Verdict so far:

Verdict Reason: Not really much to the game, but the world is big.

Status:

Current: Restarted Single player cause of a massive save game bug after joining some faction.
Intention: To experience any cool moments... Have yet to experience any.
Hours Played: 10

Summary:

Likes:

Dislikes:

Keymapping
Just like BFBC2 they have multiple "styles" of playing the game, on the ground, in a vehicle, or aircraft. However, the biggest flaw with their setup, besides having to rebind everything per "style" is that the game doesn't know when certain keys are already used in another "style." For example, if I bind a key to parachute for a car, but want that to be my pull up on my aircraft it does know this and complains about it... So, I ended up just using my 360 controller when I fly (only). Which, the 360 controller integration is amazingly good, probably a simple feature, but it seamlessly picks up my 360 controller input, then when I use the mouse it goes back to using keyboard+mouse setup. Just like in Batman Arkham Asylum.

Savegame Bug
I apparently ran into an issue where I did the first mission with the Ular faction, but at the end I had to go to bed thinking it'd be alright because it just saved... I guess I was wrong... When I started it back up the next day I thought I'd continue, I spawned in, and saw on my map the Stronghold where I was, so I went there and had to fight everyone again? So I thought... But basically I had to fight the "general respawners" that are there once you leave that particular zone... So since there was no objective text as to what to do next I decided I would capture that stronghold. Unfortunately I was unable to, couldn't find/blow up the last 2 things. Eventually I gave up and thought it'd be cool to just join another faction, however I didn't know how. There was nothing on my PDA, no icons, no objectives. So I thought, "hmm, that's strange, maybe I just need to work my way up." So I decided to go capture areas--cities--or whatever. After about 3 days (~4 hours) of this and still nothing, no objectives, no icons, nothing... I decided well maybe I ran into a bug. So I restarted the game, watched the lame unskippable cut-scenes all over again. Decided to pay attention to some dialogue and saw there were 3 factions I could join. Went to the Reapers this time and made sure I finished the first mission without quiting too soon, then saved everything and now I got objectives, I mean icons on the PDA. Objective text to help guide me is too difficult.

WTF:

Verdict so far:

Verdict Reason: Really poor game overall... Design to extreme amount of Bugs.

Status:

Current: Completed Singleplayer... Done playing this poor unfun game.
Intention: UNINSTALLED!
Hours Played: 8

Summary:

Unfortunately this is not my favorite Battlefield, in fact it's my least favorite. Battlefield 2 BLOWS this version away... Overall, the game feels incomplete and could use about another year of development time.

Single Player
The Singleplayer campaign is a Design mess with all ideas straight ripped from the COD franchise. It's quite embarrassing to play a game that has the same exact scenarios or moments as another you played previously. I mean, don't get me wrong, there's no such thing as a original idea, but when you take a concept from another game, at least put your own twist or "flava" on it. So to top it off with horrible design and copy-cat content the game has an enormous amount of bugs, which almost prevented me from completing the Singleplayer campaign. Everything from "completing the objective only to restart from previous checkpoint" to "awesome random crashes" happens to frequent and is just another EA top-notch disappointment.

Multiplayer
First I must mention, this game's claim to fame is the hybrid of dedicated servers, match making and friends list all rolled into the same UI. But... As classic EA would have it, all of the features either broken or are not how you should design and execute a feature. The UI is the slowest UI system I've seen in a game... Even slower than the NHL 10 for the Xbox 360. The UI connects to EA's awesome servers and updates everything... Only you get to see the spinning busy icon for at least 20-30 seconds before even able to search for a browser. Now... I have yet to use the match-making feature since everyone who has talked to me about said it's broken. So, I went to the heart, where all hardcore gamers are going to search for their server, the server browser... After clicking "Server Browser" I get the spinning busy icon again, but this time it can last for much longer than 5 minutes!!! 5 minutes? you ask... Yes!!! In fact, I hit "Cancel" so it doesn't fetch the entire server list, and just gives me what he has fetched. Granted the Server Browser takes an additional 10 seconds to display the list after you hit cancel. Sweet, so now I have my list... I have a friend on the east coast playing on a specific server, which he tells me the partial name so I can easily look for it in the sorted list. But then I see to the right of the server list a "Filter Search." I thought, sweet, I can use this to help narrow down my server list. But to my great surprise (I don't think I was that surprised) the "name search" is not a substring search, it's a full-string search!? WTF!? Are you kidding me!? How the hell is that going to help ANYONE!? It's probably case sensitive too! So after failing to search (don't forget, it takes minutes to refresh OR search through the servers) I decided to sort and painstakingly go through each server looking for the exact server name. My friend also said he couldn't find the server name in-game anywhere so I was hunting. Without finding it for 5 minutes I decided to use the Friends system they have built-in... "Oh yea, that will be the shit! Should've done this sooner." So I added him to my Friends List, he added me... But neither of us got a confirmation or message about it... Oh yea... That's right kiddies, the Friends List feature doesn't even fucking work!!! OMGBBQSAUCE!

