Xbox360

Reviews in the Xbox 360 section done by Joshua Chan

Reviews here will cover the following games. Note that each game has an assigned tag. Enter these tags in your browsers text search [Ctrl+F] to quickly find the reviews you want.
 * Halo 3: ODST [X-1]
 * Gears of War 2 [X-2]
 * The Elder Scrolls IV:Oblivion Game of the Year Edition [X-3]
 * Mirror's Edge [X-4]
 * Soul Calibur IV [X-5]
 * Armored Core 4 [X-6]
 * The Orange Box [X-7]
 * Rainbow Six Vegas 2 [X-8]
 * Lost Planet:Colonies [X-9]
 * Prey [X-10]

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Halo 3: ODST [X-1] ESRB Tags: Blood, Language, Violence || **Rating 8/10 Great** ||
 * Genre:First-Person Shooter | ESRB Rating:Mature 17+ | Developer:Bungie | Publisher:Microsoft Studios|Online:Yes (Co-Op: Yes)| DLC: No|Multiplayer: Yes
 * Halo 3: ODST is the most recent game in Bungie's Halo series. ODST comes with two discs: The Campaign disc and the Multiplayer Disc. Each is used to play its respective part of the game.

For those who have not played previous Halo games, Halo 3: ODST is the fourth game in the popular Halo game series. The game play itself is as fun and exciting as ever for both new players and experienced players alike. Despite talk of ODST being a more stealth oriented game, it maintains the same run and gun attitude that the previous Halo games had. From a technical perspective, there are very few flaws. Glitches virtually non-existent and frame rate is always consistent. Graphically, ODST is on par with Halo 3. The audio, done by series composer Martin O'Donnell is among the best in the series, nothing to complain about there.

The campaign mode of ODST is mission based, meaning that the player selects a mission and can begin playing from there. It starts off with the game's main character, an ODST soldier known only as "The Rookie", and his squad being deployed into New Mombassa. Now what needs to be understood in order to play the game is exactly what an ODST is. ODST is an acronym for 'Orbital Drop Shock Trooper'. These are highly trained soldiers who are literally dropped from space in a pod, onto a planet as shock troopers. As you and your squad plummet towards the Earth, things go haywire as your squad is separated on the way down. The player wakes up after being knocked out and must now try to find his squad mates and figure out what happened. My only complaint with ODST's campaign mode is its length, it's a bit on the short side; maybe 4 or 5 hours on a normal difficulty. ODST makes up for that by introducing a new game play mode: Firefight. Firefight is essentially a survival mode (sort of like Hoard for those who've played Gears of War 2). The aim of Firefight is to either survive as long as possible, or to obtain as many points as possible. The framework of Firefight is that up to four players (With Xbox Live, 2 locally) must team up and survive a never ending onslaught of enemy troops. The team shares a pool of lives and resources which is only replenished every so often. Firefight enemies are divided into divisions; enemies are deployed in a wave, 5 waves makes up a round, and 3 rounds makes up a set. As players progress through the rounds, they'll find that the enemies will progressively gain certain abilities, making it harder to survive. All in all, Firefight is a very enjoyable feature, but can only be appreciated to its fullest with friends.

The multiplayer aspect of Halo 3: ODST is identical to Halo 3's multiplayer. The only difference is that ODST comes with all the DLC (downloadable content) that original Halo 3 owners would have paid for, in addition to 3 ODST exclusive maps. Players can have up to 16 players in one game locally (via system link) or 4 players on one Xbox 360. They have total access to all the maps, customizable game types, and Halo 3's custom map making tool, Forge. That in itself is enjoyable, by like Firefight; Halo 3 multiplayer is best played online via Xbox Live. Online, the multiplayer features an automatic matchmaking system wherein a player can choose from several 'playlists'(in a sense, game types).What happens when a players chooses a playlist is essentially choosing a broad category of the kinds of matches they want to play online. The player is then matched with other players of similar skill level (using both Xbox Live's Trueskill system and Halo 3's own system). One can even specify matchmaking options by prioritizing certain traits when looking for other players (such as connection, similar skill level, etc).Game stats are recorded as game winning players are awarded experience points (or EXP) which helps to determine their online ranking. Overall Halo 3: ODST has a very enjoyable multiplayer, but it can only really be appreciated online.

Overall, it maintains the trademark quality that Bungie maintains in all of it's games, and while it isn't exactly Halo with a stealth twist, it's still one heck of a ride. Halo fans won't want to miss this. || ||
 * **Summary**/ **Good**: Firefight, great deal for those who haven't bought Halo 3 Multiplayer/ **Bad**: Campaign's a bit short, Halo 3 owners might find it to be more of the same || "A must have for any Halo fan" ||

Gears of War 2 [X-2] ESRB Tags: Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Strong Language || **Rating 7/10 Good** ||
 * Genre:Third-Person/Tactical Shooter | ESRB Rating:Mature 17+ | Developer:Epic Games | Publisher:Microsoft Studios| Online:Yes (Co-Op: Yes) | DLC: Yes| Multiplayer: Yes
 * Gears of War 2 is the direct sequel to Gears of War. One thing to be noted before hand is that Gears of War 2 (GoW2) has seen a lot of DLC released since its initial launch. That means that if you plan to play GoW2 online, you might find that matchmaking takes a bit longer unless you're willing to dish out some extra cash for all the DLC.

