Game Review (Call of Duty Black Ops "The Maps" - 360)

This is part one of three reviews I will have for Call of Duty Black Ops. Maps being part one, online play being part two, and the campaign being last - maybe I'm doing this in the complete reverse order as many other people would do, but I don't plan on playing the campaign for awhile.

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[*] indicates a bitchin' map.
(S) indicates a small map.
(MS) indicates a medium-small map.
(M) indicates a medium map.
(ML) indicates a medium-large map.
(L) indicated a medium map.

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(L) Array: This is one of four maps on-disc for Black Ops that is snowy. Of the four, I'd say this one's my least favorite, mainly because it doesn't fit my playstyle. Being a big map, it tends to have long, drawn out games on Team Deathmatch, as people seem to camp a lot, and there are also a lot of snipers on this map as opposed to most others. It's not a terrible map, but it definitely caters more to the snipers. 4/5

(MS) Cracked: There are very few maps on this disc that I dislike, and Cracked is one of them... it just feels blah. Blown out buildings as a map has been done several times before in Call of Duty 2/3/WaW, and I'm pretty much over them - they were boring then, and they're more boring now. Not much to say about this map besides the obvious - don't get caught out in the open. 3.25/5

[*](L) Crisis: Some sites claim this is a medium map... to me, it sure as hell doesn't feel like it - BUT - it's a great one. It doesn't come up often in matchmaking for me, so when it does, it's a treat to play when it gets voted for. I think I like this map more than most people do because it's sort of nostalgic - it feels a bit like Death Trap and Enowapi from SOCOM II. Fun map, a ton of different areas, and it encourages all of what you'd expect to see in a Call of Duty game, with camping spots for snipers, as well as close-quarters areas for those that like to run-and-gun. 4.75/5

[*](S)Firing Range: Not quite small, not quite medium small, Firing Range is a SMALL-ISH map that I find a lot of fun... then again, I always tend to prefer the smaller maps. There's nothing particularly unique to be said about this map besides the fact that it's a hell of a lot of fun on virtually any game mode from my experience. 4.5/5

(M) Grid: The first Black Ops map I played, Grid is the second of four snowy maps on Black Ops, and what I would have to say is my favorite, although I'm not sure why. The way it's set up, it feels great on objective-based matches, but of course works fine and dandy on Team Deathmatch as well. Grid's almost a prime example of how I like the size of maps to be in games I play, and it's just fun all-around. 4.5/5

(ML) Hanoi: Hard to judge the size of this one as well - although I haven't played it much - but Hanoi, to me, is just a 100% average map. The fact that it's night-time and so blah on colors doesn't help. I've played about three matches on it, and I just think this one's utterly forgettable. Not terrible, but nothing awesome. 3.5/5

(ML) Havana: Feeling a bit bigger than Hanoi, Havana is said to take place in Cuba (Hence the map name.) This maps feels to me a bit like Crossfire from CoD4, but instead of such an open area in the middle, part was thrown behind a row of buildings. I'm probably the only one in the world that feels that way. Havana encourages a LOT of camping, as there are plenty of areas to do so, and I've yet to be in a game in Team Deathmatch where the game ended at 7500. If people stop camping this one so much, it could be a much more fun map. 4/5

(L) Jungle: When you hop online and see Jungle as an option to vote for, you may notice that it tends to not get picked. You may ask yourself, "Why?" and I'll tell you why - it sucks. I understand why they put a Jungle map on-disc, but it's just a frustrating map because it's essentially just one giant campfest. It looks cool upfront, but when you're actually playing it, it's very underwhelming and controller breaking. Eh. MAYBE it'll grow on me, but for now, it's in the pooper of Black Ops maps. 3.25/5

[*](M) Launch: This is the map I was most excited to play before release. I must say, I am a bit disappointed. The fact that when the rocket launches, those beneath it die is a pretty cool idea, but other than that this map's not that great. Like Havana, I found that part of this map reminded me of a CoD4 map - Ambush. The middle area of this map feels that way to me for some reason, except where the area is dipped down in Ambush, it's raised here. As said, fun map. Because of the atmosphere on this map - I can't believe I said that - it gets a star. 4.25/5

[*](S) Nuketown: Thank GOD! After the abominations that were the smallest maps in CoD4 and CoDMW2, ("Shipment" and "Rust" respectively.) Treyarch gives is something to smile about. Nuketown, by and away the smallest map in Black Ops, is fantastic fun. The games are quick and sweet with a lot of running and gunning and grenade chucking - a classic. 4.75/5

(M) Radiation: In a thawed out version of WMD, - eh. Almost. Sort of. Maybe. Feels inspired by - Radiation's good fun. The factory area where you can be incinerated is cool, but unfortunate for those that don't realize they're on a belt to the fiery pits of hell. Again, not a ton to say, but Radiation's just another good map - whether it be on Team Deathmatch, or especially on objective modes. 4.25/5

(MS) Summit: Don't plunge to your DEATH. This map's pretty narrow, but a lot of fun. Obviously, this is the third of four snowy maps in Black Ops - it's not the best one, but it's a close second I think. 4.25/5

(ML) Villa: This one seems to come up a lot, so get used to it. I didn't care for it much at first, but after playing several matches, I think I've accepted the fact this one's going to be thrown in my face a lot. It's a pretty big and open map with a few areas for snipers - but they can easily be flushed out. If you don't like sniping, an accurate assault rifle should do the trick. 4.25/5

(ML) WMD: Reminds me of Radiation, but a bit bigger with a few more buildings thrown in there. Hell, if you don't think they look similar, just look and compare the loading screen pictures! While they are quite similar, I prefer WMD to Radiation. And, oh!, this is the fourth and final snow map - alphabetically - in Black Ops... it also happens to be one of the best. 4.5/5

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PHEW! That's it. Pretty half assed, but yeah. The maps in Black Ops, overall, are MUCH better than those in Modern Warfare 2. Next: Online play.

Game Review (Rock Band 3 - 360)

After over 2 years since Rock Band 2's release, Rock Band 3 is finally here with many new features. Quite understandably and obviously, Rock Band 3 is even better than the second.

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Graphics: 4.5/5 I could go for paragraphs and paragraphs - the graphics have quite vastly improved here over Rock Band 2. Despite a lack of many new venues, the character models are sharper, and shinier than in past games. Not only that, but the menus look absolutely fantastic. The whole new drop-in/drop-out at any time thing is really cool, there are extremely short load times that seem to be almost non-existent... the game just looks and runs greatly.

Sound: 4.75/5 Obviously, you can't please all people all the time with a soundtrack you put in a game. I am pleased with nearly the whole set list - even songs I didn't know and assumed I wouldn't like before playing, turned out to be a blast. You really have to give Harmonix credit - imagine you being in charge of finding a good balance of songs for keys, guitar, drums, and bass - Harmonix did it here almost flawlessly. And of course, just about ALL of the Rock Band songs that worked on Rock Band's 1 and 2 will work here, which is obviously great news to those like me who have invested hundreds, or even over a thousand dollars on DLC.

Fun: 4.5/5 Before I praise, I want to say that there are only two things that gripe me about this game. The first is that Rock Band 3 does away with the Career Mode that was in Rock Bands 1 and 2. Instead, there are maybe a dozen Road Challenges you can do. They feature random setlists, pre-made setlists, as well as make your own setlists. My second issue, and I suppose it's a minor one, is that it's very easy to 'beat the game.' While Rock Band 3 never really ends, as there are always challenges for you to do, after the Road Challenges, the game's 'story' is over with. Biggest bummer about that, is that it only takes a day or two of solid play time to finish it. Band 3 is Rock Band 2, and more. Was that obvious? Despite the minor flaws, Harmonix has done really everything fans requested. If you're burned out on the rhythm genre, then you should probably pass on Rock Band 3. But if you think you were just in need of something new, maybe the keyboard, pro guitar, or pro drum modes will do that for you.

4.75/5

TL;DR
+: Overall fun-to-play setlist, easy to search for songs you want to play, great new menus, updated graphics, hardly any loading times.

-: Not all songs that worked in Rock Band 1 and Rock Band 2 work in this game,(Anyway You Want It, Spoonman, Creep, Battery, Paranoid, etc.) including a few DLC songs as well. (The European songs that were on the Rock Band 1 disc don't transfer over.)

NOTE: Keyboard peripheral review coming later. Pro guitar peripheral coming much later - if ever.

4.5/5

Game Review (NHL 11 - 360)

Graphics: 4.25/5 Pretty good looking game - with just a few flaws. First off, when playing with classic/action/overhead/etc. camera angles, at the bottom of the ice/screen, the game will lag - online or off. Not terribly, but it's an annoyance. Another thing I noticed was that the character models are terrible. Even the big-name players hardly resemble their real-life counterparts. The ice looks nice, especially with the scratches from skates and the reflections. For ONCE in an NHL game, the fans look actually very good, and interact. For instance, if up against the boards, they stand up and bang on them. If you're the home team and leading, they stand and wave towels.

Sound: 4.25/5 The commentary in this game is about average - you will hear the same lines ad nauseum before too long. However, all the sounds on the ice, as well as the soundtrack in this game, are pretty excellent.

Control: 3.75/5 For the love of god, this nearly ruins the game. The controls are extremely precise - which is great for experienced players - but if you're just starting out, expect a frustrating experience if you try using the right stick for shooting/deking and what-not.

Fun: 4.25/5 While this game is superbly frustrating much of the time, it is still fun - scoring a goal in a hockey game has never felt more rewarding - it's just that much work to get one in the net. Anyways - back to the frustrations. When playing online right out of the gate, you have a skater with an overall rating of about 70. While online, you will encounter a lot of douche bags, on different levels. You will have the douche bags that love to go offsides even though there's a warning on-screen, the douche bags that don't know how to pass, the douche bags that play as goalie but could't catch a snail, and, of course, the douche bags that play this game 24 hours a day, 8 days a week, and are impossible to defend against with their 100 skater rating and insta-goal capabilities. This, coupled with the fact that good team mates are hard to come by, make NHL 11 one of the more frustrating games I have ever played. Online or off, expect a lot of unfairness. If I've learned one thing from this game, it's that, it doesn't matter how great of an offense or defense you have - it's about how good your goalie is. You can have a 99 offense and 99 defense, but if your goalie is below a 75, say hello to a giant deficit by the end of the first. As I play this game more and more, I will either enjoy it more, or just want to get rid of it. As of now, it's a love/hate thing for me. Ah, yes, and I'd also like to point out that the difficulty levels aren't very well done. Pro is far too easy for the most part, while Superstar - or whatever the next difficulty level up is - is just too hard most of the time. This is more of a rant than a review, and I could go on for paragraphs, but I'll sum it up for the ninety-third time; NHL 11 is well worth playing for its My Player mode, as well as its Card Team dealie, if you can get past the many frustrations along the way.

4.25/5

Game Review (Guitar Hero: Van Halen - 360 )

Sure, it's a super delayed review, - this game came out forever ago - but I just got it via GameFly. Here are my thoughts on GH:VH.

Graphics: 3.5/5 Meh. The main thing that bothers me about the graphics, although it's not so much the graphics as it was Activision/Never Soft's choice, is that the members of the band are OLD. Rather than take on the late 70's/early 80's appearance of the band, they did what they look like now. I'm sorry, but to me, that's just stupid. Graphically though, this game's about average. The model movements aren't anything spectacular, the game doesn't look really any better than Guitar Hero: Metallica... it's nothing that will blow your mind.

