XBox 360 Rally

My boyfriend was talked into the subscription as part of the membership at GameStop. I was laughing too hard at all the brother and sister geek-team arguing in the back corner to pay much attention, and Chris assures me he only agreed to the membership package just to get the overly-helpful guy behind the counter to stop talking . Either way, Game Informer Magazine has been coming to our house for the last year or so.

That said, I need to get a couple of things off my chest in regards to the mag. First, let me point out what I like about GI.

Good things about Game Informer

1. I like reading about video games and GI does a great job of staying abreast of the latest news and new releases.

2. I like the calendar of new releases.

Now, let me start bitching about what I don’t like about GI.

Bad Things about Game Informer

1. It is way too much of a sausage fest. If you actually take time to read through the editors page, it’s nothing but dudes. As a female reader, would it kill you to add a female perspective to the magazine? Chicks might like to read what other girl-gamers have to say, and let’s face it — the male readership would love to read what those girl-gamers are into, so that they may figure out something to say to that cute girl in their chem lab.

Now, I get it that the majority of gamers are guys. I live with that everyday, when I kick their asses at Tiger Woods or Madden. But really, to flat out ignore a potential female audience is a detriment to your circulation numbers. I doubt anyone is beating down the door to start up a girl-gamer mag as the numbers wouldn’t make a whole lot of sense economically speaking (not yet anyway), but there are girls and women that really like to play video games. They also would appreciate reading a magazine that maybe includes a female point of view in terms of what’s hot and what to look for. You have an online female editor, but the print edition has not one. Huh?

2. There are never any by-lines. Maybe a female writer is responsible for some features, but we’d never know, would we?

3. Not everyone spent their teens in their parents’ basements applying oxyclean and playing video games on every system known to man. To continually refer to and compare new games with games from 20 years ago is a bit of a turn-off. Sorry, but when you boys were playing with your joystcks, I had better things to do, and even then I was only a flirt with games. So everytime you refer to some arcane game from the Sega Game Cube, I just tune out.

You must understand that today’s gamers are not all hardcore nerds and geeks. Many are normals or quasi-geeks and just want to read fun and informative articles on what games they may want to check out in the future. Have a little diversity in your coverage of said games, and I’ll bet you dollars to doughnuts that if you added a couple of or at least one female (or a normal, but that’s a whole other gripe) to your editorial staff, Game Informer would be more accessible to a whole new demographic.

And sorry, I am not available. There is no way I’m moving to Minneapolis. Thanks anyway.

Game Informer, video games, female gamers, readership

I probably should be keeping up on this better, but then I don’t really care about awards when it comes to games. Sure, they may be a good indicator as to whether that game will be at least kinda fun/pretty/interesting to play, but they are hardly the only way to judge games.

That said, video game award season is coming to a close (or should be), and I thought I’d share some recent results and thoughts on that.

The Game Developer Choice Awards decided to give the “game of the year” to Fallout 3. Just throw it on the pile of all the other game of the year awards bestowed in the post-apocalyptic RPG. As far as awards/recognitions go for this last year’s crop of games, if Fallout 3 didn’t straight up take home the overall game of the year title, it surely grabbed the best RPG game of the year. Fallout 3 also got the best writing award at the GDCA.

LittleBigPlanet took home four awards (Best Debut, Technology, and Game Design, also one for Innovation). I wonder what the award ceremony is like. I imagine it’s set up like the Golden Globes, in a hotel banquet room with round tables and a bunch of socially inept virgins asking the server for virgin pina coladas. Ouch. I am so mean. I am kidding, of course. If it were not for those geeks, I wouldn’t have all the lovely games I play way too much rather than getting exercise in the real world or enriching my life in any meaningful and productive way.

Meanwhile, the Game Audio Network Guild, or GANG…seriously, it’s like everyone is making up groups just to give out awards. Anyhoo, the GANG held its award ceremony at a Chuck-E-Cheese in San Francisco last week. Parents were notified when the award show ran past everyone’s 9pm bedtime.

I really cannot stop myself…

[Deep breath] The GANG awards are a bit more aurally-focused, giving out recognition for sound design, editing, you know the kind of awards that the Oscars save for a separate function so as to not bore the big stars with all kinds of technical mumbo-jumbo.

