andPOP » XBox Reviews

No Doubt Sue Activision for Band Hero Manipulation

Emma Renda — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 19:30:00 +0000

In yet another case of The Music vs. Acitivision, No Doubt are filing a lawsuit against the makers of Band Hero.

The suit contends the game “transformed No Doubt band members into a virtual karaoke circus act,” and the use of the band members’ avatars far exceeded anything agreed upon in the contract, according to the Los Angeles Times. One aspect of the game allows players to manipulate their characters into singing songs by other artists, for example having lead singer Gwen Stefani sing “Honky Tonk Woman” by the Rolling Stones.

“While No Doubt are avid fans of the Rolling Stones and even have performed in concerts with the Rolling Stones, the Character Manipulation Feature results in an unauthorized performance by the Gwen Stefani avatar in a male voice boasting about having sex with prostitutes,” the complaint reads.

The complaint also claims Activision withheld information on the Character Manipulation Feature, and allegedly told the band after they had requested to the have the function disabled that it would be too expensive to do so.

Initially, No Doubt signed on to having their likenesses used for only three of their own songs in the game, but wound up appearing in more than 60 songs either as a band or solo. The lawsuit asks for actual and punitive damages that are as yet unspecified, a temporary restraining order and a permanent injunction stopping the distribution of Band Hero, as well as a recall of any existing copies.

The complaint argues the songs No Doubt appear on “include lyrics, contained in iconic songs, which are not appropriate for No Doubt and have not been chosen by No Doubt for recordings or public performances.”

“The band [members] are bitterly disappointed that their name and likeness was taken and used without their permission,” band manager Jim Guerinot told the Los Angeles Times. “They agreed to play three No Doubt songs as a band. . . . Activision then went and put them in 62 other songs and broke the band up [and] never even asked.”

As for Activision, they must be getting used to this sort of thing after coming under fire from both Dave Grohl and Courtney Love on behalf of Kurt Cobain when his likeness was used with the same Character Manipulation Feature.

Activision is claiming No Doubt’s suit is “without merit” and the company is now exploring its own legal options with respect to No Doubt’s obligations under the agreement.”

Game Review: NFL Madden 10

Josh Salem — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 21:12:43 +0000

The pig skin never looked so good

I’ve never been a huge fan of football (American football for those reading overseas). I never enjoyed playing it in the real world, I never enjoyed watching it. But playing it digitally was always a blast. My first Madden experience was on my original Gameboy in 1996, and would you believe it spoke? Like real audible words!

Now, before I dive into the game, I wanted to point something out. Madden 10 is not for someone who doesn’t understand the finer details of football. You can get by with basic knowledge, and with the help of the Madden quiz, practice, and the virtual trainer included in the title, you can pick it up very quickly. Just don’t expect to buy the game, read the manual and kick ass online.

As the game evolved with technological advances and thanks to EA’s talented abilities, the graphics grew astronomically. From legs jittering, yards moving by slowly and other players moving frame by frame towards you to full motion captured pretty movements from all over the field, Madden 10’s attention to detail were just astronomical. The fluid movement in each player as they hurl forward, deke in a hundred different ways, and look around for openings give players an eerie feeling that they are actually controlling real people in some alternate universe of god-like power. The texture of grass, fans chompin hotdogs and tossing towels, and even the detail of each stadium; from the biggest effects like weather to the smallest details like seat arrangement. Madden 10 raised the bar yet again for graphical quality in a football game. Just as long as you don’t mind seeing freakishly odd shaped facial features of the players up close. My favourite graphical aspect? The shakey cam as players run for a touchdown. What I didn’t like graphically? The sponsored replays, granted it does make things more realistic, but for the amount I’m paying for a game I don’t want sponsored ads in my face. What’s next to increase the realism, commercials in between plays?

Sound wise, while Madden 10 boasts Hammond and Collinsworth’s commentary. I understand it’s hard to have good commentary in a game people will play for hours on end, over and over again. I just wasn’t feeling it. They tried, I feel the effort is there, but otherwise it just seemed a little unpolished, especially compared to the graphics. Again, the commentary at times sounds like it was just random words pieced together after the fact, not smooth and realistic in the forms of speaking to say the least. While the commentary is varied and often times customized and useful, after a while you begin to hear the same phrases and comments time and time again. In terms of the sound track, I would have to admit that while I first expected many frat anthems, after playing through and taking a look at what the game had to offer, I think this may have very well been my favourite sound track in a sporting video game. Music from 2Pac, Alice in Chains,Beastie Boys, Mastodon, System of a Down, and Nirvana, just to give fans out there a feel for what’s available. As always otherwise the smashes, tackles, and whistles all sound realistic and well done. EA is good with these kinds of noises by now.

