New web design and name

Hey everyone, from now on this blog will be known as The Elite Gamers Blog, and will now be featuring news from the gaming world, more reviews, and tutorials for achievements (xbox 360) and photoshop. I hope everyone likes the new layout!

Im Back

Hey everyone, sorry I haven't posted for a while but I've been sitting my GCSE exams. I will try to post more frequently but I still have many exams to sit. I have been working on my first visual basic coding project, a new web browser.I will post some screen shots and eventually set up a download so you can try my browser yourself.

So many games, so little time

Yes I will be reviewing Fable 3 and CoD Black Ops but I am in the middle of exams so you wont be seeing many posts from me in the next week or so.

Thanks
I'l get back as soon as I can!

Black Ops Photoshop Art

Was just messing around in photoshop again, its pretty fun making new pictures. Heres the latest one I made:

My MW2 Photoshop Art

Hey everyone, been a long time since I've posted. I've gone back to playing COD 4, but I'm still playing Reach from time to time. Anyway, this is my first attempt at anything for MW2 so it won't be as good as some of the ones you see.

GKNOVA6 Has been updated

The GKNOVA6 website, located at http:/www.gknova6.com, has been updated. As you can see there are videos of zombies, and when watching closely you see two modern weapons that have been confirmed for black ops. This site has already been confirmed to be linked with Black Ops, so it is not unofficial. The modern weapons are Ak-47 with a scope of some kind. The other weapon is a shotgun, which is pump action, so it is either the "Stakeout" or the Spaz-12. Looking forward to playing zombies!

EDIT: for those who think that this WASN'T Trayarch check out this link :
http://www.gametrailers.com/episode/bonusround/410?ch=2&hd=1 and watch the part about zombies. Josh Olin explains it slightly better than I do.

Halo Reach Game play

Halo Reach Team sniper game play, not my best, but its worth a look.

New Twitter Account

I got a twitter account up and running, and will be posting about whats happening with the website and my youtube channel take a look if your interested!

Here is the link : My Twitter

Halo Reach Review

Halo Reach, one of the most anticipated games of the Autumn releases was finally ready for sale on Tuesday 14th of September. The game, next to CoD : Black Ops, is probably going to be one of the biggest selling games of the autumn months. The campaign of this game is revolutionary for Halo, as this is the prequel to Halo: C.E. There are groups of Spartans changing the game play greatly. The elites are much more powerful, the new graphics giving them a much more frightening look.The multi player of this game is very addictive, the new armour abilities changing the way you play.

The armour abilities that are available for multi player are:
Sprint: Run faster for a short amount of time, giving you the advantage for taking the choke points quickly.

Jet pack: Probably the most used ability, gives you the ability to fly for short amounts of time. You can use it to soften your landings, i.e jumping off of the top of the tower that you would most certainly die from, and using the jet pack at the last few seconds to slow your decent you open up a new way of attack for your team.

Active camo: No longer something you pick up, it is built into your armour. You activate it, and the slower that you walk the better the active camo hides you. It also has a radar jammer built in.

Armour Lockup: This ability gives you a massive boost to your shields, preventing you from taking any damage. When you deactivate it, it sends out a close range EMP blast which effects the enemies around you, taking down their shields. This gives you an advantage in close quarters battles.

Drop Shield: The new bubble shield. You drop a bubble shield which heals anyone inside. There are no more bubble shield pick ups, as this replaces it and in most game types is associated with the medic class.

Evade: The covenant version of sprint, when playing as the Elites you are able to dodge to the left or right. The evade comes in as a roll, and is faster than the Spartan sprint, but is only available for use twice without recharging.

Hologram: When using the hologram ability you can aim the cross hairs anywhere on the map then, by pressing right bumper you give the order to your hologram to go there. This causes an exact image of you, even your weapon is included, walks towards the way point that you chose. To your allies your hologram appears as a white dot on your mini map.

These abilities change the multi player completely, always giving a fresh new game, never the same. When playing the multi player you have to plan your way around the players and their personalised playing style, so you can see that its always a new experience.

On to the campaign. The campaign starts you off the sprint ability to use, changing the game play yet again, but you have the opportunity to pick up different abilities.

There has been many new weapons that have been added to game, as well as the original weapons that have been given a revamp.

The new weapons that have been added are:

The DMR (Designated Marksman Rifle): A single shot weapon that has replaced the battle rifle, and is the weapon used in Swat and many slayer type games. The rifle has a scope, which is 3 times optical zoom.

