Coming in the New Year...
- My Fallout 3 Review...finally?
- Kitsune's Fable II Review.
- Prince of Persia Review
- EndWar Review
- Call of Duty: World at War Review
- Rock Band 2 Review
- Left 4 Dead Review
- Mirrors Edge Review
- Podcasts...FINALLY!
- Additions to the VGToday Crew
- And everything else we always post (News, Previews, Videos, etc.)
The VGToday Crew
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Happy New Year!
Us at VGToday just wanted to wish you all a Happy New Year. We also have a special report from a Private Investigator finally proving how the Xbox 360 copied the Playstation 3! Click to view the rest of the post to see it!
Enjoy!
The VGToday Crew
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Free Limited Editons
Participating Gamestops have now made all Limited Editions of games released before December 25th the normal price of $59.99. Limited Editions used to cost 10$ more than the normal game. Below are some great ideas for limited editions!
- Fallout 3 Limited Edition ($59.99 at Gamestop): Basically, a lunchbox with lots of neat collectibles in it. Including and awesome Bobblehead.
- Prince of Persia Limited Edition ($59.99 at Gamestop): Has the full soundtrack included, a Prima Strategy Guide, "Making of" videos, and much more.
Enjoy!
The VGToday Crew
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Guitar Hero: World Tour Review
The game is principally the same as it has been in past iterations of the series. You have the choice to play a career mode, quickplay, or multiplayer online. Though this time you are able to create your own ‘rocker’. I’ll discuss that further down.
If you happen to be one of those people who live under rocks, you may be wondering what these games are, and how to play them. Basically games like Guitar Hero, and Rock Band are games that allow you to ‘rock out’ even when you have no true musical skills. The guitars work by pressing and holding down the colored ‘fret’ buttons, and strumming at the correct time. The drums work by pounding on the correct color coded pad at the correct time, and the mic works by screeching into it.
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This guy thinks he's cool...
*Beginner: The easiest mode ever created. All you have to do is play your instrument the same time the multicolored line passes the strike line. On the guitar and bass you strum, you don’t even have to use the fret buttons. On drum you hit any of the pads, or the foot pedal. Recommended for anyone not able to walk and chew gum at the same time.
*Easy: This mode is easy, hence the name, but still requires a basic sense of rhythm, and hand-eye coordination. When playing either of the guitars, requires you to use the first three fret buttons. On drum it uses the pads, and every so often it may have a single foot-pedal for you to press. Recommended for those who consider themselves ‘casual gamers’.
*Medium: The best stage to start on if you already have the ability to follow things on a screen, and understand how the game works. The most balanced difficulty in the game not too easy, and not to hard. Just, right. Introduces the blue button on guitars, and adds the kick petal and more notes on drums. Recommended for normal gamers.
*Hard: Hard is well…hard. It introduces the orange fret button for the guitars, and just makes the drums a lot harder. Recommended for those who are tired of Medium.
*Expert: This is the hardest difficulty, and adds in the ‘Open Note’ for the Bass. Open Notes are notes you don’t have to hold down a fret button for, you just strum. The drums are 1:1 to real drummers, and the guitar is just harder to play. Recommended for those who have gotten the hang of Hard.
* Guitar: The guitar is of a decent weight, not heavy, but weighs enough for power strumming. The fret buttons feel nice and are evenly spaced out. The slider bar is a little too close to the fret buttons, so you may find your hand slipping down sometimes and ruining a note spree. The guitar comes with a Sunburst face plate, and two AA batteries. The battery life of the guitar is superb. I’ve had the game for like 2 weeks now, and have yet to need to change them.
* Drums: They are a definite improvement over the rock band drums. It takes around 5-10 minutes to assemble them the first time, and with my set, every pad and cymbal worked like a charm. The kick Pedal doesn’t even move while playing.
* Mic: It’s a Logitech USB microphone…not much to say about it. Oh, it says Guitar Hero on it…
The game features a “Create a Rocker” feature. It goes very in-depth with being able to change everything from skin color, to eyes, to creating your own tattoos, and make your own guitar.
