Every now and then, people actually want to know what I think.
Tag Archive: xbox 360
It’s always nice when you actually get credit for something. Thanks to the fine folks at Atari for passing this along. Check out the :26 mark.
Originally Published: June 15th, 2010, on PlayerAffinity.com and Examiner.com
I give my rundown and unique perspective on the Xbox 360 and Ubisoft pressers, and the Activision concert showing off DJ Hero 2, Tony Hawk Shred, and Call of Duty: Black Ops.
Originally Published: June 14, 2010, on Examiner.com and PlayerAffinity.com
I had a chance to get a hands on demo with Project Natal, now officially called “Kinect”, and give my first impressions of the new Xbox 360 peripheral.
Originally Published: June 13, 2010, on PlayerAffinity.com
They are one of the most popular bands in the world and have been speaking to the youth of a generation for about 20 years now. Their music has even inspired a Broadway play. So it’s no wonder that the folks at Harmonix and MTV Games felt that Green Day deserved their own Rock Band video game. Unfortunately, all this latest edition into the Rock Band library shows is how soft Green Day has become over the years.
Starting off with the hit album Dookie that launched Green Day into the limelight, Green Day Rock Band features 47 songs that touches upon most of the group’s best hits as well as the near entireties of American Idiot and 21st Century Breakdown. The problem is that by putting on so many newer, and in my opinion, inferior songs, they left out almost the entirety of Insomniac, all of Shenanigans, and nearly all of Warning and Nimrod, all of which were far superior to the red-headed bastard child that was 21st Century Breakdown.
And you can tell the difference in the gameplay. I have the entire set of instruments for Rock Band and made sure to try my hand at them all as I moved through my paltry three-venue career mode. I slammed down on drums and ripped away at guitar and bass and finally screamed till my lungs bled on the microphone. That is until I hit the 21st Century Breakdown section of the game and realized just how much Green Day had sold out when none of the singles were in the game off that album, (they needed to be bought separately on top of $60 you’re already dropping) and how slow and monotonous the music was that I was playing compared to the Dookie days.
I will say that the diehards of the band will enjoy the unlockable videos and rare still shots for three and five-starring songs and challenges as you get to see Billie Joe, Tre, and Mike back in their traveling bookmobile days as they moved from venue to venue. Aside from this though there really isn’t a lot to keep you coming back for more unless you are a Green Day addict. Include the fact that 47 songs is costing you $60, and most of the songs you probably want aren’t even on the disc, and that means this is a reach in terms of a purchase.
The audio is great, as you would expect since it is a music game, and the songs sound like they’re supposed to. Although I have to say that it is hard to keep a beat when all of the swears have been edited out to keep this a T-rated game and none of the character of the band can come through because of this censorship. If anyone has even seen Green Day live, they know that Billie Joe, Mike, and Tre aren’t exactly angels in terms of their language and on-stage antics. The game may look like Green Day and the game may even sort of sound like them, but this game is everything that Green Day used to sing about rebelling against.
Obviously, there is no plot to shred apart because it’s all about playing the music. There is a lackluster career mode that takes you through three venues and three distinctive looks of Green Day over the years as you try to unlock all 47 songs, but aside from this, the game is a glorified track pack. Even with the inclusion of some Tre Cool drum challenges this game is not worth a $60 purchase.
With that said, I would still recommend this as a rental if you are a Green Day fan and especially if you have friends who are fans so this way you can rock out together (at least on Dookie). Otherwise, this is just a reminder of how much these once anti-establishment icons have sold out.
Originally Published: June 7, 2010, on NationalLampoon.com, Lundberg.me, and SportsRev.TV
This week I review Joker’s Asylum II: The Riddler and Red Dead Redemption. My hot chick pick of the week this week is Brittany Fuchs.
Originally Published: May 28, 2010, on Examiner.com, PlayerAffinity.com, and ESPNNewYork.com
I still reminisce every now and then about the glorious springs of my youth when baseball season would start and once our local organized little leagues were finished, my friends and I would head down to the park and play stick ball on abandoned tennis courts, wiffle ball on side streets, or home run derby on empty diamonds. Something that’s going to make me reminisce a little bit more about those days is the latest entry into the Backyard Sports series, Backyard Sports: Sandlot Sluggers.
