 mission you will hurl your Dual Shock 2 controller through your window and sit there meticulously thinkin of how you can get your self out of a -30k debt. Once you get a chance to build up your mech, this game shines through the darkness. You can create a really personalized mech, changing color, parts, weapons, speed. Everything is customizable. I am now begining to truely enjoy this game because if you have patience you will get to the point of this game which makes this a must have. Piloting your AC through Arena mode is a definite plus to get your mind off of frustrating mission battles. The story even progress fluidly with "Mail" that you get after certain missions or arena battles. The graphics are awesome, story is awesome, and after some broken controllers, gameplay is awesome and definitly warrants this a purchase.

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Apples versus oranges some might shout, but to me there are several parallels between this mech-warfare game and the highly structured race game, Gran Turismo.

In both games, you begin with a basic "vehicle" (the first and Armored Core or AC, the latter a race car). Both vehicles are customizeable and upgradeable, and both require money to make your vehicles better. Both involve competitions (the former in the Arena against other ACs or on missions for assorted corporations that, upon success, pay for services rendered the latter in races) to raise money to pay for your upgrades. Both require practice to master your machines. And, in my opinion, both are great games. In other words, if you like the features of Gran Turismo the building and bettering of a vehicles the challenge of mastering its operation the thrill of victory over difficult opponents and want a break from race games, give AC2 a try!

The play control isn't too tricky, I feel, once you learn the basic important movements. However, as you upgrade and switch your AC around, factors such as defense, mobility, energy, and the like, are all affected in different ways. This leads to countless combinations that, in my opinion, add to the fun.

The graphics are beautiful and the explosions are spectacular. There are so many different types of weapons from rocket launchers to machine guns, shotguns to missle launchers to bombs all featuring differing strengths and weaknesses (and ways to blow up your enemies!) that create yet more eye candy for the MechWar fiend.

The sound is nothing special, but once again, the explosions are quite exhilerating. I don't think the sound is bad, just typical of action based games, easily left to the background. For those of you who prefer female or male computer voices for your ACs, depending on how you upgrade, this sound can change.

Artisans have the option of customizing the colors of your mechs. There are many preset colors for impatient folks like myself to change the look of your AC with one click, or you can create your own combinations of colors out of scratch. ACs can also feature emblems which can be customized or created.

Thanks to all the combinations you can formulate when it comes to machinery, and all the missions and competitions, I feel this game will keep me entertained for quite awhile. If you like strategy, customization, competition, and just blowing things up, give AC2 a try. I think you, too, will find entertainment value in this for months to come.

Reviews of Phantasmagoria Stagefright - PC

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I found these games highly impressive and exciting. They were well written and created. I will never tire of playing these games they ultimately captivated me. If you are a person, who likes adventures and mysteries and If you like to snoop for things, then this is the game for you! Well worth the price!

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These are some Roberta Williams Sierra games, and this lady knows how the scare the crap out of people. My favorite was the first phantasmagoria game of the two part series. This one takes place in this creepy old house that Adrienne (the character you play) and her husband just moved into. Well Adrienne kind of inadvertantly lets lose this evil demonic force while exploring the house and all heck breaks loose. The visuals of this game are excellent for a 1995 game, the game has lots of video segments and the characters look real (I actually prefer this kind of game play over the more modern 3-D stuff). The interface is good and the plot line is fabulous the story goes into the whole history of the house and even into the surrounding town. Some of the scenes are way disturbing though including flashback murders and a rape scene, but the most disturbing scene is the realistic final scenes at the end of the game that happen if you (Adrienne) lose and she is killed in various horrible ways, this happened to me quite a few times and that night I had to watch cartoons for hours before I would even think about turning off the lights to go to sleep. But this is a horror game and it does it's job it will give you goosebumps, make you scream, and freak you out. I really liked it, because it scared me. The second game Phantasmagoria II: A Puzzle of Flesh, is good but it's not the award winning game the first was. This one follows Curtis through a dark, bizare, and mind-bending tale. This game gave me the creeps, even more so then Phantasmagoria I did, but this game was for my taste too dark and surreal. In the first game it was easy to identify with Adrienne she was the heroine, but its hard to tell if Curtis is hero or villian or both. Curtis even though he is the character I played creeped me out, there is just something about him, and of course you'll find out what in the end, but it makes it hard to identify with him. The gameplay in this game also does the real life (television quality) visuals. Other pluses are the easy to use interface, interesting characters, and well laid plot. Worth the play but too creepy to be as fun as the first phantasmagoria in the set.

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"Phantasmagoria" was the first CD-Rom game I ever played and it and I can still remember being stuck on a disc for a couple of days while the skull kept telling me to "Find Don! Give him what he needs!" I was pretty sure I had the drain cleaner Don needed, but I could not remember what room of the house he was in. "Phantasmagoria: A Puzzle of Flesh" is not quite as good, but that is not a big knock against the sequel, although I have never bothered to find out while Roberta Williams, who designed and wrote the original, was not responsible for the "sequel."

"Phantasmagoria Stagefright" gives you both of these story-based adventure games, where you solve puzzles and overcome obstacles. I eagerly admit that these are my favorite type of comptuer games, where you collect not only information from the locals in town but various objects waiting for the right moment when a nail allows you to do something important. The games allow you to exclude access to explicit scenes, of which there are a few. I have not played a lot of these games, but the end game of "Phantasmagoria" is still my favorite, mainly because of the delicious twist Williams comes up with for how you have to put yourself in position to win the game (I can say no more).

I am sure technology has made quantum leaps in these games since this pair first came out, but they are still a pair of solid games.

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don't listen to anyone that says otherwise: Phantasmagoria is the best! I've never played Phantasmagoria 2, but the first one is one of the best games ever. it has a great plot, awesome music, and graphics better than that of most newer games. If you ever find it for sale (it is out of print) BUY PHANTASMAGORIA!!!!

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I'm am going to say, first of all that this is not a typical game by todays standards. (I am not a fan of today's point and shoot first person shooters, with puzzles a toddler could figure out) This game certainly challenges you to figure out what to do next! There are many points where you may feel "stuck". I assure you, there is a way to go through it!

Now as far as the game contents, Oh my! This is the scariest game I have ever played! (you don't know how messed up it really is, until you get through TONS of gameplay and into the story at the later disks) The movie sequences are graphic, and horrifing!!! You can't help but cringe at them! They are wonderfully terrible!!! (in a good way!)

I was about 8 when i was first introduced to this game. I was only allowed to play disc one (again, that doesn't even give you 1/2 an idea of what to expect the rest of the game (which is 100% NOT FOR KIDS!!!), I then revisited the game on my own in my teens, and played it through... I love horror movies, but i must admit, it gave me nightmares. I am now replaying this again as an adult. They just don't make games like this anymore! I love it!

Brigandine: Legend of Forsena Reviews

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There was once an era of video games where experimentation was the norm, where risks were taken and genres were born (or died). Games were made up of more heart and soul, each having a unique (if not always good) vision. While many games during this era were not commercially successful megahits that every kid on the block owned, there existed a special kind of game that gave a truly joyful experience to every kid who dared risk their precious $50 of summer savings on it.

Brigadine is one such game.

While essentially a fairly solid hexagonal turned based Strategy-RPG with leveling and class promotion systems, Brigadine manages to surpass its trappings and elevate itself above other competing SRPGs by providing what few could at the time an Epic tale of a continent at war told through an open world format closer to sandbox style gameplay than anything else I've yet to see. Sandbox style gameplay in a SRPG? Yes, indeed it is true.

While I do not have the room to truly delve into every aspect of the game, I will highlight the main points below:

Pros

+ Can select from quite a few different Kingdoms to play at the beginning of the game each with own unique plotline, style, and beginning characters.

+ Sandbox style game means you have a different game every time!

+ Each unique, named character in the game comes with their own anime portrait and backstory. This helps a lot towards making you care about them and their growth in battle.

+ Questing system for named characters allows you to assign characters on a journey. The results of which can lead to plot points, powerful new items, new allies (named characters), or stat upgrades. There are lots of other results, I was just naming a few common ones.

