Thanks to Gamespot.com, I was able to get into the exclusive Multiplayer beta test for Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare. As a fan of the previous Call of Duty games on Xbox 360, I was thrilled to get a token to the Beta test. My thrills did not stop with the code, after the 1GB download from Xbox Live, I was ready to strap on my flack jacket and head into war to fight for my country, which ranged from the US Marine Corp to British S.A.S to Russians to Middle Eastern Soliders.
Gaining experience points is the basis of Call of Duty 4. You get points for completing different objects like killing and opponent or shooting down a helicopter. The more experience points you earn the more you level up, earning you more weapons, features, game modes, perks, and even the ability to customize your soldier/class. I for one have created the Jack Bauer class.
The beta included 3 maps: Overgrown, Vacant, and Crash. Overgrown is takes place in a Russian forest. A lot of this map is open fields, but if you are a sniper there are plenty of good hiding spots, including a barn and some abandoned buildings.
Vacant is another map that takes place in Russia. I happen to always do well in this map so it is my favorite of the Xbox 360 Beta. In this map, you spend most of the time sneaking around an abandoned single story office, but the is an old train yard with empty train cars to hide and attack from.
The last of the maps is Crash, which reminded me of “Black Hawk Down”. This map has everything from roofs to abandoned buildings to a downed helicopter and some open space. This map is a lot of fun to with the different places to hide and attack from.
After experiencing the beta, I know the Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare is going to be the 2007 Game of the Year. Some might think that it is a bold statement, especially with the much anticipated Halo 3 hitting stores this Tuesday, but after playing in both betas, Call of Duty is going to be the better game. Personally, I can not wait for this November to see the full version of this game.
Rock on, Guitar Hero 2 from Red Octane has finally hit the Xbox 360 and it does not disappoint. For almost two years, only Sony Playstation 2 owners could enjoy the thrill of being on stage in a rock band but now the Xbox 360 world can enjoy the same rush. The great thing about Red Octane’s Xbox 360 version is that it is not just a port of the Playstation 2 version. There is a lot of added features and content for just Xbox 360 users. There are additional songs, downloadable content, and online leaderboards.
For those not familiar with the gaming phenomena the Red Octane has created with the Guitar Hero series, here is how it works. You strap on the Gibson X-plorer guitar, which has a five color fret buttons on the neck, a strumming bar, and whammy bar. The game play is simple in concept and hard to master on the hard difficulty levels. I started on easy and loved every minute of my rise to stardom. On easy, the game only involves 3 of 5 the five color frets, making it very easy to get accustomed to being a Guitar Hero. As you play the game, you will notice that the notes appear as they do on the X-plorer guitar and as the notes pass onscreen you tap the same color buttons on the fret board and strum the guitar. You score points for each correct note and by stringing notes together you create combos and combos lead to multipliers. You also can gain star power by hitting all the correct notes of certain sections of the song and when you fill your star power meter and activate star power, you become the focus of the stage and earn double the points and don’t forget to use your whammy bar for added points.
The rock meter tracks how you are doing in a very simple way, green you are rocking, yellow you could be better, and red, well red means you suck. Too much time in the red and you fail the song.
Career mode is where you will spend hours upon hours rocking out in small high schools gyms till you hit the big time. Career mode is also where you will unlock the massive soundtrack of the game. Oh yeah and as you progress in career mode you will unlock outfits and guitars to enhance your stage persona. But, don’t fret (ha ha guitar pun), if you get stuck on a song, there is a practice mode that allows you to practice whole or part of songs at a speed you are comfortable learning at.
The last part of Red Octane’s Guitar Hero 2 that should be mentioned is the multiplayer mode. There are two types of play, one where you share a song and cooperative. In the first mode you and your partner trade of sections of a song. In cooperative mode, which is much more fun, one player takes lead guitar and the other is base or rhythm guitar.
The only negatives I have about this Red Octane’s rockin’ Guitar Hero 2 is the lack of online play and cost of the downloadable content through the Xbox Marketplace. But I attribute the high cost due to Microsoft and not Red Octane.
So you wanna be a rock superstar? And live large A big house. Five cars, then Red Octane’s Guitar Hero 2 is the game for you.
