Alan Wake

Alan one of the most anticipated games of 2010 came up short of my expectations in many areas. The game play where you wear down the enemies shield of darkness with flashlight sounds cool in theory, but in practices ends up making the game way easier and less intuitive. Also, about half way through the game it starts throwing items from the landscape at you. This makes me wonder if they just ran out of ideas for enemies. The AI is also does not progress throughout the game it is more or less wave after wave of the same enemies over and over again just with new weapons or more of them, and you may not even notice the change in weapons as they come go so fast. The difference between enemies can pretty much be separated into 4 or 5 types of enemies all with the same way to kill them, though. This is a good example of why game play is so important in a game.
Then there’s the story that is pretty much ripped right off the screen of a mid 90’s movie called Darkness Fall’s, which was a fantastic little under the radar horror film. The story differs in minor areas that really don’t make it seem all that different. Then we have the useless characters that are there mostly just to make the game last longer, like Barry your agent who shows up very early and guides through the game (could/should have been used to make the game have a co-po mode); as well as the sheriff and a few others you meet along the way.

Now where the game really shines is the little things. The actual story that Alan has written is smart and intriguing and personally I hate mystery; which the game isn’t, you know from the very beginning who the bad guy is. Also, the Night Springs TV show on all the TVs that you come across. There’s other small things that take away from the game: the coffee cans that they want you to collect that are all over the place. As well as shooting down the towers of can, I think this was thrown because one of creators, if I dare call them that, liked that carnival game a little too much.
One of the high lights of the game was the music. You actually come across a band called the Veizgothis in the game; they’re kinda over the top but cool. The music style is a kind of American folk rock that actually is one of the few things that make you want to play the game. This is pretty much the only reason I gave the game a C, because of the music if it hadn’t been there it probably would have gotten a C- or a D+.

Call of Duty: Black Ops. Does it really deserve all this hype?

No, number one it’s not even the real Call of Duty, because infinity Ward is not making it. Also, since when is the multiplayer definitive. Yes, they add kill streak to gaming. Yes they’re awesome and cool, but they’re not a game maker in the least. The multiplayer in the Modern Warfare 2 is one of the glichiest games on the market. When I empty a clip into a guy at point blank range and they turn around and knife me it does nothing but piss me off. Don't come back and say well your connection must suck, because whenever I quite out of game the game has to change host before I can leave. In turn it means I’m hosting, which should mean I have the best connection. Class customization was first scene in Battle Field: 2142 I believe, which came out Oct. 17 2006. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 1 came out Nov. 5 2007, just over a year later. Also, the fact that they force you to use their party system ticks me off, because I really don't enjoy 10-15 year old talking trashing when they’re on the bottom of the score charts. I like being able to talk to friends that may not be playing the same game or watching Netflix. Then, there’s this stupid prestige system that supposed to make you look cooler I guess. Really, what it tells you is you need to get up and move. Plus, the ranking system is second rate. Battle Field’s, where you upgrade the class you're playing with, is much more innovative in my opinion.



Ad for new mutliplayer tailer on the Xbox 360

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h_fsM6LBi54 This is the actual trailer on You tube


This Trailer was put out sometime this week and frankly I see a lack of originality. It looks the same as Modern Warfare except for a graphic upgrade, which are never a bad a thing. But the smiley face in the hallow site is kinda stupid. I would rather just have cross hairs. I understand that this a custom thing, you're going to be able to chose what it shown. I feel there are bigger fish to fry then letting you put a smiley in the Hallow site. There’s a scene in the trailer where it shows a remote control car with a bomb on it. Which I think is probably the dumbest kill streak I've seen yet. The beta for Medal Of Honor had a new kill streak system where you could chose between an attack reward or intel reward and it made the game more innovative. Grant you, you couldn't customize your kill streak chain but it worked very well in my opine, but its hasn't been released yet so the have it in the full game. DICE the same people that made Battle Field is doing the multiplayer for Medal of Honor. Plus with HALO: Reach and Medal of Honor coming out I see now reason to support Activision trying to pump money out of a series that should have died with Infinity Ward.