Soundtrack: 3.25/5 Meh as well. There are flaws on top of flaws involving the soundtrack. First, as everyone should know by now, there are a number of bands in this game that have zero relevancy to Van Halen. Let me list a few: blink-182, Weezer, Foo Fighters, Fountains of Wayne, Yellowcard, among others. Uh. Hello? What the hell are bands that weren't formed until two/three decades after Van Halen in the game for? Another massive flaw that may be worth noting to fans of Van Halen - there is no Sammy Hagar in this game at all. Not as a playable character, and none of Van Halen's tracks from his time in the band are included in this game. That doesn't bother me any, since I'm not a massive Van Halen fan anyway.

Fun: 3.25/5 Meh for a third time. Guitar Hero: Van Halen is average at best. Shredding some Van Halen classics and whatnot may be fun, but only for so long. For just about every Van Halen song, you've got a Lenny Kravitz, Alter Bridge, or Tenacious D song to play afterwards, making this game quite the disappointment. Guitar Hero: Van Halen may appeal greatly to hardcore fans of the band, but outside of that, it's just another game to rent, get the achievements for, and then dump off at your local Blockbuster or mailbox.

3.25/5

Food Review (KFC Doublicious - Original)

After the Double Down scrutiny, KFC has decided to make what is essentially the same thing as the Double Down, with the same core ingredients, but this time on a bun, and this time they've decided to dub it the Doublicious.

The Doublicious is, in a word, delicious. It is about the same thing as the Double Down, but a few things make it better. First of all, your hands don't get greasy because of the bun - no need for a stack of 48 napkins anymore! Second of all is basically the same as the first of all - the bun has a sweet taste to it, making the experience all the better.

Writing this review has made me hungry... hungry for another Doublicious. The only flavors you really get out of this sandwich are the bun, chicken, and sauce, but it's still damn good. The bacon and cheese basically just add sodium and not so much flavor, because the chicken is the bulk of the mass of this sandwich.

4.75/5

Note: 480 calories in the Doublicious Original, while 540 in the Double Down Original.

Game Review (Green Day Rock Band - 360)

Graphics: 4/5 Green Day Rock Band looks pretty great in my opinion. Tre Cool looks and acts like the real Tre Cool, and Mike Dirnt and Billy Joe look quite a lot like the real thing. There are only three venues, which kind of makes me feel like Harmonix skimped a bit on this game as opposed to The Beatles Rock Band, but it looks good nonetheless.

Sound: 4/5 I have a question for you - do you like Green Day? That's the obvious question. Secondly, do you like old or new Green Day? Odds are, if you're above the age of 15 or so, you prefer the older Green Day. This game includes the full albums "Dookie" , "American Idiot" , and "21st Century Breakdown" if you didn't know that already. "Dookie" is one of the bands earliest albums, while "American Idiot" and "21st Century Breakdown" are the bands most recent. I really was disappointed in the lack of older songs by Green Day. There are absolutely no songs from 38/Smooth or Kerplunk!. And also, there aren't many songs outside of the three full albums. A good number of the band's singles are in the game, but I'd very willingly sacrifice some songs from "21st Century Breakdown" to get some 38/Smooth, Kerplunk!, Insomniac, or Nimrod.

Fun: 4/5 Green Day Rock Band isn't like a Guitar Hero version of a band game; Harmonix KNOWS how to make a successful one-band game. Green Day Rock Band is a success, but it's not without its flaws. The lack of older songs - I've already said this about four hundred times - from the band is a little painful, and having only three venues is a bit of a bummer, but any mid-range to super fan of Green Day will probably buy this game. There are extras, of course, like The Beatles Rock Band, but that's really it. The career mode really has a quick play feel - beat five songs, unlock about five more. There are challenges you unlock, which you play to get achievements and get videos.

On a final note, Green Day Rock Band really isn't for the guitar heavy music game player. There are a few fun songs in this game on guitar, (most of the fun songs, in my opinion on all instruments overall, are those from "American Idiot" ... there's the most variety on that album.) but the game just shines on drums. Tre Cool is a pretty underrated drummer. He's fast, has some really crazy fills, and it makes for a sweat dripping fun time. Guitar on most songs is essentially a chordfest, with a few songs here and there having a solo or something, while bass really is quietly more fun than as a whole than guitar. Ahh "Longview" how I like your bass line.

4/5

+ Green Day!
- Leans a little heavy on the newer Green Day, although "21st Century Breakdown" isn't as bad as I initially thought.
- Not for those that have guitar as their instrument of choice.

Game Review (Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 - Resurgence Pack - 360)

fourzerotwo promised another Modern Warfare 2 back, but I don't think anyone thought it would happen so quickly. Released June 3rd on Xbox LIVE, the Resurgence Pack is yet again another $15-for-5-map download. Is it worth the money?

Strike: 4.5/5 As you probably know, Strike; along with Vacant, is a rehash from the original Modern Warfare with a few subtle tweaks. The map takes on a new skin, there's more detail, and the game just looks better. If you liked it before, you'll like it here. If not, nothing will change... that goes for Vacant as well.

Vacant: 4.25/5 The only difference here; outside of the new look, is that in objective modes, that little gate blocking the doorway in the bad guys's spawn opens up, allowing for a new tactical advantage for the good guys. Nothing else has changed from what I can tell, but it's just as good as it was in Modern Warfare.

Trailer Park: 4.25/5 This map is probably my least favorite of the pack. It's not bad at all, but there has to be a least favorite, right? Trailer Park is just as it says - a trailer park. You basically run in and around trailers on this small/medium sized map. It encourages easy camping, but it's easy to flush guys out with a quick M67 or Semtex.

Fuel: 4.5/5 I must say, Fuel looks really awesome. But on the flip side of things, I'm disappointed in the map for one reason. The one half of the map with all of the buildings is great, but I can't help but think the other part of the map - where nobody EVER goes - is simply for boosters. There is almost nothing there, and there's no reason to even go there. Still, Fuel looks great and plays very well on the other side of the map.

Carnival: 4.5/5 I thought this would blow the other maps out of the water. Not quite, but it's still a fantastic map. People say it's a huge map, but I seem to get around it pretty quickly. There's something amusing about hearing "Claymores on the carousel."... I don't know what it is. A very fun map.

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The Resurgence Pack is really quite a bit better than the Stimulus Pack, but that's expected for sales. Naturally Infinity Ward (or any company) would put out the less appealing pack first, to try and get better sales off the second. That's how it works. Hey, I payed $30 for 10 maps - half the cost of the game - only 6 of which were new. A lot of people whine about it, and they have the right, but so long as they don't start charging $20 for 5 maps, I'll be fine.

4.25/5

+ Carnival and Fuel are maps that really any Call of Duty player needs to try.
+ Strike and Vacant got a bigger make-over than Crash and Overgrown in the Stimulus Pack.
- Still $15, a reason many will not buy.

Game Review (Wizard 101 - PC)

Wizard 101 is an MMORPG developed by KingsIsle, released September 2nd 2008, and targeted for a 10-15-year-old audience. Think of it, in simplest terms, as a game with a World of Warcraft atmosphere at times, with battles similar to that of something from Final Fantasy. Instead of really using magic, you're using cards, so MAYBE it's actually more like Pokemon or Yu-Gi-Oh. However you compare this game, it's very solid overall.

Graphics: 4/5 Wizard101 doesn't have anything that will blow you away, but the game just looks pretty. It should run smoothly on most newer computers on the higher difficulty settings. The game occasionally lags, but that's usually only when you're in The Commons. The particle effects are nice, and the bright colors throughout most of the worlds really make the game shine.

Sound: 4/5 Pretty surprisingly good! Although I normally skip any dialogue, I have heard a good bit of it, and it is pretty well done for the most part. From what I can tell, every and any person you talk to has dialogue - human or not. The battle sounds are decent, but the music in the game is pretty simple and enjoyable.

Control: 4/5 I find the game to be very simple to control for the most part, but for someone that's 10 years old? I could see how this would be frustrating. There is a good bit to learn, but if you've ever played an MMORPG in the past, I think you know what to expect here.

Fun: 4.25/5 Wizard101 is a very solid game, but it's obviously not without flaws. Excuse me while I rant. First, I think KingsIsle is really a big scam of a company. The subscription is only $10 a month compared to the $15 for the giant World of Warcraft, but to really buy the spiffy things in and outside of Wizard City, you will have to buy Crowns, which cost real American dollars. You can very easily get along using the game's simple gold currency, but those who get Crowns will get distinct advantages, including much stronger, faster, and smarter pets. One of the biggest things that upsets me about Wizard101 is that although there are several different worlds to explore, and they appear to look different on the surface, they really are all quite similar. It doesn't take long to realize that; for the most part, the worlds have almost an identical layout anywhere you go, and the quests are also pretty redundant. (Pick up these barrels or crates, go inside this building and defeat these guys, etc.) This is to be expected, seeing as how MMORPGs tend to sort of... HAVE to follow this formula, but Wizard101 just doesn't seem to mask it quite as well. However, if a 10 year old were to play this game, they'd probably hardly even notice. The worlds, as I said, look very cool, the different creatures you run to along the way are interesting, the pets and mounts are spiffy, and the game is just expanding as KingsIsle is hard at work trying to keep the game fresh. While Wizard101 isn't the best MMORPG out there right now, it's a bit cheaper than World of Warcraft (if you're just talking about the subscription.) and simpler as well.

4/5


Things you may want to know:
- Subscribing ranges from $9.95 a month to $79.95 a year, depending on how you have it billed. If you don't subscribe, you will be unable to leave the core of Wizard City.
- Chat system is terrible. It's intended for a younger audience, so even words like 'crap' are blocked. But that's not all, I've experienced random words like 'so' to be censored, making for difficult conversing.
- Crowns, although not necessary, you may want to get eventually. Sadly, KingsIsle is trying to get kids to make their parents buy them, and I guess it's working. Sort of disappointing... almost like a scam.

Game Review (Stick Skater - iPhone App)

Graphics: 3/5 Completely simple, but the game runs smooth.

Sound: 3.5/5 Pretty good for a low-budget looking game. The sounds get a little irritating after awhile, but as usual, you can listen to your music while playing.

Control: 3.5/5 Almost too simple. There are two options - one that allows you to press a button to do a random trick, or one that allows you to flick in a certain position to do a specific trick. This makes it simple for any one of any age to play.

Fun: 3/5 Stick Skater is decent, but it won't keep you entertained for long. It's a buck, and that's all it's worth - if that. The game is redundant, plain, and simple.

3/5

Food Review (Lean Cuisines)

So, you're looking to lose weight ... or maybe just find some new frozen meals. In this - hopefully brief - post, I'll rate the Lean Cuisines I have had.

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Alfredo Pasta with Chicken & Broccoli: 3.75/5 As with any other Lean Cuisines I'll be reviewing, lacks a strong flavor. Cheese is of course quite fattening, and the alfredo sauce here doesn't have a LOT of flavor. The vegetables are nice and the noodles are good, but you only get about 2 or 3 decent sized chunks of chicken, and a somewhat bland tasting sauce.

Baja-Style Chicken Quesadilla: 4.5/5 It's a new one, and a good one. The only thing upsetting about this thing is the fact that it doesn't last long at all. It's one of the smaller Lean Cuisines, but I'm telling you the only downside is the size.

