I finally got a chance to catch up on the demos I’ve been downloading for the last week or so. I did not even bother with the sports games I know I’ll not play, like the new NHL game. I just played the demos for games I thought I might be interested in.

Medal of Honor Airborne
I like the concept that you can start a level anywhere on the map by parachuting in, but I found that if I did not start in a safe zone I was toast. Beyond that just another WWII shooter as far as I can tell. Nothing to spectacular about it. I found that the enemies did not seem to damage me as much as I expected. I did not bother using any cover I would just go running into a room and blast everyone in there as my squad mates tried to keep up.

Blazing Angels 2
This is not really my style of game, but demo was more fun that I expected. I’m not that good at flying games, but the Arcade controls helped a lot. I don’t see a big difference between this first Blazing Angels and this one, but there were a few cool things. For example, the upgrade system where you use the points you get for shooting stuff is pretty decent looking. The mission in the demo started off fun with the objective to shoot down other planes and bases, but then it because a protect your teammates mission. I’m still not a fan of protect or escort type levels, but these were not to bad as those types of levels go. I’ll probably not be playing this one, but if you liked the first this one is worth checking out.

Tiger Woods PGA Tour 08
I went into this demo expecting it to be pretty much like last years and it is, but there are more new things than I thought there might be. The option to put my face on my character in the game is cool and the new GamerNet challenges are cool. The graphics are a bit better so maybe a new Tiger Woods game is worth a rent. I birdied all three holes in the demo (almost had an eagle on the first hole, but I forgot all of the putting controls) on the first try. I would buy it, but I know once I finish a season I’ll not play it any more.

Madden NFL 08
So, they took Madden 07 and added a new attribute system. Personally, I don’t like the icons under the players feet. They are distracting and there are too many of them to be useful in knowing what they are at a glance. I do like the pre-play controls being listed in the right corner before the snap. Is that a demo only thing? Overall, I prefer the All-Pro Football gameplay since I can actually complete a pass, but if you’re into Madden this is pretty much more of the same.

TimeShift
When I saw there was a TimeShift demo out I could not figure out why there was a new demo for the same game? But, after playing this demo it is more like new game with the same name. I had a lot of fun controlling time. The semi-destructible environments were a lot of fun plus there were cool weapons and lots of guys to use them on. I never felt like I was overwhelmed with so many enemies that I could not keep up, but there were enough that I had plenty of chances to use my time pausing skills. I already added this game to my GameFly queue because it was so fun. This demo is worth at least one play through.

I started playing Overlord last week and I’ve found it really addictive. Whenever I was not playing the CoD4 Beta I was playing Overlord this weekend. I think for me it is so addictive because it is so funny. You control minions who run around, kill, and gather items for you. However, they are no very bright so when they pick up items they use them even if they are not helpful. For example, after killing some little guys with skull helmets then proceeded to use their skull helmets. The same with pumpkins, kitchen knives, sticks or whatever else you run into. My favorite so far was when they found the beer and got drunk. It was hilarious watching them wander around with bubbles around them. The game itself is a typical adventure game with some fighting and some puzzles. So far the puzzles have been pretty strait forward where you kill a guy to get a key type object. What makes this better than most adventure games is the humor. It is fun being an evil overlord.

The one thing I find really annoying is the load times. Every time you go to or from your tower it has to load. Additionally, when you go to different areas of the tower they each have to load. However, the tower is not really that big so it seems odd that the whole tower is not one large map. There are other map areas that are lot larger in the game worlds so I don’t understand the choice in separating each room in the tower. Sometimes I found myself wanting to go back and forth a few times in a row between tower rooms and that got really old really quick. Other than that the game is fun. When I’m not in the tower the map areas are really large and it seldom needs to load new areas.

I would definitely recommend checking out Overlord. It is really fun to play for a while when you one have 30 minutes or for hours on end. Every time I come back it is just as funny as before. The minions you control are just so funny that I can overlook the load times and linear game play.