The .45 Cal Magnum: The magnum has been given a revamp and has even been given a scope. It is a more powerful weapon now, but the dual wield option has been disabled.

The Needle Rifle: The same as the DMR but the covenant version. The only difference is that once a person has been shot with the needle rifle 9 times it explodes like the needler.

The M319 IGL (Grenade Launcher) : The grenade launcher is a good weapon. The weapon contains one grenade at a time. You shoot it using the right trigger and, if you hold down the right trigger you can remotely detonate it when you like.

The Focus Rifle: The new rifle for the covenant. Much like a sentential beam. This weapon provides a solid beam of plasma ray, and also has a scope. The weapon is powerful but is limited by the usual overheating that you get when you use plasma weapons.

The Plasma Launcher: The new weapon that is anti-everything. This weapon charges up to 4 plasma grenade type and launches it at the selected target in your cross hairs.

Concussion Rifle: Much like the grenade launcher for the covenant. Weaker, but able to hold 6 nades at a time. This does not come with the ability to remote detonate though.

This game is a astounding success and I will be posting gameplays of new firefight, forge world, multi player and campaign (Multi player and Single player). I give this game at least a 9 out of ten but maybe even a ten! Its a must buy!

Alan Wake The Signal DLC Part 2

Here is part 2 of the DLC, see what you think. To me, its probably worth holding out to see if Remedy Entertainment (The creators of the game) offer the two DLCs as a package, hopefully cheaper than the combined total of 1120 Microsoft points.

Alan Wake The Signal DLC Part 1

Part one of the Alan Wake DLC is called The Signal. This starts after the main campaign is finished, and Alan is fighting to escape the darkness after saving his wife. I won't go into details to avoid spoilers in case you haven't finished the campaign.





The first part of the DLC is in the same old Alan Wake style, all the same weapons and no new additions. This turned out to be just a boring extention of the storyline, so only play on if you want to know what happens to Wake.

I have the full video of the campaign and I will post them up soon so that everybody can see the DLC so far. Remember that this the first Alan Wake DLC and still finishes with a "To be Continued" just so that they can draw another 560 Microsoft points out of your pocket for themselves.

Kane And Lynch 2: Dog Days Review

I have bought a Hauppauge HD PVR (Personal Video Recorder) to record demo game plays for my reviews to make them just that bit better. My first video was Halo 3 Clips (Title) that I will publish every week. This video is for Kane and Lynch 2: Dog Days which I will be reviewing later on in this post. The game is an over the shoulder camera, as you can see. It has a cover technique that is reminiscent of Gears of War or James Bond: Quantum of Solace. The damage system is good, as when you get damaged and/ or your cover is destroyed you fall to the floor, on your back in a crawling position. This allows you to avoid some of the bullets, and to allow you to get to the next area of defensible cover. The guns that are available in the demo had virtually no recoil, and were defiantly more accurate when shooting in short bursts. This game has realistic elements for instance, when someone is shooting you, and you take cover behind a wooden object your cover would soon be broken. If you take cover behind something that's metal the bullets just ricochet off, giving you good cover.

You can pick up things such as fire extinguishers and use them as melee weapons. The camera is shown as if someone is recording it, slightly grainy to add to the atmosphere of running and gunning down the enemy as they chase you through the streets. The sprint, like in most games disables you're shooting, and when you are out of cover you have to hold down the left trigger to aim. You take a lot of damage quickly in a fire fight, so using cover defiantly is an advantage. I rushed and shot the police officer, but I believe there was an option to take anyone as a human shield. Even though I haven't done this I believe that it would give you some allowance when negotiating your way around.

When you make it onto the street, the game starts to get hectic, with police patrolling you wont make it far without being spotted. The crowded streets filled with cars give you cover but also provides lots of hiding spots for the policemen to surprise you from. The police blockade is the end of the demo, which you go around through an alleyway. This then goes into a cut scene and you can see the different weapons and the different snippets of the storyline. The game overall is very good, with the only drawback being the shooting out of cover. There are other game play modes such as a two player co-op mode, which sounds very enjoyable and a multi player mode. The game has good graphics and physics settings, so all in all I would give it a 8 out of 10. If you were thinking of getting it, buy it. It seems like a very enjoyable game with a good plot line and twists and turns along the way.

My Youtube Channel!

