Mass Effect 2 Review for Xbox 360

     Why have I taken so long with this review? When you have something that is regarded as perfection in your little world, you just can't form coherent sentences. Your speech is muddled by affection surpassing that of your own mum (Simon's rubbing off on me TOO much). I didn't know how I would end up writing this review; Would I write too much? Would I write anything that someone could objectively understand? I think I'm going to try to write as little as possible, leave a lot in the unknown territory of things. I personally believe that the less you know about an amazing game, the better it is. I don't want to ruin perfection for anyone.

Gameplay

+ Take cover, aim, shoot - That’s all there is to it. Just take the gameplay of any cover-based third person shooter and you got Mass Effect 2. Find cover, press the button to cling to it, aim, then shoot as much as you can. You can also hurdle over and sprint to other cover which is new for the series.  Stats used to be the focus of the gameplay in ME1 but this time, around, it’s all about the action. It all works great too. I had problems with it but I have a loose thumbstick (thanks Resident Evil 5...) so my guy would keep going out of cover because it kept thinking I was pushing out of cover. Other than that, it somehow feels more refined or deeper than the mechanics of a "Gears" game and that's a feeling I enjoy.
     Another aspect is that every mission is not just shoot this and that. You will be presented with different missions dealing with stealth, investigation, protection, and more. All of them are completely welcome additions and none of them were annoying in the least. It's rare that you see a development team take new directions within it's formula and succeed everytime. 

+ Pro-Biotics - With biotics in their current state, you control a bit more than what you used to in Mass Effect 1. Now you use biotics to change ammo type, use psycho-kinetic powers, and utilize technological powers. You also get less of them due to the new skill trees so you have to be more strategic when it comes to what class you choose and what party members you choose to work with. Playing on normal, you don't really need biotics very much. You pretty much just use them for fun. 

     On the harder difficulties however, you really need to think about what powers to use on who and when the best time is to execute it. You also want to combine powers for maximum effect. For example, there's a move where you dash at your enemy and you make impact using your whole body and they get thrown back a couple of feet. If you want to get the most out of this though, you might want to have a party member levitate the target causing them to fly across the entire room when you crash into them. They also gain damage from the impact, the hitting of the wall and then hitting the ground. 

     Some of the biotics also have unique ways of being executed. For instance, the pull biotic will should out an energy blast that levitates targets out of cover. You can tweak the way it seeks out targets though. The blast will alway home in on the target but you can aim up hight making it curve down from the sky or shoot it to the side making it swing around corners. It is EXTREMELY satisfying. You can even advance the power to pull multiple targets at once as well.

+ War has changed - Guns ain't like they used to be. Now you use thermal clips or what a normal person might call regular ammunition clips with a set amount of ammo that you have to reload. In other words, they work like normal guns now with the exception of universal ammo. They no longer overheat and have infinite ammo... Well they do still overheat but that's only in the story's context. Sorry, I'm confusing things. Anyway, now you need to look in the environment and around fallen enemies for ammo clips. This was extremely hard to get used to as I had JUST came out of Mass Effect 1 and you never had to pay attention to ammo. The clips themselves don't call a lot of attention to themselves either if you're not specifically looking for them. They do make a extremely visible flash to show themselves to you, but once again, if you're not looking for them you won't see them. I played the first 20 or so hours with a good friend of mine watching me and he was constantly pointing out during the entire 20 hours that I had missed a lot of ammo clips as I progressed. This doesn't even come close to being a problem, but it's worth noting. Should you come into ME2 without playing ME1, I don't think you'll have any problems with this.
     Guns are also more strategic in ME2, at least they appear to be. Certain guns work better against shields, barriers, and armor so you have to think of what guns you want to use in certain situations. And instead of constantly getting better guns, you normally just get a few different guns for each type there is, i.e. 3 different snipers, 2 handguns, 2 shotguns. They instead choose a different feel in exchange for different power stats. This sniper rifle could shoot faster, have more ammunition, but will be balanced with less power and less accuracy, or you could choose the other sniper with opposite stats. All of the guns and their variables are purpose built and are designed to take the specific play of your character and his/her biotics into account. There's a deep layer of strategy that comes into play when you get on the harder difficulties and it's EXTREMELY satisfying when you get everything to work seamlessly together. It's likely, however, that you won't notice any of this if you play on a lower difficulty setting.

+ Choose your destiny - There are numerous missions in ME2 and they all feel like they have some substance to them unlike the side missions in ME1 which just felt repeat missions with different contexts. Also, along the path of the game, you need to make heavier decisions than you were faced with in the first game. It felt as though a number of them had consequences that would lead to being further explored in the next game. And one more thing, you always know where you're going now. All of the major hubs are marked on your star charts and all of your missions, both main and side, are marked next to the corresponding planets and galaxies associated with them. You always know where you're going and how much you need to do.

