Halo 3: ODST review

In Short:
Halo 3: ODST is Halo 3. It's not revolutionary in any way. That's not to say it's not good though. It's fast paced, got an interesting story, and has the Halo charm that we know and love. In short, if you didn't like Halo 3, this game won't change your mind. However if you're a fan, this game is just for you! yay!

Story:
You take control of not the Master Chief but instead an Orbital Drop Shock Trooper. Your a rookie but not green, no odst is. the game takes place during and immediately after the the slipspace event happening over new Mombasa in the middle of Halo 2. The game begins as you are dropped and during your decent a large ship warps away being followed by a huge explosion. When you awake 6 hours later, your team is missing and not responding to your comm. To make matters worse the covenant have taken the city by force and are now all over the place. It's up to you to find your team, and defeat the covenant before the entire world is glassed. This game has one of the most convincing stories of any of the Halo games. Better than Halo 3's story and  much better than Halo wars'.

Changes from Halo 3:
Even though the 2 games run on the same engine the graphics and physics are improved as well as many other slight gameplay tweaks that make for a slightly harder yet slightly more satisfying experience.

• The pistol no longer sucks and is one of the best weapons
• However the Battle Rifle has been all but forgotten, and no longer exists(strange, I remeber using that on earth in Halo 2)
• Fall damage now plagues the player.
• using equipment has been replaced with an awesome Nightvision/ enemy finder mode. I call it the Pwn button.
• Melee attacks are useless unless used against drones.
  
• All enemy AI has been seriously improved especially in the Jackals who are now even more deadly and annoying than the brutes.
• The grunts have an odd habbit of throwing excessive grenades even when not needed.
• The smg has been upgraded to do more damage and be more acurate, as well as a scope and silencer.
• You no longer throw grenades straight, you lob them in an arch which makes sticking a bitch.
• On the plus however you can now carry 3 of every grenade.
• When idle the Banshee doesn't sink but keeps afloat.
• When using a torn-off chaingun or flamethrower you move at least twice s fast as master chief if not more than that, this makes little sense because Spartans are mch stronger than ODSTs are and why they move slower defies logic
• You no longer have a regenerating health but a stamina meter.
• Health packs are hidden in the city and are a must.
  
• The mission stream seamlessly from the free-roaming city level.
• No motion tracker(or for the noobs"mini map")
• Sub-story collectibles instead of Skulls and terminals 
• Hunter's Ai is broken as hell and sometimes they will go numb and just stand there and watch you kill them, funny but sad.
• The brute shot is now really powerful in the hands of a brute, 2 direct hits "kills" on legendary.
  

Few that was a lot, all right let's move on.

Graphics and art style:
The graphics have been slightly improved in terms of detail though not quality. Unfortunately the Halo 3 engine is no longer top of the line and it shows. However the daytime scenes really work and the nighttime scene are even better. The Odsts themselves have a great amount of detail and the whole environment is beautiful.

Extras:
The stuff that people without LIVE won't care about and should skip this section.

Firefight:
Basically horde mode, but Halo 3. Fight waves of increasingly intense covenant.Everything from grunts to Chieftains this mode clearly was the focus of the game's polish. With some crazy hard achievements, some awesomely huge levels, and infinite replay value this mode will keep me as well as anyone with friends entertained for a long while.

Issues:
No game is perfect and unfortunately has in my opinion some of the most annoying glitches in any of the halo games. This was clearly due to a rush at the end of development and it shows. Most of the polish went into firefight and maps instead of the details. Here are a few of the ones that bothered me frequently.

• If you beat the game on Legendary difficulty setting the game will not update your profile to say so, this has happened to me and about 6 of my xbox live buddies.
• Some firefight levels have crippling glitches, for example I once died and lost the game by trying to driving up a rock-hill on Lost Platoon, instead I phased through it and my chopper exploded.
• The achievements "Super Sleuth" "My Clothes!" and "Both tubes" are all broken and sometimes will not unlock when they should. I had to unlock "Both tubes" twice and "My Clothes!" about 4 times. I still haven't gotten "Super Sleuth" which is to beat the second to last level
• When in a Chopper, Brute's AI on any difficulty will fail and be laughably easy to kill.
• Like I previously said the Hunter's AI will sometime shut off mid battle and watch you dance their head and then kill them with out even fighting back.

 Someone getting Jacked on the multiplayer map "Sandbox"

In conclusion:
I highly recommend this game to both Halo fans and newcomers, in my opinion this game best captures the Halo spirit. Halo 3 had better action and was more polished but this game was fun around every corner. Yeah it's short. Only about 3-5 hours long depending on the difficulty setting. But Halo 3 had some really bad levels, like the one inside the flood ship. Really boring until the end. This game is fun and exciting all the way through and will keep yo hooked if not on the campaign, then on Firefight and The second disc.

