Testing Game

A few months ago, I spent a couple of nights in San Jose at my friends house, and we system linked a couple of Xboxes together to play “Halo 2.” That is one game that will never get old. I saw some crazy things happen during these nights. One of my friends went flying after he missed his sword attack and was sent clear across the map. While he was flying one of my friends picked him off with a sniper rifle and his came crashing towards the ground. The most amazing moment was when one of my friends brought his team back up from trailing 15 to 37. Sadly, he couldn’t keep it up and failed to win that game.

I also rented “Ninety-Nine Nights” and “Just Cause” for the Xbox 360. “Ninety-Nine Nights” is a Dynasty Warrior-esque game. Almost identical in control and features, “Ninety Nine Nights,” however, looks a lot better and there are a lot more epic moments. One of my favorites was being alone on the battlefield taking on an entire army of goblins.

 “Just Cause” is an open-ended freeroam style game (like GTA) where you take control of Rico Rodriguez, who will remind you of a perfect blend of James Bond and Zorro. In the game you attempt to cause a regime change in the islands of San Esperito. You accomplish this by breaking rebel leaders out of jail, assassinating key government officials and generally causing a lot of mayhem.

 What I truly love about “Just Cause” is the abilities of our very own Rico. Imagine driving a car on a cliff and then busting out of the driver’s door and riding on the top of the car as it falls off that cliff and then, deploying your parachute and gliding in the air for a few moments before you see a helicopter that you cling to. You maneuver your way into the pilot’s seat (after kicking him out the side).

 You fly that helicopter as high as you can, and then jump and freefall towards your objective on ground level. Deploy your parachute again and use your hi-tech grappling hook to hitch a ride on a car (think parasailing), to take you the extra few feet to your objective because you undershot your landing. All this is possible in “Just Cause,” and makes it a really fun game to play.  

 I’m looking forward to “Lost Planet.” I played a demo of it a couple of weeks ago and loved the online play. The action was chaotic, but it was so fun. I plan to tell you all about it after I get in a couple of hours of gameplay.

 
Gaming Dictionary
CANALS: A online multiplayer level for Gears of War.
GTA: Grand Theft Auto. The flagship of Open Ended/ Freeroam style gameplay.
Dynasty Warriors: A series of games set during the dynasty era of China. You take control of a power non-fictional general (someone who actually existed) and replay ancient battles (your own way). However, since regular enemy soldiers are so weak you’re able to take your overpowered general and defeat hundreds of enemies before tackling the more difficult enemy generals.
Open-Ended/Freeroam: A style of game where you able to roam around a city/country/state/province on your own free from objectives/goals/missions until you obtain your own mission/objective/goal from a set location.
System Linked: Connecting up to four Xbox Gaming Systems together using a routing hub to play the same game together on four different televisions

 
Currently Playing:

• Gears of War
• Just Cause
• Fight Night Round 3

 
Most Recent Amazing Gaming Moment:
Sneaking up on an enemy sniper on Gears of War with my shotgun and turning him into little pieces that fall off the bridge in CANALS and rain down on his friend who suffers that same fate.

For The Love of Game

I’ve always been a gamer. I remember back in my day, I stayed up late trying to beat Super Mario RPG “Legend of the Seven Stars” for the Super Nintendo…and that was a decade ago. At one point, I owned an Xbox, Gamecube and PS2 – and I played game after game until I ran broke.

Now, I’ve calmed down. I still play game after game, but I have a few other hobbies as well. Currently, I have an Xbox 360 and I own eighteen games ranging from “Call of Duty 2” to the most recent “Rainbow Six: Las Vegas.” I also have Xbox Live, and my tag is Masterphantom1, but you could call me “Phantom” for short.

For my very first entry, let me talk about “Gears of War.” It is one of the greatest games I have ever played, next to “Halo 2” and “Star Wars: KOTOR 2.”

The story is not in-depth as it should be, but I just didn’t care anymore because the gameplay is next to perfect. The way “Gears of War” did the cover system should become a standard in all future FPS’. All the weapons are almost equally matched, it wouldn’t matter if you have a pistol or a “Boom Shot,” success is dependant on the player’s skill, not who grabs what first.

I have a confession to make. I don’t have an HDTV or surround sound…but still, the detail of some of the environments are outstanding, and my 360 can run the game without a hitch, unlike some others I’ve played. “Gears of War” is a great game and I would recommend it for anyone who owns a 360 and enjoys FPS’. Cliff you are the man.

Gaming Dictionary

Boom Shot: One of the most destructive weapons in Gears of War.
Cliff: Cliff Bleszinski. Project Lead of “Gears of War.”
FPS: First Person Shooter. A shooting game that allows you to see the world behind the eyes of the character you control.
HDTV: High Definition Television.
KOTOR: Knights of the Old Republic.
RPG: Role-Playing Game. A game that fully immerses you into the development of a single character or team of characters.
Xbox 360: The first next generation console released throughout the world.
Xbox Live: An online service that allows you to play multiplayer games through your Xbox with other gamers around the world, communicating with each other via text messaging, voice chat, or video chat.