Cheese Ravioli: 3.5/5 First time I had it, I really liked it. Each time I've had it afterwards, I've grown to like it less and less... the cheese just... doesn't taste very good. The sauce is great, don't get me wrong, but that cheese... ehh. It should also be known that from what I can tell, this has the lowest amount of calories of all the Lean Cuisines at 220.

Chicken Carbonara: 4.5/5 One of the first Lean Cuisines I had, the Chicken Carbonara is delicious. Good chicken, even better sauce. Definitely one of my favorites.

Chicken Enchilada Suiza: 5/5 Has to be my favorite of them all. The official website has this given a 3/5 rating, which I think is pretty unbelievable. The chicken in the enchilada, the sauce, the rice... everything's perfect. As with the quesadilla, the only problem here is the size. I wish there was MORE!

Chicken Parmesean: 4.5/5 The box lies as far as the amount of cheese on the chicken - there is quite literally none to be seen after cooking - but the chicken tastes good, the noodles and sauce are basically perfect. Impossible to not recommend this one.

Chicken Philly Flatbread Melt: 4.5/5 What can be said? Good chicken and cheese, but the peppers really make this stand out. More calories than most Lean Cuisines, but it really is worth it.

Grilled Chicken Caesar: 2.75/5 It's edible, but one of my least favorite Lean Cuisine varieties... it's just about flavorless. The chicken has a decent flavor, but there are some disgusting looking pieces in there, and... this is just overall pretty bland.

Lemon Chicken: 3/5 The sauce is pretty decent, but the rice isn't very good, and the chicken that you get is two VERY small patties that taste processed up the ass. It's not my favorite thing in the world - it's far from it - but it's not the absolute worst Lean Cuisine out there.

Sante Fe Style Rice and Beans: 5/5 One of very few vegetarian Lean Cuisine options, but even ones with meat don't get much better than this. It tastes quite similar to the Chicken Enchilada Suiza one - minus the chicken enchilada. Completely nomnomnom.

Sesame Chicken: 4.5/5 Not a LOT of flavor, but enough. I would probably give this a 5 if it weren't for the fact that I've had this a couple times where the chicken has had... bones, or so it seems, in it. Okay, that sounds disgusting. REALLY disgusting. But yeah. yo uneed to try this if you haven't yet.

Steak Tips Portabello: 4.5/5 The steak tips are tender and delicious, and the broccoli ends up perfectly steamed after being cooked. I add just a bit of salt to the broccoli, but this is just another really, really good Lean Cuisine.

Sweet and Sour Chicken: 4/5 I hadn't had sweet and sour chicken before this dish, but I must say, I am a fan. I don't like pineapple, so that turned me off a bit, but the sweet. The sour. The taste. Very unique and I like it quite a bit.

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That was just a review of one-tenth of all the Lean Cuisines currently available. In case you don't want to look, that makes for a total of 120 out there. About 80% or more of the ones I have had I'd try again, and most of these I highly recommend. Lean Cuisines aren't cheap, or largely portioned, so I'll just say if you do decide to eat them, do it slowly. That way it feels like you're eating more than you actually are.

Album Review (The Outsiders by NEEDTOBREATHE)

This kind of music isn't generally my thing, but NEEDTOBREATHE's Bear Rinehart has a ridiculous voice that almost reminds me a bit of the singer from Kings of Leon. Thing is, I find that Bear has better range. The Outsiders has some ridiculously catchy fun-to-sing songs while still having a good number of slower tracks as well. I basically like every song on this album a lot with a few exceptions. "Stones Under Rushing Water" and "Let Us Love" are decent, but are clearly the weak tracks in my opinion. I didn't care much for NEEDTOBREATHE much at all at first, but 214 listens later, they're my 9th most listened-to band on Last.FM.

4.5/5

Food Review (Double Down from KFC)

Apparently the Double Down came out last year in Rhode Island and Nebraska... why? I have no idea why such random ass states. Anyways, it came out recently nationwide and I had one like... 3 minutes ago. Basically, it's called the Double Down because it's two pieces of bacon, two pieces of cheese, Colonel's Sauce, [Cum?] and two pieces of original recipe or grilled chicken. (your choice) Like probably 80% or more of people, I got the original recipe. The thing costs five bucks so I was expecting something epic. You know what? I was disappointed... for a few reasons. First of all, the thing is pretty small. The cheese was hanging off the sides, and wasn't even melted... bummer. As for the taste, all you really taste is chicken. I found the cheese to be pretty much tasteless. The bacon was pretty decent, but the two little pieces you get go away in a bite each. The Colonel's Sauce [Cum?] is pretty good, I would probably ask for extra sauce if I were to get this again. Overall, the Double Down is... decent. $7 for the sandwich, a 16 oz. drink, and a side of potato wedges. Pretty expensive, but it's worth a try. The chicken is of course good, but that's almost all you really taste. I might get this again, but not in the near future.

+ Cool idea. The bacon and sauce are nice additions.
- Cheese is pointless, bacon sort of is too. Price is too high. Greasy as all hell.

3.5/5

[By the way, the original recipe variation of the Double Down has 540 calories - the same amount as a McDonald's Big Mac.]

Food Review (Filet 'o Fish from McDonalds)

Now, I don't normally review 'regular' items from fast food menus, but I figured this one is worthy since I had my very first Filet 'o Fish yesterday. Not being a very big seafood fan at all, I was very skeptical... but I wanted to try something different... and so I did.

First impression was, "Shit, this thing's tiny." I don't remember what the cost was, but I know that normally, they're pretty expensive. I took off the top bun and took a whiff. It smelled pretty fishy. There was half a slice of American cheese underneath the filet, and a nice glob of relishy tartar sauce.

I took a bite. The smell is a lot stronger than the taste is, I can say that. Personally, not being a fan of fish, I didn't care for it - that's not to say I hated it - but the relish-tartar sauce concoction really made the sandwich. The bun was also soft and had a hint of sweetness to it. The American cheese, other than seeing it was there, did nothing for me. I didn't taste it at all.

The Filet 'o Fish from McDonalds isn't a very big sandwich at all, yet still weighs in at - I believe - 380 calories. If you like fish, you probably won't care for this too much because it doesn't taste very fishy. If you don't like fish, you'll probably find it quite edible, mainly because of the sauce, but might not buy it again.

3.5/5

+ Sauce!
- Price, size. Just not a good value.

Game Review (Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 - Stimulus Pack - 360)

Some hacker awhile back managed to dig up a good number of maps that are SUPPOSEDLY going to be coming soon to Modern Warfare 2. I must admit, when I saw "Stimulus Pack", I thought that maybe - just MAYBE - the pack would be available on discount. Perhaps 400 MSP or even FREE, if generous. Well, yeah, no. It's 1200 MSP. ANYWAYS, So far, we've gotten five of those listed. Three new maps, and two older ones.

---

I'm going to start with the ports first. "Crash" is, of course, the first of two from Call of Duty 4. It looks almost exactly as it did in Call of Duty 4 with a few very minor changes, including a few new paint jobs in buildings, and more detail in them as well. Basically, from what I can tell, nothing else has changed. Maybe a few more graphical improvements, but other than that, nada. 4.25/5

"Overgrown" is the second port in the pack. Like "Crash", there aren't very many changes to speak of - a few minor graphical improvements - and the map remains almost exactly as it was in Call of Duty 4. Some people were hoping for a snowy version of the map, which I think would have been cool, but of course, that was too much to ask from Infinity Ward. Speaking of snow, that brings me to something else... 4.5/5

"Salvage" is the first of the three new maps I'll be going over. First impression in seeing videos was that it looked like something straight out of Spec Ops - I forget the mission - mixed together with Scrapyard, and dusted with snow. While I thought this was going to be byfar the worst map in the back, it isn't so bad at all. While I haven't played it nearly as many times as the other two new maps in the pack, I have - so far - a generally positive opinion on this map. 4/5

"Storm" is a map that at first glance reminded me of a combination of "Downpour" and "Shipment", but I soon realized it was much better than "Downpour", and worlds better than "Shipment", which I think is probably the worst Call of Duty map in the history of the world. This is quite a large map, but at the same time, feels small, and very familiar, after just a few run throughs. I thought "Bailout" would be my favorite map from the pack byfar, but I think it's actually a pretty close call. 4.5/5

"Bailout" was definitely the map I was anticipating the most after seeing pictures and the trailer. It's much smaller than I thought it would be, but it's still a pretty perfect map. Plenty of rooms to hide in, different buildings, a street level... a bunch of change in elevations and... yeah, I just look forward to playing it every time it comes up. Due to the fact it's smaller than I imagined it would be, I will give it a 4.5/5

---

Basically, the Stimulus Pack is a disappointment for the obvious reason - the price. Why we have to pay for 2 maps that are virtually identical to ones we already paid for is beyond me. Why Infinity Ward/Activision tries to possibly 'more justify' the price tag with emblems/titles is also pretty ridiculous. Really what you're paying for here, in my opinion, is $15 for 3 maps. Sure, "Crash" and "Overgrown" are both great, - at least in my opinion - but we already had them, and they've hardly changed at all this time around. "Storm" and "Bailout" are both great worth-your-time maps, but are those two stand-out maps really worth $15? Probably not. Will you, like I did, if you haven't already, buy these maps? Probably so.

4/5

+ "Storm" and "Bailout" are two of the best CoD:MW maps to date, in my opinion.
+ "Crash" and "Overgrown", although relatively unchanged, are still fun to play.
- $15 is just too expensive for what you get.
- Many, if not most, will be turned off at the idea of paying for old maps.

Game Review (MLB 2K10 - 360)

Graphics: 4.25/5 A slight improvement over last year in some aspects, (such as the more subtle things, like parts of the field and whatnot) but overall, a bit of a downgrade from 2K9. I can give a lot of credit to 2K10 for getting rid of the ugly dust effect on the infield from last year... in the words of White Goodman... "What the hell?"

Sound: 4/5 Another great cast of commentary, this year also featuring ESPN's own John Kruk, but the soundtrack in my opinion is pretty weak. There are some good songs, but overall it's quite underwhelming.

Control: 4/5 The pitching mechanics this year are better than last year, but at times, it can get frustrating. Telling you you're overthrowing or doing an odd gesture, even when you swear by your life you did it perfectly well. The hitting is the same as it has been for the past few years, using the sticks to hit, but also allowing the option to hit with the A or B button.

Fun: 3.75/5 MLB 2K10 is about as good as last year in my opinion. While the game is more than playable, and enjoyable, it's just not good enough to warrant a purchase in my opinion - there are too many bugs, ranging from minor, to somewhat major. One of the two bigger bugs I've found is occasionally, when a ball is blooped into the outfield, the ball SHOULD hit the ground, but it will instead slide across into the outfielder's glove... that's just lame. Another one, which has cost me a game twice now, are the retarded as fuck catchers. On two occasions there should have been a VERY close play at the plate. Upon watching the replay, the catcher would catch the ball, unnecessarily HIGH, and refuse to crouch down to tag the runner. I lost two games because of this glitch. Anyways, as said, MLB 2K10 is enjoyable, the My Player mode is pretty decent, but could use some work, as it does have pointless features itself, (unable to be traded unless you do it yourself...? really?) but I'm not too sure I'd want to pay $60 for a game I'd play for maybe 2 months then get $8 trade-in credit for afterwards. Once again, I guess we can only hope next year a more 'The Show'-esque game will arrive on the Xbox 360. Until then, I'll just make the MLB series a yearly one week rental.