Now not having played the original Gears of War, I can take only what GoW2 provided in terms of plot. You fight as Marcus Fenix, a hardened Cog soldier who fights with his squad for the survival of mankind, threatened by an invading race called the Locust. GoW2's campaign mode is divided up into areas, then specific missions. I personally found that normal difficulty was a comfortable speed to start at. GoW2 is not a conventional shooting game, it's somewhat more tactical, that in the sense that firing from the hip is very inaccurate; almost all shots must be taken when aiming. That's alright though, because GoW2 relies heavily on its cover system, whereupon simply a touch of a button, your soldier dives towards the closest thing in front of you and takes cover. I managed to learn these things at a nice pace. GoW2's campaign eases in gameplay ideas at a prefect speed, enough so that you have to think on your toes, but not too much that it seems that the player gets overwhelmed with new ideas. The campaign lasted me a good 8 or 9 hours, and that's not including Horde mode. Horde mode is GoW2's survival mode, which pits your and up to 5 players total (online, only 2 local) against 50 waves of Locust troops. As your progress through Horde, the enemy Locust will slowly become more powerful, and even on the easiest difficulty, it can be somewhat overwhelming. It's great fun if you can manage to cobble together four other friends online though.

Gears of War 2, like Halo, has an online multiplayer option. It offers a similar matchmaking system, with classic shooting game types with a bit of a twist; for example, take the "Meat Flag" game type. Most FPS players should know what Capture the Flag is, and Meat Flag is just that, however the flag in this case is a stranded civilian that either team must capture before the opposing team. The trick is though is that now, the flag shoots back. The meat flag is armed with a shotgun and even has a scoreboard for itself. Personally, I never purchased any of the GoW2 DLC, so I haven't experienced the bulk of its multiplayer, however I can say that from what I have played, I'm not very interested. One weakness that Gears of War 2 has online is that it relies heavily on squad based tactics, and if you don't have a mic (or your teammates don't have one/won't talk) then you're immediantly at a huge disadvantage. There are no free for all gametypes so it can be difficult to get used to online gametypes. It's still fun, just not fun enough for me to invest $30+ on all the DLC.

To summarize, it's an excellent game with gorgeous graphics. The gameplay is tight and enjoyable, however online can be difficult to get into. || ||
 * **Summary**/ **Good**: Campaign, Multiplayer, Graphics are amazing/ **Bad**: Players may find getting into matchmaking a bit difficult unless they purchase all the DLC || "Graphically gorgeous tactical shooter" ||

The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Game of the Year Edition [X-3] ESRB Tags: Blood and Gore, Language, Sexual Themes, Use of Alcohol, Violence || **Rating 10/10 Excellent** ||
 * Genre:First/Third Person Action-RPG | ESRB Rating:Mature 17+ | Developer:Bathseda | Publisher:2K| Online:No | DLC: Yes|Multiplayer: No
 * The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (or TES:IV for short) is among the greatest action-RPG's ever made. The fact that it's now available with the Shivering Isles and Knights of the Nine DLC included, is even better.

TES IV:Oblivion is an action-RPG in every sense of the genre. As far as RPG worlds go, Oblivion's is absolutely massive. With the added fact that Oblivion is completely free roam (meaning that there are no limitations on where a player can and cannot go in the game world) much a player's time in Oblivion may be spent simply wandering around. As an RPG, Oblivion satisfies all my cravings for leveling up, character development and customization, and collecting weapons and items. It even manages to squeeze in a pretty decent item customization system (in game called 'enchanting'). As an action game Oblivion's great too; the combat is simplistic yet fun. It consists mainly of attacking and defending, but should a player choose to, he or she can throw in magic spells and pick off foes from a distance with arrows instead. It works quite well in one-on-one fights, but sometimes when there are too many enemies on screen, it can get a tad chaotic. Nevertheless, what makes Oblivion great is not its RPG elements, or its action elements, but how it combines the two to make a dynamic real time combat Action-RPG.

Oblivion is all about character development. When you create your virtual avatar you get to select and tweak almost every aspect of him/her, from things like eyebrow sizes, to how wide the head is. The player is presented with several humanoid species to play as; they include the classic RPG choices like Human, Elf, Orc, etc. After that the player selects what class they play as, which will largely dictate how they will play through the game. Class is used to determine how easily a character levels certain skills and how their stats will grow. The class decisions are not entirely set in stone, as all skills are still open to all classes, the only catch being that they may level somewhat slower. Whether you prefer to go into a fight screaming with a war axe, or you'd rather sneak around in the shadows, the class customization in Oblivion allows you to custom tailor the skill sets your character will be dominant in, so there's always something for everybody.

All that said, I haven't even scratched the surface Oblivion's world. Oblivion is simply massive, and everything about Oblivion is deep. There's no such thing as an insignificant town, or area, it seems that everything leads to some sort of quest or dungeon. The world itself feels very alive, with each villager set to live out a set schedule spanning entire days. It feels almost like the towns and cities in Oblivion could actually be real in that respect. You can talk to citizens, improve their disposition towards you, and they'll remember you too. For example, in one case I had completed a quest in one part of Oblivion, in a town across the map, citizens there had begun to call my avatar by a nickname from the quest. Speaking of quests, Oblivion is simply brimming with quests. It seems that there are very few things you can't do that don't bring up a quest of some sort. Quest starts can be as subtle as coming across a rare bottle of wine, or as blatant as somebody running up to stab you. Either way, there are enough quests that without even touching the main story line, a player can easily get at least 6 hours of gameplay.