Below is the track listing in stages and download content thanks to Wikipedia
† - denotes rhythm guitar as alternate instrument for song in co-op mode (all other songs feature bass guitar)
bold denotes song performed by the original artist (all other songs are covers)
italics denotes Xbox 360 exclusive tracks Soundtrack
1. Opening Licks
• "Surrender" – Cheap Trick • "Possum Kingdom" – Toadies • "Heart-Shaped Box" – Nirvana • "Salvation" – Rancid • "Strutter" – Kiss † • "Shout at the Devil" – Mötley Crüe (Encore)
2. Amp-Warmers
• "Mother" – Danzig † • "Life Wasted" – Pearl Jam • "Cherry Pie" – Warrant • "Woman" – Wolfmother • "You Really Got Me" – Van Halen • "Tonight I'm Gonna Rock You Tonight" – Spinal Tap † (Encore)
3. String-Snappers
• "Carry on Wayward Son" – Kansas • "Search and Destroy" – Iggy Pop and the Stooges • "Message in a Bottle" – The Police • "Billion Dollar Babies" – Alice Cooper • "Them Bones" – Alice in Chains • "War Pigs" – Black Sabbath (Encore)
4. Thrash and Burn
• "Monkey Wrench" – Foo Fighters • "Hush" – Deep Purple • "Girlfriend" – Matthew Sweet † • "Who Was in My Room Last Night?" – The Butthole Surfers † • "Can't You Hear Me Knockin'" – The Rolling Stones † • "Sweet Child o' Mine" – Guns N' Roses (Encore)
5. Return of the Shred
• "Rock and Roll Hoochie Koo" – Rick Derringer • "Tattooed Love Boys" – The Pretenders • "John the Fisherman" – Primus • "Jessica" – The Allman Brothers Band † • "Bad Reputation" – Thin Lizzy • "Last Child" – Aerosmith † (Encore)
6. Relentless Riffs
• "Crazy on You" – Heart • "Trippin' on a Hole in a Paper Heart" – Stone Temple Pilots • "Dead!" – My Chemical Romance † • "Killing in the Name" – Rage Against the Machine • "Freya" – The Sword • "Stop" – Jane's Addiction (Encore)
7. Furious Fretwork
• "Madhouse" – Anthrax • "The Trooper" – Iron Maiden • "Rock This Town" – Stray Cats • "Laid to Rest" – Lamb of God † • "Psychobilly Freakout" – Reverend Horton Heat • "YYZ" – Rush (Encore)
8. Face-Melters
• "Beast and the Harlot" – Avenged Sevenfold • "Carry Me Home" – The Living End • "Institutionalized" – Suicidal Tendencies † • "Misirlou" – Dick Dale • "Hangar 18" – Megadeth • "Free Bird" – Lynyrd Skynyrd † (Encore)
Downloadable Content
Guitar Hero Track Pack 1 (30.87 MB, 500 MSP) – Released April 11, 2007
o "Bark at the Moon" – Ozzy Osbourne o "Hey You" – The Exies o "Ace of Spades" – Motörhead
Guitar Hero Track Pack 2 (30.64 MB, 500 MSP) – Released April 11, 2007
o "Killer Queen" – Queen o "Take It Off" – The Donnas o "Frankenstein" – The Edgar Winter Group
Guitar Hero Track Pack 3 (32.71 MB, 500 MSP) – Released April 11, 2007
o "Higher Ground" – Red Hot Chili Peppers[4] o "Infected" – Bad Religion o "Stellar" – Incubus
Guitar Hero Track Pack 4 (44.15 MB, 500 MSP) – Released July 11, 2007
o "I Wanna Be Sedated" – The Ramones o "Smoke on the Water" – Deep Purple o "You've Got Another Thing Comin'" – Judas Priest
My Chemical Romance Pack (33.53 MB, 500 MSP) – Released August 14, 2007 o "Famous Last Words" – My Chemical Romance o "Teenagers" – My Chemical Romance o "This Is How I Disappear" – My Chemical Romance
Bonus Songs
All bonus songs are performed by the original artist
• "Raw Dog" – The Last Vegas (Winner of the "Be a Guitar Hero" Contest) • "Arterial Black" – Drist † • "Collide" – Anarchy Club • "Drink Up" – Ounce of Self • "Elephant Bones" – That Handsome Devil • "Fall of Pangea" – Valient Thorr • "FTK" – Vagiant • "Gemini" – Brian Kahanek † • "Laughtrack" – The Acro-brats † • "Less Talk More Rokk" – Freezepop † • "Jordan" – Buckethead • "Kicked to the Curb" – Noble Rot • "Mr. Fix It" – The Amazing Crowns • "The New Black" – Every Time I Die • "One for the Road" – The Breaking Wheel • "Parasite" – The Neighborhoods • "Push Push (Lady Lightning)" – Bang Camaro • "Radium Eyes" – Count Zero • "Red Lottery" – Megasus • "Six" – All That Remains • "Soy Bomb" – Honest Bob and the Factory-to-Dealer Incentives † • "The Light That Blinds" – Shadows Fall • "Thunderhorse" – Dethklok • "Trogdor" – Strong Bad † • "X-Stream" – Voivod • "Yes We Can" – Made in Mexico
I have been waiting for this game for months. I loved Fuzion Frenzy on XBox and couldn't wait to see the nex-gen version. I bought this game on its release date and wish I would have waited for a used copy. First and foremost, why did they remove "Fuzion Frenzy" from the game? That was the best part of the game, risking your points and stealing your opponents. Second, the announcer is extremely annoying and his quips are repetitive to the point of hurting the game. Also, how hard is it to announce the winning players name. Player 1 wins the tournament, this is nex-gen and the game can't announce the character. If you loved Fuzion Frenzy 1, you might be disappointed in this "upgrade." I sure was.
Normally I would write more, but I wouldn't want to waste any more of your time on this game.
I just finished this game and I have to say it was one of the most enjoyable gaming experiences I have had on Xbox 360. As a huge fan of the Pirates of the Caribbean Movie Franchise this game fits in very well with the brand. If you have yet to see At World’s End and want to be surprised DO NOT play this game, the game follows the movie very closely and let’s you play at most of the vital scenes as well as some creative storylines not found in the films.
The game is visually stunning and the sound shook my living room. The characters look almost exactly as they do on the big screen. As for the game play, it is relativity easy, but that is what makes the game so enjoyable. It can be played by children and adults. As for its reply value, I feel this game can be played over and over again. There are many hidden elements to the game that are not easily found and I for one will play this game again just to find the hidden items.
I highly recommend this game for anyone who is looking for good family fun or a break from the first person shooters and grand theft auto type games currently flooding the video game market.
In the end you will remember this day as the day we all caught Captain Jack Sparrow and he is alive and well in our video game collections.
Welcome to my new blog. I am a lover of all things tech and I will be using this site to review all things High Def. I am just an average guy who loves his toys. Whether it be Xbox 360, HD-DVD or HD TV Shows, my goal will be to present you with an objective and honest review of the product.
