BioShock Ultimate Rapture Edition - Playstation 3 Reviews

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If you are like me and mad late catching up with series, download the Bioshock demo off of PSN first to see if this your cup of tea. I usually avoid first person shooters like the plague. I have no interest in Call Of Duty, Battlefield or any other war crap. Yet, I was very impressed by what I played in the Bioshock demo. I was very close to purchasing Bioshock until I saw this great package was about to be released.

Take heed to the 'Mature' rating before purchasing this for little Billy or Suzie. These games may be extremely graphic, violent, bloody, and bizarre for those who do not have an open mind or the patience to understand what is going on. The rest of you will love it! A mix of survival horror, rpg elements and a fast paced shooter all blended together to make a classic series.

A perfect deal for only $30 plus tax. 1 disc, and 3 Bioshock Infinite promo stickers are included. Best to have disc auto start turned off before inserting these combo pack discs to avoid a game from automatically loading up like Assassin's Creed Revelations does with the Ezio Trilogy disc. You can disable disc auto start by navigating to Settings > [System Settings] in the XMB menu.

With disc auto start turned off, when you first insert the disc, 2 icons will appear. 1 icon to install Bioshock 1. A 2nd icon to install Bioshock 2 plus all DLC's for both Bioshock 1 and 2 which you can install separately from the disc anytime you choose. In other words, if you only want to install Bioshock 2 and then decide to install Minerva's Den, you can do so at anytime you choose.

Install times are nowhere near as long as the Ezio Trilogy pack. In fact, when you install Bioshock, you are treated to a musical loading screen playing 1950's music with interesting in game ads while the games install.

Graphics still look great and stand the test of time. The voice acting is very convincing and sets the tone for an eerie, creepy world to explore filled with various sinister, psychotic characters all with their own evil, twisted agenda. A lot of time and thought went into creating the story and the very believable city of Rapture. If you are not a first person shooter fan, give this a shot.

Here are a list of DLC's included:

Bioshock: DLC's Plasmids Pack, Challenge Rooms Pack, Bonus Museum Level

Bioshock 2: DLC's Minerva's Den, Sinclair Solutions Tester, Rapture Metro, Kill Em Kindly, The Protector Trials

SUBTITLES FOR BIOSHOCK 1:

Minor spoiler for Bioshock 1. To access the subtitles, start a game of Bioshock. After the opening plane crash scene, you will assume control of Jack who surfaces from underwater. Pause the game, select 'options' and you will see an option to turn on subtitles.

HOW TO FIX 'CONTINUE' / LOAD GAME ERRORS:

There was a common issue with Bioshock 1 and 2 where loading up a saved game by selecting 'Contnue' or 'Load Game' would result in a freeze error where your saves never load up. Unfortunately this issue still carries over to the Ultimate Rapture Edition. This happened to me recently and luckily there is an easy fix for this.

On your PS3 in the XMB menu, simply navigate to your 'Game Data' folder under the Games menu and delete all Bioshock files.

DO NOT DELETE ANY SAVED GAME DATA WHICH IS LOCATED IN A DIFFERENT FOLDER, SAVED GAME DATA FOLDER.

Once you delete all Bioshock game data files, simply reinstall Bioshock and your saves should load just fine.

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Welcome to the Circus of Values! The first two BioShock games are two of the best games this console generation has seen and now we have the opportunity to get both of them, complete with all their downloadable content, here in one package.

There really isn't anything new I can say about these two games that hasn't already been said when the games were originally released. Both are amazing story-driven FPSs that showcase some of the best imagination and creativity in video games. The graphics were great for their time and still hold up well today but will show their age when compared to some of the more recent game releases. Since so many reviews have already been released about the original games I am going to instead focus on the extra content that is included. If you are on the fence about the games themselves, I would encourage you to view the reviews on the original product pages to get a better understanding of the games.

!WARNING! These games have great stories and it would be a shame to have them spoiled for those of you new to the series. A few inconsiderate reviewers will contain details that will spoil the story for you, so proceed with caution!

Bioshock

Bioshock 2

Now on to the added content!

The DLC is included on the disc which means no codes to enter and nothing to download. The case says 22 GB are required to install all the content but its not one huge install; you can pick and choose which pieces of DLC to install and each has to be installed separately.

The first BioShock comes with the Plasmids Pack, the Challenge Rooms Pack, and the Bonus Museum Level. All content is single-player; there was no multiplayer in the first game. While all the DLC from the second game is installed separately, the DLC for the first is installed in one package. This isn't that big of a deal since most of the DLC included is for the second game anyhow.

The Plasmids Pack isn't really worth mentioning; this was a free update that anyone with an internet hookup had access to. This patch/DLC brought in a handful of new Plasmid powers and added new trophies/achievements. While this update was free of charge, its convenient to have it on disk and not have to download it.

The Challenge Rooms pack were three independent levels that were separate from the game's story and originally only available on the PS3 and now 360 owners get to enjoy them for the first time. The name says it all; they are rooms with a challenge. Sometimes puzzle-driven, sometimes combat. They aren't really a necessity to fully enjoy BioShock; they're a nice bonus but easily done without. The Challenge Rooms originally released for $9.99 and come with their own set of trophies. Unclear at this time if the trophies were translated to achievements for this edition but I would assume so.

The Bonus Museum Level is a great addition for the big BioShock fans out there. Unfortunately, there's not much to it. It consists of one medium-sized room with several "exhibits" and concept art lining the walls. Here we get to see the different ideas that were played around with and ultimately scrapped before the game was finalized. Walking up to each piece provides a small description in paragraph form. Its nice to see actual detailed 3D models of these ideas, but without any movement or sound they're simply lifeless statues that you will quickly get bored with. Even the biggest BioShock fans will spend a limited amount of time in here; I consider myself one of these fans and I was out after 20 minutes. Very interesting and a nice bonus, but I doubt I'll go back anytime soon.

The added content for BioShock 2 are the Sinclair Solutions Tester pack, Rapture Metro map pack, Kill'em Kindly mode, The Protector Trials, Minerva's Den, and a Character Pack (apparently not mentioned on the case). Assuming that you're interested in the multiplayer aspect of the game at least somewhat, there's a lot of value here. Being that the game is nearing its 4-year anniversary, its understandable that the multiplayer has fallen off quite a bit from where it was. Many of the modes are simply impossible to find games for without setting them up yourself with invites to friends and the "players met" list. Most of the action takes place in the Civil War mode, which is simply Team Deathmatch. Getting into a Civil War match is fairly easy, but there are times when it will take a few minutes to find one. Also, without dedicated servers you're left at the mercy of the host. That means if they have a horrible connection you might see some lag and if they leave the game you're forced to return to the lobby to restart the match. I don't see lag too much, but be prepared for a host leaving every so often. Still a lot of fun and there's always hope that new players will emerge with the release of the Ultimate Rapture edition. Time will tell, but for now be warned; while playable, the multiplayer is far from thriving.

!NOTE! IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN PLATINUMING THIS GAME, PLAYING MULTIPLAYER TO LEVEL 40 IS REQUIRED. This isn't impossible but will require about 15-30 hours depending on your skill level. I'm a fairly decent player and it took me around 22 hours.

The Sinclair Solutions Tester pack added a level cap increase to the multiplayer from level 40 to 50. Two new playable characters and 5 masks were added along with a third upgrade option to all weapons. The pack released for $4.99.

The Rapture Metro map pack features six new maps that you will likely never play. Seriously... if one person enters the lobby without this map pack then these maps are excluded from the rotation. Finding a lobby full of people with this map pack is next to impossible. The best way to ensure you see these maps (other than setting up a private match by yourself and roaming around) is to set up sessions on gaming forums. There are trophies tied to this pack, but as with all DLC trophies, they aren't required for the Platinum. This pack also included the option to "rebirth" at level 50, allowing you to start over at level 1 (like prestige in COD). The map pack released for $9.99 and had three new trophies/achievements.

The Kill'em Kindly mode is simply a melee only game mode for multiplayer. This was offered free of charge to anyone with an internet connection so again, this was mentioned only because its now included on disc without the hassle of downloading. Remember when I said most of the action took place in Civil War? Guess which game mode you won't be playing much of...

The Character Pack is the last multiplayer content and it wasn't mentioned on the case. It includes two playable characters that were originally only available for those that pre-ordered the game. The pack eventually released for $1.99. (And just to be clear, when I say "playable characters" I mean skins. There is no difference in stats or weapons available from one character to the next and choosing one from another is purely for cosmetics, though they each have their own set of one-liners that they spout off during the match.)

The Protector Trials is a single-player horde mode that contains somewhat of a side story. In each level you must protect the harvesting little sister from a wave of splicers. You are graded on your performance on each level and, much like the Challenge Rooms from the first game, your arsenal is pre-selected making you strategize accordingly. It released for $4.99 and had seven new trophies/achievements.

Minerva's Den is more of a traditional single-player side-story offering that is probably the best content included in this package. I don't want to go into too much detail for the sake of spoilers. It will probably take you anywhere from 2-6 hours depending on how your playstyle is. It released for $9.99 and had eight new trophies/achievements.

