Playing

So I've reached Level 55 (Commander) in Call of Duty 4 and I'm not currently planning on going Prestige mode. Besides, it's not even available yet since I have to earn it as if it were Level 56. Prestige is a mode (or rather 10 modes) of reseting all that you've earned in the multi-player mode and starting over like new. The only thing you're left with to claim your badassness is a special medal next to your gamertag in-game. 10 prestige modes means 10 medals, but you have to go level 55 each time.... I don't think so.

The game is still fun. I haven't been let down since getting to take part in the Beta back last September (07). The single player is a solid play, action packed and a decent story and an ending that I thought was better than BioShock's (sorry Nathan). But really the most awe inspiring moment of the single player game was about half way through. If you played it you know what I'm talking about.

But the real crack addition that this game offers is the multi-player. It's fast paced and hardcore. There are 16 maps and enough game types to keep this casual gamer pleased for hours without pause. Sure I'm ready for the DLC coming next month, but that will also be competing with one of my FPS first loves:

Rainbow Six: Vegas 2. I've been a fan of Rainbow Six since I played the original on my PS1, although I didn't play any after that until Vegas on my 360. 2 comes out on the March 11th and I've decided to rid myself of Assassin's Creed for it. After all I did get all the gamer score out of that one and there really is no replay value in it for me. I thought there might be, but that would really just be a waste of time.

Until next time
Les

Countdown to Modern Warfare

Deploying November 6 2007



until next time
Les

Bioshocked: PTSD

Well I made it through Rapture. I fought my way past each and every splicer, security bot, and Big Daddy. I also did something I've yet to do with a game on my 360: I unlocked every single achievement for a whopping 1000 pts. added to my gamer score:It was worth the time (and I know Annette will be glad I'm finished with it). This is a great game. Good story. Nice plot. And as I mentioned in my first Bioshock post, the graphics are awesome.

Until next time
Les

Modern Warfare

This weekend I was lucky enough to get an early invite to the Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare Multiplayer Beta (wow that's a mouthfull). It's pretty nice, at least it kept me up a couple nights this weekend. There's 3 maps and up to 4 modes, although I only played free-for-all (every man for himself with respawn) since my gaming is rather recreational and low priority. Playing team games requires communication and time, I don't have much of either when it comes to gaming.

I've leveled up to Corporal II so far and unlocked a few perks and other goodies. Today (Monday August 27th) is the official opening of the Beta, so if you read this in time (2pm central time) and you have a 360 and xbox live Gold go to http://charlieoscardelta.com today and try and sign up under the beta section.

Until next time
Les

Bioshocked: Redux

So I've had time to sleep and think it over. I have to admit maybe I blogged too soon. Maybe I really just needed to finish the demo a few times to get a true grasp of the mood. After all this, I can't deny, I want to play Bioshock. I've decided that maybe what creeped me out the most is the setting. It seems to me that the devs did an awesome job of taking me into the depths of the ocean and leaving me for dead. The first time through the demo I really had a sense of hopelessness.

What helped take me there? Well I've already mentioned how I thought the visuals are great, so I'll leave that alone. The sounds. That's right. From the 1950s soundtrack playing to the eerie sounds emanating from around all corners. I feel like I am there, wondering if I'm going to run into some new impassable threat. I don't want to die here. That's what I feel.

Things I've found that I really enjoyed in the demo: hacking. You can hack any electronic security device. So I was able to make a security camera work for me (instead of constantly sending security bots after me it sends them to my enemies). I revived a busted security bot and it hovered around like a guardian angel warding off foes who would come after me. I didn't hack the turret gun, so I may play the demo once more just to say I did. To shanghai a device you basically have 2 options. 1) Hack it. To do this you get a simple version of a pipes game. Make the flow of energy get from 1 point to another by revealing tiles and arranging them to the proper flow. 2) Buy them off. You collect money throughout the game, you can use it to pay the device to work for you, so you don't have to chance hacking it (if you fail to hack a device in time it will blow up in your face).


So budget wise I still will not buy this game. But I have to retract my statement and say now that I am sorry I won't be playing this game this week. Maybe one of my friends will loan it to me when they're finished (Rainbow Six:Vegas is on the table). I do have to say though that I would try to open the achievement Little Sister Savior not for my conscience but rather for the hope of obtaining all achievements.

Until next time
Les

Bioshocked

I've recently played the Xbox 360 demo for Bioshock. The game is nice in the since of visuals. I'm a huge fan of games developed with the Unreal Engine and this one doesn't disappoint. The graphics are simply awesome.

The location is interesting. You find your way to a city enthralled in chaos hidden deep in the ocean. The scene is 1950ish and the setting definitely takes you there. All along the way you get hints and info on what this place is and what has happened.