Now that I'm done talking about how great and glorious everything about Oblivion is, I'd like to point out its one weak point. With a game the size of Oblivion, there are bound to be a number of glitches. Now, there aren't many, but when things do get glitchy they can ruin the entire game. For one example, I had one save file where if I ever chose to sit on a chair, the game would freeze. There wasn't any particular reason for it, I have no idea what triggered it, but I simply couldn't go anywhere near a chair in that save file in fear that my game would freeze up. There are plenty of glitches in Oblivion, but most of them have been patched online; which may be a problem if a player doesn't have Xbox LIve. All in all though, unless your doing things like trying to get to places you shouldn't be or messing around and what not, you probably won't face too many problems.

Overall it's a great game, especially for it's price tag. These days you can probably find it for $30 or under. It's definitely one game you don't want to miss. || ||
 * **Summary**/ **Good**: Long deep storyline, combat mechanics, RPG elements, extreme replay ability, included DLC is great / **Bad**: Can be glitchy at times, particularly for those without Xbox Live(can't download patches without Xbox Live), there's always more DLC to buy || "One of the best games on the 360" ||

Mirror's Edge [X-4] ESRB Tags: Blood, Language, Violence || **Rating 8/10 Great** || //"A sport or athletic activity in which the participant seeks to move quickly and fluidly through an area, often an urban locale, by surmounting obstacles such as walls and railings and leaping across open spaces, as in a stairwell or between buildings.// Now that that's done, on to the game review. Mirror's Edge is the first game that successfully taken Parkour and turned it into a face paced first person action game. Where most first person games generally involve a heaving soldier of some sort lugging around a machine gun the size of a small child with the goal of killing every little thing that moves, Mirror's Edge goes in a completely different direction with it's first person action.
 * Genre: First-Person-Action | ESRB Rating:Teen Adolescents | Developer:Dice | Publisher:EA| Online:Yes | DLC: Yes|Multiplayer: No
 * Mirror's Edge is a very unique game. Unique in the sense that it's really the first game to have done what it's done. To understand Mirror's Edge, you have to understand what Parkour is. Parkour (or "//free running//"), is described by some as the "art of movement". Dictionary.com defines it as

The idea is that you are a Runner. You live in a city where the Government has taken complete control of all information, monitoring everything. As a Runner, you are paid to literally run across buildings to deliver information from client to client. The Government has usually left the Runners alone, until recently. Now, as main character Faith, you must figure out why the Government is out to kill all the Runners.

That being said, Mirror's Edge isn't a game built around violence and combat. Sure, you may have to take out the occasional officer here and there but Mirror's Edge mostly focuses around Parkour. Why risk fighting the SWAT team when you can simply run around them instead? Mirror's Edge takes that to a whole new level, with exhilarating Parkour moves such as wall runs, vaulting, and all sorts of things. There's no other game that I can think of that's made going from Point A to Point B so exciting and fun. Sure, you can simply play the game, just go through the levels and be done with it, but the real fun is going back into the levels, looking for faster routes and exploring the maps. Now, on the off chance that in story mode your route is blocked by guards and you have no choice but to fight, you can do so. You may even go so far as to disarm your opponents and steal their weapons. Combat in Mirror's Edge is usually done with a flurry of martial arts moves, but with a well timed button press, you can also steal your opponents weapon in a flashy display of martial arts prowess. Some of the more hardcore Mirror's Edge players may however choose to avoid fights entirely to save time. Mirror's Edge is all about speed, so much so that every level can be done in a 'Speed Run' mode where you're timed. If you have Xbox Live, you're time is then uploaded and can be used to compare yourself to friends, and the top players. This can also be done in Mirror's Edge Time Trials. The difference in running a Speed Run and a Time Trial is that with Time Trials, you can actually race the 'ghost' of your friends. You can even download the ghosts of top players and try and beat them too. It's absolutely thrilling to have to go through a level, striving for perfection. The feeling when you find a shortcut is great too. Though it may be frustrating at first, the satisfaction of achieving a great time is excellent and quite addictive. A player will probably spend the bulk of his or her time doing either Time Trials or exploring, as the story itself is very short, completable in less than 4 or 5 hours on the first try. An experienced player might even be able to beat the entire game in less than an hour.

All in all, Mirror's Edge is a graphically beautiful game. The clean white aesthetics only add to the monochromatic government controlled setting that they try to convey. As fun as it is though, it really doesn't last very long. These days you'll probably be able to find the game at about $20. || ||
 * **Summary**/ **Good**: Very fun, time challenges, gorgeous graphics / **Bad**: Short campaign, mediocre replay value. || "Short, but so sweet" ||

Soul Calibur IV [X-5] ESRB Tags: Mild Language, Partial Nudity, Sexual Themes, Violence || **Rating 9/10 Great** ||
 * Genre:3D Fighting Game | ESRB Rating:Teen Adolescents | Developer:Namco | Publisher:Namco Bandai| Online:Yes | DLC: Yes|Multiplayer: Yes
 * Soul Calibur IV among fighting games is probably best known for it's extensive use of weapons. Where most traditional fighters focus on hand to hand combat, the cast of Soul Calibur IV prefers to use blades and axes.

