Battlefield Hardline Review - Worth a Buy?

OST: Scantum

"it's like I'm drifting with the river of souls....
where they all drift to their final resting place...
into the limitless void of the unknown..."

One of the things i love is listening to OST of several games. Today i just discovered one from the game called Sanctum by Coffee Stain Studios. 

So yeah, if you like OST give this music a try and its free to listen to here.

Article: MW3 vs. BF3 in comparison

Before I’d say anything, I would mind the readers that I have played both games & reviewed them and this is my personal views so a little respect if you will.

Fellow gamers asked me about the two games for comparison. Hearing heated arguments all over the net regarding both titles in which has created a subject of both battling out on who’s owning who.

Usual fanboys & trolls emerge from both ends and firing one another.

This has draw to my attention and to give my two cents to clarify things from my end before I pull most of my hairs from my head.

“MW3 vs. BF3?”

First thing came in my mind was “really?”

On the outside it’s pretty much looked the same yes but I don’t think both games are up to call it “vs.” in general.

For those who asks which one to pick, well its pretty much depends on what do you want to get out of single player, co-op and multiplayer.

Single player:

I would have to give it MW3. I’ve been following the series since the first one and they have compelled me to follow the back story. On the BF however, it wasn’t interesting and the voice acting were obviously too scripted than believable, visually pretty but got me deprived a lot faster from having glitches, restrictive paths, pointless missions and uninteresting “linear” storyline believing it to be the next MW.

Co-op:

I would say that they are both fun but different whereas in MW3 you pretty much do the same thing, short ones but intense & fast modes. In BF3 however, has a plain & direct approach in addition that you can blast buildings & some missions include riding vehicles.

Multiplayer:

In BF3 it’s also straight forward with few game modes but comes in different maps and sizes & that's where the game shines. Massive maps which gives vehicles space to roam, squad based gameplay which encourages you to do your part in a team in order to gain points & high number of players that can join in a single map. On MW3, it has plenty of modes (where is “Kill confirmed” mode is now my most favorite of them all), perks to assign; fast phased gameplay and you can almost play solo to gain points.

Which one I pick?

I personally go for BF3 even though I gave it a lower score from MW3. Why you say? Well the obvious battlelog interface was a total joke, I mean opening a browser just to get in a game was one big F*****g hassle. I have to reconnect many times just to get in a game. However once I get in, it all pays off by being productive to teammates and have fun and maybe make new friends along the way depending on how well i work with a war buddy.

MW3 however is so MW to me, not that there’s anything wrong with it but my hype wears off just a little too quick. It has awesome co-op & single player but when it goes down to multiplayer it just feels old like another SSDD (Same S**t Different Day) for me like having too much sugar. Innovation is essential but I didn’t see many changes in hoping that it will greatly encourage team play.

So yeah, I’d rather go out there and help somebody and have a good time with my squadmates/teammates rather than going solo and do a couple of no scope head shot with a sniper rifle, been there, done that.

Conclusion:

There’s no need to fight between the two when it’s clearly obvious (especially on multiplayer mode) that they’re different. It all depends on how you want to play a game out of your personal satisfaction. At the end of the day we all go home happily that we played our selected games.

But I wonder what it would be like to see a game called MW vs. BF… I’d say MWs foot soldiers will dominate from their perk drugs (damn them high!)…go figure

So game on and I’ll see you in the battlefield (MW3 & BF3 alike).

Review: Battlefield 3

Developer(s)                 EA Digital Illusions CE

Publisher(s)                 EA & SEGA (Japan)

Platform(s)                   PC, PS3, XBOX 360 & iOS

Release date                 October 2011

Genre(s)                       First-person Shooter

Mode(s)                        Single Player & Multiplayer

Rating(s)                      ESRB: M, PEGI: 16

                                                                                  So this is the battlelog

When I played Bad Company 2 on multiplayer I was stoked to see how different and fun it was compared to my COD gaming experiences. It was all about teamwork, huge maps, vehicles & blowing up buildings. I was also having fun being the medic by reviving teammates to fight forward. After sometime EA announced BF3 and made so many promises to the fan and beyond. However, did they kept their promises intact or not here’s my say in this review.

Presentation:

After EA left from Steams’ service they have formed a similar program called Origin where it gathers mostly EA games at the moment. As soon as you click on the game it will divert you to open an internet browser in order to open the games’ menu called “Battlelog”. It was something new but a lot of people I know disapproved the system & that includes me. It was more of a senseless hassle since the Alpha trial. Loading takes so long and sometimes a multiplayer won’t even start no matter how much I tried to connect. It is actually broken. The interface is truly ambitious however identifying so many unpleasant encounters before starting a game isn’t a nice presentation. On the Campaign mode, my first impression was it felt like that game called Heavy Rain which has so many quick time events (QTE) whereas you need to press certain buttons to react. I never expected to describe the dullness I had, restrictive to the point that you can’t move ahead of the NPC to go to the next step and also the game prevents you for being creative on how you approach your targets which led me to encounter a few game breaking bug such as where I can’t advance because there’s an invisible wall on the door. I did not expect a game breaking bug from a game that comes from one of the top gaming companies in the world. However, despite of all of my frustrations on the game, I had a blast playing on multiplayer as soon I got in the game.