CONCLUSION

Now, after all that you can see that this Ultimate Rapture edition is a great value but more for new players that have never experienced the BioShock series or for huge BioShock fans. If you've played the games before but don't consider yourself a big fan then its safe to pass. For those of you getting pumped over the new BioShock: Infinite that's releasing soon, an exclusive pack of 3 collectible stickers are included. As mentioned by other reviewers a HUGE chunk of hard drive space (22GB) is required to install all of the content, HOWEVER... you are not required to install everything all at once. Meaning that if you are limited on hard drive space you can always install one game and play it, then delete it before installing the second one. This will cut that 22GB size down substantially(When checking my folders it seems BioShock measures in at just over 6GB including the DLC. BioShock 2 is 9.3GB for the game and just over 4GB for all of the DLC. Even if you include save data we don't reach the 22GB listed on the case, but its close enough).

Also, if you like the BioShock games and enjoy reading, be sure to check out John Shirley's prequel to the series. A great read if you're a fan!

Best Deals for BioShock Ultimate Rapture Edition - Playstation 3

First off, these games are amazing, and with all the DLC included (on disc, no codes included), this bundle is a steal.

Now, both games and the DLC are all on one disc ( a dual layered Blu-ray disc to be precise). Once you insert the disc, two icons will appear, one for "Bioshock" and one for "Bioshock and Bioshock 2 Additional Content". When you start Bioshock 1, the only thing you have to install is game data, which is about 5GB. When you choose the "Bioshock and Bioshock 2 Additional Content" icon, Bioshock 2 and all the DLC for both games will be listed. Unlike Bioshock 1, Bioshock 2 (the entire game) has to be completely installed, which amounts to 9.4 GB of space. The DLC has to be installed as well, which is about 5.6GB all together.

Adding all three totals together, it's really 20GB instead of 22GB, but it's still a lot.

Despite all that, this is a great bundle, and at $30, it's one that should not be missed

Honest reviews on BioShock Ultimate Rapture Edition - Playstation 3

There's not much to say about Bioshock that hasn't been said before: it's an awesome franchise (so far) and the story is VERY good (among the best I've seen); it's one of my top recommendations for video games. Still, it may not be for everyone: its a survival horror (think Silent Hill or the first Resident evil) in first-person view, but with a much more immersive story well sewn into the gameplay.

True Story's user review recommends downloading the demo before buying and I agree completely, because the game compels you to think stategically: in normal difficulty you'd be mostly fine just taking cover and shooting, but in the higher difficulties (or when aiming for the platinum torphy) you'll be slaughtered if you don't use every part of the environment to your advantage (and I do mean EVERY PART, as the game is designed for this)... Unless you play in the easy but not-so-enjoyable difficulty.

If you don't care much for serious storytelling, scarce resources, startegic thinking over bullets flying, and sensitive moral questioning, you'll not enjoy Bioshock to its fullest.

Anyroad, is this Ultimate Rapture edition (URE) worth it? Maybe: some factors may strongly influence the decision depending on what you're looking for. One thing, though: only Bioshock 1 comes in disc version; Bioshock 2 MUST be completely installed in the HDD, so if you're the kind of user who downloads most of your games into you PS3, think well about available room in your PS3 (about 20 Gb) before buying this bundle.

One kind of gamer I picture buying this is someone that hasn't played Bioshock before but is interested in it or has played it (either through a lent copy or through the demo) and liked it. They should actually get this edition, for Bioshock 1 will most likely absorb them so much they'll crave the sequel (and probably the prequel in book format: BioShock: Rapture) AND the DLC, because Minerva's den gives more story background, so why not get it all in one shot? Probably the continue glitch (see below) won't apply to you (just install the DLC for Bioshock 1 before beginning your playthrough).

Other kind of gamer I picture is the collector of all things Bioshock. This one has the collectors edition of the three Bioshocks, so, who are you kidding? You need this to complete your collection regardless of the very few new things it will give you (the stickers and the Museum).

But maybe you only have Bioshock 1. Then this could still be for you, as it inlcudes almost all the DLC (see below) available. Even if you've played both games (either finished them or not) but not own them and think this is a good deal to get them, you're probably right, though only the first game comes in disc format. Bioshock 2 is a digital version of the game (like the ones you donwload from the PlayStation Store). If this is your case, keep in mind there's an issue with the PS3 URE where the load screen freezes when you choose to continue or load a save file. Delete the game data (not saved game data, mind you) from your PS3 and install the game again to arguably fix this. It works, but when you install the DLC again, the problem will be back. This stems from the fact that the DLC for Bioshock 1 seems to conflict with pre-DLC save files (I don't know if the same happens with PS Store-downloaded DLC), so deleting game data and installing again reverts the game to a pre-DLC status, thus allowing you to use your save files albeit without DLC, which means that if you want to keep your save files, your URE DLC won't work. Looks like the "real" solution consists of starting a new game after installing URE DLC because, somehow, the save files don't conflict with downloaded content if you created the save file AFTER installing DLC (?). I did it and worked fine, but I only played the first level, so I can't say it's a permanent solution. I had already finished the game (platinum trophy included), so it's no big nuisance, but consider this if you haven't finished it and were thinking to do it on URE from a previous save file: either finish first and install DLC later or begin anew after installing DLC. This seems to be only a problem for Bioshock 1 (I checked for Bioshock 2 and everything works fine).

If you already own Bioshock 2 but not Bioshock 1 nor any DLC, this is a good buy. If you own Bioshock 2 and the DLC, better get the first game and Challenge rooms separately (unless you're willing to cough up $30.00 for one game and three stickers).

IF YOU HAVE BOTH GAMES BUT NO DLC, DON'T BUY THIS (unless you're a hardcore collector of Bioshock). It's better to buy the DLC directly from the PlayStation Store, as I will now explain.

The Plasmid pack will likely be irrelevant for PS3 because it was always there and it was made for Xbox 360 users, who didn't get it when the game came out (NOTE: this is just my memory speaking and I haven't been able to confirm this with online research). The Museum isn't a real playable level: it's just an in-game big room with 3D renderings of some of the content from the "Bioshock: breaking the mold" art book with new captions. The DLC for Bioshock 1 includes the New Game Plus feature (use your overpowered character from the beginning of a new game) for unlock when finishing the game (use wisely, as no trophies are awarded in NGP and, again, if you already finished the game, beware of the continue glitch, as deleting game data will wipe the memory of you having finished already).

That said, here's the total cost of the DLC from the PlayStation Store:

Challenge rooms: $9.99

The Protector trials: $4.99

Minerva's den: $9.99

Sinclair Solutions tester: $4.99

Rapture Metro & Kill 'em kindly: $9.99

Total: $39.95, which still makes "Over $40 of add-on content" an overstatement (would be true with base DLC prices plus the characters pack; see below).

If you think this is a good deal for the DLC and stickers alone, you'd be right, were it not for another option available: the $24.99 Bioshock 2 DLC bundle from the PlayStation Store that includes all of the above (save the Challenge rooms, which are Bioshock 1 DLC) AND the Exclusive character pack (two additional characters for multiplayer; $1.99 if bought separately). If you throw in the Challenge rooms pack ($9.99), you'd be spending $34.98 for the same DLC as in URE and getting two extra MP characters not included in URE. If you're looking to net the DLC alone, URE is only $4.98 cheaper with the Museum and the three Infinite stickers, but no characters pack (or a mere $2.99 if you buy the characters separately), so in my opinion you'll be better off with the $34.98 PlayStation Store option.

And then, there's me... I got this because I physically hate my Greatest Hits versions of both games (the red case doesn't appeal to me), because of the DLC, and because of the stickers, but there's something weird: for some reason, if you already own Bioshock 1 and want to play from the URE disc, you'll have to install the game all over again (if you use your regular version you'll only face a short install for the Challenge rooms). I thought this was because of some sort of "specific-disc-linked data", but the first time I played Bioshock 1 was on a disc a friend lent me and when I got mine (the Greatest Hits edition, :S ) I didn't have to install again, so I'm clueless as to why this happens with the URE... And there's the continue glitch, but still, for me, those are no biggies.

In all, if you don't own any Bioshocks and want to, this is for you (four stars). If you're a hardcore collector of Bioshock, this is for you (nevermind ratings). If you only own the first (or second) Bioshock AND no DLC, this is still for you (three stars because of the continue glitch). If you own both games but no DLC, this isn't for you.

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there are comprehensive reviews for both games elsewhere, so i will limit this review to this edition and its contents.

but that being said, both bioshock 1 and 2 are truly amazing gaming experiences.

this edition is a stellar value, no question. some of the dlc was previously available, some was not, but one thing that is totally new is the addition of STICKERS!

first off, all dlc is ON DISC. this is great news for those folks who are not fans of psn codes.

here is what is included:

bioshock1

plasmid pack

challenge room pack

bonus museum level

bioshock2

sinclair solutions tester

rapture metro

kill 'em kindly

the protector trials

minerva's den

3 stickers from the upcoming bioshock infinite

the stickers are a little lackluster, to be honest. i was really hoping for some of the vigors (murder of crows, anyone?) or even the beautiful concept art, however what we get are three stickers (about three inches by four inches) showcasing the following:

monument island

the first lady's aerodome

hall of heroes memorial giftshop

the real silliness involved in this set is the amount of time it takes to install. if both games and all dlc's can fit on one disk, i mistakenly thought install for everything would be a one-step snap. WRONG. just about every item must be installed separately, with some things taking an inordinate amount of time to do so. bioshock one took about twenty minutes (not a huge deal), however bioshock two took nearly an HOUR. this is easily the longest install i've ever seen...which is odd, because i already owned both games, and neither took so long to originally install. that being said, i recently upgraded to the 500gb ps3, so i know it isn't the system.

the box says the game/s require 4997mb of space...however looking at my ps3 i am more than a little confused. bioshock 2 installed to my ps3 game folder, and that game alone states 9343mb. and if bioshock2 installed directly to my hard drive, then why didn't bioshock1? color me confused on this one for sure.

all technical installation nonsense aside, i am super pleased to have the new content, and i will certainly be playing through both games again to experience as much as i can. bioshock1 holds the honor as my personal favorite gaming experience of all time.

i will update my review after i have seen how all the new dlc plays out. be warned: some of the dlc is multiplayer only. my only experience with the multiplayer aspect was not such a fun experience. i guess i was late to the multiplayer experience and was killed literally seconds after entering the game by other folks. that happened three times in a row before i decided that maybe it wasn't for me. i will probably give it another try in hopes that the online community has gotten less kill happy with the newcomers.

you really can't go wrong with this set. i would pay full price for bioshock1 all over again, let alone to get all this new dlc, PLUS the second game and the new dlc available with that. if you are on the fence at all, i'd encourage you to sieze this opportunity.