So, to recap the insanely long story above, the best feature that could out-show COD does not work... AT ALL!

Overally, the Multiplayer is slightly better than the Singleplayer which encourages teamwork if you have a team that knows how to play. Most of the time it's a lopsided battle where one team just gets rolled... However, I have had a couple rounds where it's really close and feels like you will win and sometimes do. Unfortunately the Multiplayer experience is plagued with an extremely slow Menu system to find servers and lots and lots and LOTS of bugs. Including unable to join a server you were just on, or if you refresh the server list too much it crashes. And to top off the frustrations, it takes forever to gain XP if you don't know how to. Great for end-users... <-That's sarcasm.

Likes:

Overall:

Sounds
This is the best feature in the game by far... The sound processing and immersion of the sound ambiance is spot on, or at least different and has their own direction which fits the game.

Single Player:

Overall Experience
Waste of time.

Multiplayer:

Mortars
So far the most fun (which is not very high) is calling in the Mortars as a Recon person... Helps defense when you're limited to slow bolt action Rifles.

Dislikes:

Ripped off Moments

Mile-high club from COD4 But it's extremely jarring (round a L turn-gun goes away-shoot guy with hostage-in slowmo)... I also ran into a bug on this, I shot the dude holding the hostage ran next to him cause the guy was super slow and it restarted me from my last checkpoint... C'mon EA! BUGZ!

...There are at least a handful more that I don't care to remember right now...

Keymapping
After 6 or whatever amount of years it's been since Battlefield 1942 came out they still have yet to develop a UI that intuitively manages the binds... They still go with a the same clunky "must bind everything independently," meaning, you have to bind all of the keys each time, for infantry/vehicle/aircraft, if you don't use the standard WASD controls. By now you'd think they have it so it auto-binds the commands that are the same for each style. But no... That's too intuitive.

Crashed a few times
A few times in the MP UI and a couple times while playing SP.

WTF:

WTF OMG BLOOM!
Only the PC some producer douche-bag (more than likely) thought it'd be awesome if they pump up the bloom without a Bloom setting in the options! And when you're looking through a sniper scope it increases the bloom even MORE! Luckily I know how to edit .ini files. I found the settings.ini (forgot the actual filename cause I uninstalled this game already), but near the root of the BFBC2 install directory there's an .ini file that you can edit. Open that up and look for bloom and change the value to false or 0. Made my MP experience a lot better... Game still sucks though.

Menus
Why the fuck are they so slow!?!?!?! Argh! EA had more than 70 people working on the PC version alone (so they claim) and the menus are balls!

Verdict so far:

Verdict Reason: Super high quality game.

Status:

Current: Still playing
Intention: To Complete the game
Hours Played: 6

Summary:

Likes:

Characters - Probably the best in-game characters I've seen. Some say the characters look too "plasticy" but I don't think so, at least not on the PC version of the game. I feel that the characters in Mass Effect 2 look plasticy as well as other games, but not in Batman.

Environments - Are pretty impressive,

Story - I'm pretty immersed in the story, I don't feel that it's too far fetched in the Batman Universe, but then again I'm not a Batman or DC follower.

Surprised - Originally I thought the game was going to be a typical Double-Dragon type where you fight in small levels (aka arenas) and move go onto the next. But I was surprised to find out that you actually move through a pretty big environment that is an entire Island, which streams each area.

Dislikes:

WTF:

Verdict so far:

Verdict Reason: Too many design/gameplay mistakes. Also too much like FEAR.

Status:

Current: Still playing
Intention: To Complete the game
Hours Played: 5, 0 MP (Finished Marine Story, working on Alien)

Summary:

I am such a huge fan of AVP1, not so much AVP2, in fact I never played AVP2 cause it was made by Monolith and I'm pretty much a "hater" of their tech ever since NOLF. But this new revision of AVP by Rebellion I was looking forward to. Unfortunately for me my expectations were too high and I sad to say that my experience so far has been non enjoyable, to say the least.

Likes:

Dislikes:

Marines are horrible - The strongest story/gameplay in the original AVP were the Marines. But in this AVP the Marines are the worst part of the game. The

Marine Story -

Control Setup -

Too much like FEAR -

Full body Clumsiness -

No Crouch -

WTF:

Fire FX -

]]> http://miked.devsongames.com/?feed=rss2&p=327 0 http://miked.devsongames.com/?p=249 http://miked.devsongames.com/?p=249#comments Mon, 01 Feb 2010 01:20:55 +0000 MikeD http://miked.devsongames.com/?p=249

Verdict so far:

Verdict Reason: Overall Experience is enjoyable.