* Face Off: Two players compete in a guitar, bass, drum or vocal match, while alternating play on the same not chart. Each player can play on a different difficulty.
* Pro Face Off: Two players play on the same full chart, and choose their own difficulty.
* Band Quickplay: When on LIVE you connect with other players to play in a online 'band'.
* Band VS Band: You and three other people play against another band, the band with the highest score wins.
Some times it takes awhile to get matched up with people online, and that's annoying when you just want to playEnjoy!
The VGToday Crew
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Guitar Hero: World Tour Songlist
Here is the full song list for Guitar Hero: World Tour. To view the entire post please click to read the rest of the post at the bottom. If anything is missing, please leave us a comment and we will promptly add it in.
1. 311 - "Beautiful Disaster"
2. 30 Seconds To Mars - "The Kill"
3. Airbourne - "Too Much Too Young"
4. The Allman Brothers Band - "Ramblin' Man"
5. Anouk - "Good God"
6. The Answer - "Never Too Late"
7. At The Drive-In - "One Armed Scissor"
8. Beastie Boys - "No Sleep Till Brooklyn"
9. Beatsteaks - "Hail to the Freaks"
10. Billy Idol - "Rebel Yell"
11. Black Label Society - "Stillborn"
12. Black Rebel Motorcycle Club - "Weapon of Choice"
13. Blink-182 - "Dammit"
14. Blondie - "One Way or Another"
15. Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band - "Hollywood Nights"