Reviews of Star Trek - Xbox 360

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I have played about 3+ hours of this game, and I have to honestly say that it feels a bit unfinished.

The (third-person) controls are a bit clunky, as is the cover system (which is a bit hit and miss). The graphics are OK. This is not Mass Effect 2, but it is not the worst game ever to come out the gate, either. The graphics are average at best. As much as the developer had tried to avoid it, this game has a movie tie-in game feel to it.

The story is good, the voice acting decent, but the mechanics just don't feel right. It reminds me of the Iron Man movie tie-in games to this point. There is fun to be had, and I am definitely a Star Trek fan, but it just isn't terribly gratifying.

A lot of times, it is a bit confusing as to what it is that you need to be doing. I am playing a single-player campaign, and the AI hasn't been so great. maybe that is part of the problem? I am playing as Kirk, and sometimes Spock is near me but invisible, other times he's kneeling but floating in mid air, and sometimes he just runs toward the enemy taking fire out in the open. The enemies aren't so bright, and your phaser takes a few shots to put some enemies down. On stun, although the game doesn't explain it very well, you stun your opponent and it dazes them, then you have to run up to them before their stun wears off, and perform a melee combat move to put them down. When your phaser is set to "kill" it often takes several shots to put an opponent down. And, your weapon can overheat, so you fire off a shot or two, and then your opponent closes on you quickly, and you are scrambling a bit until your weapon cools down. And your opponents move MUCH faster than you do.

When your enemies take cover, they move extremely fast, get into cover, and never, ever come back out. You have to go into their cover after them, and they are more powerful than you. So if your weapon overheats, look out........

Not much is explained as for space battles (using the Enterprise), either. I keep getting blown up over and over and still am not sure what it is that I should be doing....and, for note, I'm a fairly seasoned (casual) gamer (completed the Uncharted games, Mass Effect Trilogy, Arkham games, etc.). I just can't seem to put together exactly what it is that I'm supposed to be doing.

It just doesn't feel like the game is fully developed. I'll keep it and do my best to complete it, as I am a Star Trek fan, but in truth, it just isn't living up to my expectations to this point. I'm just getting kind of a clunky, unfinished feel from this one. It was in development for quite a while, but it's just missing the mark.

It's playable for a Trek fan, but I'd wait until it hits the $ 20 range (which shouldn't be too long). I was expecting a mediocre to decent game, and I'd say, to this point in my experience, it's barely meeting my minimum expectation.

I'm normally leery of games that haven't been reviewed by the release date, and to my knowledge there was no online demo. I have read a few sources saying that the review copy of the game "got out late", and they didn't have it in time to review it. That leads me to believe that they knew it just wasn't quite finished, and they wanted to capitalize on beating the movie out of the gate.

I wasn't expecting the world, but am a little let down. There is still fun to be had, but it just isn't as well developed as the marketing suggested. It definitely needed a bit more development and polish.

I know that it can be unfair to review a game that one hasn't finished, but I'm a good way in, and I have a pretty good feel for it at this point. It may be worth holding off a bit and, if this is a game that you as a Star trek fan want to own and play, buy it at a lower price point than $ 60.

UPDATE:

I finally completed this game yesterday (took me about 15 hours or so), and there is a lot of attention and polish that the developer should add through "Patches". Overall, I don't feel like the game lived up to what the developer had promised~especially a game that has been in production as long as this game has.

The graphics were OK, better in some spots than in others. Not the best that the current-gen systems have seen, but not the worst, either. In truth, for me, if a game has a great story and great gameplay, the graphics generally aren't a hangup for me.

The story, I thought, was excellent. Very well written, and it felt like a Star Trek-worthy story. The voice acting was good. Simon Pegg (providing Mr. Scott's voice) was probably the highlight as far as the voice acting goes, and a great comic relief.

The AI was really bad. Especially the enemy AI. In some cases, some of the larger more formidable foes would just stand in one place (as if stuck in a glitch) and I would ultimately defeat them with almost no resistance. The enemy AI and the glitches surrounding the enemy behavior was definitely underdeveloped.

My (computer controlled) partner (Spock) was often a hindrance to completing tasks. Sometimes he just took off on his own (into the open taking enemy fire), and other times he just wouldn't follow me as he was supposed to. Several times I had to backtrack just to find him.

My character kept walking around screaming "Thanks for the shield boost!" to Spock, even when we weren't engaging (or even near any) enemy. That got old. Also, I found that sometimes when I would be walking or running forward, when I would release the gamepad stick, my character would keep walking/drifting forward on his own. I often had to mess with the gamepad to get him to stop.

There were three different hacking sequences used during the game, none of which (in my opinion) are really ever explained-you just have to figure them out on your own (more or less). The first is matching up pairs of matching sequences in a given time frame, which was easy enough. The second was, I'm not sure how to describe it, grid navigation mini-game (similar to how the characters rode their light bikes, or whatever those were called in Tron). That was a bit more challenging, mainly due to poor control, and became frustrating at points. The third was both characters working together to match frequencies. It worked OK, but with two players, I can see this one being tough to complete.

To the game's credit, there were a lot of really cool levels with some really neat gameplay ideas. Some were more fleshed out than others. One of the real detractors with this game is that it never really offers much in the line of explanation as to how to complete your tasks. It just leaves you to figure it out on your own. I don't know if this was by gameplay design choice, or an oversight.

At the end of the day, you play through 15, or so, hours of co op aimed gameplay and it all culminates into your facing off with a less than impressive final enemy (or "Boss").

As a Star Trek story, it succeeds. As a co op game, there is some fun to be had there. For a Star Trek fan, if they can look past the game's (sometimes glaring) flaws, there is some fun to be had there. For a gamer with high expectations in respect to overall gameplay, polish and presentation~this one will disappoint you.

Some of the mainstream reviews of this game have been pretty brutal. I feel that a "3-Star (out of 5)" or "6 out of 10" rating isn't completely unfair for this game.

It's buggy, undercooked in some areas, and nothing about it is cutting edge, but I still had a good time with it (on a solo playthrough), and I would like to play the game through on co op as well. If the developer updates this game through "patching", I think that it would be a much better and more playable game overall.

This is a game that is definitely going to be a better experience played as a co op game rather than as a single-player game. As things stand today (and in my opinion), this is a mediocre $ 60 game, a decent-to-better than average $ 30 game, and a better than average-to-good $ 20 game.

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After watching the developers talk about the game, I wanted to buy it. I saw the passion of how they spoke of the game. The wife decided to rent it first. Good call. The animation is choppy. The graphics were never finished. The enemies are either invincible or stupidly easy. Battles are never explained, nor navigation clear.

The Opening sequence is annoyingly confusing. You start out in some battle, take a couple of shots. Then there is a cut scene where Spock and Kirk are about to kill each other. Then, just before the first blow, the game starts with a pleasant conversation over chess.

The game uses battle modes similar to Gears of war, with storytelling comparable to Mass effect and Army of Two combined. It looks like the game would have been pretty good, but it seems to be pushed too soon. Characters glitch often. Enemies often shoot and walk through walls and doors. You can play as either Kirk or Spock. I chose Spock, but it's like they forgot to write those lines, so it feels like I was still playing as Kirk. Check points are at random, almost evil places that don't seem to make any sense other than to annoy you. Even the Achievements are grabbed from predictable game play and are poorly named.

I would still play it through, but I got to a point that was just too buggy. It was written to have a strategy, but all the glitches ruin it. When going in mini-games (which aren't bad), the game does not stop, so you are often left venerable.

There are four things that make this game playable and they are great:

Original score written by the same composer who wrote for Into Darkness

The characters look like who they are trying to be, even if not smoothed out not up to par for 2013 or even 2008, but like-ness is there.

The script is wonderful. Aside from the opening, it kept my interest

The Best and what is worth any amount of money to pay for this game is the entire movie cast has recorded dialog for this game. This is not something that is done often, and in this game it is perfect.

This game wants to be a 7 or low 8, but because of its poor execution and streamlined release, I can't give it more than a 4. I gave Via Domus a 5.

Buy it in a discount bin or pawn shop in six months. I you forget to, don't worry, you're not missing much.

Best Deals for Star Trek - Xbox 360

I have been very expectant of this game's release for some time. My wife and I are both big gamers (I have 70k xbox points and she is 20k+) and also big Star Trek fans. So far we have put in about 4 hours play together.

