Review: Call of Duty: World at War (Xbox 360)

I'll kick of my first review ever by reviewing a game I've been playing a lot lately- Call of Duty: World at War. You'll notice that my reviews usually will be pretty short; I'll basically just say what I feel about the game and then give it my score. WaW (World at War) is a good shooter with the usual solid and responsive controls and the strategic, realistic (for a game) feel that has become the trademark of the Call of Duty series. It doesn't propel the series to a whole new level and make huge strides in gameplay, but it takes the solid CoD gameplay and adds a few things, and does a nice job where it tries. The new Nazi Zombies mode is amazing, playing that online with friends is definitely the best experience that came out of the game to me. The online match-making is fine, it follows the same formula as previous CoD games, and adds a few new things like dogs and tanks. The dogs are a nice touch, but I absolutely hate the tanks online. I feel like they're overpowered, and if a team manages to get both tanks on a map, forget it. The ability to do the campaign co-op (something I wish Modern Warfare 2 was going to include) is also a great thing that was missing from most of the previous games. The campaign itself was good, the levels were well-designed and challenging. It got a little long and repetitive in some parts, but as a whole it was a decent experience.

So while the game overall is good (maybe even great if you think about Nazi Zombies), what keeps it from being excellent (5-stars) is the fact that whether it's fair to this game or not, it's always going to be compared to Call of Duty 4. Yes, this game adds some stuff, which is nice, but it doesn't do anything ground-breaking enough to earn it that fifth star. Nazi-Zombies is somewhat ground-breaking and I have had a ton of fun with that, but in the end it is basically a mini-game that you cant even unlock until you beat the story (or buy the map packs), and when the game shipped it only included one map for that mode (though now there are 2 more if you buy both map packs for an extra $20). In fact, even though I mentioned mostly good things above, there were some things that weren't as good as CoD 4. The story, while decent, didn't evoke the same feelings (in a good way) as CoD 4, and especially the ending (even though the two endings are fairly similar). The whole story itself and the characters all seemed kind of bland (yes, even the one Jack Bauer voiced). They were given no back-stories, and everything about them was largely forgettable. I cant even remember their names now, and I beat the game under a week ago. While a shooter with gameplay this solid would usually be forgiven for that, (like I said before) this game will always be compared to CoD4, whether or not it's fair to this game. Also, I already mentioned that I didn't like the tanks in multiplayer, and the guns in the game as a whole weren't as good as CoD4's. Maybe they're supposed to be that way since they are all WWII guns while CoD4 is modern (technology has grown a lot in the last 60 years), but even so I felt like most of the guns in the game were throw-aways while there were maybe 3 or 4 that I actually liked using and felt effective with.

As for the graphics and sound, they were both great. No complaints there.

In Summary:

Pros: NAZI ZOMBIES!!!, some new add-ons to matchmaking, gameplay/controls, graphics, audio.

Cons: weak story/characters, tanks in matchmaking, many of the guns in the game are worthless.


FINAL SCORE: 4 out of 5.




Note: All reviews on this site are solely the subjective opinion of the author. While I try to look at media objectively, this is pretty much impossible (everyone has bias whether they admit it or not), so if you disagree with my review please feel free to post in a polite manner and state your opinion. I welcome respectful discussion on my blog and would love to get feedback on my review and also read yours. Thanks!

Reviews

I've decided that from now on I'm going to use this blog mainly for the purpose of reviewing different types of media that I experience. This could be anything, but will mostly consist of video games, movies, television shows, books, and maybe other forms of electronics occasionally. I dont know how often I'll actually want to sit down and write a review of something, but that seems like the best use I can find for this blog right now. I will also still rant about stuff once in a while if I feel the need.