= Less RPG, more action-adventure - If there was something to be disappointed about is that the RPG elements that were present in the first game are almost not even present here. They've either been streamlined or omitted which, even though some of them were good, the result feels like a more polished game. They also left enough of it in to still customize characters the way you want them to be for your preferred performance and style. Anyone that loves stats and equipment shouldn't be expecting it here. Expect a moderate choice of skills and a deeper real-time action experience.

- Scanning... Anomaly detected... - They replaced exploring worlds in the vehicle with scanning planets for resources. The only thing the resources are good for are upgrades but it's so annoying and slow that you would never do it if you didn't need those upgrades. Just the fact that it's bland and slow and needs reworking for ME3 is all that really needs to be said about this.

Story and Presentation

+ And our hero's struggle continues - The story is very deep, very emotional, and very intimate. Even without having choices to reflect on from the first game, you could still believe the story was custom tailored just for you. Should you have data from the first game, your choices will indeed be reflected in ME2's story making it that much more personal. Running alongside of the main cannon for ME2, I had a deep, personal struggle within the game. Because I made an uninformed choice in the first game, I performed a great deed but with a large cost and now the galaxy loathes humans and doesn't trust them. So at the same time that I'm trying to save the galaxy again, I'm dealing with my mistakes from the past and trying to correct them by proving humans aren't these hidden-agenda, meat-bags. I haven't tried different story paths yet but I believe the game is structured in a way that would not have the galaxy hating human beings if you had gone in a different direction. I really don't want to say anything more specific than I already have, just know it's worth all of your time and that you won't be able to resist late-night excursions through the game just to find out what happens next.


+ Our choices shape the future - Almost everything you did in the first game is reflected here, some in larger ways than others. It also leads you to think very carefully about the choices you make in this game. The fact that your decisions are so much larger this time around also adds to the previous statement. I cannot imagine how my choices will take shape in the third installment but I'm dying to find out.


+ A dream come true - I believe that everyone has at least one sci-fi, fantasy, or anime that features a large cast of characters working towards a shared goal; Whether it be Serenity, Cowboy Bebop, Stargate, Outlaw Star, Star Trek, Buffy, Xena, the motions that those characters go through are all represented in Mass Effect. If someone said you had the opportunity to build personal relationships with those characters and to work with them to achieve your goals, would you let it pass you by? I don't think so. Then why aren't you playing Mass Effect already?


+ Encyclopedic knowledge of the galaxy - I read it all, every word. In the game, you have access to a codex which will inform you about nearly every imaginable aspect of Mass Effect's world: How it's weapons work, classifications of space ships, different races' biologies, religions, governments, technologies, wars, militaries, etc. The thing that's so great about this is that it's not throw-away information like in Final Fantasy 13. It gives context to the way the game and the story plays out. Here are some examples:

• Guns now use heat-sink clips because it has been researched that a soldier can reload his gun faster than waiting for the entire thing the cool down. The result is now reloading your guns instead of having infinite ammo and overheating weapons. They also explain how the ammo is universal.

• Element zero takes extremely high heats to form. The result is that if you're looking for that resource, you might want to look for planets that are closest to the suns of their respective systems.

• All of the bios on the different races will explain how they react in certain situations and conversations as well as explaining why they normally take certain roles within a community. It allows you to feel more informed when communicating with other species. Why are there so many Turians in Citadel Security? Because Turians are a race that believe very highly in serving out justice. They almost have no crime on their planet because justice is such a revered thing where they come from.

     It's not as detailed as in the game but you get the idea. Your codex is something that if you take the time to read, you're almost instantly rewarded for it. It just adds so much to the overall experience that it's definitely something not to be skipped over. 

+ Oh, all the places we will go - All of the environments are a bit smaller than they use to be but as a result of that, they end up having more personality and life within them. I would say that it did slightly suck not being able to go around the Presidium at the Citadel anymore. I might suggest that if you want a closer feeling to the environments in this game, at least a closer one than what's offered here, do play the first Mass Effect. It helps build the worlds around you in your mind. I wouldn't say it's required at all though. 
     The places you go in ME2 are also a lot darker and in-depth. You're given the feeling that you are thoroughly exploring all there is to any given environment and it connects you even more to setting of this epic story.


+ Tell me what I want to hear - The dialogue is priceless in this game. It never gets old or boring. Having already gone through the game, I'm trying to speed through the harder difficulties but the longer I play, the less I skip the conversations. Now I sit there listening to every single one another time, just as interested as I was the first time I heard them all. The voice acting and dialogue is amazing.


+ Everyone is different - The characters and their personalities are so varied and different this time around. And they're all so interesting that any time you have something you can do to find out more about a character or gain a new one, you'll do it as fast as you can. I assure you that you'll rarely skip out on any conversations you could have with them since every one of them are so interesting. You can also do what are called "loyalty missions" which serve as buffers for that given character's background. Once completed they will gain a new ability and appearance. There should be a good handful of characters that have the ability to appeal to everyone who plays this game. There's someone for everyone, and I wouldn't dream of spoiling any of them... Well maybe one...