+ Questing system makes for strategic decision making. Do I send a powerful hero or specific plot trigger hero out on a quest, or use them to fight another battle?

+ Great item system, lots of different equipment

+ Multiple tier class promotion system. I hate SRPGs that only allow a class to upgrade into ONE other class, regardless. Makes it feel like a cop out.

+ 3d animation is available for fight cutscenes. I turn them off usually for faster battles, but they are offered.

+ Magic is not all powerful, and is balanced right to be strategic but not necessary.

+ Great load times!

Cons

Limited AI. This is the PSX era. While good, it does fall pray to more straight forward tactics.

Multiplayer offerings are limited... this is PSX, so no internet play. This game would have further trasncended if they did offer it.

Wish there was a cooler intro movie.

Certain units are fairly useless or have narrow usefulness. While some may argue, this is my opinion.

Love the music, wish there was more though.

Sound effects are sometimes a bit... rudimentary. When I 1-shot kill something, a limp sounding hit will ruin my enjoyment. Sometimes it ends up being just funny though.

Misc

= Japanese version exists that allows you additional scenario and "final boss" of sorts. While normally I wouldn't mention this, there exists some plot resolution issues for those that do not know of or have access to this version.

= Hard to find game. Very expensive.

All in all, this is one I was very glad I picked up when I was younger. Every time I feel like going and playing out my own epic fantasy war (like after reading certain George RR Martin books, for example), this is the title I choose.

Not too hard to get in to and understand yet with enough RPG depth and Strategic depth to satisfy cravings of both, this game is a true overlooked Gem for any RPG or SRPG lover.

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This game is hands down the best strategy RPG ever made.

The classes for humans and monsters are the most balanced you will ever find.

After a while you will get too good at winning this, and you can play a harder mode in which you let the computer control every battle. It's very enjoyable to see the decisions you make in building an army reflected in almost every way possible when you let the computer take over the battles.

Truly a masterpiece in strategy, with a few setbacks that don't hurt the game too much.

I have literally spent 500+ hours playing this.

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This is an old game, had it before and played it so much I gave it away. Now I have it again and I'm playing it too much.

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Not hard to beat at all if you are into it, even on hard mode. There are limited classes and units. The gameplay gets redundant after awhile. The music is good though. The learning curve is short. There is little tactics involved if you can build a good army. There are many underhanded way to kill and defend. For example, you should keep the hydra on water so it can heal itself to infinity. The graphic is terrible in 3D but awesome in 2D because it is hand-drawn.

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Strategy games by their very definition usually mean that you're in for an in-depth experience that will challenge your brain cells. Not so with Brigandine. It doesn't have enough options to attract hardcore strategists, and it's too dull to draw neophytes to the genre. You select one of five kingdoms, differing only in geographical location and in initial Rune Knights (human characters with classes such as Witch, Druid, Berserker, etc.). The world map is divided into battlegrounds connected by roads, and you're given a certain amount of game time to take 'em all by force (except for those two kingdoms on the west coast that are all buddy-buddy). Each Rune Knight controls a squadron of monsters (which can be created and, occasionally, swiped from defeated enemies) which can increase in size as their experience level goes up. To conquer new territory, you can send 1 to 3 Rune Knights (one is suicide, two isn't much better) to a neighboring location in enemy hands and do battle. The fighting is done on large maps divided into hexigons and it's about as simple as can be. There aren't many spells to cast and the cardinal rule here is that whoever has the biggest, baddest monsters wins. When one unit attacks another, the game cuts to a battle scene where you see the attack and, sometimes, the counterattack in duller-than-a-bowling-ball 3-D. Mercifully, you can turn this option off to expedite the fighting. The "story" (such as it is) is told through dialogue boxes superimposed over the world map. At the end of the day, this game just doesn't try hard enough to draw the player in. It's a time-killer, nothing more. Fans of "grid" style strategy/RPGs like Final Fantasy Tactics (which happens to be my favorite video game EVER in spite of its occasional if-you-don't-have-the-right-skill-equipped-for-this-fight-you-are-utterly-screwed unfairness) may be drawn to it since this genre is not the most populist, but it's a limp-wristed production. Without the superfluous 3-D scenes, it could have easily been done on the Super NES rather than the PlayStation. Not a terrible game, but not worth the time required to finish it.

NBA Street V3 - Xbox Reviews

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After 2 years since Volume 2, E.A. releases a very worthy successor, NBA Street Vol 3 is definitely worth your hard earned money.

Overall, Vol 3 is a must have for hoops fans, both casual and hardcore. It has enough new additions to warrant a buy even if you have volume 2.

The first thing I noticed is the upheavel in graphics. This game, putting it mildly, makes Vol 2 look like old school. The courts, the new dunk animations, the new motion captured moves, the teriffic new courts, and the best lookin' b'ball game I've ever layed my eyes on. Vol 3's grittier, darker look may be a downer to some, but one could never knock the time spent on it's graphical prowess. But the game's visual is not without faults however... For still some strange reason, Vol 3 does NOT support HD Tv's, widescreen is implimented thankfully, but HD support should be standard for every XBOX game, E.A. seems to be waiting for XBOX 2? Hmm, maybe next year. But even without HD, it still looks great, and most people with regular TV's will also be right at home.

The gameplay is a bit similar as last year, with the exception of a few minor differences. The big addition for XBOX is the addition of online play with XBOX Live. Collectively, you can play up to 5 other players online or 3 if you have 2 buddies to play at home with. 3 on 3 with each person controlling every player is quite a feat. Although it's early on, and I expect things to get busy online at first, I didn't notice extreme lag, but I did not play it at a peak hour so no final word how this game will really play online. NBA Live 2005 seems to continue to have issues online, so I was surprised how this game played a bit better with no lag.

Don't have XBOX Live? No problem. You can play up to 4 players with 4 xbox controllers. How cool is that? Multiplayer is where it's at and this game has it all for everyone. And don't think the game won't keep you busy, the street challenge mode will keep you busy for months.

Gone away is the "freestyle" stick, but don't let the game fool you, it's still there, they just changed the name to "trick stick". However, the trick stick allows you to do certain moves not while just dribbling, but also on defense, while shooting and dunking, passing, and even blocking shots. The more you use the "trick" stick the more points you score. Some killer moves like throwing the b'ball at opponents head, off of backboards, between their legs and even off spectators in the crowd. And never threat, the infamous "GameBreakers" are all back only this time you can change a dunk on the fly while the gamebreaker is interacting with the trick stick. With all new dunks and player celebrations, you're going to fall in love with this game from start to finish!

The game also seems to have a "home field advantage factor." The game requires you to create your "home court" in the street challenge mode. I noticed my players seemed to be more "in the zone" when I was playing on my home court I created compared to playing on other playa's turf. Speaking of courts, vol 3 offers 12 realistic courts (indoor and outdoor) from actual locations throughout Europe and the U.S each with their own unique feel. Each can be modified with countless changes like court time, location, colors, spectators, lights, etc, all can be completely customize to your liking. Even better, all courts can be played at different parts of the day including night and eve.

If the game disappoints, it's the absence of Jordan and Barkley. This is a big knock for some, not as much for others, but the fact is, the greatest player that ever played the game is not in the game and it truly is a disappointment. I'm sure you'll come across others that you were hoping to see along with Jordan, but there are certainly some other big names missing too. I understand it has to do with licensing issues but weirdly enough, Jordan was in NBA Street Vol 2, very weird. But although missing the greatest player in NBA history is a big strike, the lineup is still amazing as a whole. Spud Webb, Walt Frazier, Kareem, Magic, Bird, just to name a few.

To earn the dozens of old school ballers, you have to take your created baller and your amateur teammates (that you chose at the beginning of the game) through a virtual season in street challenge mode. Take your baller all the way to earn your rights to play the best players today in the NBA and the old school guys too. You earn the rights to earn new players and of course earn your shoes. The game still lets you customize your player (boy or girl) to-boot, jeans, baggy shorts, nba sweats, sweatpants, jean shorts, tank tops, NBA jerseys, shoes, socks, loaded with tons of customization. Change your hairstyle, change your eyebrows, nose length and width, ear size, chin, etc...