3.75/5

Game Review (PGR 4 - 360)

Graphics: 4.5/5 Very good graphics - but not the best on the console for racing games. GRID is newer, and just looks better. The rain effects in this game are also weird looking. Some people say they look fantastic, but I don't know what they're seeing - it looks like your car gets wrapped in saran wrap when it's covered in water.

Sound: 4/5 The soundtrack is fitting, interesting, and has a lot of variety. A good portion of the cars sound great, but then some others just sound unrealistic. I can't think of any in particular, but when you hear one, you'll know what I'm talking about.

Control: 4/5 As I'm sure you know by now, bikes are drivable this time around. Many fans thought this was a bad addition, and I find it hard to disagree. The bikes are pretty pointless, in my opinion. They drive a lot like the cars, and you also have to go about 50 MPH to fall off the bike. I know they did this for balance, but it is irritating when you hit a guy on a bike with your car and he doesn't fall off. So basically, the bikes and cars control pretty well, and the driving conditions (snow, rain) DO affect the way your car turns and whatnot, which is cool, the cars and bikes both just control too similarly.

Fun: 4/5 PGR 4 is the first PGR game I've played, and I find it pretty enjoyable. It's not the best racing game on the console, but it is still worth a try. There are a ton of cars, an online community that tracks stats, and a bunch of cool tracks. If you're looking for an entertaining, cheap racing game for the 360, buy PGR 4. Or, better yet, get the Messenger Gold Pack with, for $55 on Amazon.com, includes a 12-Month Gold card, a headset, a chat-pad, and of course, PGR 4.

4/5

Food Review (Bacon & Bleu from Wendy's)

Another new thing from Wendy's... this time, the Bacon & Bleu burger! I just got done eating one and I must say... not impressed. The bacon is half soggy, and the bleu cheese leaves a bitter aftertaste. Not my favorite. Had Wendy's decided to use a creamy bleu cheese instead of the chunks of bleu cheese, there would obviously be more calories, but it would taste much better. The sauce that's on the burger is pretty good, and the onions are alright too - although hard to notice for the most part - but the bleu cheese just... ruins the burger, ironically.

I'd have to give this burger a D overall... just based on the flavor of the bleu cheese. Not a fan of the aftertaste one bit.

3/5

Food Review (Taco Bell Fresco Menu)

So Taco Bell has had this diet thing for I guess maybe a little over a month now...? and I recently finally finished eating all 7.

All of the tacos on this menu seem to have more lettuce and tomatoes than the regular ones on the menu, and about the same amount of meat. The meat is of the same quality as what's on the ordinary menu, but I guess it's just portioned correctly. The least gut-busting on the menu is the 150 calorie hard shell taco, while the 340 bean burrito has the most on the menu. My two personal favorites from the menu probably are the chicken ranchero taco, and the bean burrito. That's not to say not everything else on the menu is ECKK, I just think those two stand out. Personally I don't see the point of this 'diet menu', seeing as how if you were to go to Taco Bell and just buy one, maybe two small items, it would have the same amount of calories as getting one item from this menu. I think it's just to increase sales.. surprise?

Anyways, these seven items are all pretty good, and would recommend anyone to try each one at least once to find one they like. If you're seriously trying to diet, I still wouldn't tell you to eat this as your ideal food. Despite being low in calories and whatnot, there is still a pretty high sodium level here, and god knows what is added to these meats, but we all know they aren't fresh and the best quality!

I'd have to give the menu, overall, about a 3.5 or 3.75 out of 5. Why? Well, although the items are generally tasty, I can't see the purpose of this menu, and to think that people will be going to Taco Bell and eating this every time thinking they're going to lose weight, I can tell them this - it won't happen. Especially if you're going to get a pop with it... I mean honestly, how many people are going to ask for a water?

C rating. That's what I'll give.

Candy Review (Whoppers)

This is as random of a review as it gets right here, I know. This is a review of the three different Whoppers available - anywhere? - right now.

Whoppers Original
Whoppers Strawberry Milkshake
Whoppers Reese's Peanut Butter

First of all, I must say that as much as I enjoy Whoppers, I can never eat too many of them. Same goes for those Combo pretzel things... I can only have a few before I call it quits. This is a pretty easy choice here.

Whoppers original wins easily. The chocolate + malt is just perfect. I doubt there's a way they could have a chance of making it any better. My second choice would probably be the strawberry milkshake flavor, but not by too much. It's good, but doesn't taste like strawberry a LOT - that is to say it's not overwhelming - and it is only so-so. The Reese's flavor is good, but I'll take a regular Reese's peanut butter cup over the Whoppers any day. If the Reese's Whoppers were maybe chocolate on top of peanut butter on top of the malt, then I'm sure it would be better.

Original: 4.5/5
Strawberry Milkshake: 3.5/5
Reese's Peanut Butter: 3.25/5

The strawberry milkshake and Reese's flavors were alright, but I wouldn't get them again.

Rock Band Songs: 2008 vs. 2009

Now that we have two full years of DLC in the books individually, (really over 2 if you include 2007 DLC) there can finally be a debate of which is better - 2008, or 2009.

We will start with 2008, naturally. Some big hits came out last year, including the most downloaded "charged" song, "All the Small Things", as well as a bunch of other hits including "Wonderwall", "Don't Stop Believing", "More than a Feeling", and much more. 2008 was also the year we got our first album - "Screaming for Vengeance" by Judas Priest, as well as plenty of others. The Cars, Pixies, The Who, Megadeth, Rush, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Motley Crue, and the Foo Fighters all had also had albums in '08. If you haven't heard of at least half of those bands, please - GTFO.

Now 2009... a year full of diversity and a bunch of new bands, as with 2008. Bands from '09 that had albums included Stevie Ray Vaughn, Pearl Jam, Guns 'N Roses, Janes Addiction, Spinal Tap, and - oop - Pearl Jam again! If you include Beatles Rock Band and LEGO Rock Band into the equation, '09 would win pretty easily in my book. But since I'm just referring to DLC for the core Rock Band game, this could be a tough choice.

Let's take a look at my numbers. In 2008, I downloaded 252 songs. In '09, 236. A pretty - if not very - close year in numbers. As you can tell, for me it's a tough call. I'm tempted to give '09 the edge, but I downloaded more in '08, so I think that year should be auto-given the better of the two.

Anyways, now there are over 1,000 songs for the Rock Band platform, and the library keeps growing each and every week. I'm looking forward to another year... and then another... and another year and then some of Rock Band DLC being released for the platform. What will 2010 bring? We'll have to wait and see. Until then, you have quite the selection to choose from and rock out to.

Happy new year!

Game Review (DJ Hero - 360)

Graphics: 3/5 Just doesn't look that great. The characters are uninspired, the venues only look ALRIGHT - there's nothing stunning - and nothing exactly STANDS OUT.

Sound: 4/5 I give this a 4/5 despite about half the mixes being great, and the other half being mediocre or worse. A good number of these mixes will have you bobbing your hit while you DJ and the some of the others are just not-so-fun to play along to. There is also DLC, although not a lot, and it is sort of expensive.

Control: 4.5/5 This is a very great, new, innovative game. The DJ table is well built, heavy while being light and sturdy, and it's just really fun, including the scratching and whatnot.

Fun: 4.25/5 DJ Hero is music game of the year in my opinion just because of the innovative part. It's probably not quite as fun as The Beatles Rock Band, but it's new, and quite a bit of fun. I just wish there were more GOOD mixes, and better/cheaper DLC. Still, if you're curious and wondering if you'll like this, odds are you will, even though the learning curve is somewhat steep, and you will quite likely get dyslexic playing this game.

4.25/5

DVD Review (Spongebob Squarepants: The First 100 Episodes)

Spongebob Squarepants: The First 100 Episodes is the ultimate collection for any fan of the show. Seeing as how the first 100 episodes are from the first five seasons, these are the best of the best episodes. This DVD has 14 discs, and a bunch of bonus features. For about $80 you get HOURS of Spongebob Squarepants action. I can't recommend this DVD enough if you're a fan of the show. Enough said.

5/5

Hardware Review ( Premium ION Drum Rocker - 360 )

At Best Buy I saw this ION sitting on a shelf in a beat up box for $159 on clearance down from $300. Apparently it was sitting there for awhile and they just wanted to sell it. I got it, brought it home, and set it up in a little over an hour with two people. All the stuff in the box makes everything seem intimidating, but it's not very difficult at all to set up.

After setting it up, I played a few songs. I instantly felt like I went into a timewarp to over a year ago. Although I set the drums up the same as the Rock Band kit, I was missing the pads now and then. This will take some time to get used to, as will the cymbals.

The pads are nice. I can tell right now they won't peel off or bubble, for sure. They aren't quieter than the stock Rock Band 2 drums, but they are quieter than the Rock Band 1 kit. There is a nice rebound, and they feel good and sturdy. The same can't quite be said for the cymbals. They seem to register flawlessly, but they don't register at all if you hit gently. Also, they are LOUD when you're hitting them constantly. (Like the hi-hat.)

The bass pedal was, and still is a bit funky to me. It's heavy metal, and won't move at all if it's on carpet since you get velcro strips to put on the bottom of it. Thing is, it feels almost broken because it's so easy to use. I really prefer the Rock Band 2 pedal, but this will do for now.

Overall the Premium ION Drum Rocker is a solid and sturdy kit that was well worth the $150 with cymbals. As for someone paying $300 for this kit, I would not say it's worth it. That just seems awfully expensive to me if you're using it just as a Rock Band kit. That's freakin' 150 DLC songs.

+ Well made kit.
+ Looks nice.
+ Well worth $150
- Takes awhile to set up.
- Lots of cords
- Standard price of about $300 is too a little high.
- Questionable bass pedal.

4.5/5 if you get for $150 or so.
3.75/5 if you you have to pay $250+.

Drink Review (Monster Assassin NRG Shot)

This is only my second time ever having an energy shot, but basically my first since the original one was just so long ago... okay, enough idiocy. First of all, if you know anything about me, you'll know I'm one out of basically every ten people that prefers Red Bull to Monster... I do by a longshot, actually, but I got this at the Modern Warfare 2 midnight launch for free so decided to give it a try. First off a quick look at the nutrition facts shows that this is indeed a condensed can of Monster, in case you didn't know that. Here are some quick facts: 3 fl. oz., 30 calories, 6g sugar, 2000mg taurine, 5000mg 'Energy Blend', 400mg Panax Ginseng, etc. Anyways, whatever... then I opened it and took a whiff...

Appearance: 4/5 A bit lame reviewing the appearance, don't you think? Anyways, it comes in a small black plastic bottle... I'm sure you're looking at a picture or have already seen one by now. The Monster logo is in the middle with a crosshair on it, and there is shiny silver around the container. Pretty cool and simple, but nothing to cream your pants for.

Smell: 5/5 It smells indescribably awesome. I wish I had an air freshener that smelled remotely close to this. It's got almost a sour appleberry aroma to it. I could sniff the bottle all day.

Taste: 2.5/5 At the very second you put this on your tongue it doesn't taste too bad at all... probably because you're still thinking about the smell... but soon you realize this IS an energy shot, and it basically tastes like poopy cough medicine or mouth wash. It has a syrupy consistency to it, and the aftertaste is pretty appalling... like that of diet pop. To give you an idea of how foul I thought the taste really was, my eyebrows went crazy... in the bad way of course. Blech! Not very good at all.