On it's own, Soul Calibur IV is a pretty good fighting game; if you have Xbox Live. Having played all the previous Soul Calibur games, I can say that comparatively, Soul Calibur IV doesn't have too much to offer for somebody who plans to be playing alone. The standard 'Arcade Mode' is offered, as well as a much watered down Story Mode. Both are essentially the same thing as you select a character then fight your way past several rounds of opponents. Aside from that, SCIV also offers the 'Tower of Lost Souls', which is divided into two parts: Ascending and Descending. First of all, Ascending is pretty much challenge fights, where each 'floor' has a special property which changes how the fight is fought. Examples include 'magnetism' where the two combatants are pulled towards each other, and scenarios where your opponent isn't shocked when damaged. Descending is essentially a survival game mode, where the player fights through as many rounds as possible before dying. This normally wouldn't be too bad, if your damage from the previous round didn't carry over. Now that I'm done tearing down SCIV over it's lack of single player options, I'll move over to its strengths, which in my opinion, more than make up for it.

Since Soul Calibur 3, the Soul Calibur series has had character customization. SCIV sees character creation at its best, now being able to go so far as to tweak your characters stats and special abilities. This is great as it allows players to either build on their strengths, or make up for their weaknesses. If you just want to make a character for the sole purpose of looking cool, feel free to do that too. The clothing options in SCIV are so vast, that I've seen other player re-create gaming classics such as M-Bison from Street Fighter, and Cloud from Final Fantasy. There are game options that don't support custom character stats, so weak characters can look as fancy as they want without having to worry about being at a disadvantage. Unlocking items is quite accessible, as items are unlocked by purchasing them with in-game gold (which is earned by doing almost anything). Fans of the previous Soul Calibur games will be pleased to know that this time, you won't have to spend hours trying to unlock all the characters. All characters in game can simply be bought with the in game gold.

Now we finally come to the meat of Soul Calibur IV, the multiplayer gameplay. For those of you unfamiliar with the Soul Calibur IV fighting engine, it's not like most traditional fighters. As a 3D fighter, combos don't usually go past 5 hits. In Soul Calibur IV, a skilled player might be able to get a 7+ combo. Only the truly hardcore will be able to whip out the outrageous 20+ combos. Veterans of the series will notice the Soul Gauge, a new addition to SCIV. The Soul Gauge was made with one thing in mind: To punish over zealous blockers. The Soul Gauge is similar to the health bar in the sense that it drains and recovers. Blocking attacks drains the bar, while landing attacks fills it. When the bar is completely depleted, the player will go into "Soul Crush", a short window of oppertunity where the opposing player can execute a "Critical Finish". Similar to the Mortal Combat series, Critical Finishes are just like Fatalities. When executed, the attacking player instantly wins the match with a flashy character specific move. You won't come accross these often, but when you do perform one, it is just oh so satifying. With that being said, Soul Calibur IV is still extremely easy to play. Just about anybody can pick up a controller, mash away, and enjoy themselves. While I wouldn't recommend that those kinds of players buy the game, the point is that anybody can enjoy SCIV. Even so, there's still enough room and flexibility in the SCIV moveslist to allow more hardcore players to string together moves for some vicious combos. Essentially, there's something to satisfy both audiences. After gaining one's ground in single player, one might look to try and pick a fight online; perhaps not a good idea. Unless you want to take the time to learn a characters movelist, you probably won't last too long online. If you do however choose to spend enough time to learn to use a character, playing online can be extremely fun and satisfying.

In the end, let's not measure Soul Calibur IV by the success of its predecessors. Though the single player may be a bit weak, it's still enough to keep a player occupied for a few hours. The graphics as usual are absolutely fantastic, with realistically rendered backgrounds and hair and skin that actually look like the real thing, Soul Calibur always has graphics to drool over. The multiplayer's the main meat of the game, and friends can always have fun mashing against each other, but if you plan to play seriously, online's tons of fun. Some players have complained about the lack/low quality of the storyline, but this is a fighting game, the plot really doesn't matter; in the end, it's just an excuse for a bunch of warriors to go head to head. || ||
 * **Summary**/ **Good**: Easy to pick up, offers depth for Hardcore Players, Improvements made to character balance, Character creation is better than ever, Graphics are beautiful / **Bad**: Not too fun alone, online lags occasionally || "A fighter for all to enjoy" ||

Armored Core 4 [X-6] ESRB Tags: Fantasy Violence, Mild Suggestive Themes || **Rating 7/10 Good** ||
 * Genre:Mecha, Action | ESRB Rating:Teen Adolescents | Developer:From Software| Publisher:Sega| Online:Yes | DLC: No | Multiplayer: Yes
 * As both a fan and a veteran of the series, let me say that I love Armored Core 4. As a sequel, it's probably the best in the series with nearly perfect controls and much deeper customization. If you were to only ever play one Armored Core game, let that game be Armored Core 4. Everything here has been completely re-worked since the last game, the controls are tighter, the customization is better, and the graphics are sleeker (whilst maintaining a steady frame rate too).

