Let me just start by saying that i actually really like this game. Bioware did one hell of a job with story (as they always do) and i really enjoy the over the shoulder combat of the game. With that said, the game is missing two things: polish of the vehicular driving sequences and melee weapons. the second of these i realize would not work well with the semi-tactical shooting gameplay, but i cannot help but think that, with the right balancing, bioware could have implimented these into the game. KOTOR has ranged and melee weapons. Gears of War offers players a chance to shoot each other longh range and close range combat via pistol whips, rifle butts, and chainsawing enemies in half. Mass Effect could at least have a melee button instead of the almost broken automatic rifle butt in which it now contains. now to my biggest gripe: the vehicular driving sequences. we shouldnt kid ourselves. the stupid thing is just not fun to drive in any way, shape, or form. the mako is the worst vehicle in any game i have ever played. it made me throw my controller across my room so many times because the controls are so frustrating. when i play RPGs, i like to explore every edge of the map and discover all of the secrets i possibly can, but this is so incredibly frustrating in the mako that it makes complete exploration of areas with rough terrain border on impossible. i hope before the inevitable release of mass effect 2 that bioware manages to fix the disasterous vehicle driving and impliments some form of melee combat be it a simple melee button or a full blown arsenal of swords, katanas, spears, mass effect beam swords, and the like.

my friend joe encouraged me to post something to if he doesnt comment on this im going to be pissed. halo 3 is the most overrated game available to buy on consoles to date. the series as a whole is wonderful. halo and halo 2 offered finely-tuned fast-paced shooting in an online mutiplayer environment. the story mode of the first two are decent, but nothing to shake a stick at. the fun factor of the game is playing against your buddies or others via split screen, system link, or xbox live. neither of the first games offered much in the way of innovation of the genre as a whole but fine tuned the experience for consoles. that being said, halo 3 is all of those things and it seems that the series strengths are also its weaknesses. if halo 3 had launched with the 360 then it would be totally deserving of its accumulative critic score of over 9.0 (average on a scale to 10). but, it didnt lauch with the 360. with the introduction of stellar shooters like Gears of War and Call of Duty 4, Halo 3 just seems dated. the graphics are decent. the game play is good, but no innovation over the others in the series. and the story of the campaign is the most confusing story i have ever experienced. at the end, all i knew was that i was supposed to kill the little silver ball that had been helping me during the whole series (also i would like to mention that i was pissed you dont get to see his face). i cannot count how many times i uddered the phrases "WTF?" and "what just happened?" during my time with the campaign. this crappy end to an otherwise intriging story as well as the lack of innovation in the gameplay are halo 3s biggest problems. i cannot help but feel that bungie missed the basket on their buzzer shot to keep the hearts of halo fans and to make halo go down as one of the most beloved series of all time in the minds of many gamers.