Halo: Reach has been my stomping grounds when it comes to online multiplayer for quite some time now. Initially, I planned only to complete the campaign (then my most-anticipated adventure for the year) and move on despite my love for the franchise. My ridiculously long backlog called out to me, you know. I couldn’t afford to spend hours online ranking up or perfecting the art of the sticky! Of course, my train of thought changed once I actually got back into the multiplayer grind I hadn’t enjoyed since the early days of Halo 3. When I started playing every night, I couldn’t quite stop, and thus found myself breathlessly awaiting the Noble Map Pack, the very first DLC offered for Bungie’s lavish love letter to Halo. And now that I’ve had a chance to play around with it, I can only hope their future offerings can live up to benchmark set by this set of maps.
All posts in Impressions
Impressions: Halo: Reach: Noble Map Pack
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Impressions: Alien Breed 3: Descent
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Alien Breed may seem like a newer franchise to the uninitiated, but it actually began back in the early nineties via Team17 (the same team behind the infamous Worms games). Fast-forward to today and it’s been given a new lease on life, thanks to the current trend of rehashing old franchises to “modernize” and “improve” them. This process began with Alien Breed: Evolution, continued with Alien Breed 2: Assault, and has most recently come around to Alien Breed 3: Descent, which is just as lackluster as the rest of the episodic installments, though has its moments. Despite its mediocrity, this type of game certainly could have worked as a replacement of sorts for a game such as Dead Space’s venture into the world of Xbox Live Arcade or PlayStation Network, rather than the atrocious cash-in Dead Space Ignition. Unfortunately, Team17 didn’t quite let this ambitious episodic series live up to the full potential it showed in the beginning.
Impressions: Fable III
“Do you want to be happy or do you want to live?” It’s the question I found myself asking the citizens of Albion, turning away those asking for help in favor of defending my land from the threat that awaited at the endgame. For me, it was easy to betray those I had fought alongside for the greater good, but I can imagine for some players, those moral dilemmas were something of nightmarish proportions, and what gives Fable III (and the previous games) much of its charm. Decisions that may seem black and white at first glance might have drastic consequences later, meaning you’ll have to choose not just what weapons and magic to help aid your quest, but the direction of your very soul.
Impressions: Rock Band 3
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Rock Band 2 is the one of the best rhythm games I’ve ever had the pleasure of spending time with over the years. Even when new installments of Guitar Hero or Singstar hit shelves, I couldn’t bring myself to get as excited as I do for simple DLC installments to the Rock Band Music Store. I’m a regular rhythm game connoisseur and have played more than my fair share of them in my lifetime, but for band-based realistic play, you just can’t beat the variety of songs, the different ways to play, and the attention to detail Harmonix has clearly put into its now flagship title.
Impressions: James Bond 007: Blood Stone
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While most view GoldenEye 64 as the pinnacle of Bond gaming, there’s another that’s near and dear to my heart, and it is 007: Everything or Nothing. I’m not sure exactly why I’m so partial to that excursion. Perhaps it’s the fact that it was one of the first games I played and completed on my slim PlayStation 2. Maybe I was giddy over another decent Bond adventure starring Pierce Brosnan. Whatever the reason, I played that game to death, and haven’t enjoyed a Bond offering as much ever since. Quantum of Solace was playable, if bland, and I’m sorry to say that James Bond 007: Blood Stone seems to be following in its footsteps. Is this due to the fact that Daniel Craig’s no-nonsense, shoot first and ask questions later-style is too permeating or is it because the game tends to hold your hand almost the entire way through?