So was Black Ops really all it was and still is hyped up to be? This is the question I find myself asking every time I log onto PSN to spend some quality time lodging bullets in some cartoon army men's heads. Am I lowering my standards to two lackluster maps of Zombie mode and a Multiplayer mode that is riddled with glitches and such bad connection that my blood pressure goes up before I can even enter a game?

Blacks Ops could be great, could be epic. If a bit more polish was done to make some of the guns look better, add even more customizing options, and make the connection a little more reliable, then yes, then game would be nearly perfect in my eyes. I find the CoD points are like a drug, even when I don't really need the money anymore, I can't help but get giddy when I see the dollar amount tally up, and can't help but get frustrated when I don't get "in the money".

The maps are pretty good, some of them seem to have little flares of previous maps, but we will let that slide. Overall, aside from there being NO true sniper map, I'm fairly happy with the maps. Don't get me wrong, I'm no sniper myself. But even I find it boring after about 30 mins of joining every map with the exact same submachine gun set up, because players are generally forced to be in such close proximity to each other. Sniping was a challenge to me in MW2, the only challenge that really remained after I mastered the ACR and started nailing 20+, 30+, and even 40+ games, and not die a single time. So I am sad to see sniping get thrown out of the books in Black Ops.

I'm also frustrated that Secondary weapons are virtually non-existent. Who in their right mind would place shotguns as primary weapons? I mean, if a shotgun like the AA-12 from MW2 was in Black Ops, okay I could live with that. But there is something about only being able to fire 1 round at a time while your enemy unloads a rapid fire AK47u on you that is really unsatisfactory.

Next are the killstreaks. They were cool the first day I got the game, something new. The keyword there is "were". They got really old really fast. Three killstreaks that I can think of right off hand are types of guns. Seems like a waste to me. Three have to do with your radar. Jamming, spyplane and blackbird. From what I have seen so far, those are essentially the three best killstreaks in the game, especially since the kills obtained from killstreaks no longer continue to tally up your killstreak to earn the other killstreak rewards. I miss the good ol' Nuke from MW2.

Finally, the most frustrating aspect of Black Ops to me is the piss poor connection quality. My friends and I have to launch game invites at least 5-10 times before one of us are lucky enough to be able to join the other's party. And half the the time one of us are booted from the party while trying to join a game. Half the time I find myself just turning the game off because I cant stand the constant failure to join games, or the constant connection interruptions.

Yes, there are some good things about Black Ops. Like I said, this game COULD be Epic! And I do really enjoy playing it. But it just feels to me that Treyarch or whoever they are forced this game out of production. I know when this game was first announced, and screens/videos were released, so many people were complaining that it looked like MW2, and that it was stupid. Well now I've seen those same people complain that it's NOT MW2. As for my thoughts, I would have been perfectly happy with it being like MW2 with new maps, CoD points, and Zombie Mode. There was nothing wrong with MW2. You know when the last time i was disconnected from a game in MW2 was? Pretty much never. You know when the last time I started glitching online so bad that my toon kept falling through the ground into oblivion, and my killstreaks also fell through the ground? Never. Not to mention how many times I've knifed people only to watch my toon go straight through the enemy and the target just turns around, pops me once in the head and I'm out. Or walking around the corner, just seeing an enemy and falling dead after 1 bullet leaves their gun, only to watch the killcam and see that they had actually unloaded a full clip on me while my toon stood there clueless because of lag or awful glitches.

All in all, I'm happy with Black Ops. But sooooooooo frustrated at the same time. Why couldn't they have done a better job with it? It had the chance to be epic, but in my book, fell short due to terrible glitches and connections. There is so much more that could be added too. Why not make custom cammo where the user can change the colors, so they could have blue and green tiger stripes. Or even create their own pattern of camo like black with white skulls all over. Why not add in armor, like in Rainbow 6 vegas 2. Let us choose if we want to take a hit in mobility to have more armor or a hit in protection to move faster. Let us change the color of our armor too! Someone should really get together and make a Rainbow6/Modern Warfare hybrid game, and cross over the best of both worlds.

Although I am unsure as to whether or not I will get any replies, I'm going to give it a shot.

Dragon Age Origins was pretty much one of my personal highlights in gaming in 2009, so needless to say, when i heard there would be an expansion i was anxious and counted down to the release.

However, once the reviews came out along with all of the blog posts, i began to second guess whether or not i actually wanted the game. I could save my money for games and equipment coming out later this year such as Medal of Honor, the Playstation Move, and the new Socom Navy Seals or even the DLC for MW2 on PS3. I am a huge fan of DA:O, but when reviewing blog posts, its clear that a lot of fans are unhappy.