For my reviews, I'm going to use a very basic 5 star system (much like the show X-Play does). 5 out 5 stars is basically perfect (or very close), while 1 out of 5 stars is a complete failure. I wont usually give half-stars, but I do reserve the right to do it in rare circumstances where something really does fall directly between two categories. For a bit more detailed description of my rating system, I'm going to cut and paste a section from the Wikipedia site of X-Play where they describe X-Play's rating system (source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/X-Play):

The video game reviews on X-Play use a five-point rating scale, based on such factors as graphics, sound, gameplay, and playability(i.e. replay value). On X-Play's original TechTV homepage,^[10] the ratings system was broken down in the following way:

“

1 - Hated it. Do not buy this game. Not even worth the bargain bin. Run from it. Escape!! Escape!! 2 - Alright. These games are fun, with some good points, but nothing special. There's definitely a few specific things holding this game back. Wait until the price comes down or pick it up as [a] renter to check out some of the things it does right. 3 - Good. Fun to play, pretty solid titles, with a few minor flaws. Most games will probably fall into this category. They're the games that if you like the genre, or liked other similar titles, you might consider giving it a good look. Otherwise, you might not be into it. 4 - Very good. Games that are at the top of all our lists, but are missing that strange intangible aura of perfection, and unfortunately that's keeping them from getting in the realm of the almighty five. 5 - Near perfect/perfect. If you're a true player, these games will undoubtedly be in your collection, or at the very least you'll have played them until the cartridges and CDs melted. If a game gets a 5, and you like the genre, you should buy.

”

In a 2007 episode billed as a "primer on our scoring system",^[11] Adam and Morgan further elaborated on their ratings scale:

• A score of 1 is a game that "has to produce true crappiness, [through] the full cooperation of an entire development team - level designers taking off early to attend their children's soccer games, animators getting so high during their lunchbreak that they can't operate their mouse, and of course money hungry execs who will release anything if they can dupe kids into begging their moms for it."

Example Given: 50 Cent: Bulletproof

• A score of 2 "is such a difficult score to give, because it requires a game that fundamentally fails, but has a barely redeeming charm which makes it untenable to give a 1; it's that Suddenly Susan cocktail of technical competence floated atop a pile of dreck."

Example Given: Genji: Days of the Blade

• There are different levels to a score of 3 - "there's the 3 that's a mix of very good and very bad elements (like Blood Will Tell) or 3's that have a great concept that's poorly executed (like Railroads!), and then there's those 3's that are just churned out because they know people will buy them even though there's nothing original in it (like every FIFA game ever)."

Example Given: Sid Meier's Railroads!

• "There are really two kinds of games that get 4's regularly: these are great games with significant problems (like Dead Rising) and games that are amazing but just aren't suited for everyone (the Warhammer: Dark Crusade expansion or any of the Sims expansions are good examples)."

Example Given: Dead Rising

• Titles that earn a perfect 5 out of 5 are "those magnificent games which, whatever minor flaws they may have, call out to us and say, 'Buy me, you must buy me' ... "

Example Given: Ōkami

During this episode, the hosts also explained why they use a 5-point ratings system, rather than a 10- or even 100-point scale:

Morgan: Our system is better because it recognizes that scores are broad generalizations. Adam: For example, a popular web site gave Mobile Suit Gundam: Crossfire a score of 3.0 out of 10. They gave Torino 2006 a 3.9. What is the difference? Morgan: Both games suck, all the score is gonna be able to communicate to you is that the game is bad. If you want more nuance on the suckage, you have to actually go and read the review. See, in a 10-point scale, everything under 5 just means 'this game ain't worth buying', so there's no real difference. Adam: And there's no real nuance to a score difference of two- or three-tenths of a point. Our scores at least give sweeping generalizations for you to use as a guide.

DLC and Killian's Red

A quick intro for people who dont know: DLC is short for downloadable content, and is a term mainly used for video game add-ons. You download this DLC usually through whichever console you have's online service (whether it be for Xbox 360, PS3, or PC) and it adds something new to your game, like new levels, characters to play as, maps, weapons, etc. It varies for each game. You also have to pay extra for this new content, and the prices vary from game to game, but they usually fall into the range of around $10 each (once in a while something is free, but it's rare). So for example, there's DLC for games like Gears of War 2 and Halo 3 which consist of new maps for their multiplayer modes. You cannot play these maps unless you buy the extra content. For games like The Force Unleashed, Fable 2, and Fallout 3 (who do not have multiplayer modes, and yes I'm purposely not counting Fable 2's so-called "multiplayer"), there is DLC that adds new missions or quests the the story that you can play through even if you already beat the game.

