See Review.

If you're not ready to put the time and effort into this game, prepare for self-inflicted Obliteration very early on ;) even on the so-called Easy/Acolyte difficulty but if you do spend the time then it pays off big time! It's even better than Ninja Gaiden Black! Arguably one of the Top 10 games ever created! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The Good ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ - Gameplay > Very unique and challenging, takes a while to get used to then it's a complete blast to play the game and watch the slaughterfest! Very similar to the original game on the Xbox so a plus if you've played it. - Combos > From Ultimate Techniques to Obliterations and the infinite combos, there's so much depth you can keep coming back for ages for new moves. The obliteration technique was a good add-on, looks like Assassin's creed's finish kills but way more visceral. - Graphics / Art Style > Looks really good, the art style and bosses are very well done, pretty spectacular when in full combat action. - Save points > More save points than NGBlack and you can go back to save if needed, well balanced. - Red Costume > Looks cool! - Collecting Items > 30 skulls, not 400 flags or 500 orbs! - Achievements > Pretty well balanced. - Button Mashing doesn't work! - Co-op > Would be awesome! - Slow-Motion > An optional F.E.A.R.-esque slow-mo mode would be a pretty cool plus to see actions in more detail. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The Bad ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ - Update Glitch > If you downloaded the patch (if you're online) then you have to uninstall it to finish the game and play offline, not a big deal but at least the patch needs to be removed, poorly tested! - Camera > Not as bad as I expected based on the reviews I read, could be better but with so much speed could get you dizzy if they move it too much. - Easy (Acolyte) Difficulty > Not as easy as you might think, still pretty hard for casual gamers. Just check the forums for many disappointed players who don't want to put the effort. - Dialogue > Really cheesy, could be better.

The story, dialogue and scope are amazing and deserve a 10 but the controls/visuals are quite average and loading....... ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The Good ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ - Dialogue/Story > No other game comes close, it's like watching the Sopranos all over again. Brilliant! Second to none. - Scale > No loading times when you're driving which explains why visuals are average. - Taxi > I don't think I could repeat missions without riding a cab and skipping the repetitive driving, thank god for cab drivers?! - GPS > Thank you Saints Row! ;) - Wet conditions > When it's wet, suddenly the streets look 10 times better with the added reflection. - Cover > In a fight, the cover option is priceless but a bit clunky as you can get stuck when an enemy gets too close. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The Bad ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ - Loading...loading...loading....OMG! - Credits = 25 Mins?! Are you kidding me?! Everyone on the planet seems to have worked on the game... - Restarting a mission > Can be frustrating to start from the beginning every time, there needs to be a save before the real mission starts. - Fighting controls > Quite average if not bad in some instances however the new cover system is a good addition but needs work. - Presentation > Expected better, I understand it's huge as far as map size but other games have done a better job, even Oblivion and that's 3 years ago. - Melee fighting > Pretty weak, needs work - Camera angles > When driving a car it can go too low if you're changing elevation and you have to keep adjusting. - Mobile Text > Unreadable on a 42" TV, come on! - Text over background > Is sometimes hard to read so you have to move the camera around to read it. - 30 Hour achievement > Sucks! Since I'm not planning to go through the story multiple times I have to run through it the first time and you have to miss side missions and other activities for later.

It's RB6:Vegas 1.5 but it's still a great game if you're into squad based shooters. Solo mission on realistic rocks! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ [The Good] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ - Realistic mode > It can be a pain sometimes but it's the way to do it, also extends the single player significantly, start the game on Realistic the first time around. - Solo mission > A la Splinter Cell, there's a great mission that should not be missed and should only be played on Realistic, it can be a pain but worth it for Sam fans. - Leveling > Leveling up in Single player mode is more than welcome. Receiving upgrades as you go as well as details for what kind of shots you accomplished and experience points. Are we slowly getting into RPG territory? I hope so. - Gameplay > Nothing much changed (a good thing), still very good controls although I wish the snake cam button would be different than the open door control, it sometimes triggers the open door and ends up with unintended results ;) Sprinting is a pretty good plus, was definitely missing in previous version. - Online > Best online shooter? Definitely in the top 5. Co-op is always welcome. - Enemy AI > On hard mode, they're quite agressive ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ [The Bad] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ - Wow factor > It's just missing something that would take it to the next level, it's becoming a bit repetitive, needs some new gameplay elements, story, better presentation... - Presentation > Quite average, expected better visuals - Location > The areas/environments where you're playing some of the missions are not that exciting, back alleys of Vegas not that exciting. - Story > Really weak in the story department, adding some cut-scenes and more depth wouldn't hurt - Achievements > Not a fan of too many online achievements, single player should have more points in my personal opinion, see what COD4 did.

Outstanding visuals but for a flight sim fan the lack of realism and mission chaos brings the score down. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ [The Good] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ - Presentation > Looks amazing, one of the best looking games on the 360 for sure. Fireworks really neat addition. - Planes > Very good selection of the best planes around and they look great too. The only thing here is they don't feel that different when flying them except maybe for the A-10 and F-117 which are noticeably slower. - Atmosphere > Except for the weak lame story, when in flight the communications and overall action is quite entertaining. - Gameplay > Although not realistic, it's easy to pick up and play and the control scheme makes sense however It does lack depth. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ [The Bad] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ - Realism > Unlimited weapons, no chaff/flare, enemies have some planes that make impossible aerodynamic flight paths. You can outrun missiles which is nuts. Crazy flying aircraft carrier, UFO drones, crazy big-bertha mega-gun ! - Mission Chaos > Thousands of enemies, hundreds of planes and unclear mission objectives. Out of nowhere, part of the mission fails. Missiles from a thousand directions so the missile alert is on 90% of the time. - Story > Quite possibly the worst story in a while with pathetic lines and hearing "flying like angels" 10,000 times. Needs total overhaul. Again, add some realism to it, the planes you're given are real so why not make it all tie together. - Online > Tried battle match and it was similar to an FPS in a single small sized room, imagine that, you shoot someone or you're down in less than a second. - Font > What's with Japanese games and Times New Roman?!