Everybody go check out my new youtube channel at

http://www.youtube.com/user/xM21L3G3NDx

Been On Holiday

I went on holiday for the past couple of weeks and I've just arrived back yesterday, so there will be some new reviews for everybody as soon as possible, just keep checking back!

My Best MW2 Weapon Classes!

These are the classes that I use in MW2, but since I got to 9Th prestige level 70 I've been quickscoping in the majority of my matches. I quickscope with the barret 50.cal because, well, I think its better than the intervention in some ways, its not bolt action, its nearly as accurate and as powerful as the intervention. So I've got ten classes, here they are:

1. Barrett Thermal: This class is what I use for quickscoping, I prefer this to the intervention but the intervention quickscope class can be seen below as well.

Barrett.50cal thermal with fall camo
USP.45 Akimbo

Perks:

Slight of Hand Pro
Stopping Power Pro/Cold Blooded Pro (depends if you are playing hardcore or not)
Steady Aim/Ninja

2. Quickscope Class:

Intervention FMJ with fall Camo
USP.45 Akimbo

Perks:
Same as the Barrett Sniper

3. Search&Destroy: This is the class that I use for search if I'm not quickscoping.

UMP.45 Silenced with Fall Camo
USP.45 Akimbo

Perks:
Slight of Hand Pro
Stopping Power Pro/ Cold blooded Pro (SP core and CB hardcore)
Ninja/Commando/Steady Aim

I cant choose between the three perks, just because it depends on the type of player you are. If you play stealthily you would want to choose ninja, if you are sprinting forward towards the other team you shouldn't use this perk layout, and if you're a camper, use steady aim to blind fire quickly and accurately. (Just to say you shouldn't be camping anyway, unless you're using a sniper when its technically not camping :) )

4. Sprinter: This class is for use in headquarters or Search&Destroy because it allows you to rush the bomb/headquarters quickly. Be warned, this class is only for use when attacking, never use it for defence in Search.

Any Sub machine gun Silenced (Fall Camo)
USP.45 Akimbo
(I favour using he overpowered UMP.45 just because its a quick kill without using stopping power pro)

Perks:
Marathon Pro
Lightweight Pro
Commando Pro

The reason I use commando pro is because teamed with the other two perks it is extremely useful for when you run around the corner and straight into an enemy,you need the extra distance of commando to pull off the knife kill.

5. Team Deathmatch:
ACR FMJ and Silenced Fall Camo
USP.45 Akimbo FMJ or Extended Mags
(You can use your favourite weapon, but the ACR has a good reload time without using slight of hand pro)

Perks:
Bling Pro
Stopping Power Pro
Steady Aim Pro

Using this set up allows you to use an accurate weapon, adds damage to it and gives you extra aim when blind firing meaning that this class is an all round class. This can be used in free-for-all but use it without the FMJ and replace bling pro with slight of hand pro.I prefer this free-for-all class.

6. Free-For-All:
AK-47 Silenced with Fall Camo
TMP FMJ

Perks:
Slight of Hand Pro
Stopping Power Pro
Steady Aim Pro

This class packs a punch. The Stopping power pro adds on damage on top of the AK47s fire power which is already pretty high. Having slight of hand pro helps in difficult situations when facing more than two enemies. If you haven't got enough time to reload, swap to your machine pistol. The TMP is used as a machine pistol but has the same power and accuracy as a sub machine gun, so this gun is useful for finishing that last person off. The steady aim is for the AK because it has a bit of a recoil so firing off the hip at close range wouldn't be a good idea without using steady aim.

7. Hardcore HQ Sniper:

M21 Silenced or WA2000 Silenced with Fall Camos
USP.45 Akimbo

Perks
Slight of Hand Pro
Cold Blooded pro
Ninja Pro/Scrambler Pro


Using this class allows you to defend the HQ from far away, using a sniper that's semi automatic and is actually silent when its silenced (Barrett still makes noise). The perks are what any hardcore class should contain, because it helps keep you undetected. You can either use Ninja Pro or Scrambler Pro because there are a lot of claymores in hardcore but there are almost as many people with heartbeat sensors as well, especially when playing HQ, core or hardcore.

8. Hardcore Sub:

UMP.45 Silenced with Fall Camo
USP.45 Akimbo

Perks:
Slight of Hand Pro
Cold Blooded Pro
Steady Aim Pro

This class is an all round class that you can use for any hardcore game type. The UMP offers good accuracy, fire power, the silencer keeps you undetected.