Dead Space won both the Audio Design of the Year and the Sound Design of the Year awards. Side note: Dead Space also won the best sound design award from the aforementioned Choice Awards. Wataru Hokoyama, the composer behind Afrika (upcoming National Geographic: Africa) received the awards for Music of the Year and Rookie of the Year. You can click here to read the full awards list, if you really care.

video games, awards, Game Developer Choice Awards, Fallout 3, RPG, LittleBigPlanet, Game Audio Network Guild, Wataru Hokoyama, Dead Space, Afrika, National Geographic: Africa

Alright, so yesterday BioWare (itself now a division of EA) announced the coming sequel, Mass Effect 2. And wouldn’t you know it, I just recently started playing Mass Effect (the first of a planned trilogy, so the sequel is hardly a surprise), as if I knew that I’d better get to it before the sequel does come out. Is it that I have a sixth sense for my gaming priorities based on upcoming releases of a game’s sequel or three-quel? No, I blame Gamefly.

Of course, I have Halo Wars on the tip-top of my Gamefly GameQ, but as the availability of that game is, like, impossible to get through the rental service that is too far away from me to give me a decent turn-around. So, the last time I updated my Q, I noticed that the service was giving me recommendations for games in which I may be interested. Mass Effect kept popping up as I was updating, so I clicked on it. I didn’t give it much of a read, however, relying more on the very high marks that Mass Effect had garnered from users and other reviewers on game sites. It was in the high 8’s, out of 10, and after a disappointing time with my last rental, Civilization Revolution, I was looking for something that scored high.

Not that I place a lot of weight in user scores or even editor/reviewer scores, but hey, if the scores are really low and consistently low among other sites, I am prone to skip the game. If I somehow got a quicker turnaround on my Gamefly rentals, I’d probably be a little more adventurous when it comes to lame games. But it takes too damn long to get the game in the first place for me to dillydally around with crappy games.

Anyway, it seems the Universe wants me to play Mass Effect. First, it was high ratings, but then it became about getting the 2007 game played before the arrival of its Spring 2010 sequel.

BioWare says that Mass Effect 2 will be available for both the Xbox 360 and the PC platform. No word on the PS3, but the first ME was an Xbox-only deal until it went to PCs, so it’s likely that ME2 will also be Xbox-only (in terms of consoles). Although now that BioWare is owned by juggernaut Electronic Arts, there may be more pressure to go multi-platform (more sales potential).

So far, few details about the game are out there, other than Saren and the Geth are defeated and now humans face a bigger threat. Gee, thanks for that.

If you want to check out the fairly pointless teaser (I mean other than to tease), click here to go to the Mass Effect website.

BioWare, Mass Effect, Mass Effect 2, EA, Electronic Arts, video games, Xbox 360, sequel

I don’t think it would be much of a stretch for anyone out there to believe that I am a fan of Battlestar Galactica (so say we all). And watching last night’s episode on SciFi HD, I finally watched the trailer for Halo Wars on a big HD screen, and let’s just say…like Wayland Smithers when a new Malibu Stacy comes out…I want it, I want it, I want it, I want it.

Especially after my recent disappointment with a strategy game involving other civilizations…

This ad placement is no surprise, and a good example of putting your ad dollars to work for you. Kind of. I mean, I’m willing to go out on a limb and say that a good percentage of BSG viewers are already hip to the Halo Wars fact. So one could say that those ad dollars are going to waste, and they could instead be targeting people that may not already be aware of and wanting Halo Wars. But then, you could make the case that by putting the ad on during a show that creates such fanaticism is a smart move, taking enthusiasm for one product and trying to connect it with another product that also involves planetary colonization. Either way, copies of Halo Wars will sell and sell well.

Afterall, it is not uncommon for BSG fans to share their love of both BSG and HALO in creative ways. This is from metacafe, and one of their members took Halo footage and added the BSG music. Cute.

Battlestar Halo 3 (edited Trailer) - A funny movie is a click away

Halo Wars, ad, ads, trailers, Battlestar Galactica, SciFi HD, Sci Fi Channel, BSG, video games

When I was 17, I started playing a game called Civilization. The first time I saw the sun rise after an all-nighter, I knew I was hooked. I have met others afflicted with this addiction to strategy games, both turn-based and real-time.