16. Bon Jovi - "Livin' On A Prayer"
17. Bullet For My Valentine - "Scream Aim Fire"
18. Coldplay - "Shiver"
19. Creedence Clearwater Revival - "Up Around The Bend"
20. The Cult - "Love Removal Machine"
21. Dinosaur Jr. - "Feel The Pain"
22. The Doors - "Love Me Two Times"
23. Dream Theater - "Pull Me Under"
24. The Eagles - "Hotel California"
25. The Enemy - "Aggro"
26. Filter - "Hey Man, Nice Shot"
27. Fleetwood Mac - "Go Your Own Way"
28. Foo Fighters - "Everlong"
29. The Guess Who - "American Woman"
30. Hush Puppies - "You're Gonna Say Yeah!"
31. Interpol - "Obstacle 1"
32. Jane's Addiction - "Mountain Song"
33. Jimi Hendrix - "Purple Haze (Live)"
34. Jimi Hendrix - "The Wind Cries Mary"
35. Jimmy Eat World - "The Middle"
36. Joe Satriani - "Satch Boogie"
37. Kent - "Vinternoll2"
38. Korn - "Freak On A Leash"
39. Lacuna Coil - "Our Truth"
40. Lenny Kravitz - "Are You Gonna Go My Way"
41. Linkin Park - "What I've Done"
42. The Living End - "Prisoner of Society"
43. Los Lobos - "La Bamba"
44. Lost Prophets - "Rooftops (A Liberation Broadcast)"
45. Lynyrd Skynyrd - "Sweet Home Alabama (Live)"
46. Mars Volta - "L'Via L'Viaquez"
47. MC5's Wayne Kramer - "Kick Out The Jams"
48. Metallica - "Trapped Under Ice"
49. Michael Jackson - "Beat It"
50. Modest Mouse - "Float On"
51. Motorhead - "Overkill"
52. Muse - "Assassin"
53. Negramaro - "Nuvole e Lenzuola"
54. Nirvana - "About a Girl (Unplugged)"
55. No Doubt - "Spiderwebs"
56. NOFX - "Soul Doubt"
57. Oasis - "Some Might Say"
58. Ozzy Osbourne - "Crazy Train"
59. Ozzy Osbourne - "Mr. Crowley"
60. Paramore - "Misery Business"
61. Pat Benatar - "Heartbreaker"
62. R.E.M. - "The One I Love"
63. Radio Futura - "Escuela De Calor"
64. Rise Against - "Re-Education Through Labor"
65. Sex Pistols - "Pretty Vacant"
66. Silversun Pickups - "Lazy Eye"
67. Smashing Pumpkins - "Today"
68. Steely Dan - "Do It Again"
69. Steve Miller Band - "The Joker"
70. Sting - "Demolition Man (Live)"
71. The Stone Roses - "Love Spreads"
72. Stuck In The Sound - "Toy Boy"
73. Sublime - "Santeria"
74. Survivor - "Eye of the Tiger"
75. System of a Down - "B.Y.O.B."
76. Ted Nugent - "Stranglehold"
77. Ted Nugent's Original Guitar Duel Recording
78. Tokio Hotel - "Monsoon"
79. Tool - "Parabola"
80. Tool - "Schism"
81. Tool - "Vicarious"
82. Trust - "Antisocial"
83. Van Halen - "Hot For Teacher"
84. Willie Nelson - "On The Road Again"
85. Wings - "Band on the Run"
86. Zakk Wylde - "Original Guitar Duel Recording"
Enjoy!
The VGToday Crew
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Soulja Boy Makes Gears 2 Montage...Wait, What!?
You heard it right, Soulja Boy has created a Gears of War 2 montage that was posted on his official youtube channel. Whether or not this is really "Soulja Boy" playing, is yet to be confirmed. If you are interested in seeing your "favorite" hip-hop artist playing Gears 2, be sure to watch the above video.
Enjoy!
The VGToday Crew
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Left 4 Dead DLC Coming Soon
Enjoy!
The VGToday Crew
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My Games of the Year
The year of 2008 is finally coming to a close, after a great year of gaming. Many great franchises have gotten their anticipated sequels, and some good, new IP has arisen. As most other gaming websites do, I'd like to present you with my personal Game of the Year picks. Note, these are my opinions, not VGToday as a whole. Kitsune will be posting his shortly. Now, without further adieu...
Age of Booty
Runner Up: Braid
Did he really...? Yes, I did. Braid did not win my top spot, as popular opinion has expected in most game of the year lists. The reason Age of Booty won was because it was actually fun, and complex enough to keep my attention past an hour or so (The problem with most XBLA titles). Braid was nice, "artsy", innovative, etc. But was it really fun? Did it pull you back to play time and time again? If you said no, then you're right. If you said yes, then just stop reading. In all seriousness, Braid is highly overrated due to its reliance of pulling users in by its art and innovation, rather than actual longevitable fun.
Best Studio
Valve Software
Runner Up: Bethesda Softworks
Valve gets the award for its game Left 4 Dead. Left 4 Dead, in my opinion, is one of the first games to actually make co-op, cooperative. Many games add co-op, but players normally do not stick together and just do their own thing. In Left 4 Dead, especially in the higher levels, players must stick together or the innovative AI Director will pick off the survivors, one by one. The AI Director is another reason for Valve's winning here. The Director makes the game fresh each play through, and challenges you. If it sees you surviving too easy, you will soon hear the noise signaling the dreaded Tank, or other special infected.
Biggest Letdown
Fable II
Runner Up: Fallout's Ending
What can I say except that this game has the typical Peter Molyneux problem. Too many promises, too little follow throughs. Molyneux once again promised that Fable II would be the hit game of the year, improving upon everything in Fable I. It fixed alot, but did not really "improve". The game still, to this date, has many game breaking bugs. Some include falling out of the map when jumping over certain objects. One major problem is the lack of main storyline, and the story it does have is "been there, done that". As for Fallout 3, when, and if, you reach the very end...you will understand why this made the list.
Best RPG
Fallout 3
Runner Up: Fable II
Fallout makes Best RPG of 2008 for obvious reasons. Some people call it "Oblivion with guns", I call it "Oblivion with guns, zombies, nukes, mutants, drinking out of toilets, etc." Fallout 3 is truly a landmark in RPGs, reaching to the ranks of such RPG giants as Final Fantasy. Fallout 3 does nearly everything right...except it's ending. Fable II was also fun to play, but did not make number one due to its lacking story and some gameplay elements that make it unenjoyable.