It seems that they are unhappy for different reasons than i am though. Many DA:OA players have criticized the expansion for its lack of gameplay time. I don't think this would greatly bother me, as i understand its an expanion and not a full length game. Even DA:O can be completed rather quickly if you dont do side quests for gear or experiance. Another thing gamers complained about were the excessive bugs that even forced them to reboot thier PS3. This is something that would bother me greatly, as sometimes i play for hours without saving, and i would be very frustrated if i was forced to reboot and lose all of that data.

But perhaps the most disappointing sacrifice to me that this expansion made was not in quality or length of time, but the sacrifice in detail and great party members from the original. I grew to really care for morrigan allistar and leliana, the romace was an awesome feature not many games offer. I mean, what am i to do without morrigan and her smirk attitude and survival of the fittest ways?The fact that they removed romance from the game bothers me, just yesterday i spent quite some time romancing morrigan, saving, then reloading tobefore i romanced her and romancing Leliana and creating a seperate save so i could see exactlywhat changes in the ending.

It also worries me (though i am not sure, maybe someone can tell me so i know) that if they removed romance they may have removed the bonus stories and quests associated with party members that you unlock once you gain so much approval with them. I loved these side missions in DA:O and learning more about the party members, i would be very upset if they removed that as well!!!

So can someone, anyone, that reads this...please give me your input on the game. Is it worth picking up a copy, or not? And why? And could you also tell me about about the new skills and such?i would greatly appreciate the comments and replies!

~7~

So i am currently a college student, full time, taking an overload of classes. Needless to say i dont have much money to spend on anything, let alone video games. But come on, I'm a gamer, nothing will stop me from getting my fix. I just have to pick wisely! Which is what i Thought i was doing when i read the reviews from about four seperate sites about Just Cause 2.

A beautiful game, that has its flaws, but is so much fun you won't notice them. So they said. But once i got behind the controller of this action game, i wished i had never taken the chance of scraping together $60 for it. $60 i will never get back.

Just cause 2 is amazingly beautiful. It has stunning graphics, and the game is a very good size. And they reviewers were also right about it taking time to complete 100%. It took mebetween half and hour to an hourjust to devistate a single army base. But after i reached that 100% marker on that single base, i was already bored.

The story line is a major let down, much like one of the review sites say, it is a "b-rated movie". The voice acting isn't As bad as some of the sites made it out to be, but it was still pretty bad. But the one thing i wish the review sites would have emphasized more were the glitches and terrible auto-aim mechanics.

Yes, gamespot said "you could be shooting a guy right in the face, but not a single bullet will hit him. If the auto-aim doesnt wantyou hitting your target, you're not goingto.Making this one of the few games thatpunish you for being a good shooter but reward you for being a poor shooter". They didn't make a huge deal about it however. Once i started a mission that took place mostly on top of moving vehicles, i noticed the amazingly horrid auto-aim system first hand and died several times because of it. You really have to get crafty in order to get the kills, rolling across cars, hanging off one side of the hood to hit a specific target, and so on. I could literally have my gun point blank to a soldiers face, unload an entire clip, and my bullets would seemingly disappear in mid-air. This was very frustrating and made the game an instant turn off for me. It seemed that the only time i could accurately and effiently kill an enemy was when i was riding in an army vehicle with a mounted cannon....i'd like to see the game make me miss then.

However; I do like the concept of hookshot'ing yourself to helicopters, throwing pilots out and taking control. I love the parachuting and plummiting to the earth at ridiculous speeds, waiting till the last second to yank that cord to slowly come to a gentle landing. The action seems pretty good, if only the game was more accurate with some sort of logical reasoning behind it.

All in all, this game is definetly a renter. I'm not even going to bother completing it (which is why i posted this blog rather than a review). The story line is a bore, the gameplay is not very rewarding aside from weapon upgrades, new guns and new vehicles you can purchase off the black market...this game has nothing going for it. It's much like a hack 'n slash game, but with a gun. No Depth. Run in a room, guns blazing, don't have to aim at all, and walk out in one piece. This is going to be a title that i attempt to re-sellat gamestop. Huge disappointment. Think of GTA combined with a horrible attempt at creating a secret agent feel, with a shotty auto-aim system, glitches in character voices, lack of story and substance,but with stunningvisuals.

6/10 (lowest score out of any game i own on the PS3 System). The only reason it got that high was because of a great enviornment and a hugeisland that you can freely roam.

