We use so many abbreviations on this site it is amazing that we can keep anything straight. Anyway, I beat the campaign on Dawn of War 2 on Saturday. I am actually not too happy about it. DoW2's campaign is an RPG and would be very enjoyable for any RPG fans. The problem is that the game has a level cap of 20. Like many Fallout 3 players, I was more than a little upset by that. The game is still great fun, but it really feels like it just ends. I am pretty sure I could have wiped out the whole tyranid (evil killer bugs) race with my Space Marines and was upset that I didn't get the opportunity. I think they're planning expansions to fix this problem, but that is just a guess.

Also on Saturday, I rented Dynasty Warriors: Gundam 2 from Hollywood Video (not gamefly). The game has gotten horrible reviews from almost everyone. I've played the it for probably about 15 hours already and I can tell you not only that I know I love the game, but also I know it deserves the bad reviews. The game is almost the exact same as the first one, but since I'm a fan of the Gundam series, and since the game has co-op, it is exactly what I wanted. There is just enough leveling and collecting to make the game compelling, but you have to be a certain type of person to want to play through the same missions with every character. I think I will buy this game because I enjoy it and expect about 100 hours of playtime based on my progress so far. That is a little more than I can fit in the 5 day rental period.

I was posting in the Wii forum because I had recently played Quantum of Solace on the Wii and was suprised it had an online which, while pretty simple (only 4 people at a time), it was fun. Someone was asking if people would play Wii more if it has achievements. This was my responce:

Apr 23, 2009 9:53 am CT

If they stacked with my 360 ones I would. If they existed on their own probably not. I think they would probably confuse all those soccer moms who bought the system for Wii Sports and Wii Fit.

Now, if a self-described soccer mom out there got offended because she thought I was calling her ignorant, I apologize. I'm pretty sure what happened though, is that some fanboy didn't like my responce, and that my Xbox Gamertag was in my Sig.

Still, I believe it to be a qualified answer because I am a Wii owner who doesn't play very often and spends many hours unlocking meaningless points on the 360. The 360 points are confusing enough for people who play games regularly. I was confused by them when I first got it. The Wii is marketed to people who do not read Kotaku or visit Gamespot regularly and likely do not have tons of friends who do and can explain everything for them. Those people might be confused by an achievement point system. Though it is possible it would have been really popular if implemented from the begining.

The points loss doesn't bother me too much, but I am bothered that my post was considered worthy of moderation. All the time on this site I see post that are made for the sole purpose of insulting another player and those threads are allowed to stay. I've been on this site for a pretty long time and have not worried about moderation because I try to play nice. This to me seems petty and if it continues I will leave.

I've mentioned many times my love for multiplayer. Yesterday, I downloaded Quantum of Solace for the PC mostly because I enjoyed the game on the 360 and Wii when I rented it and figured the PC version would be slightly improved. While the PC version is a somewhat better, its online community is so tiny that I'm not sure if I'll ever get an online match on it. Its sad. I only paid $20 for the game though, so I'm not upset about buying it, but I wish someone would play it online with me.

I've been using Steam somewhat extensively as of late. I downloaded Dawn of War 2 off the service, mostly because its required to play the game no matter where you get it from. Honestly I don't like Steam at all. I know there are a lot of people who get into the community, but the software is horrible. Everytime I log in, I'm bombarded with pop-up ads. I am normally one to not mind a few ads, but Steam works like we're still in the 90s and are all on AOL. Its incredibly annoying. I also hate the way steam updates. Every time I launch the application it runs some kind of update that not only takes time, but it also moves my desktop icon to some other corner of the screen. Since I'm meticulous about my desktop, I really hate that. A third complaint would be that the interface is horribly outdated, but that is astetics and I'm sure someone out there just loves it. Anyway, I don't like steam and if it wasn't required for DoW2, I would unistall it.

On a more positve note, I tried out IGN's direct 2 drive option to get Quantum of Solace. Its nice and works pretty much like I expected. There is a download manager application that you have to install, but its non-intrusive. The only real downside to this service is that if there is a nearby retail store with a disc copy, it would probably be faster to run out there and buy the game on disc. I anticipated a long download though and had it running while I was a work. So D2D ended up being a convienient time saver for me. I already checked and you can download a game multiple times incase you need to reinstall and there is a support center if you're having trouble with activation. I didn't have any problems though. I fully expect I'll be using the service again.

One final note, today is my wife and my third wedding anniversary. We're still in love with each other and are looking forward to spending many more years together.

I downloaded the DLC for Prince of Persia on thursday and beat it on Friday. If you want the short of it, I don't think it is worth the money. If you need a little more detail I'll list it below.

Good:

The DLC is some of the hardest platforming sections in the game. For people who though the main story was a little too easy, this is the last stage they were looking for. Its fun to play through and adds a nice new power for Elika, which might not change the game much, but is a plesent visual treat. There are also some nice battles to fight through as the prince. Like the final fights in the game, the ones in the DLC can be quite challenging. It adds some extra replayability with added achievements and things to find that are hard to get on the first run through.