Best Shooter
Left 4 Dead
Runner Up: Gears of War 2
Left 4 Dead gets the rank of best shooter because of what I said above (See "Best Studio"). Gears of War 2 is held back from the number one for reasons I have already posted about. You can read the article here: Click Here. Since my picks have been mostly explained, that is all I am going to say for this section.
Best Strategy
Civilization Revolution
Runner Up: Age of Booty
It seems so long ago, when the big games coming out were Civilization Revolution and Battlefield: Bad Company. Not to be forgotten is Sid Meier's Civilization Revolution, the (by far) best strategy game of the year. Many people doubted whether a Turn Based Strategy could work on a console. CivRev proved everyone wrong, it worked magnificently. The game has numerous civilizations to play as, and keeps you coming back for more and more. In fact, I am planning on putting this disc in later in the week.
Game of the Year
Left 4 Dead
Runner Up: Fallout 3
Left 4 Dead received this title for obvious reasons that I have previously stated in this post. It is fun, innovative, has great longevity, great cooperative play, and much more. I was going to make my GotY Fallout 3, and the runner up be Gears of War 2, but I finally put my Left 4 Dead disc in, and was "wowed". This is quite possibly the game of the past few years. If you have an Xbox 360, or a decent PC, and do not have this game you should not consider yourself a gamer until you play it. This is a must play title. Fallout 3 really missed the mark for me after I saw the ending, it was horrible, compared the Left 4 Dead's near flawlessness.
Notice that I missed Best Fighting Games, Action/Adventure, etc? Well, the titles in those category I have most likely not played, so it was not fair for me to judge a whole category if I only played one or two of the titles within it. Hopefully you will see the categories you missed in Kistune's GotY picks. Hope you enjoyed by insight, AND GO BUY LEFT 4 DEAD!!
Enjoy!
The VGToday Crew
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You Just got GearsRoll'd
Even though this is merely an internet prank, I thought it to be funny enough to post it for everyone to see...and get GearsRoll'd at. Be sure to spread it around.
Enjoy!
The VGToday Crew
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Xbox Live Nation
Xbox Live Nation is a new community website for Xbox 360, and Xbox Live. The site focuses on bringing the community closer together by "creating Xbox Live related programming standards, research on innovating community services, beta testing applications and services, and promoting xbox live community."
Xbox Live Nation is a site aimed at creating Xbox Live related programming standards, research on innovating community services, beta testing applications and services, and promoting xbox live community.
Xbox Live Nation is a joined project of several Xbox.com Community Developers in order to build the ultimate Xbox Live embedded services for the Community.
Link: http://www.xboxlivenation.com
Enjoy!
The VGToday Crew
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5 Reasons Why NOT to get Gears 2
- Leavers/Long Matchmaking Times: The multiplayer in Gears 2 is broken, as most people are aware. It takes a long while to find a game without a full party of five people, even then, on some playlists it takes a long time with the party. If you can get past the wait, then you get to the real problem with this matchmaking system. In contrast to popular opinion, I like the Halo-esque matchmaking for Gears, and the voting makes good variation in gametypes and maps. In Gears 1 you only ever saw Warzone on Gridlock, now it is randomly voted on. The real problem though is if someone leaves the game. Epic tried to stop people from leaving games by making no "Quit" button in the start menu. This is easily overcome by going to the dashboard, or just turning off your xbox. Unlike games like Call of Duty, when you lose a player on your team...a new player that is matchmaking CANNOT jump into the game in progress. This effectively makes games broken if someone leaves, and increases Matchmaking times. Epic seems to think that the matchmaking is a bug in the coding or networking, it is not. I have come to the conclusion that the wait times happen because people cannot jump into games in progress. Most of the time, when playing a CoD Series game, you will get in a game in progress rather than a brand new one. This makes the load extremely short. Maybe Epic should learn from CoD.
