Over the past week, I've been playing quite a bit of the third and final game of the Gears of War trilogy. It's a great game and the pros totally outdo the cons, but I just wanted to talk about what I love about the multiplayer and what I wouldn't of minded having left out. Keep in mind that this isn't a review, it's just a few things that I took notice of during my playtime. A review will be coming later.
Pros:
-The new look - The graphics looks better than ever, and that's really all there is to say.
-Team Deathmatch - I'm very glad that they brought in a game mode like this. It isn't execution, where you have to wait to respond until the round is over. If you're interested in just killing the opposite team and hate the wait of each round duration in Execution, then play this mode. It's very fun and oh so addicting.
-The multiplayer maps - There is no dud. Each map has it's fun elements and don't make you dread having to play some of them. Gears of War and Gears of War 2 had there bad maps. In Gears of War 3, their are no environmental hazards to worry about such as in Gears 2's Hail. The only map that I don't entirely enjoy is Overpass. Still, I don't entirely hate any of the maps like I did some in the other Gears of War games.
-The weapons - There are some great new weapons that they included into this game, such as the oneshot, the digger, and the retro lancer. Also, they added new incendiary grenades, which are very cool to kill the other team with. All these new weapons are fun to use and add some new strategy when approaching the opponents who have them.
-The dedicated servers - Host power has finally ceased to exist. The new dedicated servers are up and going and give everybody a fair chance at killing their opponents. This was definitely what go me the most excited for the game's multiplayer.
Cons:
-The sawed-off shotgun - This pretty much ruined the short-range gameplay of Gears of War 3. For people who played Gears of War 2 like me will hate this new shotgun. They should've just stuck with the gnasher, which is the shotgun used in the previous games. I am finding myself using the sawed-off just because I don't stand a chance against somebody who has the sawed-off while I'm using the gnasher. Epic Games needed to stick to their roots and should not of included this new shotgun.
-Execution - The game mode of Execution is now only three rounds. What happened to five? Why did they change it? Those are the questions that I'm still asking today. Execution was the best in Gears of War 2, but I now find myself not playing it because it doesn't last long enough. It's very frustrating and you can only hope that they'll change it later on. If they were to change it back to five, I would definitely start playing it. But for now, I'm sticking with Team Deathmatch.
My favorite multiplayer maps out of the ten:
-Sandbar
-Gridlock (from Gears of War and Gears of War 2, but updated and altered to nighttime)
-Hotel
-Mercy
-Old Town (my favorite from the Gears of War 3 beta)
Gears of War 3 is probably still my favorite out of the three, but the two cons I noted definitely damper the time I spend playing it. I love the game, and it will definitely be one of the best that come out this year. It is the best game that has come out so far this year, but we'll see if it ends up being the best by the year's end, after Modern Warfare 3, Battlefield 3, and other shooters are released this fall. For now, it's back to shooting some locust monsters.
Sunday, September 25, 2011
Sunday, September 18, 2011
The Wait for Gears of War 3 is Almost Over
The wait is finally over. Gears of War 3, the last in the Gears trilogy and one of this year's most anticipated game, is being released this coming Tuesday (9/20). After being postponed twice, once from last Fall to this past Spring, and a second time to this Fall, will the game live up to the hype? It had a playable beta released back in June and people seemed to enjoy it. Were the bugs fixed, additions made, and will the campaign give the people who have been following the Gears series a satisfying ending to the trilogy? Only time will tell. So far, the reviews for the game have been very positive. Let's hope the population who buy the game feel the same way when they get their hands on it this Tuesday. I'm looking forward to it as I have been ever since it was announced.
With a new campaign featuring four player co-op, new multiplayer maps/game modes, an upgraded Horde mode, and Beast Mode, new to the Gears of War series, this game has no reason to not be the best Gears of War in the series. I can't wait to try it out and I'm sure many others can't as well. A review of the game will most likely be forthcoming from me within the next week or two. Until then, enjoy the game when it's released on Tuesday.
For more information on Gears of War 3, go to http://gearsofwar.xbox.com/en-US/.
For a professional review, go to http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/119/1194638p1.html.
With a new campaign featuring four player co-op, new multiplayer maps/game modes, an upgraded Horde mode, and Beast Mode, new to the Gears of War series, this game has no reason to not be the best Gears of War in the series. I can't wait to try it out and I'm sure many others can't as well. A review of the game will most likely be forthcoming from me within the next week or two. Until then, enjoy the game when it's released on Tuesday.
