Xbox 360 Game Reviews

In case you guys don’t know, Amazon has Call of Duty: World at War on Sale for $34.98. I just got the game, haven’t had time to test it for a proper review, but what I’ve seen so far… It’s definitely worth that price. Check it out.

Rating:

Yesterday, for Xbox Live Arcade, a free game was released called Dash of Destruction. It’s basically a giant advertisement for Doritos. The fact that it’s free is cool. The fact that it’s the winning result of a competition is pretty interesting, and maybe there will be more opportunities like this in the future. The fact that this is the best they could do with 1000’s & 1000’s of entries?! Not so much.

I’m not going to waste much time on this other than to say: The song in the game is so bad it makes me feel dizzy when I listen to it… It’s kind of funny to me. The game froze my 360 when I unlocked the first achievement. Other than that, I wouldn’t exactly call this game fun. The only real value I see it having is for those of you who are interesting in boosting your achievement points easily… Cuz… You know, that’s really important Once you waste your time doing that, there’s no point in keeping it on your hard drive.

We have been actively working on a new project lately that we hope you will all find interesting. It’s a new website that hopes to eventually become the net’s largest search-able database of user submitted video game video tutorials, cheats, and walkthoughs, etc. The site is GamerTubeTactics.com, bookmark it and check it out.

Here is a break down of the many features available now:

• Submit your own home made videos.
• Know of videos not on the site? Suggest videos videos from YouTube and 15 other video sources: Google Video, MySpace TV, MetaCafe, DailyMotion, Veoh, Current.com, ClipFish.de, MyVideo.de, Break.com, EyeSpot, FunnyOrDie, Trilulilu.ro, SevenLoad.com, Vimeo, Blip.tv.
• Create your own profile for free, upload your avatar, and post your gamertag card for all to see.
• Post comments, save favorite videos, and share them on your favorite social sites, forums, or email them to friends.
• Watch the videos in regular or full-screen mode.
• Many new features are on the way and the site is updated daily!

You will notice that the site is currently focusing on Xbox 360 gaming, but we will gladly open up more categories for any system out there… As long as there are videos for it. So if you need us to create space for your favorite vids. Don’t hesitate to let us know

So… Please check it out and start using it! We are so excited to finally be able to announce this project. If you run into any issues with the site feel free to contact me here, through the contact us form on GTT, or even through my XBL profile. Be patient, and we will look into each issue as quickly as possible. We are already having a blast using the site, and hope you do too!

GamerTubeTactics.com - Video Game Video Cheats, Achievements & Walkthroughs

Enjoy!

Rating:

The first five star rating goes to the first game I became passionate about for the Xbox 360, Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved. If you are into old-school style arcade shooters or casual games in general… You need to pick this up! If you’re not, I still advise you to give it a chance.

I didn’t fall in love with this game over night. It grew on me. When you first download and play the trial, you realize a couple of things: the game has a very minimal vector-graphic style, the controls are simple (steer, shoot, bombs), the sound effects are awesome but the main song is horrible, and this game gets really hard really fast. The game gets so hard so quickly that I’ve watched people throw the controller down as quickly as they picked it up.

The key to becoming less frustrated with this game is to learn the enemies behavior patterns and know how to react to them. Each shape is eventually trying to crash into you, but they each do it in their own way. Some wander around the arena, some chase you until you fire at them, etc. Eventually you find yourself surrounded by a swarms of 1000s of geometric shapes all on the screen at the same time, and the point is to not die and blow them up. The real fun of this game happens once you pass the 1,000,000 points stage and start going after the achievements. It is overwhelming and addictive like every game should be.

I don’t really have much criticism towards this game. Sure, the soundtrack is lame, but that doesn’t really matter when you play your favorite songs from the 360’s hard drive. There is a bug when certain enemies spawn that can be annoying causing you to die when you shouldn’t, but that’s pretty much it.

As a bonus, they included the original version of the game, which I personally find to be harder than the evolved version.