+ GARRUS!!!!! - He's ****ing back and just as badass. He's one of the characters that I share an extreme camaraderie with. Unfortunately, he's one of the characters with the least amount of conversation pieces. I do feel something deep with this character though. He just feels like a friend I've known my entire life and I feel compelled to sacrifice anything if it meant his well-being. Without spoiling too much, I actually felt compelled at one point to go back in time (play a previous save) just to see if I could make things swing more in his favor only to be saddened that my efforts could not change the future. If you love this character as much as I do, Bioware's going to have a field day with your heart in ME2. I'm not suggesting anything rash happens, you'll just have to play the game and find out what I mean.


+ All you need is love - I'm not going to dive into this one very much at all but this time, with the exception of just a couple characters, no one is off limits when it comes to romance. I will say that there's a lot more choice as a male Shepard than a female Shepard which is disappointing. Sorry, ladies...

Graphics

+You're gonna want an HDTV for this one - Character models are very detailed. One of which is a krogan that is so well rendered that I feel like it's a high-res cutscene every time I talk to him and see the way his face moves and what his skin looks like. There's detail in every nook and cranny of this game and I can imagine feeling very left out if I couldn't view it all in HD. 

Sound

+ Flawless Victory - Just as it were in the first game, sound was obviously important to BioWare when it comes to Mass Effect. It seals the deal when it comes to how believable, visceral, and tangible the world around you feels. Prepared to be blown away by earth-shaking explosions and seduced by detailed voice work.

- Where'd you go? - There is a problem in a few copies of the game where in one scene on disk 2, the dialogue just cuts out. It's not a widespread problem so I wouldn't be worried about it if you go to pick up a copy. But the problem exists and there's no known fix for it. It did kill the mood for me... *Weeps...*

Should you buy it?

     YES, a billion times over, yes! And if you haven't played Mass Effect 1, pick that up too. This is one of the greatest games I've ever played. BioWare officially has me sold on anything that has Mass Effect on the cover. I loved the game so much that I actually bought it twice! I bought the game for $30 around the time of it's release (I got lucky getting it that cheap) and I felt terrible that I didn't get the limited edition. I recently came across one for $100 and I snatched it up immediately without hesitation. I have no regrets. This game is worth almost any amount of cash.
     Despite how much I wrote, I left out A LOT of things. I could go into a lot of detail about the many aspects of Mass Effect 2 but it's very important to me that people feel like they discovered this game. If you can't get the personal feeling that goes with this game you'll miss out on a lot and that becomes a greater risk when you know too much about it. So I hope I didn't spoil much at all while convincing every one of you that if you don't have this game, there isn't even a way to express how lame you are as a person. Seriously, play it. NOW!

Mass Effect 2 was developed by BioWare and published by EA for the Xbox 360 and PC. Played through normal mode as a Vanguard Paragon for 50+ hours and still struggling to finish the game on Insanity mode, clocking in at 20+ hours so far. That's a lot of playtime for one game.

Splinter Cell Conviction Review for Xbox 360

     Sam Fisher's back. And this time, it's personal.... Yes, I really had to do that. Here's the review.

Gameplay

= Forget everything you know - The gameplay is actually well done. I just wasn't really feeling it. They essentially tossed out the whole "stealth is the key" thing and brought in "everyone must die". Now it ends up feeling like I'm playing Batman: Arkham Asylum. Splinter Cell was always a game about not killing, sneaking up on baddies, and covering your tracks. In this iteration, it's just about clearing the room full of enemies as best you can. There is still a certain element of stealth present but it's much more of an action game now. Essentially, you approach every situation by seeing who's around the area and if it's possible to take them all out without being shot. You'll normally see someone you can take out physically which will fill up your execute bar. With the execute bar you can mark targets (from 2-4 depending on your weapon) and then press a button to have Sam take them all out with automatic headshots. Other than that, it's all about routing enemies to your position so you can take them all out one by one.

     They designed the game in a way that's supposed to empower the player but I just felt gimped. I'm supposed to sneak around because Sam can't stand up to firearms but I have a lot of stealth abilities stripped away to force me to take aggressive stances against my enemies. So I feel like I'm supposed to take them down head on but not be seen doing so at the same time. Maybe if there was a little bit more complexity to the gameplay, like Metal Gear Solid 4, then I could choose how I wanted to play. With the way it is now, I can't hide in lockers and pick up bodies. Why? 

      I've always felt like Splinter Cell games were a little clunky with the controls and that there was a certain streamlining that it needed. This certainly is a streamlined experience, just not a stealthy one, which is disappointing.

+ So what's the plan? - It's satisfying when things come together like you want them to and this applies to Conviction. When you see the layout of the enemies, make a plan and execute it flawlessly, and then continue to scare the piss out of all who still remain, there's a great sense of accomplishment there to accompany the experience. I don't think it was the wisest idea to basically make the game revolve around this mechanic but it still works.