In terms of gameplay, there is just so much depth and detail to every aspect of Madden 10 that I would be here for months writing about it all, and you for weeks reading and soaking it all in. For the sake of both time and sanity I’ll just provide you with a rundown of ALL the modes of play and the feel of gameplay itself, and trust me, there’s a lot to discuss. To start off, let’s talk about what’s new and all the talk about Madden 10 over Madden ‘09; Online franchise mode allows up and coming NFL manager types to take the franchise mode they loved, and play it online, much in the same way one could play it offline in ‘09, this is again souped up with things like The Extra Point a little segment that summarizes what had happened in the week before. As well, aspects throughout the game have been somewhat tweaked (some times well, sometimes not so well) as the passing system and feel have been improved to new levels as well as the tackle system which provides gamers with new and more innovative ways to bring the pain to their competition. Other aspects new to the game also include more realistic gameplay including pile-ons, fumbles, and a somewhat slower – less arcade like speed to simulate real life. My favourite new feature in Madden 10 may have to be the small details they added in, like Superbowl patches to the jerseys during, well… The Superbowl. Actually playing the game gives a lot of power to the player, being able to tweak nearly every aspect of Madden and having access to so many plays, variables, and being able to alter all of these gives fans nearly endless possibilities… That is, IF you know what you are doing, which takes time, research, and practice for those new to the Madden world. For those that are new to the game, again, there are methods to get you up to speed, but for those who are seasoned pros – the difficulty levels are there for them. Personally, I found Madden 10 to be challenging, hard even, on the easy difficulty… But then again, I found NHL 10 to be just as hard, and I’m a bigger hockey fan than football. The control layout for Madden 10 has been perfected year after year, and from what I can remember from last year’s title, they have remained the same, an aspect myself (and I hope many others) appreciate. The controls are set up perfectly for this football romp and from controlling the QB to audibles, the flick of a joystick or click of a button is all that is needed to score that hail mary touchdown. Like I said before, there are A LOT of game modes and options; for an overall feel, check out our Madden ‘09 review which can be found here, otherwise just play the game and see for yourself, I think you’d like it – especially if your a football fan.

Overall like most sports titles, lasting appeal is never an issue. You can play against computers over and over again, play against your friends until you go blue in the face. If you get too good for the game you can always up the difficulty, choose teams with lower stats, or play with one hand tied behind your back. Beat everyone you know, all the computer settings and used every team out there? Madden 10 boasts one of the best online modes available from single games to leagues to online franchise mode. While I enjoyed playing (and getting beaten severely) playing online, I did experience quite some lag while playing my opponent, both of us located in Canada, and both with broadband connections.

Madden 10 is exactly what you would expect from the leading football developers who launch a new title every year. Some new features, some improvements, some aspects that still need work (but mostly all improvements in themselves). If you’re a football fan you owe it to yourself to pick up Madden 10, if however you are on a budget and can’t afford a new title, Madden ‘09 can still do what you need it to do and enjoy on a regular basis. You just won’t get the best of what’s available without Madden 10.

Graphics: 4.0 / 5.0
Gameplay 4.0 / 5.0
Sound 3.5 / 5.0
Lasting appeal 4.5 / 5.0

Game Review: Batman: Arkham Asylum

Brett.Caron — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 18:43:33 +0000

Who the hell do you think I am? I'm the goddamn Batman.

Have you ever danced with the devil in the pale moonlight? It’s something I ask of all my readers… I just like the sound of it.

And with that not-so-obscure reference, we begin our review of Batman: Arkham Asylum, which is the best game of 2009. Yes, I am saying that in October.

I have been drooling over this game for months now, and anxiously anticipating doing this review. Now, as much as I would like to give an unbiased and honest review of Batman: Arkham Asylum, that is impossible. I am a huge Batman fanboy (Batboy?) and although this will be a fair and balanced review, I am obviously biased in some respects. I mean, I am literally wearing a Batman T-shirt right now, and not even for the purpose of this review. Just ‘cause, suckers.

But I digress. This game is set over the course of one night on Arkham Island. Batman has apprehended the Joker, and hauls him back to the asylum. Joker doesn’t really mind though, and proceeds to take over the asylum and release the inmates. Great. Now Bats has to pick up all the pieces.

Quite possibly the coolest feature of this game is the nature of the gameplay itself. You don’t just run into rooms to find a group of baddies and subsequently dispatch them. Okay, you do – but not all the time. You don’t just prowl from room to room in the shadows, sneaking up behind guys and taking them out without a sound. Okay, you do – but not all the time. You don’t just solve puzzles and riddles. Okay, you get the point.

I'm totally going to win that giant stuffed gorilla.

The seamless transition from the gangbang combats to invisible predator rooms to the riddles and whatnot in between really make this game flow exceptionally well. That’s actually the primary element of this game -flow. The combat is actually called Freeflow Combat – using your various attacks to open up a can of Bat-Whoop-Ass on the various miscreants you encounter throughout the game by seamlessly landing blow after blow on opponent after opponent rather than one at a time. You can even mix in attacks from the various gadgets you acquire over the course of the game – the Batarang, Batclaw and Shark-Repellant Bat-Spray. Okay, not that last one.

