Posted in: Game Reviews by Michael Durr on March 6th, 2009
There haven’t been many compilation discs out for the 360 yet. There were the Orange Box and a few Xbox Live Arcade compilation discs. There was also Namco Museum Virtual Arcade which despite the plethora of titles wasn’t much more than a bunch of Xbox Live Arcade games and some retro titles thrown in for the nostalgia factor. Most of us retro purists were waiting for a compilation title that put together not only classic games but blended it with the new technology into an invigorating harmony. Our time has come in the form of Sonic’s Ultimate Genesis Collection. There are forty plus games from the Sega Genesis and a sprinkling of Arcade & Sega Master games with HD technology and Achievements. We are pleased.
Since most of these games were made in the late eighties to the early nineties, most of us would not expect for these games to stand out graphically. However, Backbone Entertainment has gone to the trouble to recreate every game in 16:9 quality. This does wonders for some games like the Sonics and the Streets of Rage series. However, in a few of the older games like Bonanza Bros or Gain Ground, the stretching is more evident and the quality doesn’t feel as strong. There is also the option to play these games in their original ratio and have a static background behind it.
Posted in: Game Reviews by Michael Durr on November 24th, 2008
The original Fallout 3 was held in the firm hands of Interplay Entertainment under the working title of Van Buren. Developed by Black Isle Studios, that title never saw the light of the day when Interplay Entertainment went bankrupt and laid off the entire PC development team in late 2003. In 2007, Interplay sold the rights to the Fallout franchise to Bethesda who had developed the popular Elder Scrolls series. Bethesda scrapped the original code and worked on the project from scratch. It paid homage to many Fallout concepts and Fallout 3 saw gold in 2008. It was a long five years between the layoff of the original creators and the company who ultimately got the right to release the game. Was it worth the wait?
Graphics
The first thing that might strike you in the graphics department when you play Fallout 3 is that one never realized there are so many different shades of bleak. Shades of grey, black, brown & white are very prevalent here. But the good news is that the graphics are extremely detailed. People are easily seen and the darkness can sometimes be your best friend. The animation on a clean head shot and having the head roll down the hallway is one of the most satisfying pieces of graphic footage I’ve seen in a long time. My only real complaint is that once you get into the vast wasteland, the graphics while great tend to blend together into one continuous rock quarry.
Posted in: Game Reviews by Michael Durr on November 14th, 2008
In 2004, the world received a top notch role playing game in the form of the original Fable for first Xbox console. It promised a lot of things, ideas and concepts that were sure to revolutionize the gaming world. The crew at Lionhead studios delivered on most of those promises and the game went well over double platinum. Among many things it promised, one of these was a true concept of good and evil. Every action has a reaction whether positive or negative. It was this concept and others that were expanded when it came to the making of Fable II. The game is dubbed by its designer Peter Molyneux as a game that even non-gamers should be able to enjoy. To be honest, he doesn’t even want traditional game reviewers to review the game. Lucky for him, tradition and me broke ties a long time ago.
Graphics
The original Fable was a beautiful game only held back by the power of the console. For Fable II, the graphics are improved dramatically from the beautiful towns to the countryside to the little characters like you and me. For those who downloaded Fable II Pub Games or stayed close to the Fable web site were introduced to dozens upon dozens of breath taking art. Of course, other companies had done this only to see none of it make the final product. I’m happy to report that these shots and more found its way into the final product and it really shows the attention to detail that the artists and designers took in constructing the look of this game. This is really some of the best graphics I have seen in a game, period. The only minor complaint I have is that the subtitles for the game are a bit small.
Posted in: Game Reviews by Michael Durr on September 29th, 2008
The Dark Knight movie did big business this year and most people were quite surprised there was no official video game for the movie. Anybody who was looking for a Batman fix after the movie either paid $8 to see the movie again or tried to re-enact scenes with their best friends in their basement. However, there was a little relief to be had. The wonderful teams behind Lego Star Wars and Lego Indiana Jones decided to go to market with a Lego Batman game. But instead of focusing on the recent movies such as Batman Begins & The Dark Knight they moved their focus to the past. Their inspiration seemed to come from the first 2 Batman films with Michael Keaton and a strong dash of the awesome animated series that ran during the same time period. Would Lego’s humor and strong gameplay succeed or would the jokes go as sour as any thought of Robin in a future Batman movie (especially one with Christian Bale)?
