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Video Games

Halo 4

Halo 4Just finished up Halo 4, and while I’m not sure exactly whom I was shooting since I hadn’t played the previous 3 I do know that I did somehow save humanity. So I feel kinda good about that (in a fake video game way).

The campaign was mighty impressive, and I know I’ve stated this many times but am in awe of the amount of production value that goes into a major video game these days. The sound, story, voice acting, etc. are all as good if  not better then a blockbuster Hollywood film. Very impressive amount of work and polish on display.

I think I was most impressed by the sound and graphics. The music was pretty awesome, and does an amazing job of getting you into the game whether you intended to or not. Some very dramatic stuff.

The pacing of the campaign was really impressive too. I’m not the type to sit down for hours and play in one sitting. The auto-save made it easy to play and little here and a little there and pick right up where I left off.

I also was genuinely bummed at the end when you lose a friend. While it wasn’t quite as sad as Marley and Me, I do tip my hat at a game that could make me care for the characters involved.

This was a pretty amazing game. Well done 343 Studios.

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Video Games

Transformers: Fall of Cybertron

Transformers: Fall of CybertronI was eagerly looking forward to playing this one (kinda like little kids levels of eagerness) after I played the pretty amazing first one about a year or so ago. Transformers: Fall of Cybertron did not disappoint.

I’m still impressed at how much they are able to capture the awesomeness of Transformers from when I was in third grade and not so much of the recent movie stuff. They people who made this clearly grew up playing with the toys and watching the cartoons as I did. Very good stuff.

The ability to play as both Autobots and Decepticons as the story unfolds is great. There’s so many different characters throughout the story, each character being a bit unique. The Brutucus and Grimlock chapters stood out for me. It was surprisingly fun to smash stuff.

Even the closing credits were pretty amazing. With “You Got the Touch”, blasting it brought back the absolute cheesyness of my youth.

A very fun game that lived up to the high hype I bestowed upon it.

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Video Games

Fallout New Vegas

Fallout New VegasYou know a game is really great when you’re sad to beat it. Fallout New Vegas was at times near addictive and I’m sure I put way too much of my time into it, but it was entertainment well spent. There’s just something fun about walking around a post apocalyptic world for me.

The many quests and story were excellent, however it was a bit buggy for console game. Freezing up, characters floating in the air, were fairly common. But apparently a patch that was just release the past week should resolve most of technical issues mentioned above. Despite these bugs, the game is still overall great.

I decided to side with Mr. House, so that was the route I took. I also took Cass and Rex as my companions towards the end. I had Boone for a while early on, but lost him somehow (a bug maybe?). There’s just so much to do in the game, there’s so many different ways the story can be played.

What a great game, thinking about picking up some of the additional downloadable content or maybe even playing it through again but taking a different path.

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Video Games

Halo: Reach

Halo: ReachJust finished up the campaign on Halo: Reach. It was great, difficult but not too impossible. This was the first Halo game that I really played,but since this was the prequel everything made sense.

The whole mood and setting of the game were extremely well done. You’re facing a dire invasion that you guys have no shot at all at winning, and the whole somber mood really is convincing with the soundtrack and dialog that takes place.

The production value in this was top notch, and it’s really amazing what game studios are able to produce these days. I’ll have to give online play a shot now.