Just finished up Mass Effect 2

So admittedly I loved the first Mass Effect game on the XBox 360, I really, really wanted to play the sequel that came out earlier this year, however at the time there were lot's of other games, mostly online multiplayer games that were about to come out that I thought would be more worth the $60 since they would have the online aspects.

Well I finally picked the game up a few weeks ago and was casually playing through it, then this last week I really got into the story and the fact that my previous game was imported into this one made it all the better, all my choices were saved, all my decisions had relevance and everything I said or did had a "Mass Effect" on this story as it were.

To be honest I enjoyed this game more then any other game I've ever played, the epic proportions to story telling and the characters and character development were tremendous!

There is about fifty hours of gameplay, without Down Load content and there might be a little bit more then that if you want to do all the little side missions and quests.

I truly love what Bioware has been able to do and this is more of the same, but taken to a whole new level. I enjoyed the interaction with the people, crew and even the quests were well done and actually fun. I am a person who hates level grinding, which is why I prefer the Western style RPG's.

I wont give away any of the story but it picks up where the first Mass Effect left off, the story itself is much better then 95% of the stuff coming out of Hollywood right now.

The boss battle was epic and there were surprises even after that. I already want to go and do the whole game again, not only to get the gamerscore for beating the game again, but I also want to get the other ending. I beat the game, but sadly three of my crew died. I'd like to try to get all of them through the battle the next time.

Anyway, Mass Effect 2 is my Game Of The Year without a doubt, the most complete game I've ever played.

Check it out if you haven't yet. You can get it new for like $17.99 right now.

A++ all the way. Take my word for it.

Call Of Duty Black Ops Review

Call Of Duty Black Ops is an interesting game in the storied Call Of Duty Franchise. I must admit I was disheartened with Call Of Duty Modern Warfare 2 last year, I went to the midnight launch at Gamestop and played the game and I enjoyed it for all of two days, then I got hit with people duel wielding model 1880 shotguns from across the map, super tact knifed by people holding the care package smoke and it got worse as the day's and week's went on.

I wasn't sure what to expect from Black Ops, I tried not to get my hopes up, after all Treyarch was making Black Ops as opposed to Infinity Ward, who made Call Of Duty 2, COD4 and MW2. Treyarch made COD3 and COD WaW. Now I enjoyed WaW a bit, so I was hoping it would be somewhere between COD4 and WaW.

The campaign in Black ops is solid, I really enjoyed it, short as it was I still found it really fast paced and to the point, it wasn't drawn out or anything like some games try to make their campaigns. You play as different people throughout history, mostly Cold War Era, though a WWII map comes at you with a familiar face or two.

After you beat the campaign you unlock the Zombie mode, which was a fan favorite in WaW, it's still a fun secondary game mode, it gives you more bang for your buck. Also there is a little easter egg in the title screen, if you toggle the left and right bumpers you get up from the chair and you can walk over to the computer screen and type in DOA and play a arcade style zombie shooter, it's a lot like the Indie game I M4d3 a g4m3 w1th z0mbi3s in it. It's quite fun, there are also other things you can input, like Zork and a few others you can look up on the internet.

The real meat and potatoes on Black Ops is of course the online mutiplayer. The thing I noticed right away was no Stopping Power perk, which at first I wasn't too sure about, now I've grown to like this. You see such a variety of guns being used now, unlike MW2 or COD4 or even WaW, where it was all MP40's all the time.

The other thing I really like about Black Ops is the fact that their is no "Game ending" Killstreak, also Killstreaks don't count towards other higher killstreaks. I've played around forty online matches and nobody on the other team has gotten past a 5 killstreak on us. The camping that made MW2 horrid is nowhere to be found here.

Shotguns are back to being a primary weapon instead of a secondary, which is how it should be. while there is some pistols you can duel wield , it isn't nearly as overpowering as in MW2. The maps are tight, most just the right size, there are some that have corners that are easy to camp, but it's rare to actually find people camping thus far in Black Ops.