The Armored Core 4 gameplay engine is almost an entire re-work since AC3 and it's extensions, so I'm going to take a little time to cover those. Those who haven't played previous Armored Core games can skip this section. First of all, AC vets will notice that piloting your Armored Core (Now called 'Nexts') feels immediately different, because it is. Boosting now takes a much more important role, as generator and booster stats have been modified to allow much longer boosts, and well as a new feature called 'Quick Boost' or QB. QB allows players to dart from side to side, even forward and back which is great for evading enemy attacks. You'll also notice that heating is now longer an issue, as it's been removed entirely. We now have a different stat, Kojima Particles (KP) which function as a sort of energy shield which either deflects damage entirely, or helps cushion the blow. KP has a direct affect on your Primal Armor (PA), the active previously mentioned shield. PA comes with two stats of its own, PA Rectification and PA durability. Rectification measuring the rate at which your PA reactivates, and durability the measure of how much damage your PA cushions. PA is powered by KP, so when your KP runs out, so does your PA. Weapons have also been balanced with added PA Piercing and PA reduction stats. Also the inside and optional parts have been removed. We now have balance, which allows us to fine tune the weight distribution of our Nexts. Balance plays a key role in how your mech reacts when firing off cannons, and how much it's shocked when taking heavy blows. The final big change is that now you have FRS memory, which allows you to enhance any stat you wish; great for fine-tuning mechs. That about covers most of the significant changes.

Players new the to the Armored Core series might find mech customization a bit overwhelming at first. Armored Core is a very technical series, much of it focusing around the actual building of the mech. When building a mech there are many many stats to keep in consideration, which new players will probably find quite confusing. Fortunately though, Armored Core 4 does offer a decent selection of pre-built mechs which players can feel free to modify whenever they wish. Most of this paragraph will be dedicated to covering the custom aspect of Armored Core 4, as it is a massive component of the gameplay. In AC4, stats determine everything. Everything that your Next can possibly do has a numeric value attatched to it. Even the smallest things, like turn speed, are determined by a stat. This is great because it allows players to create almost any sort of mech they want with virtually every aspect of the mech tweaked to their liking. AC4 even offers the ability to give your Next a custom paint job if you'd like. Would you like camouflage on your mech? No problem. Hot rod red or hot pink? Can be done. You can literally paint your Next however you wish, putting on designs or anything.

After spending a good deal of time refining your Next into the weapon of your dreams (or simply choosing a pre-made Next) you'll finally step into the action. Armored Core 4 is primarily mission based with varying objectives in each mission. The objectives are quite varied, as they range from taking out sole enemy Nexts, to guarding oil tankers through the arctic. They all follow a plot line, but that's never really been that important in the Armored Core series. Regardless of the mission however, there is still one universal objective: Efficiancy. At the end of each mission you are graded by your speed, damage taken, ammunition used, accuracy, etc and are given a grade based on your performance. Your performance will also reflect how many credits (used to purchase new parts) you are paid. Eventually the player will come to a point where the Simulator is unlocked. The Simulator plays much like the previous AC's Arena mode, where you go in and fight against a single chosen opponent. There are no grades, there is no performance evaluation, the only deciding factor in whether you've succeeded or not is if you've destroyed your opponent. Who you face determines what Data Packs you've unlocked. Data Packs are sets of enemy Nexts which are unlocked to fight against. Data Packs are unlocked as you progress though the missions.

The gameplay itself is fast and fluid, almost regardless of your Next type. Even pilots of heavier fortress-type mechs will find it more than necessary to have to use their boost to weave through incoming missiles and to avoid enemy fire. As mentioned earlier, boost functions take a much more significant role in AC4 than in previous games. If you want to play and win, you'll need to greatly familiarize yourself with the boosting abilities of your Next. Even as a Mecha game, AC4 has an interesting control scheme. The game is played almost like a third person shooter, the bumpers determine what weapon fires, the left analog stick controls movement, and the right analog sticks determines where you look. It's a huge improvement from the previous Armored Core games and allows for excellent control. Sometimes things can get a bit chaotic, even for experienced players. Explosions are larger than ever and now light flares can blind you. These occasions rarely occur, but when they do, it can sometimes be quite frustrating. After you beat all the missions, you might find it a bit short.

There's an online mode, but it's really not worth mentioning. Barely anybody plays online, so unless you have friends to play with, it's pretty much dead.

Overall, it's a great game for fans of the Mecha genre, but casual players might have a hard time getting into it. || ||
 * **Summary**/ **Good**: Controls greatly improved from AC3, customization as good as ever **Bad**: Casual player may find it a bit inaccessible, online play is dead || "Mecha enthusiasts rejoice" ||

The Orange Box [X-7] Half Life 2/Team Fortress 2/Portal ESRB Tags: Mild Language, Partial Nudity, Sexual Themes, Violence || **Rating 10/10 Excellent** || Individual Rating 8/10 Great ESRB Rating: Mature | Genre: First Person Shooter
 * ESRB Rating:Teen-Mature | Developer:Valve | Publisher:Valve| Online:Yes | DLC: No|Multiplayer: Yes (Team Fortress 2 only)
 * This review will be a little bit unique as the Orange Box is composed of three games, Half Life 2 (Episode 1 and 2), Team Fortress 2, and Portal. The Orange Box is a value pack released by Valve and really is worth picking up. ||  ||
 * Half Life 2 (Review includes Episode 1 and 2)

The Half Life games have often been hailed as the one of the best games ever, I hardily disagree. Don't get me wrong about this, I love Half Life 2 and it's a great game, but it's no best.

Many state that Half Life has a wonderful plot with lovable characters, I see personally do not see it but here's a quick plot synopsis anyway. Gordon Freeman is an icon among the anti-government fighting rebels, he eventually meets up with a girl named Alyx and together they fight their way past government soldiers into a large spire which they must destroy, because the energies it uses pose a large threat to humanity. Along the way he is assisted by a mysterious suit wearing fellow known only as the 'G-Man'.