That said, I have yet to try out a turn-based strategy or a Real Time Strategy game out on a next-gen console like the Xbox 360. The problem with RTS games is that for the most part these types of games are war games, like Empire Earth or any number of WWII games. Why are so many RTS games war and military conquest games? I don’t know, they just are, probably because most gamers are dorks that got beat up a lot in high school and they grew up dreaming of some grand scheme of taking over the world to compensate for those feelings of masculine insecurity or maybe they are control freaks like me. Either way, the games are fun, if not tedious after a while. I just wish that would be enough to get me to kick my habit…

So, now that we have established that a lot of RTS/TBS games are war games, you will notice that war games involves many troops and equipment. With a PC RTS game, your keyboard and mouse are your weapons. You’ve got hot keys and menus, and your hand-eye coordination with the mouse is much easier to control precisely than a thumbstick on a console’s controller. And those are just a few reasons that RTS games have had such a slow influx into console games. Console games are mostly better at controlling one character, not whole armies of them…Mostly.

However, with the upcoming release of Halo Wars next week, I am intrigued enough to start exploring games on my Xbox 360 previously best served on a PC. In addition to the hugely popular Halo franchise’s foray into RTS gaming, Stormrise is coming out next month. Oh, yeah, and speaking of the Civ series, Civilization: Revolution for the Xbox 360 just came out a few months ago. There’s the Commander and Conquer series to check out, and well, there are a lot of these RTS games as of late.

My findings on this topic will be revisited in the future. Halo Wars is at the top of my Gamefly Q, and Civ: Rev is at #3.

Xbox 360, RTS, Civilization, Halo Wars, gaming, video games, PC, turned-based strategy, TBS, Stormrise, Civilization: Revolution, Civ

There are many reasons that I just don’t care about owning a Nintendo Wii. One of those being that when I am in the mood to play video games, almost invariably I am also in the mood to lie prone on my comfy, comfy couch or in my comfy, comfy rocking chair. So playing a game designed for the Wii doesn’t really fit into that lifestyle choice. A friend tried selling me on the Wii by telling me about the tennis game and golfing. My response was that if I want to play tennis or golf, I will go to a tennis court or a golf course. Maybe it is a generational thing or a girl thing or a real active person versus inactive people that need to have a video game motivate them to exercise, I don’t know. Nor do I really care to delve into this issue for too terribly long.

But reason number two, and a much more compelling reason ultimately, is that I have little inclination to play most of the games designed for the Wii. I hate to say it, but the games all seem like little kid games for the most part. I like games with swear words.

However, two games are being redesigned for the Wii from Xbox360 (PS3/PC) games that may grow into a trend for more adult games coming to the Wii. Will I get a Wii? Not soon, as I am already an addict and I have to cut back on my gaming schedule as it is due to grad school, so getting a new crack machine is not in the cards for me for another year or so. But I wouldn’t mind playing these games when they come out.

Dead Rising for the Wii — Just came out late January 2009

And I thought smashing zombies was fun with thumbsticks…

Dead Space for the Wii…This one is coming out later this year, but I had fun playing it on the Xbox 360 and wouldn’t mind playing a prequel in which my killer slicer-shot would come in handy.

During Electronic Arts’ Q3 2009 earnings call earlier today, boss John Riccitiello mentioned a Wii game we’d previously not heard about. That game was Dead Space Wii.

It’s due out later this year, and is part of a plan from EA to bring a more “core” experiece to the Wii. Riccitiello promises that, despite the technical limitations of the console, everything that made the 360/PS3/PC version so creepy will be there on the Wii. — Kotaku

Wii, Xbox 360, games, adult games, kids games, Nintendo, tennis, golf, Capcom, Dead Rising, Dead Space

I ran across a title to an article in the St. Louis Dispatch.

“The Xbox 360 is the worst video game console in the world”

I am a little surprised the author didn’t claim it’s the worst in the galaxy or the universe. I mean, if you are going for drama, why not go big or go home, right? Worst video game console in the world? He’s got to be kidding. So, yes, I read the article.

Unfortunately, the author, the Game Guy aka David Sheets, makes a good case…if he were talking hardware only. Yes, the actual console in terms of hardware can be a piece of sh*t.

How many times has your Xbox 360 died? The Game Guy has had four 360’s, and all of them have died. I almost want to ask him if he is performing “gamicide” on purpose to make his point, but when I think about the first four Xbox 360-owning friends that come to mind, three of them have also experienced the RROD. Add me into that equation and that’s an 80% failure rate. Seems a bit higher than Microsoft’s 3%.

Although the Game Guy has a point about hardware failure, his tone throughout his article is one of pure disdain for the system as a whole. He claims that he plays it not by choice, but “out of necessity” because of his horrible job as a game and gear reviewer.

To the St. Louis Dispatch: I will be more than happy to take the Game Guy’s position. I love all games, and I don’t hold any grudges against any system. I will never complain because you are forcing me to play the Xbox 360. Nor will I write such over-dramatic op-ed pieces.

