Arma II

Tired of Call of Duty arcady gameplay? Do you hate the little eleven year old kids screaming over microphones and mucking up teamplay? Maybe you should look into Arma II... Gunships scream over the battlefield, snipers position on hill tops as ground forces attack strategic locations. But, though the gameplay seems to be interesting, different and invigorating, as shall be shown, do the graphics and engine work and look well?

Arma II is probably one of the most realistic shooters created to date, with some flaws in it's intricate design. The gameplay is a lot more tactical and focuses almost totally on teamplay. With so many vehicles, weapons and two maps, one of which is about 225sq km, this game seems to have everything. That's obviously not all, Arma II contains a useful, powerful and amazing mission editor. This is definitely not a normal editor such as Halo: Reach's, this editor has the power to create scripted events, actions and enemy tactics.
Gunships screaming over battlefields? I wasn't kidding, this game has beautiful sounds and makes the atmosphere seem totally real. The sniper rifles have a normal amount of drop, which makes sniping at 2km from the battlefield actually challenging. The gun sounds sound a bit dull though, ever shot sounding the same, no matter what. Then again, most gamers don't care about sounds that much.

Graphics in this game are almost realistic. The option to be able to free-look and yet walk forward is great, and maximizes the amount of enjoyment you can get from the world. Sitting in one of the trucks in a convoy and looking all around you makes this game seem super realistic. The weapons are shiny and detailed, yet small things could have been changed: Weapon dirt, better muzzle flash, reloading animations. The helicopters are modeled quite well, but have strange hit boxes that don't match their shape. Dust and grime are kicked up from helicopter blades and from fast moving trucks. Worried that your budget computer doesn't have the power to hold up to such a game? The graphics can be altered easily and don't take away from the overall gameplay. At full graphics and maximum fog distance, the environment is beautiful, with grass and bushes. The view distance is truly insane, allowing you to spot and fire at targets from crazy ranges. Water is animated without flaw and looks great. Can an engine handle this?

The Arma II engine actually holds up such a game without too many problems. The game renders as fast as your computer lets it, FPS is definitely not a problem (:D Max graphics and I think I'm still at 60FPS atleast.) The main issue with this game is the bugs. A few times I've found myself wondering why my character had invisible hands. Or... was frozen to the ground... Or died after he got out of an unmoving helo that was in my own base. There are problems, but that is NOT a reason to skip out on this realistic game. Bugs though, in about five hours of straight gameplay, maybe show up once. They aren't that major, not gamebreaking at all.

Overall Score: 9.0

Fallout: New Vegas

*My greatest thanks for almost 20,000 views!*

Set in the aftereffects of a Globa Nuclear war fallout, Fallout: New Vegas is something different for most gamers. Fallout brings the classic RPG elements to the abandoned Vegas Strip. Now, the question many Fallout veterans may ask... Is this just a drawn out add-on that costs too much? Read on fellow wastelander, for this question and many others will be answered.

 Fallout: New Vegas has almost the exact same graphics and engine as the previous Fallout. There are minor tweaks, such as a better combat system that is more streamlined with aiming down the sights of your weapons (Finally!) and a not so over powered VATS. The engine runs smoothly and despite the rumors of the game being as buggy as the rear end of a zebra, I found only a few glitches and bugs. These few bugs were hardly anything to get annoyed with and I was greatly satisfied with the quality. Not to say I never found myself wondering why a certain important character had not appeared in my game... In the end I used console commands to port the man in. But compared to the amount of bugs in a game like Dead Island, Fallout: NV is perfect.

*Yes, that is a Barret. Yes. You may kill things with it.*

Moving on from bugs, and onto a quick topic, the graphics are the same. The new weapons have textures that may look higher resolution, but are essentially not. So, all in all, this game has the same look of Fallout 3.
The gameplay of Fallout: New Vegas is unique. Instead of hunting out enemies to kill, or money, you really want to be hunter for people to converse with. New Vegas really strains the fact that you are alone, except in highly populated areas like The Strip. The sense of accomplishment, or wonderment when you find a random NPC who, for example, is a cannible is great. It actually seemed like there were too many quests to complete and you'll need to play through the game multiple times to side with different faction for full playing quality. Fallout: NV does a great job of adding weird and interesting characters as always and of course, new problems to overcome. Oh! Did I forget to metion that you can modify your weapons with silencers, clip extenders and all that good stuff? Yeah, it's like ducktaping a scope to a magnum. It works and the result is awesome.

