Modern Warfare Extravaganza - Xbox 360

Wow, it's been a while since I wrote a review so here's a big one.

I was house sitting for a week and decided to do something: beat all of the Call of Duty/Modern Warfare games that I hadn't already reviewed. I figured that they were all about seven hours long, but it was still five games. I started off with Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare and then played through them in order. Here we go.

Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare:
I originally played this on the PC shortly after it was released. I was absolutely blown away by it. I had never really played a FPS like it before, it was so fast paced, so exciting, and I absolutely loved the story and characters.

I was hooked on not only the game, but entire series after playing CoD4. I still remember the rush I felt as you have to make the jump from the sinking boat to the helicopter. I still remember thinking "Wow..." at the twist about halfway through the game. And after playing it on Xbox? I still feel that way. I still love the hurried pace of the game, the twists and turns, the overall feel of the game. After playing it on PC I declared it to be my favorite FPS of all times... and after re-playing it on Xbox my opinion has not changed.

Modern Warfare: World at War:
After playing Call of Duty 4 I was somewhat leery of going back to World War 2. It just felt like it had been done to death, that there was no new ground to cover. I had played Call of Duty as well as Medal of Honor and a bunch of other WW2 games. It's not that I didn't like them it's just the market had been flooded with them at the time.

Going into World at War I was still a little skeptical. After the first few levels my opinion had changed. They had breathed new life into the genre. They were always fast paced games, but World at War pushed it that much faster. It didn't quite live up to Call of Duty 4 but it was still probably one of the best World War 2 games I've played.

My only problem with World at War was the difficulty level and grenades. The difficulty seemed ramped up, I seemed to be dying a lot more then I did in the other games and sadly it seems a lot of the deaths were kind of cheap. A lot of those deaths were from grenades that seem to explode the moment you noticed them. I have a feeling that it was because the grenades could be cooked, it adds realism but it also makes it so you die a lot more. Overall though it was an incredibly solid addition to the WW2 FPS genre.

Modern Warfare 2
After playing Call of Duty 4 I had to play Modern Warfare 2. I had to continue the story, I was hooked. The Modern Warfare games get a lot of flack for being "the same game released every year." I can understand this, but frankly, I'm okay with it as well. I haven't played a Modern Warfare game that I felt was anything but really good, if I have to pay $60 a year and get a really fun game with a really great multiplayer I'm okay with that.

While I didn't like Modern Warfare 2 as much as Call of Duty 4 I still think it's an excellent game. Everything was there that made the first one great, and I was finally able to play the multiplayer I had heard so much about. The story kept me interested and I still had that "Wow!" moment a couple of times. There were a few parts in the game that I felt were kind of tedious, playing errand boy while defending the burger joint felt kind of odd, but overall if Call of Duty 4 was an A+ in my book then Modern Warfare 2 was an easy A.

Modern Warfare 3
Every story has to have an end I guess, and ending to the Modern Warfare series was excellent. While I thought that there was some kind of tedious parts to Modern I didn't feel that at all with Modern Warfare 3. It was back to the rushed excitement that I felt with Call of Duty 4. The story was great, the locals were awesome, and this had some amazing missions in it. If they released a game of this caliber every year I would have no problem ponying up the $60 for it. The Modern Warfare series got the send off it deserved with Modern Warfare 3. It was a great game almost on par with Call of Duty 4.

So there it is. My love letter to the Call of Duty/Modern Warfare series since Call of Duty 4. As you may have guessed I enjoyed pretty much every minute of them. I know some people disagree with me but at the end of the day I really don't care. I play video games for enjoyment, for a release, to get away from my everyday life. Sometimes you just want to blow up as much shit as possible and be pulled out of a gulag by a helicopter. (By the way you can read my Black Ops review here ).

Squid.

BioShock - Xbox 360

BioShock is kind of a conundrum to me. Everyone seems to love this game; it currently has a 96 on Metacritic. It is almost universally loved by fans and critics alike. It seemed like a game I should enjoy. A story driven FPS with a very interesting setting? Sign me up!

When I first played the game a year or so ago I was underwhelmed. I didn’t dislike the game, but on the other hand I didn’t really like it either. I never quite got into the game, it was decent enough but I didn’t find it as compelling as everyone else seemed to. The story was good, the setting was good, but I just couldn’t get engrossed in the game. The problem is that I can’t really tell you why. Everything tells me it should be a good game, but I never found it more than just somewhat entertaining.