So, with that out of the way, here are my personal feelings on DLC. I like it, and I think it's a good thing for games and most gamers. Assuming you only buy DLC for games you like (why would you pay for an add-on to a game you hated?), it allows you to play that game longer, and gives games more replayability. But I also think that often we are overcharged for it. Take for example Halo 3's new "Mythic Map Pack," three maps for $10 (800 MS points). Three. Maps. To quote Gob: "COME ON!" (the Halo 3 map pack dropping today is what inspired this rant... I mean post). The entire game of Halo 3 only cost $60 when it came out, and included several multiplayer maps, a whole single player campaign, and, oh yeah, the whole game design which the DLC are based off of itself. It just seems to me that 3 new maps (one of which is only useful if you like to build maps yourself, which I dont) should cost 1/6 of what the original game itself did. That being said, I bent over and took one from Microsoft/Bungie today, as I did in fact spend the $10 to buy the maps. But I am not happy about it. Same thing with Gears of War 2 (which I have not purchased any DLC from)- they have a couple of map packs out that have four maps each and also cost $10 each. For four maps each, that's still a little expensive for my blood.

Also, the Resident Evil 5 DLC got me a little upset, but not because of the price, but because it really should have shipped with the game or have been free. The versus mode is fun, and it was only $5 (400 MS points), but you could tell that the mode was already programmed into the game (the download was less that 2MB and the item in the menu for "Versus" was already there, but with "???????" until you buy the DLC), and they basically made you spend $5 to unlock it. I hope this doesn't develop into a trend where developers release new games with certain modes, maps, characters, weapons, etc. already built into the game at release, but then just make you pay extra to unlock them online.

While most of this post has been negative, I would like to say some good things for a moment. Although I still thought the price was too high, I did really enjoy Fallout 3's DLC "The Pitt" (Operation Anchorage was okay, but the only really good thing that came out of that was the scoped Gauss Cannon). Also, I would like to take a moment and praise Valve, whose upcoming DLC for Left 4 Dead is going to be free. The DLC will add a survival mode where players see how long they can last against wave after wave of zombies (think horde mode from GOW2), and will unlock the other two maps from campaign mode to be used in versus mode (which is something that probably should have been released with the game, but that is why I assume Valve is making it free). Thanks Valve! I hope other developers take note of this a realize that if you're not releasing something actually new for a game, you really shouldn't charge for it.

Lastly, for anyone who likes beer and hasn't tried George Killian's Irish Red, I would really recommend it (especially if you like ales). I had it once a long time ago, but I couldn't really remember what is was like and if I liked it or not, so I went and got some on a whim yesterday. Delicious.

P.S. I didn't feel like spell checking this after I wrote it all, so sorry for any typos/grammatical errors. If you find any, feel free to point them out in the comments and I will fix them.

Check out this website

mikepouch.com

Check out this website for some pretty cool random stuff. It's run by a friend of mine. There's some free music to download.

My All-time Favorite Video Games

I decided to make a list of my top 15 favorite video games of all time (and then some honorable mentions). This is taken from a note I originally wrote on Facebook. On my list, after the video game's title (at least for the top 15) I put the genre, the company, and what platform I mainly played it on. Also, expansion packs (which is what is after the "/" on some games) and DLC all count toward the original game. So here is my list:

My All-time Favorite Video Games:

1. Baldur’s Gate II: Shadows of Amn/Throne of Bhaal
RPG, Fantasy
Bioware/Black Isle
PC

The best RPG I've ever played. Great story, even better characters. This game has enough content and re-playability to keep even hardcore gamers busy for a long, long time.

2. Neverwinter Nights/Shadows of Undrentide/Hordes of the Underdark
RPG, Fantasy
Bioware
PC

The single-player was good, but what really made this game special for me was the online. Being able to create your own world online and then have other people play it while you joined or DMed was simply amazing. This game was one of the first MMORPGs (that I know of), and it was free.

3. Oblivion
Action, RPG, Fantasy
Bethesda
Xbox 360

Great fantasy game with unique level up system and great character customization. Runs really smoothly and really lets you get immersed in the huge world. Great graphics. The only thing that wasn't that great was the combat.

