Swollen Pickles

Without too much fuss I finished Halo 3 on the weekend. That's not to say I found it a bad game, I just didn't find that it lived up to the hype and expectation I'd had following Halo 2.

Gameplay wise, Halo 3 is largely the same as Halo 2. Point, shoot, kill, run, point, shoot kill, duck, point shoot kill... etc. It's classic first person shooter stuff, and it's enjoyable. It just didn't rock my world the way I'd hoped. After playing Call of Duty 4 I found Halo 3 to be lacking in style, difficulty and excitement. Weapons and enemies are all largely the same as those from Halo 2. The new addition is the 'equipment' feature, which allows you to pick up things like shields and auto-sentries, to use at your leisure. It's a nice touch.

The game begins with the Master Chief crash landing on earth, to find that the Covenant have all but wiped out the human resistance. The Master Chief is charged to bust the Covenant party up. After notching a number of Covenant kills, the Flood crash land on earth. It's part of some big plan the Flood 'Gravemind' hatched. All going well you jet off to another planet, save the day, and if you stick around until the end of the credits, learn that the Master Chief survives. Halo 4 anyone?

All in all, the plot in Halo 3 becomes "nonsensical". Having just finished the game, I'd struggle to recall any major plot points. I've heard rumours the Halo franchise will be turned into a movie, but based on the last two installments, it's going to be very hard work for the screen writer. One slightly annoying facet of the game is the number of 'false' conclusions. The last 4 or so stages all feel like the end of the game, and it's almost like the plot was stretched out to accommodate more game play.

In summary, while you'd no longer consider it ground breaking Halo 3 is a good enough game. It seems to have been developed using the 'if it aint broke don't fix it' model, which is not necessarily a bad thing, however with games like Gears of War and Call of Duty 4 on the market, you could be forgiven for wanting more.

I'd give it a 3.5 out of 5.

MCFARLANE HALO 3 LOT SDCC EXCLUSIVE CQB OLIVE EOD RARE

US $35.00

17m

Halo 3 ODST Xbox 360 2009

12 Bids

US $33.00

46m

Halo 3 Series 6 WALMART EXCLUSIVE EVA BLUE NEW ITEM HOT

US $19.99

1h 7m

After a quick and deadly little campaign I have finished "Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare" on the Xbox 360. Two aspects of the game really stood out for me. Firstly, it looked awesome, the graphics were detailed and life like. Secondly, moving the Call of Duty series into a modern setting was a very good decision. This allowed you to play through scenarios similar to those you may see occasionally on the world news, as well as the opportunity to give the modern weaponry a run.

The main story takes place in the very near future, during a fictional conflict between the combined forces of the US and England, against Russian Ultranationalists and Middle Eastern rebels. The story itself is an interesting one, and at times takes some unexpected turns.

You play as either a British SAS guy (throughout the European missions) or a US marine (in the Middle East missions).There's also a flashback mission set 15 years prior to the events in the game, played out at Chernobyl.

Gameplay wise, not much has changed compared to previous Call of Duty outings. It's run, aim, shoot, duck, shoot, run, aim, shoot. Lets face it, the Call of Duty franchise is firmly entrenched in the first person shooter (FPS) genre, there's only so much you can do with that set up.

What sets this game apart from countless other FPS games is the attention to detail, the atmosphere it generates, and the "realism". For example, you can't just charge into a room full of bad guys holding down the trigger. You'll last about 10 seconds if that's your strategy. The best way to get through the game is to advance, clearing each area as you go, paying attention to what the rest of your squad is doing.

If I have one complaint with Call of Duty 4 it is that the game itself is a little short. It leaves you wanting more, but then, perhaps, that was the game makers strategy.

Overall, this is the best traditional FPS I have played since I first played Halo 2. I'd rate it on a par with the rock-on awesomeness of Gears of War. Now I'm just saving for Halo 3 to see how that stacks up.

NEW Call of Duty 4 Modern Warfare 2

9 Bids

US $43.00

1h 47m

CALL OF DUTY 3 PLAYSTATION 3 GAME WORKS 4 PS3 BRAND NEW

US $19.79

1h 51m

PS3 Call Of Duty 4 Modern Warfare Game Of The Year NEW

US $44.99

2h 4m

pre owned Call of duty 4 modern Warfare

6 Bids

US $10.75

2h 10m

Call of Duty 4 Modern Warfare PC Games 2007

6 Bids

US $15.50

2h 27m

Just read that there will be an Xbox 360 arcade edition released prior Christmas. Herald-Sun listed it as $399, with the key difference to the standard Xbox 360 being that this version doesn't come with the hard drive.

Should I go for the bargain basement version, or save a little more for the real deal?

Anyway, I'm off to play Scarface on my antique Xbox now.

Just been shopping, and noticed that the price of the playstation 3 has been reduced to $700. With the built in HD-DVD player my commitment to purchasing an Xbox 360 is beginning to waver. The Xbox 360 has Halo 3, but on the downside, to get the same functionality as the Playstation 3, I'd have to spend more on buying extras. I'm conflicted now.
So, to anyone out there lucky enough to own a Playstation 3 and Xbox 360, which one would you recommend and why?

I picked up Predator: Concrete Jungle on Xbox for $9 on the weekend, and have since built up an addiction to running around as my favorite alien of all time. Any game that has a "flay" option is worth the price.

All the best bits of the Predator movies are included in the game. The camouflage, the wrist blades, the plasma cannon, the "trophy taking" and of course, the flaying. It's gruesome, but that's what the Predator is all about. I'm actually finding the best part of the game to be the story and movie scenes between levels. They should have turned it into a short cartoon/animation.


Perhaps the only let down is the fact that the Governor of California doesn't make an appearance. My recommendation, Concrete Jungle was an under rated game, if you see it for a good price, get it!

NBA 2K7 is probably the most addictive Xbox games I've played in a long while. Compared to NBA Live 2007, NBA 2K7 is worlds apart in terms of realism and feel. Controls take a bit to get used to and don't have the 'arcade' style feel of NBA Live 2007. I like to start with a rubbish team and then trade up. I like a challenge. One thing that bugged me was that without a good knowledge of real world stats, it can take a while to figure out who are the best shooters etc. without going through each players profile.

So what I've done is grab a list of the ratings for each player in the game (besides the free agent list) and sorted them to show the top players in each of my key categories. Firstly, I've got the best rated players by position, then I've got the list of the best rated players for three of the categories I think are most important if you want to dominate, 3 point shooting, dunking and offensive rebounding (clearly I'm not big on defence). (more...)

Urban Chaos is a fun game! Violent and laden with profanity, it's good clean fun. You play as Nick Mason, the T-Zero enforcer, dedicated to stamping out urban terrorism. It's a first person shooter, but it's probably one of the best looking games on the xbox. Graphics are fantastic.
To be honest, I didn't really spend much time thinking about the story line. It did involve some terrorist group creating 'Urban Chaos' or something. All you really need to know is, if there are wearing a hockey mask, they are bad, and therefore must be shot. There's a lot of shooting. You do get back up in this game. Firemen, Medics and Police Officers join you at various stages in the game to offer assistance.
Overall, the game is not hard, I finished without too many dramas, but is definitely fun. The bad guys seem to show up at the same places each time so I'm not sure this game would stand up to repeated run throughs.

Next game due to be completed: The Godfather