I won't be getting this game. For one it doesn't fit into my budget (time and money). More importantly though, for me, is the feeling I get from playing this game. It gives me an eerie and creepy feeling. It's not so much the amount of visual darkness they submerse you into. It's the sense of: Something here is wrong and I'm going to have to do something wrong to survive. I enjoy the visuals, but the aftertaste of this game is creepy so I won't miss not owning this title.

Don't get me wrong. I'm all about shoot-em-up games. But I like a better defined line between what is and what shouldn't be. I have no problem battling the digital hordes of Locusts in Gears of War because I feel that the sides are well defined and I don't feel bad about the side my character represents (this only applies to campaign mode, multi-player is a non-issue for me). In Rainbow Six: Vegas I know I'm fighting for what I feel is right as I take down terrorists trying to do harm to American soil. So overall I don't have particular problems with digital violence in games, after all it's just digital images following the code's instructions. I just don't want to feel creeped out by what's going on. end rant

I wouldn't say don't play Bioshock, I'm just not going to get it.

Until next time
Les

My Nintendo Top 10 minus 5

At work I started trying to put together a Top 10 of the most popular Nintendo Characters of all time. I really wanted to find characters that had begun on the Classic NES and continued to be successes on each Nintendo platform. What we found when trying to do a top 10 was that it began looking like a Who’s Who for the Super Mario franchise, so after some thoughtful consideration I trimmed it down to a Top 5 and left it at that. It’s a pretty easy list, but for what it’s worth:

5) Donkey Kong
One of the classics, I’d say the only reason old DK is not higher on the list is that this was a popularity contest, and kids these days just ain’t what they used to be.

4) Samus Aran
If you don’t recognize the name it’s probably because you’ve referred to our heroine only by her franchise name, Metroid. Since it’s inception on the classic NES there has been a popular Metroid game on all (or most all) Nintendo platforms. Samus is that female bounty hunter you get to play.

3) Link
Again, you may only know this character by franchise. But, altogether the Zelda name has made this little guy one of the most welcome character on any Nintendo screen. One of the most demanded names in all video-game-dom (sorta opinionated, but I still just put him at 3 since our next 2 are probably way more popular as far as house-hold names go).

2) Pikachu
To my surprise those little “Gotta Catch ‘em All” Pokémon were the brain-child of our good friends at Nintendo. And with the popularity of the franchise as a whole I’d say you could walk into any K-8 public/private school in the US, maybe even the world, and have at least half of the students who are very friendly with our mild mannered little yellow pocket monster.

And without further ado…..

1) You guessed it: Mario
It was the game that came with the console that helped save the video game world from the biggest draught it ever experienced. Super Mario Brothers. And I’d say that not only is it popular among the populace, but I’d say that since this is Nintendo’s very own mascot that they definitely go out of their way to insure that this funny little Italian plumber gets front row on every platform they work on.

--
Well, that’s that, let me know if you have any differences. And if you can make a top 10 (from Nintendo created characters) without it being a list of Super Mario friends, then lets have it.

Until next time
Les

My first Nintendo WFC experience.

To those not yet privy to the info, I now have a DS (the Onyx DS Lite I mentioned a few posts back). For now I've only picked up one DS game (I still have the option to play all my GBA games on the DS), Metroid Prime Hunters, which is not a bad game (albeit getting used to the handheld/touchscreen controls was hard at first, but once you get used to it it's a breeze). I've mostly been playing the adventure mode, but today, being home sick I decided to try and connect to my wireless internet connection and find some challengers out on the interweb to face.

Connecting wasn't hard at all. I have WEP enabled on my router (I know, it isn't very secure, but it gives me that warm feeling inside) so I have to configure my WEP key in along with my wireless SSID (if those don't make sense to you don't worry, obviously you don't have to mess with them). Once that was accomplished it was a snap to get the game to find challengers (just a few moments of time while it went off to search).

Game-play wasn't that much different from any first person shooter you might have played multiplayer with before (any of the Bond games or Perfect Dark are comparable). But I will say that not knowing your opponent does make for an unsocial environment. I told the DS to find players along my same ranking, figured since I haven't played multi-player mode before it would see me as a novice and find some novice for me to play. WRONG! Maybe I'm the only novice out there, but needless to say every opponent I found was ready and willing to kill me on sight (I understand that is the way it is played, I even had the same aspirations, but I couldn't execute as well as they did).

After playing several matches with 3 groups and getting slaughtered mercilessly I took a break. Not a bad experience, I just have to learn how to cheat. :-)

Until next time
Les

DS Lite gets Colored

Nintendo Onyx DS Lite

The DS Lite has two new colors (being released 9/11), onyx (my fave since it matches my GBA) and of course for the female DSer(and I guess certain types of male) coral pink.

Until next time
Les