Wait a minute! Why are there no Elites? WTF?!?!? I loved elites, why aren't they bad again. You still fought them in Halo 2( when this game took place) so why aren't there any in the game? They are only even mentioned in a secret area in the first level. So WTF! Why can't we have Elites and Brutes!? Sigh, well Bungie I hope you had a good reason.

Biggest issues with Xbox live

Most of this is noticed from Cod4 and Halo 3 but this can also be applied to any other competitive game. 

Trashtalkers: You know those guys who come in a game and instantly call everyone a faggot, or a punk ass bitch? Those people who even though you just beat them 10-2 still consistantly call you and your team names? Yes, these little retards plague Xbox live, and because of their abundancy they infect people, usually little 12-13 year old bitches who just got on xbox and started calling people the "N" word and shit like that.

Homophobes: although this is basically a form of trashtalking I felt it's rampant enough to warrant its own section. These are those people who call everyone a fag, say "that's gay" about everytime they die and ruin the game for everyone. This really pisses me off because I have a gay friend and he is really nice.I often explain o these people that being homophobic is stupid and just makes them seem like a 1960s Republican. Or any republican for that matter.

n00bs: No, I don't mean newbs. A newb is someone who just got a game and has neve played before, they aren't very good and bring the team's score down, but eventually they learn and everything is good. Everyone s a newb at some point. A n00b is someone who sucks from the release date to years after and still think they are all that. People who brag about Hyabusa armor, or beating Halo 3 on legedary, nobody cares really we don't. I have every armor perm for the Spartan and Elite model excluding Recon, but I don't say shit. Why? because I'm not the best at Halo, but I'm definitely not  n00b.

Screamers: Before puberty but still allowed to play Halo, screamers often fill both n00b and the screamer, as well as sometimes the trashtalker position. They are anoying even when not trying to be. They sing, they teabag, and ruin an otherwise fun game. No real player teabags in Halo uless it's deserved.
For example: I no-scope you=short 2-3 hump session
I assassinate you=I walk by and everybody's fine
I hate screamers most of all because of their easily twisted minds they often fill all positions and ruin games for eveyone.

and i'm sorry but this picture is to funny not to put on this post......

Down with France! Viva la Bungie!

A few days ago a some french douchebag leaked copies of ODST to the public and thats why on bungie you see about 50 games per day when there should be none.

France i've had it, first you copy our revolutionary war idea and now you defile the greatness which is ODST! How dare you! You're on thin ice with me France, you better watch out or ima gonna DRINK YOUR MILKSHAKE, I'LL DRINK IT UP!

ODST/ Game Crazy!

Game Crazy, Hollywood video's answer to Gamestop, is the best. It's as close to a mom and pop video game store you'll get. They have a great trade system, replace games if they don't work, and offer free disc repair! And on September 21 they're having a midnight release of Halo 3 ODST. Over 130 people are gonna show and I live in a small ass town, 130 people is about a 3rd the population(well not really).

I will be there(hopefully) with my camera to record the whole thing. It's gonna be on my youtube account here! So tune in and enjoy the explosion of geeks!

Halo 3 Montage

To send Halo 3 out with a bang I made a montage of my favorite moments while playing. Sometimes I die, other times I owned. It's a little sad that Halo 3 is going to be gone in a matter of days, but nothing lasts forever. Well except maybe the multiplayer, but we'll see. All I can say is that Halo 3 has been one of the greatest experiences of my life. I met so many friends and had endless hours of fun, to think how those 3 years have flown, we'll miss you Halo and we'll never forget!

OverKill Celebration

This is what I looked like after I got OverKill and Steppin' Razor at the same time.

Prototype Review

Prototype is a free-roaming power fantasy game that is fun for 2-3 weeks and then you realize that everything that made the game fun was taken from another game. Well let's do this in sections.

Story:

You, Alex Mercer, are an amnesiac that has mysterious powers and wants answers, why you ask? Because this game's story takes it in the ass. It's boring and you'll most likely stop caring around the third mission. Yes it's that bad.

Graphics: 

Visuals like this would barely fly on the PS2, and even the Gamecube would be slightly ashamed. They are ugly, blocky, and gritty. They have no polish and really take you out of the game. There are only about 10 character models excluding main characters so you'll often find you self in a crowd of clones. The animations are superb though, the animations are beautiful. If this game had decent graphics I could overlook so many other problems.