Back in the day when gas was under two bucks a gallon, and I had not a care in the world, I still remember falling in love for the first time....With my Nintendo 64. Okay, so that was a corny start to this blog...but really, am I the only one that feels the same here? Doubtful. The 64 is really what started my passion for gaming. Im sure most gamers remember playing starfox 64, super smash bros, Donkey Kong 64, and of course spending hours upon hours playing Zelda: Orcarina of Time. That game was the "bee's knees" back in my day. Oh, how I miss being a kid and spending countless hours in front of the television set enjoying those simple, yet addicting games. Conquers Bad Fur Day was another great one, I used to spend hours playing the multiplayer mode with family and friends. So whatever happened to those days? Now, we got people trying to develope games the have the best graphics, best story lines, games with sex scenes, murder, violence, and even a new system that forces kids and adults to get off their lazy butt's to punch and kick their way through levels and exercises. Don't get me wrong...I have no problem with those things. But sometimes I think that we have all forgotten that a video game....well....it's just a game. Sure, its amazing when you purchase a brand new game that has puzzles, twists and turns, and still leaves you shocked and gasping for air when you've finally beaten it. The concept of a video game that makes you get up and move around, literally leaving you gasping for air, well thats genious. But sometimes all I want is to sit down and escape life's grasp for a few hours, enter a new world. Not revisit the one we live in full of drugs and sex, except in a made up world. Sometimes I just want to sit down and enjoy the simple things, and have some real careless fun. 64. I miss you.

A few minutes ago I was checking out the video review for Dante's Inferno...and after the five plus minutes of slandering, I decided to see what the gamers had to see about the review. And the overwhelming response was....the review was horrible. I myself haven't played Dante's Inferno yet, GoW wasn't my brand of gameplay. To me to seems like anyone that can mash buttons can beat the game. I vividly remember watching a good friend getting destroyed by a boss on a boat; and after watching him fail for three or four attempts I took the controller, mashed some buttons, and got through the boss easy as pie. So, since Dante's gameplay does resemble that of GoW....I don't think I will be purchasing it anytime soon. But the point is...Gamespot...you seem to be slacking. In an attempt to gain "level" so I can post my own reviews, I rated many games I have played over the years. And I was surprised and shocked at some of the scores Gamespot handed out. There are many examples of poor scoring by gamespot, like GTA. A 10? 10? Need I say more? Well I will give one more example. Arcanum. It's an older RP for PC. I can honestly and confidently say that this game was epic. Screw paying to play WoW online (although it is fun and addicting). I'm tired of the same old gameplay from Diablo 2. Give me Arcanum. An amazing RP, with an in-depth story about the battle of Magic versus Technology in an evolving world. There are several cities spread out across a continent, think Oblivion. Remember the map you can pull up and "fast travel" with in Oblivion, or just run city to city killing beasts and other creatures along the way? Very similar to Arcanum. Not only are there cities, but numerous landmarks and hidden treasures and quests all over the map. Not only is Arcanum a huge game, but the story is very well played out and sucks you in. Your adventure starts when a Zeplin you are aboard...crashes. You are the only survivor and as you are venturing through the wreckage, you come across a "gnome" that asks you to take his ring, along with a message to an old friend. And so your adventure begins. As the story unravels you will begin to learn about the old dwarven clans, the dominate religion, and encounter a couple of twists along the way. Just like WoW, you gain experiance and can learn new skills such as spells from a Variety (and i mean variety!) of magic schools. Anything from the simple "Harm spell", raising the dead, buffs, and healing spells. You can learn new talents from a variety of Schools on Technology which allow you to build traps, guns, and even new "enhanced" armors. But unlike WoW, you are directly responsible for placing your Stat points into different stats. And each stat has helpful and unique properties. Some stats simply increase strength and life, others increase your speech or your ability to learn new technology/magic skills. There are NUMEROUS ways to build a character. There is also a "good/evil" meter. But how do you become good or bad? Quite simple really. Throughout the course of the game, you will encounter many side quests. Choosing to complete some quests will either result in a "-" reputition gain or a "+" reputition gain. Sometimes while on a side quest, there will be a twist and it will turn out the person you're working for is actually the evil do'er. You can either complete what they asked you to do, or help the other person foil thier original plans. There is also a meter that shows whether you are more Magically or Technology inclined. This not only effects the skills you can learn or items you can wear, but it also effects the way people treat you and whether or not you can use common day luxories like the brand new train system. Another nice addition to this game is your ability to create your own party to your liking. Depending on whether you are good, or evil, people you may come in contact with through quests or just sitting around in the local pubs may decide to join your party. Your party can hold up to four people including yourself. This comes in handy, especially if you're a mage and can't take alot of direct damage. For example, you can recruit an ogre and use him as a tank, you can have a healer/swordsman, a dog, a dwarf, a hunter, and more. Arcanum isn't the best of games. For it's time, the graphics are pretty good. There's no real soundtrack, just some relaxing classical music that never really changes unless you engage an enemy. The game play style is much like diablo. Navigate using maps and using your cursor to move, attack, and cast spells on enemy units. The story line is pretty good, and will keep you interested as you watch the battle between magic and technology progress, learn about the dwarven clans, visit the elves, learn about dark elves, local lore, and more. The ending also changes depending on paths you choose and quests you do or don't complete. And there are near countless ways to create a character in the game, you could easily spend hours and hours playing this game, just to play the many different styles like thief, mage, swordsman, scientist etc. Arcanum is definetly worth your time, and in my book deserves nothing less than a 9.0.