Graphics:

It’s one of the best looking out there. The frostbite engine did so well that I can see objects from afar and knowing me that I don’t do sniping that much since HALO REACH but this really encouraged me to do so which is great. Some little touches like the bullet holes on the wall after shooting a couple of bullets on the wall including bloodstains after popping fleshes against the wall. Lighting & water effects are amazing smokes and dusts are believable & physics engine is excellent. So props to that.

Gameplay:

It felt much like its predecessor but with bigger maps, planes & bigger player capacity on multiplayer. One of the new controls is that you can now prone, this is best way to prevent enemy detections especially from snipers; also you can jump though obstacles without worrying to move around it. The single player mode is basically crappy just like how I describe it. However, the multiplayer is where it shines best. There are four classes and they are the Assault, Support, Engineer & Sniper. Squad based at its best and now the assault class has supported healing tools. The one who’s now carrying ammos is the Support and the sniper & engineers are pretty much the same. With huge maps, variety of vehicles there’s so much possibilities that can happen and knowing that I personally prefer team/squad based where I can enjoy the game with other people and make friends.

Audio:

I personally liked the OST of this one compared to MW3s, gunfire from a distance also gave me the feel that I’m somehow in a battlefield just don’t mind the voice acting, they sound pretty much stiff.

Overall:

This used to be one of my most anticipated games of this year. I had high hopes for it to the point that it can par up the hype against MW3. But in the end I felt that it was rushed but none the less, despite its uninteresting and boring single player, buggy game and frustrating Battlelog interface, the multiplayer makes it up fairly well. This game is for the fans of the franchise, for the ones who like to play with other people as a team and make friends; a game for pilots, troopers and drivers all in a huge battlefield. But if you prefer to be a lone soldier or expecting an epic Single player experience, I don’t think the game can promise you much. I personally think that it’s not a good pre-ordered game but you can wait for a couple of months for a price drop then I can say it’s a good buy.

Score             8

Pro(s)

Cooperative multiplayer experience

Massive maps

Graphically amazing

Con(s)

Battlelog is a joke

Glitchy Single player mode

Frustrating single player experience

Take so long to load any game modes

Plenty of bugs it felt like a rushed product

Review: Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3

Developer(s)                 Infinity Ward & Sledgehammer Games

Publisher(s)                 Activision & Square Enix (Japan)

Platform(s)                   PC, XBOX 360, PS3 & Wii (in retail & steam)

Release date                 November 8, 2011

Genre(s)                       First-person Shooter

Mode(s)                         Single Player & Multiplayer

Rating(s)                      ESRB: M, PEGI: 18

                                          Oh yes indeed, lets! 

Since the first modern warfare, i’ve been into the story. Price & Soap from Task Force 141 has become one of the key characters in the game for me. At first MW I was so curious on how Soap would look like and wonder if there’s any sequel to it. After a few years MW2 came out gave me another rollercoaster ride and left me with another clifhanger. For me it was all about the campaign, its modern FPS setting & how it leaves me with a lot of WTF moments. However, the other half of what MW is all about is the addicting Multiplayer. Here we are at the third installment & finally got to see the sequel. But before i start, I need to make it clear that this review is based on my personal views and at least should keep it that way.

Presentation:

When someone ask me about my opinion on the game I quickly answer that “it’s so MW”, not that there’s wrong with it or broken. It’s the hype and feel of the game that keeps me going till I finish it in almost one sitting (but this time I actually finished the campaign in one sitting). It’s like watching a hit action movie and I can’t leave it for a minute. This is what I feel when it comes to COD, but among all the COD series, MW storyline is my pick & I’m glad to see the third installment at its best. It’s clearly a short one but personally a well done. On the multiplayer side, Spec Ops mode is back with all the fun you can get with a friend & it’s always fun. The addicting mass multiplayer delight is also back and with it is my new favorite mode called “Kill Confirmed” whereas you collect enemy dogtags to gain points for your team and also collect your fallen team members’ dogtags to prevent the opposing team from gaining points. It’s actually a great team based mode that encourages players to work together at some point.

                                          one of the cool things in the game is that you can have two scopes in one weapon

Graphics:

I’m actually playing it on PC at the moment and all I can say is set the image to “native” and you’ll graphically appreciate the view. There are so many options to set it and if you don’t know what you’re doing, the game will automatically set itself based on the specs of your PC (rig).