- Laziness From Epic: As seen in Gears 1, Epic never cares about fixing major game breaking bugs as long as they rake in some "hard earned" cash. Epic is all about profit, as seen from the map packs...but I'll talk about that later down this post. An example is that in Gears 1, "crab-walking" was never fixed. This was a glitch where a user could run and shoot at the same time, effectively breaking the multiplayer experience. In Gears 2, it has similar issues. I will not go into great detail in this section, so I'll give one example. The shield glitch is my example for today. The shield glitch is where a user can pick up the shield and hold his shot gun at the same time. Normally, you can only have a pistol out with your shield, making the shield fair. With a shotgun, you can see how the game become broken. Do not get me wrong, I know all games have bugs and glitches when released, but it is inexcusable when the game has GAME BREAKING glitches/bugs. And if there is a game breaking bug, it should be fixed promptly by the developer. Many people say to give Epic time, but we did that with the crab walking, but it is still there.
- Lack of Playtesting: This expands on the laziness of Epic, and/or shows that Microsoft makes developers rush products out...as we all know they do. Over the past week numerous problems have arisen that SHOULD have been seen and fixed during playtesting. One of these things has to do with walls having no density. On most walls in multiplayer matches, if they are relatively thin, you can melee right through them at an enemy on the other side of the wall. (Here is the link to the video) I am not going to go on, and on, about this topic since the video clearly conveys my point.
- Lag Switching: This is probably the single, largest problem with the multiplayer aspect of the game. In case none of you know what this is, it is when someone turns their modem on Standby and everyone in the game lags, except the person on standby. Effectively making them win the game 9 times out of 10. This has happened numerous time to me when playing RANKED matches, where my stats count. This gets me irritated, how can Epic ignore such a HUGE problem? This should also have been known about in playtesting, or fixed immediatly after release. It is breaking the online experience, and makes me want to sell my game back for something that I know is quality. Let's just hope Microsoft jumps on the banhammer for these cheaters, and be sure to file a complaint for "System Tempering" if a lag switching occurs to you.
- All the Little Things:
- Host Advantage: Epic said it was fixed from Gears 1, they lied. Host advantage is not as profound in Gears 2 due to the new matchmaking system...but it still exists. The problem mainly occurs when you shoot someone at the same time, or a little bit before or after.
- Chainsaw: Before someone comes and complains that get killed by the chainsaw alot, and I'm just complaining...well, I am. The chainsaw is utterly ridiculous in this game. In Gears 1 I had NO problem getting killed by the "noob" one hit kill weapons, because I had a chance to stop it! In Gears 2, I have unloaded nearly 4 shotgun blasts into the target and he still walks right up to me and chainsaws.
- Chainsaw Lunges: When did the chainsaw become the Energy Sword Epic? Now, when in multiplayer matches, if you are within a foot or two of a chainsaw, the player revving his chainsaw will literally "lunge" at you and kill you. For a better example, think of the Halo 3 Energy Sword. A player can lunge at an enemy with the sword to kill him from a fair distance away, this should NOT happen with the chainsaw. This makes it so you cannot dive or run away from the chainsaw.
- Alot of other stuff: Frankly, I'm tired of talking about Gears 2 right now. I know there is alot more stuff to talk about, but I am done. Do not get me wrong, Gears 2 is a fun game and I have logged in over 30 hours playtime in the game. Sometimes the game just makes me want to sell it back, because some of these faults are inexcusable...and should NOT have been released with the game. Shame on Epic.
Enjoy!
The VGToday Crew
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Cliffy B Must Be Crying About Now...
Epic Game's latest blockbuster release Gears of War 2 only held it's grip on the number one seat of the xbox live charts for a short while. It has now fallen down to the number four seat. Halo 3 is back to the number one, followed by CoD:WaW and CoD4...then Gears 2. This also means even slower matchmaking for the Gears folks. Hopefully those Christmas Sales will boost Cliffy B's confidence again, and ours!
