Category Archives: Thoughts/Discussions

Call of Duty: Ghosts

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The internet is blowing up today with the news of the next Call of Duty game. Activision sent out a press release covering general information about the game, as well as an official Facebook page, website, and teaser trailer. If you haven’t seen the trailer yet, check it out:

Obviously it’s a teaser, so very little information has actually been released, but we can definitely make some guesses based on what was in the video. Personally, I would love to see a game with more stealth elements. After hearing the official name was “ghosts,” I couldn’t help but think of a stealth game. The quiet, stealthy missions in the past COD games were always my favorites.

A few important pieces of info in the press release include the fact that it contains a brand new story, new characters, and an all new engine. The engine, in my opinion, is the most important part. I would love to see a redesign of the current COD layout, and I think the fans would love it as well. The second important piece of information is that it will be available for next generation consoles. Although this isn’t really a surprise at all, it’s still nice to see it stated officially.

Apparently more information will be released at the Microsoft press conference on the 21st, where they are also expected to announce the new Xbox console. My guess? COD: Ghosts will be a launch title. It only makes sense.

If you have any specific hopes for the game, I’d love to hear them! Just post them in the comments section below.

Bioshock Infinite Review

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Bioshock Infinite is a game like no other. Yes, it’s not a completely original work, as there are other Bioshocks that came before it, but it sets itself so far apart from the others that it may as well be. Before giving you my thought on the game, I should probably give you a brief summary of what it’s about.

This is not my photo, go here for the original: http://hypeup.net/engine/images/uploads/1118/bioshock-infinite.jpg

Bioshock Infinite takes place in Columbia, a floating city high above the clouds. You play as Booker DeWitt, an investigator from the Earth’s surface sent to the city to rescue a girl and bring her back in order to wipe away a personal debt. When you first arrive in Columbia, it seems to be a utopian society filled with early 1900s American Patriotism. Barbershop quartets sing along the streets while American flags wave in front of every store. It all seems perfect at first glance, but then you begin to look closer… Continue reading →

Let The Games Begin!

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As much as I love Xbox, there is no way I can dismiss what is going on with the other gaming consoles. I figured it would only be right to go over some quick points on what my opinions are towards Sony’s latest announcements regarding the future of Playstation.

If this venue doesn't yell "Playstation," then I don't know what does. I really think they should get some other colors in their color palette.

If this venue doesn’t yell “Playstation,” then I don’t know what does. I really think they should get some other colors in their color palette.

After boring me with their Playstation Vita news, they finally grabbed my attention when they officially announced the PS4. They began going over the specs for it’s GPU, CPU, RAM, and other main features within the console (although they weren’t showing the actual console). I was quite impressed, but not really surprised, by what I heard. It really isn’t that surprising that the PS4 will be able to do vastly more powerful things than its predecessor. That being said, there were a few curveballs that I found intriguing. Continue reading →

Revolution DLC Pack For Black Ops 2 Preview

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If you pay attention of Call of Duty news, you are about to be bombarded with information regarding the upcoming DLC pack entitled “Revolution.” Why? Because a new trailer was just released, with information regarding 4 new multiplayer maps, a new zombies map, a new zombies game mode, and a new online weapon. Because you’re going to want to watch the video anyways, I’ll just show it to you instead of summarize the whole damn thing. So here ya go!

I think this first pack is looking fantastic. The maps all look very original, and I like it when they include pieces of the map that change as the game progresses, such as the water in the dam on Hydro, or the gondolas moving through the Downhill map. I think little nuances like these give the map life, and are just enough to keep player on their toes. As for the new additions to zombies, I’m very pleased with what they’ve added. I always like new zombie maps, and I think we’ve all been wanting to play as zombies for quite a while (at least I have). The zombie maps in this game are already my favorite out of any other COD game, so the fact that they’re adding to that list is very exciting.

I think the new gun addition could either go very good, or very bad. COD players are known for being whiny. They’re always complaining about guns  being overpowered/underpowered/etc. With that in mind, I have a feeling a lot of people are going to be complaining that the gun is either too strong/weak, OR they’ll be complaining that they don’t get to use it because they didn’t purchase the DLC. Whatever it is, I’m sure they’ll find some way to complain.

