Boheim

I always found it amazing that such a simple game of Sid Meier's Pirates! could keep me addicted for days on end.
The action was repetitious, and really, pretty shallow, yet I always was thinking "one more port, one more title, and maybe that hot chick in Barbados will marry me!"

What I found was a game that reminded me of Doom and Chronicles of Riddick from the Xbox. The graphics were a mixed bag for me. The environments looked to be photo copied from Doom 3, but the characters in the game, more so the "good guys" had a last generation look to them. I just wasn't blown away. The enemies however, looked much more realistic, and had a solid, un-pixelated appearance that shouted "nex gen!".

It's hard to tell how good the game will be from the short demo, but aside from your standard FPS action (which this game is in no short supply of), there are some unique twists. The game has a bunch of "windows" that allow you to move about in strange ways. For instance, you are moving down a corridor, and a "rip" appears in mid-air right in front of you, allowing you to step through and put you in another part of the ship. Or a crate is knocked over, and rolls toward you, and one of the sides opens up, and you can see another location of the vessel, and you can climb "through" the crate.

The best one, was when you saw a display case with a skull inside of it, and somehow you end up in the case, miniaturized, and doing battle with the enemy on the skull, as real-life sized enemies peer through the glass at you. That was, as the main character eloquently described it "fucked up."

Finally there is the ability to run and down walls and battle on ceilings. In the single player, it seemed gimmicky, but I can imagine that it would be much more fun in the multi (which I didn't try yet).

So, I can't judge this one yet, but I think I'll hold off on a quick buy. I'm still bitter with 2K over MLB 2K6, and I'm in no hurry to reward their rush the games to market mentality, but I'm glad that Marketplace gave me a chance to check it out.

For myself, the decision to buy this download was quite simple.

I bought, and continue to play GRAW for one reason: online co-op. Since developers continue be slow to understand that co-op gameplay is what so many of us want on Live, when I get a chance to add to my collection a co-op experience I grab it up.

The missions that you get are not only quite good, they exceed the game's original co-op missions in both difficulty and in map design. I challenge anyone to show me a map in the original collection that beats the Mine map on Chapter 2. It's complex, multi-layered, and forces you to attack with a mixed team of soldiers.

But for me the best part of Chapter 2 is that we finally, FINALLY get the silenced sniper rifle! Missing since GR1 on the Xbox Black, this bad boy is back, and is deadlier than ever. It also helped that they gave us the SR-25 as the silenced rifle, because that happened to be my favorite choice for my long range death dealer. And being hunted by someone who has this gun is a thrill in itself, as you won't hear the shot, but you will hear the bullets whistling past your head, and thudding into your chest.

So, if you like co-op (and in my opinion the re-lit maps also are a great deal, as they force you to change up the way you played the original), and you want some new guns, this download was definitely worth the cash.

I think my favorite part about this article, is that there really aren't any specific examples that are cited as being copied.
And did Sony actually invent console gaming? In any industry, there has to be some copying. Did Microsoft copy Sony because the Xbox ALSO has driving games?
And I'm curious, does Sony consider their online service to be copying, or because it's for the PS3, it must be innovating!

I'm now on my third 360, counting my original machine. Both of mine that went down, had the dreaded, 1-3-4 lights which signifies hardware failure, and of which, there is no cure.
My first machine had a December manufacture date, and was running fine, until two games began crashing it, FIFA World Cup, and MLB 2K6. The games would lock up, shut the machine down, and when it restarted, the red ring of death would appear.
The first "repaired" machine I received only lasted 30 minutes, and was killed by FIFA (yes, I know, I'm an idiot for even trying that game again, but Microsoft ASSURED me that the game could not be the source of the issue). That system had a pre-launch date for manfuacture.
My newest system (knock on wood) has been glitch free, with only GRAW locking up when I try to exit a Live game back to the Dashboard. This system had a February date for its build.
Still, despite the issues, I think Microsoft did a great job of getting me a "new" machine quickly and easily, and to keep me in the game.
But I would be curious to know the actual defective numbers. I game regularly with about eight people, and four of us have had to send back systems.