Ripped-off gameplay:
Many games, like anything else, take what others have done and improve upon it; this game, however, takes almost all gameplay aspects from other games. Here is a clear list(note, this is my opnion)
TF=Taken From

Orbs that can be collected from dead enemies to earn EXP=Destroy all Humans

Taking other people identities as a disguise=Hitman

Hijacking vehicles, tanks, helicopters, jeeps, etc=Halo 2-3, Grand Theft Auto

Several vision modes=Splinter Cell

A set group of weapons and abilities that need DNA to be upgraded=Destroy all Humans

Upgradeable hand to hand combos=any super hero game, EI, Spiderman

Speedy Claws=Wolverine Origins

A swingable medium range weapon=God of War

Picking up and throwing or smashing cars=Hulk Ultimate destruction

Annoying/time consuming achievements=Cod4

Prototype could have been good but it seemed like they had a good idea and then didn't put any effort into fulfilling the full potential. I hope a good company in the future remakes this game. It could have been a best seller, but no.

Here is what Prototype needs to be a good game. 

1. Much improved graphics
2. A decent storyline without all the amnesia bullshit
3. Screw the collectable orbs, unless there are only 20 or something, not 250
4. No bullshit achievements like, kill 53,451 infected, i've have this for 2 months and have only killed about 10,000
5. A kickass multiplayer mode, with races, or capture the flag 
6. No sensory powers, I never used them, 
7. Less health but enemies do less damage
8. Less events involving killing, and more flying ones because those were awesome
9. Less generic enemies, those Hunter things are just like the Hulk dogs
10. A much smaller city, travling from one side to another felt like actually doing it and not in a good way.

 In conclusion, Prototype is not worth 60 bucks and is hardly worth 30. If you can find it in a bargin bin, go for it. Otherwise wait til you can. It's worth a play but is frustrating as hell. It's only fun for a bit. The enemies are dumb, the story is dumber, and the graphics are dumbest. This game had so much potential but failed in almost every regard. If a loving developer like Rockstar, 2K games, or even Epic games, were to make this, it would have been great. If you like super hero games wait until this game is on sale and then pick it up, if not, steer clear.

Don't you think that's OverKill?

Overkill
Killed 4 enemies within 4 seconds of one another in a ranked free for all playlist.
 

 Steppin' Razor
Scored a Triple Kill with the sword in a ranked free for all playlist.


 Two for One
Scored a Double Kill with a single spartan laser shot in a ranked free for all playlist.



Halo 3 has some of the hardest Multiplayer achievements in any game. They require skill, precision, timing, and a lot of luck! Yesterday I finally unlocked my last 2 crazy hard achievements, Overkill and Steppin' Razor. I now have all armor permutations for the Spartan model, and Elite model. I don't ave Recon but hopefully I will in the next moth or two.

I didn't really have anything else to say, I got the achievement and DAMN I was satisfied when I heard that "Bleep Bloop" sound. Two for One is a lot easier then people make it out to be. Just make sure yo get it when you're a low level cause the tough players don't wait around much to get it. I just wanted to make this as it is a milestone ,if you will, in my Achievement career.

Good luck, and happy achieving!

Variety map Pack: Don't be Fooled!

Broadcast: B-
Creek: A
Chinatown: D-
Killhouse: F

These are the maps included in the one and only Map pack for COD4 Modern Warfare.
If you're short on time, this purchase isn't worth 800 microsoft points.  Save your money.

If you have time here is a deep description of why.


Broadcast: B-
Broadcast consists of a large building with a few smaller buildings surrounding. The spawns are ok(accept for one) and there is a balance of what can happen on the map. Team battle can get intense with people coming up and down stairs like it's going out of style. The outer-buildings are pretty good for sniping but overall the level is bland. It feels like they straight ripped it from campaign without making appropriate changes.

Killhouse: F-
One of the poorest levels i've ever played. This level is a large indoor map with many tunnels, and soft cover. One of the issues is there is no safe place, any piece of wood can be shot through and even though it's indoors airstrikes work! You wouldn't understand how anoying this is until you get nuked 2 times from 1 airstrike. This level feels like it need to be re-skinned and added to Halo 3, add a shotgun and a sniper perch, this level would have been great. And on top of all this level is glitchy as fuck! I have a great internet connection and this level has lagged everytime i've played it. Also sometimes shots and knifes don't register which is common but this level guarantees it.

ChinaTown: D+
Chinatown takes place in San Fransisco California. It's taken from the original Call of Duty. This wouldn't be so bad except the level was a joke to begin with. It's too big, unless you're playing ground war you're gonna be lost and bored with nothing to do. This level also has some of the cheapest camping spots ever. chainlink fences partially obscure view but from one side only so you can just sit there with an M16 all day. It's got a cool art style that was put to good use, but sadly this level also suffers from bad glitches just like Killhouse, hits don't register and it takes forever to load, even in local play. And why is it S.A.S vs Spetsnaz? In other words, why are British special forces fighting Russians terrorists in the middle of California?