Also, if you bought the 50 dollar season pass, not only will you be saving money on this DLC pack, but the rest as well. There are 4 projected packs at 15 dollars each, so do the math and you’ll be saving 10 dollars in total.

Overall, I think this is a great looking initial DLC pack, and I can’t wait to check it out for myself on January 29th! If you have any opinions on this, make sure to post them below! Do you like what you see? Do you think it’s worth the money? Let me know!

My Thoughts On The New Mass Effect 3 Ending

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I finally got around to playing the new ME3 ending a while ago, and I was quite impressed. Although I still don’t fully agree that Bioware should’ve made a new ending in the first place, I do think they did an excellent job given the circumstances. If you want the condensed version without any spoilers, here it is:

Bioware did an excellent job answering most of the questions that the community had. For example, they explained how Commander Shepard’s comrades miraculously got onto the Normandy at the end of the game, as well as the “indoctrination theory” that was discussed all around the internet (even here!). They even included a cutscene at the end of the game that explained what the consequences of your last decision were. All of these added up to a much more complete and though-provoking ending. I was much more emotionally satisfied with my actions once the game finished, whereas I definitely wasn’t before. Okay…. That’s pretty much it for the spoiler free edition. Here’s the rest of my thoughts: Continue reading →

Power To The People

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If you haven’t heard yet, the new ending for Mass Effect 3 has been released. This was due to a public outcry regarding the original ending of the game. Admittedly, it was pretty bad, but I didn’t think it was so bad that I needed to file a complaint to the FCC (which someone actually did). The whole situation was out of control. Instead of sticking to their guns in the name of artistic integrity, Bioware gave in and told their fans that they were going to release an all new DLC (Downloadable Content) pack that would change the ending. This DLC pack was released earlier this week, and I’m surprised at the number of people NOT talking about it.

I have not played it yet (I’m too focused on finishing everything in Dawnguard), although I’m dying to see what they’ve changed. However, I’m sure a lot of people have, especially since they were so pissed off to begin with. I thought I’d be hearing a new outcry of “Hooray! A new, better ending! Thanks, Bioware!” Instead, the DLC was met with relative silence. Is that really what gamers have turned into? Whiny spoiled brats who cry if they don’t get what they want, but then go about with their day like nothing happened once they get their original wish granted? These people just slaved over a whole new ending, and not once did I see a post online about how good (or bad) they thought the new ending was. Granted, I haven’t been looking very hard, but I wasn’t looking that hard before, and I still stumbled across hundreds of complaints about the ending.

Maybe the majority of gamers still haven’t finished the DLC yet. Maybe they’re still working on Skyrim like me. I really don’t know. What I do know is that I will certainly write another post about it once I finished the new ending. If anybody reading this has played the ending, have you been vocal about it? If not, why? And if so, who did you tell? I’m curious to know. This is a very interesting time in gaming history, and I’m sure these moments will be talked about for a long time down the road.

E3 2012 Summary

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Where to begin… I’ve seen so much in the past 3 days. I guess I’ll just start by saying that I’ve never been to anything quite like E3 before. The whole atmosphere is just mesmerizing. I’ve had multiple celebrities walk right by me, and I’m pretty sure I was on national television at one point. It’s a shame that it’s not open to the public anymore, but I do understand why. Even though E3 only for the workers in the gaming industry, it’s already packed with people. When some people have to wait in line for 4 hours to see a 15 minute preview of a game, I can understand why companies wouldn’t want any more bodies at the even. That being said, I was extremely lucky to be able to attend.

Outside the LA Convention Center. What a beautiful sight!

My first day was basically a scouting day. I wanted to at least see where everything was, and take lots of pictures. That way, I didn’t have to worry about taking pictures/getting lost during the next 2 days. I walked around the whole event multiple times (and this is a LARGE event), and played some games as well. I played some of the smaller games with shorter lines because I didn’t want to waste my whole first day waiting in a line. I did, however, stand in line for Call of Duty: Black Ops II because at the time, the line was fairly short and I knew it was going to be much longer later in the day. I also checked out G4 while they were filming, because that was one thing that I definitely wanted to see while I was there. On my second day, I waited in the lines for the bigger games, like Assassins Creed III and Halo 4, which took a lot of the time out of my day (about 2 hours per line!). On the last day, I stood in a couple more long lines, including Gears of War: Judgement, and checked out some other smaller games again. I also tried to grab as much swag on the last day as I possibly could.

