I'm not extremely proud of my written review for this game, but that is mostly because I know it is by all standards an average game, but I really like it and would like other people to play it. Maybe I'm a sucker for explosions. Here's the review:

Click for Review

Mostly I liked the multiplayer. It isn't genre redefining or anything, but fun. I'm not sure if everyone else who plays sucks or if I'm better than I give myself credit for, but either way I was totally owning everyone by my second match. I put on the default shotgun and two perks one with added damage and one with increased accuracy when when shotting from the hip and proximity mines. I let my brother try and he used the default SMG with increased damage and he also added increased health and he killed just as many as I did. So anyway, maybe I liked it because I could actually win, but I don't see why anyone else couldn't pick this game up a play online just as easily.

I'm going to finish off some of the achievements and then return it to gamefly. I'm thinking about buying this game for PC when it drops in price. By the looks of things that shouldn't take too long. I hope they have seperate achievements because if they do I'm going to unlock them all twice.

Gamefly is sending it to me. I know I've been complaining about them a lot, but it seems I had some luck with this one. Of course I only have the good timing because it took them 5 days to get the last game I sent back. It will probably arrive just before Thanksgiving weekend.

So far the reviews on it aren't stealler. 1 up gave the game a C, and I wouldn't be suprised it it deserved it. Gamespot hasn't put out a review on it yet, but they haven't been able to get a review out on time for the past two months anyway. Its possible that I could get this game and play through it and have a review up before gamespot does. Wether it is good or bad, I'll know for sure soon.

So like just about everyone else who owns a 360 I downloaded and installed the New Xbox Experience yesterday. I was actually pretty excited about getting it, because its new and all xbox like... and stuff. Well, anyway, it turns out that there really isn't a lot to say about it. It is new and different, but I don't think it changes much for most people.

There were some things I really like. I like the new in game guide A LOT. It is, in my opinion the best inprovement of the whole NXE. To me it is so much more efficient for everything and gives your more options than before. It also loads in the middle of the screen rather than that stupid placement on the side. I liked the Xbox Live party option. Mostly it is just a group chat, but hey, it wasn't there before and now it is, and it works. One final thing I enjoyed was the way they display your games history and achievements. It takes a while to load, but it is cool to be able to see all your beatiful achievements spread out in front of you... ooohhh the achievements... *drool*.

On the downside, I did have some issues with the NXE, and some places it didn't live up to expectations. The avatar system was highly advetised, and is still neat, but right now there are so few choices for clothes it is just plain stupid. In reality I might have picked the same clothes, since I want my avatar to look like me, but I'm not the creative team at rare. I would have thought they could be more creative. Maybe its like gamerpics and if I look back in a couple months I'll have so many and not know where most of them came from, but then again it could never get updated again. The themes getting covered does bother me as well. I have one theme I bought and used for the most part and it is completely obscured on the main screen. Its annoying, but I guess I can change my theme...

Most of the real problems I'm having is just from feeling the new interface out. It feel like it is organized better, but I was pretty ingrained in the old system. Old dogs... what can I say. My 2 year old son has already been trying to get used to it to. He figured out how to open the music again, but is having trouble finding the arcade games on his own. I'm sure he will figure it out. He got up with me at 6 am today and went straight back to messing with it. I'm not sure if that means he likes it or he's secretly trying to get it back to the old interface.

So, for better or worse the NXE is here. I think it is for the better, but its an adjustment. For me, not a lot of things changed and that is both good and bad because I would have liked to have seen some radical improvement in the performance of my 360. Maybe I was expecting a bit too much. The 360 is still the same game system it was before, just a little different.

I just want to make sure everyone is aware of that. I've sent my copy back to gamefly and now its one ugly 5/1000 gamerscore on my card. Its worth the humiliation to never have to play that game again.

So in addition to being my birthday on the 7th my brother had a birthday on the 10th. With him just turning sixteen, people still buy him presents. What did he get? Fallout 3 for the Xbox 360. Which is great for me because I get to play it too.

Well, after seeing my childhood flash before my eyes, I'm left with some resevations about the game. To give you some history I DO NOT like Oblivion. It is hard to put my finger on what kills the game for me, but I can tell you there a lots of small things that annoy me greatly. The way NPC characters look and move are both horrible and the way they just shout at you all the time when you're walking around. I also hated the boring combat and repetitive voices in Oblivion and I thought the quest got repetitive real quick. Oh, and I also hate exploring. All that said, Fallout 3, at least at first, seems to share a lot of these problems. For that reason, I'm not so sure that I like it.