Overall, I'd just have to give this between a 4.5 and a perfect 5. It does what it says. It's energy in a bottle, and it gives you just that. While I wish the taste was as good as the smell, it gets the job done. I have just one tip - choke it down quick.

Recommended.

400th Review! Game Review (Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 - 360)

Alas! Over two years later, Modern Warfare 2 has finally been released. While World at War was decent, I really didn't care to play ANOTHER World War II game... so Modern Warfare 2's release was super exciting for me. This is my review.

Graphics: 4.75/5 I didn't think so at first, but looking back, it's plain and simple to see that Modern Warfare 2 just looks much better than the original. Everything about it is just sharper. The only real reason I am not giving this a perfect 5/5 is the simple fact that there seems to be a bit more lag online than there was in Modern Warfare 1. I'm not sure why this is, but I can hope it ONLY improves.

Sound: 5/5 Great, as all Call of Duty games are. The explosions, the guns, the dialogue, everything is basically perfect. The only tiny flaw I have with the sound is the same I had in the original - the online dialogue is repeated over and over again. Still, that's small potatoes compared to the game as a whole. Beautifully done, again.

Fun: 4.5/5 Not a perfect score!? Are you MAD, man!? Hear me out. While Modern Warfare 2 is an easy candidate for Game of the Year, the game is not completely perfect. While all the minor and bigger additions are nice, including custom kill streaks, new third person mode, titles and emblems, new weapons, etc., the game just could have had MORE of those minor things, including a character creation thing. While this may have kind of been a strange and maybe even unwelcome addition to the series, I can't help but think Infinity Ward is holding off until the NEXT Modern Warfare to add that feature just to say they added something new. Modern Warfare 2 is near perfect, but some of the additions just have me scratching my head. The first and biggest thing that comes to mind here is the heartbeat sensor, which just screams for campers. There is a perk to block yourself from being seen, but really there just aren't THAT many people running around with them... so really, I guess I should shut up. Next is the kill streaks. Ha ha ha, yes, all fine and cool that you can customize them, but the 11 kill streak AC-130 / Chopper Gunner option is just completely obnoxious. Every now and then you'll play a game with someone that got one of the two from either a Care Package or just has it as their 11th kill streak. While they seem very different, in the end their very similar, and end in the person using it adding 6 or more kills easily to their killstreak if they have any talent at all. This feature essentially ruins the game, especially Team Deathmatch.

Anyways, moving on, the maps in the game (as seen in a previous preview) are pretty good for the most part with a bit more variety than Modern Warfare 1. However, after playing all the maps, and seeing what was in Spec Ops and in the campaign, I have a sick feeling in my stomach that Infinity Ward plans on releasing Map Packs in the future for multiplayer that resemble or are identical to ones in those modes. If that's the case, I will feel cheated. I mean, yeah, I'll still buy them day one, but... eh. I'll just hope they don't plan on doing this. Although the thought of battling it out against terrorists in Washington D.C. or Pittsburgh sounds pretty tasty...

Overall, Modern Warfare 2 is a near perfect game with a few minor flaws. While it is a lot like the original, - shocker! - Infinity Ward knew they didn't have to change much and didn't... they essentially took the original and added a few small things here and there to make the game better, and succeeded for the most part in doing so, although some things aren't very welcome additions, in my opinion. I'm pretty confident this game will be Game of the Year... developers didn't push back the dates on their games until after November 10th or until next year - they know Modern Warfare 2 will dominate this 2009 season.

4.25/5

+: Improved graphics, same great online play, a few very minor but fun additions including emblems/titles, Spec Ops is great.

-: Nothing major has changed - I guess that could be a bad thing?, some weak maps online (Although that's inevitable, really I think.), overpowered perks.

Game Review (Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2: Part 1 - The Maps)

This is part one of a two or maybe three part review of MW2. This one features strictly around the multiplayer maps in the game, giving a brief description, and my opinion.

Afghan: 3.75/5 This map is hard to rate in my opinion, because it really depends on the opposing team more than any other map... or so I've noticed. Since a good majority of this map is really open, there are snipers aplenty - normally - inside of bunkers and the like. What makes this map more playable and enjoyable is the fact that there are some great places for cover including a mini-cave area which is a nice addition. I must say, I had some fairly high expectations for Afghan, thinking it would be a really great map, but it's really just average to play... most of the time.

Derail: 4/5 This is one of the larger maps in online play, or so it seems anyway. Derail is a very open map with trees and hills including two main buildings in the middle and one far side of the map. Because of the map's huge open areas, if an opposing team gets a helicopter/AC-130... really, anything in the air, and you spawn on the far side of the map away from basically no buildings, you're almost guaranteed to die at least once. The middle building of this map almost makes it. It's large, with two stairways, lots of windows for a bunch of vantage points, and it's just fun to play. Only downside to this map really is its large size.

Estate: 4.5/5 I was looking forward to this map more than any other - besides maybe Terminal - and it didn't let me down. Although parts of this map, and the fact that it does go uphill, remind me of one of my most loathed maps of Call of Duty 4, Creek, this map is a complete blast. It's large, but the different areas are really diverse. There is obviously a large house at the top of the hill, with a greenhouse and barn surrounding it, including a garage at the bottom of it. This is just a very fun map, and hanging around the house inside and out is just a lot of fun. One of the best maps in the game, in my opinion.

Favela: 4/5 Favela, I believe, was the first map to be shown in a multiplayer video... in full. The unique thing about this map is that virtually every rooftop you see you can get on one way or another. There are also a bunch of alley-ways and streets to walk through, making for some really great close encounters. While this map really encourages rooftop/window camping, or just camping in general, the fact that it's so busy makes it easy to escape firefights and thus makes the map more enjoyable to know you won't get shot in the back or get spawn killed every few seconds. A fun map, and the rooftop jumping is cool, but it still doesn't really seem to stand out.

Highrise: 3.75/5 One of the last maps I got a chance to play in MW2, Highrise is a map that just has a Rainbow Six: Vegas sort of look to it... I'm not sure why. Basically, there are two offices on each side of the map, with two open sides... you're on the top of a skyscraper, and if you fall off, well... you're going to die. There is also a lower section of the map that will allow you, and your enemies for that matter, try to get a surprise attack in. This is one of the smaller maps in online play, which will make this a favorite to many, but it just doesn't seem super unique.

Invasion: 4/5 While this map is pretty forgettable - as a matter of fact I had to go on YouTube and see what this map looked like in full as a refresher - by name, it's actually a really cool map. Parts of it remind me of a map from Call of Duty 2... I can't think of which, but it does. A cool desert-like map that takes place in a little town... not much else to say but it is enjoyable.

Karachi: 3.25/5 Ahh.. Karachi. This MAY just be my least favorite map in the game... or basically it. It's hard for me to even stand this map - the camping seems to be out of control on Karachi in particular, and it's just a map that seems to encourage it, even though it is pretty small. The buildings and close quarters all around make this a s'mores making borefest for the most part. I've played this map about three times so far, and every map has been very similar. Frustrating as well as boring. Just not very good.

Quarry: 4.25/5 The first map I played in MW2. I thought I was going to be let down by this map but it turned out to be a LOT of fun. It's pretty big, and the one side of the map is WAY different than the other. There are some buildings to sit in, but there is also a large portion of this map that is laid out with what is basically a concrete graveyard. A fun map for any playstyle.

Rundown: 3.75/5 Rundown is really an average map and there's something about it that makes it feel like it could have been in Call of Duty 2, 3, or World at War. It's not terrible, but it's not great. I have had some pretty awesome firefights on this map, so I will give it recognition for that.

Rust: 4/5 Here we have the Shipment of Modern Warfare 2, but instead of being a tiny map loaded with random boxes, Rust is a small map that basically stacks and there are a bunch of places to go, making the map feel bigger than it actually is. While I didn't care for the oh-so-small Shipment in CoD4, Rust is unique and fun here in Modern Warfare 2. I've enjoyed the games I've played on it so far - just nonstop firefights, really.

Scrapyard: 3.5/5 Another map that sort of feels like it could be in Rainbow Six: Vegas. It's decent, but nothing overwhelmingly special. One building on the four sides of the map, two of which don't face eachother, and a bunch of, well, SCRAPS in the middle of the map. It's a decently fun small/medium sized map, just nothing that will make you say "wow, this is different."

Skidrow: 4.5/5 One of my favorites. Skidrow takes place in an urban city and it's just a lot of fun... you can go inside of apartments all over the place. Up and down stairs, look out windows on two sides of the map - both of those sides which have a lot of space - and there are just some really epic firefights in the hallways on this map. To be honest, it has a Halo feel the way it is played, from what I've dealt with.

Sub Base: 4.5/5 Although it is basically NOTHING like it, I just want to say one... or is it two...? word. Frostfire. That is, Frostfire from SOCOM I/II. It's a snow/cold looking map. You play on a boat of some sort. You can play as the Navy SEALs. There are boxes in the middle of the map... I don't know why I'm giving these comparisons, seeing as how the two aren't even comparable... blah blah blah whatever. They're both a lot of fun. Sub Base is yet another map from this game I really enjoy a lot.

Terminal: 4.5/5 I thought this map would be hands down the best map in the game. Turns out I was wrong... it's still completely incredible to play, but I just got my expectations too high. A great map, and one of the most unique of the disc's sixteen. The only people I say really disliking this map is snipers, but even they could appreciate this map.

Underpass: 4/5 Underpass is a map that seems to, imagine this, take place underneath an express way. There are a good number of war torn buildings though out as well, and the map is of ideal size for a Call of Duty map in my opinion. A medium sized map that I think most will enjoy.

Wasteland: 3/5 I have a lot of dislike for this map. For one thing, it seems to be a map just made for snipers. At first glance, looking at this map you will just likely see slightly hilly land with a few trees and a lot of tall weeds, but after just a few minutes you'll realize there's actually a bunker around most of the map, making this map a BIT better than I would originally say. The center of the bunker will be the hotspot for most gunfire in nearly every game. Basically, without the bunker on this map, it would easily be the dud of Modern Warfare 2... through my eyes, anyway.

Game Review (LEGO Rock Band - 360)

Graphics: 4.25/5 The venues and the Rock Den and stuff like that look pretty good. Vibrant in color, and pretty cool. The thing is, the animations are sort of sad... I KNOW that they are LEGO's but I mean, still. That, and the drummer doesn't play along to the beat of any song at all - only the bass pedal does..

Sound: 4/5 LEGO Rock Band has a strange soundtrack. For every good song, there is 1 or 2 songs that suck. For instance, (This is my opinion of course) you've got "Fire", but then you've got "Ride a White Swan" and "Make Me Smile". There's "Ghostbusters", but there's also "Naive" - you can see where I'm going with this. LEGO Rock Band has a lot of GREAT songs and new bands to the Rock Band platform. You can also do an export for $10 on the PS3 and 360, but it should be known that you can't choose which songs you want to keep, and which you want to delete, as the file (1.28 GB, by the way) is just one hunka hunka burnin' HDD space.

