Rock Band 2

Publisher: MTV Games

Developer: Harmonix

I haven't posted anything in 4 days. And Rock Band 2 is the reason why. I loved the idea of the first one but the songs on it were terrible. There were some good ones but most of them I couldn't stand. In Rock Band 2 there are songs from all genres and from the 60's, 70's, 80's, 90's, and 00's. There are over 100 songs available when you buy the game, although 20 of them must be downloaded via a code printed on the back of the manual. As of December 2 there are over 500 songs available, either on the disk or for purchase online. That includes songs for Rock Band and Rock Band 2. All the songs that are downloaded can be played on either game and I'm pretty sure there is a way to import your Rock Band songs onto Rock Band 2. Visit rockband.com for more information on songs.

There are some cool features in Rock Band 2. You can create your own characters and form a band (by yourself or with friends). Just be careful what you name your band, if you use a naughty word it won't let you use it online. I named my band Sex on a Sundae (don't ask) and I had to change it to Cex on a Sundae. I don't know what's so bad about sex. I would think anything that can't be said on TV would be censored, but whatever. Back to Rock Band 2. You unlock songs by playing in the worldwide tour with your band, but you can also use a code to unlock them if your lazy or just don't feel like playing through it. The character creator is pretty cool. It isn't really detailed but it does the job. There are four difficulty settings and each person playing can choose their own. That means if your playing with your little nephew or your mother you can make it challenging for both of you. Just be aware that difficulties that make the music faster for you, make it faster for everyone, so if you're playing with someone who is really bad you may want to take it down a notch yourself. The game itself costs $60, but the bundle that comes with a guitar, microphone, and a drum set, is $190. It is definitely worth the money if you can afford it. It will provide endless hours of entertainment for you and your friends or family. Just be sure to pick up an extra guitar for bass.

Jimbo McCarthy: My Character (I know, the coolness is too much to handle)

By the way, this picture is from www.rockband.com . You can make a profile there and make pictures of your characters and stuff.

Picture from http://www.ign.com/

Call of Duty: World at War

Publisher: Activision
Developer: Treyarch

Call of Duty is a series published by Activision. Each installment is handed off to a different developer. It switches between Infinity Ward and Treyarch. Infinity Ward's versions have been much better. Call of Duty 2 and Call of Duty 4 (both by Infinity Ward) remain as 2 of my favorite shooters. This fifth installment, by Treyarch is a lot better than their last attempt, Call of Duty 3, which was, let's just say, not one of my favorite's. Call of Duty: World at War proves that they have learned from past mistakes and from Infinity Ward's accomplishments. While it is not quite as good as Call of Duty 4, World at War is a big step forward for Treyarch. One of the things lacking was good characters. In COD4 I actually knew my squad mates. They felt real and it was sad when they died. In World at War I never felt like I knew anybody in the squads. They all kind of blended together and none of them stood out. COD4 had great maps for multiplayer and for online matches. They had smaller maps you could play 4 or even 3 players on. World at War has less maps and all of them seem to be geared towards online play. While there are a couple that are fun for 4 players it is almost impossible to play 3 players on any of them. They are simply too big. The single player campaign is good but it is shorter than I would have liked.




For the most part, COD: World at War is a good game. Far more intense and action packed than COD4. It features more realism, such as improved AI and even dismemberment. Online matches feel much like COD4 and some of the maps are much better. It features similar perks to COD4, while adding some of its own. It is definitely a good game, but I would recommend anyone who doesn't mind waiting to hold of on it until the price drops. There are better games out there, such as Fallout 3 or even Rock Band 2, that deserve more attention and are worth the money.

More rantings about Oblivion and praises for Morrowind

Yeah, it's pretty obvious. I didn't like The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion. I already bashed it in a previous post but I would like to clarify my reasons for disliking it. I was a huge fan of Morrowind. In fact, to this day, it remains my favorite game of all time. Even now, almost 7 years later, I'll take it out and start a new game or something. Basically, it was the game I had always wanted to find but didn't think existed. When I first played it I was amazed at the amount of freedom it offered. The almost limitless options for making your character. The varied and interesting landscapes, full of wonderful content to discover and explore. The, as it seemed at the time, almost infinite amount of dungeons available to find and loot. I played for hours on end without even touching the main quest. I was too intrigued by all the other stuff there was to do. Even now when I play it I still find things that I never found before. That, to me, is the mark of a truly great and timeless game. Yes, the graphics are a little dated and the fighting system may be aggravating for some people, but great games don't need flashy graphics to be good. This may not be true for other genres but, when it it comes to RPG's, graphics should not be what draws people to the game. That's what happened with Oblivion. Trying to reach out to a wider audience, the developers decided to revamp the graphics and fighting system (something which appeals to a lot of people), which is great, as long as other, more important aspects aren't left behind. Okay, call me a fanboy or delusional or whatnot, but a company should never alienate their fanbase by trying to appeal to a larger audience. The original fanbase is what made them what they are.