Graphics
If you’ve seen either of the previous Lego-themed games, you kinda know what to expect. Little block pieces in bright and vibrant colors come together to form your favorite Batman hero or villain. The graphics despite the expected kid’s appeal hit very close to home. Everybody on the roster (outside of a few generics) looks good and move in well across the screen. Seeing Joker fight along side Batman or Robin is a hoot (in Free Play mode) to watch. Special attacks like Batarangs or Mr Freeze’s Ice Gun also look equally pleasing. The buildings and basic Lego Build-it’s also look fantastic and fun. Too bad you have to destroy most of them (but at least you will have a blast doing it).
Posted in: Game Reviews by Michael Durr on March 26th, 2008
A cold day in Vegas no more. Hopefully over the short vacation, you have had time to hit the slots, schmooze the local women and even rubbing your barrel a little more than you should. Why you ask? Because Rainbow Six, Vegas style is back. That's right; more taking cover and sneaking around killing terrorists in the land that never sleeps. Apparently the rent on the automatic terrorist prevention machines was a little high and so they have asked for your MTar firing, Flashbang throwing behind to lead the charge once again. Rainbow Six Vegas 2 takes back your 360 and hopefully sends us more than new maps and some spit and polish.
Graphics
I would probably be called a liar if I claimed that the graphics in RSV2 have been upgraded significantly in any fashion. It's still really good and very little difference can be deciphered. There is some improvement in shading and terrorists look more distinct. Guns do look fancier and I did notice an upgrade in blast patterns from various explosive devices. Advertisements also appear of better quality, but as you can tell I'm grasping at straws. One detrimental thing I noticed was that you find yourself shooting at your AI teammates a lot (or nearly) especially if you are taking on the role as Knight, Bishop's teammate in story mode. Human players are usually distinct but the two AI's look like any other terrorist.
Posted in: Game Reviews by Michael Durr on January 2nd, 2008
This coming weekend will be the start of the NFL Playoffs and the end of college football. Most people are drawn to play a football game of some sort at this time. Whether it would be an old classic or the newest Madden title, we feel the need to be close to the action. Some of us just really don't care that the Patriots might end up 19-0 and win the SuperBowl and would rather simulate some other scenario. That's why I chose to bring you a football review at this time of the year rather than the beginning of football year like most other columnists.I also chose a game that people might pass up at first glance. Madden isn't the only game in town (despite that whole license lockup issue) and perhaps there are other games out there with stronger gameplay.
Graphics
I've been playing football games before even the first Madden. (Colecovision babie!). With each new system that I play a football game, things keep getting better. Try going back to any of the first few Maddens on Sega Genesis and you can see the difference immediately. The last football game I played was NFL 2k5 on the PS2. All Pro Football uses a lot of the same elements and looks strikingly similar. The graphics do look more crisp and it makes good use of the new widescreen format. However, it simply hasn't changed much since NFL 2k5 and a lot feels like the same software on a newer console. Another problem is when you are playing as the QB and watching passing routes. Unless you know the routes backwards and forwards, you will sometimes miss which button to push to throw to the appropriate receiver.
Posted in: Game Reviews by Michael Durr on November 26th, 2007
Some of my most enjoyable gaming experiences have been with gaming compilations. "More bang for your buck" is the familiar slogan used to describe these games. Traditionally, these compilations show up late in console's life cycle in order to re-sell old titles that couldn't probably sell on their own. So needless to say the Orange Box surprised me on a couple of fronts. The 360 isn't an ancient or dying system by any means. Furthermore, by combining Half Life 2, the two sequels, Portal and Team Fortress 2 you bring together a package that from initial glance looks to be five great games in one. However, are these five games as vast as one would hope or instead are these five games that should have stayed on the pc to collect dust and be riddled about in debates about the best pc shooter to date?
