Ever since I bought the Xbox 360 on launch day, I have been waiting for a next-gen Star Wars game to be released.  KOTOR and KOTOR II were two of the best games I played on the original Xbox.  So needless to say, I am super excited for the release of this game.  How can this game go wrong.  It is everything I expected and more.

Star Wars: The Force Unleashed tells the story of Darth Vader’s secret apprentice, code-named “Starkiller” but born Galen Marek, as he hunts down the remaining Jedi after Emperor Palpatine orders them killed. Set between Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith and Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, the story explores the aftermath of the Great Jedi Purge as well as the rise of Darth Vader. The events of The Force Unleashed are “pivotal” in Darth Vader’s history and development as a character and offer illumination into other characters from A New Hope, Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back, and Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi.

I’ll give more updates on the game play as I go along, but if you are any kind of a Star Wars fan, this game is a definite buy!!

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As much as I would like to play every game and write to you all about it, I just do not have the time or the money.  So I am putting out this call for bloggers.  If you have a passion for playing xbox 360 and can’t wait to tell the world about it, let me know and I will set you up to be able to post your reviews here.

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I haven’t been posting lately because I have been ADDICTED to playing Tiger Woods PGA Tour Golf 2008 from EA Sports.  This is a great video game.  I spent a lot of time just modifying my players looks.  The Tiger Challenge is fun.

I’ve been building up my own character but have also played as Tiger and several others.

There are a lot of new features with 2008.  Photo Game Face allows you to upload your own photo so that your face becomes the face of the golfer.  Confidence per hole is a nice touch that remembers scores you have on each hole you play that affects your confidence every time back.

Well, I’ll update this later.  I need to go play more!

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There is not really a whole lot to say about this game.  I finished it in less than two hours.  How I stayed in that long I am not sure.  I guess just to finish what I started.

Save your money folks, if you play this at all, make it a renter. 1.5 out of 5 stars.

The game Jumper:Griffin’s Story is based on the character Griffin from the movie “Jumper”.  Griffin is not a main character in the movie, so I guess they thought a game that explains where he came from would make a good story.

Jumper:Griffin’s Story was slammed by other reviewers in the media.  The game received a rating of 1.75/10 from Game Informer. In reviewer Andrew Reiner’s short review, he referenced “the burial site of thousands of cartridges of E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial”, widely considered one of the worst games of all time, suggesting that truck drivers dump copies of this game there.  IGN gave the game a 3.7/10, tying the game’s poor presentation to that of its associated movie and  X-Play gave it a 1/5.

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I have begun playing Turok for the Xbox 360.  My first impressions of it are that it is a straight up shooter game.  Not a lot of skill or puzzles involved.  The graphics are pretty good and the game play is decent as well.

My initial impressions are that this would make a much better rental than a purchase.

The story line, as written in Wikipedia, goes as follows.

“Despite being titled “Turok”, the plot bears no relation to the previous games in the series or the comic books that spawned it, instead it is a reference to the protagonist’s name; Joseph Turok. You play as Joseph Turok, the newest member of Whiskey Company; a team that has been assembled to apprehend rogue soldier Roland Kane and bring him back to Earth. At first, the crew shuns him, thinking that he is an inexperienced fighter, un-trustable, and a liability. One particular member, Slade, has a grudge against Turok because his brother was killed in the same battle from which Turok fled. Unbeknownst to the team, Kane is in command of a secret paramilitary force funded by the Mendel-Gruman (M-G) Corporation.

The military spaceship that Turok presides in is shot down over a desolate planet, where mutant dinosaurs still roam free. The team later learns that the planet was terraformed, and the creatures were created with accelerated evolution. A platoon of soldiers from Whiskey Company meet at the crash site and make plans to survive. Turok and Slade begin completing missions for Whiskey Company in an attempt to stay alive and stop Kane, with one being to find a locator to call for evac. After multiple excursions with the members of Kane’s military regime, the “Wolf Pack,” Turok manages to lead the survivors to an abandoned spaceship, only to discover that the ship is in ruins.

After exploring a base where the ship is located, they discover that Kane has created a Soldier bug-based bio-toxin capable of killing millions of people. Whiskey Company comes up with a plan to finally stop Kane and escape the planet. A battle ensues, where most of the crew is killed. However, Whiskey Company manages to break into Kane’s headquarters to confront Kane himself. Only 3 of the people in the crew (including Turok) manage to escape in a spaceship, leaving Turok behind at his request to take down Kane. After an ensuing knife battle, Kane is beaten and killed by Turok.

Just as Turok kills Kane, an attacking T-Rex charges at Turok. With only a knife, bow, and a few leftover weapons Turok barely manages to kill the T-Rex. The ship that Whiskey Company has overtaken picks up Turok and leaves the hostile world. Turok and the remaining two crew members - Slade and Shepard, chart a course back to Earth.”