Gameplay:

Remember when I said “it’s so MW”? Well the gameplay also applies with few treats. It’s still fast phased with the usual guns you’ve seen in previous titles plus some arsenals and technologies that I’ve never seen before. Group multiplayer is also back with class editing and some new perks and kill streaks managements. When it used to be kill streak based gameplay is now turned into point streak mode which is now a bit easy for new comers to come at the top and a bit tougher for veterans to keep their status on top. However, with the new point system around, it felt just a bit different but not all game changing. It’s not actually a broken formula in the game, but like they always say about not fixing anything when it’s not broken. However, on the multiplayer side, I wish that you can rank yourself up on a dedicated server since you may suffer some constant lagging issues by implementing the old MWs’ matchmaking system which is usually frustrating. A bit improved? Yes, addicting? Yes indeed & overall gameplay? Freakin’ A.

                                          there are some places worth looking at for a few seconds such as this one

Audio:

I just want to mention what I don’t like much in the game and it’s OST; they don’t feel that epic from the previous one done by the most respected composer Hans Zimmer. Fun fact, the gunfire was so loud but wasn’t loud enough for me to get annoyed by it.

Overall:

MW is back with the 3^rd installment & it’s coming in hard in Campaign & Multiplayer. For those who are a fan of the story I can only say that they’re in for a treat; it is short but well done. As soon as you’re done with that (or skipped the single player) you’re going to spend so much time at the multiplayer modes with tons of fun and players to compete with. Innovation is essential and I don’t see much in this game but if it’s not broken, what’s the point of fixing it? Is it good for the money? Well unless if you play it on multiplayer then it’ll keep you busy for at least a month or so.

Score             8.5

Pro(s)

So MW whereas:

Shooting engine

Weapon customizations

Presentations

Addicting multiplayer

And to add that:

Addicting Kill Confirmed multiplayer mode

Perks and variety of kill streaks & death streaks

It’s now a point system than kill system.

Con(s)

So MW whereas:

Very short campaign

Matchmaking is back

And to add that:

Multiplayer matches still has less teamwork feel to it than they’ve promised

You can’t rank up your on dedicated servers

Review: RAGE

                                                        So a big rock hit Earth

Developer(s)                 id Software

Publisher(s)                 Bethesda Softworks

Platform(s)                   PC, PS3 & Xbox 360

Release date                October 2011

Genre(s)                       First Person Shooter, Action, Adventure

Mode(s)                        Single Player, Multiplayer

Rating(s)                      ESRB: M, PEGI 18

                                                        Running flow of blood, Graphically impressive.  

Why all those hate on the game!?

Due to unforeseen events at work, I’ve been busy for the past several weeks so I had to push it back. This is my fourth week but things got subsided now so here we go!

Enough from my sorry a$$ excuse, I’m here to give my thoughts on this game and for those who’s on the fence (especially for PC gamers) on whether to get this game or wait for the update/price tag to drop, here’s for you.

                                                          Believable Facial expression + Nice Voice acting = win.

Presentation:

  

It’s basically flat & straightforward that has predictable plot but interestingly enough to keep you occupied. It’s about a group of selected humans casting themselves to be sealed in a chamber called “The Ark” in order to survive from an asteroid attack on earth which will pretty much destroy humanity and any life on the planet. You are one of the selected ones and augmented a special technology in order to survive the aftermath and restore civilization once again. After more than a hundred years, you’ve woken up in the Ark only to find that people around you in the Ark are dead. As you open the door for the first time, it felt like opening the vault back in Fallout 3 for some reason. The Environment has so much detail on the wasteland, from towns to NPC personalities. Generally it’s a world worth exploring.

Knowing id software, they make great qualities of FPS games in terms of gameplay way back when I first played Wolfenstein 3D on DOS & it was the first game I played and finished in the genre. So a bit of the developers’ history there has assured me that RAGE will be huge and in fact it did big.

                                                   Don't miss her, she will give you the best supporting weapon in the game

Graphics:

This is a touchy subject, there’s always bugs creeping up on PC games at launch it wasn’t as bad as Dead Island’s though. Setting those glitches aside, the details of the atmosphere is impressive, each towns and cities has their own feel to it, and facial details of NPCs are spot on believable and didn’t felt like obvious puppets. However the bad side (soon to be patched) was the frame rate & textures. To set an example, I noticed that whenever I turn around fast I noticed that it takes milliseconds to recalibrate a blurred section in order for it to be visible. Also to add that there were very limited options on setting your display in the game. It may disappoint for those who wish to put the graphics to its optimal use but none the less, the game is still playable and no game breaking there for me.