Back to the Game Guy…In defense of the Xbox 360, Microsoft gladly, no-questions-asked fixed my 360. Sure, I had to wait 2 weeks between packing it up in the supplied box and receiving it back from an commiserating UPS guy, but that’s what I have a PC for. And you know, I could always go outside for a walk or read a book while on my gaming hiatus. It wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world.

Although I understand the Game Guy’s frustration with the hardware problems with the Xbox 360, I cannot agree with his summation that the Xbox 360 is the worst console in the world. If you consider the ease of playing Live, and the awe-inspiring graphics, as well as the convenience of the Xbox marketplace, as well as the calibre of games designed solely for the Xbox 360, well, “Methinks the lady doth protest too much.”

The Xbox plays hard and it breaks hard. I’ve had much more problems with my damn Dell, and at least when my Xbox did break, I didn’t have to spend five hours on the phone with India trying to explain to them that no, they didn’t fix my motherboard…again.

Xbox 360, St. Louis Dispatch, The Game Guy, David Sheets, console, hardware, RROD, Microsoft, graphics, games, video games, Dell

Not one of the reviews I read for Bioshock said anything at all about how the undersea world of Rapture is straight out of an unwritten Ayn Rand novel. Does this mean that gamers don’t read American lit?

It’s not like it’s a stretch to see the Rand influence. You notice the literary reference almost immediately, if you know your Rand. Unfortunately, I know Ms. Rand’s rants. As soon as I swam my way to a Great Lighthouse at Alexandria look-a-like after my Pan Am hit crashed into the sea, I came face to face with a large red banner that proclaims “Not Gods or Kings. Only Men.” and a plaque from someone named Ryan going on about how he could not live in a state that won’t allow him to be himself…an unapologetic capitalist.

Ryan…R-Y-A-N = Ayn R. Yeah, subtle.

First things first, BIOSHOCK is amazing to look at. The opening sequence is awe-inspiring. I kept telling my boyfriend to “look-it, look-it” as the bathysphere gave me an unguided tour of Rapture, a city-behind-the-waves (and international law). The city itself is an Art Deco dream. I happen to be a fan of Deco, so BioShock is a total treat for my aesthetic sensitivities. Even as you peer out of the glass windows, the graphics go all watery and change as you move your perspective. The designers and programmers spared no effort to make this game a detail-oriented gamers delight.

And then, as you, er, I mean, Jack enters the city proper, he is lead on missions by a underground resistance leader named Atlas.

Atlas…Like Atlas Shrugged? To be honest, I couldn’t finish Atlas Shrugged. I read The Fountainhead, and got through the Ellsworth Toohey 30-page speech about altruism, and when I ran across the same diatribe in Atlas Shrugged, courtesy of John Galt; well, I just closed up the book and gave it away. Rand is not hard to read as in she discusses difficult issues and uses hard words; no, Rand is difficult to read because there is a lot of repetition and it gets really, really boring.

Besides, she is such a response to perceived socialist agendas during the 40’s, that it comes across as somewhat silly…until you place BioShock’s politics into the present fears of an American return to a quasi-socialistic Big Government. But that is probably more of a coincidence than the creators’ statement on capitalism and how money makes morals.

But I digress…

And now that I am in the third “level” of BioShock, I can say that the game takes its cues from Rand in more ways than one. BioShock can get a little repetitious, too. I can honestly say that I am sick of hacking security “bots”, vending machines, and safes. At first, it was kind of fun, but now I try to get as many auto-hack tools as I can find or build with rubber hoses and random screws.

All in all, I love the plot. I like killing the “splicers” (though I do wish for a little more diversity in these crazed foes) and random other bots and Big Daddy’s. I even like rescuing the little sisters — I haven’t “harvested” one yet. It’s just hard for me to kill a child, even if she carries a giant syringe that she likes to plunge into her victims’ heads.

I am actually playing BioShock on both easy and medium (whatever they call it in the game). So far, easy just means less bad guys and more first aid kits to find. But as your character never really dies in BioShock (you are immediately revived at a near-by “vita-chamber” and everything remains as it was when you “died” including a lack of first aid kits and angry enemies), I think the medium is a better choice for anyone other than a newbie to FPS games.

