DUTY CALLS

Sorry about the time off, but all my free time has been taken up playing Modern Warfare…every night…all night. It’s really an amazing game that can keep my attention for so long...building different loadouts, exploring the maps, killing my friends in thousands of different ways, is endless fun.

The Fast-Stabby Guys and the Double Shotgun Dorks.

I hear countless people complaining about these two loadouts in particular. Yes, it sucks to be killed by these guys, but really, when doesn’t it suck to be killed? Getting gunned down by some dude across the map guns me with a thermal scope? Lame. Getting killed by some butthole pushing me with a riot shield? Lame. Noob-Tubed? Lame. Pretty much every little death I experience is one too many.

But I am not without a gripe.

Hardcore Team Deathmatch is my current game of choice, where one good machine gun burst or one well placed pistol shot equals death. It is an escape from the run and gun, explodey, madness of regular TDM. So why, for the love of god, should the grenade launcher be allowed? It’s the one thing that ruins a really cool, tense, strategic game. The blast radius is so deadly on regular TDM, and it’s fucking waaaay too devastating on HTDM. You can suck really bad and get lots of kills this way.

Awesome game, can’t wait to get back home to play it.

The Flying Head

MISSED YOUR RIDE?

Dude, this game came out two days ago and not one website has a review of it?  What’s the conspiracy here?  I realize that they must not have given anyone an advanced copy (so it must suck) but still, seems like someone must have played all the way through and written something, anything. 

The Flying Head  

IT'S THE MOST WONDERFUL TIME OF THE YEAR

…the time when every game developer of note releases a great game.  Then you and all your friends get said games and never connect online for the next three months because you’re all playing different, great games.  Where was Modern Warfare like, three months ago when everyone on my friends list would have been playing it at the same time, creating a multiplayer, dreamworld?  Alas, this is how it goes.  So many games, so little time.

Heed The Call

Modern Warfare 2 is, of course, awesome.  The single player game was a tad short, and I’m not so sure we needed a level where you get to participate in the mass slaughter of innocents in an airport…but who cares, because the multiplayer experience is off the charts.  At one time, Halo and Bungie set the standard for online multiplayer, but MW2 has jumped pushed it even further.  I’ve encountered almost zero lag, the perk system leaves me salivating for more, and the variety of MP games is astounding.  Hardcore mode?  3^rd Person mode?  These are the kind of features that gamers wish for. 

It Has Been de-Creed

Assassin’s Creed 2 is looking really good after a few hours of play.  LOTS of new features to dive into, a much deeper, richer, experience.  The only foreseeable problem is that I won’t get to play it enough as my relatives will soon be in town for the holidays.

The Flying Head

PS-WHO?

Pick up feather duster, swipe madly at black box by the side of my TV.  Holy crap, it’s a PS3!  Yes, ladies and gentlemen, there is an actual reason to dust of the PS3 and it’s called Uncharted 2.  Never mind that I had to download a system update…then wait for that update to be installed…then wait for my controller to charge since I don’t sit three feet away from the console (what was Sony thinking with that cord?)…Uncharted is a really solid game that kind of exists in a realm all it’s own.  It’s great at giving you that “playing an action movie” feel that many games attempt, but only a chosen few really master.  The weird thing though, is I never play the game for that long.  It’s fun for thirty or forty minutes, then I get kinda bored with re-doing levels and I put it down…which I’m ok with.

Borderlands, back to the trusty 360.  I’m not even sure why I like this game so much, but I have a feeling it’s because I want to see what the next cool weapon will be.  There’s thousands of different weapons to find and I love it.  Straight up addicted to this game.  Love the cell shading, the shades of Fallout…it’s all good.

Dragon Age.  Yeah, don’t have it.  Just not gonna have time.  Too much gamage coming right now.  I hear my “secret” game store is selling COD already.

DJ Hero.  Yeah, I sold out and got it.  I said I wasn’t, but I did.  I’ve been to too many clubs and raves and whatnot to not get it.  I’ve only played it for like twenty minutes (due to my Borderlands addiction) but I like it so far.  Impressed with the song selection and mixes.  I would like to see someone come out with a dual turntable game that could ACTUALLY teach you how to mix while playing the game…seems like a missed opportunity. 

The Flying Head

BRUTALLY AWESOME!

Ahhhhh.  That’s the sound of an original game with a cool concept, great music, and all very well executed.  Brutal Legends takes me back to my childhood where every guy on my street was about three years older than me, and they all listened to bands like Black Sabbath, Kiss, Rush, Styx, and Zeppelin.  (Yes, I’m old).  Those were the days of real rock and roll where people busted out their ghetto blasters on the street, cranked up the volume, and played hoops or Wiffle Ball until our parents shouted for us to come in for dinner.  Not that Brutal Legends has any of these things (except the badass rock, it has that in spades), but it just brings back that feeling…that vibe.  Finally there’s a game that kicks ass and doesn’t suck. 

The Kick Ass:

Jack Blacks voice acting is awesome.  He didn’t phone it in or do it “cause he had to”, it feels really organic to Jack’s rock and roll vibe and his “funny as shit”, humor. 

Soundtrack rules.  Screw that emo crap everyone’s playing these days…there’s plenty of headbanging tunes that will rock your world.

Fighting is inventive and has the power-ups to keep it interesting.

The Deuce.  Cruiing around in this bitchin’ ride is pure fun.  I didn’t do any missions for like 20 minutes, just burned rubber all across the land, hitting Nitro whenever possible. 

Artwork, graphics, menus – all good.

The Bummer

Sissies won’t like this game.

Some of the more famous, kick-ass metal bands aren’t represented on the soundtrack, but I understand.

Overall, it’s one of the best games I’ve played all year and it gets huge props for it’s originality and ability to bring me back to the times in my life when everything rocked. 

The Flying Head

CODE-VIRGINS

Update:

So after a couple of emails back and forth with Codemaster's Customer Service I discovered that the game is not an "open world" as it claims to be (right on the back of their box). If you don't go through the yellow-flaggy-waypoints, it won't save your progress...EVEN IF YOU PASS THE ENTIRE LEVEL. How can you have a game where you can get to a cutscene and your game isn't saved? Sorry to be harping on you Codemasters, but there's nothing "open" about mandatory checkpoints that dictate what path you take in the game.

The Flying Head

Check this link for the breakdown of the unbelievable save system.

OPERATION CHOKE-POINT

UPDATE:

I guess Codemasters don't really live up to their name because they have a big problem with their game saves. I got to the third mission last night after about three hours of play, only to be taken back to a checkpoint on the first mission, when I popped in the game tonight. Dude. Not cool. And how do I know it's ever going to work, even if I re-do all those levels? Mistakes such as these are pure amateur. Guess I'll be waiting for the patch before I play this game again.

The Flying Head