- Do what now? - I hate the controls in this game. I also got this game as a rental so I didn't have the booklet to tell me what did what. I was infuriated with them many times. There were also controls that weren't so clear when they were stated. When I wanted to change my weapon, nothing happened so I had to press it twice. The game didn't tell me that the first time I pressed it, it would draw out the currently equipped weapon. When I wanted to get a quick shot off, I'd have to compensate for the 2 seconds it took for Sam to pull out his gun and then shoot. I thought you could choose only one gadget to work with at a time. I was frustrated when I wanted to try something else and the loadout screen wouldn't let me change the gadget I was using. I didn't figure out until the last 3 levels that you had access to all of your gadgets at once. The "X" button is normally the reload button for most shooters. Instead, reload was on the left-thumbstick button and gadgets were on the traditional reload button. I kept tossing out gadgets when I was panicking to reload. Sometimes I would toss out a gadget, press the same button again to activate it, but they took a while to activate so I was mashing the button to get it to activate asap, unfortunately then he'd use another gadget even though I wasn't pressing the button anymore. 

     I went through a good majority of the problems. It seems to be this way for most stealth games I've played where the controls just feel awkward and convoluted. Somehow, Ubisoft felt that this was no longer a stealth game so nothing could be similar with past Splinter Cell iterations. Sam reacts to commands like he never has before and buttons give commands they've never given before. Why change what the player is used to and then go even further to make it worse?

+ Best Friends Forever - Co-op is where it's at in this game. It can be beyond fun at times. Just the feeling that you're both to work together to stay mutually out of sight and look out for eachother is rewarding in itself. Watching your partner proceed forward while you take out patrols to his left and right before he's spotted, walking into visibility while your partner shoots out the lights to cloak you in darkness, it just feels immediately natural and instantly intimate. It's hard not to feel close to someone who's watching your back while you got theirs. Everyone should play this game at least for the co-op. It's an experience that shouldn't be missed. 

     There are other game types but they don't feel natural or fun enough to play through. Just stick with the co-op story mode and you'll be having tons of fun.

= I challenge you! - There are challenges to complete in this game and they serve to show you things that you can do in the game that you probably hadn't thought of i.e. breaking a door down to incapacitate someone walking towards it, tossing someone you're using as a body shield into a door to break it in, etc. The only problem I had with it was that I didn't really feel motivated to complete any of them. When they are finished, all they do is award you points to buy upgrades with. I'll move on to why I don't care to buy upgrades soon.

     People should start learning a lesson from Bionic Commando (2009). Not only were the challenges unique and gratifying, you only had to perform them once and you were given extremely helpful upgrades.

- Weapon of choice - There is a bit of a selection within Conviction but it really doesn't make much sense to use the majority of them. Early on, I got a silenced pistol that had incredible accuracy and range and I got a M4 with a silencer and more power and range than what was available through most of the game. When you used a silenced weapon the enemy doesn't know where you are. Even when they're alerted, you can still take out a few guys without anyone noticing where you are. To use a weapon without a silencer, you only get a small fraction of added power and everyone will know where you are every time you use it. You can only buy three upgrades per weapon and they're specific to that weapon so it's not like you can get every gun a silencer. It just doesn't make sense to me to have so many variations on guns when, after you've already got the ones that work best in the beginning of the game, there's no motivation to change your weapon. When you work with the same old tools for the whole game, it begins to feel stale.

     The other problem I had was when a level would start without giving me my usual loadout, it would just start me off with what the game felt was better (read: more newly unlocked) than what I had. The majority of the guns don't have silencers so I was screwed at the start of some missions. 

Story and Presentation

= They killed my daughter - I think it should be known that when something deals with military-based plots, I usually don't follow them. I guess it a lack of personable appeal that makes it hard for me to pay attention to. That's why I was most excited for this game when the premise was taking revenge on Sam's daughter's killers. Very quickly it turned into something else and the whole plot lost me. I was able to follow it while playing the game for the most part but it was completely forgettable. 

= That's not like our little Sammie - Sam Fisher changed his character a lot from past games. I'll go on record by admitting I haven't played much of the Splinter Cell series but I always came away with the impression that Sam was a man of good moral values. I understand the circumstances that have turned him into a darker person (his daughter was killed by a drunk driver and he had to kill his best friend) but the extent of his anger just doesn't seem to fit his character. So many times were made all the more awkward hearing Sam Fisher's voice actor try to come off as thoroughly P.O.'d. It feels more like a little girl trying to sound like Solid Snake. It just doesn't fit and even when it sounds right, it doesn't fit the character. They could have explored different ways to express Sam's darkness through both gameplay and dialogue. Sam's one hell of an agent. He's done this stuff for years. Why would he go all mad-dog when he obviously knows better? 