Fun: 3.75/5 LEGO Rock Band is a pretty fun experience, but I can't help but think this is really a $50 - or really $60 if you pay for the export - track pack. The story is pretty fun to play through - and the cut scenes and Rock Den stuff is pretty cool. You can also use DLC you bought for Rock Band 1/2 in this game, but it should be known that only songs that past an "E" for Everyone filter will get in. For instance, I have 434 songs downloaded. When I went to make a setlist, it said I had 168. So yeah, while DLC from Rock Band 1/2 will work, not all of it does, as this is a family friendly game. LEGO Rock Band is a decent game that is well worth anybody's time that's a fan of music games... I just think this game will be much more popular for its real target audience - children.

Pros: Some great new bands, cool "new" experience
Cons: Unable to choose which bands you don't want in the export, some terrible unknown bands/songs, not all Rock Band songs work, seems like a 'kiddy track pack'

3.75/5

Game Review (Rock Band - iPhone/iPod Touch)

Rock Band has been ported to the iP's. I was pretty excited when I found out about this thing, and downloaded it as quickly as I could. This is my review.

Graphics: 4/5 Looks really good at the menus and everything. In-game, there is simply a loop at the top of the song being played, but it's not accurate.

Sound: 4/5 A pretty good soundtrack, although there are some songs that are so overplayed I'd rather die than play them. Cool thing is, you can purchase 2-song packs for $1 each.

Control: 2.5/5 The game is not a joy to play for the most part. If your timing is perfect, it seems you will STILL miss notes, and quite often when you hit two notes at once, they won't hit at the same time, even if you tap at the same time.

Fun: 3/5 Rock Band for the iPhone/iPod could be a good game, but the control ruins it. You'll find yourself missing notes when it's not your fault, and it is just very frustrating. Also, to go from medium to hard (there is no expert) is a huge step. Just saying.

Food Review (Black Jack Taco from Taco Bell)

So! Taco Bell has something "new", eh? Nah. They don't. The Black Jack was a huge let down, I must say. Why? The sauce that's on it is the same sauce they use on their Cheesy Gordita Crunch... I was expecting something new, but it wasn't. That's not to say it's bad, but it's not a new item. It's just the Cheesy Gordita Crunch's grandson. It doesn't have an extra layer of cheese, or a soft layer of a taco shell. For only 89 cents, it's hard to not recommend this. But if you have a Cheesy Gordita Crunch at your Taco Bell, definitely go with that. It is MUCH better.

3.5/5

+: Good if you don't have a Cheesy Gordita Crunch on your menu, 89 cents.
-: Pointless really if you do have the Cheesy Gordita Crunch at your location.

Hardware Review (LG CF360 Cell Phone)

I got this phone last week for about $18 after a mail-in rebate. It came out earlier this year, so the price has dropped considerably. The box the phone is included in features a couple free Napster downloads, a battery, a charger, a screen wiper velvet thing, and a screen protector that is completely useless because its size is that of an iPhone, so you'd have to cut it and shape it yourself.

This will be a pretty long review so bear with me. If you don't want to read, and you'd rather see a video review, check out the one I did here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1O65hajBoY [Although this written review will probably be a lot more informative]

The CF360 comes in 2 colors - red and blue. As you can see from my video review, - if you watched it - mine is red. It isn't completely red, it's just trimmed, the same goes for blue. The phone slides open, and before sliding open, the phone almost looks like an MP3 player. I don't care for the way the buttons look, but after sliding it open, the phone looks much better. The numbers and all that look pretty sharp. On the other side of the phone, the CF360 has a smooth, slick, almost rubbery texture and appearance. This is nice for a few reasons - it's less likely to scratch, slip out of your hands if they are sweaty, and will probably absorb some of the blow if you were to drop it from a short height. Also on the back of the phone is a 1.3 megapixel camera. While it seems its getting a bad rep for being of 'terrible quality', I think the pictures look alright. The video on the other hand doesn't look great at all, and the audio isn't great either. Still, this isn't a camera, it's a cell phone, so if you get desperate or something / are without a camera, this would work decently enough.

Now, about the phone's features... the one thing that really frustrates me the most about this phone probably is the fact that you can't make your own ring tone unless you buy one or connect to a computer via a USB cable, which doesn't come with the camera, and will run you about $15. The phone's menu is also very easy to navigate, and virtually anyone can learn most of this phone inside out in a matter of a day at most. The outside of the phone also has a few buttons, including the now pretty basic easy-access camera button, a volume +/-, a MicroSD card slot for whatever you want, and the basic charger port which can also be used with a wired headset. It should also be known that this phone works with Blue Tooth. That's about all there is to know about the CF360. If you have any questions, comment my YouTube video, or message me on there.

4/5

Pros: Cheap phone in terms of price, solid feeling while still being light-weight, a nice material on most of the phone that basically makes the need for a case unnecessary.

Cons: AT&T... not the best phone service, can't customize ring tones, camera isn't very good for video.

Overall, the CF360 makes a solid basic phone.

Game Review (The Beatles: Rock Band - 360)

Graphics: 4.5/5 The backgrounds and dreamscapes and the overall look of the band is really great. The dreamscapes are really vivid and colorful, and the members look a lot like themselves. My only real problem with any of this is when you use "Beatlemania", and the 'highway' turns yellow... it can make it difficult to play drums.

Sound: 4.5/5 TB:RB has a solid soundtrack, no doubt, with songs that are great to play, including "Back in the USSR", "Day Tripper", "Helter Skelter", "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Heart Club Band", and many more. However, I can't help but notice there are a number of songs that seem to be sort of random inclusions, while great songs like "Eleanor Rigby" and "Hey Jude" are left off disc, forcing anyone interested to pay separately.

Difficulty: 3.5/5 TB:RB isn't a very difficult game, and that was to be expected. There are some surprisingly tricky songs on guitar, and a few somewhat hard songs and sections on drums, but really, this game is what it was thought to be. I'm actually thankful there aren't random not-even-there notes added to the tracks to make them more difficult. *cough* Activision.

Fun: 4.25/5 The Beatles: Rock Band, while probably well worth the $60 just for the experience, might not actually be worth it in the long run. The setlist of 45 songs is mostly great, with a few downers in the set, but the majority of the songs are really fun to play and/or at least listen to, and the backgrounds are all really cool. The menus look good, and there are - I believe - never-before-seen videos and photos, which are unlocked by doing well on songs. If you are a huge, huge, HUGE Beatles fan, this will be an instapurchase with no regrets. However, if you are just a fan, you might soon might wonder why you thought buying this was a good idea. There will be DLC weekly, according to HMX, so that will give this game virtually endless replayability for anybody that gets it.

4.25/5

Pros: A good 85% of the setlist is enjoyable to play, graphics are very good, it's the Beatles.

Cons: Some of the songs added on-disc seem random, only 45 songs, it's the Beatles. This could be a con to anyone that <3's difficulty. :P

DLC Review ( Rock Band - Week of 8/25 )

I might just start doing this again when I feel like it... this week, Fleetwood Mac, Tom Petty, Billy Idol, and a new single from Jet were released. I only bought Tom Petty and Billy Idol, and these are my GUITAR and DRUM reviews for each song. (I will edit as I play the songs.)

-GUITAR-

"Mony, Mony": 3/5 Just genuinely not a fun song on guitar. There isn't much of it in the song, and you don't do much. It's alright, but I wasn't expecting this song to be real great fun anyway... on any instrument except for maybe the singer.

"Rebel Yell": 4.5/5 This was one of my favorites in Guitar Hero: World Tour, and I got it without hesitation - as with the other songs this week that I got. A great song that makes the guitarist feel involved, unlike "Mony, Mony". I really recommend this song.

"Won't Back Down": 4.25/5 It's a very easy song, I got an FC on my first attempt as with "Mony, Mony", but it's pretty fun... unlike "Mony, Mony". I love listening to this song, and I like playing it now, too.

"Runnin' Down a Dream": 4.75/5 Great song! Probably over-tiered, but this is easily my favorite song I bought this week. It's not only fun to play everything outside the solo, the solo is challenging and a lot of fun. Definitely worth the $2.

-DRUMS-

*Will review when I play on this instrument.*

DVD Review (The Simpsons: The Complete Twelfth Season)

It's been awhile. Season 12 is finally on DVD. I was skeptical, but after watching the season, I can say I was very pleasantly surprised.

---

[*] indicates a "Season Great/Epicsode"

Treehouse of Horror XI: 4/5

G-G-Ghost D-D-Dad: 4.25/5 Homer eats broccoli and dies. Homer is told to do one good deed before being accepted into heaven.
Scary Tales Can Come True: 3.75/5 Bart and Lisa are thrown into the woods by Homer and Marge with only a fairy tale book to guide them through.
Night of the Dolphin: 4.25/5 Dolphins get revenge on Springfield, and summon all humans to the sea so dolphins can live back on land.

A Tale of Two Springfields: 4.25/5

A new area code splits Springfield in two and Homer becomes mayor. The members of New Springfield aren't happy with what he's doing, and move to Olde Springfield, leaving only the Simpsons in the New Springfield. To combine the Springfields into one, Homer gets The Who to play in his half of the city.

Insane Clown Poppy: 3/5

Krusty meets his daughter, and is soon seen gambling. He gambles away his daughter's violin, and he and Homer try to get into Fat Tony's hideout to get the violin back.

Lisa the Tree Hugger: 3.5/5

Lisa stays in a large redwood tree that is threatened to get cut down. The stays up in it for a night of protest, but decides to leave. The next morning, the tree is struck by lightning and Lisa is presumed dead.

[*]Homer vs. Dignity: 4.5/5

Homer is paid large sums of money by Mr. Burns to embarrass himself, but changes his ways with a little encouragement from Lisa.
[Will review episodes as I watch.]

[*]The Computer Wore Menace Shoes: 4.5/5

Homer gets a new computer and decided to create his own website under the name Mr. X. His gossip and news site gets spread around really quick and is soon wanted by police. This is a really good episode in my opinion, but most of the ending is just sort of stupid in my opinion.

[*]The Great Money Caper: 4.75/5

Homer and Bart decide to grift after realizing their magic act wasn't working. They soon get "caught" and learn their lesson.

[*]Skinner's Sense of Snow: 5/5

The only school to be open during a massive snowday, the whole school gets snowed in, forcing Skinner to take charge. The students revolt, and Skinner gets serious. Meanwhile, Flanders and Homer attempt to free the school.

[*]HOMR: 5/5

Homer discovers he has a crayon in his brain and decides to have it removed. He becomes smarter but learns he was better off less intelligent. He has the crayon placed back in his brain.

Pokey Mom: 4.25/5

Marge takes in an ex-con who is a very talented artist. Meanwhile, Homer becomes a chiropractor and attempts to patent his own device.

[*]Worst Episode Ever: 4.5/5

After Comic Book Guy has a heart attack, Bart and Milhouse take over his store, Android's Dungeon. Bart and Milhouse soon discover a secret room with hidden tapes. Meanwhile, Comic Book Guy dates Agnes Skinner.

Tennis the Menace: 4.25/5

Marge and Homer decide to join a doubles tournament for tennis, but Marge dumps Homer for it. Homer then recruits Lisa. Homer and Lisa face Marge and Bart in the tournament, but they get replaced by professional tennis players.

Day of the Jackanapes: 4.25/5

Sideshow Bob gets back out of prison and decides to set up another scheme. This time, one that will kill both Bart and Krusty. This is probably my favorite Sideshow Bob episode, besides "Krusty Gets Busted"

[*]New Kids on the Blecch: 4.5/5

Bart, Nelson, Milhouse, and Ralph get recruited to be in a boy band called Party Posse. Lisa realizes that the music videos the guys star in is giving subliminal messages.