Graphically everything very up to par on the 360, even as an Xbox title. The gameplay is fun, but a little bit generic at times. What really sets Half Life 2 apart is its brilliant use of physics. The game really shines when you encounter the various gravity puzzles.You see, in the game there is one particular weapon, the Gravity Gun, which allows Gordon Freeman to manipulate objects as he pleases. He can launch them, pull them, stack them, anything really. That's what I really enjoy about Half Life. The puzzles are great, and with the Achievement system, there are some great challenges. The Achievements really change the way you play (if you're going for them). They really are worth mentioning though, as Half Life 2 is one of the few games to have really taken advantage of the 360 Achievements. The requirements are ridiculous, challenging and very fun. For example, the //'Little Rocket Man//' achievement requires the player to go through the entire Episode 2 escorting a little garden gnome. Keep him until the final part and the achievement is yours. It's great fun hopefully other games will take utilize the achievements in the same way that Half Life 2 has.

Portal Individual Rating 10/10 Excellent ESRB Rating: Teen | Genre: First Person, Puzzle, Comedy

Portal is a first person puzzle game that deals with a very interesting concept, the use of portals. In Portal, portals are doorways that come in pairs, always a blue and orange one. Anything that comes in one end of the portal comes out the other. An interesting premise with masterful execution. Portal has an excellent collection of puzzles and challenges that will require some thought from even the smartest of players. The concept of Portals may be confusing at first, but the game eases you into it in a very comfortable manner. As you become more adept at your portal usage, you'll find that simple obstacles such as walls will no longer deter you, and the game realizes that too. By the time you've conquered simple challenges like that, the game throws in what you already know with a twist. You'll begin to notice that gun turrets pop up, and in some cases, your success will depend on your ability to work with what is perhaps the greatest side-kick ever to have graced a videogame with its presence.

Now, as a puzzle game Portal would have been alright, but it's the plot that really sets this game apart. Your character is a test subject in the Aperture Science center. You're hear to test out their latest invention, the Portal Gun, which shoots two kinds of portals, an orange one and a blue one (the two are different in colour simply so you can tell them apart). Along the way you are guided by a sarcastic supercomputer named GLaDOS (or Genetic Life-form and Disk Operating System). He has some of the best lines you'll find in any game, such as "//The Enrichment Center promises to always provide a safe testing environment. In dangerous testing environments, the Enrichment Center promises to always provide useful advice. For instance, the floor here will kill you. Try to avoid it."// Along the way you'll also meet another wonderful character. This character is loved by so many, it has become something of a cult phenomenon. In one level you are introduced to the Weighted Companion Cube, a large cube which you must use to get through the level. As GLaDOS herself introduces the Companion Cube "//The Enrichment Center reminds you that the Weighted Companion Cube will never threaten to stab you and, in fact, cannot speak.//" Things continue on like this for the entirety of the game.

With fun gameplay and hilarious dialogue, Portal is perhaps the most enjoyable game I've played in a long time. Too bad it's so short.

Team Fortress 2 Individual Rating 9/10 Great ESRB Rating: Mature

Team Fortress 2 is the multiplayer component to the Orange Box. The game is in fact, only multiplayer meaning that in order to enjoy it, you'll have to have Xbox Live(the game is however, playable over a LAN as well).

There's not much to say about Team Fortress 2. The graphics are stylized and nice to look at, the subtle comedy is great, and so is the gameplay. Team Fortress 2 is a class based shooter where you select from one of 9 different classes. The classes include Soldier, Scout, Pyro, Demoman, Heavy, Engineer, Sniper, Medic, and Spy. With all those choices, there's usually something for somebody. There are several maps, each played with a specific game type. Most gametypes are territorial control gametypes where the two opposing team struggle to capture or defend control points. There's one exception to that, 2Fort is the only map that isn't played like that. 2Fort sports a Capture the Flag gametype, where in the flag is enemy intelligence(a briefcase). The game itself plays very fast compared to other FPS games, so it takes a little bit of getting used to. Once you're into the game though, it can be very addictive and fun.

Team Fortress 2 is a simple game, but a very fun one. || || Rainbow Six Vegas 2 [X-8] ESRB Tags: Blood, Intense Violence, Strong Language || **Rating 9/10 Great** ||
 * Overall, it's an excellent bundle featuring great games, the fact that (at most retailers) it only costs $30 is just icing on the cake. ||
 * **Summary**/ **Good**: Excellent value, Great variety, All great games / **Bad**: Xbox 360 players don't get the Team Fortress 2 updates that PC players enjoy. || "An excellent value pack" ||
 * Genre:First-Person Tactical Shooter | ESRB Rating:Mature | Developer:Ubisoft | Publisher:Ubisoft| Online:Yes (Co-Op:Yes) | DLC: Yes|Multiplayer: Yes
 * Rainbow Six Vegas is the latest installment to Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six series. Rainbow Six Vegas 2 is unlike most shooters because it isn't nearly as fast. It seems these days that all the other FPS games are trying to be as big, as fast, and wild as possible. Rainbow Six Vegas 2 takes that notion and sits it down in a corner as tactful, tense, and almost methodical gameplay take center stage.

You play as Bishop, the newly assigned leader to stealth based team Rainbow Six. The first story mission starts you up in an already volatile hostage situation. Advance towards where the captives are being kept; all kills must be silent as any raise in alarm might result in a hostage being killed. You finally make your way to the hostage room, you send your two squad mates to take point at the door. With an optic cable, you peer from under the door into the room. You note that the hostages are being held guard by four hostiles. You signal your squad mates to flash and clear. You yourself take point behind the wall, as one team mate opens the door. A flash bang goes off, the enemy is disoriented, you run in to eliminate them.