Graphics
Half Life 2 is a pc first person shooter that was also found on the old Xbox and is backwards compatible with the 360. To be honest, it looked good then as did many Xbox titles that got the upconvert treatment. In bringing this to the 360, the visuals have received an upgrade. It's not perfect but it is very serviceable and on-line with many first person shooters on the Xbox 360. The two sequels get better with every turn and Episode 2 cranking out some impressive visuals to best the group. Portal while featuring similar graphics suffers from giving the player possible headaches due to the 360 degrees of interface. More on this later. Team Fortress 2 rounds out the group with a more cartoony style to its graphics design. TF2 is a case of either love it or hate it, it just so happens that it very much suits the game's overall style.
Posted in: Game Reviews by Michael Durr on November 4th, 2007
Some games take time to gain acceptance. This game started out a fledging curiosity, now the obsession has hit and everybody wants to play air guitar except with the a controller shaped like one. The game is Guitar Hero 3. This is the first installment that has hit every major console at the same time. This also marks the first time where they really pushed the concept of actual guitarists and musicians coming out to help such as Bret Michaels, Slash and the Sex Pistols. Some would describe it as a sell out especially since the team that made the original Guitar Hero was busy making Rock Band and the reins were left to Neversoft. How would they fare; could they possibly mess up what made the first two Guitar Heros so great?
Graphics
As previously said in other Guitar Heros, graphics has never been the game's strong suit. Many of the objects got a face lift and look better. The widescreen display and 1080p resolution is the greatest it has been. Problem is we as Guitar Hero enthusiasts never needed complicated graphics. We wanted notes across a plane and good music. Instead we get a muppet face male lead singer and a complicated star power bar. Actually the star power bar has been turned into some science experiment where you fill up incandescent light tubes when you hit your special notes. This becomes very confusing to followers of the series. Back to the muppet face male lead singer (and I don't mean Bret Michaels when he's singing Talk Dirty to Me). Your main lead singer is downright scary and not in a good way. All of the characters got face lifts but they should have kept them the same way as in the previous 360 Guitar Hero. Simplicity is better.
Posted in: Game Reviews by Michael Durr on October 3rd, 2007
Halo 3, the hype machine; have you drank the kool-aid, errr the Game Fuel yet? In the midst of a media storm and $170 million opening week sales, Halo 3 was released to the public in three different versions. For most people, the regular edition was enough to satisfy. Some like myself opted for the limited edition, which includes a tin and a bonus disc. Others decided they wanted a Master Chief helmet and opted for the legendary. No matter which edition you decided on, you were more interested in the amazing gameplay & multiplayer from the previous incantations. By the time it takes to come down from the caffeine buzz generated by the mixture of code red & live wire (& cough syrup I believe), though, you realize that Halo 3 — while awesome on many fronts — isn't quite the mega-wonder we all had hoped for.
Graphics
Games that present the action in full 1080p are starting to come into focus. Halo 3 is one of those dandy operations that supports this function and provides perhaps the best looking console video game to date. The colors are vivid (especially if you like the color green) and the environments are beautiful. Who would have known that Brutes could look this good? If the scenery goes underground and into the darkness, this is one of the rare games that I did not have a lick of trouble figuring out which way to turn. Even in the most dense jungle, very little distinction is needed to get to the next objective. Gunfire is easy to detect and as long as your shields hold up, you'll be able to see where it is coming from and return it in no time. Halo 3 will sell more 360 systems based on store displays alone (just look at those gorgeous loading screens) than any other game to this point.
Posted in: Game Reviews by Michael Durr on April 8th, 2007
Opening
When I got my XBOX 360 in late November, the only game I was regularly playing on my Playstation 2 was Guitar Hero II. It was still captivating, it held my interest because it was an amazing game. Needless to say when they announced that it would be coming to the 360, I was both excited and a bit perplexed as what to do. I mean it is the same game right? It has updated graphics and sound, and exclusive songs. But it's going to require me to buy another guitar. It has achiev...ments! So you can see the true crossroads I was put at. However, in the end I plunked down the ninety dollars (yes it is that much) for again one of the finest experiences in gaming. I am happy to also mention that the extras or exclusives to the 360 version are appreciated and can only increase in time for us as we move forward.