Word of warning, this game requires some serious playing time to get the items and attributes you want. It seems to take an eternity to earn skills and points to improve your player and get new ones. It took me a few games just to buy a new pair of shorts and shoes! As you keep playing, you can give more power and ratings to your created player too as the competion gets more fierce and eventually you'll run into NBA Players which really heats up the challenge.

New to the game, is the "morale" factor of your teammates. Do they get along, are they battling it out after hours? The morale factor keeps you updated between games on how your players are getting along. If you mix Rasheed Wallace and Reggie Miller on the same team, you might be more at risk for troubles. When the morale factor is low, players don't play as a team and it might be time to get a new roster to keep the fire low.

There is so much good about this game, I really can't say anything bad about it. I really think the two years off since Vol 2 is for the better as I consider this one of the best multiplayer games I've ever played. Definitely pick up some friends or go at it online, because this is the best street ball ever and I can only see the series getting better as time goes on. It's definitely worth your money.

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When I purchased this game for X-Box, my decision was based on the enjoyment that I got out of NBA Street 2 for PS2. I figured that the 3rd installment would be at least as good as the 2nd. Believe me, it's better. The graphics are very unique, much more three-dimensional than the previous version. I know that there are a lot of people that are disappointed that Michael Jordan is not included as a bonus player, but there are many bonus players, courts, items, etc. that keep the game fresh and as unique and original as possible. So if you're in the market for a fun game that isn't too difficult to get the hang of, then this game is a great choice. It only takes a few pick-up games to get the hang of the controls, and the game just gets better and better after that. The only drawback that I have found with this game is the lack of camera angles. The available angles are either too close or too far away for my tastes, but I have gotten used to.

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Fitting final entry to the NBA Street series. Even though it's got last-gen graphics, I still prefer it to the even-more-stripped-down play of NBA Street Homecourt, which hardly feels related at all. V3 still plays well on XBox 360 with only occasional stutter issues on videos. There's probably a reason there aren't any other current-gen NBA Street games; they peaked at vol. 2, and have been stripping out the magic since.

Stick with this version for your 360 until EA decides to try developing it again someday, with more of the original arcade inspiration!

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i hate it very much it doesnt i mean it doesnt want to update on my 360 which is really abummer because i love nba street games

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This game cannot be found in popular gaming stores because it was meant for the Xbox not the Xbox 360. However, it is one of my boys' favorite games and it will play on the Xbox 360. The price was reasonable and shipping time was very fast. Overall great purchase!

Review of Oddworld Stranger's Wrath

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**UPDATE** Sad news from Lorne Lanning and Oddworld Inhabitants, the creators of this spectacular series. Oddworld Inhabitants is closing its doors. After creating 4 games in what was supposed to be a huge series and with 2 games already in development for next gen systems, they are closing up. Chances are this will be the last game featuring the loveable creatures of Oddworld. But fear not, Lanning believes he might be able to crack into the TV or movie business in order to have his property protected. Keep an eye on them. They are so talented, their studio might be the next Pixar.

On to the review:

I'm very disappointed in the mistreatment this game has been getting from the professional online reviewers like IGN, Gamespot and Gamespy. When I was trying to figure out if this game was worth purchasing or not, I had to literally search the entire page at the Xbox branch of IGN just to find the review. Normally, reviews get top billing; not the case with this beautifully unique game.

A lot has been said about the "gimmick" of having live ammo. Given the series of Oddworld (Abe's Oddysee and Exodus, Munch's Oddysee), how someone could label the live ammo as a gimmick is beyond me. Oddworld is a world very different from our own. Stranger's Wrath just heightened this oddity by giving you creatures to fire instead of finding ammo for your tripple-barrelled, shoots rockets and has a flame-thrower attached, shotgun. And it fits in the universe perfectly. Now, if this was a Halo game (for example), yes having live ammo would be a gimmick. But, it fits in perfectly with the Oddworld mythos and provides a truly engaging experience.

Another thing that I feared after reading the sorely mistaken (IMO) professional reviews was that it was virtually impossible to capture the bosses alive. Being a bounty hunter, it is your mission to capture wanted villains either dead or alive. By capturing them alive you get two or more times the money than capturing them dead.

Now, if you were to read a lot of reviews from IGN etc, it would seem that you couldn't capture any of the bosses alive. While I have been playing games all of my life and am better than the average gamer in some respects, I would definitely not consider myself a master of the FPS genre. By any stretch. And yet I was able to capture every single boss alive. Now, there were a couple that made me very frustrated and it took me more than a handful of tries to do it, I was able to. The game definitely makes you work to get that full bounty but it's not impossible.

As far as the story goes, the developers once again created a uniquely different story involving Stranger and his past. I will not reveal any story spoilers, but not is all what it seems and there will come a point where the way you look at the game changes in an exciting way. And from that point on, the game ramps up the excitement to a wonderful climax.

Graphically, the game is beautiful. It makes me remember why I bought the Xbox. Not only are the lush environments beautifully rendered, but the framerate moves swiftly. Seeing Strange bound at a cheetah speed through these beautiful environments is striking. There is some pop-up, especially in Mango (sp?) Valley where bushes will pop up in the distance. But considering the speed and the graphics the game is pushing, it doesn't really bother me.

As far as controls go, this game is well designed. Switching between first person and third person is as easy as tapping the R3 button. This change works really well, giving you the best of both worlds, the percision of first person shooting, and the fluidity and speed of moving in third person. I have a couple complaints though. Moving up and down rope is a pain. The animation is kinda clunky and I don't see why you can't slide down rope, instead of hand over hand moving down it. Hey, if the Prince can slide down rope, why can't Stranger? But this is a minor quibble.

As far as the sound goes, again Oddworld Inhabitants (the developers) did an excellent job. Stranger's voice is a little silly to me, he talks in a slow drawl that seems to be a cross between Clint Eastwood and Forrest Gump. But the other voices are remarkable, especially considering that most (if not all) are done in house with the Lead voicing most characters in all of the Oddworld games.

My only real complaint is that the game isn't long enough. It's longer than Halo 2 (which is a bonus), and I don't know exactly how many hours I clocked in on it, but it felt like it was over too fast. I guess what disappointed me was that I was having so much fun exploring Oddworld again that no matter how long or short it was I would be sad to leave it. The world is just so interesting.

The level design is also very linear. In today's world of GTA openness, people might have a problem with that, which is why I bring it up. The levels have a set path. That's not to say the gameplay is linear. There are MANY different ways to tackle every situation. The joy of having live ammo is that you are presented with a myriad of ways to take down the opposition, creating gameplay that allows you to experiment. But if you're looking for a Deus Ex type of environment where there are multiple paths to get to the boss, you won't find it here.

What the game does best is refresh video games. From the opening CG cinema (which is Pixar quality) to all of the loveably strange and bizarre characters, this game oozes originality and charm. You can tell the developers truly care about the artform of video games. They love what they do and the game was a refreshing experience.

To sum it up, I can't say enough about this game. It is unique. It is beautiful. And it is fun. Even after the 5th time trying to take down a boss alive, I didn't throw down the controller in anger. It kept me wanting to play until I could take him down. If you are tired of the same old save Earth from "insert name of alien race here", or similar I would definitely recommend this game. It is hard, but it is easily one of the most enjoyable games I have played in ages. And the jolt of energy the games gives you about half way through the game is enough for me to recommend buying this game.

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I read an article on wired.com/news about this game and couldn't wait to get a copy. Got the Prima guide with it, which has been worth the money so far (third day).

I bought a Gamecube and later a PS2 and only recently bought an Xbox (I don't like MS) and I hate to say that the graphics, at least in this game, are out-freaking-standing. Approaching photo-realistic. The scenery in O:SW is PHENOMENAL, great late-afternoon sunset lighting with beautiful little touches like bits of fluff from weeds providing counterpoint to the action and firepower. The graphics really pop.