9. Machine Gun:

Any Machine gun FMJ (I prefer the iron sights on the L86 but choose the gun that suits you best)
USP.45 Akimbo

Perks:
Slight of Hand Pro
Stopping Power Pro
Steady Aim Pro

These perks are a must for anyone using a machine gun, as they take so long to reload. Using stopping power just reduces the amount of bullets you use on each person meaning you reload less.

10. Hardcore Machine Gun

Again Any Machine gun Silenced ( I prefer the AUG when playing hardcore)
USP.45 Akimbo

Perks:
Slight of Hand Pro
Cold Blooded Pro
Steady Aim Pro

This is the same as the Machine gun class above, but is made silent for use on hardcore game types.


The reason that all but one of my classes uses the USP.45 akimbo pistols is because they knife faster than the tactical knife attachment on any other pistol, and use this with commando pro to quickly despatch enemies without them knowing what hit them. People have complained and said that I was using a modded controller, just because teaming the USPs with Marathon, Lightweight Pro and Commando makes it very hard to kill the person before they knife. I will post a gameplay video as soon as I get my capture card.
I will also be posting my reviews with gameplay so you can see the game while reading my reviews!

Battlefield Bad Company 2: DLC "Onslaught"

The new DLC brought out by Bc is a 4 player co-op based game mode. The mode is based on 4 players working together to capture the 4 bases that the terrorists set up, and even though this doesn't seem like a good game mode, its fun but short. (Unless you're playing it on hardcore difficulty)

The game mode uses the weapons that you have unlocked for multi player meaning you can't use guns that you haven't unlocked yet. This is good and bad because it makes players go onto the multi player and try to level their assault or sniper class to get the weapons or attachments that they used in the campaign.

The DLC could be considered short because its only available on 4 of the multi player maps these maps are:

Atacama Desert: A real favourite for all battlefield veterans, this heavy vehicle map was the perfect candidate for Onslaught mode, which starts you off with a helicopter, a Jeep with a rocket launcher turret, and a heavy tank. Even saying this, on hardcore difficulty the terrorists use rocket launchers (RPG-7, AT4) with very good accuracy on all the maps, but its this one in particular where you find it difficult to fly/drive around the base and be able to survive more than 5 minutes without taking major damage. This map is very fun for people who love the vehicles of bad company 2.

Valparaiso: A good map, but a few things that I would like them to change, as this plays a lot like rush, but against AI. Firstly you cannot go to the lighthouse to snipe or defend yourself from the AT Boat. Secondly very occasionally the game doesn't allow you to get the kill, you get a critical squad assist reducing your overall points. These are the only problems that I have, and fighting an AT boat is nearly insane on hardcore difficulty when you're tanks gone. But its also insanely fun when you succeed it blowing it up.

Isla Inocentes: I haven't had a chance to play this mission yet, so I'm not sure if you start the same as when you play rush and I don't know what surprises that the game has in for you when you attack the flag, but it looks like it would be a good map for a ground assault using the boats that you get in the multi player.

Nelson Bay : Another map that I haven't played yet, but it looks like its about the stealth that you use in the multi player rush game mode, sneaking through the snow with a silenced UMP45 or smashing through the buildings taking out enemies Bc2 style with an M4/M16 and grenade launching your way through.

As you can see the maps available are only multi player maps which, even though is a big drawback it can't take away from the fun that you can have in this insane modes, playing with strangers or with friends, definite buy for anybody who has any interest in Bc2!

Games worth playing

I wasn't sure of what to post today, and I haven't posted since Sunday so I thought I would post on what I was gonna play this week:

1: Cod 6 Multi player - Search And Destroy and Domination -

Since I got to 9th prestige level 70 Ive been playing alot of these (not hardcore S&D) because of quick scoping. Its good for clips and good fun!

2: Halo 3 Multi Player - Team Doubles and Team Swat -

I'm alright at halo, and its fun when you have a team of all you're friends on a ranked match. Playing team Swat is a good way to practice your accuracy as its one battle rifle round to the head for a kill, but three + to the body, so getting all headshots has become manditory, its how I got good at quickscoping! Team doubles is fun because its two on two, but only play if you're playing with a friend. This is because you'll end up playing against two people working together while you'll be teamed up with a person off of Xbox live.

3- New Games - Crackdown 2 - Another game to play with friends, grab 3 friends and start taking down those crime lords all over again!