On the whole this is a great game but needs a bit more polishing (something updates may correct) in a few regards. First and foremost is the very awkward sign-in for the splitscreen multi. The issue is that you have the option at the "New Game" screen to play as either Kirk or Spock, and at the bottom is the option for player 2 to sign in by pressing start. However, once you start playing the second player cannot join, at all (or so it seems). There is no way for a second player to sign in when the game is running. So my wife and I pop this game in, we go through the new game screen and we both login, and we play about 2 hours. So far so good. We stop to eat dinner and when we come back I click continue, and it starts with only me... there's no way to log her in as player two... Well, I figure maybe she needs a separate save file... nope. Well... we look it up online, nothing... We try "inviting" her to my game, but it says she can't join a local session... We even find some threads online that say that this game doesn't support split screen... What the %#$^? But we just played it splitscreen for two hours?! Feeling as though we were in a Twilight Zone episode, I finally figured out that the only way to continue a game via splitscreen is to go to the Chapter select, then when you get the character selection screen then the second player can log in. There is a vague reference to this in the manual which is only online, but it isn't very explicit about the process. Hopefully the game desginers will figure this issue out so that the second player can login and continue a saved game without having to restart checkpoints, or at least make the process more streamlined.

Anyway, I wanted to get the word out that the split screen does function, but you have to go to it through chapter select.

The other big complaint is that the tutorials are really lacking. There are some great tech minigames for unlocking stuff and hacking and whatnot, but they are rather involved and the minimal direction, if at all, given by the tutorials does not in any way prepare you for completing the action. Instead, I have had to use trial and error to figure out what exactly we are supposed to be doing, sometimes it comes quick but some of the actions were rather tough to figure out what was expected. Once we figured it out it worked fine, but that first time can really be annoying which a more adequate tutorial would fix.

As to the game itself, so far we have really enjoyed it. There is a lot of investigating with tricorders which is a nice change of pace and fits the scientific character of the series nicely. The combat so far has been extraordinarily smooth, and while the graphics for the people can seem a bit stiff and blocky, the environments are great and really draw you in. We haven't gotten far enough for substantive remarks about the plot, but getting to fight the Gorn is pretty excellent by itself. It's also nice that this is an intermediary plotline taking place between the movies thereby not simply rehashing either plot line which is the downfall of many movie based games.

On the whole, this game needs some spit and polish to really make it shine, but hopefully continued development through updates will help to make the game more streamlined and less buggy. After we have completed the game I will return to update further but for now I highly recommend this game to anyone that thinks shooting Gorn with phasers as Kirk and Spock is just plain awesome. Finally an awesome Star Trek game. Finally.

>>UPDATE JULY 2013

So my wife and I beat Trek a while back, I just haven't gotten back to update this. Here's some final thoughts having played through the whole game beyond the reinforced NEED for a good update to correct the little glitches and add some explanations to a few points.

On the whole, this is still a very satisfying game. My criticisms are primarily against the non-normal portions of the game. I still feel the combat portions of the game were fully satisfying and apart from wandering around a few times between fights it was never so confusing so as to need "walkthrough" support to navigate.

The non-normal portions of the game are generally rather obtrusive and even obnoxious. There are three principle non-normal modes of play:

1. Space suit flight: Of the three, this is the best non-normal mode. Essentially you are shot like a bullet through a variety of zero-G vacuum settings, dodging debris and whatnot. On the whole pretty satisfying and makes you feel like you are in the movies. However, these scenes start sometimes unexpectedly and can be annoying to get through at times, particularly if you are at all clumsy as a player because the movements expected of you can be overly precise at times. Still, with a few re-dos all these scenes were doable without much hair pulling.

2. Space combat: More obnoxious than the zero-G flight mode, you also get to take over the gunnery systems of the Enterprise and engage is ship-to-ship combat. Awesome! Right? Ehh... The graphics and sounds are great, very bright and stunning, but the actual controls are very, very simplistic and there are a lot of moments when you are sitting there just holding down your phasers wondering if you are damaging the ship you are shooting at. Perhaps more annoying and certain to annoy Trekkies is the fact that you have to LOWER YOUR SHIELD TO FIRE, or, more precisely, between holding down your phasers you have to engage your shields to try and deflect incoming fire. The total package effect was devastating and I was shocked that they could take something so incredible looking and with so much potential and make it so tedious. My wife and I were so glad when we got through the principle battle and we could get back to the regular run and gun mode. Terrible. This mode REALLY needed more work and thought as it could have been great but in the end was one of the lowest points in the game.

3. Mind Meld: I do not think a game since the days of 8-bit consoles has made a mode of play so very, very boring. The mind meld is the most ridiculous part of the game and is really laughable. Essentially when you meld it is just an extended cut scene, not that big of deal, that's what I expected. But no, to navigate between cut scenes you get stuck in a weird blurry New Age looking tunnel and have to steer toward the light. No you aren't having a Near Death Experience. Yes you are playing the Star Trek video game and wondering what the ^&*% the designers were thinking. Really? Come on... Really? It feels like they ran out of mini-games and said hey, let's make them steer toward the memories in a long... tunnel... yeah. Seriously?

On the whole, the game lets you feel like you were playing through a Trek movie. There are some memorable fights and the voice acting, which had the entire cast, was great throughout. Having had some time to reflect on the game, I think one of the reasons why players have reacted so poorly to it is that we can sense that this game had real potential. The game mechanics and everything are good enough that if this thing were really put together well it could have been epic. Is the final product that we are playing now epic? Not by a long shot. Is it a really fun Star Trek shooter that gets you into the films? Yes it is. Just ignore all the silly and obtrusive parts and there is a very enjoyable experience here for Trekkie gamers and fans of the films.

Final Score: 3.5 rounded to 4 because... well... it's Trek.

Honest reviews on Star Trek - Xbox 360

First off, like many reviewers here I have not finished the story. The gameplay makes finishing the game a challenge to say the least. The developers really screwed up with this game. They alienated the Star Trek fans by making an action Co-op game and then turned around and alienated all Action game fans by making this a Star Trek game. IF this was simply a generic Sci-Fi co-op action game it would have sold much better. (Granted nothing can help sell games when the core gameplay is so flawed) Star Trek fans want a real star trek game that emphasizes exploration, starship management and crew management. We get none of that with this title. Action game fans want tight controls, a great story and most importantly great gameplay. We got none of that either. Honestly this game should have been scrapped in development. Everything about this game is wrong. Making a Star Trek game where you can only play 2 characters is asinine. No Star Trek movie or TV show has ever revolved around 2 characters only. Huge mistake. Second setting the game in the new timeline could have made for amazing stories... instead we get a story about the Gorn... Everything "Star Trek" about this game is an insult to the franchise. From an action gamer point of view this game fails to deliver on nearly every level. The "Clunky" controls can only be ignored for so long. After going through Mass Effect inspired levels I found myself bored more often than not. The collectables are so limited I find myself running most of the levels with my tricorder on. I can't complain about the graphics because I spent 90% of time running around with my tricorder on making all the graphics blue. It was such an awkward way to play, you can't even enjoy the levels because you have to use the tricorded all the time if you want to collect everything. Often times, I would still miss objects because I didn't notice the little patch of orange on the ground after running through blue levels the past 30 minutes. In essence the tricorder that some reviewers are praising as the best part of the game, was the worst part of the game for me. Its like the investigator view in Batman games except in the batman games you can see the items even without the view, in this game everything looks the exact same. 1 terminal might have something to check out with the tricorder while an identical terminal 5 feet away might be as pointless as the game itself. Essentially you are forced to run the levels with the tricorder always on if you want to find any experience points.

The only saving grace in this game is the multiplayer. I played through the first half of the game with a Trek friend. It was fun to play split screen like the good old PS2 days but honestly it wasn't as fun as Gear of War or even Dead Space 3 (FYI dead space 3 has no split screen both people have to own the game). Overall I'm disappointed I ended up buying this game. I wanted to support the developer and the Star Trek name but really shouldn't have wasted the money. Nothing is going to save this game from being another joke in a long line of hideous Star Trek games. Why in 2013 we still don't have a single real Star Trek game is beyond me. Since PC's bridge Commander there hasn't been a single Star Trek game worth owning. Its sad but developers with ideas like this keep getting the go ahead. Guess we now start another 6 -10 year wait for another Star Trek title to be released that hopefully isn't as bad as this.

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This could have been a great game, but it's buggy and unfinished. Feels like a smash and grab to get it out before the movie, so they could make loads of cash off the fans. What a waste. And by the way, if you're playing with a friend, don't try and save a game and come back to it, because you can't. They forgot to add in the two player mode in the continue game section. Utter crap. Wait until it hits the discount bins, or you'll feel ripped off. Like I do.

Reviews of Ghost Recon Future Soldier Signature Edition

Customer Ratings:

This is the Signature Edition which was offered through Gamestop. If you can get your hands on one I would recommend it because the guns included are excellent. Overall this game is fun whether playing the campaign or multiplayer. The campaign is very good and I don't mean very good for a shooter. Anyone who has played the Battlefield 3 campaign knows how terrible most games like this usually are. The campaign is actually worth playing. It can be played alone or with three of your friends. Playing the campaign helps unlock items for use in the multiplayer game also. I found the story itself to be less than great but the gameplay makes up for it. The use of different weapons that aid the entire squad adds a realistic feel and a reason to have a team. You actually work with other team members and the AI is really pretty good. Squad coordinated sniper kills are very fun to do and the team members find their own targets quickly and accurately. Drones are usable in campaign and multiplayer and can serve as spotters or attack drones. The drones are controlled by the player which gives players a good idea of enemy placements and map layouts. This is fun and helpful. Who doesn't want to rain a barrage of frags on those enemies hunkered down in a well defended area? Multiplayer is fun and challenging. It is based off of team work and team objectives not the number of kills. This makes multiplayer much more rewarding than in other shooters as you get to see team mates looking out for each other and working towards goals. It helps to eliminate the selfish elements found in so shooters today. Give the game a chance or just come back to an old favorite if you are familiar with the franchise and I doubt you will be disappointed.