After beating it the first time I thought it was just me; maybe I just wasn’t in the right mood. I had just beaten Fallout 3 a couple days before, maybe I was kind of burned out on first person shooters the first time I had played it. Maybe I was unfairly comparing the two games… who knows? I just felt like I should give it another chance, another try.

I started it up and for the first couple hours I enjoyed it. I enjoyed the ambiance of the game, I enjoyed the writing, I enjoyed the music… and then the enjoyment just kind of stopped. I still liked all of those things, I still thought they were very good, I just wasn’t enjoying myself. I felt like I was trudging through the game, I wasn’t having fun, I was just playing it to beat it.

And I did. I stuck around long enough to beat the game. I felt the exact same way the second time around. I didn’t think it was a bad game, but I didn’t think it was a good game… but again, I couldn’t tell you why I didn’t enjoy it. I don’t know what it is about BioShock but I just can’t seem to get into it.

I appear to be one of the few who didn’t think that BioShock was an absolutely amazing game, and I don’t understand why. BioShock appears, even to me, to be a very good game… it’s just a very good game that I don’t seem to enjoy.

Squid.

Doom II - Xbox Live Arcade

We all played Doom 2. If you're over the age of about 25 there's a good chance you spent many hours killing demons from hell. The Doom series wasn't the original first person shooter, but it was definitely the game that skyrocketed the series to what it is today. Everyone played Doom. Hell, my dad has beat Doom.

I picked up Doom 2 on XBLA a while back, not really sure what to expect. I hadn't played Doom 2 in quite some time and a lot of computer games from that time have not aged well. Blocky graphics, clunky controls, and you know how in modern games you can aim up and down? Not in Doom 2, bitches. I was very curious to see how a game like that would transfer over to the 360.

The answer? Incredibly well. Shockingly well. The last time I played Doom 2 the one major complaint I had with it was the control scheme. These were the days before WASD, you had to use the arrow keys. As odd as it seems this is incredibly awkward, especially after years of using WASD, but with the controller this is a thing of the past. The controls are great, I couldn't have asked for a better control scheme.

You know what else I found out? Doom 2 is still very fun. The later levels somewhat dragged on a bit, but overall Doom 2 is still a blast. It's nice to go back to a time in FPS games where there was a paper thin plot but a shitload of bad guys for you to kill. That's what Doom 2 is. A game where you can turn your brain off and just kill as many of hell's minions as possible.

If you haven't played Doom 2 before I want to welcome you out from that rock you've been been living under (I'll also accept the excuse of being too young), but you know what? With the great port we have of Doom 2 for XBLA there is absolutely no excuse for not having playing this game. Go out and buy it, it's well worth the 800MS points.

Squid.

Fallout: New Vegas - Xbox 360

I rank Fallout 3 as one of my favorite games of all time. Single player wise it's probably the game that I've spent the most time on. I absolutely love it. When I heard there was a new Fallout game coming out I was excited like a fat kid in a candy store. I didn't want to wait, I wanted it now. I didn't care that it wasn't Bethesda making it, I just wanted more Fallout goodness.

Then there was what felt like an eternity of waiting. Seeing screenshots, teaser videos, magazine previews, all for a game that I wanted oh so badly. I soaked it up like a sponge, every time they gave up a morsel of information I ate it up. I don't remember the last time I remember being this excited about a game.

For some reason I had it in my head that it was coming out November 27th, I had that day mentally marked on the calendar. I was scrounging together money trying not to make my bank account weep... that's when I learned I was a week off, it was actually coming out November 19th. This is like learning as a kid that Christmas is going to be on the 18th this year. I was pumped, I was getting the game earlier then expected.

Ahhh the intro. The intro to the Fallout games are absolutely phenomenal, Ron Perlman sets the mood for the undertaking you're about to endure. If Fallout 3 was about what happens to the land after the nuclear strike, Fallout: New Vegas is about what happens to the people. You'll be constantly trying to figure out what side you're on, who you'll betray, who you'll fight for and who you will kill. Fallout New Vegas is about choices. Sometimes they're good, sometimes they're bad, and a lot of times they're ambiguous.

One of the things that surprised me the most about Fallout: New Vegas is the decisions. In almost every game I've ever played that gives you a choice you know how it will affect the outcome. The choice is between killing an orphan and her puppy or giving her a new mommy and daddy... you know which one is good, and which one is evil. You know how it will affect you. You don't expect to kill an orphan and puppy and be revered by the people. Every game I've ever played with moral decisions pretty much gives it to you in black and white. Right and wrong, good and bad. Fallout: New Vegas is all gray for the most part. Most of the decisions I made I wasn't really sure how they were going to affect me. I didn't know if I was making a right or wrong decision, but I knew I had to make some decision. Everything was in shades of gray. Sure Caesar was evil, but was the NCR good? Who could I trust? Could I trust anyone? To this day I'm not sure if I made the right decisions. My decisions ended up being good, but could they have been better? Should I have made different decisions along the way? Should I have made different allegiances?