Wrapping this up, Fallout does have some flaws. Of course, the small bugs and possibly how easy it is for you to get caps (The ingame currency). The main thing that makes Fallout: NV piss me off, is the invisible walls that FORCE you to use the road that is totally overrun with really high level bastards... Now, I don't remember Elder Scrolls: Oblivion doing this, and that game was perfect. Take out the stupid invisible walls and other minor things and I would be very content.
So, do you buy Fallout, or is just a glorified add-on that costs $20 (At the date of this being written)? Yes, though the engine and graphics haven't changed, the addition of SO much stuff is tempting. This is certainly something that will destroy many hours of your long awaited weekends.

Overall Score: 8.5

Halo: Reach

   This review was quite late, due to the fact that this game was so awesome I completely forgot to review it. Here it is. Halo: Reach, in it's amazing glory and epicness.

   Halo: Reach is a fusion of great multiplayer and equally great singleplayer. Starting with singleplayer, the Bungie team has edited some things. The most noticeable of which, is the story is set on Reach. This lets the player take in the dieing human life on the planet, instead of seeing it from the perspective of indestructible John, Spartan-117 from Halo 3. The graphics have been upped immensely and now look easily better than any COD game, explosions and bullet trails look beautiful. At one point, the game lets you take control of a space craft and you proceed to battle baddies in the final frontier. The AI has been upgraded, as usual in every Halo game. Pushing towards the main idea here, all this and a driven storyline filled with moments worthy of "Wows", the singleplayer is awesome. Over the course of ten missions you follow the path of Noble 6, a Spartan whose appearance will actually change with your multiplayer/singleplay character. The voice acting is perfect, with accents being flawless and not too over the top. The story is moving in it's own way and at the end, I really felt sorry for those digital souls who lost their lives fighting a losing battle. The singleplayer is definitely top notch.

Note: This is not an in-game vehicle. This is user created material in the photo.

   There are two modes which are different than the normal multiplayer versus competition.  Forge mode allows you to build anything imaginable, from fortresses in the sky, to space ships. Ever wanted to make your own map that makes it on the online game modes? Now you can. Reach's forge mode was boosted to a higher level than Halo 3's, which lacked some thought. This forge mode is easier to use, more fun and a lot more creative. Even if you're not the best builder, forge is fun. The next game mode is firefight. This mode can be played in ranked lobbies in Xbox Live but focuses on team work to destroy limited waves of enemy forces. It is a mix between multiplayer-campaign than is welcomed by most. It gives Halo a new way to play, if anything starts to get boring.

   The normal multiplayer consists of several playlists with different gametypes for all styles of gaming. The gaming is amazing, with a perfect armor customization feature. This feature lets you customized all aspects of your spartan, from chest, to visor color. Even down to knee pads. The only downside to multiplayer is the slow leveling at higher levels, though this seems to be the way that Bungie compromised for having no prestige option.

Overall Score: 9.5

Assassin's Creed Brotherhood

 The third installment of the Assassin's Creed series, not counting the online game, Project Legacy. Assassin's Creed Brotherhood brought something to the table that none of the other Creed's contained, Multiplayer. It had a short storyline as usual and took Ezio to Rome. "This was bound to be a great game", I thought, but was I correct?

   Singleplayer will be touched upon first. There are a few new combat implications, the crossbow, which is probably the coolest long range weapon of stealth ever. The development team also created the use of the hidden gun while using swords and hammers seen in the picture above. The poison blade has gained the ability of long ranged poison, which is pretty awesome, but overshadowed by the more powerful and quicker weapon of destruction, the crossbow. The base combat has been upgraded to be faster and a lot more awesome. This sometimes makes combat too easy, making it feel like your swatting a group of flys instead of elite guards. Assassinations stay in the same basic concept, though you dont start out with your hidden blade from Assassin's Creed II, you have to buy it from Leo. The additons of the Assassin recuits lets you train them and use them to battle foes on the field. After training them long enough, they can become full fledged assassins, which are almost invincible. The game gains a lot from these awesome assassins.

As every Assassin's Creed game has been for me, once you finish the story mode and complete any side quests, it becomes boring. The same is true for Brotherhood. Though the storymode is amazing and gives you a feel of living Ezio's deadly life, it is extremely short, as mentioned before. There are more side quests than in Assassin's Creed II, but in an overall feel, Brotherhood seems like the same game. The only differences between Brotherhood and #2 seem to be a slight graphics upgrade, multiplayer and a different story, combined with a few new weapons and a different combat setup. It is still worth it's cost for the singleplayer if you're a fan of the series.