To read more, visit the Turok Wikipedia page.

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The newest edition to the call of Duty family is “Call of Duty 4 - Modern Warfare”.  As all the other Call Of Duty games have been focused on real WWII battles, this game takes a much more modern approach with some fictitious battles through Russia and the Middle East.

The graphic are very good, but I would not say that they are unbelievably great.  The game play is very good as well.  You get to play in the standard first person mode as in the other games, but in this 4th installment, you also get to play from within an airplane, the back of a jeep and many other places.

One of my favorite levels had to be the assassination level where the character is dressed up to be hidden in tall grass.  You make your way through Chernobyl, Russia to an abandoned hotel where you are behind a high-powered sniper rifle.  You are so far away that you have to adjust for wind speed and distance.  Very cool.

All-in-all this was a very fun and entertaining game that I would definitely recommend you check out.

Here is a little excerpt from Wikipedia on the game.  To learn more, go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Call_of_duty_4

Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare focuses on the progression of warfare as a contemporary infantry soldier; presenting the player with a vast number of different combat scenarios unseen in prior Call of Duty titles. It strays from the constant assaults, interspersing high-intensity fire fights with slower-paced drama and suspenseful clandestine action. The series’ move to modern warfare introduces a variety of new weapons and technology to the Call of Duty franchise. Such showcased equipment includes the M203 grenade launcher, M4A1 carbine, the AN/PEQ-2 Target Pointer for use in conjunction with night vision goggles, the MP5SD submachine gun, and the FGM-148 Javelin portable anti-tank guided missile, among many others.

The game moves away from the prior three country-specific campaign style; the plot remains cinematic, with story lines interlaced from the perspectives of members of the British Special Air Service and United States Marine Corps Force Recon.

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The first thing I noticed when I started playing this game is how stunning the graphics are.  This seems to be a Ubisoft Montreal trait, as I have yet to be let down by the graphics of any game constructed by Ubisoft Montreal.

The game itself has a very interesting storyline.  It is sort of a cross between “The Matrix” and “The Prince of Persia”.  The story goes as follows:

The following excerpt was taken from Wikipedia.  To read the full storyline, go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assassins_creed.
Assassin’s Creed is a third-person stealth game in which the player assumes the role of Desmond Miles, an average bartender who is the last descendant of a long family line of assassins. Desmond has been taken to a facility where he is forced to use the Animus, a machine that traces and recreates the memories of his ancestors during the Third Crusade. Through these memories, the player controls Altaïr Ibn La-Ahad (الطائر إبن لا احد, Arabic, “The Flying One, Son of None”), a member of the Assassin Brotherhood. Altaïr’s objective in the game is to slay nine historical figures propagating the Crusades in the year 1191. (According to Ubisoft developers, all of the main character’s targets are historical figures who died or disappeared in 1191, although not necessarily by assassination.)

The primary goal of the game is to complete nine assassinations. To achieve this goal, the player must use stealth and a variety of intelligence gathering tactics to collect information on their target. These tactics include eavesdropping, forceful interrogation, pickpocketing, and completing tasks for Informers (other assassins who will give you information in exchange for assassinating targets or collecting flags). Additionally, the player may take part in any number of side missions, including climbing tall towers to map out the city and saving citizens that are being threatened or harassed by the city guards. There are also various side quests unrelated to the story such as hunting down and killing Templars and flag collecting.

The game takes place primarily in a kingdom consisting of four main cities: Jerusalem, Acre, Damascus and Masyaf, the assassins’ stronghold; all but Masyaf contain three sections that are unlocked over the course of the game. An approximation of the land lying between these areas is present in the game as “The Kingdom.” Each city features a highly detailed environment populated by many people of different types, and as the player interacts with his/her environment, the people around Altaïr respond in logical and predictable ways. For example, Altaïr can climb buildings, causing people to gather around and comment on his unusual behavior. This in turn can attract the unwanted attention of nearby guards, who may then choose to attack him.

Store continued at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assassins_creed 

I’ve only just begun playing this game, but so far it has been a great and very interesting play.  I will keep you posted on how things unfold, but for right now I would say this is definitely worth the buy.

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4.5 out of 5 stars.  A definite buy!

I have recently been playing the Xbox 360 game “Mass Effect”.  Here is my take on this game.

Graphics:  

The graphics in this game are excellent.  I have not seen anything better on any other system, including the Play Station 3.  The cut-scenes are fantastic and the in-game play is the best I have seen to date.  These are the kind of graphics that I thought Halo 3 should have had.  The motion of the characters is very fluent and the battles are smooth.  Overall the graphics and motion during game play is excellent.

Game Play:

Mass Effect is the type of game I love to play.  This is a semi open ended RPG.  You can interact with characters and change your character based on your answers in conversatios with different characters around the game.  You accumulate experience points for completing different tasks and doing different missions throughout the game.  In the beginning of the game you start accumulating team members and you are able to choose two members to be with you during missions.  Each member has different skills and attributes.  You are able to level-up your skills and those of your teammates when you reach certain point totals.