There are some games out there that have alternative modes of play that are not exactly the greatest thing to ever happen to gaming. Arkham Asylum is not one of these games. The challenge modes are amazing – each of which is basically one of the different combat rooms you will encounter throughout the game. This allows you to pick up Arkham Asylum anytime, and run through as much or as little of the different facets of this game at your leisure – which I have done ad nauseum. Even more awesome – there is downloadable content that allows you to go on a murderous rampage as none other than the one and only Clown Prince of Crime – the Joker, however, only on the PlayStation 3. The lack of grappling hook and gliding is made up for with the awesomeness of walking around the challenge rooms dispatching guards with kicks to the nuts, exploding-chattering teeth, kicks to the nuts and a legit gun. Yes, Joker straight-up murders people with a gun. Also, he kicks them in the nuts – did I mention that?

In this reviewer’s not-so-humble opinion, the pinnacle of the gameplay is the Invisible Predator mode. When I think of Batman, I think of moments like the scene in Batman Begins where the criminals are being picked off one by one, growing ever more terrified as their numbers dwindle. This is the epitome of Batman and also the core element of the Invisible Predator style of gameplay. For me, it just doesn’t get any better than grappling from gargoyle to gargoyle in the shadows, gliding down behind a gun-wielding psychopath and choking him into unconsciousness, then hanging upside-down in the shadows and grabbing his buddy when he comes to help. If the criminals are terrified, then bonus – more on that later.

Hello, my name is Joker. And this is my friend, Obscenely Large Revolver.

The Detective Mode is more likely than not the mode you will view the majority of the game in. Although sacrificing the gorgeous graphics somewhat, you can see everything that is pertinent to the mission at hand and more, from vent covers that can be removed and entered, to lingering bad breath or tobacco traces in the air. While reducing the challenging element of problem solving, it doesn’t really matter – the game remains moderately challenging puzzle-wise with the ever-narcissistic Riddler hitting you with clues to the hundreds of enigmas and brain-teasers throughout Arkham Island. Detective Mode also allows you to view enemies through walls, and examine their armament and status – status meaning whether they are Calm, Nervous, Terrified or Crazed. Try to keep the enemies Terrified – they start shooting at noises in the darkness, and basically turn into whiny 8-year old girls.

As I mentioned earlier, the graphics in Arkham Asylum are gorgeous. Simply gorgeous. The dark, gothic atmosphere of Gotham and Arkham (hey, did you ever notice those are spelled similarly?) are captured perfectly. The environment almost has a personality – brooding, dark and malicious. The animations on the enemies are smooth and functional at worst, disturbing and frenetic at best – exactly what you would expect from the psychos and maniacs stalking the halls of the asylum. However, they tend to fall limp in unrealistic ways when you knock them out, but it’s a minor issue. The animations on the main characters are even better. By main characters of course, I mean Batman – and his cape. The cloak is almost a character unto itself, flowing behind you when you run, snapping out into a wing-like profile when you glide, and gradually becoming more tattered and ripped as Batman’s night gets worse.

Where the hell did I park the car?

The sounds of Arkham are also very conducive to the mood – the only way the soundtrack could be better would be if it had a bit more variety to it – low strings and baritone throughout – or if Danny Elfman just did the score. Speaking of nostalgia, the voice acting is superb, with the quintessential voices from the DC Animated universe coming on board – Kevin Conroy as the Dark Knight, and the amazing Mark Hamill as the Joker. Heath Ledger, step aside – for this incarnation of the Joker, the Force is strong with this one.

I thoroughly enjoyed Batman: Arkham Asylum. It combines all the elements of an exceptional game – graphics, solid and intuitive gameplay that isn’t oversimplified or overly complex, and an atmosphere and story that draws in the gamer allowing them to fully appreciate all the other elements of the game. All these elements come together to stomp more face than a professional face stomper – wearing stompin’ boots.

You didn’t think really I’d end my review of a Batman game without mentioning face-stomping, did you?

Cheers.

Gameplay – 5/5

Graphics – 5/5

Sound – 5/5

Replay Value – 5/5

Halo 3: ODST on andPOP

Josh Salem — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 16:22:47 +0000

Jordan had the opportunity recently to preview the latest big name from Bungie as he took out covenant scum with some of the best in Halo 3: ODST exclusively for the Xbox 360 out now. I guess dropping into hell feet first ain’t so bad.

Game Review: NHL 10

Josh Salem — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 16:55:27 +0000

There are two things I have never done. 1) I have never gotten so into a sporting event that I yelled for (or at) a team or player. 2) I have never gotten so into a video game that I jumped up, yelled at the screen, and swore. NHL 10 for the Xbox 360 made me do both, and I have to admit, I liked it.

I’ve never been an emotional gamer, and I’ve never been that much into sports (then again, as a Canadian, I feel there’s a default certain level of national pride we all share with hockey), but when playing as the Toronto Maple leafs and winning 2-1 on game seven against Ottawa for the Stanley Cup and with less than 1 minute left in the third period you can’t help but get a little into it when Ottawa scores the tying goal with seconds left on the clock. Yes, I jumped up, yes my voice got loud and shrill, and yes I did say some things that would make a sailor blush. I think this was the most rewarding aspect of NHL 10, that after 17 past NHL titles, EA still has what it takes to make a casual hockey fan into a raving sports fanatic, and I didn’t see it coming.