Teamwork is needed more so in Black Ops as well, a solid team that communicates well will do much better then a group of highly skilled team that lacks communication. Also I must admit I love the credit and wager system, It's nice that you can just purchase sights and attachments to the guns you love without having to do a million different challenges with said weapon. Custom logo's and cards are also a nice touch, I've never seen so many dirty pictures in my life.

Now on to the bad parts of Black Ops. The only complaints I have are the lobby system, I'm not sure about other versions of the game, but on the Xbox 360 it can take upwards of thirty minutes to find a match, I hear Treyarch is already working on a patch for this though. To be fair there are over 3 million people on Black Ops at a time on 360 and this could be some of the issue.

Also, when we are able to find matches the other team backs out halfway through the game and for some reason, even with all the people on the game, no new people come into the lobby, so unless we get into a lobby just by ourselves, nobody else will ever join, you'll just sit there and wait until you back out and try again.

The lag is the other thing that I have a problem with, it's not "host lag" it's game lag, WaW had this issue as well, for some reason no matter the host or connection there is lag, it's very frustrating to say the least. This is another thing treyarch is supposed to be patching "soon"

I held off on a review for a few day's because I feel you cant accurately judge a game with just a hour or so of game time, now I have around six hours of multiplayer time and I've beat the campaign and played zombie mode. I feel now I can honestly say it's a unique Call Of Duty and it's a lot of fun when you actually get the chance to play in a room. When Treyarch fixes the issues, it'll be the best or one of the best in the series.

For now I give Black Ops 4.5 T-Bags out of 5.

My Kinect Review

Let me start by saying that I decided to get Kinect as I watched this past E3. I was impressed, I knew right away it probably wouldn't be something a clan can get behind, but as a gamer I saw the possibilities and I was pretty excited for this. I wasn't sure how it would work, it's pretty futuristic, I mean voice commands are nothing new, but what is new is the fact that these voice commands actually work. The sensor itself is rather small, they sell stands that lock them to the top of your television or stands that sit on the floor like a tripod, what's cool about Kinect is, it doesn't have to be right in front of your television to work.

I'll start with the positives. The sensor is extremely accurate, if you have enough room, around six feet from the sensor it's pinpoint accurate, if you have less room, it's still accurate but not pinpoint. It has facial recognition, which blew me away, I was playing it with Hellhammer and when he jumps in for his turn it automatically recognizes him and changes the avatar over to his, same with when it's my turn.

The games look good, colorful and are a lot of fun! Try it and you'll want one. Hellhammer was skeptical as well, but he was having a blast in no time, you totally forget your making an ass out of yourself and just have fun. That's why I got it. Above all else I'm a gamer, I was gaming on the Atari back in the day and I've been gaming since before internet enabled gameplay, so I just enjoy gaming for fun. This is a lot of fun.

The games can give you a good workout, it's so fun though that you don't even realize it until the next day when your arms and legs are a bit sore from gaming. The variety is a big plus as well, right now there is a wide array of different games to choose with more "Core" titles due next year, I knew that Dance Central was going to be a big hit, though it's not my thing, I can see why it's so popular.

The Kinect sensor has motors on it, so it tracks you, the sensor itself moves up and down and left to right.

Every Kinect game is online. I love the Wii, but to me a huge failure on the Wii is the lack of quality online, Microsoft made the online more of a social thing, you can disable voice chat and it matches you up against someone, so it's just fun, no trash talking, no B.S.

The games are cheaper then standard games, $49 is pretty fair, there is a lot of content and gamerscore to be had. I'm excited to see when some titles come available used.

Even though it's controller free, there are already some add on's.

Though the boat add on doesn't interest me, I'd love to see a Light saber add on down the road, maybe for that Star Wars Kinect game that is due out next year.

As for the negatives, I'd really say the price to some people $149 is a bit negative, but when you consider you need nothing else and it's capable to do multiplayer right out of the box and it comes with a game (Kinect Adventures) it's worth it. The best deal for Kinect would be to get the 360s Arcade bundled with Kinect for $299, you save $50 that way. That would be best for those new to the 360 and wanting to try Kinect.

If you have an older Xbox 360 you need to use a separate power cable that comes with Kinect as well as a USB cable that also comes with it, if you have a 360s, it hooks up into a USB hub in the new 360 and thats all you need, so it's very little to set up.