Bad:

Its short. Just about when I was really getting into it, it starting winding down. I think the total time I spent in it was about two hours and most of that was in one section where I had trouble figuring out what to do. Also, the Epilogue adds nothing to the story. The whole reason I downloaded it was to get some sort of conclusion and a big boss fight. I didn't get either. What is there is presented decently, but is completely pointless. It seems like the objective of the DLC is to take you from the unsatisfying conclusion of the game to an even more unsatisfying conclusion and have that somehow convince you to buy the sequel. That honestly makes me somewhat angry.

Conclusion:

Ubisoft is getting in a bad habbit of not ending their games and strong handing story fans into a sequel. They've done it with Rainbow Six: Vegas, they did it with Assassain's Creed, and now they've done it with Prince of Persia. While the gameplay in the DLC is pretty fun while it lasts, the main reason (or at least my main reason) for downloading it was for the story. It fails so epicly in that regard that it is impossible to reccomend. It almost makes me want to boycot Ubisoft, until they learn how to make a game that actually ends. In fact, I think I may do that.

Yesterday I completed Prince of Persia (2008) on the Xbox 360. Though I didn't get all the achievements, I was suprised with my score of over 600 on the game. The one specific achievement was "Be gentle with her", that is awarded for having been saved by Eleka less than 100 times. I had personally given up on the achievement because I felt like I died so much in the first levels. I literally was dieing on purpose to get light seeds in some places because it was easier. Well, despite my complete lack of effort, it unlocked. I would normally take that to mean I'm good at the game, but this time I think the game just has very low standards. I also got the speed run achievement, but I was expecting that.

Now, I liked the story of the game and I especially liked the Prince and really wanted to know what was going to happen to him in the end. If you don't know already, the game doesn't end in the way most people expect. In fact, when you beat it, there is an achievement called "to be continued...". Well, as much as I liked the ending twist and conclusion they were willing to give there are a lot of unanswered questions. Well, it turns out that there is some DLC out that for $10 will unlock the rest of the story. As much as I convinced myself I didn't need it, I downloaded it anyway. I'm not sure my feelings on how Ubisoft organized this, but then again I didn't pay $60 for the game on release day. I'll let you know my feelings on that DLC once I play through it.

Also yesterday, I watched Dragonball Evolution. There are some changes in the story that will perticularly irk fans. I think everyone was expecting something along those lines, but if you can move past your devotion to the original for just a second or two, it makes this movie more enjoyable. Still, it is super cheesy, but just cheesy enough to make it bad. If they could have added on a few more layers it would have succeeded as a self parody, which I believe is what the anime did so well. There's some decent choreography in the begining, but the movie almost feels like its degrading in quality as it progresses. The final battle looks so poorly put together that it reminded me of a Godzilla movie in the worst possible way. I was laughing, and I don't think that is what the creators wanted you to do there. Anyway, the movie is still fun and I enjoyed watching it. That doesn't change the fact that it is a mediocre movie.

What? I already have one? Well, now I have two. Actually, my parents live 4 houses down from me and some of my siblings still live there. Most importantly, my younger brother still lives there. He has shared my 360 with me for some time, but it had become somewhat of a problem with us both wanting to play at the same time. So, at my suggestion, we went half and half on a second 360 (a 360 elite to be exact). Now he can have his friends over to play 360 till 2am and my wife wont complain because they wont be at our house.

Of course we couldn't just get a 360 by itself. We picked up some bonus stuff too. I got a memory card to transfer my gamer profile with and he got a bettery charger and an additional battery. He also got his own Xbox Live account (GT: RunningPie). Of course you have to get a game and we picked the best online competitive shooter on the console, Shadowrun! This actually marks the third time I've bought that game. My brother also took the games he bought for my 360 which are Fallout 3, Oblivion, and Halo 3 (I bought the first one and when that broke he bought the replacement).

Also, not of any gaming importance, I bought a vehicle. Its a used 2006 Dodge Caravan. That would mean I am stuck looking like a soccer mom except I kept my 2002 Ford Taurus. Sill, I like the room in the minivan and it has a DVD player! If you're curious, I paid $10k for the van and it has about 65,000 miles on it. I bought it from Bob Ridings in Decatur. The people at the dealership loved us. They gave us flowers and took our picture. It felt good, but I think they do that for all their customers.

I've not given up in my achievement competition and this weekend still keeps me in the game.

First, I got the full 1000/1000 gamerscore on Resident Evil 5. With the exception of the final stage on the hardest difficulty, I had not problem. The only reason I did have a problem there was because my brother was out working and no one online thought tackling Wesker on Professional sounded fun. After dieing 40 times because the AI does NOT know how to fight Wesker, I finally got my other brother to play. He had never touched the game before but was infinitly better than no one. It took us several tries still, but we got it down eventually. All the other RE5 achievements are very easy with a guide. It makes me wonder why they didn't put in something like, score an S rank in Mercenaries (or on all mercenaries levels). I'm not complaining though.