Before reading my full review of the game, be sure to check out my interview with the producer of Sandlot Sluggers, Roland Lesterlin.
The first thing you notice about Sandlot Sluggers is how great looking this game is, especially for the Xbox 360. The graphics are bright and colorful and the cut scenes for the story mode (more on that in a second) are done in stylized outlines and shadows that give it a unique and pleasing visual presence. There are a couple of glitches when you’re playing sometimes, but other than that the game is just plain pretty.
The audio is also very solid and rounds out the peripherals nicely. With cute commentary from the local old men who serve as the announcers for your games to the simple menu instrumentals, the game isn’t an audio revolution, but it works and is probably what you would expect from a game geared more towards teaching kids about sports and sportsmanship.
The biggest improvement to the series though comes with the brand new story mode (told you I’d get to it) that helps to deviate this game from your normal baseball sim. Playing the role of the new kid after fully customizing your look from the color of your glove to your head shape, it is up to you to unite the local kids into a team of superstars to take down Jimmy Knuckles and his squad of bullies who have pummeled all other teams into submission. Only by beating the teams of the eight other good kids can you recruit them onto your squad and gain access to Knuckles’ diamond behind the local school. Coupled with mini-games after every couple of victories to improve your squad’s equipment, the story mode is a great way to give life to the characters as well as to teach your little one the ins and outs of the game of baseball.
The gameplay is solid baseball action mixed in with the classic power-ups and special abilities you’ve come to expect from the Backyard Sports series. From booger balls that cover the screen and make it impossible to see the ball to icicle bats that freeze the first fielder to touch the ball, the new power-ups add a great element of randomness and a true sense of “it ain’t over till it’s over” to the game. And they might just help mom or dad keep them even with their little slugger.
Each field you play in also has its own unique qualities that add to the gameplay. From Pablo’s dog grabbing balls that go near his doghouse for ground rule doubles to balls bouncing into the playground’s sandbox for automatic triples, the field you play in adds to the unique strategies that can come into play.
There were a couple of negatives I saw to the gameplay as well though. The most obvious negative is the fact that a run doesn’t count if the final out is made on the base paths. The baseball rule is that if the run scores before the third out, the run counts. It was very irritating to get into rundowns trying to stretch a single into a double and then find out that the runner from third crossed home, but it never counted because I made the third out.
Speaking of running blunders, another glitch that drove me nuts was if I got caught stealing for the third out of an inning, the batter at the plate would be skipped over instead of leading off the next inning. This glitch baffled me and really made me think twice about when and whom I would run with. These glitches took away from the experience some and made me a little hesitant when it came to showing little kids this as a tool to teach them about baseball.
Another positive for the game though is the replay value. Along with the story mode, there are your typical season and playoff modes to continue taking on the local teams, and access to the mini-games including a baseball themed version of hot potato and a Simon-esque game of throwing the right pitch when it is called for. This should keep your little one popping this game back into their system for a while.
For what it is, Backyard Sports: Sandlot Sluggers is probably the best game yet released by the folks behind the Backyard Sports franchise. It probably won’t hold the attention of an older and more hardcore baseball fan for very long, but is perfect as an introduction into baseball and baseball video games for younger kids and for parents to relate to their children. Include simpler one-button modes for even younger kids and this game will definitely appeal to every pre-pubescent little leaguer out there.
Backyard Sports: Sandlot Sluggers is available now for Xbox 360, Nintendo Wii, and Nintendo DS.
Ratings are based on a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being the best.
Graphics: 9.0: Bright colors, stylized graphics for cut scenes, and a minimal of glitches make this a beautiful looking game for kids.
Audio: 7.5: Nothing groundbreaking in the audio department, but nothing sub-par either. The announcers end up repeating themselves like in every other sport game ever, but aside from that the audio is solid.
Plot/Plot Development: 7.5: Predictable, but perfect for children as the story mode touts lessons of teamwork and understanding. Jimmy Knuckles never saw it coming.