I'd also say if your strictly a "Core" or online shooter person you probably wont find much use for Kinect, though being able to use voice commands on the dash and control media this way is pretty nice on it's own.

If you get the chance though, try it. It's a lot of fun, you'll lose yourself just having a good time gaming, which is what it's all about right?

I'll give it 5 T-Bags out of 5. I wasn't prepared for it to work as well as it actually does, it's impressive to say the least.

I admit it, I'm a Xbox 360 fanboy

I guess it happened gradually over time. I really did try to be objective. In the past I've always enjoyed multiple gaming consoles, then again in the past I was able to actually have fun with the games themselves.
I recently bought the new Xbox 360 slim and I fell in love with it instantly, it's so small, quiet and efficient. I also paid for Kinect in full, which comes out November 4th, 2010. It was something I got more for myself then for clan gaming applications. Also I pre ordered Call Of Duty Black Ops. Now while that is a multi-platform game, I have started to consider those as 360 games. My reasoning is they are meant to run on the superior Xbox Live, more people buy multi-platform games on 360. I mean by a rather large margin, now there are a few exceptions, but games with online components always sell better on 360.
I also recently found myself buying up every and any 360 exclusive title, I didn't realize the sheer amount of quality games, Rare has mad some very enjoyable games for the Xbox 360 over the last few years. I also just bought all of the Halo games, so now I own Halo CE, Halo 2, Halo 3, Halo ODST, Halo Wars and recently at launch Halo Reach. I admit it, I'm a Halo fanboy as well. I enjoy the customization, community and game modes.
I was informed of an interesting fact the other day, Doom 1 on XBox Live arcade has more online users then the Playstation 3 title Killzone 2. A game from the 1990's has more players then the most hyped game of last year. That in itself is the problem I've found myself having with Sony and the PS3. There exclusive titles and even the Multi-platform games don't have a lasting community. I like competition, not running into the same people over and over again. It's like there are more people on Halo Reach at a time then all of PSN.
Rather then turning this into flame bait, I'll just say it's a lot of little things that made me such a fanboy of Microsoft and their console. Rather then hate because they are a quality company like so many seem to do. I realize the quality of the products they offer and they tend to cater more towards the American market, which makes me like them all the more. I used to use my PS3 to stream movies or play Blu Ray, but since I got my new slim I totally unhooked my PS3, using the HDMI cable on the slim and stream movies, Netflix right to my new 360. It has so many applications I cant help but use it everyday.
One of the biggest and best features I loved about XBox Live was the voice chat and Party chat, well with the new Dashboard update they improved the voice codecs and system even more! I am in the beta for it and the new voice chat sounds better then phone quality, better then Skype, it's simply amazing.
To me XBox Live is worth every red cent they get, people aren't stupid they know value and quality when they see it. PSN stopped being fun for me a long time ago, I guess I slowly started leaning more and more towards the 360, even though I tried not to be biased. I don't think I'm one of the crazy, hardcore fanboys, I just prefer the 360, the games on it, the communities, the competition and the little extra's.
To each their own, but in a way this is me coming clean finally about my love for the Microsoft brand.
Good day to you.

Halo Reach Blog Review!

The biggest game of 2010 was released recently. Halo Reach! This Xbox 360 exclusive is the 4th release in the huge flagship series on the Microsoft consoles. The original Halo was the first "Killer App" on the original Xbox console. Bringing the FPS genre to the forefront in a way it had never really been done before. Usually FPS games were only on P.C. Halo changed all of that.

I must admit that I wasn't really a FPS fan, though I did enjoy the original Halo and Halo 2 even more then the first. Online was a different story, I was used to 3rd person shooters and the look and feel of an FPS was a bit challenging at first. I enjoyed Halo 3, mostly the custom games and the campaign was amazing. Reach however wasn't a sequel but rather a prequel.

Prequels are all the rage these days, it seems people like to start there stories out at the midway point instead of the beginning! (Thanks George Lucas!) Anyway, I wasn't sure what to expect from Reach, I knew the online multiplayer would be tight and it certainly is, I'll get to that a bit more in a minute. Where Reach really shines is the campaign.