4 - New DLC - B Bad Comp 2 - Onslaught Mode -

Remember Bd2? New DLC just came out to give a new multi player mode that reminds me just a bit of zombies. The onslaught mode gives us a 4 player mode that gives us 4 players working together to survive against terrorists who just keep coming!

Halo 3 Double Exp Weekend

I wasn't gonna post at the weekend, but I thought about doing a weekly post about what the double exp weekend would be.

This week the double Exp weekend is a game type that allows you to play CPF and team slayer on player created maps, so you don't get many of the same maps twice. The maps that I've played are good, but because I don't play Halo that much, only people who have downloaded the most recent top ten maps will know where the weapons are. This made it harder for me to play properly as people were getting things like the sniper and the shotgun and I was stuck using the assault rifle/battle rifle. I wouldn't play this game mode, I'd rather play things like lone wolves, or if with friends play something like MLG or team swat/snipers. I've always found these to be fun game types, even if you don't play/like Halo.

Wow 100th View!

Thanks everybody, I only set this up on Tuesday so I'll try to keep the good reviews coming. Make sure you check back, as I'm trying to get a post in each day of the week (I take a break at the weekends)

Splinter Cell: Conviction Reviewed!

I know I said that I wasn't going to post on Saturdays, but my laptop ran out of battery and I wasn't able to post, so as I said, here's the Splinter Cell review.

This review is of the game called Splinter Cell: Conviction and personally, I think this game is on borderline great. There's a few things that Ubisoft could have done to improve, but all in all the game is great. First off the campaign review.

The Splinter Cell: Conviction campaign brings us back to Sam Fisher, who is still trying to find out what happened to his daughter. The first mission is played as if a training mission, and you are assisted by a person called Anna Grimsdottir or "Grim". You go through the campaign level, and you slowly get used to the game play, which while its not incredibly complex, it still takes a little getting used to. This game is all about stealth, which is why as you work through the campaign you unlock a variety of gadgets and weapons to add to your arsenal. Compared to other SC games you can equip an assault rifle, a pistol/silenced pistol or an smg. The weapons themselves all have attachments that you can unlock. You do this by completing challenges that you can do in campaign or the small list of multi player modes. You play through the campaign, working out the mystery entangled in Third Echelon. (Sam's previous employers, creators of the splinter cell program)

You get many gadgets throughout the campaign, including different types of throw able cameras, grenades, EMP Devices and grenades, and the sonar goggles. The Remote mine, is pretty self explanatory. You can throw the grenade silently, and when the enemy walks over it, BOOM!! Instant explosion. At first, when you first start, you get something called the mirror. You can use this to search under the door so that you can see who is in the room. To use the mirror walk up to the door and press A which activates the "Peek Under" action. You get a upgraded version of the mirror called the snake cam. The snake cam is basically the same, but it looks good and makes the game feel like a proper espionage game.

The Mark and Execute technique is new to the splinter cell series and it allows you to mark to the amount that your gun allows, so that you can execute the enemy quickly. This is done with good graphics that is like a cut scene that is inter grated to the game and makes the game look alot like a movie.

Flash bangs are useful in this game, this is because when you are spotted, you throw a flash bang and then the enemies are blinded. This helps because this game works using the "Last Known Position" meaning that the enemy will shoot towards where you where before you threw the flash bang meaning you can go around and finish everybody off one by one.


Sticky Cameras are useful when there is no door to use the snake cam to see in the next room. When you approach a room where the door is open or if their was no door in the first place, you can throw a sticky camera and use it to check the room before you enter. The sticky camera has two other uses, it can make a sound to attract enemies. I know what you are thinking, what would be the point of attracting the enemies to that doorway, well... the cameras other function is that when the enemy gets too close, BOOM and he's dead. Meaning that the Sticky camera also acts as a remote mine, cool huh?

Frag grenades. We all know what a frag is, so there isn't much point of going through this. Just so you know the frag grenades dint have a large explosion area, but can still be pretty useful at times.

Sonar goggles, one of the last gadgets you get in the game, but one of the most useful. Using the sonar goggles you can see through walls, and see enemies appear with a white outline, meaning you can set up a mark an execute through the walls. Another use is for when the enemy ( or you) throw a smoke. You can see thought the smoke while the less under equipped enemies can't. (When you get the goggles some of your enemies also use them, so dont think that this is the easiest way to kill/escape). The goggles can identify whether the people are civilians or enemies (There's a bit where there are a lot of civilians) so its easy to make sure you don't kill any innocents.