Basically what’s new from last year to this beyond some new features such as playing the boards, first person fighting, and last ditch attempts at shots is the focus of the game, which now has a much stronger scope on the intensity and fierceness of playoffs and winning the Stanley cup.

For those new to video games, NHL 10 is a hockey simulator (more so than a game as each year passes) in which you are presented with a myriad of gaming options beyond just playing a game of hockey (oh Blades of Steel, how I miss you). How many game modes you ask? well there’s: Battle for the Cup Now Mode in which you are sent straight to the finals of the playoffs, Playoff Mode where you can take part in any type of post-season play from any of the leagues available (NHL, OHL and more), Season Mode in which you choose a league type customize your season preferences and decide if you want to take part in a fantasy draft with all new full roster control mode. We are also given one of my favourite features, Be A Pro Mode in which you create your own character and control only that player as he is drafted, trained and even sent back to the minors based on your personal performance. I found this mode to be extremely interesting as it seemed to be the most realistic, heck, if you get a penalty you have to sit in the box and watch from the side as you feel shame (Slapshots reference anyone?). Performance Tracker Mode shows off your hockey cards (bonuses and achievements… kind of), stats, and milestones related to your profile career. Tournament mode allows for 8 or 16 teams in a world tournament to see what country is the best, and apparently the Montreal Canadiens Centennial team is the one to beat. Create a Play mode allows you too… well, create a play, Practice mode gives you a minimal tutorial (sure it shows you how to play, but no matter how much I practice, I still suck at the game). Online play mode allows for multiple online variations of the game including league play, My NHL 10 mode allows you to create your own custom player, manage rosters, deal with media via the media hub, and more. My Pro mode allows you to go into the hockey shop and buy new equipment, track your performance, and edit attributes. Finally my favourite mode in the game, Be a GM Mode.

Rock'em Sock'em Hockey!

Now, as you can see, there are ALOT of ways to play NHL 10, and as my favourite is the new Be a GM Mode I guess you can decipher that I’m just not that good at the actual hockey playing. I can hold my own (in rookie mode), but for the life of me I rarely ever score goals. In comparison to other sports GM modes however, I found NHL 10’s to be lacking, aside from making trades with your Blackberries (the higher your rank, the more Blackberries you get to use) and drafting there really isn’t much more else involved, you can increase your employee stats but from what I found in the 5 years of being a GM, it doesn’t really make a difference. The good news though, is that if I become the GM of the Maple Leafs, they will win the Stanley Cup in 2014!

We’re not here to read all about the different modes and what I thought of them though, we’re here for hockey! so lets talk about how it actually plays out. The default controls are intuitive, left stick controls your skates, right controls your stick for easy deking and aiming shots. If it gets a little complicated there are many other control schemes to choose from, my alternative favourite being NHL ‘94 mode with the only buttons being B to shoot (or check) and A to pass (or switch players), simple. Now otherwise the only other control schemes I think worth talking about in this review would be the wall play and fighting. Wall play if you have the puck and are near the wall push Y and you brace yourself against the wall so that you may kick the puck to a teammate. Alternatively if you are near someone doing just that, you can force a player onto the walls and steal the puck from them. Now fighting is by far my favourite part of actually playing the hockey game, first person fighting, after the whistle action, instigation, it’s all improved in such a way that you can fight almost whenever you want. When fighting you’re brought into first person mode: left stick moves your body, right stick aims your fists of fury; as well you can tug on your opponent’s jersey, perform upper cuts and if you want to chicken out, you can pull both shoulder buttons and turtle.

Graphically NHL 10 is superior to NHL ‘09, but then again, isn’t that always the case? Smooth animations, motion captured skaters, reflections and now especially crowd interactions (banging on the windows, swinging team colours around during playoffs and whatnot). This is EA Sports, the annual NHL title, it’s got to be the best of the best, the most polished out there and as such it has a lot to live up to. I’m here to tell you that it does live up to it’s expectations, amazing realistic graphics and not a single glitch to be found.

Dragon Force just screams hockey anthem, doesn't it?

Music is another story. While NHL 10 has a number of big songs from the likes of Green Day, CKY, and Dragon Force; and they’re all great songs, I found they didn’t really mesh with the game. Especially when playing in non-hockey modes like Be a GM the heavy strong songs just keep playing over and over and while I enjoy the tunes, songs that pump you up for a game, kind of confuse you when negotiating a trade. Grunts and whistles are standard fair but what I feel most players are interested in would be the voice commentary? Is it annoying? Does it repeat often? Luckily the answer to both is no. As Gary Thorne and Bill Clement come back from NHL ‘09, NHL 10 has similar banter from great voices in hockey and there are enough specific commentary calls to keep players interested in what they have to say time and time again.