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I bought the special edition for a reason, game came to me with a broken case and no code for the game extrasnone of this was listed on posting. Game disk has no scratches and plays well.

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good looking tom clancy game! game play is very unique for a tom clancy GRAW shooter. awesome cover system and battle camera effects adds to the realism during fire-fights. good solid strategy is needed to make it through this game holding in the military simulation genre pretty well i think. this is no run & gun game!

Honest reviews on Ghost Recon Future Soldier Signature Edition

Games is ok...kewl,toys to use in the game...i should have waited for the price to go down...wasnt really worth the price

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Good game just not my type of game. Multiplayer gameplay is to weird for me. Haven't got around to campaign yet but I hears its good.

Review of Wii U Deluxe Set with New Super Mario Bros U and New Super Luigi U

Customer Ratings:

I'm mostly writing this review to counter balance a 1-star review written by someone complaining about price. NOTE: Currently the item is overpriced, but that is because Amazon no longer sells Nintendo consoles directly. Do some research and you will see why. Basically the prices on here are being manipulated by third party sellers. The MSRP is $299.99, and if you look elsewhere and you should be able to find it at that price. Regardless of the pricing on here though, there really is no reason to bash the product itself.

Anyways, this is a great bundle, for anyone who likes Mario games and wants to step up from the previous generation. In the box you'll receive a Wii U (well, duh!) & a gamepad, both in the sleek color of black. It also includes the latest New Super Mario Bros. games + DLC on one disc, along with power/HDMI cables, and stands for standing the Wii U vertically, charging station for gamepad, a sensor bar, manuals, ect.

The value is amazing (though I wish they had thrown in a pro controller :P) I bought this for my brother for Christmas at Target. He'll love it. Hope you enjoy it too. Don't listen to the one star reviews. Wii U is awesome, I've played it many times.

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Bought this Wii U bundle at Target November 1st for $292. I had a 5% discount card from my pharmacy awards that I used on top of my 5% Red Card savings. The retail price at places like Target and Best Buy is $299.99. This is a great bundle with two great games. I waited to purchase a Wii U for a year so that more games would be out and the price be lower. Trust me, now is the time to get a Wii U. Buy it now so that you can play it with friends and family this Thanksgiving and Christmas. The new game pad with built in touch screen is awesome. One warning, it took me about 3 hours to hook everything up, download the latest software update to version 4.0, and transfer my data from my old Wii to the new Wii U. Transferring data from your Wii to the Wii U is pretty cumbersome and annoying. You will want to make sure you have at least a 512 MB SD card on hand to do the transfer. Just follow the instructions and remain patient.

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I love this so much. I honestly wouldn't buy it from Amazon, they have it for a higher price than Nintendo is selling it, through other vendors. If I were going to buy it again, I'd buy it from GameStop, like I did the first time.

Pros:

1) Nintendo exclusives are VERY well made, especially the ones that will be coming in the future.

2) This is the deluxe edition, meaning you get a larger hard drive than the regular one, stands for your Wii U and GamePad, and you get it in black!

3) You get both, New Super Mario Bros. U and New Super Luigi Bros. U with this, which is about an $80-$90 value, which is free with this bundle.

4) The GamePad is a great way to see other things without having to switch to another screen on the actual TV, like a map or an inventory.

5) You can switch from the TV to the GamePad in certain games, that way people can watch a TV show while you or your kids can continue their game.

Cons:

1) It's talked down about for the above reasons, which I like and seem to think are pros. Negative reviews almost turned me away from this, which sucks.

Please, don't let the negative reviews change your mind about this. I really like it and I think it's pretty cool for a next gen. gaming console.

Honest reviews on Wii U Deluxe Set with New Super Mario Bros U and New Super Luigi U

This set is an exceptional value. I had been holding out on the Wii U for a while, waiting for something like this to come up.

After working a few 60 hour weeks, I paid for my PS4 and decided to upgrade the old lady's Wii to a Wii U. And? Wise decision.

While I'm still not a fan of the massive Game Pad, the sheer amount of enjoyment you can get out of this package is incredible. Two (well, one and a half) games included and you can use your old Wii Remotes (even the non-Motion Plus remotes! Score!). New Super Mario Bros. U is mindless fun with friends and the addition of Luigi U means that you're set up for a sizable amount of gameplay out of the box.

The system is easy to set up (physically and software-wise), but the software setup is a chore. Nintendo still hasn't figured out networking. I have no idea why download speeds on Nintendo platforms are so slow, but the update took over an hour to download. After the update was installed, getting everything connected to various accounts was also a hassle. But after all of THAT tomfoolery, the system was really enjoyable to work with. As much as I'm not a fan of the Game Pad, it's really pretty awesome to control the menus on a tablet over using the screen interface.

I'm really happy I decided to pick this up. Anyone who has been on the fence about Wii U now has the benefit of this package (or the Zelda package... which I was going to get, but the lady likes her Mario games). I would argue that, despite the PS4 and Xbox One launching this year, Nintendo now has the most compelling system on the market. Just my opinion. But I'm probably going to go play Skyrim after writing this.

+ You can use the non-Motion Plus Wii Remotes.

+ HDMI cable included; graphics look super sharp. Finally, Nintendo!

+ Included games will keep you busy for quite some time.

+ System is small, fits easily into entertainment center.

+ Netflix and TV controls are pretty snazzy.

Game Pad is a clunky means of control; look, I get ityou can take the game with you, etc. But I don't have kids and it just gets in the way.

Setting up the system takes much more time than is necessary. Nintendo Network/Club Nintendo stuff needs to be bundled together.

We're going to get next to nothing for the old Wii.

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I bought this at bestbuy for $299. I'm not sure why the price is higher here but much cheaper than xbox and ps4 regardless. As always, Nintendo has a quality system here. Much better than other systems that recently launched from ms and sony. Getting super mario bros U and the luigi expansion makes it worth it since that is lot of wasted money if you buy it seperately. Yes I am kinda a nintendo fanboy but there are no problems I can report at this time. Saved a lot of money getting the bundle too.

Very happy with this system.

Xbox Green Controller not for Xbox 360 Reviews

Customer Ratings:
List Price: $14.99
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My son loves the color and loves the set up of the buttons. He likes this controller better than the one that came with the Xbox and better than the wireless one. He always picks this one and lets his friends use the other two! =D

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I'm reviewing the older variant model than the one shown by default. The material of the controller seems decent, sturdy and pretty solid. The overall cord length is somewhat shorter than ones from the standard Xbox controllers. There's No Break-Away cable so basically the console adapter is built from within the primary cable. the memory card slots seem a bit mediocre especially when inserting a memory unit, there's no satisfactory reassuring "click" like those found from premium brand controllers, basically the memory card merely slides in and just sits there but it does get the job done. Now the whole button lay out is really awkward at first but it grows on you over time. For example, the X, Y, B, A buttons are far apart from one another. The Start and Back buttons are found on the lower center of the gamepad as opposed from the lower left. Note that during gameplay, light taps on the buttons don't always respond. One must firmly press the buttons so that desired actions work all the time. My final verdict is that its an okay controller for a great value. Its a pretty decent Xbox Controller, it gets by and gets the job done. Remember this is meant to be used for the original Xbox and Not the 360.

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In my opinion, this is better than the default controllers for the xbox. The joysticks seem more responsive, the option with turbo doesn't hurt, and oddly enough they were a better buy than controllers that I've used before that cost more.

Honest reviews on Xbox Green Controller not for Xbox 360

Does what its supposed to do. My boys say they work better then the actual original xbox controllers. The only thing they dont like is that the cords are a bit shorter. Definitely a great price and arrived alot sooner then i thought.

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This is a great REPLACEMENT controller for the old, ORIGINAL X-box system!

My kids still love playing on the old system and I was happy to be able to find these *NEW* controllers.

According to my kids, they work wonderfully...but the cord is a little shorter than the original ones.

Thank You!

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

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

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

Pros:

Easy setup

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

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

Interference-free wireless performance, so far

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

Choice of USB, 3.5 mm, or RCA input

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

Retractable mic boom! Very nice.

Decent directional sound performance (but see below)

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

Auto power-off (after about 5 minutes)

Connects to Mac or PC as well

Cons:

Mic "only compatible with Xbox 360"

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

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

Pricey!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The Good:

-Three Different Sound Qualities

-Sound quality itself was great

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

-Extremely Comfortable, and I have a big head

The Bad:

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

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

-Turned cell phone off

-Turned laptop off

-Turned baby monitor off

-Turned every wireless contraption off

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

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

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

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

Discount Xbox DVD Movie Playback Kit

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List Price: $29.99
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If you're one of a handful of people who own an x-box but no DVD player this remote is, literally, essential to playing DVDs.

The x-box system is expensive for microsoft, and they don't make much profit off the systems. In order to play DVDs, companies have to pay a licensing fee to the motion picture of america association. Rather than include the costs of the license in the x-box system, they force you to purchase the DVD remote in order to play DVDs.

All this explains why even though your x-box has all the hardware necessary to play DVDs without a remote you have to buy a remote in order to actually watch DVDs.