The EMP Device is a short range EMP that makes any electrical items around you stop working for 5-10 seconds. Thus giving you that chance to make it through a brightly lit room filled with enemies dark and you can deal with them nice and quickly.

The EMP Grenade is a useful device which, even though it has a shorter range than the EMP device, its of a much higher frequency, so the EMP detonation lasts longer. These are useful for entering a larger room that might take a longer time to traverse. The lights stay out longer letting you pass through, either stealthily assassinating enemies, or using the time to set up a mark and execute move to empty the room quickly.

The weapon upgrades include a suppressor for vastly reducing the audible sounds that shooting a gun would usually produce.
The reflex sight provides you with an extra mark for the Mark and Execute move.
The Laser Sight makes aiming the weapon easier.
2xScope adds range to your weapon and also allowing you to see further. This is the same for the 4xScope, which just adds extra zoom.
Hollow Point ammunition adds damage to your weapon.
Match Grade Ammo adds accuracy to a greater range, allowing you to Mark and Execute more distance targets.
Extended Mags add more ammo.
Gun Stock improves the stability of your weapon during long bursts of fire.
All in all the equipment and the weapons upgrades greatly increase the power that Sam Fisher wields.

The Campaign, is very good with a compelling storyline with a twist that not many SC fans would expect, the game also uses a good aiming system and the Mark and Execute adds to the belief of the one man army that is the splinter cell. The campaign gets a 9/10 for me.

The Multi player is also good as there is a whole separate Campaign for two people to play through. A quick synopsis. Four Russian EMP weapons have been stolen and are going to be sold on the black market. Third Echelon and Voron (Russia's Third Echelon) both send one agent to find them. These agents are Archer from Third Echelon and Kestrel from Voron. These are the two characters for the Co-Op story. This is the same set up as the campaign.

The other game modes include Hunter, where you have to eliminate all the enemies in a sweep of the map. Getting detected means that enemy reinforcements arrive increasing the difficulty.

Last Stand is a defence game mode. You defend an EMP Generator over waves of rounds, getting increasingly harder after each level. The EMP starts off with 100% health (obviously) after each round that the EMP keeps more than 75% the health will go back up to 100%, when it go below 75% its health will go back up to 75%, when it go below 50% it will only go up to 50%. When it get to 25%, it would only repair itself to 25%, meaning that not only the rounds get increasingly harder, the EMP takes damage over rounds.

Face off is a one on one between agents, but enemies of both players are thrown into the mix. You earn points for killing enemies and lots of points for killing the other player. The other thing is that when you get detected by any enemies the other player gets your last known position.

This next game mode is a mode that CAN ONLY BE unlocked through UPlay.
Infiltration is what you think it would be. The rules of infiltration apply to this mission meaning you cannot get detected. You have to eliminate all the hostiles without being detected.

In all the co-operative game play you can revive your partner meaning that you can always get your partner back, but only if you can get to your partner in time.

This games very good, the campaign being better than the multi player, but even though I say that the multi player is still very good. The campaign is the one of the best splinter cell's so far as its the only one that I've actually completed in a few days because of the gripping storyline. This game gets a 8/10 and is a must buy for anyone who likes any stealth games.

Games Im gonna play over the summer

I don't know about you but I've got a whole list of games that I'm gonna attempt to finish over the summer on the Xbox 360.

1. Halo 3 ODST : I have finished this campaign before, but only on heroic difficulty, so I'm gonna team up with a group of friends and go and finish the fight on Legendary.

2. Modern Warfare 2: I'm level 70 9Th prestige and I haven't even finished the campaign on the highest difficulty, I got past Favella and then got bored so i need to finish this.

3. Crackdown 1 and 2: Nearly finished Crackdown 1, fighting the Shai Gen, but getting distracted with all the AGILITY ORBS I still need to collect. Theres also the fact that i still need to climb to the top of the Agency Tower, but I need to level up my agility before attempting this. Its fun with teaming up with a friend and attacking the remain gang members.
Crackdown 2. I haven't bought this yet but I want to get it just so that I can fight the new enemies with 4 friends. This is good because its gonna be so much easier to set up squads and use teamwork effectively.