The multiplayer has a few modes, Wanted, Manhunt and Alliance. If you get the free DLC you also gain Chest Capture mode. There are variations of a few modes, resulting in a hardcore mode. Multiplayer though is a lot more enjoyable than singleplayer. Duking it out with serveral friends, or participating in a ranked match against battle hardened foes who are constantly owning you give Brotherhood a new edge. There is a normal level up system with perks, abilities, death and killstreak rewards and character customization that are unlocked at various levels. This leads players to have a reason to play, if not for just plain old fun. The graphics, if it's not just me, seem to be better on the character models in multiplayer. This is probably because lots of Brotherhood singleplayer models were salvaged from #2.

 Overall Score: 8.0

More E3 Coverage: Battlefield 3

Hello everyone!

 I've got something special yet again, some Battlefield 3 gameplay. This game is the one thing I'm counting on to drown MW3 in it's dust. Battlefield 3 is probably one of the games I really cant wait to have it come out. Here is a link to over 15 Battlefield 3 gameplay videos. Awesome huh?

 Battlefield 3 Gameplay E3 2011

Battlefield Bad Company 2

 Battlefield Bad Company 2 is one of the most visually stunning games of it's time. The visuals pop out of the screen, the characters have perfectly created models, and crisp looks. This game takes what Modern Warfare 2 has given the community, fast paced destructive action, and makes it way better. Bad Company 2 makes it so much better, I hate to say it, but it was far greater in value and awesomeness than any Call of Duty game.

 The destruction of scenery in this game is beautiful. It should be way better in Battlefield 3, which is coming out this year though. Anyway, the destruction is amazing. Blowing a building to bits with C4, or a 'nade launcher can't be more fun. Each weapon has different amounts of terrain destruction power, but the tanks and helicopters seem to have a lot less explosive power than they should. A tank round should be able to tear through a house and do major damage. In Bad Company 2 it does around the same damage as a grenade launcher. Helicopters NEED to have more destructive power, as their missiles are very deadly. Yet the less potent rounds seem to be Dice's way of trying to balance vehicle warfare between on foot warfare. I could find this is be done a lot easier if they would have just added something like more powerful rounds, but then give a more powerful rocket launcher that could possibly lock-on without tracer darts.

 Moving on to one of the less important issues of this game. Singleplayer is pretty cool. The storyline is not anything amazing, Russians have a super weapon, bla bla bla. The AI aren't that smart, and building destruction isn't important. Singleplayer turns into a small shootem up game with a bland story. There are a mild assortment of different locations, and enemy types and every once in awhile you come across a different objective other than, "Move up and kill stuff,".It's nothing I would recommend as a must buy, luckily multiplayer picks up the game and makes it superb.

 Multiplayer consists of Conquest (A capture the point style of play), Rush (Blow up a bomb and move to the next bomb), Squad Rush (Rush with less people per team), and Squad TDM (Team deathmatch). With a large assortment of maps, and the different modes to play on, it makes the replayability high. On different consoles the player count changes, on Xbox the player cap is 12 per team, for a max of 24 players a match. As I only own the game for Xbox, that's what I play at. Though I believe the max cap for PC is at 64 in a match. Which is completely awesome and makes the frantic action in this game almost 3 times more epic. Multiplayer lets you play with all the guns you could need, and scopes, perks, equipment, and secondary weapons. My main annoyance in this picture in this equation is that the scopes are only usable is you let go of one perk. All the vehicles in the singleplayer are in multiplayer, and are extremely fun to use against real opponents. In truth, Multiplayer is this game's only hold on it's good reputation. I loath the singleplayer.

Overall Score: 8.5

Assassins Creed Revelations

Hello again!

 Just wanted to throw out a few amazing Revelations trailers and gameplay from E3 2011. Have fun! This seems to be an amazing game, and I will be waiting for the realease of this great title!

 Assassins Creed Revelations Trailer, E3 2011

And guess what will be returning form brotherhood... Multiplayer! Oh yeaah!

Assassins Creed Multiplayer Gameplay (Cam), E3 2011

 Some more trailers:

Assassins Creed Revelations Intro and Gameplay E3 2011

Assassins Creed Revelations Ezio's Journey Interview E3 2011