                                                               A good looking Bike

Gameplay:

One thing that I don’t doubt about id is their gameplay. Knowing that they’ve been so long in the industry and yet they still wows their audiences with epic experiences including with each weapons. That also includes this game, gun battles still driving me crazy in a good way (which reminds me with my run on DOOM 3), AI enemy movements are almost unpredictable specially for the agile ones which I personally call Crazy Monkeys, I’m used to those who stick their heads out and be easy targets but the enemies in this game are pretty hard hitters to the point that they don’t want their heads to be blown off by your awesome weapons. Luckily, there are other supporting weapons to assist you which one of them is the Wingstick, a three edged boomerang that can wipe an enemy in one hit (mainly the enemy’s head) and that helps a lot whenever I have a hard time killing annoying Crazy Monkeys. Aside from FPS, it also has a driving gameplay; I was surprised on how fluid & responsive it was in terms of controls. The world is full of racing tracks so each town has events on race battles in order for you to earn extra cash.

                                                    So this is how my player looks like with the Crimson Armor 

Audio:

As far as how the voice acting goes, it didn’t come any shorter than awesome. And I thought Dead Island was good but I guess I was wrong. At some point of the game, there are areas where I was impressed to see & hear dead bodies with flowing blood and flies all over, it helped to give me that creepy feeling.

                                           I went like "Good Lord that's a huge Boss!" 

Overall:

RAGE is a game to be loved from what it is, personally I don’t prioritize the graphics as long as its playable and fun, just like BRINK, this game is also a breath of fresh air for me away from military based FPS games like Call Of Duty & Battle Field. Aside from the huge Single Player game, the multiplayer is there to add some extra flavor to the game isn’t broken & fun to play with friends. This game is for those who love the genre (FPS) as single player focused and not for those who expect it to have some heavy RPG elements. As long as it’s playable, its fine but for those who love to max out its graphical capability, you might get disappointed but on a brighter side, they will patch it soon (PC version). For a price tag, it's questionable for its graphical side but overall it's worth the price.

Score             8.5

Pro(s)

Huge

Graphically impressed

Awesome voice acting

Cool weapons

id’s AI enemies never gets old

Fun multiplayer

Con(s)

Missions felt repetitive

Loots are sometimes limited

Graphical & texture issues

Battlefield 3 - Alpha Trail Preview

Last week I got an invitation from EA to try the Alpha Trail version of BF3’s multiplayer map & I took privilege to give it a try and see. I had only a few minutes to spare on the game but I ended up playing it for a couple of hours. It’s that good but since that this is an early version of the game, I encountered some points to name a few in details:

• By starting the game, it asked me to update my NVIDIA GeForce GT 240. Though I ignored the notification and still ran the game. 
• It only has one screen resolution as “windowed” but none the less major improvements of the graphical details are much appreciated and see things better for the eyes. 
• The classes are now segregated into four. The Assault is back but instead of carrying additional ammo, it carries a defibrillator to revive fallen allies. Secondly, the support has the ammo and uses light machine guns. The third class is the recon which is also back on duty and with the help of graphical improvements, sniping will be a lovable class for open field map area to add that it has the ability to call in artillery strikes. And finally we have the engineer. Lets face it, Battlefield won’t be complete without vehicles and a class to maintain them in battle.

The experience:

Just like the Rush mode in BC2, you start at what it seems to be a park in a city or in a subway station. Two maps has different approach in the game from fighting in an open area which are likely to be in favored for snipers or in an underground subway station which will be favorable mostly on Assault units.

The controls were top notch and to add the new things I discovered as follows:

• You can run over small obstacles and see how you maneuver them over like a “Mirror’s Edge” game. 
• In addition to duck from the previous game, you can now crawl down for better stealth approach and to avoid sniper detection.  
• A successful stab in the back will execute a deathblow however, 
• The control keys were a little hard for me to command (the duck and crawl keys were too close from each other for me) so I hope that they will allow us to customize them by the time it hits the shelf.

Combat system is pretty solid, it delivers the feel from BC2 but a lot better with improved controls and the new graphics Engine. As a personal tip, the game will be best played on a higher resolution screen weather its HDTV or HD monitor (I’m using HPs 21” HD Monitor) and a considerable stronger CPU (My current specs are Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit, Intel Core 2 Quad 2.5 GHz, 4 gig of RAM, NVDA GeForce GT 240 of 1 gig graphics memory and a 1 TB hard drive).

So is it an MW3 killer?

Possible, but by playing both previous games it’s actually goes down to whatever the consumer feels like playing; they are two FPS game but has a different style of gameplay. COD is known to their fast phased interface while BF talks about semi realistic and team based approach.

Conclusion:

Currently, the alpha trial version is about showing us the idea of its online multiplayer, and I’m happy to report that I had fun and will play more of it.