4. Fallout 3
Action, RPG, Science fiction
Bethesda
Xbox 360

Much like Oblivion, but much better combat (I love V.A.T.S.), and a very different world. Where Oblivion had lush forests, snow covered mountains, and sprawling cities, Fallout 3 is a desert-like world that has been destroyed by nuclear war and huge amounts of radiation. Very well made game.

5. Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic
RPG, Sci-fi
Bioware/LucasArts
Xbox
Great story, and one of the best plot twists ever. Character customization was great too (especially if you're a Star Wars fan). Very good cast of NPCs.

6. Madden 06
Sports
EA
Xbox

My favorite sports game. I put countless hours into years and years of multiple franchises, and somehow I never got tired of it. This was the peak of Madden games (IMO) before they decided to redo the whole system for the next-gen consoles in Madden 07. I still play this game more than any other Madden (I own 09 too), even with the badly outdated rosters.

7. The Orange Box
Shooter, Horror, Sci-fi, Puzzle
Valve
Xbox 360

What can you say about The Orange Box? It's kind of unfair to the other games on this list, seeing how it's actually 5 games in 1. I still haven't completed Half-Life 2, but I'd have to say it's probably my favorite shooter (with Bioshock in a close second: see below). Portal is sheer genius, and GLaDOS has to be my favorite villain ever in a video game. My only problem with Portal is how short it is and how you cant download user made content on the Xbox 360. Team Fortress 2 is probably the weak link of the group, but it's not a bad game. The class based multiplayer is fun, but it doesn't have dedicated servers, and not many people play on Xbox Live anymore. Also, I never liked how each map has only one type of game that can be played on it (capture the flag, territories, etc.)

8. Bioshock
Shooter, Horror, Sci-fi
2K Games
Xbox 360

Great shooter. The setting of this game (Rapture) is completely awesome, and so is the mood and ambiance of the game. Good mix of guns and super powers, and who can forget fighting the Big Daddys? I felt the story/plot twist was a little weak, but the game itself plays great. Also, this game has the best intro/opening of any game IMO.

9. Mass Effect
RPG, Action, Sci-fi
Bioware
Xbox 360

Great RPG with a great story and character customization. I thought the combat could get a little annoying, but overall a very enjoyable experience (like most Bioware games).

10. Jade Empire
RPG, Action, Fantasy
Bioware
Xbox

Another great Bioware game, but unlike their previous RPGs, this was an action RPG, meaning that you actually controlled your character during combat. Once again, a great story with great character customization. Also, another great plot twist.

11. Super Mario RPG
RPG
Nintendo/Square Enix
Super Nintendo

My favorite game growing up. I still usually play through it once a year on an emulator. Great combat system, and probably my first experience of an RPG. Also a pretty humorous game at times.

12. X-Men Legends II: Rise of Apocalypse
Action, RPG, Comic
Activision/Raven Software
Xbox

I love the X-Men (especially Cyclops), so I was already biased toward this game. A great cast of characters you can pick from, and a good mix of an action "beat 'em up" game with RPG elements and great character customization/level up process.

13. Left 4 Dead
Shooter, Horror
Valve
Xbox 360
Another great shooter from Valve. L4D is very light on plot, but that's the point. It's the online multiplayer (especially versus mode) that keeps me coming back to this game. This game is beautifully simple.

14. Baldur’s Gate I/Tales of the Sword Coast
RPG, Fantasy
Bioware/Black Isle
PC

Another great RPG (especially for its time). Not as much character development and interaction as BG2, but this game laid the foundation and has a good story and a well made world (Faerun) to explore.

15. Warcraft III/The Frozen Throne
RTS, Fantasy
Blizzard
PC
A good story mode, though I haven't played that much of it. I mainly played this game online with friends, and have some great memories from doing so. Also, the fact that this game is still played by millions of people today (along with Starcraft) and has a ton of mods and user-created game types speaks for how well-made it is.

Honorable Mentions (in no particular order):

Marvel Ultimate Alliance (Xbox 360)- Not as good as X-Men Legends II, but a good superhero beat 'em up game with a cool cast of characters.

Star Wars: Battlefront II (Xbox)- Really fun TPS (third person shooter) with great levels and the ability to go from land to space and vice-versa. The vehicles and heroes are awesome too.