So, I admit, I’m new to the Call of Duty series. I played a little of Call of Duty 2 and 3 with some friends, but not enough to be able to compare it to the Call of Duty 4 Beta. However, since I got into the CoD4 beta I’ll give you my impressions of it without any bias based on the previous CoD games. First off, I’m not use to a faster paced shooter. It seems faster to me than GRAW2 or RS:V, and it seems faster than my stubby little dwarf in Shadowrun. Once I got use to the speed though I was doing ok. Not as well as people who were use to the CoD control scheme and were playing the Beta nonstop all day, but still pretty good.

I really like all of the unlockable items. At first I thought it would give people who played longer an advantage, and maybe it does, but I was still getting my share of kills so I’m no longer worried about it. I really enjoy playing a couple matches and then getting new weapons, attachments, and perks to play with. My favorite so far has to he the red dot scope. It makes it a lot easier to see while aiming. I also like the different character classes. So far I’ve unlocked demolition and sniper. Also, I’ve unlocked options to create up to 5 of my own classes. The ability to make your own classes is great because you can setup exactly how you want, and by giving 5 slots for different custom builds it allows for using a different one for different game modes or even just different strategies. Not only can you choose which class you want to use at the start of the match, but you can also change it during a match. Then, the next time you respawn you’ll come back in as that new class. This is really helpful for me because when I find that if the other team is using a strategy that I’m not prepared for I can change my class to help compensate.

I’m not sure how many maps there are in the beta, but I think there are 3 because that is all I remember playing on. I found them pretty simple to get around on, but each one takes time to master all the little nooks, crannies, and shortcuts. It is also nice that when you respawn in team deathmatch, which is what I played the most, that you don’t spawn into the exact same spot every time. This makes it harder for the opposing team to effectively spawn camp.

Having never been into the Call of Duty Series because the game play always looked so hectic I’m pleasantly surprised with the CoD4 Beta. While at times it can be hectic I was still able to keep from being the worst player in the room without to much difficulty. Also, I found that my team mates were helpful when I did not know how to do certain things (like sprint) unlike the Halo 3 Beta where no one wanted to do anything but taunt each other. It seemed like a lot more adults playing in the CoD4 beta. Maybe it was because I was playing it late at night, but I can defiantly see buying Call of Duty 4 when it is released.

Being a long time fan of the Tony Hawk series I was interested to see how Skate looks and plays. I spent some time with the demo for Skate today and I’m still not sold on it. It does look good and controls work for some stuff, but in other areas it is a nightmare. I had no trouble getting through the tutorial and learning to do basic tricks. I was rolling along ok until I had to grind. Doing a grind is pretty easy. Lining it up so you land on the rail is hard. The camera is very low, and it sits behind you and a little to the side. Because of this you can’t see very well directly ahead of you. Especially, since there is not way to adjust the camera angle. This makes it very hard to know when to jump so you land on something to grind. After a while I got the hang of grinding enough to move on in the game. Hopefully they will allow you to adjust the camera angle at least in a way similar to how racing games do where there are 4 or 5 preset spots you can put the camera.

After moving on from grinding I learned to nollie and manual. I was moving along pretty well until I got to where it wanted me to flip into a manual and then flip out of it. After a few tries I was flipping into a manual, but no matter what I did when I flipped out it would tell me I let all 4 wheels touch the ground even when they did not. A couple times I even checked the replay and the front wheels never touched the ground. After trying this for a while I quit the challenge and just skated around. I then went back and tried the exact same thing and got it. Definitely something buggy going on there.

I’m still not sold on Skate. I like that Tony Hawk has some competition, but really they are two very different games. I’m going to wait and see how the reviews for Skate are. If they fix the little issues and make it so I can adjust the camera angle then I might give it a try. If not I’ll just wait for the next Tony Hawk game to be released.

A quick update. I made it into the Call of Duty 4 beta and downloaded it last night. Hopefully this evening I’ll have time to play for a while.

I checked out both of the XBLA games released this week and was not impressed with either. Is anyone liking them that I should give them a second try?