Creek: A
This is the only reason I didn't demand a refund. Creek has got great level design with an amazing attention to detail. It like if Overgrown and Downpour had a baby. It looks and sounds better than every other level in the map pack and most of the default maps. It takes place near a small abandoned village next to a "Creek". Great sniper spots, fun level design, and you can camp in an outhouse! How cool is that. If you liked Cod4 then don't change it, cause that bitch ain't broke! Although if you have 800 Microsoft points burning a hole in your virtual pocket, then Creek is almost worth the suckyness of the other maps put together!

The sound of Decay

About a year ago when I began regularly playing Xbox live, I decided to arm myself with an Xbox messenger kit. Economically speaking this is a great deal. A mic and text pad both of which can be plugged in at the same time for about 30 bucks. However after about a year of gentle use my mic appeared to be having issues.

Since about a week 1/2 ago my headset started getting ridiculous feed-back from other players and it was beginning to interfere with conversations. Several of my friends have had similar problems before. One of my friend's mics drops out without warning, missing that part of the conversation or not delivering her input. And my other friend's mic farts. It literally makes a farting noise periodically when he talks. It's funny for five minutes and then it gets old. But I was confused because I always treated my Headset with respect. I never threw it, my pets never attempted to eat or mate with it.

So why am I getting such bad feed-back? Well it turns out the mic uses a ton of juice and when I had low batteries in my controllers it would start dropping.  Another mystery solved by MrCannon!

Racist Zombies!! part 2

Yesterday's post was an old article from about a year ago. Today's will be why.

The article was complaining about how Resident Evil 5 was a racist game because of the fact the Zombies you kill were once African. Now, I have several answers to this. Go!

          1. You don't kill African people in Res 5, in fact you don't kill people in any resident evil game. They are zombies, or more correctly, infected. Infected have no race, they are just infected. White, black, brown, green, grey, dripping with acid, or with a long tounge. 

          2. The game isn't and will never be marketed towards kids. It's marketed towards mid-late teens and 20s. If a parent buys a rated M for Mature game for their child(under 12) then they need to accept the responsibility for what may come of this. If they don't know, they need to do the research! Developers, publishers, and or distributors should never be held responsible for the game getting into the hands of kids. If the parent buys playboy for a 10 year old, and then is disgusted by the content, it's their fault, not playboy's.

         3. If the zombies weren't black the game couldn't take place in Africa. This is do to the fact that Africa has quite a few BLACK PEOPLE! Thus the majority of the zombies will have dark skin. I don't recall you throwing a RACE fit when Whitey was killing hundreds of Spanish villagers. Oh Spanish people are white? Say that to a Latino and see what happens.

So, now people are saying the same thing about Left 4 Dead 2! WTF! Did we learn nothing?
According to the Houstin Chronicle "racism is becoming a common trend in video games".
No it's not, but stupidity is.
Left 4 dead had no black zombies, not a one. It took place in Philidelphia. I think it's reasonable to have black zombies in Louisiana, and New Orleans no less. It's not insensitive, it's not racist, it's fun zombie shooting action.

Racist Zombies!!

"The new Resident Evil video game depicts a white man in what appears to be Africa killing Black people. The Black people are supposed to be zombies and the white man’s job is to destroy them and save humanity…""This is problematic on so many levels, including the depiction of Black people as inhuman savages, the killing of Black people by a white man in military clothing, and the fact that this video game is marketed to children and young adults. Start them young… fearing, hating, and destroying Black people."
 This is a quote from a man who claimed the 2008 zombie action game Resident Evil 5 was racist.

Now before I get on to the Real point of this post lemme dissect this article's inaccuracies for those who can't.
Below is not the real quote though had the writer not been so bias and had factual information it would have sounded more like this. Now let's play teacher!

-5 for incorrect information
-10 for missing information
starting score 100% Go!

"The new Resident Evil video game depicts a white man white man or black woman alternatively in what appears to be is Africa killing Black people zombies. The Black People zombies are supposed to be zombies used to be African villagers and the white man’s white man and black woman's job is to destroy them and save humanity…"
"This is problematic fun on so many levels because zombies are bad, including the depiction of Black people zombies as inhuman savages, the killing of Black people zombies by a white man white man or black woman in military clothing, and the fact that this video game is marketed to children and young adults to adults the age of 17 up according to the Mature rating, and children 12 and younger should not play M rated games in the first place otherwise the parent is at fault not the game or company or store. Start them young… fearing, hating, and destroying Black people ZOMBIES."

5%............

wow



part 2 will come later, and explain why i bring this up now