4. Cod 5 Zombies : Even though I think that Cod 5 is a boring game, the zombies mode is fun when you have a long time to get up to a high round. I mean, my highest is 30 on Der Rise, but that's just because we had to quit as it had been going on for hours, but that was in the week, so hopefully now we're on holiday we can get much, much further.

5. Forza Motorsport 3 and Need For Speed Shift (Plus DLC's) : I've finish the NFS campaign, but i bought all the DLC available, (which i believe are the Exotic Car Pack, and the Ferrari Car Pack) and I'm attempting to mop up all the other achievements. With Froza Motorsport I bought it mainly because i had finished NFS, and now, starting the campaign I can see that the game would have been worth it.

Major Games Released This Week!

Every Friday Im gonna post the released games that came out this week on all platforms so check up each week for what I think:

First this week I have Crackdown 2, available solely on the Xbox 360. This game is about an island called Pacific City, but its had a few upgrades since the original. The City has gone back into turmoil with new gangs reeking havoc across the area. But this time the gangs are not your only enemy. Real time Worlds (the producers of Crackdown) have introduced a new type of enemy which, i believe, is the first time mutant lizard people that only attack at night have been introduced in a police game. The demo, which I played before release gave me 30 mins to gather enough info for me to do this review. But, just like I did in Crackdown I just went around and collected agility orbs. The graphics are the same thick outlined, sort of cartoon graphics, but just with a little bit more pixels that make the game look alot better. The vehicles drive much easier, and after my demo ran out I, for some reason, went straight back to Crackdown. This game is probably worth getting, I'm giving 7/10 for giving me another reason to trek back into pacific city and get rid of a few more gang members while jumping around like a frog.

Other games released this week are:
PC:
These are The Mystery Of The Crystal Portal 2 which is a puzzle game
Elven Legacy Collection, another puzzle game
Crusader Kings: Complete Pack, yet another puzzle game
Pro Cycling Manager Season 2010: Le Tour De France, a sports game.

Nintendo Wii:
Toribash: Violence Perfected an action game
PokePark Wii: Pikachu's Adventure and yet another Pokemon game for nintendo released.

Alan Wake Review!!!

Today I'm gonna review Alan Wake. But first I'll do a synopsis of the storyline for those who haven't heard of it. Basically you are a writer called Alan Wake, who writes horror/adventure books.First you have an encounter with the darkness in a dream which is actually your tutorial. You go to a place called Bright Falls and you seem to be going on holiday (Don't worry no spoilers). You meet people, go to your house and then all the lights go out. I'll leave it there so I don't ruin the storyline.

The basic idea of the game is that you fight darkness with light, and you do this usually with a flashlight (As you progress you get more powerful ones) and a revolver or a shotgun. You have to break down the defences of the "Taken" (Yeah a pretty bad name for an enemy) by shining the flashlight at them. When you have them vulnerable you can then dispatch them pretty quickly with the revolver or shotgun. A nice little addition to the game was the introduction of the flare-gun, flares and flash bangs. When you're in a bad situation (and I think its better to save these just for this) and you're surrounded by 5 or 6 taken, but theres still some distance between you, the flare is your best friend. You can use the flare to slow their approach and also take down their defences at the same time, meaning that you don't have to waste your precious batteries for your flashlight. This also gives you some breathing space, although the "Flare and Run" technique is used quite a lot in this game by people who wanna finish the game in 3-4 hours tops.

The flare gun is the most powerful gun Ive seen in the game so far, (I'm only 3/4 through the campaign) and that's why you barely ever get it, and when you do, prepare for A LOT of the Taken to be around the next corner. The flare gun is useful for long range or short, this is because any Taken that gets caught in the light will be thrown away as if it was nothing. Picture this. Theres a line of v.strong fallen sprinting (or walking as fast as they can) towards you. But they're all standing close together. Hit the middle one with the flare gun and the fights gonna be either them all dead, or one or two with no shields. Useful right?

The flash bang is powerful and good for when you're getting hacked to pieces by Taken who are standing right next to you. You're about to die and instinctively throw a flash bang at you're feet. If you're lucky (as there is a small delay as you would expect from a grenade) the flash bang will go off before anymore of the Taken kill you. Thus the flash bang explodes and kills the 3-4 taken that where surrounding you. Very lucky.