Gameplay: 7.0: Good for the most part, but running glitches will really take away from the baseball experience for people who really know the game. The power-ups and unique stadiums though help to cover up some of those shortcomings with the unpredictability they inject into the game.
Replay Value: 8.0: Average replay value for a sports game gets bumped up due to the inclusion of a story mode. Coupled with mini-games and a season and playoffs mode and this game will keep your youngster entertained for a while.
Overall (not an average): 8.0: Due to some glitches and a lack of true mass appeal, I can’t give this game a perfect score, but for what it is and the audience it is targeted at, Backyard Sports: Sandlot Sluggers is a sure fire home run. Your little ones will love the characters and swinging for the fences in this family friendly baseball sim.
-Ray Carsillo
Originally Published: May 25, 2010, on Lundberg.me, NationalLampoon.com, and SportsRev.TV
This week I reviewed Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands and Batman/Superman #72 from DC Comics. My hot chick pick of the week is Nilanti Narain.
Originally Published: May 20, 2010, on Lundberg.me, Examiner.com, ESPNNewYork.com, and PlayerAffinity.com
Note: This review was done with the Xbox 360 version. The Xbox 360, PS3, and PC versions are very different from the Wii, PSP, and DS versions.
The Prince of Persia series of the last generation of consoles was one of the most successful and critically acclaimed series to come out during its era and so it was no surprise that Ubisoft would want to somehow continue it on the current generation of consoles. The problem was that there was really no room to continue the story after it was so perfectly tied together with its final chapter. The solution? An interquel! Thus, we have the Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands.
Naturally, the only place to expand on the trilogy would be in the seven year gap between the first chapter in the trilogy, The Sands of Time, and the second chapter, The Warrior Within, since the third chapter, The Two Thrones, took place immediately after Warrior Within and left no room for expansion (unless they wanted to go more in-depth about the Prince and Kaileena’s relationship on that boat of theirs& probably not a lot of gameplay there, but it might’ve provided for some interesting mini-games). In order to leave more room for later expansion and maybe the return of the Warrior Within’s nemesis, the Dahaka, Forgotten Sands takes place immediately after Sands of Time.
Now that we’ve banged out the timeline continuity, let’s get into the actual story. Our young hero, still not nearly as jaded as we would find him to be in Warrior Within, is sent by his father immediately after the events of Sands of Time to meet his brother, Malik, in the hopes that some of his leadership skills would rub off on our young prince. Upon arriving in his brother’s kingdom, the Prince finds Malik’s capital under siege and immediately puts to use his infamous agility as he begins to scour the city for his brother.
Once he catches up to Malik, the Prince finds that Malik is so desperate to win the battle, knowing that his forces have been nearly wiped out, that in a last ditch effort before retreat, Malik reveals to the Prince an ancient seal he has inherited. This seal supposedly will unlock the gates to a mystical sand army that the once great King Solomon had control over. Malik figures if he could control the army, he could turn the tide of war. It wouldn’t be much of a game though if Malik’s plan came to fruition.
As soon as the seal is inserted, it snaps in two as sand begins pouring out into the treasure room of Malik’s palace. The Prince, once again played by Yuri Lowenthal, quips that it always seems to be sand as only he and Malik are saved from the gruesome fate of being turned into sand statues by the remaining magic in the two halves of the seal. The Prince must now find a way to re-imprison the sand army that is running havoc around Malik’s city while discovering the secrets of King Solomon’s ancient city.
If you are a fan of the Prince of Persia trilogy from the last generation of consoles, then you will absolutely love Forgotten Sands. The Prince flows just as smoothly as ever as he uses his infamous agility to still hop along walls, columns, and flagpoles with as much as grace as in any previous game in the trilogy. There have also been new fighting mechanics added to the game as the Prince now uses not only his entire body and environment as a weapon with his typical jump kicks and acrobatic swinging sword somersaults, but several new powers that he acquires over the course of the game.