Review: Mirror’s Edge

Developer(s) EA Digital Illusions CE

Publisher(s) Electronic Arts

Engine Unreal Engine 3

Platform Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 (reviewing on Xbox 360)

Release date PlayStation 3, Xbox 360
November 2008

Genre(s) First Person, Action-adventure

Mode(s) Single-player

Rating(s)

ESRB: T
OFLC: M
PEGI: 16+
USK 16

Here’s a game that I never heard of from most of my friends. The funny thing here is whenever I listen 2 or 3 of its OST I started to say “I miss Faith”. There’s something special about this game that never fails to remind me. Maybe after I review this you guys will get what I’m trying to say. I’ll sum them all up at my conclusion so here we go:

Presentation:
The environments are full in rich colors that gave the city a relaxing feeling to it. Not to mention the music wasn’t too lousy or too boring but just at the right tempo to any given situations and segments. Although I don’t get much of the transition between in game mode and cut scenes which were 2-D, a lot of people complained on that category but I don’t have the definitive reason to complain about. In the end, it delivered a new fresh air and a different good feeling on the other side.
Score: 8.5/10

Graphics:
It wasn’t a top of the line graphics but has so many rich colors of the character’s surroundings. Those colorful obstacles really help to identify your tracks on what to do and where to go.
Score: 8/10

Gameplay:
Generally its an FPS, but for me it’s an FPS minus. Like any typical FPS, this one has its conditions. You play as a Runner and mostly you run and the game is design not to use guns too much. Well if you’d like to shoot minions its your choice but the downside is that it will only slow your phase down. Taking down enemies by disarming and hitting them is a go. You basically run (duh), jump from one buildings and obstacles to another but much faster than Lara Croft’s Tomb Raider. In addition, it’s a trail and error game, whenever you fail from your attempts you will restart to the last checkpoint and make it right. For those who has trouble playing FPS should better not play this one because you’ll definitely get motion sickness. Time trials are addicting just to beat your own or other online peoples'best time. They could have done more like multiplayer mode like passing documents to another friend or racing against each other to the finish line. But hopefully will open some possibilities in the future.
Score: 9/10

Audio:
Yeah the music as I said before is precise. The sound effects were not bad even though the gunfire sounded like a 32-bit game and the voice acting was okay but not as engaging.
Score: 7.0/10

Overall:
“A breath of fresh air, free your mind and fly as you run freely by living in the edge” haha I feel so light whenever I play this game and its where I got my motto “Edge of Faith, with love and respect”. No matter how long it has been for me with this game. It doesn’t fail to make me miss it from time to time. Many praised this game and I am one of them, I just hope that when the sequel comes down, online multiplayer will go extra mile if they include it.
Score 8/10

Pro(s)
A different feeling.
Original gameplay.
Calm environments at most.
Addicting time trial modes.

Con(s)
Trial and error.
Sometimes you get stuck on a puzzling place for a bit long.
No multiplayer features.

Happy Gaming!

~Mookie-Mookie~

My 2010 XBOX 360 GAMES (including whish lists)

The year 2009 is near to a close and 2010 has several upcoming titles to come out in line. I gathered up some of my picks with my personal comments and here they are:


Mass Effect 2 Release date Jan 2010
The kickoff can’t get any better than a sequel from an award winning Action/RPG game. I tried the 1st part and liked it. My anticipation for the sequel is fair and hopeful to break the ice while it’s the 1st month of year.



Bioshock 2 Release date Feb 2010
I played the 1st and I enjoyed a different experience of FPS gameplay in a different twist and RPG elements. One of my anticipated title of 2010.



Dante’s Inferno Release date Feb 2010
Devil may cry titles were inspired by the book. Therefore, I will not take a second chance on getting this game. The novel book has imaginative and twisted vision of “Hell” itself but it is entertaining despite the entire sensitive spiritual context in it.



Final Fantasy 13 Release date Mar 2010
As a die hard fan of FF7. I should give this one a try (like I always do from the previous title except FF 11 online). Positive reviews are everywhere, so my choice still stand as FF7 is still my number one FF game. But we’ll see…



Gears of War 3 Release date Q4 2010
This franchise was one of the Major reason why I bought XBOX 360, tried the 1st and 2nd titles and I was content. Now I have to wait and hope it will release with another BANG! (Exited even though there’s no release date yet).



Batman: Arkham Asylum 2 Release date Unannounced
The 1st one is one of my GOTY 2009. the announcement came out as a teaser and wow it’s a direct sequel and the fizz of all the issue was Arkham has moved? Where? Just take a look at the trailer.



Metro 2033 Release date Mar/Apr 2010
This might work. A new title entry with the somewhat similar concept of “F.E.A.R.” but based in Russia. I better take a closer look at this and hope for the best.



Alan Wake Release date Q2 2010
This has been in production for a very long time. Trailers are making me want to know what the heck is going on at Alan’s world.



Brink Release date Q4 2010
Imagine “Mirror’s Edge” with guns. With a co-op and multiplayer features, I’m pretty sure it’s a promising title (so far).