The story is set on the doomed planet of Reach, those in the know, know exactly what's about to go down and it isn't going to be pretty. The voice acting and cut scenes are some of the best I've ever seen in a video game. You actually care about your teammates and that's something long missing from the Halo series. There are new weapons and new vehicles and a bigger emphasis on squad based combat. The battles are plentiful and the sheer amount of enemies on the screen at the same time is impressive. Bungie went and wrote a whole new engine for Halo Reach, went back to the basics and it shows. The models look better then ever, especially the Elites and the Grunts. Elites are once again menacing and tough to bring down. There are eleven levels in the campaign and my favorite was the space combat levels, they are well done and amazing to look at and take part in. It is slightly like the space combat from Star Wars Battlefront 2, but done on a much grander scale and with the graphics amped up to level ten.

One of the best things about Halo has always been the Co-Op campaign option and so that's what I jumped in with, 4 player online Co-Op. I'm surprised more games don't offer this, I'm happy to see newer games are starting to step up and offer something Halo has been doing for years and years now. Myself, Icecreamman, Hellhammer and Striker jumped into the Reach campaign on Legendary and had an absolute blast! it's the best campaign in the Halo series and you'll need your teammates every step of the way. I wont spoil the plot or anything, but this is what gaming is all about, playing through some games with your buddies in a Xbox live party chat. It just doesn't get any better then that. The campaign we beat over a two day period and probably took us about 10 hours to complete, keep in mind that was on Legendary. I will say, stick around until after the ending credits for a little playable Easter Egg.

Now on to the multiplayer. There are so many options here it's unbelievable! seventeen multiplayer maps, including the new "Firefight" mode. New weapons like the grenade launcher, plasma launcher and more. The Needler is back and is once again effective. They have done away with duel wielding weapons. They give you class based options now as well. You can choose to have either Sprint, Jetpack, Hologram, cloak with scrambler. I really enjoy Sprint, it makes it more like some other FPS games, but it's sprint on a limited basis, so it's more realistic then even on Call OF Duty.

You can totally customize your character and spend Credits you earn from completing challenges and getting kills and finishing maps. You can rank up as well. You can even purchase firefight mode voices. Everything is totally customizable. The new game modes are a lot of fun, I enjoy Swat. Which is pretty much a "hardcore" mode. If you get a headshot, the other player dies instantly. Simply put, it's a game mode with no shields and no frags. In a lot of ways, this is more realistic then Call Of Duty as well. There is enough content to keep you busy for years and years to come.

This in my opinion is the best Halo game to come out. It's the most complete both online and offline. The party system is redone and is really working well. The servers are supporting well over one million players at the same time! Halo Reach has already broken records for sales, over two hundred Million in sales day one! It's the flagship series at it's best. If you like FPS games or if you've casually enjoyed any of the Halo games then this is the game you've been waiting for.
It get's five fucking T-Bags out of five.

The lone negative thing I can say isn't really even negative. I will say this game takes skill and there is a learning curve. If you are expecting to hop on the game like you can on a Call Of Duty game and go positive and make an impact for your team you might be a bit disappointed. This is a skill game, finesse and strategy. Thats what I enjoy about it. You might not. This is a must have for any and all XBox 360 owners though.

*5* out of *5*
--Crapgamer

Woe to all ye trash talkers

This blog was brought to you by ICM's generosity.

Well I was playing Modern Warfare 2 last night, as usual, when suddenly I am being trash talked, as usual. This just flat out gets me that half the people that play online games do it while trying to insult others. Sure it doesn't ever get under my skin, I can always yell back "TOGGLE MUTE!" (Clan joke). Regardless, I just don't understand the logic of both the insulters and the insulted.

For instance, I'll be playing maybe search and destroy. I completely wreck the other team with a sniper rifle, only to be greeted with "Hard-scoping NooB!", "Wow thermal!", ect. For one, I don't understand whats so bad about using a sniper rifle as intended. I'd feel bad for the kid's family when he goes off into the marines as a sniper going, "LOL watch dis guys, Imma quick scope him in the face." Followed by him breaking an arm, giving off his position, and dieing. Thermal scopes on the other hand, it's in the game, go complain to Infinity Ward.