For more information on Gears of War 3, go to http://gearsofwar.xbox.com/en-US/.
For a professional review, go to http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/119/1194638p1.html.
Monday, September 12, 2011
Dead Island - Game Review/Information
Dead Island, the new video game by Techland, developers of the Call of Juarez series, was released this past Tuesday for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and Microsoft Windows. I picked it up over the weekend for Xbox 360 and have put several hours into it. I haven't even scratched the surface when looking at overall game completion. Zombie Island is at core, a zombie's game such as Left 4 dead, but also includes RPG elements found in games such as Borderlands. It has a skill tree that includes upgrades for your character as you rank up and includes weapon customizations. There's an inventory menu, that has a select amount of weapons you can carry. As you play, you can unlock more inventory slots. It's an open world game, which means you're free to explore the area you're currently at while going on several quests; some are side quests while the others are main quests, meant for the story. I've only played through the first act, but after the first one, I was sent into a different area, that had a new map to explore just as large as the first one. So, I'm assuming that after each act, your character will be thrown into another map that needs to be fully explored, each one as massive as the previous. There are four acts total. Lastly, there are four characters for you to try out, each one with different specialties and skills.
Overall, the game is a lot of fun to play. The fighting is enjoyable and fast-paced, and each the graphics are pretty strong. There are different types of enemies, each one with their strengths and weaknesses, which makes you change up your approaches/strategies for each of them. Also, the game's length is very solid. You'll be getting your money's worth with the purchase. I've played for a total of about six hours, and I'm only approximately 30 percent done with the main story progress. Of course you can only focus on the main quests and get it done at a much quicker pace, but you'll be missing out. The game's all about exploring the various areas, trying out each quest, including the side ones, and raking your character up. This will take you a while. On another note, there are 140 collectibles to find, so if you're one who like fully completing their games, finding each of these will keep you going as well. Also, you might want to go back and try the other characters out. So, overall, you're looking at a game that could take you 20 plus hours to get full satisfaction with, which is great. The main and really only complaint I have is repetitiveness. Each quest asks you to go pick up something for somebody because of a certain reason. There are multiple side quests that you don't feel like doing because they get boring. Still, the story quests are fun and at least you aren't stuck in the same area for the entire game. Like I said earlier, I'm quite sure that there are four full maps to check out, one per act, each very large. The thing that keeps you motivated to complete quests, both side and story ones, is ranking up. You want to rank up your character and become stronger in various aspects. The skill tree is split up into three categories (Fury, Combat, and Survival). Fury includes upgrades for your special ability, which allows you to kill enemies in a cool way. Combat includes upgrades for weapons, which allows them to become more effective and stronger in combat. Lastly, Survival includes upgrades for you health. It also includes upgrades that allow you to do things such as pick locks. These make you want to upgrade your character and try out each skill, which is awesome. The only bad thing is you won't be able to level up to a level where all upgrades can be achieved. Your level is maxed out at 50, which will leave you short of about half of the total available upgrades. Level 99 would have to be able to be changed to the max level in order for all upgrades to be achieved/maxed out. Hopefully an update will be released that will allow you to rank up further and max out all of the skills or at least reset your skills. That's another issue; once you buy a skill, it's permanent. We'll have to wait and see if these minor issues are ever fixed in the future.
Dead Island's first DLC (downloadable content) pack will be released later this month. The pack will be called Bloodbath Arena. It will include four new maps and a new weapon called "The Ripper". More information on this will most likely be coming in the near-future.
For a professional review of Dead Island or for more information on the game itself, see http://xbox360.ign.com/objects/955/955540.html.
For the emotional, heart-shattering, announcement trailer, see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lZqrG1bdGtg.