Hungry, Hungry Homer: 3.75/5

Homer protests the future possible movement of the Springfield Isotopes to Albuquerque by starving himself outside the stadium.
-Will review as I watch-

[*]Bye, Bye Nerdie: 4.5/5

Lisa discovers that sweat from nerds attracts bullyism. Meanwhile, Homer realizes how dangerous things can be in an everyday household for a baby.

Simpson Safari: 4/5

Homer wins a trip to Africa after winning one. While there, the Simpsons encounter a professor that makes monkeys dig for diamonds.

[*]Trilogy of Error: 4.75/5

Homer gets rushed to a hospital for a dismembered finger, Lisa needs to get to her school science fair, and Bart gets involved in a fireworks problem with Fat Tony. The whole episode follows the three parts to show how it all unfolds.

I'm Goin' to Praiseland: 4/5

Homer and Ned open a place called Praiseland in memory of Ned's deceased wife, Maude. Ned and Homer believe Maude's statue tells people what their lives will be like when they die.

[*]Children of a Lesser Clod: 4.75/5

Homer opens up a daycare service after Rod and Todd recommend it. Because of this, Bart and Lisa get jealous of the attention the kids are receiving from Homer, and come up with a plan to show everyone who Homer really is.

[*]Simpsons Tall Tales: 4.5/5

This episode features 3 tall tales - Paul Bunyan, Connie Appleseed, and Tom and Huck. While I didn't particularly care for Paul Bunyan, Tom and Huck was okay, and Connie Appleseed was very funny.

---

The Simpsons: The Complete Twelfth Season is one HELL of a season - completely underrated - and, in my opinion, better than seasons 11 and 10, and even 9 and 8. The bonus features are alright, as usual. 24 minutes of deleted scenes on the fourth disc, best Comic Book Guy moments from up until 2001, Butterfinger commercials and a Red Rooster one from 2000/2001, and a Simpsons Fanfest from 200...1 I think? And, as always, there is also commentary on every episode.

As far as the boxing is concerned, Season 12 is a bit better than eleven. The discs are easier to get out of the box, and the material sleeve that the discs go in is a little more scratch resistant. The Comic Book Guy head you see on the box, as with season eleven, can be taken off. There is only bit of that peely-glue stuff to take off.

Overall, as I said, this is a great season, and is probably my favorite season since season 7, or maybe 8... I'm probably one of VERY few to say this, but I just really thoroughly enjoyed most of this season. It started slow, but it really got going, and the Simpsons Tall Tales and Trilogy of Error episodes were a great little change. I really recommend this season.

4.5/5

Pros: Several awesome episodes, I counted 11 "epicsodes" out of 21 episodes... that is a really good ratio. Also some pretty cool bonus features.

Cons: The box, while slightly improved, is still pretty subpar. The first disc for the most part doesn't have very good episodes... that's really about it.



And now we wait for season 13...

My Wisdom Tooth Extraction Experience

The day was July 30th 2009 - extraction day. I walked into the dentist's office to sign in and my mom quickly found out that instead of our insurance covering 80% of the surgery, it would only cover about 50%. My mom was pretty pissed, and had to charge about $860 to her credit card. Then we sat in the waiting room, for about five to ten minutes... I forget, I was just really anxious. Then a woman came out with a "goody bag" as she called it, and handed it to my mom while explaining what was inside. After that, I was taken back, and laid in a chair. The same woman asked if I wanted laughing gas. I reluctantly said yes, and didn't mind it for a little while, until I started feeling a little awkward, at which point I took it off... I just didn't like the feeling. A few minutes later, the surgeon came in with the anesthesiologist. I got monitors put on my chest and index finger, and I started to feel a little more anxious. At that point, the surgeon asked me how I felt, and I replied, "I'm just a little anxious." he exclaimed that was completely normal, and he continued to work on the IV. He put the needle in my arm, which was barely a pinch, taped the needle down, and turned on the juice. I asked him, "Will I fall asleep in a few seconds?" and he said, "It will probably be more like a minute." I really don't remember a single thing after that. It was like they say everywhere - in what seemed like a blink, I woke up to a nurse putting lip balm on my lips saying they were chapped... then I remember a few other sketchy scenes. For instance, me attempting to stand up and nearly collapsing. I was given a wheelchair, and wheeled out to my car. From then on, I regained full conciousness.

On the way home, my mom stopped at CVS and picked up chocolate milk, vanilla ice cream, and root beer float ice cream, as well as put in my prescriptions, which included Amoxocillin (the antibiotic I used as a precaution to a possible infection) Vicodin, (a painkiller, of course) and Ibuprofen. (Which is mainly an anti-inflammatory, but it has some painkiller stuff in it. It's basic name is Motrin.) When I got home, my chin, bottom lip, and ears were all completely numb. It was difficult, but I managed to have ice cream and take my meds.

Currently, I'm laying in bed at 1:36 A.M. on day one. I feel alright, but my bottom right extraction area is not feeling too good. While the other three seem to be doing great, this one is having issues. First, when I look at it, it seems to be the only one that has a little hole - gasp - like a dry socket. It also continuously keeps bleeding, even if I use gauze... it doesn't seem to want to clot. I'll see what happens tomorrow, and if the blood doesn't clot and I keep bleeding, I'll likely have to go back to the dentist/surgeon... I don't know what they'll have to do - maybe stitch it or give me clove oil gauze - but I'm not expecting anything too bad. I think I've been through the worst part, and it really wasn't even all that bad. I was really anxious about the whole fact that I'd be asleep during the procedure, paranoid about not knowing what would happen, if I'd wake up, if I'd have an allergic reaction, all that nonsense. Well, everything went fine... so far.

A couple hours ago my surgeon called me on the phone, Dr. Schneider, and asked how I was doing. I said I was fine, (which I am, not really lying.) and he just said that while today may have been painful, tomorrow will be worse, and I'd only get better from then on. While this is true, that's only true if you DON'T have a dry socket... which I think I may... but it's too early to tell. I'll keep you updated.

4/17/13 Update: Yeah, it's been almost FOUR YEARS since I got my wisdom teeth out, but for anybody that reads this, I know how annoying it is to read an article or post that says "I'll keep you updated." and see no response. It's been a long time, but better WAYWAY late than never.

Basically, getting them out sucked, but it wasn't the worst thing ever. I couldn't completely open my jaw for about a week or so, and I was extremely cautious about what I ate, but the Vicodin helped with the pain considerably. I didn't get a dry socket like I was scared of getting, either. Basically, getting your wisdom teeth out can be a kind of scary experience, but a lot of the stress is taken out of the equation when you get put under. If you're scared of getting them out, don't be. I had teeth extracted when I was about ten years old because I had extra adult teeth, and I needed them out before getting braces -- I was awake for that, and while I was numb for awhile and in minor pain, I survived that too.

Hardware Review (Sony Vaio NW150J Laptop)

I got this laptop a couple days ago after realizing I had enough graduation money to get it, and read a lot of positive reviews. There are a few things about this laptop I dislike, but mostly, I'm pleased. First, it costs $799 at Best Buy, but you'll end up spending about $1000 if you get Anti-Virus, taxes, and a warranty. That's a decent deal for this thing, and it has a Blu-Ray player for the same price as a similar laptop by Sony. Here's the catch - that laptop was preloaded with Microsoft Office, but it didn't have a Blu-Ray player. The laptop screen itself is something like 720P, and the Blu-Ray discs look very good on it. One pretty big downfall is the fact that the audio/video sync gets screwed up every now and then. How do you fix it? Pause and play, or stop and play. Sort of annoying, but easy to fix.

The screen itself is, I believe, 15.5 inches, which is great for me. i just like a big screen on a laptop. The keyboard is probably the best I've ever used on a laptop. The keys are raised as if it were a desktop's keyboard, and it's much easier for me to type quick and efficiently.

The HDD is about 320GB, I forget the exact amount, and the RAM is a very nice 3.8 GB. While mostly everything about this laptop is great, there are a few flaws. The audio/video sync as I stated earlier is one thing, and the other two are as follows. First, the battery is SUPPOSED to last 5 hours according to the advertisement. It actually lasts a little over 2. Now THAT is serious false advertising. The BIGGEST flaw about this laptop, and the reason why I think this laptop was only $799, is the terrible video card. I went to systemrequirementslab.com and found out that I can't run very many new-age games because my videocard is just crap. The worst part? It is NOT replacable. Sony soldered the puppy in, so it's permanent. A definite bummer if you plan on using your laptop for games as I planned to. Guess I should have looked into it more.

Overall, the Sony Vaio NW150J/S laptop is pretty much ideal if you are business person. Weighs a little over 6 pounds, looks great, has a blu-ray player for potential trips to wherever, and it's a very reasonable price. I have only had it for maybe half a week, but so far, no problems, and a good amount of praise. Worth a look into.

4.5/5

Pros: Lots of RAM, big screen, nice looking, nice keyboard, Blu-Ray!

Cons: Terrible irreplaceable video card, false advertising about the battery which is pretty poor, audio/video sync is occasionally off on Blu-Ray movies.

???: I'll never get over this... why can't the video card be swapped!?

Game Review (Counter-Strike: Source - PC)

Graphics: 4.5/5 While it does vary depending on the map, (Whether it is user or Valve created) for the most part, the graphics look really good, especially since considering this game was released so long ago. They aren't mindblowing, but they are nice and sharp. A downfall is the lag that seems inevitable when there is a lot of stuff going on at once, or when there are several people on screen at once.

Sound: 3.5/5 Pretty average. The BOT dialogue is alright, but they really do just repeat themselves over and over again after a short while. The guns don't sound very good, either. Not terrible sound, but not award winning.

Control: 4/5 A classic PC FPS. WASD to look, mouse to move/strafe/shoot. Other letters on the keyboard also have different uses. Not much to say, but it really is nice to finally play a shooter away from the 360.

Fun: 4.25/5 CS:S is a fun game for a number of reasons. First off, although it doesn't really affect the fun factor at all, it is pretty inexpensive at $20. Secondly, there are a solid number of sites where you can download some new maps to play with other people and/or bots. There are SEVERAL great maps, including ones that emulate The Simpsons's own Springfield, a pool, office, et cetera. While the game takes some getting used to, (It is difficult to play online. Everyone seems to get insta-kills... look it up.) CS:S is a nice change from a console FPS. It is old, but now it is only twenty bucks, you can download it digitally, it has a fanbase that seems to be running VERY strong, and the gameplay is virtually endless with the number of free maps available. Definitely recommend this game.

4.25/5

Drink Review (WoW Game Fuel)

The Blue Stuff:

4.25/5

Really is pretty good. It has a color similar to voltage, it smells a lot like Pepsi Blue did, and it really does taste what I imagine Voltage, Super Nova, and Revolution would taste like if mixed. I'm pretty sure that's what this essentially is. Pretty good, but nothing really DIFFERENT.

The Orange Stuff

4.75/5

It's the good old Game Fuel! This is the same formula as the Halo 3 Game Fuel was that came out a couple years ago now. Has that great taste with the aftertaste of almost cotton candy. Mmm...

Looks like the Horde wins in this battle.

Game Review (MLB 2K9 - 360)

Graphics: 3/5 Just bland. Besides the jerseys and the stadiums from a distance, most everything else is pretty bad. A huge majority of the players look nothing like their real life countrrparts, whacky animation is a mainstay, and the little puffs of dirt that float around are a very small but annoying eye sore. The menus really do look nice - at least.