Fallout: New Vegas feels almost exactly like Fallout 3. Same game, different setting. Sure there are definitely some differences, mostly the way certain things are handled and the tone of the game in certain parts, but for the most part it is very similar. If you liked Fallout 3, you will like Fallout: New Vegas. It pretty much feels like a 100+ hour expansion pack.

One thing I would like to talk about is the bugs. From the get go this game has been plagued with bugs... apparently. Honestly I only came across one bug the entire 102 hours I played the game. Occasionally my gun would go all wonky, thinking I was standing up when I was actually crouching, this would cause my gun to show up at the top of my screen instead of the middle. Other then that? I didn't run into one other bug. I know a lot of people did, I however did not. Just sayin'.

Did I enjoy Fallout: New Vegas as much as much as Fallout 3? No. I enjoyed it greatly but Fallout 3 I think is still the better game, from what I can tell this is not the popular opinion. A lot of people I've talked to have actually said they prefer Fallout: New Vegas to Fallout 3. Overall I'm confident that if you like one, you'll like the other.

Fallout: New Vegas is a very good game. Compared to Fallout 3 and in its own right. It kept me gripped for 102 hours and I assume that at some point in time I'll be playing it again with different choices. It is a very good game, and it's one of the first games I've played where the choices are not black and white. Go out and get Fallout: New Vegas, it's definitely worth your time and money.

Squid.

Clive Barker's Jericho - Xbox 360

Woopsie doodle, kind of forgot to review this game when I beat it. Well, here it is:

In my last review for Red Dead Redemption I talked about what makes a good game, not wanting a game to end. Being so engrossed in the story that you just want to keep going. So what's the opposite of that? Pretty much Clive Barker's Jericho. This is a game I wanted to end. A game that I wish would end. How long is the game? I've heard anywhere from five to ten hours. How long did it feel? Like a goddamn eternity.

In case you can't read between the lines, I absolutely hated Clive Barker's Jericho. I paid $7 for it new, and frankly I wish I could have my $7 back.

I remember putting the game in and the first thing I thought was "Oh, this must have been a launch title." The graphics weren't horrible, but occasionally I noticed that the characters limbs looked like they were made out of 2x4s. They were occasionally incredibly blocky... but it's understandable, being released in 2005... wait, this game was released in late 2007? If this game had been released in 2005 I would say it had decent-ish graphic. In 2007? Some of the graphics are absolutely shittacular. Like I said, not all, but some. It's a here and there problem, not an overall problem.

The AI on the other hand? That's an overall problem. My biggest complaint about the game is probably the AI. Little back story before I get into it.

You're a member of a paranormal team in charge of keeping the firstborn in line. What's the firstborn? It's a long story. Basically the antagonist. You're team consists of six members, all who have different paranormal skills. You can switch between each of these members and use their skills to fight various bad guys.

Each one of these skills comes in handy during different battles, also despite the fact that you have enough guns to take on a small army your skills are almost always superior... and that's where the AI problems start.

A lot of times they're using their guns, even if their powers are charged. I don't know how often every single one of my teammates was going full out with their guns... that is when they weren't getting absolutely slaughtered. My teammates were essentially cannon fodder. You can revive your teammates as long as you are alive, and for the most part anytime their was a firefight I spent a good portion trying to revive most if not all of my team. They would just run towards anything shooting them. There are bad guys who blow up after they're dead, several times all of my teammates would die because they would rush these enemies. The AI was absolutely awful. I can't say that enough.

There were so many things wrong with this game. The AI, the graphics, the voice acting, and frustratingly difficult parts, the awful ending, the fact that it's billed as a horror game but really lacked on the whole "horror" part, and I could go on and on... It's just a bad game. I honestly can't think of one redeeming quality. How do you review a game like that?

At the end of the day I beat the game and thought "I hope I never have to play this game again." That's a bad sign for any video game. Clive Barker's Jericho wasn't enjoyable to me, from the start to the end felt like a chore. I don't think I ever really enjoyed it. I played it to beat it, and I didn't really have much if any fun. If they're handing this game out for free I would say skip it, it's not even worth free. Skip it.

Squid.