I think the best way to go about describing all of the games I saw is by putting them all as separate subheadings and putting a description after each one. That way, if your looking for a specific game that I saw, you can easily find it. Oh, and just to clarify, these games are in no particular order. I’m just typing them out as I think of them. Continue reading →

Microsoft’s Press Briefing At E3 2012

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From Usher performing, to Master Chief making a comeback, today had a lot of cool content displayed at the Microsoft press briefing. I’m sure you’ve already heard TONS of news about E3 from TV and other websites, so I’m just going to take this time to talk about what my favorite moments were at the Microsoft press briefing. If you think I missed something important, post a comment below!

Microsoft started of their show with a demo of Halo 4 gameplay footage. They showed some significant changes, including new weapons and an all new enemy. The next game shown was Splinter Cell: Blacklist. It seems like the Splinter Cell franchise is slowly getting more and more action-oriented, instead of just stealthy. We saw that a bit with the last game, and it looks like we’re getting even more action in this one. The only thing I didn’t like was the Kinect integration into the game. Once again, it feels like they stuck in Kinect integration after-the-fact. I mean, do we really need to yell out “hey you!” to our Kinect in order to get someone’s attention in the game? It just feels unnecessary. Another game filled with action was Gears of War: Judgement, based on the Gears character Baird’s past. We still don’t know a whole lot about gameplay, but I’ll be sure to keep an eye out at E3. Continue reading →

E3 Wish List

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E3 is coming up incredibly fast, and I (along with the whole gaming community) can’t wait to see what games are going to be on display. Today I figured I’d make a list of the top 10 Xbox games that I’d like to see more of, or for the first time if that’s the case. Enjoy!

1. Assassin’s creed III
2. Halo 4
3. GTA V
4. Call of Duty: Black Ops 2
5. Resident Evil 6
6. Counter-Strike: Global Offensive
7. Skyrim DLC
8. Mass Effect DLC (new ending?)
9. Diablo III for Xbox
10. A Kinect game that will actually make me want to buy a Kinect

I also figured I’d throw in a couple games that, although they most likely won’t be talked about at E3 (or anywhere for that matter), I’d LOVE to see them. However, if they did happen to be there, I would be quite happy (and by quite happy, I mean I would go pretty much go insane).

1. Mirror’s Edge 2
2. Half-Life 3
3. Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic 3
4. Bioshock: Infinite (This one just won’t be at E3. I’d still love to see it though…)
5. A Kinect game that will actually make me want to buy a Kinect

Do you have any games you’d like to see at E3? If so, post them in the comments section below! Also, make sure to follow me on Twitter, Facebook, Google+, etc. for updates on my latest posts as well as posts on what I see at E3 next week! Just search for “xboxopinions” or click the symbols at the top right of this page!

Where’s My DLC?!

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DLC, or downloadable content, is a hot topic right now. You’re probably thinking to yourself, “But DLC has been happening for a long time, Ian!” Well you’re right, it has! But now, more than ever, DLC is something that game developers feel like they have an obligation to put out. If Call of Duty didn’t have any DLC after its release, fans would be absolutely furious, but is it really their place to be angry? That’s up for debate. Also, many games are now being shipped with DLC already on them, and then a developer with “sell” you the digital content for 10 dollars, when really all they’re doing is unlocking it on the disc (Mass Effect 3 had this happen. They sold the first piece of DLC right when the game came out) Once again, the matter of whether this is right to do is up for debate, and I see myself on both sides.

I do believe that DLC is a fantastic thing. It lets the developers satisfy its fans with a bunch of extra content for a smaller price than what they paid for the original game (and it also provides the developer a heap of extra cash, which helps them stay in business). However, when a company sets aside a DLC team to start developing extra content before the game is even released, I start to get offended. Continue reading →