Sound: 3.5/5 Gary Thorne and Mr. Phillips do the commentary this time around, replacing John Miller and Joe Morgan. They do a good job, but as expected, repeat a lot of lines over-and-over again. The soundtrack features some good songs, but there aren't many. Not a terrible sounding game, but not spectacular.

Control: 3.5/5 Meh. I don't mind the pitching as much as some do, I actually like it. The hitting is okay too, but the fielding is buggy. You will likely find yourself running past balls that should automatically be picked up. Pretty buggy, but managable.

Fun: 3.75/5 Despite these issues, MLB 2K9 is playable. Errors that were fixed also created new ones, but for the most part, 2K Sports really seemed to just mask the issues of the game with a slicker looking interface. The menu is nice and inviting and the Live Rosters are cool, but the game some what does lack in gameplay. While not very good, it's the only option for a simulation baseball game on the 360 until next year. While the game is a bit glitchy, it often times doesn't really affect plays in the field. In short, if you disliked previous installments of 2K games, you won't like this. Otherwise, I - flame away - almost actually encourage you to try this game and decide for yourself.

3.75/5

Pros: Nice menus, great stats.
Cons: Buggy/glitchy, still an MLB 2K game.
?: What baseball game will we get next year?

Game Review (Battlefield: 1943 - XBLA)

Graphics: 4.75/5 While they are nothing short of phenomenal - and the best looking game on XBLA - there are a few issues. Occasionally black bars will pop up and flash aroud on screen, and Ive also experienced some in-game freezes every couple games. Other than that though, very impressive. The graphics just about rival that of an Xbox 360 disc.

Sound: 4.5/5 Also very nice. The best part no doubt is when you hear a plane fly by overhead, although the tanks andmost everything else also sound very nice. Again, I should remind you this is an arcade game.

Control: 4.25/5 Like Call of Duty with a few subtle differences and button switches. You can't prone in this game, sadly, which is a shame for you snipers out there. Also, the weapon switching and grenade throwing may take a little bit of time to get 100% used to, but overall, managable.

Fun: 4.5/5 Battlefield: 1943 is just one hell of an Xbox LIVE "Arcade" title. Great graphics, surprising depth, and addictability... is that a word?However, the game isn't perfect. Being that it does cost 1200 MSP, and not 4800 MSP (Which would be the price equivalent of the average Xbox 360 disc.) you only get 3 maps, which are all great, don't exactly differ drastically. A fourth map is promised if XBL kills exceed 53 million, but it is Dogfight only. I.E., planes only. Nevertheless, the fact that you don't need to put anything in your disc tray to play this game is pretty cool, and the game itself is just fun, but not perfect. The game gets glitchy here and there, the hit detection isn't perfect, there are only three classes, (Rifleman, Infantryman, Scout) and the "in-depth stats" don't even display deaths or kill-death ratio. Despite these minor flaws, Battlefield: 1943 is a virtual must-have for FPS fans and XBLA fans alike. We can now only hope we get more maps for this game in the near future to keep it fresh, and hope we can have more games like this on the Arcade.

4.25/5

Pros: Only $15/1200 MSP, looks great, pretty addictive.
Cons: Not a LOT of depth, online only, how long will it last?

Game Review ( Guitar Hero: Smash Hits - 360 )

Graphics: 4/5 Do you remember what Guitar Hero World Tour looked like? Yeah - this game looks like that. Pretty decent, but what stands out are the venues that once again look very cool.

Sound and Control: Pointless to review, it's a Guitar Hero game.

Fun: 3.5/5 Guitar Hero Smash Hits (GH:SH) is a game you'd expect from Activision, who is basically milking this franchise for all it's worth. The soundtrack isn't spectacular, seeing as how a number of the songs are already in Rock Band on disc or as DLC, or are just terrible choices. Through the Fire and Flames is probably the most annoying song in the game for the simple fact that I had to play it enough on Guitar Hero 3 online with 7 year olde trying to play it on Expert. Overall, GH:SH just isn't a game you'll be playing for a long time at all. While it is cool to finally strum throgh a master track of "Free Bird", or push your vocal chords to the extreme on "Killer Queen", 48 songs for 60 dollars just isn't worth it, especially since - as I stated a few sentenced back - Rock Band already has a decent number of these songs. Smash Hits is an okay game, but it's no Rock Band - or even Guitar Hero: Metallica, for that matter.

3.5/5

Pros: All masters!
Cons: Not the greatest setlist, not many songs, Activi$ion milking the franchise cow.

Gun Review ( M82 Double Eagle )

Price: $30-$40
Where: Amazon and other online retailers.
Sucks for: Marc Fennell
Because: He can't have one

I got this gun from Amazon.com and got it a few days later only paying a little bit for shipping. Out of the box I wasn't expecting anything unexpected - I had seen unboxings and reviews on YouTube. Basically, you get the gun, which looks great, has some weight to it, (only because concrete or metal was added for the "realistic effect") and feels nice, and a bunch of other litle things. First, you get a suppresor/silencer that doesn't do anything for quieting the gun itself, but enhancing how the gun looks in my opinion. Then you have the ACOG scope which really is crap. While it also enhances the appearance, like any of the other attatchments, to try and actually use it would be stupid. Another thing you get is a flash light that is actually pretty cool. People have complained in reviews about leaky batteries but O haven't had a problem with that, and the light is just bright and functions pretty well. Another attachment is the grip, which is all plastic. It doesn't do anything either, since the gun has no recoil to begin with obviously, but it's more comfortable to hold than the jagged rail without attachments on it. Finally, the last extra you get, and byfar the worst, is the laser. Why is this? For one thing, you basically have to build and put it on your gun yourself, which takes about a half hour, just to find out that it doesn't even work, and the "instructions" are pigeon English no one could ever understand. Pretty crappy.

Anyway, more about the guns visuals. The M82 is a take on a 552 Commando, and looks a lot like it, and is a 1:1 scale. There is also a foldable stock. I don't know what good that is because I'm a BB gun n00b, but I'll assume it's for storage. The clip you get with this gun is basically crap. It works fine, but it holds an abysmal 30-35 rounds, which is basically an F on an Airsoft gun's mag capacity report card unless it's a sniper or pistol. You will definitely want to buy a few spare clips, which cost only $5-$10 each. The battery you get to charge this thing is sort of also a pain. It's pretty fragile, and it's moderately frustrating trying to get it out of its covering. It also takes about 2-3 hours to charge and lasts for a good while.

Now, how the gun performs. I charged this up and took it outisde not expecting much. I shot a few rounds, I came to a quick conclusion that this gun has very inconsistent accuracy. Was I surprised? Of course not. After all, so paid only $35 for this thing. As I explained earlier, the clip empties in seconds, and can take up to about two minutes to reload. You get a "speed loader" with the gun, but it's like loading up a Civil War style musket, and it still takes a little while, which leads me to remind you wain that you should get an extra mag or two or three if you get this gun. There is also a hop-up feature as well as normal on this gun, but I saw virtually no difference between the two, so I peace mine on normal. Speaking of features, there is a safe, single shot automatic, and full automatic feature on this gun. Now while talking about SHOOTING the gun, let me tell you about the BB's you get with this gun - complete crap. I'm not sure if they are .12 or .20, but they break if you hit anything thats not somewhat cushy, I.E. a human or a couch. I managed to split a BB in half Davy Crockett style when I shot at a candle holder thing.

After this long review of M82 Double Eale bashing, I close by saying that this gun is well worth a purchase for first time buyers of an automatic airsoft gun, or someone who wants a decent gun for backyard wars. It's cheap in price, not all-too cheap in quality, looks really cool, and could easily be used as a prop in a video if you do that sort of thing. I haven't used the Double Eagle M83 or M85, but I know they look like an M4/M16 and G36C respectively. If you want any more info send me a message on XBL. My tag is in the right column.

4.25/5

Pros: Looks great, feels nice, cool attachments FTMP, cheap in price.
Cons: The attachments really are all useless, it's all plastic, won't last a long time most likely.

Other information: Uses 6mm BB's, .20g recommended, 240-260 FPS.

Food Review ( Wendy's Buffalo, Asian, and BBQ boneless wings )

They had these awhile back and I am GLAD it has made its return.

Buffalo: 4.75/5 Mmm. Delicious. Add a little blue cheese and you'd think you were at a sit-in restaurant. Very tasty, although I don't recommend taking a whiff of them. It will clear your sinuses big time.

Honey BBQ: 4/5 Not the best flavor of sauce, and there was almost a milky after taste. Definitely my least favorite, but still pretty good.

Asian: 4.75/5 One tasty meal. The sweet and spicy combo makes this one the best of the three - slightly better than the buffalo. If you get any, and can take a LITTLE heat, this is the one you should go with.

It sucks that these are limited time only, but hey, maybe they'll become a mainstay like the Volcano Taco at Taco Bell. (Crying shame Taco Bell discontinued the Spicy Chicken Burrito.)

Food Review ( Taco Bell's Cheesy Potato Bacon Burrito )

Taco Bell has come out with yet another limited time item - this time around, there's BACON! Today I got this burrito after seeing a commercial for it yesterday. I must say, I wasn't impressed. For one thing, the burrito tasted like it was VERY salty. Also, there wasn't much bacon to be tasted. The texture overall wasn't very pleasent, either. It seemed as if the bacon kept getting stuck in my tonsils. Basically, it's a shame this burrito turned out the way it did. I once thought bacon made virtually everything better... I may have to rethink that.

3.25/5

Pros: Bacon...!, different.
Cons: The bacon isn't great, the flavor is that of mostly saltiness.

I would probably not buy this again. However, I would recommend at least TRYING it. It's cheap, and worlds different than the traditional Taco Bell flavor.

Game Review ( NPPL Paintball 2009 - 360 )

Graphics: 2.75/5 The environments look okay and the bunkers look nice, but everything else is sad, including the character movements and MOSTLY the lag. The game slows down constantly in single player, especially so when you are sprinting across the field. Also, players pixelate and disappear after being shot, and the shadows are also pixelated and bizarre.

Sound: 2/5 The paintball guns shooting and splatting is all very satisfying, but hearing the same few lines repeated constantly, and the same few songs loop constantly just gets annoying in minutes.

Control: 3/5 The shooting of the paintball gun is very realistic and cool, but everything else is quite a failure. Your guy often won't prone when you want, it's difficult to sprint and turn, and the crosshairs turns very strangely.

Fun: 2.5/5 NPPL is just flawed. Very, very flawed. The Career Mode forces you to play 30+ tournaments on 30+ different maps, but you'll get bored and feel the redundancy in about a half hour. Unlocking stuff is cool, but a lot or it is just for show and doesn't really do anything. Speaking of not doing anything, let's look at the AI! Even on the "hardest difficulty", you can simply ditch the "precise tactics" of a realistic paintball experience and bum rush the A-holes, and it almost always works. There are also "skill points" you can buy for your teammates, and you can set-up a "pre-game plan", but none of that is even worth the time, because the game is just SO damn easy. NPPL PAINball should be the name of this game because it really will be just that - a pain - tryin to finish this 6-hour-got-boring-in-a-half-hour career. I don't even think the most hardcore of paintball fans will be playing this game for long. Simply put - not good.

2.5/5