Overall if your a fan of hockey games, you probably already own NHL 10, however, if you’re like me and haven’t really gotten into a hockey title since NHL ‘99, this year is as good as any to dive back in due to the many options in terms of difficulty and control. However, I have to warn you, there is quite a steep learning curve for those new to the title, trust me, I’ve been playing for a while now and I still suck (yes, I guess it could be that I just overall suck but… let’s not go there). With a plethora of options, game modes, and online play (I was just invited to an online team for online league play) this title will keep you busy for a long long time… or at least until NHL 11 comes out. Hopefully then the GM mode will expand to something more in depth, more in line with other GM modes like Madden and other GM specific titles.

Gameplay: 5/5

Graphics: 5/5

Sound: 4/5

Replay Value: 5/5

P.S. I’ve never given a game Editor’s Choice before, congrats EA Sports!

Game Review: Guitar Hero 5

Elliott Rudner — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 16:37:06 +0000

PARTY ON!

In early 2006 Harmonix split ways with the Guitar Hero series and went off with MTV to create Rock Band leaving Activision to contract Neversoft to re-build the game that Harmonix arguably perfected. This move marked the day that split the plastic instrument community right down the middle.

While some people saw no problem with the direction that Guitar Hero went in there is a hardcore contingency of people that would like nothing more than to see Guitar Hero vanish into obscurity and let Harmonix’s Rock Band franchise rule supreme. It has been said that ever since Rock Band was released Guitar Hero has been scrambling to avoid doing just that by “ripping off” Rock Band any chance they get. Well if that’s the case then on September 1st, 2009 they finally caught up.

Guitar Hero 5 seems to have fixed everything “wrong” with Guitar Hero World Tour and thrown in all the improvements we have received from the side games that followed (Metallica, Smash Hits). What we have now is a sleek interface with incredible graphics which still retain the trademark over the top Guitar Hero style mixed with a bit of Rock Band’s low frame rate use to give the illusion of a music video. Guitar Hero 5 also boasts a different take on some of Rock Band’s innovations: the ability to “save” your band mate once they fail through maintaining a long enough streak of notes hit, individual star-power for each member of the band which if maxed out will overflow to other members, and band moments which work much like Rock Band’s “Unison Bonuses” however focused on band multipliers rather than added star-power/overdrive.

The really big feature however is Party Play mode which combined with the fact Guitar Hero 5 allows any instrument to join allows you to have just that- a party. As soon as the game loads up the music starts playing and all you need to do is press Yellow (Y Button on your controller) and you are able to join instantly! Pick your instrument (Guitar/Bass) your difficulty and off you go! Same thing applies to vocalists and people with drums, I especially liked how it remembered my hyper-speed settings dependent on the slot my instrument was connected to (Player 1, Player 2) and yes Hyper-speed is now in the options of quickplay- it’s no longer under cheats!

Another nifty feature in party play is making playlists of up to 125 songs and you don’t even need to play them you can just sit back and watch the animations and join at anytime! If your group of friends has a fondness for the music Guitar Hero licenses this will no doubt be a hit at parties- I mean come on… Who doesn’t like a bit of Rammstein followed by Stevie Wonder.

Contraversial digi-Kurt, an in-game character.

Track lists are of course subjective by nature but I really feel that the setlist for Guitar Hero 5 while not having the most insanely difficult “ow my hand hurts please make it stop mommy” songs it still has some fairly challenging Guitar songs (Scatterbrain by Jeff Beck, Done with Everything Die for Nothing by Children of Bodom) it does have a 14 minute song by Peter Frampton after all complete with Talkbox solo and an outro solo that may take you by surprise. If I had to guess though that as we go forward with these games the focus seems to becoming more about drummers and vocalists because with Guitar Hero 5 it surely delivers on that front. 21st Century Schizoid Man by King Crimson and Brianstorm by Arctic Monkeys will give any expert drummer a run for their money- or hard difficulty drummer even. Another plus is that the Rock Band drum kit which is 4 pads as opposed to Guitar Hero’s which is 5 has been modified so that the orange crash note is now on green- which allows more a much better feel while playing the reduced charts.

As vocals are primarily my main instrument there are some real interesting picks here, who would’ve thought singing Bush’s 90s hit “Come Down” would be so fun! There’s quite the challenge in store for you as well if you play expert vocals as vocal phrases are now scored by how much of each phrase you hit. Singers with high lung capacities and accurate pitches are rewarded with higher scores and Neversoft has finally given us a visual feedback meter to help us determine how much of the phrase we are hitting akin to Rock Band’s pie meter.

Everyone should know by now that Kurt Cobain is in the game as a playable character and unlike Hendrix (in Guitar Hero: World Tour) you can play other songs with him! Of course if you choose to do that Kurt won’t be left handed anymore and you wouldn’t want to do that, now would you? It’s great to play Lithium and Smells Like Teen Spirit with his character however and it’s an experience only had in the career mode of the game, which can be played with any combination of instruments and online!

Use your Xbox Live avatar as an in game rock god? SCORE!