The "live ammunition" takes some getting used to in much the same way that it took me a while to figure out how to play the PC version of Lemmings oh-so-many-years-ago. It's GREAT fun, very imaginative, and the mazes are terrific so far. The villians are as rotten as they ought to be and the Stranger is a brilliant idea. I'm really looking forward to getting through my day and firing up the Xbox to play some more, and I just don't play that many games (I'm an OLD fart). Or maybe I'm just picky -it's not every day, or every YEAR, that I find a game that I like, and I **LIKE** this game!

The game feels really tight overall, they did a great job producing it. Good concept, great art direction, the gameplay is a lot of fun -I love this game! HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!!!! THIS ONE'S WORTH THE MONEY!!!!!

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Oddworld has made some great games in the past and this one is no exception. It happens to be my favorite out of all of the series. If you have an X-Box this game is a must buy and I'm really hoping for a sequal.

For me to give a game five stars it needs to have a great story-line and this one has one. You're basically a bounty hunter that nobody knows about, The Stranger. You have always taken out outlaws just for the fun of it and never really cared about the pay. Now its different, you need the money for an operation that your life depends on. Now I know you may be saying to yourself that the story-line sounds a little cheesy and dull, but it really starts kicking in when you are playing the game and I dont want to give anything away.

The gameplay is where the game really flies. The game is basically a shooter because of the bounty type, but you can switch in and out of first person mode and third person mode during the gameplay which is great. The gun you get is the double barrel crossbow and your ammo, well, its live oddworld critters. The live ammo you can use consists of Stunkz(little skunks that distract the enemy), Bolamites(They wrap up the enemy with web), Chippunks(they are basically made for distracting an enemy), Zappflies(Made for catching other ammo), Fuzzles(shoot em on the ground and the first enemy to walk by will have the fuzzle eating the life out of them), Thudslugs(Powerfull shot), Boombats(explosive bombs), Stingbees(like a machine gun), Wasps(Made for sniping). The great thing about the double barreled crossbow is that you can have two different kinds of ammo in it and shoot both at the same time if you want. You can also upgrade your ammo and upgrade almost everythinfrom the size of your ammo bag to your speed to your stamina and even brass knuckles for fighting. When you are in third person mode you can punch, and you can revive your health by using up your stamina meter. You will get the normal things in a city of a bounty game like bounty store and amm store and other places. I always love checking out the bounties because they always have wierd creatures. Collecting bounties is also a bit different in oddworld. You can either kill the bounty or take him while he's alive. You bag bounties by sucking them up in your little special device on your arm. You can colect unlimited amounts of bounty this way and just throw your arm on the bounty desk and get lot of money.

The graphics in the game are amazing, I dont know if its because of the environments that really bring them out or if its just the graphics in general. The environments look amazing and even some places are breath taking, like the snow level or when you are in the factory at the end of the game and your friends are throwing in gigantic fireballs. The Stranger also looks amazing and he is one of my favorite game characters.

The sound is great and I love listening to the creatures walking around in the city. It has plenty of wierd cool sounds and I love how your ammo talks back to you. The controls are also excellent and are easy to get into.

Well this game is defenitley a five out of five for me and I recommend this game to everyone especially to those oddworld fans. This game is one of my favorite games and I will never sell it because everytime I look at the cover it gives me that feeling that I want to play it again.

Honest reviews on Oddworld Stranger's Wrath

The title I put is a bold claim; especially with the recent release of Halo 2. But honestly, this latest incarnation of Oddworld offers the most fun I've had on the XBox with a third/first person shooter. At first the game fools you The live ammo seems a little gimmicky and trudging from one bounty boss to another seems initially tiring. But this game has a storyline like no other. Just when you think you've completed the game EVERYTHING changes in a good way. It's like two games in one and both parts are incredible. If you don't want to know anymore then stop reading now and go play the game! I didn't know about the 'surprise' path the game takes and was blown away. One minute you're in the Wild West, the next you're in a Halo-esque futuristic world full of cranes, spaceships, cannons, rockets and all sorts of weird and wonderful creatures. Gone are the linear quests to rope in badguys replaced by a fairly free roaming world of adventure. Truly huge effort has been placed into both elements of gameplay and the graphics, sound, dialogue and even the strange ammo system is perfect. I simply loved this game a jewel in the XBox crown.

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The people at Oddworld tell amazing stories, and Stranger's Wrath is no exception.

The 3rd person action/adventure / 1st person shooter... and all of it beautiful.

I was a little wary of the 1st person shooter aspect, especially with the "Live Ammo", but once I started playing, I was hooked.

What the guy before me said about the last part being worth the price alone... it's all true.

THIS is how you make a game. I'd put it up there with Ninja Gaiden and the Halo games.

Review of Red Orchestra 2: Heroes of Stalingrad - PC

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List Price: $39.99
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Red Orchestra: Heroes of Stalingrad is the successor to Red Orchestra: Ostfront. It keeps to the theme of the titanic and most important battle front of WW2. More men fought, died and experienced the brutality of total war on the Eastern Front than in any other theater of the conflict. While Ostfront spanned the whole German-Soviet war, this game focuses just on the immense struggle for Stalingrad.

The Good: The depictions of the battlefields are very well done. In fact if you look at wartime photos of the battlegrounds, you would see the stunning effort Tripwire developers went to, to ensure accuracy. When you are fighting at Fallen Fighter's Square or Pavlov's House, it looks like you are really there. The weapons are pretty well modeled and deadly. The game doesn't give your character health points. Although you can bandage a minor wound, the majority of hits by a rifle caliber bullet will kill you. The lethality of the battlefield may be a turn off for some but for those more interested in authenticity, this will appeal. There are several different modes of play from the basically free for all to the slower paced count down mode where you get one life per objective. Considering the instant death awaiting around every corner, this particular game mode makes one very cautious.

Each map has a certain load out of soldiers/weapons. This is to keep the teams balanced and offers some historical authenticity to the teams. Not everyone will be getting an automatic weapon or smoke grenades. Commanders can call in artillery. Those toting a light machine gun can be resupplied with ammo by their teammates. The majority of troops will however, be your basic rifleman with a bolt action rifle.

Some more good news is this game is produced by Tripwire. This company has a history of supporting their product, and allowing modders to make new maps and the like. They have already released several patches to correct various problems and I have complete faith that they will continue to do so and have already been working on additional free content such as new vehicles.

The Bad: The game like many these days, was released too early. There are many bugs and performance issues that detract. Although I run the game pretty stable and smooth, many people with high end systems are getting sub-standard performance. Tripwire has been working hard to squash the bugs though one of the new features of the game was saving stats and being able to upgrade your basic weapon. This system is currently horribly bugged. It is not saving stats properly, and is awarding Steam achievements and scores that are quite impossible. I don't personally care much about the stats but for some, this is a big turn off. It IS being worked on though at the time of this review. I do have faith that Tripwire will stand by its product and keep working to make the game run like it should have.

Another bad feature for those that enjoy historical authenticity is the addition of some weapons into the mix that were basically prototypes. And not only were these weapons rare and their use in Stalingrad questionable, they are available in numbers far too many. Although the numbers have been reduced, many feel that they are still too prevalent.

Recon planes....the commander can call in a recon plane. Although this plane can be shot down, it provides far too much information and really, shouldn't exist for the level of combat represented.

The Summary: Buy this game if you like WW2. Buy this game if you like FPS games. But have patience for the eventual bug fixing, additional maps provided by the community, and new vehicles and weapons that will be coming. I fully suspect that in time, this game will span all of the Eastern Front once more with the help of the dedicated modding community.

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I like WWII shooters and I like games that aim to be more realistic. I played the original Red Orchestra, didn't buy that one, but decided to give this one a try. The trailers made the game look pretty fun, and it is, but it requires more patience and craftiness than the typical run-of-the-mill shooter.

The game looks good first of all. I play with the graphics on the highest settings and it looks like a war movie. I also tried toning them down to get the frame rates higher in multiplayer. The game still looks decent on the medium graphic settings.

