[video=IHIywjfw5b4KuTfc]

Back in black, and better than ever.

Since I finally got my hands on Guitar Hero II for my 360, I now understand why there are so many videos of people playing songs on Expert, and what the big deal is. I always found it impressive, but now I think it's astounding. Last night I just finished "Tonight I'm Gonna Rock You Tonight" by Spinal Tap on the Hard difficulty setting in my career. I'm finding Hard quite the challenge at times, which is good, I guess. I hate games that are simply too easy. When I first started Medium, I thought that was a bit of a challenge at times too. So I guess i'll master Hard soon enough, just like I did with Medium. But Expert just looks horrible. I dread (and also look forward to) the day where I begin my Expert career after completion of Hard.

Last night, I also received the achievement for getting 5 stars on all the career songs on Easy. That was just a breeze to get through, but then I sat and thought back to a few days ago when I actually found some parts on these songs quite the workout.

Lingxor, if you're reading this...I now truely appreciate your talents at Guitar Hero, and the training you went through to complete "Bark At The Moon" on Expert. You are now (temporarily) my idol.

Not that anyone really cares, but I thought i'd just let you all know. I've received two new badges on my GameSpot profile in the last two days, and here they are.

[video=JXI0kzqr5b4KuzPa]

Check out this trailer for the up and coming fan movie based on the famous Metal Gear Solid saga from Hideo Kojima.

IT IS MINE!!

Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars has been my interest as of late. 26 wins and 4 losses online, which i'm pretty proud of. But, i'll only really be proud of that sort of score when patch 1.05 is released. Then this game will actually have some strategy to it (I hope) instead of it being a race of who can get to which tech level faster.

GDI rush with Predators and Mammoths, while Nod use Scorpions, and (sometimes) Stealth Tanks. Scrin usually just build up a large air force, in my experience.

In the new patch, i'm hoping that Nod's Avatars will actually be useful and worth the money. Mammoth's will be more expensive (I think), and so will the Railgun upgrade. They'll also not be able to kick as much ass. Scorpions are supposedly having their accuracy reduced when firing at moving targets. The Scrin? Haven't really got a clue what's happening with them.

I've reached Act III in both GDI and Nod campaigns, and I must say, they are thoroughly enjoyable. Kane is the biggest video game icon out there, and without him, C&C3's campaigns wouldn't be as awesome.

That's all I can really think of saying at the moment. Turrah!

*Begin Rant*

Pathetic.

My gamertag is binded to my father's Live ID. This is un-changeable, and therefore, it blocks me from using the so kindly supplied Windows Live Messenger service on my 360.

But even if I could change the Live ID, I would still not be able to use that service because I am under 18. Now, there are thousands, probably millions of under 18's across the globe who have a Live ID/Hotmail address and use the very same messenger on the PC. Microsoft have never prevented under 18's from using their messenger service before, why now?

My suggestion to them, that if a user puts an under 18 Live ID into the account details, that there should be a parental Live ID section, so your parent/guardian can confirm the usage of services such as the Windows Live Messenger service. That'd be much easier, and beneficial.

I have posed all of my points to Microsoft themselves, as i'm sure thousands of others have already. Let's hope it gets through to them, ey?

*End of Rant*

I WANT IT NOW

I NEED IT NOW

Allow me to cover the basic pros and cons of GRAW 2.

Pros: In GRAW2, you'll find some of the same intense modern infantry combat that you saw in the first game, with some even more goodies thrown in. The cross-com interface has been re-done, for the better, and the sequel to last years selling point for retailers, has gotten less of a focus on slow paced sniping sequences, to more 'boom' sequences, as I like to call them. I'm sure you can understand what I mean.

The visuals have had an obvious update, making GRAW2 one of the best looking 360 titles around. What i've experienced, there are absolutely no framerate problems. So, in other words, go wild. You won't be slowed down by the game and your console. The sound effects in both single-player and multi-player are fantastic. Though sounds for the same gun may change when they're changed over from single to multi, they really do immerse you even more into the battlefield. The explosions are particularly effective, but you'll only really find these in the single-player portion of the game.