= There's writing on the walls - There actually is writing on walls and stuff. It tells you objectives and sometimes describes Sam's feelings and thoughts in cutscenes. Ingenious Idea and I really love it. There just wasn't a whole lot of it and it wasn't really used in the most creative sense. Great idea with okay implementation.

= Tell me more... - One device used to push the story forward are the interrogation scenes. Basically you grab someone by the throat and you use various objects within the environment to beat them with. That guy up above just got his face put through a urinal. I don't know how he's expected to talk after that since I'm pretty sure Sam messed his face up pretty good, but you can bet that Sam'll get the info he wants.

     All of the interrogations were terribly predictable though. They refuse to say anything, they get their head caught in the fridge, they spill some beans and refuse to talk more, you put their face against an electric stove-top for 5-6 seconds, they spill some more beans and once again refuse to say more, you put a knife through their hand and they spill the rest. You will almost always have to torture them 3 times and they will almost always refuse to talk 3 times. It just feels more artificial than anything since there's normally only 3 ways to torture the victim. Once again, great idea with only okay implementation.

= I'm just a shadow, don't mind me - When you're in the light, things are in color. When you're in the dark, things are black and white. People will always appear in color no matter what. That won't stop you from looking for monochrome people while you're in the darkness and then feeling stupid when you see someone and they're in living color *wink*. Also, when it's black and white, it becomes very hard to see the environment. That leads to missed paths, different approaches and just all around safer/more conventient ways to get around. ONCE more, GREAT idea with only OKAY implementation.

Graphics

+ Another Unreal performance - The Unreal engine does wonders for the environments and the lighting. It didn't do so much, however, for the hair and the character models. They don't look terrible, they just don't look up to today's standard of detail which seems to be a trend at Ubisoft right now. Overall, it's a pretty game. Nothing should ever break the experience visually.

Sound

+ That's the sound of conviction - The music, the voices and the sound effects were mixed extremely well, to a cinematic degree even. Everything sounded clear, tangible, and visceral. This is sound mixing to aspire to.

Should you buy it?

     If you feel like you gotta buy it, go ahead. I feel that it's a rental but I wouldn't worry about spending money on Conviction. I'm sure you'll still feel like you got what you paid for. I just wouldn't expect it to perform any better than that.

     Don't get me wrong, I'm actually fond of this game if only because of the co-op. I would be happy to accept this game for it's experiments and treading of new territory if the sequel perfects what Ubisoft has started here. If this is their idea of a polished and perfected game, then I'm not sure about what's in store for our secret agent.

Splinter Cell Conviction was developed by Ubisoft Montreal and published by Ubisoft for the Xbox 360 and PC. Played through normal mode single-player story in 7-8 hours and played co-op for a total of 5 hours on realistic difficulty. Reviewed on the Xbox 360 version. 

Crackdown Review for Xbox 360

     When Crackdown was coming out a long, long time ago, it's sales were boosted by the fact that if you bought the game you would get access to the Halo 3 multiplayer beta. That led practically every gamer to assume that this game would suck and the beta was just a way to get us to buy it. Well it did get everyone to buy it but the surprising thing was that Crackdown was actually good. It was fun and addictive. I've definitely spent my fair share playing the game back in the day so I thought I would give it another go to review it for the site.

Gameplay

+ Be something more than human - Think of playing Grand Theft Auto when you're just messing about with the world. Personally, that's what I felt was the only draw from the GTA series and Crackdown evolves that fun.
     Being that you're a genetically enhanced super cop, you can do everything better than a normal person. At first you can jump around the height of a one-story building, toss trash cans, drive special cars, toss grenades that make small enough explosions to almost take out one person. As you use these skills to annihilate gangs, you'll get orbs that pop out from the defeated that swarm into you, leveling up your abilities. By the time you've maxed out your skills, you can jump 4-5 stories high, use explosives that will now take out an entire city block if not more, pick up and toss tanker trucks.
     As you level up, your character's appearance also changes. He'll gain anything from new armor, tattoo, and hairstyles, to piercings and facial hair. My favorite of all is when you level up your driving and the car you're using changes with you. Not only will the car gain it's own abilities and just become all around better, it will physically change it's appearance every time you step in and out. Imagine a modern BMW transforming into the batmobile (not the tumbler) before your eyes. Every time I get in and out of the car, I actually stop what I'm doing just to see it go from normal to super and back to normal. Great stuff!


+ Do what you want, when you want to - There are specific tasks for you to do in Crackdown but you're never forced to ever do them or do them in any order whatsoever. I'm actually sure that it's more likely you'll get hooked to leveling up your agent than actually progressing through the game.


+ So many orbs, so little time... - Everyone feels this in Crackdown; You jump onto a building and collect a batch of agility orbs and it explodes into little orbs everywhere! Then you see another batch on the roof of a building across the street. After grabbing that one, you'll see another, and another, and another until you collect all 500! People will normally state this as the number one reason why they began to get addicted. And what a wonderful affliction it is. 