I'm most interested in the controls because that is the part of the game that you must deal with to get your character to do what you want. In a game that requires quick reflexes, the control scheme is very important. I custom mapped some of the keys to make it easier for me the game lets you do this in the "controls" section of settings. There is one key used for three important functions (get behind cover, pick up items, and bandage yourself), which I'm not too thrilled about, but I'll probably get used to it after a while. Also the mechanics of getting behind cover can be awkward in the game. The game prompts you whenever you may take cover, you can't use just anything, but most walls let you. Also your character has trouble jumping over certain things they should be able to jump over and trouble climbing over things that shouldn't pose a problem.

You have to use the sights of the gun to aim properly at distance there is no painted on crosshair in the middle of the screen. When you bring up your iron sights, your character moves much slower, so it's best to lean around corners before charging out. If you run around like its Call of Duty you will be shot and you will die, sometimes slowly while you frantically hit the medic bandage/cover/take items button.

The single player AI is not too bright. Your comrades have mastered the art of taking cover on the wrong side of a wall, running around in the open, and getting shot. In general, they do not behave like a human and I'll leave it at that.

The multiplayer is where the main focus of the game is. I haven't played all the maps yet as I just got the game yesterday, but the ones I played were fun. Lots of places to hide out and pick off enemies. The mixture of tanks and men is really cool. Also I'll just mention that the bullet ballistics are there and are very welcome for the realism. For all the realism though, bullet wounds should have been in the game. There is a little blood when you shoot someone, but you should be able to put a literal hole through their body before and after they die.

Overall, its a fun shooter. Takes some patience, but it's satisfying when you break through the enemy lines and drop a few before going out in a blaze of communist or fascist glory. By the way, I have this on Steam so that takes care of the updates for me.

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I hope I am not the only one in that I miss the feel of an authentic WW 2 shooter, or the multiplayer feeling of the first time I played the original Call of Duty. Where you have to work as a team to overcome impossible odds and still win the battle. Where you are in a building and your buddy just took a bullet through the head and falls to a pile at your feet. You hear the enemy downstairs and you are alone or might have one other battle buddy with you and your heart starts to race because you know what is about to come. Or pushing back the bad guys and when you look left to right you see your team giving each other cover fire and putting the baddies to sleep. Red Orchestra 2 brings all that back to life.

Red Orchestra 2 for me is a breath of fresh air. The way your character moves and you are running to cover. The way it feels when you pull up your iron sites on the enemy, hold your breath, fire, and watch him fall head first into the dirt for a forever sleep. This game just feels so good with the way you move and fire. The new cover system adds more immersion and works well.

Graphics are to my eyes look great, the way the sun creeps through the cracks of a half demolished building, the way shadows over cast the battlefield, the spray of red mist after a successful shot, how the characters move and take cover, everything about it brings it to life and feels like you really are about to die and this world of war. The maps are a lot of fun and I love how they are laid out, very entertaining.

CONS: Now I came from the beta, yeah there are a few bugs and hiccups, but it's still very playable and is minor issues that will be ironed out with soon too come patches. Don't let all the negativity about it steer you away from this amazing title, we are talking about a lower end budget gaming company that put this together and they did a amazing job with it and you will be having a blast and will easily look past them.

All in all, this game is amazing, I love the feel of this great WWII shooter and will for sure be playing this for a long, long time. Do yourself a favor, give yourself some fresh air and pick this title up, you wont regret it.

Honest reviews on Red Orchestra 2: Heroes of Stalingrad - PC

When this game was first released there were quite a number of problems with it. The game wasn't well optimized and ran pretty bad on my system that was well above the recommended settings. In May a giant patch was released that pretty much fixed everything and now the game really shines. I would rate this game as currently my favorite fps game in the market along with dayz. Initially, I bought this game in September to pass the time while waiting for BF3's release; however, this game feels superior to BF3 to me. I guess I came into BF3 with the idea that it would have the depth of BF2/2142 with battlefield commanders and so forth, but quickly realized how consolized that game was to appeal to the cod crowd. RO2 feels like a true PC game that has such great depth with battlefield commanders and limiting the number of snipers that it is a breath of fresh air. My first online game that I got really into was RTCW and this game reminds me some of the aspects of that game.

RO2 is the one game that I have played where I actually feel that war is hell. Playing as a Russian soldier running through an open field under heavy German fire is intense. When I see a few guys running with me die and I manage to get to cover alive, I actually feel lucky and am reminded very much of a quote from one of my favorite movies, The Thin Red Line. "It makes no difference who you are, no matter how much training you got and the tougher guy you might be. When you're at the wrong spot at the wrong time, you gonna get it." This game definitely has a large skill gap which will cause some people to move away from it; however, the large skill gap is what has given this game such a nice niche community that continues to play the game each day for nearly a year. I find this community is definitely mature and won't bother new players as long as they are playing the objective and trying to contribute to their team. If you are looking for a game not about K/D and a lot slower paced with extremely intense moments in between the slow moments then I would definitely recommend it.

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Red Orchestra 2 is wonderful.

The "psudo-realism" setting that most Modern-era FPS have taken is vexing. A gaming experience shouldn't require much suspension of disbelief.

Team Fortress 2 is a great game for its cartoon fantasy setting, allowing us to imerse ourselves in the gameplay world.

Call of Duty on the other hand takes a "realistic graphic/settings" approuch, but keeps gameplay highly casual (i.e. health regen, invincible humans, no recoil, unbelievable events, ect.) and fails utterly!

RO2: Heroes of Stalingrad on the third hand upholds a deep commitment to realistic gameplay to match its unique real-world setting, the bloodest and most interesting infantry conflict of all time, the Battle of Stalingrad.

The game was pushed out early which means lots of bugs and critic reviews that are less prasing than it deserves, but Tripwire has proved itself to be a company commited to ongoing development with loads of free content and performance improvements down the line.

Cheap Wipeout 3 - Xbox 360

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Was Wipeout 1 a good game?? Personally, when I read a review that someones kid liked the game or they got a good deal, that doesn't qualify as to me as a legitimate review. YOU have to play the game to review it effectively. I've played mostly every Kinect title and reviewed most. Wipeout 1 suffered from a serious motion control issue. The controls were horrible, and if you have played the game and didn't have an issue with getting past the big balls, you have achieved more than 5 of my friends and myself have.

Fast forward to Wipeout 3. Motion controls fixed. FINALLY! PLUS, a big PLUS, you don't have to run. You can just use your arms as you would as if you were running. To jump, you lift your hands up in the air. You can tilt your body backwards or forwards to adjust or when you're in the air to go further or shorter.

It's the same Wipeout, that had the horrible controls with FIXED controls. In the original Wipeout, if you couldn't get past an obstacle, you'd use an arm motion, and you'd be docked a certain amount of penalty time. With the current Wipeout, you have 3 attempts to master that obstacle. At that point, if you failed the game would advance you past that obstacle.

I'd like to thank the developers for ignoring the glowing reviews from a broken game, and get down to work to fix the issues that they knew existed. Great job! Third times a charm!

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My family has so much fun with this game. Its a workout and a laugh a minute. We highly recommend this for family fun

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Great fun family game. Very entertaining, all the family can play graphics are very good. All age groups can play

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I bought this game for myself hoping to get some sort of workout. Most of the moves can be made by simply raising your arms to jump or moving your hands to run. Can be hard to manipulate the characters for me, but my 9yo enjoys this game, so it was not a loss.

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I don't know maybe it's how we have ours set up, but this game doesn't seem to respond very well. It doesn't recognize us all the time; or it'll switch who is who. I told my boyfriend I think it's 'cause we have it set up so close to us but our daughters Disney game works just fine, but that game doesn't require near as much movement as this game so who knows. It works pretty well with one player but we got this game as a family game and if we can only play one person at a time it defeats that purpose.

Discount Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1

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List Price: $19.99
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Disclaimer: This review is only for the Kinect portion of the game.