To add to the replay value each song in career mode has a challenge associated with it I won’t list them all but to get some of these diamond challenges you are either going to have become really good at expert guitar or find someone online to play with you and that goes for any challenge (vocals, drums, bass) as long as they are in your band you get the challenge unlocked.

Another great thing about Guitar Hero 5 is the ability to import my World Tour DLC into the game which feels brand new in comparison, and additionally a portion of songs (which is rumoured to expand eventually) from World Tour and Smash Hits for a small fee of $3.50 US for each game (approximately on Xbox Live). However you must actually have the manual from the game in your possession, and with the way people are I could see the code being copied at stores and people being unhappy when they buy it and have their code show up as invalid. It’s nice to see my song list up to 195 songs though.

The online mode has also been revamped with new competitive modes that while still are about hitting all the notes provide an added challenge through modes such as Momentum, Do or Die, Perfectionist, and Streakers. I’ve played them and they were a blast and a nice change from who can use starpower at the better opportunity while hitting every solo ever.

In short while Guitar Hero 5 doesn’t have the level of expert difficulty Dragonforce gives us or Guitar Hero: Metallica it’s still a great game with tons of replay value especially if you are willing to play different instruments. This game is great for parties I can’t stress it enough- being able to join instantly in the middle of a song may be the best idea ever for these games. Plus the game has King Crimson – 21st Century Schizoid Man if that won’t sell the copies I don’t know what will.

Gameplay: 5/5

Graphics: 5/5

Sound: 4/5

Replay Value: 5/5

GI Joe: The Rise of Cobra – No Joe!

Aaron Cappe — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 18:40:32 +0000

Once again, we are presented with not only a movie tie-in game, but another reboot of a product from the 1980s – G.I. JOE: A Real American Hero. Except this time, the subtitle is The Rise of Cobra. Which is interesting, and a let down at the same time. What makes this interesting is that the writers of this particular adventure had the option of reworking characters many of us grew up with and expanding on their history and tenuous (at best) relationships which had been established within the G.I. Joe universe. The let down however, was that they chose to completely ignore that option, and instead push another lackluster, under-developed game out the door in time to coincide with a summer movie release, and pray that the name alone would trump up some sales numbers.

The basic gameplay of GI Joe is that of a third-person action adventure. And it really doesn’t expand from that point. You run, you shoot, you find some computer-controlled doors, and maybe, just maybe, you’ll even use a vehicle or two, if the controls don’t force you to hurl your controller at the screen within the first few minutes. GI Joe tries, albeit pathetically, to add shall we say, “unique” controls to the game – and by unique, I mean a cover system which is an obvious rip-off from Gears of War, although the developers didn’t seem to find the time to test whether the cover system worked, or if pressing the A button would simply result in your character doing rolling dives right into the path of an enemy tank. Repeatedly.

The game also borrows heavily from the Contra series, in that you are constantly working through each level with a partner character (of your choosing – there are a total of 18 playable characters, including 4 COBRA characters as well, if you can find the necessary items to unlock them), who is controlled for the most part by the computer. The benefit of this is that your partner is invincible; you can hide behind some cover and simply let them take the brunt of the damage as you wait agonizingly for your health to recover. Having this secondary character is also the gateway to the game’s Co-op mode, which allows for another human player to grab and controller and hit start, and immediately drop-in or drop-out of the game. And for the most part, they’ll be dropping out.

At least it looks nice...

The camera in this game is not only laughable, it’s an insult to everything that has been developed since Super Mario 64 was released. You have no control over the angle, height, distance or zoom of the camera, which means you will more than likely end up shooting at a wall, bunker, health container, or enemy at the other end of the map than at the turret/tank/ninja who is slashing your face. The manual even boasts that you can control the target lock-on system, but I have yet to find it successfully follow my instructions and stay locked on the target that is actually killing me. It will track for a few seconds, but if you’re moving around (and you will be – there are sometimes as many as ten enemies all shooting incredibly large missiles and laser bolts at you at any given time), and the camera will simply choose another enemy at random to lock on to.

The level design is just as simple as it was back when the original Contra was released – Jungle Level, Ice Level, Desert Level, Factory Level, etc. At least you know where you’re going, since you can move around the globe pretty easily after completing only a few missions in each zone.

The GI Joe we remember and love.

There are a few spots of light within the drab existence of GI Joe, and that mostly comes from the special features you can unlock by collecting dog tags, briefcases, and file cards scattered throughout the levels. Some unlock concept art for the game, others information on the new – and even the original – characters and vehicles, and others unlock old public service announcements and characters to be used in the game, should you want to go back to replay any of the missions. This is probably the best nod to the original series, since the only other indication that GI Joe is based on anything is when you activate the Accelerator Suits that were used in the film. Once you’ve beaten up or killed enough baddies, you can unleash your supersuit to cause more wanton destruction – and for the duration of this act of ridiculousness, you’re treating to a tiny, heavy metal version of the original G.I. Joe theme-song opening. The first time you hear it, you feel nostalgic and happy, and you want to see if there are any other hints at good things to come. By the second zone, you’re ready to unplug your speakers if you have to use the suit one more time.