I had this game for over a year before I really started playing it seriously, and I finally realized how deep this game gets. I wish I understood earlier. It has to be the most worthwhile and fullfilling 400 Bill Gates Bucks I’ve ever spent. This game is simple in every way and it’s this simplicity that makes it perfect. Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved is a work of art. Get it.

Rating:

I figured I would just write something short and sweet to get into the swing of reviewing things in general. I have decided to review Galaga first because I believe it was the first game I ever downloaded from the Xbox Live Arcade.

When I purchased this I was pretty excited because there really wasn’t that many options available at the time. If you grew up in the 80’s playing games, this one was everywhere. Arcades, party stores, laundromats, you name it. I wish I knew how many quarters I’ve dumped into this machine throughout the years. Anyway, this game is a guilty pleasure for us old-school gamers out there.

Do I even need to explain this game? Just looking at the picture above, I would hope you grasped what is going on here. You move left to right shooting up at ships while they’re swooping down shooting at you. Simple stuff.

The game seems like an exact clone of the arcade version. They really didn’t do much to it, or leave anything out, that I can recall. The graphics are basic, the sounds are classic and the game itself is just good clean fun.

I’m giving this game a 3.5, mainly because I think it’s an above average port for the price, but it’s not a perfect release for this day and age. The biggest problem is the replay factor. There really isn’t one. Once you’ve unlocked all of the achievements, there really isn’t another reason to fire up the game ever again. Maybe some of you will want to break high scores or maybe you’re a fanatic, but for the majority of us out there, there’s just too many other things to play, and not enough time.

If you’re a fan of the arcade classic, in the mood for something casual that you can just pick up and play, and have the 400 points of Bill Gates Fun Money to spend, I definitely recommend making the purchase, even if it only entertains you for a day or two. Later.

This is just an observation I made the other day, but I would love to hear other people’s opinions if anyone else has noticed this, or am I making shit up?

Anyway, my 360 came with the standard controller that connects with a wire to the USB port. I eventually bought a second controller, the wireless one, because I just wanted to have it around in case I had company and we wanted to play whatever.

I coiled up the original controller, and began using the wireless one all the time… For no real reason other than wanting to get my money’s worth out of the purchase…I might as well use it right?

So, I started to notice that the batteries were starting to loose juice during the last couple of weeks. I figured I would play with it until they were completely dead before running out and replacing the batteries. The controller eventually started pausing whatever game I was playing, and told me to “Please insert a controller…” Once that started happening, I realized the batteries were dead.

Now here’s the thing, at the time, I was mainly playing Geometry Wars Evolved. If you are a fan of this game, you know that there is no room for error when it comes to blowing stuff up and staying alive. I also felt like I was having some sort of a problem with playing the game. Watching other people’s videos online, the game appeared to be easier for them, and I always felt as though I was missing something, or am I just mildly retarded?

The batteries died, I had nothing to replace them with lying around the house, so I dusted off the old wired controller, and got back to what I was doing. The game immediately (and almost magically) became easier and more responsive. I was destroying geometric shapes and staying alive longer than ever before, and I felt like a breathe of fresh air and a new feeling of hope was brought to the game. I am playing it more now than ever because those achievements no longer feel so far away.

Have you ever played a game with someone, they die, and they blame it on the controller? It’s pretty funny, and I know I’ve done it myself in the past. You yell, “I HIT THE FCUKING BUTTON!!!” But in reality, you simply made a mistake or you probably just suck.

There is definitely a lag issue with the wireless controller. Is the problem always there? Or, is it only there when the batteries are dying? I am interested in your thoughts.

To start things out…a friend tipped me off that Gamestop was having a buy two get one free used game sale yesterday. The guy working there was pretty helpful. He advised me against some games I had in my hand, and suggested some other things I was equally interested in checking out. I ended up walking out with The Orange Box, Condemned I, and Lost Planet. I will get back with whatever I think matters with all three games as soon as possible.