There are a couple things I did like. I liked walking around as a baby. In fact that gives me a whole idea for a new game. It would be a puzzle/platformer where you're hampered by limited motor skills and adults that underestimate you. I put it out on the Wii, it would sell a bunch. Other than that, I wasn't too happy about anything. Well, thats wrong, I did like the intro videos.

Call me a sceptic, but this game shares way too many similarities to its Oblivion for my taste. I'm sure the farther you progress and the more you see the results of your decisions the better the game gets. The only thing it has done so far for me is brought back that bad taste from playing that other game which seemingly everyone else thought was so awesome. 

I told everyone I'd give an update on my birthday weekend and being Monday it seems appropriate to do so now. However I also wanted to rant about Gamefly for a little while. Seeing as how I was expecting Quantum of Solace to play and still haven't recieved it (I hope it is in the mail today). I have their 3 game plan, but the only reason I need the 3 game plan is because it takes a week for them to recieve the games back from me and then it take 3 or more days to get the game sent out. Sometimes it is faster because of "Fast Returns", and then it only takes 2 days to get back. The problem is for some reason I'll only get "Fast Returns" one out of every three times I send something back. I always use the same mail box. I work freaking right next to the post office! There is no reason it should take this long. Also, Gamefly is having a horrible habbit of sending me games on the bottom of my queue. They dig down to title 20 instead of whats on the top. While that should be fine because I DO want to play those titles eventually, there are A LOT of other title I want to play immediatly. So I miss the play and win weekends, and when I've planned having a friend over we get stuck playing a single player. Then it takes another week or more to try again for the game I REALLY want to play. I hate it and Gamefly doesn't care. BLOCKBUSTER WHY ARE YOU NOT GIVING GAMEFLY COMPETITION?!?!?!? WHY???????!!!!!!

/Rant

So anyway my weekend wasn't ruined. I spent nearly the entire time playing Tales of Vesperia. Which I think is funny because I didn't have that on my list. My younger sister and I are both playing through it together and we had only put about 5 hours into it before even though we got it right after it released. Well, now we've got more like 25 hours in it and I'm really enjoying it. I'm really getting into the story.

I also spent a few hours with another JRPG, Infinite Undiscovery. I think I was warned it was better left undiscovered. That is 100% true. Despite the fact the game bears the Square Enix logo and the Tri-Ace emblum (two of my favorites, especially in combination) the game is terrible. It is so bad it is hard to describe how bad it is. Maybe it would help to say that I think Two Worlds was excellent by comparison (and I HATED Two Worlds). Infinite Undiscovery is slow with a pointless plot and unlikeable characters. The controls feel really wonky and totally kill their real time battles. Overall I can't find anything good to say about this game except that no one is forcing you to buy it.

The rest of the weekend was spent eating cake and whatnot. I did some cathing up with my kids and burried my son in leaves in our backyard. It was pretty nice.

There has been a lot of talk about 3-D platformers as of late and I've had more than my fair share to say about it already. However if there is one game set to save platformers for another console generation the game isn't Little Big Planet, or Ratchet and Clank, or even Mario. No, the game to save the platformer looks to be Mirrors Edge!

I have only played the demo, but I have high expectations for the game. It is a first-person platformer and makes you feel like you're some sort of spiderman less his super powers. It is hard to describe, but it is a thrill. The beautiful city laid out before you is a playground and you're the runner who will speed through it, with an option for speedruns of course. After playing through the tutorial and what might be the first mission, I immediatly wanted to play more. I guess I'll have to wait. Still this is a game I'm looking to play when it comes out, but I don't have to wait long the game comes out on the 11th of this month.

Here's a link to the game's page.

My birthday is tomorrow. I'm at that point where if I want some great B-day presents I have to buy them for myself. Well, I'd love to go out and buy all kinds of new games, but that gets expensive quickly. Instead I'm renting games and will spend all weekend playing them.

I got two games from gamefly that I haven't tried. The first is infinite undiscovery and the second is Quantum of Solace. I'm actually pretty excited about the second one because I got it sent out to me on its release day. That has never happened to me before. I'm pretty sure I'll be playing both of these games for longer than a weekend, but I'm going to try to put in a few hours on each soon here.