= Now what? - Even given all of the things you can in Crackdown, it seems that a lot of the fun comes from yourself. What do you want to do in this no-limits playground? If you run out of ways to make your own fun, it can get boring really fast. When it comes to doing the normal missions and side missions, they don't really feel different enough to stop the feeling of monotony. It's not a terrible problem but extra motivation to keep progressing through the game would have been nice.

Story and Presentation.

+ Wanna star in a comic book? - I can't recall this exactly but I remember reading a developer diary when the game was still in development, and they were talking about what they were trying to go for with the visuals. They said the director had this view of a city overrun by gangs and the like but he wanted it to look like it came out of a comic book. They nailed it perfectly. I've seen cel-shading in games before (Jet Set/Grind Radio series, Zelda Windwaker, Sonic Shuffle, Borderlands, etc) but this one seems to do something different to give it that awesome comic feel. The textures and effects have this hybrid aesthetic of looking hand-drawn and being real at the same time.

= Only if you want to... - While not having the most enthralling story ever, it does enough that when you do make progress, you feel like you've accomplished something worthwhile. The end of the game was a pretty decent surprise, decent enough to make me want to know exactly what happens next.

Graphics

= Style over substance - They easily nail the look they're going for but the game doesn't look much better on either a HDTV or a SDTV. These graphics will never blow you away. They just do enough to get the unique visuals to work.

Sound

= Humdrum - You really shouldn't care. It does have a soundtrack when you drive around sporting many multi-lingual sounds. I say, just use your own music and wreak havoc to your preferred music style. You won't miss the sound effects either.

Should you buy it?

     Rent it. And I think that everyone should, too. There will be those of you who love it and will buy it the first time you level up a skill. For everyone else, I'd suspect you'd have fun, just not enough to justify a purchase.
     This review was kinda tricky because there just isn't a whole lot to talk about when it comes to Crackdown. It boils down to how much you get out of the gameplay and how many "You gotta hear this" kind of stories you create. Just go out there and give the game a go. Just beware, collecting orbs is extremely addicting.

Crackdown was developed by Realtime Worlds and published by Microsoft Game Studios for the Xbox 360. Played on Tough difficulty for 20+ hours only collecting 467 out of 500 agility orbs.

Final Fantasy 13 Review for PS3 and Xbox 360

     Two words: Profound Disappointment. That doesn't mean that the game is a complete and utter failure, it just didn't live up to anyone's expectations of what would be another entry into the main Final Fantasy series. I also never finished the game. I was able to hit 45-50 hours and I ended up taking a break from it. Now, I just don't care to go back and finish it. Here's your review:

Gameplay

+ Prepare for combat! - Here's basically the one aspect about FF13 that's actually so more-than-decent that the majority of it's shortcomings can be overlooked. Think back to the old turn-based Final Fantasy's and then think about only having control of one character, all of the other party members are AI-controlled. *sigh* Now that I think about it, this system is going to need a lot of explanation.
     The first step is setting up the character you control. You'll never really specifically control this character, not because you can't but because it feels pointless and redundant given how well the auto-battle command works. When you use libra on an enemy, it scans them telling you how the enemy works and what it's weaknesses are. Now all of your party, and your character when auto-battling, will zero in on that monster's weaknesses, taking it down as fast as possible.
      The second step is the chain-gauge. It's similar to the way you try to dizzy your opponent in a fighting game. You max out the chain-gauge through attacks and debuffs. Melee attacks will only raise the bar by slivers but it slows the draining of the gauge. Magic attacks will raise the gauge extremely fast and in very large amounts but all of that effort tends to go away quickly. The trick is to temper the gauge with melee attacks so that it drains slowly and then use magic to fill it. When the gauge is maxed the enemy will be staggered leaving them susceptible to attack interruptions and with less defense.
     The third step is playing the paradigms. Usually you have your characters that are mages, tanks, healers, etc and they never really change roles. With paradigms, you can change any character's role at anytime. Imagine trying to stagger the enemy with a melee, magic, magic paradigm but your party is being crushed HP-wise. You would want to switch to a tank, heal, buff paradigm to protect your party. After you're all healed, you may switch back to your melee, magic, magic paradigm to finish the enemy off.
     So to put all of these steps together will give better insight towards what the fighting is like. Scan the enemy, try to stagger the enemy as fast as possible with an offensive pradigm, change the paradigm should the situation call for it, and then finish off the battle. It feels great going into a challenging battle and executing all of the right paradigms at just the right times to walk away with the victory.


+ Paradigm for your thoughts? - Customizing paradigms was extremely fun for me. I love being able to customize my gameplay, being able to play the way that I want to and not the way I'm expected to. And thank goodness it's not the latter because all of the paradigms you're given automatically usually suck the hardest. It's just a lot of fun thinking of all the possible situations I can get to in a battle and creating paradigms to get me out of the unwanted ones. It's simple but complex at the same time. Paradigms are definitely a move in the right direction for the series and I'd love to see it utilized in future titles.