Much like Dead Space, you are given objectives and maps as to what you are supposed to be doing in Rapture. You also have an option of a “hint” to help you along the way, as an example telling you where certain slicers are located when you have to get some research photos (which reminds me of Dead Rising). I can say that the game is self-contained enough that I have not even bothered to look up a walkthrough or cheats for BioShock. Not that it is that easy (it kinda is, though), but rather that the game makes sense as to how to play it. Unlike say, Tomb Raider: Legend…

And yes, I know that BioShock is a bit old now in terms of release date, but I had to get to it before BioShock 2 comes out later this year.

I love this trailer, because it tells me all evil comes from little girls! He he he.

BioShock, BioShock 2, Ayn Rand, Rapture, Art Deco, altruism, Atlas Shrugged, The Fountainhead, video games, Great Lighthouse, Alexandria

So, I finally plugged in my internet connection to my Xbox. Not that I never have before, it’s just that my router is in the office and the HDTV is in the living room, and I don’t want a damn cord running through the entire house, and I haven’t got off my lazy butt to get a wireless adapter for my Xbox 360 because truthfully, I don’t go online that often with my Xbox.

Not often at all…

Which means that tonight was finally the night when I upgraded my dashboard on the ol’ 360 (among other things). I am sure that I haven’t spent enough time on it to see how awesomely awesome it is, but what is the big deal?

I think the whole Netflix thing is nice, and I imagine I will love it. As I mentioned before, I am not on Xbox Live all that much to make that a big draw for me, but then again, maybe it will be a good reason to log in more often. It does get tiring to have to hook up my laptop to the tv to watch something instantly on Netflix, but still, It’s not like it’s that hard. I’ll live.

Other than that, I am not big into keeping a bunch of pictures and music on yet another hard drive, so that option does nothing for me.

I do have a kickass avatar, but I don’t know when she’ll ever come into use. Don’t you just dig her warrior scar and black (I hope they are rubber) gloves? Unless I am missing something, I don’t think the avatars get to play in, say, Tomb Raider, so yeah, what’s the point. I like my little panda icon. Isn’t that enough?

I know I must sound like a troglodyte to some of you, but seriously, I like to play video games. I don’t care if someone else plays with me or not. So other than downloading stuff, I have little need for Xbox Live. And that’s too bad, because my dress is so cute.

xbox 360, xbox, xbox experience, dashboard, Xbox Live, video games, Netflix

Sometimes, I like to look at ads and commercials to see how they reflect on what it is the ad is selling. I believe in good ads, and I honor them; however, I do really love criticizing ad campaigns and today, I plan on doing just that.

Recent news has it that Xbox 360 sales are beating Playstation 3 sales. Of course, one could look at the price tags of each system and maybe that would be enough evidence as to why Xbox 360 is more popular than PS3, but I think that it would be remiss to overlook lame commercials that don’t do anything to sell the PS3.

Such as this one…

So, first, PS3 totally disses on girls in this ad. The boyfriend tries to explain technology to her like she is an idiot, and then she railroads him into watching 50 First Dates. Come on. Why must all girls only watch romantic comedies? Is it that men, vis a vis the boyfriend, are afraid that their girlfriends might be better at video games than they are, so they try to keep the women in their life from playing in the first place.

Or is it that Sony doesn’t seem to need women to buy Playstations?

Which brings me to the next huge problem with this ad…of everything this new awesome “movie downloading machine” can do, the proud new owners are stuck watching a movie from what four years ago? Why would this PS3 ad feature an old, not very good Drew Barrymore-Adam Sandler vehicle to try to resurrect the lightning-in-the-bottle of The Wedding Singer? I don’t understand the thinking behind that choice. If you are trying to sell a very expensive new toy, why would you try to sell it by showing how it can play regular old movies.

It’s too bad. I remember seeing an ad for Heavenly Sword, and that ad made me want the PS3. Maybe Sony should go back to that ad agency…or the drawing board.

PS3, Playstation 3, Xbox 360, Sony, sales, commercial, ad

Yes, I know that the Tomb Raider chronicles have moved beyond Legend with the latest installment, Underworld, but I’ve mentioned before that I’d rather play older, used games sometimes over the latest games debuting. I may change that, but not today. Also, I haven’t really picked up a Tomb Raider game since the first movie came out.

So I finished Tomb Raider: Legend and frankly, I was disappointed in the ending. I also noticed that the Tomb Raider parent company has been disappointed by the latest game’s sales. Could there be a connection?

I bought Legend last year, and yes, it took me a year to finish it. Not because it is hard — it isn’t. I just never put it in my Xbox 360. It sat there, abandoned for months, looking sad and wondering what it did wrong. It just was rarely the game I wanted to play. The puzzle rooms were kind of fun at first, and then they seemed to be endless variations of each other.