Once you've finished your tour of duty in Juarez and the US, you'll want to head over to the multi-player portion of the game, if you haven't already. GRAW2 features an almost identicle multi-player system as it's predecessor did, but that's not a problem at all. It's been upgraded with countless combinations, so you will hardly come across the same situation twice. There are many maps to choose from, and if that wasn't enough, you'll be able to change the lighting on most of them. Be that day to night, or sunrise to sunset. In terms of gametypes, there's a whole new co-op mode, and support up to 16 players (which, by the way, is the maximum slot for any gametype you'll find on GRAW2), which I find pretty impressive for a co-op mode. You'll also be given the same customization system for your soldier. You can change what each ****with look like, in terms of headgear, and change your soldiers face, which applies to all the ****s. Finally, you'll definately find yourself spoilt for choice when you're picking out your equipment. There is a huge amount of weapons to choose from in GRAW2, whether it be the same gun added several times, but with a different attachment (silencer, grenade launcher etc).

Finally...

The Cons: The only real complaint that I have against GRAW2, is that the single-player campaign is over before you know it. Considering this game was completed in such a short time compared to most (just around one year), I wasn't too surprised, but I was still disappointed. You'll definately find yourself wanting more, but if you have Xbox Live, you will be rewarded with GRAW2's excellent multi-player modes.

I give Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter 2, a well deserved 9.2.


Hope this review has helped you in your quest for a new game to add to your collection, I know it's helped me in mine. Also, if you already have this game, i'd be interested to know (yet again) your opinions on my review. Am I spot on? Did I miss something? Feel free to comment, and if I get good feedback, this will be sure to make it's way to the main page.

Thanks for reading.

-Joe Asakura

Dark Messiah: Might and Magic from Arkane Studios and Ubisoft, has been an anticipated title for many, and the Single Player Demo is finally here. At a wopping 1.38GB download, I had to leave it over night as soon as it was released, which was the afternoon for me, due to the fact the release was in American time. I'm British you see! As I began to install it the next morning, I made a fake bet with myself: the demo will be the level from all the trailers, including a tutorial before it.

I was right, as you'll see later.

I was surprisingly introduced with a nice intro movie, showing us, what I think, the guy who is supposedly the Dark Messiah, summoning some huge fiery demon. (Don't say I sent out spoilers, this is the INTRO MOVIE!) I was then happily reunited with the same main menu I know and love: the one used on many Steam games. My mouse zoomed over to the words "New Game", and I whispered to myself "Here we go."

I'm not going to go through every detail of what I did, because that would ruin the fun for all of you people out there who haven't played it yet. It was a tutorial, like I said! Good thing was, it still fit into the story. It wasn't particularly boring either, plenty of things to kill, and thanks to the combat system, many ways too!

Now i've done all that, moving on to the level shown in all the trailers. Told you I was right! Anyway, you're provided with 6 Skill Points which you can spend on basic Combat, Archery, Magic, and other skills. You are also provided with all the weapons shown in the trailer, a Sword, Bow, and two Knives. This means, in my case, you can re-do the level over and over again, using different skills. As I had seen the trailers multiple times, I had a good idea of what you could do around the level, for instance, I knew you could shoot a certain rope with an arrow, it would break, and a huge weight would crash into the wooden platform, sending an Ork to his doom.

One thing about this level that we saw in the trailers. (Possible spoiler) There is a Cyclops at the end that you would have to battle, but guess what? You can't fight it, the demo ends as soon as you see it. At this point I was viciously banging my head on the table, shouting "WTF!". This was really dissapointing, but I guess it's a good marketing strategy. "You can battle this huge Cyclops, and many other creatures, October 06!".

Moving on from my rage....the graphics are great, of course they are, it's the Source™ engine. The sound quality is pretty good too, especially if you have a decent sound system. I have a 5.1 system set up, and I was pretty impressed. But it wasn't new to me, it's the Source™ engine! (I'm not obsessed with it, shut up!)

The gameplay was all I thought it would be too, I wasn't dissapointed. Combinations of movements and clicks of your weapon, made every battle I had different, and trust me, i've played through it quite a few times, to spot any small details, and for entertainment. Watching your character shove a sword through an Ork's body, watching him bleed while impaled on it, and then kicking him off it, is great to watch. No i'm not a freak, in my books anyway, I know much worse people.

Finishing off, Dark Messiah looks like an impressive game. Not ground breaking at all really, but good fun. It'll be gladly added to my collection soon enough. Check out the demo for yourself, if you haven't already. That is, if you can be bothered to wait a while for it to download.

This is Joe Marsden, signing out.