= Experiencing technical difficulties... - The fact that you can't control or even guide what the other members of your party do during battle is a large over-sight. If I need to stay on a defensive paradigm for a while and one of my characters are supposed to buff the party, they'll only buff the party once and wait till the buff wears off to rebuff. While they wait for that buff to go away, they just stand there doing nothing. How helpful is rebuffing compared to nothing? Answer: Incredibly.
     Also, if you have two melee characters they will never attack the same enemy if there's more than one. It's never really a problem per se but it sucks when I need to kill a staggered enemy quick and I need those two to attack the same thing to finish it off. Everything about the battle system seems to be revolving around players that aren't good at games but really, the gameplay is actually kinda complex for new players and it costs the more experienced players control over situations that could be fixed with the smallest of all control tweaks. Instead, we're forced to sit through a bad situation from the lack of control. With a lot of hardcore games finding ingenious ways to include the less experienced gamers, there's no excuse for Square Enix, a company of such great pedigree, to let these problems (and other problems I didn't get into) go unfixed.


= The crystal method - You don't gain experience, you gain crystarium points or CP. CP is used to purchase skills and stat upgrades for your character. It works akin to the sphere system in Final Fantasy 10, you purchase upgrades on a certain path and when that path is completed, more paths open up to you. Normally I like systems like this but it doesn't feel executed in a graceful way.
     You will almost always have enough CP to purchase all of your skills in the crystarium which really doesn't lend to a feeling that you are building these characters around the way that you play. Then, instead of keeping characters limited to the first 3 classes open to them, every character eventually gains access to the skills of every known class which cost buttloads of CP. So much CP, you almost can't comprehend how you'll obtain what's required.
     How could this be fixed? Make every class branch, limiting every character to two classes, and make better ascending costs for skills. It's like Square Enix went, "Alright, we're forcing them to use the characters the way we want... Oh, we should give them some choice. Well, we can't really do that so let's just give the player a bunch of incompatible classes for their characters." It's a thin veil and it feels cheap when you notice how the trick is done. But hey, I like these kind of experience systems and I had fun with it in the beginning.

- It's my party and I'll make it how I want to! - Huge problem for me here. You have 7 characters. How should the game proceed? Apparently by forcing you into two-people parties or by choosing a group for you that would be more likely to hinder than help you. I feel that the most fun you can have from an rpg is making your own parties.
     Two-person parties (which account for basically 70% of the game) make the fighting stale. You know what the outcome will be, you'll always be able to predict enemy reactions, it's just less dynamic overall and that's no fun at all. When there are three person parties, the battles become dynamic. You can make more diverse paradigms, you have to account for abnormal situations, and on top of that, if you're able to make the characters to your own specifications, you feel more responsible for your victory; You're the one that made a difference in who did or didn't die out on the battlefield. The fact that your hand is gripped tightly till what is essentially the end of the game, robbing you of choice in all aspects distances you not only from the gameplay, but from the story and the characters themselves. Personally, I feel like these things are a crime.


- Walking the line - Linearity is crushingly boring in this game. Everything from enemies to treasure is laid out in front of you as the only option you have when it comes to travel is forward. It causes the game to feel one dimensional; Nothing feels natural and the structure of the game feels transparent as you begin to realize a pattern: Go forward, fight, forward, cutscene, forward, repeat, repeat, boss, high-resolution cutscene. It's not very motivating and it just becomes boring. Linearity normally isn't a bad thing in video games but it certainly kills this game.


- It was custom made! - Upgrading weapons in Final Fantasy is like asking a farmer to build you a computer. He's gonna have the most confused look on his face. Why? Because he obviously doesn't know anything about computers but you're trying to tell him he knows and he's just trying to play dumb to get out of it. Ok, maybe that comparison sucked but so does the weapon and accessory upgrade system! It's never really clear when you should upgrade, how useful it is, and which items out of the plethora are best to use since you can use any and all for upgrading. Gee, thanks Square Enix!


- Don't touch me! - It's extremely clear that Square Enix built this game for RPG first-timers. They just did it completely wrong. Things are too complex for noobies. They ease you into the gameplay mechanics extremely slow but really, if a new player doesn't get bored in the beginning of the game, they're just going to give up when the game demands more speed and thought. And how does this serve the vets? Well we get stuck in bang-your-head-against-the-wall boring and repetitive actions, praying to the deities of gaming that the game STOPS HOLDING OUR HAND and lets us play the game our way!
     Honestly, if you want to consider the new-comers, you need to find more artificial ways to help them out. Make the battles turn based, ease up on complexity and turn up the fun in just performing one action over and over. Turning your game into a half-baked thought does not bode well for your reputation.