Enjoy!
The VGToday Crew
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Rare Increased Text Size for Banjo
Rare has finally released a patch that has increased the size of the font that appears through the game. Before, the text was not large enough to be read clearly, or atleast without squinting. Although Rare said the text would not be fixed, I guess they changed their minds.
Good news for BK-N&B fans.
Enjoy!
The VGToday Crew
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Gears of War 2 "Combustion Map Pack"
Enjoy!
The VGToday Crew
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Team Fortress 2 Updates
That's right! After waiting for forever the 360 version of Team Fortress 2 will finally be getting some much needed attention.
Valve has finally announced that the maps, class upgrades, and new levels that were released in the PC version will be coming soon. Finally a reason to pick this game up again!
Enjoy!
The VGToday Crew
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Search Club Live Prizes Back!
Microsoft's Search Club Live has now returned it's high priced prizes to the collection with only a small number of them having the "Limited Time!" tag below them. Previously this year, as we reported, LSC removed all prized above the 5001+ ticket mark, and some below it as well. Some of the removed prizes included the Xbox 360 controllers, the Xbox 360 console, Windows Vista Home, Microsoft Office Premium, and many Xbox 360 titles. Most, and some new ones, have returned to club live's prize mall. For how long? Microsoft has not reported how long these prizes will remain up, or why they were even removed in the first place. The best bets for why they were removed was known fraudulent activity by a larger population of users, and/or they ran out of stock due to the Holiday's.
So hurry and get those tickets, we do not know how long the prizes will last!
Enjoy!
The VGToday Crew
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Star Ocean :The Last Hope Multi-Disc
The game hits store shelves March 3, across 3 discs. Hopefully they do a better job packaging the game than they did with Lost Odyssey. That game came with the worst packaging ever.
On the left is how the game shipped. On the right is how it should have shipped. Hopefully Microsoft doesn't make the same mistake twice.
Enjoy!
The VGToday Crew
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Resident Evil 5 Demo
The Resident Evil 5 Demo is available right now! In Japan that is...if you're not living in japan, don't fret. You can still get your hands on the Demo.
All you have to do is download the five files on this site, install each piece into the same folder, extract the files, and burn them to a disc. Place disc into you system and have fun killing zombies!
For those who hate paragraphs, here's a list:
- Download files to a folder.
- Open one and extract all files.
- Burn extracted files to a CD or DVD. (May even be able to use a flash drive...haven't tried that yet.)
- Place in 360.
- Go to your Demos and it should appear.
- Have fun.
- Leave a comment.
Enjoy!
The VGToday Crew
Disclosure: Video Games Today, and it's staff, are not responsible for any illegal activity committed due to reading any, and all, articles on Video Games Today. This post is NOT promoting illegal activity, this post is for educational purposes and we, the staff of Video Games Today, do not intend readers to use this post for any other uses than educational.
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Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (CoD:6)
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 has been announced and is expected for release in Fall 2009. This game will be developed by Infinity Ward and published by Activision, as usual. Infinity Ward has stated they have no intentions to ever return to WWII, anytime soon, if at all. No word from Treyarch, but it seems we will be on a Modern-WWII yearly rotation from now on. I personally cannot wait for my modern guns again, and a great single player! Wait, did I say that out loud?
Source: http://multiplayerblog.mtv.com/2008/12/03/activision-announces-guitar-hero-5-new-tony-hawk-call-of-duty-modern-warfare-2-more-at-in-game-ad-conference/
Enjoy!
The VGToday Crew
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Avatar "Pack" Released
The new avatar "pack" for the Xbox 360 has been released for free via Xbox Live. You cannot really call it a "pack", as there is only a hat, gloves, jacket, and boots. Microsoft says there will be more avatar clothing releases soon for free. It is unknown if Microsoft will start charging for avatar clothing packs after a few intial releases. Major Nelson says that they hope to double the amount of avatar clothing choices within 6 months, as to price...we do not know.
