The lights are on
This Blog May contain Spoilers and I highly suggest you complete the game before reading on. I do not wish to ruin anyones experience.
I've been playing a lot of sequels and I haven't really played any of the original games in awhile ( since they were released) I plan on playing through Gears of War, Assassins Creed, and Battlefield bad Company fairly soon as well as the original Halo game. This isn't so much because it's been awhile, or the fact that these games all had or are going to have major releases, it's the fact that I'm starting to get tired of sequels and the same formula, I want to go back to when times were good and gears of Wars graphics were honestly jaw dropping, especially in the rain sequences.
I haven't gone hands on with it yet but I'm sure most people haven't either. I've been brushing up on my Left 4 Dead multiplayer skills. I am anticipating the multiplayer despite mixed reviews, I'm aiming to get into the fray early tomorrow and see how it is. Now if anyone has played Singularity and tryed that multiplayer it looks vastly similar to Dead Spaces multiplayer, while that multiplayer wasn't great it also wasn't bad ( About equivalent of Bioshock 2's multiplayer in enjoyment) I looked up some gameplay and I came up with a rough plan of attack for tomorrow, I think I'll go for a more decisive immediate attack rather than play the enemy and wait for an opening to attack. I made this decision based off of the fact you can spawn quite close to the enemy team without being visible.
I was excited when I heard about Powerup Rewards, but after letting points build up i found myself with 6360 points. This is a fair amount of buying games, not a lot but enough that I would've expected to get a bit more than what I was given. My choices were 5$ in store on anything I'd like, a few posters or some other small tokens. I was pretty shocked considering that I had spent at least 400$ in store and used the card. Now I didn't expect a lot but I assumed I'd get say 5% back roughly 20$ back. So while I was a bit disheartened Id decided I'd get a Gameinformer poster, the Halo Reach edition one for 5,850 points. I was atleast satisfied I was getting something back, but I read the FAQ and it takes 4 to 6 weeks for me to receive the poster. They do have a decent prize selection ( primarily the posters) So while it isn't very rewarding I will say atleast I'm getting something back now, rather than nothing at all.
The poster is what I expected, it's got a good length and the picture is perfect, I will honestly say it was well worth my 10$. I like this poster particularly because it's more of a banner, It's long roughly 4 feet long but it's a bit short length wise in my opinion I wish it was 12 inches wide like the cover of the magazine. Otherwise I'm sure I'll lose myself every so often and just stare at that poster, if you haven't gotten it already or you weren't sure I'd suggest you get it, it's great art, long, and only 10$ so how could you go wrong.
After the holiday break many people find themselves with some extra cash, and a yearning to get a new game. The question however is of course, what game is worth your cash, and I'll give you some suggestions, as well as one or two titles that should be avoided.
Alright So I arrive at my local gamestop ready to play some Halo at about 9:30, Well by the time I got there roughly 20 people were there. I figured that wasn't bad and at least it wasn't gonna be a ghost town. So at 10 the fun began we walk inside and there are 3 consoles set up, each with 2 controllers... so for about 25 people there were 6 controllers. So as you may be assuming There wasn't a lot of sharing. I wasn't overly surprised since we were all there for the same thing. So I got to play two games of firefight one on a smaller map inside a Covenant ship and another on hill base with a few buildings. Unfortunately many people have little patience, and constantly remarked on whoever was playing. Not that they were rude comments per say but speculation on the persons technique. The only other thing going on was the same 3 skits for red vs. blue was playing and a segment from the Big Bang theory... who said gamers even like that show? Well who cares I'm enjoying myself and the store is relatively uncrowded I expected at least 75 people. Anyway The hour come upon us that around 11:30 the store gained another dozen people so about 40 people are waiting, patiently for a jewel that's been 3 years in the making. So It's my turn in line I get my regular edition game, walk out the door, look up at the sky and drive home. I arrive home with game in hand and xbox prepped. Pop that puppy in customize my character briefly with a Very cool new Rose Emblem. Watch the opening scene and hop into the game. Or so I thought! Turns out the first mission seems to freeze within about 5 seconds of starting. Whether being my game or Xbox I'm unsure of. But after attempting multiple games I give up, sit down and take a minute. This seems to be the case anymore anything that seems could go wrong will. So now I can't sleep do to being worked up about not being able to play the game through the night. So instead I'm blogging about my interesting Midnight release. I hope everyone had better luck than I did, and if you have the same issue please comment.