Baldur’s Gate: Dark Alliance II (PS2/Xbox)- Fun hack and slash game.

Icewind Dale II (PC)- A good RPG that I played a lot. The story and characters dont measure up to BG2, but still a fun game with good combat.

Civilization: Call to Power (PC)- My introduction to turn based strategy. More simple than most civ games, but still enjoyable.

Starcraft/Brood Wars (PC)- Great RTS. Still played all over the world today.

Super Paper Mario (Wii)- Going from 2D to 3D whenever you want is pretty awesome. It makes for some very interesting puzzles/combat. Also a funny game with well-written dialogue.

Super Mario World (SNES)- Flying with the yellow cape was revolutionary at the time. This game also introduced Yoshi.

Donkey Kong Country (SNES)- A great side-scroller with amazing graphics for its time.

Super Mario Kart (SNES)- The beginning of the Mario Kart Franchise.

Pokemon Red & Blue (Game Boy)- Almost everyone played this. Leveling your Pokemon and catching new ones was always a lot of fun. And you could trade with/battle your friends.

Mario Tennis (N64)- I cant wait for the release of this on the Wii virtual console. Well made game with great characters and controls. There were some pretty intense matches of this in college.

Mario Kart Wii (Wii)- The latest Mario Kart game. Adds a lot of cool features.

Braid (Xbox 360)- Great puzzle game. Really cool story with deep characters, but not in the way that usually means. You really have to play this game to understand why it's so great.

Myst (PC)- Awesome puzzle game. Who would have thought that a game where you are the only person around the whole time could be so interesting and captivating?

Rock Band (Xbox 360)- Played this a lot in college. Still my favorite collection of songs in a game (until Beatles Rock Band comes out).

NFL Street 2 (Xbox)- Fun, over the top sports game. Own the City was a really cool game mode.

Halo: Combat Evolved (Xbox)- The start of the Halo series, I played a lot of great system link games my first year of college. I also loved the pistol, which was never quite the same in the games following.

Perfect Dark (N64)- Awesome shooter with great weapons, co-op play, and the ability to play with bots. Way ahead of its time.

Star Wars: X-Wing (PC)- Star Wars space flight simulator. The A-Wing was always my favorite to fly.

Command & Conquer: Red Alert (PC)- Used to play this online a lot through a dial-up connection.

Age of Empires (PC)- Another great RTS game.

Wizardry: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord (NES)- A really old school RPG with close to no graphics, but still fun.

Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (Xbox 360)- Great shooter that plays really well. Has a solid story with good characters, and the multiplayer leveling system is very deep and really well done.

The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening (Game Boy)- The only Zelda game I ever played all the way through. Was a lot of fun. I liked that hook-shot.


So, there you have it. Feel free to comment/disagree/agree with me on anything, or even post your own list if you have time. PLEASE NOTE: I am not saying that these are the best games ever made. They are just my personal favorites.

Start Me Up

I've decided I'm going to try blogging a little bit and see what happens. On this blog, I will write about whatever I'm currently interested in. This will usually include things like video games, sports, music, movies, and anything else I feel like writing about. This isn't going to be a Xanga or any sort of diary. Feel free to comment on any of my posts, hopefully this will eventually spark some interesting conversation.

Upset

I cant believe the Giants won, and even though I was rooting for the Patriots (because I hate the Giants), I'm not even upset because I am so impressed by the way they played. In my opinion the Pats certainly didn't play their best game, and I think at their best they can beat any team in the NFL, including the Giants. But what they had the potential to do doesn't mean anything anymore. Tonight the Giants were the better team. Their defense destroyed the Pats' o-line, and they got a lot of pressure on Tom Brady. Teams this season tried to blitz Brady, but not many of them actually got hits on him like the Giants did tonight. The Giants offense didn't play amazing, but they did enough to get the win. I hope Giants fans enjoy the next few months as world champions, because I dont see the Giants becoming the next dynasty and winning any more superbowls in the next few years. The Giants are not an amazing team, and even with their win tonight I dont think they are the best team in the NFL. But they got on a roll coming into the playoffs and had luck on their side and managed to squeeze out a superbowl win.