Still one of a kind, but it doesn't have the same shock value as the first. Monolith sucks at achievements as usual! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ [The Good] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ - Unique > This game plays like...hmmm...the first game and it still works well. It's really odd that no one has followed the visceral, heart-pounding emotional experience that it has. - Melee fighting > No one does it better but there should have been some extra training for the more complex combos. - New enemies > The one in the lodge was pretty cool, nuff said. - Investigation > Much more elaborate than the first game, the optional questions and more tools. The next game should add a more refined RPG element to the game such as upgrading weapons and armor, that would be a big plus. - Story > It was ok, first game was better though, not enough mystery and your quest is not so clear and specific as the first, but overall not bad. - Radios/TVs > Not a bad idea to go look for stuff that gives you extra info/news instead of just collecting birds. - The Mask > Without spoiling anything, it's a nice add-in. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ [The Bad] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ - Multiplayer > Not needed, why even bother? Put all that effort in the single player to make it better instead, add those RPG elements. - Achievements > Really bad, i'd rather look for those birds and metal pieces guys, come on! There should be some for beating levels or bosses and drop those multiplayer achievements, COD4 got it so right, everyone should learn from them. Monolith needs an achievements consultant! - Variety > I might be asking too much but even though there were extra weapons, new enemies and new environment, there was no major new feature that would have made the game a significant step ahead of the first one.

I happen to have 3 extra coffins :D Coffin A > They sent me an extra coffin one time for no reason, they must've sensed it's going to break anyway Coffin B > Sent a smaller coffin than required since they requested I send the power supply as well Coffin C > A large coffin for the wireless wheel to fix the fire issue which I didn't send since I didn't want to wait another month to get it back. Tomorrow they're sending me my 4th 360 with the power supply but Fedex shows 8lbs instead of the 11lbs so I have a bad feeling about this...sighhhhhhhhhhh

Ok, here's the latest, I get the "coffin" today and it's the small one. Since it's the 3rd time, they wanted me to send in the power supply too. So i call them again and they're sending another larger "coffin". 1 week totally wasted... thx to Roger Waters for making me patient in this "Cruel World" :D

I so expected it by now that I'm not even pissed. In the meantime, I'm looking for a Wii if someone knows where I can get one in the DC area, i need one so I can use it when my 360 dies every now and then. The funniest thing (if there's anything funny about this story) is that I was just reading what Bill Gates said after CES that the 360 will be the most reliable piece of hardware, I'd replace hardware with another word, use your imagination! 2008 looks ugly... wait a second, in 2007 and 2006 i had the same problem as well! LMAO Go 2009!

A great RPG that deserved a higher score if it wasn't for the weak combat mechanism and some minor glitches. Note: Read prequel book (Mass Effect: Revelations) by Drew Karpyshyn and enjoyed it, a good read. You might want to get it to have a good understanding of the ME Universe, species and key characters. That, in turn, got me to buying Drew's other books, Star Wars: Darth Bane which is one great book and I just got the newly published Darth Bane: Rule of Two, he's got me hooked. Where are you KOTOR 3 and please no MMO!!! Back to Mass Effect... ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ [The Good] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ - Liara > Need I say more?! She's hot! :D - Scope > It's pretty big, not as much as Oblivion but still quite impressive. The Universe/Story takes you in and it's hard to let go. - Planet hopping > Even though there's a good degree of repetition, it doesn't get old to jump in the Mako and explore these planets, very entertaining. Giving me some ideas for a future game hmmmm.... - Mako > Driving the Mako is a lot of fun, don't know why people complained about the Mako controls. I think they're way better than the combat ones, the Mako rocks!!! - Dialogue/Speech > very easy to use/navigate, doesn't get much better than that! - RPG Elements > Typical Bioware with lots of options and selections to choose from. - Story > Not bad for a new IP, following Star Wars is not an easy feat but it gets close, not there yet. It seems to be missing that cool weapon like a lightsaber that makes you stand out. - Music > Well done! Love the opening music, it does get a little bit dry when you play the game, needed more variety. - Graphics > Pretty good but not as good as Gears / COD4 / Assassin's Creed. There are instances when textures take a while to load but not a big deal. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ [The Bad] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ - Combat > By far the weakest feature, KOTOR's turn-based combat was way better. It's realtime but it doesn't feel like an FPS, ideally it needs to be like the GRAW single-player controls. Controlling your team can be a pain, the team AI is average if not poor. Needs significant work. - Difficulty settings > Due to the average combat mechanism, moving the difficulty setting up can be frustrating at times. I played all CODs on Veteran but I have no interest in increasing the setting in ME. - Achievements > Poorly done, make you play an RPG 4-5 times is absolutely ridiculous! - Buggy > Sometimes your character gets stuck and you have to reload etc. - Auto-save > not frequent enough and having a quicksave button is also missing, can be a pain to go back and save your earliest save. - Framerate > Pretty bad in some spots, similar to Oblivion which is 2+ yrs old. - Controls > Not the most obvious layout, could be better. The use of the X button to zoom out in planet browsing vs B button etc. - Guide/Tutorial > Lacks depth, needs much more info. - Menus > Again, not enough info and not as detailed as KOTOR. - Universe map > It would be nice to mark the places you've been to, come on! - Elevator ride > very slooooooooooooooooooooooowwwwwwww - Spectre > Becoming a Spectre so quickly was very anti-climatic and unexpected, should have happened further down the storyline