Every time I buy video games or movies without doing my homework I get burned! This game falls in that category...I bought it with the idea that you could play the whole thing with Kinect, and I was disappointed. It's not that the Kinect challenges aren't any fun, I just wish they weren't such a tiny portion of the overall game. Each challenge takes about 5 minutes to complete. I find it entertaining, just not what I'd hoped for.

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Listen. I know that there are ton of people bashing this game. I am a fan of the series, and I feel like it is getting a bit of a harsh review. This game is not Gears of War. It is a licensed movie game. Based on that fact alone, you should know what you are getting into. This is not the most polished shooter in the world, but from a story telling perspective I found it to be enjoyable. The stealth sequences were fun and at times kept me on the seat of my pants. I am not a die hard gamer, so I actually enjoyed the fact that the enemies were not too difficult for me to figure out. The frantic pace of it was fun, and it left the door open for trying to find strategies for the different situations. I will say that I had a hard time telling what was good cover from the bad cover.

Overall, I think this is certainly a game that Harry Potter fans will enjoy. If you are going to see the movie, you should give this one a try. In my close circle of friends, we are split on this one. Check it out for yourself and see what you think.

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i guess i didn't realize that this wasn't a true kinect game. The main gameplay is all done with the regular xbox controller. There is a kinect challenge, which is separate from the main storyline. It's kind of fun but repetitive. If you're looking for a kinect game where you get to use the kinect the whole time though, this isn't it. If you're looking for a good HP game, then go with it. The actual gameplay isn't bad if that's what you're looking for.

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Hugely disappointing. So very different from past games. Point and shoot, instead of click and explore.I would suggest waiting on this one, buy it cheap second hand.

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big harry potter fan here. they did an ok job on development it seems, but there must be something we are missing. noone can seem to see where the kinect fits into controlling the game. still fun though.

Cheap Ultimate Xbox 360 XCLAMP Repair Kit - 3 Red Light X-Clamp Fix w

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The XCLAMP repair kit includes all the parts necessary to repair an Xbox 360 exhibiting the "red ring of death", or three flashing red lights. After installing the kit, my Xbox was repaired. However, the instructions included with the kit are very poor, and do not include sufficient pictures/diagrams to accurately depict the disassembly of the Xbox. Moreover, the kit does NOT include the following two tools that are required for disassembly:

1/4" socket driver

VERY small flathead screwdriver (I used something typically used for eyeglasses repair)

Perhaps most importantly, the instructions included with the kit actually miss a critical step for disassembly (which requires the 1/4" socket driver). If you are using this kit, I would recommend the iFixit repair guide, which offers much more detailed and accurate disassembly instructions, pictures, and videos.

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First of all I'll start out by saying that this repair kit fixed my xbox 360 like a charm. I didn't have the Rrod, but my xbox wasn't displaying video anymore, so I gave this kit a shot, and I'm glad I did.

I'll start a more in depth review by reviewing the quality of the product itself first. The kit comes with all the necessary hardware to easily take apart the 360 and reinstall the heatsinks effectivly. The "official" xbox360 opening kit fits like a glove, and it holds up pretty well (the only problem I had was that the pointy part to push down the clips on the outside casing started to bend when I was done, but it still did its job well). The kit also comes with extra washers which helped me out a ton. Finally, this particular kit comes with 3 artic silver products to reapply thermal paste to the heatsinks (you may notice several different kits when you search amazon, most contain the essentials to do the x-clamp fix like the screws and washers while some contain various thermal paste). Artic Silver is probably one of the best thermal pastes on the market, so this is why I choose this kit.

Installation...

The installation took me about 2 hours from start to finish, and for the most part the instructions were detailed and easy to follow. I was able to do the whole installation by myself, but for some parts it would help to have an extra hand or two available especially when reinstalling the heatsinks.

NOTE: I would recommend grounding yourself while you do this since you're working with the motherboard directly, and any electronic circuit board can be destroyed by static electricity. You can ground yourself by touching a metal object before working, also it's best to avoid carpet surfaces if you can.

End Result...

At first when I hooked up my 360 and turned it on it still didn't display video. I figured I'd let it run for a little bit for the thermal paste to take hold, and the heatsinks to reset onto the chips(around 10-15 minutes). I then held the power button in until it turned off. Once I turned it back on I was pleasently suprised to see the video displaying on my 360 without any errors.

Best Deals for Ultimate Xbox 360 XCLAMP Repair Kit - 3 Red Light X-Clamp Fix w

I originally picked this kit up to fix a red ring on my current original production Xbox 360. When I removed the casing of the 360, I noticed a lot of dust had accumulated in it and used an air compressor to clean it out. Before I even started messing with the heat sinks I wanted to try and see if the 360 would power up and the red ring would go away. To my surprise It booted up without red rings!

After fixing the current 360 I had an idea to fix the other original production 360 I had kept around that red ringed. I followed the same process as the first but still a red ring. I started going farther in the directions with cleaning off the old thermal paste, repaste, and reclamp using the parts in the kit. Started it up and no red rings!

Directions were easy to follow and kit was what I expected.

If I need to get another kit to fix another 360, I would choose this one.

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This kit fixed my 360 elite which had a problem where it wouldnt display video anymore. I heard the x-clamp fix would fix the problem and sure enough it did (note: the 360 also had Rrod in the past as well but was fixed and didnt get that error this time).

Thanx for the kit! :)

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The product arrived much sooner than expected. I wasn't sure at first if this was going to work. Followed the instructions and it worked as stated. ALOT cheaper than buying another 360. Much faster to repair. Trying to find all these parts at hardware and electronic stores doesn't make sense. You get it all at once. Saves time, gas and money.

Buy Test Drive: Ferrari Legends - Xbox 360

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I was really looking forward to this title, but I now have the biggest case of buyer's regret that I think I've ever had with any game. I play a lot of racing games, and I think this is the biggest ripoff I've ever experienced in a game purchase. Understand that I'm playing on the "Easy" difficulty setting and "Novice" driver setup with all assists on, and I've still only been able to get through about 8% of the campaign, and unless Atari comes out with major update to either dial back the difficulty and/or fix the really bad, twitchy handling, this is probably about as far as I'll ever get. I wouldn't mind so much if you were given unlimited access to all the tracks and cars in Arcade and Time Trial modes, but the vast majority of the game's content is locked until you unlock them in the campaign. So as things stand right now, I only have access to 9 out of 36 tracks (nothing from Nordschleife) and 12 out of 52 cars.

Atari, you are hurting yourselves and gaming in general when you make games this inacessable and frustrating. I applaud your choice to have selectable difficulty settings in the game (ALL GAMES SHOULD HAVE THIS), but if you're going to have an Easy setting, IT SHOULD ACTUALLY BE EASY. By all means, have a Difficult setting for hard core gamers who want to spend hundreds or thousands of hours pursuing a near impossible goal if that's what they really want. But for the rest of us mere mortals who want to have fun, and not another freaking job, please give us (and yourselves) a break.

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i have been playing race video games for over 35 years and have played most of the top rated arcades and sims from the genre...and preordered game with high expectations...unless you want to pay 50 bucks to be frustrated keep your money in your pocket...this game is the king of restarts...the creator has only given one path in each of the eras to follow..whether you like it or not you have to complete each of the events in order for era...unlike other top games that will allow you to choose which races you want to run and which order you want to run them in...this is a very frustrating game to play...sometimes requiring a dozen or more restarts to complete the event even on the easy setting...i am very proficiant at racing games with more than a thousand hours on forza 3 and 4 alone...this game needs a menu revamp to allow user to choose his or her own path through events...until then don't waste your money.

Best Deals for Test Drive: Ferrari Legends - Xbox 360

I was desperately hoping this game would be one of those under the radar titles that turns out to be way better than anything might suggest.

Instead we're presented with an ambitious idea, that falls way short of what it could been. It's a shame because there are plenty of things the game does right, that are lost in what it does wrong.