My remote works well enough. Its batteries have lasted quite a while, and most DVDs play pretty well. It would be nice though if the remote had a power button.

Most standard DVD players work at least as well or better than your x-box, so I wouldn't recommend this item unless you don't already have a DVD player.

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When I first heard of this DVD Playback Kit, I was a little mad that Xbox didn't already have a DVD feature built in. I like it though, I don't watch a whole lot of DVDs. I use it for something else. You can use it in the main menu of the Xbox. You can use it as a remote to play songs you already have burnt onto your Xbox. I use my Xbox to play music while I'm on my computer because my computer is too slow to play music and do anything else. You can use it to play DVDs or as a remote to your MP3s.

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PROS

works fine. No IR connection problems.

great for people that don't already have a DVD player.

CONS

doesn't play DVDs in progressive scan. Why not? They can make games in 480p (old HD) for the xbox.

takes up a controller port slot. Not a big deal, but if you often have 4 friends playing, you won't be able to leave it in all the time.

no backlit or glow

no eject button

no power button. What? Never seen a remote without a power button. Thus you CANNOT turn your xbox on/off with this remote.

cannot learn

not universal. If you have lots of remotes, you're better off learning this one into a universal remote.

many people already own a DVD player, many with progressive scan.

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This product was thrilling at first turn my Xbox into a cheap and reliable DVD palyer? Great! IT worked okay for a few months but now, 5 months later it does not recognize hardly any DVDs. It jsut says "this is not an Xbox game or recognizable DVD please try again...." Do not waste your money buy a real DVD player instead. You can get a decent one for under $40 almost anywhere. Even when the DVD unit did work, it doesn't even have a power button or an eject button. Microsoft has over promised and under delivered.

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PS2 could include DVD playback without any additional hardware (by using a normal game controller), so where's the sense in Microsoft abstracting DVD playback off of it's already bulkier system? The answer is "more money."

Ideally the IR module should have been built in to the Xbox to begin with. I would gladly have payed an extra $10 then, instead of what MS is asking for now, which is roughly $30 at most retail stores. Simply ridiculous.

The gadget _does_ do what it is supposed to do (the only worthwhile thing to be said) but altogether is somewhat discouraging for reasons already addressed.

The design of the controller is bulky as well--not sleek like PS2's _optional_ DVD remote control. I have said it so many times that I am getting sick of it: The only failure of the Xbox system eminates from it's choice to require you to buy the ability to playback DVDs.

Since, however, there is no choice in the matter I suppose all of us capitalist sheep will flock to the stores and gladly plop down 30 smack-a-roos so we can watch our DVDs. We will probably also decide to sell our old DVD player on eBay since they are no longer needed, and also to recoup our losses on the Xbox DVD kit. And I suppose too, that while on eBay we will notice the Xbox DVD playback kit being offered for around $15 instead of $30.

Word to the wise: Go to eBay for this gadget. You will save yourself around 50%.

Skylanders Giants Single Character Pack Core Series 2 Bash Review

Customer Ratings:

My son was really happy when he got it. He said that Bash was much better as a skylander giant than it was as a spyro skylander. He plays with it often.

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We bought the Skylanders Giants game so that I, an adult non-gamer would have something to play with my hubby (gamer) and eight year old (on and off gamer). Needless to say, I am hooked. It is great fun and I, being just a tad more than a little OCD have decided I must have every little guy out there. Luckily I am a patient OCD and haven't had to pay more than retail for any character...

We like to see all of the different "skills" and voices they have.

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gave this to my son as a gift he loved being able to get this character! Good product! Lots of fun!

Honest reviews on Skylanders Giants Single Character Pack Core Series 2 Bash

When the first game came out, I didn't really want Bash. A dragon made out of rock? How useful was he going to be? Upon seeing his series two video, I definitely decided he was worth a try!

Speed: Slow

As can be expected for a character made out of solid rock, Bash isn't exactly the quickest dragon on the block.

Primary Attack.

Bash's tail ends in a deadly ball of spikes, and he uses them in a 360 degree spin to wipe out his enemies, literally. With an upgrade, incoming projectiles can be knocked away. If you choose the Granite Dragon upgrade path, your tail swipe does increased damage, your stone projection (which will be talked about below) will deal more damage, and your tail swipe can be charged up for a devastating blow.

Secondary Attack:

Bash's second attack is not only a damage dealer, but also a nice way to get around! The rock dragon will curl up and bowl over his enemies. Since Bash is so slow, this is a nice way to move a little quicker. If you choose the Pulver Dragon upgrade path your roll attack does more damage, you can roll right through enemy attacks, and Bash will become giant while rolling which deals more damage and makes him roll faster.

Tertiary Attack:

Talk about being at one with your element. Bash can summon up large stone masses from the ground and, in combo with his tail swipe, can launch them at enemies. With an upgrade, of course, the damage is increased. I like using this one on the bigger enemies, to keep them at bay while you decrease their health.

Soul Gem:

Since Bash can't fly and already resembles a dinosaur so much, why not give him some cool armor to play it up? The Triceratops Honor Guard (which is represented on the series two figure) makes Bash much harder to hit. It grants him 40+ armor, which is more than most hats can do!

Wow Pow:

I don't have this in game yet (I haven't had him very long), but while rolling, pressing attack 2 will launch Bash in the air and slam him back down again to crush his enemies. How handy is that?

EDIT: I now have this upgrade, and wow! Your enemies are crushed beneath your earthen body, and since a stone uppercut appears whenever you use this attack, it also fires off and hits any enemies in your path.

I feel bad for writing off this handy little fellow the first time around, he's totally worth the purchase!

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Cool addition to anyone's collection expensive but expected when your catching up to grow your collection from an older series

Rocksmith Guitar and Bass - Xbox 360 Reviews

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List Price: $59.99
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I have been messing around trying to teach myself bass for a few years now.

My problem is that I love the instrument but playing it along to youtube or a cd gets boring after awhile. Of course I would love to join a band but as a work in a job which means I travel a lot I could never commit.

I was thinking about selling my bass and try acoustic guitar. Then a friend of mine told me about Rocksmith and the new Bass version that was coming out.

To be honest I was apprehensive, I mean plugging my bass into the Xbox? Also I wondered if it was a gimmick and it would not improve my playing at all. Lets be honest at least on Rock Band/GH the drums resemble an actual drumset the guitars do not so that wont teach you. (Not that is it meant to)

I read about lag issues and being a non techie had expected issues but no it was pretty much plug and play. I do not have a complicated set up.

I have only played it a few hours and like the events, the set lists, the downloadable content and the technique exercises.

Will it help me to play Bass? Yes for sure, it won't teach me too much theory but it will help with fingering, shifting and plucking for sure. It will also give me a lot more confidence in my playing.

I will update this review the more I play it. I wanted to give this game 5 star for any budding bassists out there who are also thinking of giving this up. Try Rocksmith first!

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I originally started playing guitar when I was 12. I became fairly good at it by the time I hung it up at 17. Now, 22 years later, I purchased Rocksmith to help me pretty much start all over again.

After spending hours playing it, I can tell you, I LOVE it! The way it teaches you is awesome. Between the games and tutorials, it really helps you learn and hone your skills.

It also teaches you songs. The game gives you a few notes to begin with. It then slowly adds more as you progress, by seeing how many you can hit in a row. Before you know it, you are playing the entire song. And don't worry if you don't play for a little. It will tell you are struggling and give you less notes until you get back to where you were.

I really wish this was available when I originally started playing. It is a fantastic way to learn , or even re-learn!

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So happy about this "game".

I wanted to share my experience with lag.

In the beginning, it's pretty bad if you are using HDMI. The good news is it's fixable by grabbing one of those Xbox AV splitter dongles.

I originally ran HDMI from my Xbox to my receiver then the receiver passed the HDMI video to the TV. That caused lots of audio lag with this game so I changed my set up to this. Xbox HDMI straight to TV for video. For this game I ran RCA cables from the dongle to the CD input of my receiver. Audio lag was gone after that. Now running my receiver in this mode cuts out my subwoofer. I wondered how to bring the bass back and I ended up using an ART CoolSWITCH ABY Pedal to route sound to the Xbox and my bass amp from my bass guitar simultaneously. It worked perfect with no added lag. I also use quality Spectraflex cables.

Here's the tidbit that I would add. I was worried about losing my surround set up for other games but the cool thing is that the dongle passes S/PDIF and RCA audio signals simultaneously so I just attached that to a different input of my receiver for games like BF3. Now I have the best of both worlds.

This worked great but was really made possible by the fact that I have a beast Pioneer Elite receiver with tons of connection options. Also, all cables are available really cheap on Amazon so don't stress. I also use a low-tier Harmony remote to keep track of the different settings. Finally, as I now run HDMI video straight from the Xbox to the TV, I found that the game's video lag setting is too high. I simply backed it down from 50 (MS?) to 0 and the video lag went away and I was all good.

Honest reviews on Rocksmith Guitar and Bass - Xbox 360

Rocksmith is a pretty awesome tool for guitarists of all levels. I consider myself an intermediate guitarist. I am self-taught and mostly play acoustic/fingerstyle guitar. I caught Rocksmith on sale and decided to pick up an electric guitar to give it a shot. So far, I am not disappointed. The games main premise is to teach you songs. Learn the songs on a real guitar, score high enough and you unlock rewards and even more songs.