It's tense missions like those that make RSV2 great. It really does stand out in the sense that if you just go running out, you're going to die. Unlike many of the more generalized FPS games, you're no super soldier; you may be the best of the best but you're still human. A couple of well placed bullets is all it takes to kill you. If you want to succeed in RSV2, then you're going to have to slow down, and take a moment to think. You're going to have to work with your team mates in ways that you perhaps never thought of before. That being said, RSV2 is no snail paced shooter. Once you engage an enemy, it's as if all hell broke loose. With your newfound mortality in mind, each bullet that whizzes by seems that much more terrifying. Thankfully, you have RSV's brilliant cover system, which allows players to hug walls and cover, then shoot from behind it. It's almost similar to Gears of War's cover system, with the main difference being that when you press the button, you aren't magically pulled to the nearest waist high section of wall.

In game you are given a generous selection of weapons and gear, that is, after you unlock it. New to RSV2 is a skill system ACES, consisting of CQB, Assault, and Marksman. Points are awarded for getting kills (online or offline) in a manner which pertains to the relevant skill. As you get more points in each skill, you'll hit certain milestones which unlock more weapons and armor. Also, there's a universal EXP system which determines your rank and what armor you can wear. The weapon skill system is great, even though it may seem restricting at first. It allows new players to ease their way into the weapons, that way they don't get overwhelmed by all the choices. The armor isn't nearly as important, as most of the differences with the armor unlocked later is purely cosmetic. While on that note, RSV2 still features a healthy closet of clothing and camouflages for you to customize your ideal operative.

Going back to gameplay, RSV2 also offers Terrorist Hunt, Co-Op Story, and Multiplayer. Terrorist Hunt is just as it sounds, you're operative is put into a map (with our without teammates, you can either play with human team mates online, or with bots locally) and you must eliminate all the terrorists. As simple as that sounds, it's extremely fun, as each map needs to be approached differently offering a great variety of scenarios. More Terrorist Hunt maps are available on the XBL Marketplace for free. Co-Op story is fun...offline. Online the problem is that it often tends to lag, severely taking away from the fun. Multiplayer however plays almost seamlessly, as long as your the host. Even if you're not though, it usually plays fairly well and is very fun. It offers the standard FPS game modes such as Attack and Defend (plant the bomb or prevent it from being planted), Deathmatch, Team Deathmatch, and so on.

Right now you'll probably be able to get the game for a fairly reasonable price, maybe $35.00 or under. It's definitely worth the price. || || Lost Planet: Colonies [X-9]
 * **Summary**/ **Good**: Tactical elements are good, Multiplayer's fun, ACES is a good addition to the series / **Bad**: Online suffers from severe Host advantage, online co-op lags badly || "Another ringer from Tom Clancy" ||

ESRB Tags: Animated Blood, Mild Language, Violence || **Rating 6/10 Alright** ||
 * Genre: First/Third Person Sci-Fi Shooter | ESRB Rating:Teen| Developer:Capcom | Publisher:Capcom | Online:Yes | DLC: No|Multiplayer: Yes
 * I'm almost not sure what to make of Lost Planet: Colonies. Well, let's start off with what I do know. Lost Planet: Colonies is an enhanced version of Lost Planet. It contains some additional game modes, new weapons and extra multiplayer characters.

Lost Planet is about fighting aliens on a polar planet where heat is scarce, so much so that it's become the base energy unit for the game. Heat powers everything, even how much health you can heal is determined by how much thermal energy (Or 'T-Eng") you have. Your primary foes are the Akrid, the alien inhabitants of Lost Planet. Their sizes range from a small car, to 6 story tall super monsters. Aside from the Akrid there are also snow pirates who are out to kill you and steal your T-Eng.

The plot is rather convoluted, I'm not even entirely sure what happened, but I do know this: The Lost Planet is a polar which the humans have decided to try and colonize for its minerals. You're father was killed by a particularly colossal Akrid known as Green-Eye. You are now a man yourself and you've set out to find and kill Green-Eye. Your plan doesn't exactly go the way you wanted it to however, and you wind up in the care of a group of scientists who want to try and 'fix' the Lost Planet. The think that they can heat the planet, and bring life to it, and so for whatever reason, you decide to help them out.

Gameplay in Lost Planet is alright. It consists of you running around in either first or third person view gunning down monsters and snow pirates. You have a grappeling hook which you can use to scale cliffs, ruins, or even some of the larger Akrid. As you go further you'll rely more and more on this hook to help you get around quickly. You can roll and jump, which really doesn't do much. Aside from that you have your standard shooter controls, left trigger throws grenades, right trigger shoots, 'B' is to melee but you won't ever use that, etc. The first few times you kill an Akrid it's thrilling, they're these huge monsters that you take down (the satisfaction is watered down by the odd fact that all dead Akrid freeze and explode upon death.). Later on you'll come upon the less than thrilling experience of piloting a mech. Mechs vary in type but the general controls are the same. They're usually large, slow bipedal vehicles with lots of firepower. As you begin to enjoy cutting a path with your weapons, grenades, mechs and whatnot, the experience is suddenly cut short by your need to find more T-Eng. As mentioned earlier everything you do in Lost Planet relies on T-Eng to be the power source. Even just living takes up T-Eng. It's constantly draining you'll you always need to be on the lookout for more. T-Eng in game comes in the form of glowing orange blobs left by dead enemies, and from little control outposts which you can activate. That pretty much sums up the gameplay, it's nothing special really.