Let me start off by saying that this game is difficult. Several other reviews have made mention that even on easy, they are struggling to get through the game. I opted to play the game through on hard difficulty. It is challenging to say the least. The real meat of the game is the campaign mode where the game is broken down into 3 different segments: Golden Era, Silver Era, and Modern Era. The Golden and Silver eras have 10 missions in each, and each mission has a different number of events that one must complete. The Modern Era has 15 missions instead of 10. It's a simple idea. However, where the problem comes in, is that the developers made it so you cannot skip around to different missions or different events in missions. You have to go through each one to unlock the next. In the Golden Era, you have the opening mission, no other mission is unlocked. You can only access the first event. Upon completing the main objective, the second event then unlocks. So you must play each event while successfully completing the main objective in order to unlock the next mission. It's tedious and unfortunate they chose to create the game in such a manner. About the only freedom one has, is that they can go into any era they would like. You do not have to start out with Golden, and then beat that in order to progress to Silver. While it might not sound particularly bad, the bulk of the tracks and cars in time trial mode are locked, and the only way to unlock them is by beating the Campaign mode. For anyone hoping to use classic cars such as the 1979 Ferrari F1 car right out of the gate, you will be disappointed. Not until you complete the mission and all the events in the Silver Era where the car is, will it be unlocked.

Now, if this game were easier, it's possible this could have been overlooked to a degree. The game has little flow in terms of difficulty. Some events are easy even on hard, others are brutal and enough to induce rage in the most calm gamers. The problem with the difficult arises mostly in the time trial events. After speaking to several others who have this game, we seem to have reached a general consensus that the time trial events are the absolute worst thing in this game. On hard difficulty, there were some time trials I did think were able to even be completed. You have to be capable of pulling qualifying pole position laps, lap after lap, much in the way Michael Schumacher did in his prime with the Ferrari F1 team. You also have to cut corners without having your lap time disallowed, as I cannot find any conceivable way of beating certain time trial times on hard without cutting corners. Some times are not too difficult, but if you are trying to reach the Legend rank, it appears that every main and bonus objective will need to be beaten. The bonus objectives tend to be where the more difficult times are. While beating the bonus objective times may not be of importance to those who do play the game, for anyone seeking to get the full 1000 gamer score will find it essential. On the other side of the coin, when events are actual races, these are incredibly easy for the most part. The only difficult aspect of races is avoiding the AI cars. Any contact with them whether your fault, or their fault, results in your car likely spinning off the track. It's easy to find yourself constantly restarting races because of contact early on that throws the pace off. Once you get past the AI cars, the race turns into a joke. They aren't capable of keeping up at all save for a few races where they appear to learn to race just for that event. That's not the norm. In one Modern era event on the Imola 1981 circuit, I found myself in a 10 lap race, lapping half the field before the final lap. The difficulty is probably the biggest drawback from this game, and is not for those who are just ok at racing games.

The controls are another issue. The handling can be downright awful. Certain cars can be incredibly twitchy. Too much back and forth to try to straighten a car out can cause a loss of grip with the track, and you'll find yourself smashing into walls/barriers/other cars. Most of this has to do with the car physics themselves. Some cars actually do feel like they have weight when you drive them. Other cars give a sense of weightlessness when driving them. If you learn to be smooth with turning the cars, it becomes easier to have better control over the cars. Do not expect Forza 4, or Gran Turismo 5 handling with a lot of the cars, more in the case of the older cars. From what I can tell though, the cars as they get newer do begin to handle much better. If you stick with the game, you'll likely develop a great feel for what you can, and cannot do with the cars. I found one of the tricks with the earlier cars is to get them to slide through turns as it makes it easier to handle them. The other trick is to learn to turn in on corners early because there are a lot of corners that can be taken much faster than you may think, but it is all dependent on turning in at the right time. The earlier versions of Monza are a great example. With some of the Golden era cars, I found if I turned into the Curva Grande at the right time, I was able to add 20+ KPH to the car speed through the corner. When you can find 20-30 more KPH on corners, it makes a huge difference in the time trial times you will set.

The graphics are a bit disappointing. They would have been acceptable around 2007, maybe 2008 at the latest. I have found pop-up to occur on certain tracks when you look into the distance. In 2012, there is no reason for pop-up in racing games. I lived with it in Gran Turismo 2 in 1999 on the PS1 when console hardware was not capable of what it is now. I expect a bit more from my games on the graphics front nowadays. The tracks themselves do not have the "pop" that you get from Forza 4. They are rather sterile in comparison. But this has more to do with the dated graphics than anything. The car models themselves are actually nice, still not up to Forza 4, or even Forza 3 levels, but it seems to be where the bulk of graphical development focus was spent. All Ferrari cars do have interior cockpit views, which is actually a nice touch. I enjoyed seeing it more for the F1 cars than anything.

If you like the sound of Ferrari engines, you'll enjoy the sound of the game. If you are expecting anything beyond engine sounds, such as an actual music soundtrack, you will be disappointed. There is no soundtrack for this game. The only "soundtrack" are the sounds of the engines. For me, I have absolutely no issue with this because Ferrari cars are known for their distinctive engine sounds. In other racing games that use real world cars, I turn the music off just to listen to the engine.

One of the things I do like about this game are the inclusion of certain tracks that to my knowledge have never been included in a regular console racing game. I know all of the tracks in the game do appear in the PC racing sim rFactor. For anyone who has played rFactor, the included tracks won't hold much value. For others, they may. The inclusion of the Imola circuit as it existed from 1981 till the deaths of Ayrton Senna and Roland Ratzenberger in 1994, is fantastic. I absolutely adored Imola in those days. I was never a fan of of the redesign that took out the Tamburello Corner, and reworked both the Variante Bassa and the Acqua Minerali chicanes. While I would have much more enjoyed the original 14KM Spa Francorchamps circuit, we get the 1980 version, which includes the Bus Stop chicane, as well as a lot of missing parking lot-sized runoff areas. Spa is always a fantastic track for everyone. The old Hockenheimring is here with the long straights through the forests. One of the more curious additions was of Rouen-Les-Essarts. It was the host for F1 back in the 1950s and 1960s, and it wasn't a track I would have expected to see in a modern racing video game simply because F1 last raced there in 1968. It's actually a fun track because of the elevation changes involved. Overall, while I do like some of the tracks included, there is not enough variety in this game. During the Campaign, racing the same few tracks over, and over again, in an Era grows very repetitive. The developers could, and should have added more tracks to this game. It's amazing that so many racing game developers make the mistake of not adding a lot of tracks to their games. The worst thing you can do is cause a game to feel repetitive due to a lack of track selection. There are more than enough cars in the game, but not enough tracks.

What is my final verdict on this game?

The truth about this game is it is geared mostly towards the tifosi (diehard Ferrari fans) who bleed Ferrari. It's not worth buying for more than $19.99, and even at that it may not be a good bargain if you are not able to handle the difficult level of this game. I actually have had some fun with the game, so that's why I rated it 2 stars. The other reason is because as a huge F1 fan, getting to drive the F1 cars such as the 312 F1-67, 312 T4, F1-87, and the F1-90 were actually a lot of fun. The F1 cars actually do handle much better than a lot of the cars in the game, and have a fantastic sense of speed. I was rather disappointed that for some inexplicable reason, they did not include the Ferrari F2004 in the game. The F2004 was the fastest F1 car Ferrari ever built, and absolutely dominated the 2004 season, yet they did not put it in the game. Beyond that, it's a niche game for a niche audience. If you aren't sure about the game, either rent it if possible, or wait till the price drops. If you still are not sure, ask yourself how hard you want to work at a video game. If you want to just put a game in and play it without too much frustration, avoid this game. If you absolutely need a challenge, then consider playing this game. As mentioned earlier, it's a good concept for a game, that unfortunately has just enough wrong with it that keeps it from being a good racing title.

For the achievement hunters: This game is not an easy 1000/1000. The achievement list is straightforward, but the difficulty can be such that it may deter you from ever finishing the game.