I played Hexic 2 for a while this weekend and I’m still not sure if I like it or not. There are some really fun things about it, like the multiplayer mode, but other things about it are really lame. Lets start with the good stuff. First, the new battle game mode is pretty fun. There is a decent amount of strategy involved as well as speed. I played a few matches and lost the first one to the AI, but won the matches after that by a small margin. I also like the new special pieces they added. I don’t use them very efficiently yet, but it is nice you’re not just stuck with stars and pearls. In addition to having more special pieces you also can blow up the special pieces. This is great is you want to clear out an area that has a lot of random pieces. At least for me all of these combined to make Hexic 2 a little easier than the original. Especially in the Puzzle mode. There are a one main thing I don’t like. The graphics don’t look as good as the original. They are not bad, but they did not use all of the screen in Hexic 2 which seems stupid. Why have a large unused boarder around the edge of the screen? I don’t get it. Why waste all that space and cram everything together when you could just use that space and make it easier to see everything? My wife was a huge fan ox Hexic so I had her try Hexic 2. After trying out each of the game modes she went back to playing the original. She was not impressed with all the new special pieces. If you were a fan of the first Hexic then Hexic 2 is worth a try. Especially with the new battle mode, but if you’re not into Hexic then don’t bother with Hexic 2.

I know I’m about to get flamed for this, but I’ll not be getting BioShock. Before trying the demo I was not planning on playing it and now that I have tried it I’m still not planning to play it. Don’t get me wrong, I think it looks beautiful. It is some of the best look water and lighting I’ve seen in a video game. My issue with it is with the game play. I’m not really into the whole dark, hope when you go around a corner you don’t get hit in the back before you can respond, shooter. I like both run-n-gun shooters and tactical, strategy based shooters. This is neither. I was not even going to bother with the demo because I did not think I would like the game, but everyone was raving about how great it was so I gave it a try. I will say if you’re looking for a shooter that is different than most of the stuff out there then BioShock is worth a look. Just be ready for a dark gritty game.

*** Spoiler Alert ***

I saw The Bourne Ultimatum last weekend and I have to say right off I really enjoyed it. The whole movie is pretty much non-stop action with just enough dialog to keep things moving along nicely. I’m not going to bother with a long plot recap so here is the quick version. Jason Bourne was a Black-Ops CIA Agent who can’t remember who he was and is trying to find out. The thing I like about this movie is that they expect the audience to be smart. There are a ton of little things that tie in the first two Bourne movies with this one. Obviously the story line continues where it left of, but there are other cool things like Bourne quoting people from the first movie that tie it all together. Even if you don’t remember the tie-ins specifically the movie is still good, but if you remember all the little things from the first two movies then it makes this one even better. Because of this I’d recommend watching the first two Bourne movies before seeing the third to refresh your memory. One of my favorite scenes in the movie, that was not an action sequence, was when Nicki dyes and cuts her hair to disguise herself and she does it almost exactly like the girl in the first movie does. I liked how the movie wraps everything up pretty well and how not everyone in the CIA turns out to be against Bourne. Also, the ending was great with the News announcing Bourne’s body was not found after 3 days of searching, and Nicki breaks her solemn face to smile. The only thing in the entire movie that bugged me was when Nicki, Julia Styles, said she had such a hard time after Berlin. Can someone fill me in because that was the only thing I did not get in the movie. Everything else tied into the first two so beautifully and I suspect that this did too, but I just don’t remember it. If you watched The Bourne Ultimatum let me know what you thought of it.

I downloaded the expansion for Band of Bugs Friday and beat it yesterday, but it was well worth the 250 points. It adds 10 new levels, a couple new unit types, and a couple of achievements. The new units are cavalry and artillery. The cavalry features a bug riding another one with a lance that you can attack from two spots away. The artillery is a cool little snail with a catapult on it back. Its attack hits a really large area, but does only 8 or 10 damage. It is great for knocking down large groups so the rest of your army can finish them off. Both are a lot of fun to play with and the 10 new levels feature them a lot. Even though I beat the new levels pretty quickly they were a lot of fun. Plus, now I can use the new units in multiplayer matches and in new maps I create. If you liked Band of Bugs I would recommend checking out the the expansion pack. It costs about $3 and has some really fun battles.