Aside from the regular story mode there's scoring mode and time trial, but those are only for the truly hardcore. On hard mode the game's almost ridiculously difficult.

The online play is similar. The only really fun thing to do in the slowly dying online gameplay of Lost Planet:Colonies is the Akrid Hunt mode. In Akrid Hunt a fraction of the players control Akrid and try to kill as many human players as possible, and vice versa. Whichever faction can kill more of the opponent in almost a tug-of-war style scoreboard wins. As fun as controlling an Akrid is, it soon dawns upon you that it's neigh impossible to take down mechs as some of the smaller Akrid, and that you will undoubtedly lose anyways on account of your foolish teammates jumping off the edge of the map. There are other gametypes which involve player vs player combat, but it's really not worth it.

Overall, it's a visually beautiful game with very mediocre everything else. || ||
 * **Summary**/ **Good**: Graphics are great, It's thrilling gunning down some of the larger Akrid / **Bad**: Multiplayer often lags, Single player Scoring Mode is a bit demanding, Story Mode is absurd on higher difficulties, not enough variety in the gameplay || "Well, it looks nice" ||

Prey [X-10] ESRB Tags: Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Partial Nudity, Strong Language || **Rating 1/10 Terrible** ||
 * Genre:First Person Sci-Fi Shooter | ESRB Rating:Mature | Developer:Human Head Studios | Publisher:2K Games, 3D Realms| Online:Yes | DLC: Yes|Multiplayer: Yes
 * Here we are, Prey. Prey is perhaps one of the most over hyped games ever. Now, I know what you're thinking "Over hyped? I've never even heard of the game", well it turns out that there's a small group of people who were hyping the game in an almost cult like fashion. Who knows why, the game's easily one of the worst I've ever played. In fact its only redeeming feature, and the only reason it didn't get a 0/10 is that it's an easy source of Gamerscore.

I'm going to start off this review with one of the biggest things that bugged me with Prey. The storyline is absolutely one of the stupidest one's I've ever heard of, it's so incredibly dumb it seems to me that a 6th grader who's recently read War of the Worlds was hired to write the plot. The 'plot' (I use that word loosely with Prey, as it's more of an excuse to shoot things) follows the adventures of Tommy, a native man living on a reserve who wants to get out with his girlfriend Jen. He is constantly treated by his grandfather, Enisi, as a worthless nobody who doesn't appreciate his culture, although screw all of that, just take it all and throw it out and forget I even wrote that because it all becomes absolutely irrelevant about 5 minutes into the game at which point you are //abducted by aliens.// That's right, abducted by aliens, the entire bar, just sucked up. Anyhow, you're now inside a gigantic mothership separated from your girlfriend and your dear grandfather. You're on a conveyor belt to your certain doom, when a rebel leaps out of nowhere and destroys the belt, allowing you to escape. Eventually you find your grandfather, who gets killed, but it's done is such an overly dramatic manner it's actually quite humorous. It's now at this point the game becomes an absolute joke. Your grandfather Enisi now comes back to you in the spirit realm, where you learn how to do a Spirit Walk. The Spirit Walk allows you to move through energy walls, and shoot spirit arrows, again though, forget all of that because the spirit arrows are useless and Spirit Walk is just another excuse for them to put in some crappy puzzles (I also use that term loosely as they are less challenges for the mind, more a marathon of 2 worded crossword puzzles designed to make the game seem longer). Most importantly though, this is where the game loses all credibility as a challenge. With Spirit Walk, you also gain the ability to use the Death Walk, which is your new substitute for death. That's right, from this point on you cannot die, so it's literally **impossible to lose in this game**. In the Death Walk you pretty much just shoot some glowing demons to restore health and spirit energy, but that doesn't matter much because all that affects is the amount of time before your next visit to the Death Walk. So from here on you might as well forget about your guns and go through fighting only with the wrench, because you cannot lose, you just respawn exactly where you died and keep on fighting like it never happened.

So here you are, fighting in what is probably the ugliest excuse for a game I have ever seen. While it may be decent from a purely graphical perspective, from any other perspective everything about the game is ugly. The levels are visually generic and disgusting looking, the enemies are also generic and even more disgusting. Your weapons are also very ugly. Until I played Prey, I had not thought it possible for a gun to be ugly; leave it to Prey to prove me wrong.

Gameplay in Prey is very generic, you run about in first person view blasting away at enemies. There's not much more to say than that, in terms of innovation there really isn't anything significant. They include a few portals which are nice, and some gravity puzzles but that's just there to add more length to the game. There is an online mode, but you really don't want to play it. Even if you do want to play it you can't because in order to play online there has to be other people, and unsurprisingly, nobody plays Prey online.

Overall there's not much to say about Prey, it's gameplay is generic with the single outstanding note being that you cannot lose which makes Prey even easier than your average 3 year-old-Play-Skool game (at least you can lose in those). The game is perhaps the ugliest thing that I've ever seen on my television and the plot is perhaps the only reason why anybody would play this game because without playing it, it's difficult to even fathom just how incredibly stupid the plot is. || ||
 * **Summary**/ **Good**: Plot is so bad it's often funny, easy Gamerscore / **Bad**: Gameplay is very monotone, Losing is impossible, Environments are hideous, Overall design is ugly, Plot seems to be a joke, almost everything || "So bad it's funny" ||

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