The comment on thermal brings me to another point, I have literally heard someone say, "Wow red dot sight!" after dieing. Is it really that bad to die from me that you have to find SOMETHING wrong with my weapons? I'll never understand it. Also, what is the deal with lately half the guns in the game being called a noob weapon following the name caller's own demise from that said weapon? The whole game is noob, more so the people who die a lot in it.

Now I also tend to get the complete trash talkers who comment on things outside of the game. My all time favorite is being called a 30 year old virgin who lives in my mom's basement by some Alvin and the Chipmunks' new cast member. Its funny for several reasons:
1. I live in Florida, ah how basements and flooding don't mix.
2. I'm not even 30 and would love to still be gaming at 30.
3. The people saying this couldn't even walk into a game store browsing Modern Warfare 2 before a clerk tells him to get his parent.

There is also the infamous mother jokes, but we will just skip those and move onto the get a job and or life insults. For one, I have never ever ever ever ever understood the insult, "Get a life." Perhaps a better insult would be, "Get some recreational activities and or hobbies besides playing the game." That wouldn't sound as cool would it!? I also like the get a job one, seeing as I am paying for my own Live, bought my own Xbox and Modern Warfare 2. Yet the kids telling me this most likely couldn't even get hired as bag boy at their local Publix.

Lastly, lets discuss the different comebacks and ways to combat trash talking. In all my time I have seen all too many people get terribly upset about insults. The #1 way to combat these still remains to ignore the trash talkers, yet most feed them. Every once in a while I'll insult them back and make this whole block look hypocritical. Though I never use the above methods of trash talk and tend to just tell them to "GTFO." Just laugh with them if you can't ignore it, try to understand their ways of thinking, or just get completely pissed and threaten to fly to their state and settle it. Whatever works for you!

All in all I just find it funny and sad that the Modern Warfare community is like this, I'm sure many other games are too. What kind of world have we come to that small children go around insulting people twice their age or near it with little to no consequences. Perhaps that leads to a bigger question, where is the parents?

Cant win them all

So last night we did a GameBattles match on the Xbox 360 for Modern Warfare 2 and we lost. Sometimes when this happens I often feel like I have to put on my cheerleading face and tell people it's not as dire as it seems, it's only a loss and nobody can win them all. When you put up match finders you never know who will accept them and with all the hacks and glitches going on now, you never know if you do lose, if it's even a legitimate loss.

I guess coming from a game like Star Wars Battlefront 2, which was such a small community, maybe eight hundred to one thousand players all time and probably less then seventy five clans all time you get a little spoiled. We lost all of one times on that game. If you look at Gamebattles teams, rarely do you actually see a "Clan" like on Star Wars Battlefront. Usually it's just players teaming up trying to be perfect and disbanding after a loss. We never disband and I guess don't care as much about losing with so much competition, it'd be foolish to think you could win all your matches all of the time.

It always mystified me when a team would have hundreds of wins in a season on GameBattles, then lose one or two matches, then disband. Where is the logic behind this? I know competition on the Xbox 360 can be ferocious but some people tend to take it too seriously. Losses come with the territory. I remember a season on COD4 where we lost every single GB in a season. Granted it was only like eight or ten that season, but still. You don't pack it in and you don't give up.

There are even some clans that came out of Star Wars Battlefront 2 afraid to move on because they will probably lose some matches and don't want to ruin the mystique. There is no such thing as perfection, there is always someone better and there is always a bigger fish so to speak.
Game for fun, game for whatever reason you want, but the minute you start to take it too seriously or a loss is something you lose sleep over, then gaming probably isn't for you. Personally I can get very competitive and I want to win, but I don't sweat a loss.

I guess what I'm saying is losing comes with any competition, you cant win them all and just because you cant and wont win them all, doesn't mean you shouldn't compete. Try your best and see what happens. Just don't take it too hard on the chin if you get knocked down, cause it's always more important how many times you get back up.