I'm sure if you're a huge Halo fan like myself you'll be getting your game on tuesday when Halo Reach is released. And then I'm sure some of you are going to attend a midnight release to get your hands on the game that much earlier. I myself will be attending my local midnight release, And I think anyone who considers themselves a Halo fan should attend a midnight release as well. I say this because This is truly the last Halo game, sure they will continue to expand the Halo series for years to come but I doubt they will even compare to Halo 3 ODST. So if you are looking forward to this game as much as any hardcore Halo fan is you should stay up tomorrow night and attend the Halo party at your local gamestop from 10-12. I'm not saying you have to go home and play it immediately, you could always lay down in bed and snuggle with your brand new Halo reach copy. But this way when you get home from work or finish your classes you can sit down, relax, and have a nice cup of mountain Dew Code Red because you're gonna be up all night on tuesday, whether playing with Noble Team or kickin ass and takin names in Multiplayer, who cares. The one thing that brings us all together is the passion for the games we love and that's what keeps the industry alive.
I avidly follow videogames whether they be Blockbusters like Halo Reach, or A smaller release such as Enslaved Odyssey to the West. Whether it be through youtube or multiple websites or the gameinformer site/magazine, I consider myself very active in following games. Now everywhere I go there is always a few things in common but the one thing I always see no matter what is " This game looks like Halo Reach and Gears" or " Wow this looks like a mash up of Gears and Cod" or anything in between. These comments always just really push my buttons, Alright Gears, Cod, Halo and any other major series are all fun and solid games, but we have to realize they aren't the first freaking videogames to be created, or to have done anything new. People seem to forget that videogames were even in existence until the mid to late 90's. Fact of the matter is gaming is now nearing it's thirty year mark. With the old games we used to love like Super Mario, Zelda, Tetris, and Metroid having been the path finders for games today. the purpose to writing this blog was to describe that while blockbuster games such as the ones listed above there have been Thousands upon thousands of videogames created. And while most casual gamers only play main stream games I just seem it unfair to compare new games that have not had any previous sequels to blockbusters that are on there 3 or so sequels. My point is I could just compare those games to Counterstrike, or Doom, or Half Life. So please next time you watch a video or read something about a new game refrain from comparing it to other games that are completely new in there own way, even if that means only putting a new spin on a previous idea.The fact is that most of the time the game is not like anything you will compare it to, since every game is its own in some unique way.
Many games feature women characters weather playing co-op such a s in the Left for dead series, or in Halo by your character simply sounding like a women, my point is a significant amount of games feature women characters. Some allow you to be the main character the Lara croft series, or the Fable series. A lot of guy gamers out there always seem to make a big deal about playing the chick in a videogame. I don't mind playing as them because 9 out of 10 times they play exactly the same and do not affect the gameplay , such as in WoW. All most all guys who play videogames out there would prefer not to play as a girl unless its in a fighting game were the women are pretty much wearing a few strings. Any way you look a t it Women characters will always be in videogames and whether they be annoying NPCs such as Peach form the super Mario series, or the new women character in Halo Reach, women are just as formidable and flexible as men can be in videogames. What Im trying to say is next time youre playing a game and you are given the option to play as a women try it and see how it works out positive you won't regret it, and if any of your friends bug you about it all you have to say is that your character is hotter than there wives/ Gfs and that settles it.
While waiting for today to come I had redeemed my code early, this meant I'd get an email with the code when the DLC came out. Now of course I was up and on my xbox by 10:30, I decided not to wait and just to get the DLC then since I hadn't gotten my email. I was extremely happy with the DLC, It had solid gameplay and the addictive collectibles I loved from the game, the only part it lacked in was that they didn't really answer any questions. That was a bummer but I'm sure the next DLC will be great since it's now set up to continue. As a treat for you owners of the game who may not have the DLC already and you don't want to pay up the 7$ here's my code that I didn't receive until 5:14 [ VWVR4-23XWC-C4QQG-8WTR9-FQHTQ I hope you enjoy the DLC as much as I did.
Spoiler Alert : If you have not completed the game please do not continue reading.