Now that I’m back into my regular schedule of work and gaming, after a couple weeks traveling, I’ve been spending some time with All-Pro Football 2K8. I was a big fan of the 2K5 football with its online leagues and seasons, and it is nice to have the similar game play again. I’ve been playing Madden since then, but I prefer the 2K football games because I think the running plays are more realistic. In Madden it always feels like I’m playing pinball bouncing of everyone, but in APF 2K8 the runners actually get tackled if they bump into someone. There are a few things I think Madden does better, like using a trigger for the turbo instead of tapping A. It is hard to get your turbo charged up and then do a big dive or shoulder charge in APF 2K8, but then it is probably more realistic that way too.

I really like the way teams are created in APF 2K8. Since 2K can’t use real NFL teams they have they got over 200 players that have retired from the NFL that were great back when they played. The first thing you do when the game starts is pick 11 of them to form your team around. You get 2 that are Gold players, 2 that are Silver, and then 7 that are Bronze. Once you pick these Pros for your team you then get to customize the rest of your team. For each position you can pick if you want the players to be run or pass focussed, or balanced. Then, you can pick your team name, logo, uniforms, stadium, etc. They have preset options for all of that if you don’t care and you just want to play, but I had a lot of fun getting my team just how I like it. I like the approach they took. My team is setup around Walter Payton and I’m running over teams like crazy. I got a Silver blocker for him who hits like a train huge running lanes for me. It is nice that they give me the option to make my Offensive line run focussed which makes my game plan even better.

There are a few things that bug me about APF 2K8 though. None of them are really distracting, but I’m going to point them out and hope they get fixed before next year. First off, the kicking is not very easy. It is somewhat forgiving if you kick poorly, but it is really hard to kick well. Instead of using a power bar to determine how far you kick you have to swing the right thumb down to start the kicking motion and then time the forward swing to correspond with the kicker’s leg. For kickoffs and fiend goals this is not to hard, but punting is pretty hard for me because you have such a quick turn around. I’m getting better at it with practice, but it is pretty rough at first. The other thing that bugs me are that the announcers only have a very small handful of things they say. I’m about half way through a season and I’m to the point where I’m starting to get tired of hearing them say the same thing over and over. I’m pretty sure at least part of the things they say came strait from the NFL 2K5 game because they sound really familiar. The final thing I find irritating is that the computer AI does more spin moves in a quarter than I do in 3 or 4 games. I expect a running back like OJ to spin when appropriate, but not to string 3 or 4 of them back to back into some super cyclone frenzy. Plus, I’ve never seen a no-name safety catch an interception and then try to do a spin move as he is returning it in real life, but it has happened with both of the INTs I’ve thrown where they get a little room to run. Please, keep the moves somewhat realistic. Sure, it is a video game and not all of it will be realistic, but don’t make it unrealistic either.

The graphics in APF 2K8 are just ok in my opinion. There is a lot of cool detail in each player’s faces making them look like their real life counterpart, but there are also a lot of jaggies during cut-scenes. The actual game play looks fine, but it is nothing spectacular. It is cool to see the different stadiums they made. Since they are not real NFL teams they made the stadiums really unique to each team. I did notice that one of the dome stadiums with a closed roof still had rain which clearly is an issue, but I did not really mind playing in the rain so I ignored it. They should have caught that kind of thing in their testing.

I realize it seems like I’m being pretty hard on APF 2K8, but really I am enjoying the game a lot. It is just that these little things would not have been that hard to deal with, I don’t think, and they would have made the game even better. If you’re into football I’d recommend giving APF 2K8 a try. It has better game play than the Madden series the last couple years and the online leagues are a lot of fun. I still plan to check out Madden this year, but if it is just another rehash of the last 4 years I’ll stick with All-Pro Football 2K8.