Aliens vs. Predator Release date Feb. 2010
Dose my eyes deceived me? I heard the last news that it will be out around Feb 2010. well anyway I’m a sucker of AVP franchise and sadly I never got the chance to try their old AVP FPS game before. Maybe its just me but I really love the concept of AVP.

Medal of Honor: (new title) Release date Unannounced
A contender for MW? Why not? I’m keeping my doors open for MOH now that they moved to a modern setting. Lets face it, Call of duty was inspired from MOH.

Well to wrap things up. It’s been a nice ride for 2009 and for other future games that I will mention will only mean that they just came after I posted this article. I’m hopeful for the undetermined future games and all the best to the ones that will release for 2010.

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO YOU ALL GAMERS OUT THERE!!!

Cheers!!!

Mookie~Mookie

Review: Fallout 3: Game of the year edition

Developer(s) Bethesda Game Studios

Publisher(s) Bethesda Softworks & ZeniMax Media

Engine Gamebryo

Platform Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 (reviewing on Xbox 360)

Release date PlayStation 3, Xbox 360
October 2008

Genre(s) Action role-playing

Mode(s) Single-player

Rating(s) BBFC: 18
CERO: Z (18+)
ESRB: M
OFLC: R16
OFLC: MA15+
PEGI: 18+

It’s December and finally I came to close my game lists of year 2009. my long awaited game has been put to rest for now and I felt like getting me another “award winning” game (or so they speak) just to have a look of what’s the fuss was all about. Luckily, I bought Mass Effect for 50 SR (13.33 $) which wasn’t bad (review will be posted separately for it) and Fallout 3: Game of the year edition.

Both were special in their own ways but I have to focus on the Fallout 3 since that’s what written on the main title.

I was skeptical at first because I wasn’t really a fan of Elder Scrolls 3 and I blew and sucked big time.

So after playing this baby (played 15 hours straight during Eid Al-Adha Holiday), I should make a review about it just to share my love and respect of the 2008’s RPG game of year (was beaten by MGS4 as game of year but I’m an MGS fan).

Presentation:
This one really fooled me right when I first checked the main menu and thought of cheesy music of 50s; but I was so wrong from picturing it that way. I never would imagine how twisted it was. I mean can a post apocalyptic could ever get anymore dreadful than this? A brief story will explain how it became like this. After a nuclear bomb explosion, the United States of America became a Capital Wasteland, but some limited people was taken shelter called “the vaults” the hero/heroine resides on Vault 101 and as the child grew up, he/she escaped from the Vault searching for his/her father’s whereabouts and the reason why he left the Vault 101. It really is engaging storyline to it and as you progress in search for your father, you’ll encounter many side quests as optional tasks. Yeah, those side quests really dragged me to push it to the limit and put my a** on the chair for hours! To make the long story short, presentation was nicely enough for me to invest the other day for a 15-hour straight gameplay (no rest and some people I know had days playing it!). Sounds and visuals gave a definite impact and sometimes terrifying on what lurks ahead.
Score: 9.0/10

Gameplay:
Character creation comes first and while your still at Vault 101, you’ll be given a chance to carefully create your ideal hero/heroine and stats for survival. For those who think Fallout 3 is a fulltime FPS/TPS game, please do not expect it to come highly to that category, mainly its more an RPG than a shooter. Although you are required to use any means necessary to defend yourself from the outside world of The Capital Wasteland and that includes using weapons. Weapons on the other hand were from familiar firearms, home made, advanced and weird but deadly; all are present at your disposal and can be use on special occasions depending on your style. While venturing the world you’ll get a chance to talk to interact with them and some may give you helpful information or main/side quests. Karma system is one of the game’s features that will determine your balance of good/evil nature; so Karma is what we really think it is as common Karma and it will determine on what type of ending you will get at the end of the campaign. As you level up, just like any other RPG I played, you’ll get perks and its up to you where to put that points just to improve your survival skill in the world. The cool thing to add while on battle was the V.A.T.S. (also known as the Vault-Tec Assisted Targeting System); by activating it, you’ll get a chance on where to hit your enemy and what are the effects and chances to get a successful hit or a one hit kill if lucky. Systematically cool to watch in bullet time and at the same time gruesome sometimes when you’re killing a human target (the other day I blasted a ghoul’s head and saw jaw and eye balls flying off in bullet time….O_o). it’s really controversial and not really for everyone to see so keep it away from the eyes of those who’s not into violence. There are almost limitless possibilities by customizing your player and tons of places to explore in the capital wasteland and to add the expansions really add many things to do. So there’s lots of things to do that kind of letting you say “just one more quest and I’m done for today” but ended up playing another hour.
Score: 9.5/10

Characters:
They’re all well crafted. Voice acting is superb that sometime makes you remember them throughout the game. But I was shocked when a kid cursed by using the “F” word on me, but not really a big deal, maybe I’m not used to hear kids saying those stuffs but it’s all good.
Score: 9/10