I’m very tempted to say that GI Joe: The Rise of Cobra is something that only a true, die-hard fan of the original series could really enjoy or appreciate. Unfortunately, even they will be disappointed with this sorry offering – there’s hardly anything more to be found here than on the recently released DVD of the original cartoon season, and the fact that you have to struggle through an incomplete game to try to find it is unacceptable. To borrow an overused and clichéd line, knowing is half the battle. The other half is never dropping this disc into your drive.

Graphics: 2/5

Gameplay: 2/5

Sound: 2/5

Replay Value: 1/5

Guitar Hero Smash Hits — a Smash Hit!

David Barmak — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 22:17:24 +0000

I still remember the summer when Guitar Hero 2 came out. It was a summer not unlike this one. The sun was hot and the air was clear, but I did not go outside. I stayed in and worked my way through career mode on medium, then hard, and then expert. Would you believe, I started impressing girls with my button-shredding abilities?

Video game fans, take my advice. Stay in this season and hone your fake guitar skills with Activision’s Guitar Hero: Smash Hits. Some may scoff at this newest entry, a compilation of the greatest hits from previous guitar hero releases, but the core gameplay remains tight and challenging as ever. The tracks have been taken from Guitar Heroes 1, 2 and 3, with entries from Rock the 80’s and Aerosmith. All of the tracks are now playable by the whole band – guitar, bass, vocals and drums – just as in Guitar Hero World Tour. The selection features lots of reliable favourites, but like the rest of the series there’s a heavy weighting on classic rock and metal.

GH has always separated itself from Rock Band by playing up the competitive aspect of the game. Where Rock Band 2 added favourites like Psycho Killer by the Talking Heads and Eye of the Tiger by Survivor, Guitar Hero 3 saw soul-crushing entries like Raining Blood by Slayer and Through the Fire and the Flames by Dragonforce. As a devoted Guitar Hero player since the series started, I could simply not get through either of the latter songs, even on hard mode. Guitar Hero: Smash Hits has remedied the problem by smoothing out the gap between difficulty modes. It took me lots of work to beat Raining Blood on Hard in GH3, but the song has been rejigged to make it less complicated this time around. The difficulty definitely ramps up in Expert mode – but even Through the Fire and the Flames lets you play most of the song on the slider bar without worrying about strumming. On the other hand, it means that the note layouts on your favourite song have probably changed. If you had almost memorized The Sword’s Freya, for example, you might be as bothered as I was to have to learn the song again.

As the music genre slowly evolves, gamers are becoming more familiar with plastic instruments. Guitar Hero: Smash Hits doesn’t quite offer anything new in the way of gameplay that a previous entry hadn’t already done. Guitar Hero: Metallica brought us Expert+ mode on drums – and it’s back. Some really tough songs have a skull and crossbones icon, meaning you can attach a second bass pedal to your drum kit and blast your way through Lamb of God’s Laid to Rest, among others. The bass has recently been improved with an open note, where no buttons are pressed, and this makes songs like Rush’s YYZ all the more dynamic and enjoyable.

Despite these subtle changes I have described, this is still a Guitar Hero game, and you have definitely played this before. The game runs on the same engine as World Tour, and features many of the same options including customizable avatars, guitars and tattoos. Activision has recently announced a downloadable licensing patch that will make Guitar Hero 5 backwards compatible with most of the tracks on the Smash Hits disc. This will certainly give the GH franchise some legs, as it jostles to dethrone Rock Band 2 as the reigning rhythm game.

Guitar Hero: Smash Hits has the same visual style as its predecessors. There is a cartoony feel to the characters on screen matched by realistic motion capturing. The venues are exotic this time around, everything from the pyramids in Egypt to the strangely-chosen final level in Quebec City. The sound is generally pretty good in this game, but there are some slight discrepancies between the tracks as they appear here and their original recordings. No One Knows by Queens of the Stone Age suffers from this – the bass is way too quiet in the game mix. Audience effects are pretty minor here, and I’m fondly reminded of Rock Band here; nothing sounds as exhilarating as when the audience sings along with your song.

Ultimately, the gaming enthusiast has two distinct choices on the console. Rock Band is known for its lengthy list of downloadable tracks. Lots of popular genres are represented, including simpler tracks that demand less skill to play. This can make it boring for extended play sessions. Guitar Hero, on the other hand, has always curated a list of challenging songs. Sure, the series features I Love Rock and Roll and other ultra-basic tracks, but the difficulty ramps up fast. The career mode of Guitar Hero: Smash Hits is where it’s at. Practice with this game, and you will be a fret-shredder in no time.

Gameplay: 5/5

Graphics: 4/5

Sound: 4/5

Replay Value: 4.5/5

Game Review: Wolfenstein

Josh Salem — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 15:03:21 +0000

Wolfenstein, the first, first person shooter I ever played has come back with an all new story, new powers, and yes, zombie Nazis. But do powers, a unique story and zombies really make a game great? I figured since I have history with this title that I would put it upon myself to find out by writing up a full review about Wolfenstein on the Xbox 360, below see what I thought.