I had tried exploring Croft Manor, but got bored quickly. Sure, maybe I missed something cool, but I really don’t care, because nothing else in that game was cool (except driving the motorcycles and the forklift through the wall, so why would something in Croft Manor finally be cool. The whole background of Lara and the Croft Family Saga never really did all that much for me.

It’s sad, too, because I remember staying up all night playing TR when I had my old Playstation. Did I have more of a video game constitution back then…no, quite the contrary, my proclivity to play video games all night has increased with age and quality. I didn’t have a hard time getting through Half-Life (at right) two months ago.

So, anyway, Tomb Raider: Legend was low on my list, until my friend, Nathan, told me he got it. And then after a weekend, he told me he finished it. A weekend? He had a lot of time on his hands, but still, it made me feel like a slacker. So I finished it just to say I finished it, but other than the fear of being called out as weak, I may never have finished the stupid game.

Rumor has it that Eidos is thinking about a major redevelopment for the series. I really hope this rumor is true.

Tomb Raider, Legend, Underworld, Lara Croft, Eidos, sales, Xbox 360, games, video games, Half-Life

Hi, boys and girls. It’s just me, your friendly neighborhood JW, here to remind you all that we’re currently looking for people to replace us here at Xbox 360 Rally. All you have to do is go HERE, fill out the form, and wait to hear back. It’s really not that hard.

So, get to it already — so Paco and I can get to the NEW site!

Odds are you’re going to be heading out tonight for the highly-anticipated Halo 3 launch. Hell, it’s very possible that you’re already there, reading this on a laptop… in which case, I pity your soul. But, all the same you should know what to do to survive this Halo 3 onslaught, and get through the night.

So, after the break I’m going to give you a few survival tips to help you get through the long, difficult night ahead.

(more…)

Ok, people, here’s the deal — Paco and I are on our way out. We’re taking over at 1PStart.com in an effort to restore it to it’s former glory. …that, and I just plain want to write about another game every once in a while, is that so wrong?!

Anyways, here is what we’re looking for: A competent, capable writer with a love for all things Xbox. Now, by competent writer, we mean someone who spells “you” correctly, and knows when to capitalize. If you can do that, you’re a shoe-in. So, CLICK THIS DAMN LINK, do the required stuff, then get paid to play video games and write about stuff.

…hell, Mike and I did the hard stuff already, and YES, the GTA4 Banner contest will continue, and I will still give you a copy of GTA IV… or something. So, hop to it.

Xbox 360 Rally, JW, Stuff, Job Openings

(Xbox360Rally’s Most Overused Picture of the Month)

Woo, got my copy I pre-order from GameStop (a day or two after it came out, but its okay), put my toy on my wall, then booted up. I went through the game on hard, beat it, felt great, missed saving a little sister somewhere on the way so I suck cause I didn’t get that achievement, whatever.

Now I am going through the game a second time on easy just to get all the photography achievements, its cool because now I am really appreciating the different characters and character types. Harvesting a little sister *quick spoiler ahead* is cool with the heart pulling out and all (or ADAM slug, whatever). I am having fun choosing different abilities and combos (for the most part I have just been using plasmid powers and having the camera out as my weapon at all times).

Here comes my qualms, after all that praise, when it is said and done, this game was pretty short. I don’t consider myself a tough ass player, so when I beat the game on hard within a week, I didn’t think much of it then, but usually I don’t beat games on hard. Now on the second play through, I can see this being “Crackdown” where I might not have many reasons to ever pick up the game again after you beat it once. I would pay good money to see a multiplayer. I know how the developers feelings on a multiplayer was, but think of a game like “The Darkness,” it seems almost like the multiplayer was tacked on, but it ends up being really fun (when you get a non-lag game, but hey, they are fixing that). Think of a FPS multiplayer with the plasmids flying around, and a playable Big Daddy (that of course is tuned to be a fair fight against a human/splicer)

This game needs some new downloadable content, maybe not just right away, but multiplayer would be at the top of my list of course, however i’d settle for some extra missions maybe, just not crappy extra different new weapons/plasmids thrown in the game as the DLC. No matter what I have said, if you haven’t bought this title yet, go rent it now.

(These thoughts inspired by the game itself of course, as well as The Digital Gamer really laying into Bioshock, or at least the critics that overpraised this game)
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Bioshock, 2KGames, Overrated