PROS:

+Rocksmith magically adjusts to match your skill level. It catches on pretty quickly to how many notes or chords you can handle. You never have to worry about never getting to the end of the song because Rocksmith constantly adjusts the song difficulty.

+Different rehearsal modes help master songs. I really enjoy the riff repeater feature. It takes a section of the song and you can either play the section slowly, gradually picking up speed each time you complete the section perfectly. My favorite is the Leveler mode. Each time you complete the section, it adds on more notes until you reach 100% mastery. If you feel that rehearsal mode doesn't give you enough credit in attempting more complexity you can manually adjust the settings in riff repeater.

+Song selection is varied. While i'm not familiar with a lot of the songs, it was a great way to get to know other genres of music and gain appreciation for them. I think for added variety they can add some jazz and blues types of songs.

+Virtual amp & cable: You only get one tone until you start unlocking custom tones and other gears. The virtual amp is pretty awesome and is one of the biggest reasons I invested in Rocksmith. I didn't want to invest in an amp, and for a beginner, I think what Rocksmith has to offer is more than adequate. Once you start unlocking gear, you can mess around and create your own tones. Score high enough on songs and you get that song tones as well. The cable is cross-platform so you can also turn your PC into a virtual amp if you have the right software.

TO BE IMPROVED I found the game really innovative and interesting that it's difficult to really find anything that I absolutely didn't like. Here are a few points that could be improved upon, though.

-Rhythm/Strumming There is zero instruction on rhythm and strumming patterns. Beginning guitarists will have to go elsewhere to learn how to create appropriate strumming patterns. For strumming sections, you can get away with all downstrokes.

-Finger placement I think that Rocksmith could have easily added an option to display suggest finger placement on the fretboard. It already shows you, quite uselessly with fingerprints, that you should move your finger from one fret to another. However, it doesn't suggest which ones.

-Guitarcade Guitarcade is a bit of a letdown. Some of the games can be useful tools such as Ducks/Superducks which lets you practice finding the right note on the fretboard. however, for many of the games, they are just that, games. I think there could have been more added value with a bit more focus on learning or another mode that was focused on learning scales/chords rather than playing (yes, I know it's a game).

-Audio latency This really wasn't such a huge issue for me since I knew about it beforehand. We have HDMI audio set up and there is a pretty significant delay from when you pluck a note and when you hear it from the speakers. We left our HDMI set up as is and plugged into the standard audio port of the Xbox 360. When I play Rocksmith, I mute our HDMI audio and just use the audio coming out of the regular port through a separate set of speakers or headphones. Our HDMI set-up is still in tact and we don't deal with latency issues. It's not a huge deal to get around but for some of you may have to go a little out of your way to get it to work.

-Visual display The Rocksmith display is innovative but as someone with a bit of experience reading music and tablature, it was confusing. Standard tab is read so that you look at the tablature or chord diagram and then project it onto the guitar fretboard. The Rocksmith display, however, is read as if the notes are coming towards your guitar. This may be simple for absolute beginners but for guitar tab readers, it looks backwards/upside down and downright confusing. There is an option to invert the display so it more closely resembles tab (high e-string on the top rather than the bottom. Honestly, I recommend that you immediately start playing the game with the inverted setting as it will be easier to read standard tab when you want to play outside of Rocksmith.

On top of that, the display moves around unnecessarily at times and can be a bit disconcerting or distracting.

-Tuner Before every song, the game asks you to pluck each string so it can check the guitar's tuning. Unless it's absolutely off, it really won't care or ask you to adjust the tuning. It's a pretty useless and tedious feature since it doesn't really check for precision. I recommend using the built-in precision tuner or your own guitar tuner at the start of each game session to ensure that your guitar is well-tuned.

Conclusion

If you really want to give guitar a shot, this isn't a bad way to start out. Rocksmith has its faults but it can be a really great tool for learning songs. I want to remind buyers that is a game/tool. There are still a lot of missing elements that you won't get from Rocksmith (like how to strum a guitar) but for it provides, it's an excellent practice and learning tool, especially if you want to simulate playing guitar in a band-like environment.

If it's important to you, I am using a short-scale Ibanez GRGM21 Mikro Electric Guitar (Black Night). If you also get a cheap guitar to play Rocksmith, I recommend getting it profesionally set-up as having good intonation is key to playing this game. Out of the box, the guitar did not work that great with the game. After getting the intonation fixed, it works like a charm with the game.

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Bought rocksmith just out of pure interest of the concept. I really enjoy it, the game is not easy,learning an instrument is never easy but it is fun and a cool change from using sheet music and scales. The free play mode is worth buying alone it lets you use all of the different FX pedals and equipment right on your Xbox (instead of buying all the expensive real equipment) so once again for $30 buy this game

BTW the game does come with one cable.

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List Price: $19.99
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The single player is great, you wont be disappointed! Graphics are awesome, and the backdrops are very nice eye candy. You can switch out your guns for different ones of your choosing when you come across certain "special crates" scattered around any given level, which is nice because that means you can switch up your play style when YOU want too. The single player campaign is short and sweet (prob 8-10 hours play time), the story doesn't grab you like MW2's, but enjoyable none-the-less. Assuming that the bulk of people buying this game are doing so for the multiplayer, i'll move on to that and devote the rest of my review to it.

I downloaded the demo for this game a little while ago and hated it. The controls were completely different then MW2 i especially dislike that they use the right movement stick for ducking. Can't tell you how many times i try to shoot a guy and ended up ducking and shooting at the same time. So i put it away and went back to MW2, as i was playing i realized that "i hate this game", i'm at the 4th prestige and have over saturated myself with it. I cant stand the quick kill quick death formula anymore, the horrible spawn system, the team selection system, and especially the lack of team work i constantly come across. There is also the infamous "MW2 law", similar to "Murphy's Law", where anything can go wrong in a match and when it does, it always seems to happen to YOU. Ofcourse MW2 is a great game and a worthy purchase, but i personally have had my fill.

That being said, it was unfair to judge BFBC2 so quickly when i had put such an insane amount hours into MW2. So i picked it up again and gave it another shot...i was hooked! I was playing as a medic and realized that i actually wasn't focused on killing people, i was running around reviving my teammates and dropping health packs to keep them going, ofcourse i took out a few stray enemies here and there. "Wow, this is different" i thought, and when i realized how many points i was racking up i liked it even more. I"m actually HELPING my team and getting a ton of points for it. That brings me to the most important aspect of the multiplayer, you are actually encouraged to work as a team, which is a nice change of pace compared to MW2. I get just the same amount of points for shooting someone as i get for reviving them. It works beautifully.

There is a leveling up system which is similar to MW2, nothing as developed though, but there is enough there to keep you coming back for more and you do unlock different sights, guns, gadgets etc... Some are just for the particular class you use i.e medic unlocks larger health packs, but others are more general and can be used for any class, i.e heavy vehicle perks.

The first BFBC had 2 deal breakers for me. One was their crazy health system where you jam a needle into your stomach when your health got low, which ofcourse is something you would have to do 50 times a match. The other was the lack of any kind of kill cam! It's no fun being sniped over and over again and having no idea where the sniper is when you respawn. THANKFULLY, both of those deal breakers have been removed. Your health regenerates (no needle to the stomach required) and there is a kill cam, you don't actually see the enemy kill you like in MW2, but you follow them around until you respawn so you know where they are and can carry out the proper justice.

Also, locating enemies is somewhat unique to this game, when you see an enemy, you have to press the back button on your controller and then a red insignia appears over their head and they show up on your entire teams map for a brief amount of time. I can't express how gratifying it was to spot 3 snipers on a hill, press the back button, and watch them get lit up by my team rockets, bullets, you name it, it went their way. Also, you get assit kill points for things like that, again, encouraging team work.

BFBC2 is a great game, very different then MW2 but in a good way. If you need a break from MW2, give it a try, you wont be disappointed. Again, one of the most impressive things about the multiplayer is how it rewards you for team work and incourages it. If actually playing a first person shooter AS a team, not just "lone wolfin it" while you're IN a team, sounds good to you, pick this game up, you wont be dissapointed.

I gave this game 4 out of 5 stars because it's not perfect. What game is? I have experienced some issues actually getting into a multiplayer match (can't find a match, busy, error, whatever,it means that their servers are full and they can't handle it, and several matchs have ended abruptly due to server issues. But once you actually get into a match, it's a ton of fun.

FYI: Snipers, snipers, snipers! What is the deal, everyone and their Mom wants to be a sniper. It seems that atleast a third to half of the players in the game are snipers. Not sure why, they always have the least amount of points and seem to stay in one spot most of the game.......i digress. Switch it up!

***UPDATE (03/14/10)***

I've been playing this came for quite sometime (all medic, recon, and heavy vehicle upgrades have been unlocked), i must say that it has held up well, although some of its flaws are more noticeable, nothing major per say, but worth mentioning, 1st one being the most important.

1)It's much easier to be a skilled pilot then to be a skilled engineer w/the rocket launcher.

Apache helicopters with missles are extremly unbalanced. What i mean by that is it is far to easy for a skilled pilot to get an insane amount of kills, to the point of feeling unfair because it's so hard to take it down. None of the rocket launchers "LOCK" on, yes you can guide the rocket, but you can't actually "LOCK" on, which is frustrating. When playing 'rush' on the map featured in the demo (the snow map which takes place during the day), there is a powerful Apache on that map, but you're given a good amount of tanks which help with taking it down, so it's not that extreme.

But......