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Coming This Week...
- Fallout 3 Review for the Xbox 360
- Fable II Review for the Xbox 360
- Latest News
- Best Selling Games During the Holiday
- Podcast Episode 1
- We are looking for more writers! Email us at lavathing@rochester.rr.com with the Subject Line "VGToday Application".
Enjoy!
The VGToday Crew
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Banj-Kazooie Hits the XBLA...Finally
Banjo-Kazooie for the Xbox Live Arcade has finally been released today! After two delays of nearly three weeks, the game has hit the XBLA. The game is priced at it's expected 1200 Microsoft Point($15.00 USD) tag. The game features new, updated graphics, HDTV support, easier control scheme, and possible future DLC for the title. Note, this is NOT a new Banjo-Kazooie title, it is the original 1998 title that was previously on the Nintendo 64. There are no additional story elements or missions added to this version, and there is not any expected or announced by Rare. We have already downloaded our copy and will have the review up for this game this weekend.
Enjoy!
The VGToday Crew
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Saints Row 2 Review
When people think of open-world games the first game people think of is GTA. I mean why not? It's a great game series that sells very well. And as with any media that does well, there WILL be those who copy it. And in the case of Saints Row 2, that may not be such a bad thing.
The game begins very simply. After the events of the first game, (You take over the city as a gang member of the purple clad Saints, and then you explode on a boat...yep the first game had a horrible ending) you awake after being in a 10 year coma. The catch is...you're in prison. The game says that you were horribly scarred in the explosion from the first game, and that your body was rebuilt using plastic surgery. This is where you create your own character with the best character creator seen in any game yet.
The possibilities are endless. A 6'2 man with a muscular build, the face of Michael Jackson, sounds like Britney Spears, and walks like a pimp. Seriously, it can even get that weird. I decided to recreate Pvt. Agustus Cole*Train* from the Gears Of War series.
Once you finally get control you escape from prison, and the bulk of the game begins.
Gameplay
Saints Row 2 uses a generic third-person camera, while it isn't anything new, it gets the job done, most of the time. You go through the game much the same way as you do in GTA games. Drive around the world doing missions for different people in your conquest to retake the city, and build up your gang, and protect your turf. Between missions the game forces you to do some side missions to unlock "Respect Points." This annoyed me more than anything, if you want to just do a quick play through the main missions; Too bad, you can't. The side missions go from fun to just plain stupid. One of them has you being a bodyguard to some celebrity or random guy/girl. While people run at them with weapons, and you have to defend them. While it may not be "fun" it's not long, so just do a few rounds of an activity and get some RP so you can play a few missions in a row. The main missions themselves are alot of "Go here", "Kill this guy", "Break this", "Protect this", and "Blow this up", but they're different enough to keep from getting boring.
There are tons of vehicles in the game. Cars, Trucks, Vans, Helicopters, Planes, Motorcycles, and they all are easy to drive. They aren't ultra heavy like the ones in GTA, and the damage isn't as detailed as Burnout, but it still looks and feels decent.
Story
Not much I can really say about the story. It's about the equivalent of a TV movie, not bad, and not good...just enough to keep you interested without being overly engrossed in the story. The city has changed alot since the first game, but there are still some familiar places. The voice acting is good, and the jokes will make you laugh.
Multiplayer
The game sports 2 multiplayer modes. Versus, and Co-Op. Versus is fun. Fun but I couldn't see myself playing it over all the other games I have. The Co-Op is the best part of the multiplayer. Being able to play the whole game Co-Op at any time, with two completely different character, and the game even scales the amount of enemies to keep the game from being too easy due to the added fire power. Unfortunately the Co-Op only works on Xbox Live, no splitscreen play.
Final Verdict
The game is a definite buy for those who liked GTA: San Andreas, those who bought GTA:IV who though it was too serious, people who laugh at poop jokes, and anyone who wants to take over Stillwater again. For the rest of us, it's a rent.
Enjoy!
The VGToday Crew
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