Tuesday, June 24, 2008

Game Review ( Legendary Map Pack - 360 )

These maps came out quite awhile ago, and I planned on waiting until they were free, but after hearing they won't be free ( at least for awhile ) I got them just today.

Avalanche: 4.25/5 Huge map, with man cannons to make it seem less small and help you travel, but - meh. There are vehicles at the spawns on this map, but - it's just not that great. Cool design, but too big, and not the most epic of battles. Avalanche isn't bad, but I thought it'd be a lot better than it actually is.

Black Out: 4.75/5 A remake of the classic Lock Out from Halo 2 - yeah, I bet you didn't know that. Black Out is a great map for Team Slayer as well as Team SWAT. Great map, and is actually better than the original map - wow.

Ghost Town: 4.5/5 A map many people thought would be terrible before the pack came out, but surprised most, including me. Ghost Town is a fantastic map. It's asymmetrical, ( If you don't know what that means get the hell out. ) and it just has a great look to it. It's medium size, and fun to play on. A lot of fun - great for most game modes.

For $10, you get these pretty damn good maps, a 3-month subscription to Bungie Pro ( Meh. If you don't know what that is, it doesn't matter. ) and the ability to finally play Team SWAT whenever you want. I must warn you, though, Team SWAT doesn't play the same was as in Halo 2 - it seems harder... for whatever reason... still, you can't really go wrong. I'd say buy it.

4.5/5

Monday, June 23, 2008

Drink Review ( Mountain Dew:Revolution )

Smell: 4/5 Smells a lot like Baja Blast from Taco Bell - not only smells like it, but... well you'll find out.

Color: 3.75/5 Almost looks like Baja Blast from Taco Bell, too. Really, Baja Blast just is a little more greenish.

Taste: 4.5/5 If you like Baja Blast, you'll way more than likely really love Revolution. Tastes almost identical, especially the aftertaste, but that isn't a bad thing - I think Baja Blast should quit being exclusive to Taco Bell and be sold in cans. Anyway, it's good - better than Super Nova, but not better than Voltage - looks like Voltage will win, and apparently, I'm not the only one that thinks so.

Drink Review ( Mountain Dew:Super Nova )

Smell: 4/5 Meh. Like Voltage, not much to smell... smells like normal Mountain Dew with a little bit of strawberry-melon in it.

Color: 3.75/5 A light pink color. Looks lame... it'd be better if it were a deep pink or neon.

Taste: 4.25/5 Not bad, but not fantastic. People say it tastes like garbage ( the aftertaste especially ) but I don't know what they're drinking. Super Nova is supposed to be strawberry-melon flavored, and it is just that. ( But I can't really taste the melon. ) Quite good, but nothing like Voltage.

Drink Review ( Mountain Dew:Voltage )

Smell: 4/5 Doesn't have that strong of a smell, much like the other "DEWmocracy" Mountain Dews. Faintly smells like the flavor, raspberry, but not much.

Color: 3.75/5 I'll likely give all three a 3.75/5 - all of them are faded colors. Voltage is a faded blue color.

Taste: 5/5 Most importantly, Voltage is very distinctive and probably the best dew of the three. Very strong raspberry flavor, with what almost has a cotton candy after taste or something... either way, definitely the best of the three.

Thursday, June 19, 2008

Game Review ( Rock Band DLC 6/17 - 360 )

I probably won't bother reviewing DLC previous to this, but I'll review what comes out in the future - or try to.

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Hammerhead: 4.25/5 Great song to listen to, not amazing on guitar - actually pretty easy, but difficult on drums. I beat it after a few tries, and it is one unique and fun chart, but it's not spectacular. I'd say it's worth downloading, though.

Rock 'N' Roll Dream: 4.25/5 Only a buck, and it's worth it. Not a hard song by any means on drums or guitar ( Although the second solo is a bit tricky ) but it's well worth purchasing. The drums are an easy 100% on Expert, but just a lot of fun, and it's a great song, too.

Afterlife: 4.5/5 The one with the "impossible solo". Afterlife is quite challenging to the average Expert player on guitar - does that make sense? The solo will give many people fits if they don't know when to use their Overdrive. Most decent Expert players will probably average anywhere between 40-60% on this solo - so you had better have Overdrive. On drums, the quickquickquick double bass isn't troubled, but a lot of it is. Great song.

Critical Acclaim: 4.5/5 I really disliked this song at first, but it's amazing on guitar especially. The song is quite easy to FC if you can get the solo down, which is NOTHING compared to Afterlife's. The drums are also fun. Both A7X songs are worth downloading whether your a guitar or drum player. And, if you play both, it's even more of a better value.

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This weeks DLC gets a 4.5/5

Monday, June 09, 2008

Game Review ( FrontLines: Fuel of War - 360 )

Graphics: 4.75/5 Honestly, amazing. They didn't look too great in the demo for whatever reason, but the in-game graphics and the cutscenes are some of the best on the 360. The most unbelievable part is that there is virtually no lag offline. There are a few hiccups, but it's quite rare. Online though is a bit of a different story. While the game usually runs well, certain rooms and certain maps have some lag issues.

Sound: 4.5/5 Almost up to par with Call of Duty 4, but not quite. The vehicles and explosions sound great, even better than Bad Company.

Control: 4.75/5 The game controls arcade-like in a way, and the helicopters and vehicles for the most part control very well. The on-foot controls may take a bit of time because certain buttons are different than that of Call of Duty 4, but you should get it.

Fun: 4.5/5 The single player to me is probably the best part. The multiplayer is okay, but there are some seriously forgettable maps, not many people play the game online, and there are lag problems. FrontLines should definitely be rented just for the single player experience. And for you achievement whores, the game boasts some moderately easy achievements.

Game Review ( Battlefield: Bad Company DEMO - 360 )

Graphics: 4/5 Look good, very good, actually, but the frame rate just about ruins it. The demo is nearly unplayable, I'll tell you straight up. If the frame rate held up like it probably should, the game would be fantastic looking.

Sound: 4.25/5 Above average - the guns explosions and tanks are all great. Not as good as Call of Duty, but that's hard to stack up to.

Control: 3.75/5 Pretty much turned me off. The on-foot controls are quite simple, the tank controls are a little bizarre and take SOME getting used to, and I frankly think the helicopters are impossible to control. It will take me quite a bit of practice to get the flying down.

Fun: 4/5 This game has potential - the demo is quite fun, there are FSU environments, ( You should know what that means by now... ) and the game has a pretty nice atmosphere. This could give SOCOM: Confrontation a run for its money - some how - when it comes out for the PS3 later this year, but the framerate is ridiculous, and something needs to be done for this game to stand a chance as an elite FPS on the 360.

4/5

Game Review ( NASCAR '09 DEMO - 360 )

Graphics: 4.25/5 The game runs great, the cars and lighting are phenomenal, but the crashes are just lame... there are no flips, no fires, no realistic awesome smashes. The tracks look okay, and everything else is just meh. Not bad for a NASCAR game, though.

Sound: 3.5/5 No music during gameplay, and there are only a few songs on the tracklist. All you really here the whole game is the car accelerating and your pit crew telling you what's up.

Control: 4.5/5 Absolutely worlds better than the virtually NASCAR '08 from last year. You can actually drive with the stock controller - hurrah! Takes some getting used to, but you'll get it.

Fun: 4/5 What can I say, left turn, straight away, left turn... it is what it is - NASCAR, and it will likely appeal only to fans, but I must say, juding by the demo, it'll be a pretty good game.