So, the other game I cleared this weekend was NHL 2k6. If it weren't for achievements I probably would never play a sports title. I actually didn't know a thing about hocky, except that you were supposed to put the puck in the goal. Well I quickly studied up and learned the meaning of a Break-away, and a power-play, and what would cause a penalty shot. There are seriously only 5 achievements in this game and even though I'm the worst sports game player, I got them all within an hour or so.

So, that puts me at a total of 34,355 and ThaSod is still ahead at 39,325. Thats fine with me though because this is a distance run since both of us still have over 10k to go. I've got a plan for pulling ahead. We'll see how it goes.

Me and gamerscore have an on and off love affair. I love the little extra reward for pushing extra hard and getting deep into a video game. That little reassurance that I did an extra good job is rewarding. Sometimes our relationship goes awry though, and I end up doing things I don't enjoy (and honestly would rather not talk about). It makes me feel dirty just thinking about it.

What I'm talking about is playing horrible video games for their easy achievement points. Right now I'm in a challenge with ThaSod and am woefully behind, yet I'm having trouble finding motivation. MrSod is either a much greater man or a woefully more disgusting one, because he is seemingly undisturbed by the most horrible titles. In a marathon session he has managed to blow through Cabela's Safari and Open Season (also TMNT, but I have that one too). If I think of the games I'll have to play to catch up, I shudder. When you're going for quantity over quality, you have to delve into the dark back corner of the used, abused, and unloved games sections of Gamestop, walking past the young and beautiful titles newly displayed in the store window. Contemplating this makes me wonder what kind of person I really am.

Meanwhile, I think I've found a title I really love. Despite some initial apprehension, I'm really hitting it off with Resident Evil 5. We normally do the same campaign multiple times, but each time I feel like I'm getting better at it and I am unlocking new secrets I originally thought I'd never discover. Then there is also that giant magnum with unlimited ammo. I'm not sure how she would feel if she knew of the low quality games I was choosing over her. I know while I'm playing them though that I'd rather be playing her. I guess that is just how life is for a gamerscore whore. Hopefully, anyone reading this can find a better path for themselves. I'm afraid I'm already lost.

Check it Here:

MY REVIEW

Also, I'm getting a replacement to my Star Ocean 4 disc 1 today. I want to play through an get the BSAA emblems and some higher scores, and beat the game on the hard difficulty. I might not have time though. I love Star Ocean.

Despite having never played RE4, I still consider myself a big fan of the series, and although I didn't run out to buy RE5 on release day, when I got some extra money this weekend, I decided I'd splurge. I bought myself the 360 limited edition and after a full day of dedicated play, I'm pretty happy with my decision.

Resident Evil 5, I think, is proof that Capcom can do what very few other developers can, and that is make something that is both current and nostalgic at the same time. I know I had a lot of love for the old playstation titles and this game pays proper tribute while being drastically different. Like many people have said the game isn't so much about survival. You're now the hardened soldier Chris Redfield and the game is happy to give you enough ammo to shoot your way through most situations, but there are plenty of situations where its better to conserve your ammo and just run away. To me, a lot of the fear in the originals came from running from enemies so I'm glad its still there. Thankfully now though I wont lose all my progress when I get killed by the zombie in the hall that I didn't have the ammo to shot while on my way back to the typewritter after finally finding an ink ribbon.

One thing that is different from the originals that strangely bothers me is the lack of backtracking. Backtracking in the original games served a couple purposes. One thing it did was artificially enlarge the enviornment and lengthen the game with needless filler, but it also created a need for intense exploration and discovery. The originals had a lot of doors to unlock and puzzles to solve and those are just missing in 5 from what I've played so far. Sure they've been replaced by beautiful, varried, and open enviornments, which, while nice, don't evoke the same trapped feeling. On the plus side though, I'm never left running around in circles for hours because I forgot to click "x" on the one spot I'm supposed to examine and just happened to miss.

What makes RE5 a standout is just how fun and intense the game is. The purposely slowed down combat actually adds to the suspense and the inventory system, which doesn't pause the game, adds to that more. The co-op play works great even by yourself. I had a computer controlled Sheva and played through the first 3 chapters on normal. Not only did she not get in the way, but she's actually helpful. The game also makes a good use of loot. If you search around you can find all kinds of treasures which you can use to upgrade your guns. It does a good job replacing all the searching for keys and emblems, but with some super powered firearms the enemies do seem a tad less scarey. Also there are plenty of other secrets and collectables that make the game feel happily full.

So, I like it. I think the game is good on its own, but when it is flavored with a hint of nostalgia its even better. While many of the changes within the franchise remove some element of fear they also remove a great deal of frustration. The weapon upgrades and co-op are an undeniably fun addition and I'm pretty sure that the 2 harder difficulties should be enough for those looking for a challenge. So if you're looking for a rewarding single player experience, or some co-op action with a buddy, RE5 delivers. I, like most reviewer, wouldn't neccesarily call it a survival horror title, but it could happily be call action/thriller. Its fun and exciting. What more could you want?