Overall:
Whoa! Just like that. However, I really s**t you not that this is a very long game and replayability is high. I never would have thought I’d get hooked in a game like this and I’m glad that I finally stashed it in my “best games of Xbox 360” collections. It won’t please everyone including to the hardcore FPS/TPS fans but it’s an open invitation to all gamers. Weather you’re in RPG or FPS/TPS action or a collector like me. Fallout 3 is a gem and deserves to recognize in history and many years to come for RPG lovers.
Score 9/10

Pro(s)
Character graphics is the weakest link of this game but the environments were in a different curve.
Sounds really keep you terrified whenever you lurk in a dark area.
Very high rate of replayability.
Anything is possible for customization your way of playing the game
Get ready to invest countless hours in this game including the expansions.

Con(s)
Character graphics.
Inventory limits (I carry a lot of loot in my back because i tend to head back after a very long quests but wth, its my opinion)
Addictive (two genre in one game, what could possibly go wrong?)

---Mookie-Mookie

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 Review

By Mookie-Mookie

Developer(s) Infinity Ward
Publisher(s) Activision
Composer(s) Hans Zimmer
Series Call of Duty
Engine IW 4.0
Native resolution 600p (console versions)
Platform(s) Xbox 360
Release date(s) November 10, 2009
Genre(s) First-person shooter (FPS)
Mode(s) Single-player, cooperative and multiplayer (online Xbox Live)
Rating(s) BBFC: 18
ESRB: M
OFLC: MA15+
PEGI: 18+
Media DVD-DL
Input methods Gamepad


“Till the roof comes off, till the lights go out
Till my legs give out, can’t shut my mouth.
Till the smoke clears out - am I high? Perhaps
I'ma rip this shit till my bone collapse.
Till the roof comes off, till the lights go out
Till my legs give out, can’t shut my mouth.
Till the smoke clears out and my high burn out
I'ma rip this shit till my bone collapse.”
Till I Collapse by Eminem (feat. Nate Dogg)

When I 1st heard that on its launching trailer it got me all pumped up.

This is it, the time is now & some of my friends were eagerly waiting for my opinion.

The waiting is done & the war is on.

OK, so it’s finally here, a day early from its official release date & I got it. Computer House sure know how to treat their customers but apparently will cost you a bit more than usual. Aside from MW2 I got Blitz: The League 2 for 150 SR (40$) not a bad price knowing that its so hard to find these games in this country but that’s a different story.

So here’s my review to one of my long awaited games of 2009; Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 on XBOX 360 so light’em up & knock’em down.

Is it better than the last title & took its name to infinity and beyond?

But before that, let me recap the last game which made the name as PS3’s 2007 game of the year, Best FPS on “Top 10 FPS Games Ever!” by GameSpy & GamePro & numerous awards from several respected sties & communities worldwide. It made a quantum leap from previous titles & the obvious one was moving from traditional WW2 interface into modern time. So many love has been put to it & in many different sectors. That time of release, Infinity Ward was sure that they made history. Unfortunately I bought the 1st MW within this year & made me realized that I should have bought it two years ago. I was afraid that it will not change my mind over Sierra’s “Counter Strike”; but luckily, it did & I am officially addicted to it. Almost after two years and 5 months, a sequel was ready for another war.

I have so many love (and a minor “meh” about the sequel) but I’ll try my best to make it simple & clean so here we go.

Presentation
When I put on the game, I automatically noticed that it was asking me to set things up before I get in the main menus. Its pretty neat to be asked the brightness, screen setups & a very interesting option enabling/disabling sensitive context that might offend a gamer’s perspectives. “For the record” as it literally meant it, it gave me a sense of delight viewing familiar encounters from the previous game. The statue in Russia they showed after 5 years from the 1st encounter was truly shocking & sad at the same time that makes me want to say “Another day in Paradise”. New comers might want to check the 1st MW if they want to get what I mean. Visuals did not fail to impress me but on the flipside, as I spent 1 hour from the game I noticed of what I call “one note” that I didn’t saw from the last MW, the pace of the game wasn’t shaky enough & stayed mostly on track. Surprisingly as you go further from the campaign, things will start to catch up & literally drop your jaw with astonishments till the end of campaign (especially to those who played MW1). I know the guns & explosions were so loud but did not surprise me much of the encounters as it used to but looking at the environments & the blood splashes your screen as you take a hit was so familiar from my Killzone 2 on PS3 but works highly well on the game with far better results. Nostalgically as it will sound to you guys but the campaign reminds me (& so as the MW1) of several war movies like Black Hawk Down, Navy Seals and so on and so forth so technically you’re either in the game & making some actions or watching a pop corn movie that will wow you & wonder for more.
Score 9.7/10