Overall, the game is a lot of fun to play. The fighting is enjoyable and fast-paced, and each the graphics are pretty strong. There are different types of enemies, each one with their strengths and weaknesses, which makes you change up your approaches/strategies for each of them. Also, the game's length is very solid. You'll be getting your money's worth with the purchase. I've played for a total of about six hours, and I'm only approximately 30 percent done with the main story progress. Of course you can only focus on the main quests and get it done at a much quicker pace, but you'll be missing out. The game's all about exploring the various areas, trying out each quest, including the side ones, and raking your character up. This will take you a while. On another note, there are 140 collectibles to find, so if you're one who like fully completing their games, finding each of these will keep you going as well. Also, you might want to go back and try the other characters out. So, overall, you're looking at a game that could take you 20 plus hours to get full satisfaction with, which is great. The main and really only complaint I have is repetitiveness. Each quest asks you to go pick up something for somebody because of a certain reason. There are multiple side quests that you don't feel like doing because they get boring. Still, the story quests are fun and at least you aren't stuck in the same area for the entire game. Like I said earlier, I'm quite sure that there are four full maps to check out, one per act, each very large. The thing that keeps you motivated to complete quests, both side and story ones, is ranking up. You want to rank up your character and become stronger in various aspects. The skill tree is split up into three categories (Fury, Combat, and Survival). Fury includes upgrades for your special ability, which allows you to kill enemies in a cool way. Combat includes upgrades for weapons, which allows them to become more effective and stronger in combat. Lastly, Survival includes upgrades for you health. It also includes upgrades that allow you to do things such as pick locks. These make you want to upgrade your character and try out each skill, which is awesome. The only bad thing is you won't be able to level up to a level where all upgrades can be achieved. Your level is maxed out at 50, which will leave you short of about half of the total available upgrades. Level 99 would have to be able to be changed to the max level in order for all upgrades to be achieved/maxed out. Hopefully an update will be released that will allow you to rank up further and max out all of the skills or at least reset your skills. That's another issue; once you buy a skill, it's permanent. We'll have to wait and see if these minor issues are ever fixed in the future.
Dead Island's first DLC (downloadable content) pack will be released later this month. The pack will be called Bloodbath Arena. It will include four new maps and a new weapon called "The Ripper". More information on this will most likely be coming in the near-future.
For a professional review of Dead Island or for more information on the game itself, see http://xbox360.ign.com/objects/955/955540.html.
For the emotional, heart-shattering, announcement trailer, see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lZqrG1bdGtg.
Saturday, September 3, 2011
Modern Warfare 3 Finds New Competitive Multiplayer Elements
Recently it was announced that Modern Warfare 3, the new Call of Duty experience coming from Infinity Ward/Sledgehammer Games, is including some cool new features to the game. If you're familiar with the series' multiplayer, you know about how the system works. You rank up as you play and unlocks come with that, including new guns, perks, etc. There are also killstreaks that you can unlock as well.
With that said, it has recently been stated from Infinity Ward that Modern Warfare 3 will include gun proficiency levels. This will allow your favorite gun in the game to become more effective as you use it. It infers that the recoil of each gun you use will become less of an issue as the accuracy for the weapons will increase. This will also mean that the power of the bullets will increase. Overall, the weapons will become more efficient as you them.
The killstreak rewards will also come with different elements. Instead of killstreaks, they will be more like pointstreaks, which means assists will help you reach each killstreak reward as well as the kills that you get. This is pretty cool considering assists will now actually help you reach these rewards. Also, the killstreaks will be separted into distinct classes (Assault, Support, and Specialist), which will allow you to customize these rewards according to your playing style.
The game is being released on November 8 of this year. These are some new features that have been announced and more will probably be revealed when the game comes out. New perks are sure to be in the mix as well. So, overall, it looks like this new Call of Duty may have some new elements in the mix that may make your decision easier to pick it up when it's released this fall.
For more information, see http://geek.pikimal.com/2011/09/03/call-of-duty-xp-hands-on-with-modern-warfare-3/.
With that said, it has recently been stated from Infinity Ward that Modern Warfare 3 will include gun proficiency levels. This will allow your favorite gun in the game to become more effective as you use it. It infers that the recoil of each gun you use will become less of an issue as the accuracy for the weapons will increase. This will also mean that the power of the bullets will increase. Overall, the weapons will become more efficient as you them.
The killstreak rewards will also come with different elements. Instead of killstreaks, they will be more like pointstreaks, which means assists will help you reach each killstreak reward as well as the kills that you get. This is pretty cool considering assists will now actually help you reach these rewards. Also, the killstreaks will be separted into distinct classes (Assault, Support, and Specialist), which will allow you to customize these rewards according to your playing style.
The game is being released on November 8 of this year. These are some new features that have been announced and more will probably be revealed when the game comes out. New perks are sure to be in the mix as well. So, overall, it looks like this new Call of Duty may have some new elements in the mix that may make your decision easier to pick it up when it's released this fall.
For more information, see http://geek.pikimal.com/2011/09/03/call-of-duty-xp-hands-on-with-modern-warfare-3/.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)