Honest reviews on Test Drive: Ferrari Legends - Xbox 360

Ok, I have to start off and say I am a big-time Forza fan and even have a Fanatec Forza racing wheel. (Best Wheel I have ever owned ! ) Anyway, there is no comparison to Forza but I enjoy a variety of racing games. This game so far is enjoyable. The Graphics are just OK and the sound is just OK but here is my biggest problem with the game. I am racing in the Golden era and being that I am a mediocre racer I set the racing options at Novice and it makes it fun for me. The problem is if I choose the Modern era I am screwed. It is if they forgot to apply the Novice settings to this era because I get left in the dust every time no matter how hard I try !!! I am hoping they do an update and fix the problem otherwise it is not playable for me. Just playing in the Golden era I overall rate it as pleasent and enjoyabe but Not Forza. Being I pre-ordered it and only paid $37.00 for it I am going to keep it. If I had paid the $49.00 they are charging for it now I would return it as so far 2/3 of the game for me is un-playable.

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Neat start, thought I was with the program, later difficulty prevented me from getting to the tracks I wanted

. The setup options brought some drivability back but the AI keeps killing your efforts!

Take the last lap slow if you have a lead as the AI will make your car un handleble.

Summary: Good staet but really bad later chance to un lock tracks. Would bet most buyers don't get to all the tracks (i.e. nurburgring)

PS2 USB iON Metal Arcade 3 in 1 Dance Pad with handle bars Review

Customer Ratings:

After being a player of DDR games for years and getting to the point where all my pads are starting to show the experience I thought it was a good idea to upgrade to something a little better than the flimsy plastic ones given to you after the purchase of each game. Ion seemed to have what I was looking for at a price I thought was reasonable. It was, at least for the first few months.

Lots of people play these games for fun, exercise, and other reasons, so you can see how much these pads go through in a short while. I'm happy to say the plastic ones last me about a year and then starts getting holes, this steel one which cost about 20 times more lasted me a third of the time. Thats right after 3 months it started gliching on me.

Now in the few months I had it this pad worked alright, can be played on a PS3 which is important since PS2's are obsolete and hard to find in some places. I loved the steel look, but it tends to get scratched really easily if you wear socks, or new shoes, which meant barefoot and a couple blisters. The back bar was something I new. I really used a bar and won't with this thing. it bends quite a bit and I just use it for show. The arrows are nice though. They don't press down or move but are sensitive to the slightest touch, but i think that may be the downfall.

When playing songs on the highest difficulty sometimes you tend to have to jump or move to fast which results in a good stomp or two on the pad. Now I don't know if the 600lb. weight was taken off this but after my three months the right button's quiting. In some cases it only registers a harder hit where as the others I can trigger with my finger.

With my experience with this I wouldn't recommend this pad for the price. I believe the plastic button arcade versions are way better and cost the same.

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What a difference from the foam soft pads! My daughter taught me how to play In The Groove a year ago and once I got good enough I was at the arcade every day after work. Reliability of the machine operation at the arcade left me often disappointed. So, for my birthday, this was my gift to me. I wish I had the money for the Ion Metal Pad with the touch sensors as you really have to be accurate on the arrows for your steps to register. I would not rely upon the bar as it is not dependably stable either. I do love the all metal construction. Even the arrow pads are metal. I also love that it does not slide. But if you love to dance, DDR or ITG, I would certainly recommend the pad.

Best Deals for PS2 USB iON Metal Arcade 3 in 1 Dance Pad with handle bars

This is an excellent product and it works great but there were just a couple little things as to why I gave it 4 starts instead of 5. You can't play this with socks on because there are screws on the pad that would constantly rip holes in my socks as I played. You have to play barefoot or with shoes on. Also, the bar in the back isn't that durable. When you play difficult songs, you want to put majority of your weight on the bar so your feet can glide across the pad, but unfortunately the bar support in the back broke after some use.

Cheap Xbox 360 Wireless Headset

Customer Ratings:

I have been an xbox live subscriber for over 5 years now. I never minded the old xbox 1 headset but the plastic had a tendency to break (nothing a little duct tape couldn't fix). I was surprised when I bought the 360 as I found the new headsets actually went down in quality. They were uncomfortable to wear (reminded me of listening to my old Sony Walkman in the early 90's). The sound was terrible (full volume was about 75% of the xbox 1 headset's full volume). And worst of all is that they would continue to BREAK (only this time it was the wires, not the plastic). I actually went through 3... yes 'THREE' of the wired headsets before i had enough.

In comes the Microsoft wireless 360 headset. It was more than I wanted to spend but I figured it was cheaper than buying a new wired mic every month. First off, this thing is very comfortable. Anyone who uses blue tooth on their cellphone will feel right at home with this on. Second, the top volume is much louder, making listening much more easier. Also you can tell right away that the audio from the headset is 'crisper' and not so distorted, and from talking to others I understand that people will receive you voice as clear as a phone call. The charge will last about 6-8 hours (plenty of time for any gaming marathon) and as long as you remember to plug it in when you are done playing, you should never have a problem with the battery dying. The best part of all is that you will have to really try hard to break this sucker. The durability of this tiny device is impressive.

Now onto the negatives. There isn't much to say. I suppose for some the volume control and mute being on the unit can be awkward but you get use to it. Also, once in awhile I found that it will randomly disconnect for a moment, though it will immediately reconnect itself. Really the only bad thing to say about this is the obvious... the price. As much as I love this headset and praise it, it did not have to be priced at $60. It would have been more sensibly priced at $40 in my opinion.

Overall though, if you have the money and like to chat with friends online I highly recommend this.

Pros:

-Comfortable

-Light

-Modern Design

-Crisp audio in/out

-Rechargeable Battery (6-8 hour life)

-Surprisingly Durable

Cons:

-Awkward volume controls

-can occasionally 'cut out' for a second or two

-PRICE ($60?!)

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The 360 Wireless headset isn't crisp clear audio quality like they suggest, but is a step up from the standard shipped headset.

It serves its purpose and is quite practical as it is much smaller, but unfortunately the '8 hour charge' sometimes becomes 2 hour inconsistencies.

The headset at first is odd to put on around the ear, but after awhile it becomes habitual and comfortable. Overall the headsets durable, somewhat good audio quality, and a bit less in your way oppose to other headsets.

The price doesn't make for such a worthy buy, if found cheaper this is a keeper.

Best Deals for Xbox 360 Wireless Headset

I've had my 360 since Christmas 2007 and just went Live earlier this week. My corded headset crapped out the FIRST time I used it so I went out and bought this wireless unit.

The unit I purchased is one of the newer models that come with the USB charger. Not a bad feature, but I'd prefer an AC charger. Charge time is pretty slow, taking up to 6 hours for a complete charge. Fortunately I tend to play at night so if my headset dies, I just plug it in before I go to bed and it's ready to go when I get up.

The sound quality is pretty good. I hear everyone clearly and have had no complaints from other players about me sounding strange or about static over the connection. I would like to see future models add a quick mute function. I liked that feature in the wired headset. :)

My other little complaint is that the earpiece(s) don't fit my ears well. This could be user error, or it may be because my ears are a bit larger than average. The unit never seems to fit securely, but has yet to fall off so can I really dock it points?

All in all, despite a couple small complaints, this headset does what it sets out to do; give gamers the ability to communicate with others clearly, without the hastles of being wired to the controler. I would recommend this to any 360 Live users.

Honest reviews on Xbox 360 Wireless Headset

I really like the headset. The volume is a bit low but other than that it syncs really easy and has great range, it is also very easy to change what player position it is synced to.

Mine charges via A/C adaptor but newer ones come with a nifty little USB cable instead. It fits protty nice and comes with two ear loops to give you the best fit.

The Halo 3 model is supposed to be improved.

all in all, I think it could have been better, but is worth the money none the less.

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I have had this headset for over six months now, and have only good things to say about it. The chat is clear, and the controls are well placed. I often run up a floor to grab a mid-game snack and can still participate in the voice chat with my comrades. If you are serious about taking your chat to the next level, I suggest you buy this. Its battery life runs for about eight hours, which is more than enough for all but the most serious (and socially deprived) gamers. It has a rechargeable battery which I have found recharges in about 3-4 hours. It is fairly well made, and has withstood numerous drops and even a game induced frusturated throw or two.