Taking place during Nazi Germany during WWII, Wolfenstein focuses on the paranormal studies both the Nazi’s and the allies looked into. Experiments using a Dark Force known only as the Black Sun are extremely close to giving Nazi’s the power needed to rule the world and all that stands in the way of total domination is a spunky young American soldier known lovingly as BJ. A straight up WWII FPS for the first few minutes, players quickly see where this game veers off course into a sci-fi shoot-em-up with everything from space-aged weaponry to zombie Nazis, what more could a gamer ask for?

BJ has a number of weapons at his disposal, from melee attacks using his gun butts and shovels, to occult powers of the veil and a mysterious amulet that lets him use and recharge his powers. These powers are somewhat out of place, but give the title a little more depth to the already shallow story. With the ability to see an alternate world around him (complete with exploding freaky metroid type monsters only you can see), slow down time, create a shield, strengthen bullets, and more you will find yourself constantly utilizing these powers (more than I would have liked), and constantly looking for pools to refill your veil energy. Like Wolverine’s feral sense, Spiderman’s spidey sense, and Batman’s … bat sense? You will find yourself playing through most of the game in veil view, taking away from the graphics and textures… which might not actually be a bad thing.

Expect to play most of the game through this perspective.

The graphics found in Wolfenstein are a mixed bag, sometimes it looks fantastic, other times, not so much. Case in point is a cutscene with BJ is talking to two other soldiers, all their heads and hands are well textured and animated, while the room around them, their bodies and their suits look absolutely horrible, Call of Duty 2 graphics (and no, not Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2). Character animations in game are pretty underwhelming as well, while the Havoc engine is at use to create the necessary physics in this one, you would never know by the way npcs moved around during gun fights. When you will notice it however is whenever a special effect is present. Shooting Dark Force barrels will send enemies floating in the sky where they will grab at anything to balance themselves, a nice touch but really nothing new since Star Wars: the force unleashed. The lighting effects are overall very nice, however as mentioned before, more often than not you won’t even be able to appreciate most of them as you will be using your veil view throughout most of the game.

While I may have slammed the graphics a little for this game, it’s nothing in comparison to how bad the audio experience was when playing. Bad voice acting is one thing, but Wolfenstein takes the top spot for wishing my ears would just give out a little. Poor voice acting with horribly bland german accents of English throughout most of the game gets extremely tiring very quickly. Even when Nazis are talking to you and think your another german citizen, they still speak English with bad heavy German accents. The biggest issue I had with the voice work in this game came from the design of gameplay. Walk into one of the secret hidden ally hideouts (conveniently painted logos on their doors by the way) and walk past 3 npcs and you will hear 3 separate people telling you 3 different stories at the same time with the same volume. It gets so bad that unless you stop and listen to each person as you come up to them and wait for them to finish talking, you won’t know where you are supposed to go next. Explosions, and gunfire are standard fare and don’t merit discussion.

Zombies... and Nazis... combined into the ultimate enemy.

The game itself plays fine and is in fact a fun game to play. There’s a level of patience necessary when traversing the city as you are constantly being hunted down and chased by Nazis if your not holed up in a safe house. Utilizing basic gaming form, hidden passages, exploding barrels, collectible items such as gold and intel and finally earning cash for completing missions which can then be used to upgrade your weapons and powers provide enough reason to retry a mission or two but in the end, you will be playing this game to stop the Nazis and nothing else. Zombie Nazis look ghoulish and outlandish, which I feel, is a plus. How could anyone not want to shoot two of the most hated being types in the world (zombies and Nazis) put together into one monster? There’s definitely a level of satisfaction coming from the death of each one (by the way, you don’t even see your first zombie Nazi until a good 4 or 5 hours into gameplay).

Nazi Moby directs traffic in Berlin.

Another aspect Wolfenstein holds is a decent multiplayer mode in which up to 12 players (only 12) can battle in team death match, objective, and stopwatch modes and pick between three different classes such as solider medic and engineer. As you play, you gain experience to allow you to unlock items such as flack jackets, extra grenades, weapon upgrades, and power upgrades. While the addition of multiplayer modes is always welcome, with games such as Modern Warfare offering so much more it almost comes as an insult thinking that Wolfenstein could get away with such a meager offering.

As long as you can handle the bad graphics, bad voice acting, and ridiculous story, you might very well enjoy Wolfenstein. While it is somewhat reminiscent of the original Wolfenstein 3D (such as the old school loading screen and the difficulty levels being the same as the original PC ones), Wolfenstein is a completely new game for a new generation.

Gameplay: 3/5

Graphics: 3/5

Sound: 1/5

Replay Value: 2/5

Sneak Preview – EA NHL 10

Josh Salem — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 13:07:11 +0000

andPOP was given a special opportunity to have a look at EA NHL 10 which comes out very shortly. Jordan and Josh spoke with Patrick Kane and John Tavares about being on the cover, and also had a quick play of the game. What we can say is it’s the best EA NHL game yet!