The third game I rented from Hollywood video, Little Big Planet I've only got it till Monday. I was really excited about this one and was going to play last night, but when I put it into the system it made me download an update which took over an hour to complete. It was late when I tried to start playing it so I didn't wait for it to finish, I just went to bed, but I WILL play it tonight. Maybe it will be able to redeem the PS3 for me a little.

I'll be giving my birthday impressions as well as reviews for all of these games pretty soon.

I got Unreal Tournament 3 from gamefly this weekend. I played it A LOT and feel like I have more than enough experience to give the game its fair shake in a review. I think ove rthe past 3 days I've spent just over 30 hours playing it, but I only said 20 in the review. I'm not sure exactly how long I spent because those wee hours of the morning kind of get lost in my mind. Lets just say I really enjoyed it. Anyway here's the review:

Unreal Tournament 3 delivers on its promise of fast, and fun, multiplayer action.

Unreal Tournament has always been about fast paced FPS action. This version delivers on that experience and provides a different flavor than other online shooters on the 360. The graphics and sound are both exceptional and every aspect of the game seems well examined and well executed. For better or worse, UT3 does one thing and does it well. Its all about multiplayer.

The core of this multiplayer game is well built. There are a lot of stages built into the disc and they're all impressive. UT3 uses a heath pack system where you can pick up health and armor, it doesn't recharge automatically. This might be surprising to someone new to the franchise but it works really well in the game. The guns, spread out over the stages, are all very unique and fun. Even if your opponent is using a rocket launcher when you spawn it doesn't leave you without any options. In that regard, the gameplay is well balanced. There is also vehicle combat in the game and the vehicles are just as interesting. I personally liked the Darkwalker a lot, but there are many to choose from.

There are a few different modes of play in this game. There is of course the standard deathmatch and team deathmatch. A variation on deathmatch, called dual mode, is made specifically for 2 people to fight one on one. There is also capture the flag and vehicle capture the flag. The final mode is called warfare and has both teams fighting for control of different connected points until one team is forced back to their own base and eventually destroyed.

If you are looking for a single player experience that game does throw you a bone. There is a campaign mode, which sets you through a series of missions until you reach a final boss that you fight in a duel. The campaign is really just bot matches in the same modes you could play in an instant action or online. The game tries to explain things like respawning and why you're trying to capture the enemies flag so often in the story, but the story doesn't matter. You can also earn cards in the campaign which can change the settings of the matches a little more in your favor. That adds a little but not a lot.

One plus to the console version is the split screen co-op play. You can play through the campaign or online with one additional person on your console. It would have been nice to have up to four, but two is still more than the PC version allows.

I really enjoyed UT3 and I think anyone who enjoys multiplayer FPS games will find a lot of enjoyment too. The only drawback to the game is that despite its attempts at the campaign its still all multiplayer. The game is quick to get into and has a high replay value. For those that think they would enjoy it, this game is definitely worth picking up.

SCORE

The Japanese RPG genre has struggled to remain viable in today's video game market. With the poor showing as a possibility for any Japanese RPG in the western market, there is pressure on developers to change their formula in one way or another. Tales of Vesperia goes against the grain, in that it doesn't try to change anything. For fans this slight evolutionary step might be enough, but this game doesn't make any attempt to draw a new crowd.

Being on the 360, the game does move the series forward in obvious ways. The graphics, still cell shaded, are more detailed in just about every way. The game also takes good advantage of 5.1 sound if you have the system. The widescreen display does well for the battles and keeping all your characters in a viewable area. That said, these things are really all considered standard on any Xbox 360 game.

The rest of the game is pretty much like any one of its PS2 counterparts. That isn't to say it is bad. The characters and plot are all compelling and the real time tales battle system is still very fun. The downside is that the game still plays very slowly compared to other modern games. You still have the encounters where it loads a battle scene, and then when you win you still have a victory screen showing the results. That slows down the game considerably, but you can always avoid battles since the enemies are visible on screen. I also felt the story sequences could have been speed up a little. When the game is just starting you get a lot of story and it feels like it takes a while for it to pick up momentum.

All in all the game is exactly what fans expected. It doesn't have any surprise turn offs, but there really isn't much to set this game apart. If you're a fan of Japanese RPGs then I'm sure they will plenty to like. If historically you've avoided the genre, there isn't anything here that will change your mind. It is a good game, but its been done before.

SCORE

This isn't part of the review, but if you didn't already know I've played through most every tales game at least once and Tales of Symphonia and Tales of the Abyss several times. I consider myself a pretty big fan and I even bought the special edition of this game. I like it and think its good, but I also think it could use an update.