In the very beginning you are able to customize your character as far as your history, training, character type and your look and gender.  You can choose to be a soldier, tech, biotic or some combination of the 3.  I choose to play as a half soldier, half biotic.

This game to me seems to really be a KOTOR with better graphics and no light sabers.  As a biotic, I can throw people, do a force push, strike them with lightning, put them in stasis, poisen them and many other nice tricks, just like a jedi would be able to do!

If there were any downsides to this game, it was that there seemed to be no way to skip past the cut scenes once you have already scene them.  By the way, the cut-scenes are interactive as well.  I got to a point in the game where there was a very long interactive cut-scene and then I had to fight a boss.  I kept getting killed and had to do that cut-scene over and over.  I was so frustrated.  Finally after hitting several sequences of buttons, I came to find that you can skip forwarded through the cut-scenes by hitting the X button.  You can’t skip through entirely, but you’ll get through them much faster.

Story:

Mass Effect is an action role-playing game developed by BioWare exclusively for the Xbox 360, which was released worldwide in November, 2007. The game takes place in the year 2183, with the player assuming the role of an elite human soldier named Commander Shepard, set out to explore a vast universe on his/her ship, the SSV Normand.

The game begins aboard the Human Systems Alliance frigate SSV Normandy, commanded by Captain Anderson and his XO, Commander Shepard. The Normandy is being sent to the human colony world of Eden Prime to recover a Prothean Beacon. The value of the Beacon is considered enormous, and the Citadel Council, the ruling body of much of the galactic community, has attached a Turian Spectre named Nihlus to assist with recovering it.

Nihlus, Shepard, and a small team are sent down to Eden Prime to recover the Beacon, and discover that the colony is under attack by alien synthetic life forms known as the Geth. Nihlus encounters another Turian Spectre named Saren, who then kills Nihlus. Saren then orders the Geth to destroy the colony, but Shepard prevents them from doing so. After the battle ends, Shepard discovers the Beacon. Investigating the device, Shepard is assaulted by a vision of biological creatures being slaughtered by machines. The Beacon then explodes.

For a full version of the plot, visit this great Wikipedia page or visit the Mass Effect web site.

Well I hope you enjoyed my review on Mass Effect for the Xbox 360.  I would love to hear your thoughs and comments on this game.  Also, feel free to contact me if you would like to be a poster on this site.  I value all opinions on these great xbox 360 games.

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4.5 out of 5 stars.

Halo 3 for the xbox 360 picks up right where Halo 2 fo the original xbox leaves off.  You are Master Chief and you are on a world controlled by the Covenant.  Soon into the game a Flood ship crashlands and the Flood starts running rampid all over.  So now you are teamed up with the Arbiter trying to stop the Prophet from activating the Halo ring that is found on earth.

The scenery in the missions are amazing and the characters are very detailed.  Overall there is a great improvement is graphics from the Halo 2 Xbox version.

There are a few new pretty cool weapon and some of the old standard. The Xalo 3 Hammer is my favorite weapon so far.  There are also some really great new vehicles  in this game as well.  And don’t worry, the Warthog is still around.

One thing I am EXTREMELY happy with is the fact that they have a xbox live co-op version of the campaign.  I have been playing that through the missions as well and it is great fun.

I have been playing co-op and campaign so much that I have not actually been into a live team match yet.  I will update this post with more on the xalo 3 xbox 360 live mode as I get into that so stay tuned, and feel free to post a comment about your experiences with Halo 3 on the xbox 360 as well.

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Posted by xLambo

I have been playing BioShock for the Xbox 360 for the last few nights and I only have a few words to describe it. UNBELIEVABLE, GORGEOUS, OUTSTANDING, SUPERB. What else can I say. The graphics are fantastic, the game play is incredible and the story line fantastic.

If you liked the game Condemned, then you will love this game.

However, like xClam said in his initial post about Stranglehole, this game is only to tide me over until the release of Halo 3 on the xbox 360.

I will update you more on my progress in Bio Shock for the xbox 360 as I continue through the game.

The story of BioShock is about a man is in a plane crash and find himself in an underwater city called Rapture.  They have apparently been able to change human genes to give people powers above normal human capabilities.  However, it has gotten out of control and everyone in Rapture has turned into killers.  You fight your way through the city upgrading yourself with different powers.  You have engineering powers, chemical powers and of course physical powers.  You become very “jedi” like with the ability to shoot fire, lightning, ice and many other things out of your hand.  You are able to upgrade weapons along the way as well.

BioShock is a very good game and can get addicting to play.  It also has it slow parts.  All-in-all this is another great xbox 360 video game.

See you all Tuesday playing Halo 3.

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