With all these tools you must think that this must be a breeze. You're wrong. The game is still difficult, offering puzzles that you have to complete and Taken that work as a team. The AI is good, especially when you've got someone else with a flashlight and a shotgun. When you encounter a Taken boss its quite difficult, as its not only going to be a boss. No its not as easy as that. Usually he brings about five of his strongest friends with him, so you have to be fast, show some intelligence and some good shooting as you don't get cross hairs. This is only campaign so don't expect some weird multiplayer like one person's Wake and the rest are Taken.But there is an opportunity that Remedy and Microsoft Game Studios missed here. 4 player co-op waves of Taken getting harder and harder, but each level you pass you get to go to a new zone where theres more ammo and equipment. Sounds a bit like COD 5 zombies eh? but it would have been even better. If anyone from Remedy reads this make it DLC PLEASE? It has the opportunity to improve the game tenfold.

My Overall rating of the game is at least an 8/10. Could have been scarier (BTW I haven't been on nightmare mode yet so i might be completely wrong) and there's no wave style 4 player co-op. But this game has a great storyline, a good combat system, although the dodge can be hard to master. Good AI. A good all round game. Defiantly worth buying, but not right away, its just not at that level that's a must buy like COD. But remember the game is good, and just because you haven't heard about it much compared to Halo Reach or Medal of Honour doesn't mean its not popular. Just buy the damn game.

Next post: An update of this weeks new releases and if there looking good or not.

My First Post!

Hi!

I'm Tom and I'm here to give you exciting honest reviews on the latest and biggest games from the Xbox 360 and the PC. First off Sniper: Ghost Warrior. Sniper : Ghost Warrior came out on the 29Th of June and is solely available on the Xbox 360.

Sniper : Ghost Warrior has frustrating game play which I struggled to get to terms with. What I'm trying to say is that don't play this game like MW2. Listen to what your partner say to do, because if you don't you're just gonna get shot down by deadly accurate
terrorists wielding assault rifles. The campaign, or what I've played so far, has a more than linear storyline to what any sniper game has to work with. I mean its like this: Go there . Sneak around the back . Get to the high ground . Kill the leader . Run away before you get machine gunned to a pulp.

The graphics are very good, and the bullet cam is enjoyable to watch. I mean whats better than to snipe a guy and then be able to watch the bullet thump into his head without anyone noticing. The only problem is when you're in a fight with more than one terrorist. You start the ability that slows time, you line up a headshot, you shoot, and you're ready to shoot the next one when the camera slows down and you watch your shot. The ability runs out, and you get mowed down. This doesn't happen a lot but when it does you get so frustrated that you want to throw the game out the window.

Back to the graphics. Its picture perfect. The graphics are at least on par with MW2, or even better.I cant fault them. The jungle is very well done showing us the vastness of the area that isn't available for you to traverse. This should have been more free roam. They had the
power to make it more for the intelligent player. There was so much more that they could have
done with the grappling hook. They could have made more than one route to take in every mission.

My rating for the campaign is 7/10, just for the fact that the headshot cam and the graphics put it at least on par with the other war games available. The things that let this game down are the linear game storyline, even more annoying commands that you have to follow to the last syllable.

On to the multiplayer. The multiplayer is very good. But there isn't many snipers to choose from. Its got no way that I've found to play with my friends on the same team, I either end up getting me on my own with a bunch of strangers, with my friends shooting us down as soon as we spawn or we get half of us on one team and half on the other. This is frustrating because the main reason I bought this game was because we were going to play multiplayer, split into 2 sniper-spotter teams and go up and set up choke points along the map.

Another thing that makes me want to throw the disk (and my Xbox) out the window is the complete overpowering of some weapons and the others that cant even kill with one bullet. I can understand the under powering of the M4 Carbine on MW2 but I think that snipers are supposedly used for "One Shot One Kill". But the 4 classes available, the "Heavy Recon", the two different "Light Recon" and the "Recon" classes don't offer one shot one kill torso shots except
the "Heavy Recon", but if the other person is using the "Heavy Recon" class you
still need 2 shots.( Unless you get a good headshot)

Overall the multiplayer gets another 7/10 from me mostly because of the frustrating fact that its near impossible to try and get 3-4 people who are friends into the same team. So unless you have no friends to play with, the multiplayer's not for you.

The Game gets a menial 6/10 for the disappointing multiplayer and the even more vexing campaign. I don't recommend getting it straight away, but it might be good to buy it pre-owned when you've got nothing else to do.

Next Post: Alan Wake. Remember. Stay in the light. Trust no
one in the Dark.