This unbalance issue is taken to a whole new level on the map consisting of the 3 islands (with an autumn backdrop), when you're playing 'rush', the defenders are given an EXTREMLY OVERPOWERED Apache helicopter when/if they reach the 3rd island. I've played 2 games thus far where my team was about to seal the deal and take the 3rd island when the defenders hopped in that freakin apache and annihilated everyone, it got so bad that most of my team dropped out, including myself. No point in playing any longer when you've died 5 times in a row because the apache is hovering over your spawn base firing rockets at you as you spawn in. I equipped the engineer class and so did half my team and we were shooting rocket after rocket trying to take it down, nothing was working. By my 5th death in a row, of not be alive more then 30 secs, i dropped out.

The first time it happend, it was extremly frustrating because my team was actually good, everyone was playing their role well, that's why it seemed extremely unfair.

The second time, i knew the drill at this point and gave it 5min, if it wasn't taken down in that amount of time, we dropped out. At that point, it just becomes a waste of time.

This is by far the biggest flaw i've found in the game. Basically, you've invested 20-30min to get that far in a match, then putting all player skills to the side, it boils down to who can get to the Apache first. They need to either lower the health of that particular Apache or make the rocked launcher system easier to use against it, ie-better guidance, tracking, more powerful, something! It just seems incredibility unbalanced.

2)Spawning is a lot better then MW2, but could use a bit of work.

I was playing a 'rush' match and my team was defending and we were actually able to jump the spawn base of the attackers and smother them the entire match, they didn't get to set one 'com station' off, seemed unfair for the other team, we should'nt have been able to do that.

Also, i've spawned into mortar strikes twice (spawning on a teammate), that was purely bad luck on my part though, nothing against the game.

3)Match making protocol can use some work.

I've found it useful to hit/hold the 'back button' when i first get into a match because some of the time i find that i'm put on a team that only has, let's say 7 people, compared to the other team which as 12. Or i'm put on a team where the top player has 500 pts and the other teams top player has 1600 points, usually a good measure of how "good" your team is going to be.

Again, my rating still stands, it's a great game and a ton of fun, just be aware of the 3 island map playing rush, try to get to that Apache first, if not, be ready for game over.

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It's not a bad game; in fact, it's quite good. This review is in regards to the multiplayer as I have not completed the single player yet. I'm sure most people are primarily getting the game for multiplayer like with COD.

I'm sure there will be an influx of reviews giving the game 1 star and complaining about the graphics or comparing it to MW2. Here's a few things to remember:

1) The environments are gigantic

2) There's vehicles being used all throughout the map

3) Destructible environments

What does all that mean? It means that the game just isn't going to look quite as good or have a comparable framerate as MW2. The Xbox has finite resources and when they make a game of this scale without any loading taking place during gameplay, you have to sacrifice something.

However, I wouldn't necessarily say that a sacrifice in graphics or framerate is a bad thing. When you experience the magnitude of the giant playing fields and the destruction taking place, you should be able to quickly forget all about the smooth polygons in MW2.

Probably the biggest pro for me in this game is that it encourages teamwork. In MW2, most people are just worrying about their K/D ratio and trying to complete challenges by getting the most kills. In BC2, more points are rewarded for assisting the team an completing objectives. If this is something that intrests you and you're sick of all the "lone wolves," then you should definitely check this game out.

BREAKDOWN:

GRAPHICS: 9/10

AUDIO: 10/10 (It's really quite impressive)

GAMEPLAY: 10/10

REPLAY: 10/10

TO sum it up, the graphics, gameplay and audio are really quite impressive for a game of this scale. The most important thing about this game, it's fun. I love MW2, but sometimes I just don't have fun playing it. Everyone gets so angry and frustrated and worried about their k/d ratio or getting their killstreak. In BC2, I feel like I'm just having a fun time and I'm getting a lof of points regardless of my kills. The only thing I'm worried about is trying to win the game rather than reaping carnage without purpose.

Also, the knife melee function is really sweet. It's an overhead stabbing motion that feels a lot more real and intense than in MW2.

If you're a fan of the BF series or just looking for a break from 5th prestige in MW2, you've got to check this game out.

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This game will blow you away. It is everything MW2 wasn't. Don't get me wrong, MW2 is a good shooter... but not on the same tier as BC2. I will review the multilayer aspect, because that is really all I purchased this game for. That being said, I enjoyed single-player on Bad Company 1 and expect it to be at least as good in BC2.

The maps are BIG. You don't run around a small little sandbox that has hills dividing it into separate sections that give it the impression of being bigger than it is, you run around a big map with distanced objective points. The weapons are varied, the classes are unique and all have a use in the chemistry of the team, and the game has a very balanced feel. One doesn't choose the most "powerful" class, they choose the one that they personally like the most and it all balances out from there. The gametypes remind me of BF2 for the PC. They are polished, strategic, and rewarding. Where this game really shines is that the maps have vehicles. This means you can fly a helicopter to transport people from your main base to the other locations that you want to capture. You can also drive around in Hummers, or a tank. The tanks are powerful, but a smart player can spawn as the proper class and eliminate them. Why was Modern Warfare 2 considered a good game? What other online shooters did the 360 have? None really... that is why. Sure, Halo 3, Gears, to name a couple, but in terms of "gritty-realistic" online games, there weren't many. Now that this shooter has made its appearance on the 360, I don't think there will ever be any going back.

Honest reviews on Battlefield Bad Company 2 - Xbox 360

This game is everything MW2 isn't, everything but graphics. The graphics are good but don't beat mw2's but i would rather have a good game than a bad game. I am sick of people ruining mw2 with cheap classes, (no help to some of the game developers.)

This game eliminates that factor, no cheap KILLS! and no over powered guns A IDIOT FREE GAME!

As for the campaign; it is good, and it isn't bad in any way, it actually has a sort of plot rather than going to random areas in Modern Warfare 2 as MW2 has a LOT OF GAPS IN THE STORY. In BFBC you actually get to see some sort of explanation of what is happening during the game, like in game videos. Plus, it might just be me but i think some of the lines in bfbc are actually kind of humorous.

This game beats modern war 2 as the game developers knew what would ruin the game, such as overused, cheap perks in MW2. Plus you can use ACTUAL DESTROY-ABLE vehicles in BFBC's multiplayer mode. And it just seems more real, more natural noises, no boring maps, not like dull boring environments, and cheap respawn killing that takes place during the game. Plus, now when you shot a RPG at the building it actually gets destroyed, not in a cheap way, a very realistic way.

( i am 16 and a guy, don't look at the tag)

OVERALL GAME rating: 9.75/10

MY MW2 rating: 9.25/10

Graphics 8.75/10

Enviornment 10+/10

Weapon variety 9/10

Vehicles 10/10

longevity 9.5/10

*game is true to the price*

Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for Battlefield Bad Company 2 - Xbox 360

First off, to let you know which FPS's I've played: all the RB6 and Ghost Recons games (GREAT games), Borderlands (GREAT game), MW2 and Black Ops (SP was good), first Halo (eh) and L4D2 (fun at first, got old quick). Of these, only ones I played MP were MW2, BLOPS and RB6. Not the mose extensive gameplay but enough to know when I found a winner. BC2 has EVERYTHING!!!!! Mind you, I never played any of the previous titles from the BF series but wish I did, they were mainly PC games but I'm only console, didnt have money to shell out for a gaming PC. I guess the best one to compare to is what everybody and their mother compares to and thats MW2/BLKOPS and folks, its not even close!!!! The maps in BC2 are ridiculous!!!! easily 4-5 times bigger than any map on the other 2 games. The graphics arent even close either, the detail to the BC2 maps is insane. and did I mention destructible maps!!!! OMG, this had to be my biggest thing that split the to games apart. no place is safe to hide as a noob tube, a tank shell, or RPG can take u out of ur hiding place and into ur grave with the quickness if u aint careful. Plus riding the vehicles, Black ops has a lil remote control car, gimme a break!!! BC2 lets u drive tanks, helis, speed boats, dune buggies, etc!!!! and each has its purpose, its just not filler. and the sounds in this game, the guns are off da hook. Nothing sounds so good as a sniper rifle cracking the wind as its shot, or its bullet whizzing by u if the sniper missed. even the players in the game, everybody is yelling and saying things, what, u think war is a bunch of ppl running around quiet!!! the 4 classes each serve a purpose and u decide on ur play style or whats needed for the situation at hand, any true player in this game will tell you that not one class is overpowered, everyone has a strength and a weakness, cant say that bout MW2 aka sniper paradise. but best of all, this game is all bout strategy and gameplay, no run and gun here or u wont last 5 minutes. this game promotes teamwork, especially in the Rush mode, without it, u will lose. and best of all, this game rewards u for team work by giving each class a "job" to help the team out. kill streaks serve no purpose here so keep ur nukes, u win in BC2, ur team earned it, thats why I feel this game is WAY more realistic and the "truest" war sim out there, even when you kill or get killed, the ragdoll doll effects of the body, especially after an explosion, are entertaining. and I believe thats why so many blk ops ppl put the game down, because of the challenge it takes to play. youtube it and any of the pro gamers will tell u that BC2 is more satisfying for the level of degree it takes to play this game. the ONLY drawback I see to this game that is better on MW2 is the SP mode is horrible on BC2 and dat depending on what weapon u use, it sometimes feels like u are using a full clip to kill someone in BC2 as opposed to fewer bullets in blkops but to me, dat is WAAAAY too minor with all the other pluses this game has. Blkops is ok but step your game up and play a game that will get u addicted, ur family and friends will hate u cuz all u wanna do is play this game....