Story and Presentation

+ Yep, it's a Final Fantasy game - You know it is when the menus are sharp and the visuals all look like they came from a world where everything is made of glass and costs more than what your life is worth. If you've been dying for the usual Final Fantasy style, it's definitely present here and you'll feel right at home.

= Do I sense flattery? - I can't help but feel like Square Enix was trying to make a fully realized world like Mass Effect by utilizing an encyclopedia filled with information on the setting of their story. It's probably because that was the last RPG I finished that I felt super connected to just because of all the information you are given. Unfortunately for Final Fantasy, it doesn't really add to the context of anything. Essentially all of the entries in its encyclopedia are flat and obvious. It's like saying, "Yes that cow is indeed a cow," and then adding "You may also notice that it is white with black spots." It was a nice try though. I'd enjoy it more if it felt like more effort had been given.


= How could you be so shallow? - The characters of Final Fantasy just feel one dimensional. I did enjoy certain situations they were put in and there were moments that evoked emotion but there was nothing really making any of them likable or interesting. Each of their personality developments happened at a sloth's pace. In the end, nothing really made you care much about what was going to happen to the characters. I very easily was able to drop the story and not care about what happened next. I probably will go back and play the last chapters of the game at some point but it's anyone's guess as to when. 

- The environments are bland - One thing I liked about the Final Fantasy franchise was the aesthetics of their worlds. Now while some of the environments can be pretty, they're just lacking. I don't know if it's detail or personality that's missing but something is and that disappointed me.

- I am become Vanille, bringer of death - I can't express how much I can't stand Vanille which is weird for me because I like the comedic relief characters in serious stories. They're also not something unfamiliar to the franchise but somehow they totally missed the mark with Vanille. Her voice is agitating and she doesn't gain any personality until late in the game. She reminds me of a dog, talking and acting only in exclamations, not full sentences. Example: 


Sazh: "We lost their trail. We can't save'em anyway, we should just run!"


Vanille: "Omigosh!!!11!!1 A RAINBOW!!!!!" *runs toward the rainbow giggling incessantly*


Sazh: "You're right. We gotta keep trying, moving forward. Maybe we can save them after all..."


     I began enjoying her when she finally started gaining depth but dear God, she's such an empty character for so long!

Graphics

+ Are you the real deal? - The graphics in Final Fantasy 13 are very pleasing. I definitely can't mark it as an equal or a minus but I will say that I guess I was expecting more. Since the release of the PS3, we've seen very pretty games. The graphics just didn't really blow me away or anything. It is hard to tell the difference between the high-res cutscenes from the in-game cutscenes which is impressive. I think the real reason behind it is not because of the graphics, but rather the very detailed animations of the characters.
     In my Heavy Rain review, I named a couple of games regarding their ability to lend believability to their characters and this Final Fantasy was one of them. The character animations are incredible. The way they move and physically show emotion comes off as real and extremely natural. I think Square Enix has always been that company that raises the bar when it comes to graphical capabilities. Instead of raising the bar graphically this time around though, it seems they've stepped it up when it comes to animation and the fluidity of action. Developers should strive for these kind of visuals.

Sound

= I've heard it all before - Nothing real great in terms of sound. Certain noises lack oomph, some noises don't sound like they should. Don't play this game expecting to be immersed into the game through sound effects.

- You ain't no Nobuo Uematsu - This is a minus not because the music was terrible per se, it's just not up to usual Final Fantasy standard. You don't even need to be Nobuo Uematsu to make good Final Fantasy music! The guy who did FF12's soundtrack did a great job. Whoever they got for FF13 wasn't the best choice when it came to composers. The music is bland and when there were good songs, they ended up being ruined by terrible pop vocals and lyrics.


- KLOMP! KLOMP! KLOMP! - That's the sound of your character walking. It oddly stands out above everything else in the game and it's damn annoying when you have to hear it all the damn time.

Should you buy it?

     I'd have a hard time recommending a purchase. If you've never been into Final Fantasy, don't play it. If you're interested in starting the Final Fantasy series, don't start with this one. If you love Final Fantasy, rent it.
     I've been seeing some more than decent scores being given out for the game and I really don't get it. There's so much charm and personality missing from this game, not to mention all of the mistakes that were made with the gameplay. Maybe people have some kind of allegiance to Square Enix and they refuse to say anything negative about it. There are reviewers who agree with me. I'm certainly not the only one that thinks Final Fantasy was a misstep for the series.
     I honestly don't know what happened to make Final Fantasy 13 such a disappointment, I just hope it doesn't happen to Final Fantasy Versus 13. That's one game I'm really looking forward to. Let's hope for the best.

P.S. My apologies if this review was tough to read from a literary perspective. I haven't written anything in a while. Here's to more reviews in the future!

Final Fantasy XIII was developed and published by Square Enix for the PS3 and the Xbox360. Played the game on the PS3 for 67 hours before not caring anymore.