Status:

Current: Still playing
Intention: To Complete the game
Hours Played: 15

Summary:

If you know me, then you know I am not a RPG player at all! In fact you'd say I hate them, which is surprising I'm playing Mass Effect 2 (for more than a couple hours even). When I first started playing I was hating it... 2 main reasons, there is an ungodly amount of talking (I guess it's expected in an RPG) and I chose the worst class to use, the Engineer. The Engineer sounds cool after reading the description but poor execution on the visuals and feedback of the combat drone made it a horrible experience. So I restarted and tried out the infiltrator, which is so much more fun. However that did not fix the talking, however the spacebar fixes that for me. Which skips the current said line. I may not know everything in tge story but I don't care. The turning point for me in the game, (basically the game was a Thumbs Down until this point) was when I got into my ship. For some reason it changed my perspective of an RPG to trying to be a badass in space with the best crew.

Likes:

Scale - The amount of content in this game is remarkable. There are several worlds you can go to all with a unique look. A good variety in character models and a bajillions of unique dialogue sequences. Not to mention how much "space" you travel through.

Dislikes:

Animation Issues - I am a stickler when it comes to animtion issues. For me it seems like one of the things needed to be spot on if you're going to have cinmatics and good combat. For example, FPS games should have very good animations as RTS do not need to be as clean due to the perspective if the camera. Anyway, Mass Effect 2's first big animation was when you speak with the illusive man for the first time and the camera was on a close-up shot of his grill while he took a puff of his cigarette. Issue was that his cigarette clipped through his chin. I practically busted up laughing, brought me out of any immersion I was in and laughed.

Then other anomalies started popping up including animation pops, my character was not even in the scene of a cinematic for like 20 seconds (the other character shook my invisible hand and then I came into scene), another cinematic showed a character snap into a sitting position -- hovering in mid air on his back -- then snap into the appropiate pose, and the most annoying of them all eyeball twitching in pretty much every cinematic. Makes the characters look like they are on drugs.

I personally do not think "well there are 1000s of animations in the game" -- BS! Each one should be just as good then! I can excuse the animation compression to a certain extent, but even that can be massaged. Plus, how the cinematic scenes are hooked up, they reuse a ton-load of animations so they can cut corners and not make everything unique. It's like a table driven system where it will pick random animations depending on what you press/say. The only things that look procedural are the lips and the eyes... The eyes, as expressed earlier are a FAIL. The lipsync is not bad, but not perfect either, at least it's close.

WTF:

Verdict so far:

Verdict Reason:This is so close to being a THUMBS Down, the Multiplayer experience is atrocious. But the Single Player is still fun...

Status:

Current: Still playing
Intention: To Complete the game
Hours Played: 20 (approximately)

Summary:

Every so often I look forward to a little fast paced sports. Hockey always provided this for me. However, this time around I was a little hesitant on getting NHL 10, cause I am a fan of 2k Sports more so than EA. After several reviews and videos I decided to go with NHL 10. I like the game overall. I had NHL 09, and I'd say NHL 09 is slightly better... Just slightly. But the "Be a Pro" mode has been upgraded in NHL 10 with extra features so it makes me want to play it more.

Likes:

Be a Pro mode - This mode has eaten up all of my time. I have yet to play a normal game cause of it.

Multiplayer - Is really fun, especially the Club Mode where you only play your PRO character and skill him up.

Puck Collision - It seems as if they really paid attention to the puck collision in this version, everything can tip the puck. I've even had a scoring shot blocked by the very end (not the blade -- the other end) of his stick.

Dislikes:

Multiplayer - I have played very very little of the "Be a Pro mode" (forgot the real name) online, but I can see getting hooked as you rank you up your character. However, they still have yet to put in a proper season online. Madden 10 has it, and it's a great start, I totally thought it'd be in this as well. Ugh, I guess next year?

Multiplayer lag - There seems to be a sluggish feel to MP. Almost a half-second delay between input and character response. Very aggravating. Single Player does not have this issue. Friends say they do not experience what I am experiencing so hopefully it's just something I can fix.

This is really getting annoying now... After about 3 weeks playing with multiplayer the LAG is really getting my frustrated, almost a game killer.

Too little XP rewarded - I am grinding through a "Be a Pro" mode season, trying to get my guy to the "next level" and after about 30+ games I am still considered a rookie. Each games gains about 10 XP per category (3 of em in all). With a character starting average of 75 I'm barely 82. EA probably wants you to use real money to pay for boosts.