Gameplay:
The campaign was casual but if you’re an achievement hunter (like me) it’s best to heighten the difficulties. Mostly the same as the previous one with additions like firing while crouching will increase fire accuracy. In later stages, you will encounter things that will alter the controls to manage on the given situation, not to mention their new sets of weaponry tools & supports or I can call them in multiplayer as “Kill Streaks”. A new mode was added to the game called “Special Ops” a stand alone missions taken from the campaign & can be played with the another player, a new fun way to play it & earning rewards as you complete a mission. In multiplayer, I found out that most of the juices of this baby were there; how shall I count thy ways for it has a vast long list of goodies! It’s like a breathe of fresh air, but again I will try my best to mention them. It felt actually the same as MW1 but with tons of additions, weapons were a lot, killing streak can come in many ways & surprisingly even a simple attempt can earn a reward. Usually the ones who has more kills gets the bigger bits but surprisingly even the ones who got killed several times without killing a single enemy can share a thing or two like stealing the stats of the last player who killed you (a.k.a “Copycat”), when I activated it I suddenly got better guns & started killing more people. Traditionally there are primary weapons & secondary weapons just like before, but what makes it different was you can choose a bigger gun instead of pistols (I got a picture of an assault rifle + shotgun might be my best pick but I know I’m all stealthy all the way so I need to kill more & level up just to get that soon). Killing streak was actually like the race to get there, it allows you get more kills to get to the top of the scoring board. This time around, the kill streaks are a lot! Comparing it to the last one, this will ignite the flames of every stage leaving you with almost no where to run & hide as it hits you. Call signs are finally there, this will identify players what class of specialties they are in, so if you’re a heavy gunner & love to be the RAMBO like or a stealthy assassin (like me) of the team go ahead knock yourself out by putting the right call sign & let them know that you’re fit to that category. On the other hand, dedicated server isn’t there which I used to get nervous of getting lagged but surprisingly with just 1 red bar on my connection I did not felt any delays on my kills like before so IW really did a great job on that. Some minor glitch on the visuals as other players passed by a dead player is like stepping on a ghost but not really a serious problem I’m afraid. Online gameplay from the previous MW had some issue like if the server of the game got disconnected it will automatically end the game just like that, but on MW2 if the server gets off it will find another server & continue the game; that way you won’t lose your achievements from the current game so more fun for everyone! Personally, radars & voice chat is essential to me while playing online multiplayer & to add that connection should be on “green bar” so that I won’t miss a milliseconds to hit targets but this game somehow changed my perspective a bit. I would like to put some more love to this category but I have to leave the other gamers to discover the goodies.
Score 9.7/10

Graphics
OK just one word for this is that it’s “astonishing”. Very well done with the tweaking from the last one & made something more. If you got a 32”+ HDTV this will not fail to wow your eyes.
Score 9.8/10

Sounds
What can I say; it all came from the one of the most famous composer (not to mention he composed the “Black Hawk Down” movie) such as Hans Zimmer. There were times when there’s no music playing but its all good (or maybe it’s just me). Better timings on given situations just like in the movies is like giving some awareness of what lies ahead. A home-theater sound system, this will not fail to impress you. However, be careful though neighbors might scare their pants enough to call the police thinking that a bunch of multi national hired gunmen are robbing your house (kidding).
Score 9.5/10

Characters
I’ve seen new faces in the group & they’re all well made. Just like the previous game, expect some characters casualties but they will not die in vain. There are familiar faces from the past so I don’t want to speculate further on who they are (did I just made some spoiler alert? Just guess who’s who I guess…). Voice acting was so live like leaving me to feel as if I’m watching a Hollywood war movie. Overall, they played their role excellently on the campaign & will be memorable on years to come.
Score 9.7/10

Longevity
The campaign is usually short just like the last one & the Special Ops mode is so much fun with friends; but if you want to get those achievements, better put it on higher difficulty & brace yourself for some hardcore action. On the other hand, online multiplayer will let you play this game all year long or even till the next MW3 comes out.
Score 9.9/10

Final Verdict
Infinity Ward (IW) just did it again, bringing the edge of XBOX 360’s capability & power. To those who waited to buy this game, go buy it because it’s worth every penny & the multiplayer will definitely invest your time. To those who’s new in this title, “surprise surprise” you’re in for this year’s biggest treat but I strongly suggest playing the 1st MW just to get the whole story of this “one-of-a-kind” epic FPS game. FPS on console was a skeptical idea for me at 1st, but when I tried COD4: MW, I can’t stop playing it. Now the sequel is here & will stay longer in my heart & mind.
Score 9.8/10

So the question was if its better than the last title & took its name to infinity and beyond?

My answer was yes. But if its my best game of this year? I have to say after finishing the Campaign mode, this is (so far) my game of the year 2009.

With love & respect,

Mookie