There is still the classic rewinding of time introduced way back in Sands of Time, but now there is also the ability to control the elements of wind, water, fire, and earth as the Prince’s new medallion made out of his half of the seal allows him an entire new power set. This new power set also allows for brand new puzzles for the Prince to traverse. Abilities like being able to freeze and unfreeze water has the Prince bouncing back and forth between frozen water ropes and trying to perfectly time when to turn waterfalls into walls and back. Also, being able to reverse time for not only the Prince, but also structures in the environment, creates a whole new challenge in terms of “looking before you leap”.
These new powers also help in the pumped up fights that the modern consoles can handle. There are times now where you are facing entire rooms full of twenty or thirty sand soldiers now, instead of only five or six like in most points in the original trilogy, so being able to call up stone armor or create a whirlwind around the Prince can really help even the odds.
The game also shines in terms of graphics on modern consoles. Never has a Prince of Persia game (even compared to the one that came out in December of 2008) looked so good. From facial expressions to Malik’s collapsing palace, Forgotten Sands is a visual gem. When you throw in a fantastic score and great voice acting from all those involved, including Yuri Lowenthal returning as the voice of the Prince, and this game’s peripherals are top-notch.
Of course, no game is perfect though. Even with all the great gameplay elements of the original trilogy successfully being ported over to this new chapter along with some tremendous additions in terms of puzzle solving, the game still has a couple of faults. Some irritating mid-jump glitches can make the already frustrating traps even more difficult to traverse.
More frustration comes through with the fact that even though the new systems can support more enemies, many of them are just as simple minded as ever and fall like bowling pins as they are knocked over by the agility of a well-trained Prince. The lack of enemy A.I. helps contribute to the fact that the story mode should only be about a 10-hour romp for most experienced players.
Another weak point of the game is that there isn’t much to keep you playing this beyond the short story mode. There isn’t even a hard mode. There is a second mode called “Enemy Tides” that you can unlock after beating the story mode where you try to defeat eight waves of enemies as quickly as possible, but you’ll be so experienced with your powers by the time you finish the game that you should blow through it on your first try with little difficulty. There are some collectibles and the hopes of powering up your Prince more to maybe bring you back for a second playthrough, but this is unlikely.
After having several intense playing sessions with Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands I have to say that if you are a fan of the series, then this is a must pick up. If this is your first foray into this series, I would recommend a rental first, but this is still a game that most every action/adventure gamer should enjoy.
Ratings are based on a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being the best.
Graphics: 10.0: From the smallest grain of sand on the ground to Malik’s collapsing palace, and with spectacular faces and models for all the characters, Prince of Persia: Forgotten Sands is one of the best looking games out there now.
Audio: 10.0: Spot-on SFX, a fantastic score that perfectly sets the mood, and superb voice acting from all those involved, including the return of Yuri Lowenthal as the Prince, and the game is a treat for your ears.
Plot/Plot Development: 9.0: I admit that I was a little hesitant with the fact that the newest Prince of Persia game was going to be an interquel, but the folks at Ubisoft did a really good job tying it into the first game. The only problem I have with it is that I would have liked to have seen a tease of the Dahaka at some point since he is such a major force in the Prince’s life later on.
Gameplay: 8.0: The gameplay is very good and the action is as always tremendous in a Prince game. Unfortunately, poor enemy A.I., some glitches, and only 10 hours of gameplay knocks this down a little.
Replay Value: 4.0: This is where the game really falls flat. The “Enemy Tides” survival mode was a nice idea, and I’m sure there will be a little DLC later on, but no hard mode and a minimal of collectibles in the story mode will keep you from playing this after getting through the story.
Overall (not an average): 8.0: A fantastic game to play through the story once, but unless you are an established fan of the Prince of Persia series you should rent this before full out buying it. Still though, this is at least a must experience for every action/adventure fan out there.
-Ray Carsillo
Originally Published: May 11, 2010, on NationalLampoon.com, Lundberg.me, and SportsRev.TV
This week I reviewed Iron Man 2: The Game, Alan Wake for Xbox 360, and Brightest Day #1. My hot chick pick of the week is UFC Ring Girl, Arianny Celeste.
RayCarsilloWrites.com 