FPS Fighting - Lame!!

Pay extra for boosts - Lamer!!

Announcer talk - Still not good enough. Too many repeats and slow on respond to the action, sometimes too much action therefore fading out the previous dialogue so it can try to start the next.

Menus - Slow as balls... I want quick no delay menu switching. EA still has yet to figure this out with any of their sport games. One thing to implement, if user is spamming button, do not play the "transition to next menu" thing. Not to mention that some menus require A or start but not both... Come on! Also bugged, some menus do not show what button to hit to get out of it... Oh wait, it's B!!

WTF:

Checking -

Verdict so far:

Summary:

I wanted a new set of surround sound headsets so I didn't have to lug my Tritton AX360 headsets back and forth from work. So for my birthday I got these and I have to say they are pretty sweet. My setup at home requires me to use headsets only since I don't want to disturb my son while he sleeps from my loud ass speakers. They are extremely light weight, lighter than the AX360's and have a better cup around the ear. The headsets are wireless, which is the best feature. Able to game without some tiny chord constantly moving around. The mic is pretty good, I've had some issues where my PC does not pick up my volume very well, but that's my on-board sound being dumb. However, you have to have the mic connect a wire from the headset to the 360 controller or PC (note the dislike about this). It also has a jack for normal stereo headsets in the front of the Headset Station, in case you want to share audio with dual headsets. Comes in handy, especially if the batteries die on the Headsets.

Check out the Spec on their website.

Likes:

Wireless - By far the best feature, wireless surround sound.

Comfort - Really light weight, I still cannot get over how light they are. They feel good around my ears. I'd imagine if you have big ears they'd get a big uncomfortable.

Quality - I was surprised by the quality of the sound. I have a pair of Bose (wired) headsets and I'd say it sounds more crisp than them!

Volume - No wire means not having to find that little gizmo connected to it just to adjust the volume... Nope, it's on your left ear. Easy to find, and easy to adjust.

Dislikes:

Batteries - It takes 2 AAA batteries, which feel like they go out just after 10 hours of use. Having to change the batteries every 4-5 days is a drag. I'm going to invest in some rechargeable batteries and see how that goes.

Only 1 Optic Input - I constantly switch between the PC and 360, and since this headset was primarily intended for the 360 it only has 1 input for Optic audio... So I constantly have to disconnect / reconnect the proper cable. I may invest in a Optic switch.

Popping - Yes, there is popping. More than likely due to interference with the 2.4GHz frequency than a hardware issue. I've read wireless routers can cause this, but I disabled my internet one day and I still got the popping. The good news is that it's not as frequent as some may say. I get it around 2 - 10 minutes, but it's still annoying.

Mic - Ok... this is probably the worst part about the headset. The design is not very robust. You connect a cable under the left ear which connects to your 360 Controller. However, if for whatever reason you drop your 360 controller, and since the cable connects under the left ear, it disconnects the mic cable from the headset. After awhile you get used to getting the cable back in without having to take off the headsets, but be prepared to take them off a few hundred times cause you cannot get the cable connected. Oh! Turtle Beach does have a "fix" for it. On their website (tech support) they have instructions, I think a PDF, which shows you how to hook up a rubber band (yes, a rubber band) to keep the mic cable connected. WTF!?

Now... For the PC, there's a whole other issue... The mic cable is a 2.5mm jack, like the ones used for the 360 controller or cell phone! Which means you will have to run to Radio Shack  and buy a 2.5mm female to 3.5mm male adapter. Of course Turtle Beach does not have a cable for this, cause they are LAME!

WTF:

Effects Button - On the left ear of the headset there are 3 things you can play with... Mic input, volume, and a button that is labeled Effects. I have no f'n clue what this does nor care enough to look it up. I know it beeps when I accidentally press it while trying to shove the mic cable back into the headset after it falling out.

In getting all of the puzzle pieces together to get back to California I started putting out feelers to other companies, after a wee bit of drama and last minute changes Infinityward became my home away from home. I can't express how excited I am and cannot wait to see what lies next!

On your current computer that you sync your iPhone with, copy these 2 directories over to the new computer (make sure iTunes is not running on the new computer):

1. C:\Documents and Settings\<USERNAME>\My Documents\My Music\iTunes
2. C:\Documents and Settings\<USERNAME>\Application Data\Apple Computer\MobileSync

***Note: Technically, you only need the Application Data\Apple Computer\MobileSync, but I recommend getting the older backups as well...

And that's it... Just start up iTunes and everything should be there from the old one.

Here's the LauncherLite Page