Before I go any further let me just say, I like Bethesda Softworks, I think they make good games (for the most part), and I don't think Oblivion is a terrible game. The thing about Oblivion is, like I said before, too much of what made Morrowind so great was left out. Oblivion has boring, redundant landscapes. There are three types of dungeons, and once you have seen one of them, they all look the same. Making everything adjust to your level was a big mistake. I don't want to be able to go anywhere and do anything when I first start playing a game. I want time to develop my character and have the excitement of finally being able to go to that place I couldn't go before. I also want the possibility of going to those places I shouldn't go to, who cares if I get my ass handed to me. The player should have that decision. My hope is that anyone who has played both Morrowind and Oblivion see the differences in both games, and see Morrowind as the superior game. Also I hope anyone who has played Oblivion and not Morrowind try it and see for themselves what makes it such an amazing game. I beg Bethesda Softworks to keep making this series and to learn from the mistakes in Oblivion (even though it appears they don't see it as such). I hope they look back at Morrowind, it was their masterpiece, and remember what made it so great.

All pictures from www.ign.com

Fallout 3 vs. Oblivion

I recently bought Fallout 3 after months of anticipation. I am very pleased to say that it far exceeded my expectations. It is one of the best games I have played in a long time. Fallout 3 is an open-ended RPG similar to the open-ended gameplay of the past two installments in the Elder Scrolls series, Morrowind and Oblivion. Just so there is no confusion Fallout 3 does have an ending, unlike Morrowind and Oblivion, but the thing that makes it open-ended is the fact that you essentially choose when it ends and what you do beforehand.

It's true that in a lot of ways Fallout 3 is Oblivion with guns, but it offers so much more. While Oblivion was drab and repetitive, Fallout 3 has something new around every corner. Every inch of explorable land is crammed full of content. It is a lot smaller than Oblivion in land area but you don't notice because there is so much to do.

Oblivion had great graphics and an improved fighting system but lacked that which made Morrowind great. Everything seemed so redundant. When you've seen one dungeon in Oblivion you've seen them all. The quests for the factions were good but the main quest line was terrible. In the main quest you are forced to endure dungeon after repetitive dungeon until the last quest, which pits you against random hordes of monsters on your way to your destination. Probably the worst aspect of the game was that everything was adjusted to your character's current level. That means that depending on what level you do any specific quest on you could be facing harmless rats or ferocious monsters. I beat the main quest on level 5! Level 5!!! That means, literally, no good weapons or armor until you reach level 15 or so. You can't sneak into a cave laden with enemies that would otherwise obliterate you and steal some good loot at level 5. Nope, you must wait until you are at the approved level before you can have a big boy sword. What?... Level 5? It's a Steel Shortsword for you! In Morrowind I knew places where you could get a piece of the best armor or a great weapon before you even hit level 3! It just took some exploring and lots of saving and retrying. The developers tried to remedy this by making every dungeon in Oblivion regenerate every now and then. That means that if you explored it at level 5 you can still get good stuff from it at level 20. This was a simple remedy and not a solution. In Morrowind and Fallout 3 this feature isn't needed because there is more than enough content to keep people happy. In both Morrowind and Fallout 3 there are areas where you just can't go until you attain a higher level. In Morrowind you couldn't really even start the main quest until you were level 3-5 because the first mission was so hard.

Fallout 3 has everything that Morrowind had and Oblivion had (what little it did have) that was good and added even more. The fighting plays like an RPG-FPS hybrid and the main quest line is amazing. There are points in the story and in side quests were I really had to think about what to do because there were so many ways to do it. Another great thing included in Fallout 3 is Karma. Everything you do in the game affects your karma level, whether you choose to be good, evil, or somewhere in between. I usually like to go the path of the rogue turned saint but there are many characters to be made and developed. Fallout 3 is a definite must play for anyone into the action-RPG genre and even for anyone who is a fan of good games in general. Just a warning though, Fallout 3 is not, in any way whatsoever, a family game. Blood, gore, and plenty of exploding heads and dismemberment may make this game fun and funny for some, but horrifying and mentally scarring to others. So please, do not let anyone who is under the age of, I'd say, 16 play this game. It is not intended for children and should not be played by children. That is what the rating system is for, look at it before you buy it.

All pictures from http://www.ign.com/