That’s Right, I played Teh Haloz Last Night

Hey, I’m just as surprised as you are.

My co-worker and I were talking about it, and got a game going after work. I thought I had gotten over Halo (actually wasn’t even sure that I still owned it), but it was actually pretty fun. I don’t think I would have enjoyed it if I played it by myself, though. Surprisingly, I picked the control scheme back up fairly quickly, and I only threw a couple accidental grenades before it felt natural again.

What playing it again did make me realize, though, is how shallow it is compared to COD4. During a match, I felt like I should have been doing so much more than I was, but there really aren’t that many options. Sprint? Nope. Crouch? Nope. All-weapon ADS? Nope. Martyrdom? Now you’re just being ridiculous.

At least Master Chief can jump really high.

The Lines Have Been Drawn

Yesterday I got my first hands-on experience with COD4 on a PlayStation 3. There weren’t many glaring differences, but it did make me realize that I like the 360 version much better.

First off, let me say that I only had about 30 minutes with the game. I played the Epilogue, then a couple online matches. My friend hadn’t hooked up PS3 to the internet since he got it, and he had definitely never taken COD4 online. I showed him the ropes, and played a few Team Deathmatches as a level 1 n00b. It was fun playing against other beginners; it wasn’t that I was dominating them or anything (I was), but because they definitely didn’t know all the ins and outs of the maps.

What The Hell Does This Mean?

Sometimes people are so good at something that it seems the world at large is conspiring to keep them from doing that one thing that they are perfect for. Mozart was hindered by his deafness, that tiger attacked Sigfried and Roy, etc… Case in point: Mark and I cannot play COD4 together. Every time we try to connect we get the error message. It sucks. Depressingly, I’ve come to terms with not being able to not shoot people online with friends and have accepted that maybe it’s a sign to pull away from this particular game. Maybe.

A few days before my internet went out, (might be fixed today) I got this message when trying to sign in to a game of Hardcore Team Deathmatch. What does it mean? I haven’t a clue. I just know that it infuriated me. Why couldn’t they dumb it down and just write, “Aw shit, man. Just, um, you know, just restart you Xbox…. Yeah, give that a try.”

I feel like Microsoft is doing this to me…

Multiplaying

Earlier today, some of us in the Threevue.com community got together for some hardcore COD4 action. Raul, blacktail9mm (or Steve), Tyler, and I all teamed up and pretty much got the crap kicked out of us, but it was still a lot of fun.

For some reason, though, it was really difficult for us to get together as a team at first. Disconnections, mis-connections, and Tyler’s retardation kept getting in the way. But once they were sorted out, things went swimmingly.

Games are infintely more fun with a group of people, and as soon as I download Castle Crashers, we’ll do it again.

Oh yeah, I forgot. cj913 played with us, too, but he had to go to cheerleading practice.

Speaking of…

You know how you can record video and spray paint jpeg “tags” on the walls of games in PC games? Well COD4 is no exception.  Here we see what happens when you let your guard down for an instant in order to check out a hot chick.

In Response. Because Sometimes, Just A Comment Doesn’t Cut It

Before you read this, read this.

I agree with pretty much everything Tyler said in that post. The BFBC controls are to COD4 controls as a sloppy joe is to a precisely cut slice of sashimi, the Battlefield hit detection should be called, “hit-or-miss detection,” and visually, there is no comparison between the two games.

BUT! The thing that makes BFBC stand out to me is the depth of the online multiplayer. All the various vehicle types that make killing possible from the land, sea, and air, is something that COD4 is sorely lacking. That’s the main reason that, unless a couple friends want to team up, I’m pretty much over COD4. Although not nearly the game as part four is, COD3 had a much longer shelf-life for me, simply because things like patrolling the outskirts of Eder Dam in a .50 cal-ed up Jeep with a friend never got old.

Also, even though there isn’t quite the weapon or perk selection that’s found in COD4, there is enough customization to keep me happy and interested, and the size of the maps actually allow for a little strategery, instead of just runnin’ and gunnin.

My point is, side-by-side, the single player modes don’t even compare, COD4 is on a level that no other game has even come close to yet. But the multiplayer modes of both games offer both equally different, and awesome, experiences.

P.S. Sorry about using the same picture, Tyler, I just really like it.

Comparative Bit-erature: COD4 vs BFBC

So, I just played COD4 for about two hours. Then I immediately went in and played BFBC for about an hour and a half. And I think I’m qualified enough now to say that I don’t like BFBC nearly as much as COD4. And when I say nearly, I mean, like, 1/10th as much.

Which confuses me because I was pretty amped on Bad Company for the all the eye-sexing destrucability. Having breakable environments is one of the things, along with recordable matches and completely customizable controls, that will take a game from good to excellent for me. Or so I thought. COD has none of those things, but it does a couple things with superbly well.

I don’t know if it’s all of the time I’ve spent with COD or what, but it flows so much better. I feel this comes from two things. First – tight, responsive controls. I can’t even think of another game that has caused such ingrained muscle memory. I can literally tell you, with words, the button combos and d-pad directions one would need to press in order to do anything they want. Granted, the same reaction would have come from playing more of BFBC, and this leads me to my second point.

Hit detection. A la Gears of War, who the fuck likes to empty CLIPS at guys and see them smoke you at arms length? Not me, monsignor. There is relatively no splash damage, and bullets seem to slide around enemies like they were made out of butter. Also, the player moves at a chunky and unresponsive clip, I feel like I might as well paint a bulls eye on my back.

Tragedy, dear readers. Because the explosions look so damn good and there really is no feeling like removing a house being used for cover with a 120mm tank round.

Call of Duty: World At War

Maybe I stand alone in this opinion, but I don’t want another Call of Duty game a) that isn’t made by COD2 and COD4-helmers Infinity Ward and b) that comes out any time soon. COD4 is (still) great, awesome, and spectacular, and another game this early is just going to both disappoint fans and confuse consumers.

“Hey nerd, which one is the good one again? The old one?”
“Well, consumer, it’s not really that old, COD4 came out last year.”
“Then why did they make another one so soon?”
Exactly.

Here is the trailer in HD. It’s not that much better than the one you see above.

This is the Reason Saturdays Were Invented

It was really nice to get back in the saddle (a.k.a. the ass groove in my couch) and play some games last night. With all the larger-than-life advertising I witnessed in L.A., I was really craving some GTA4, and last night after work was my first chance to revisit Liberty City. It was just as fun as I remembered it.

I have a lot of options on tap today. What should I do? Law-break in Liberty City? Assassinate in Acre? Kill chumps in Killhouse? I can’t go wrong with any of those. How about a little Wii Fit? Sounds good to me. So long, sun!

Delicious, Delicious Cake.

Man, I’m really stoked to have my Xbox 360 back from the dead/Microsoft.

I played a few GTAIV missions (more on that in a later post), drummed out some Rock Band, knocked out 30 cheevers in Assassin’s Creed, played a few Doom levels and then knocked out the last two Portal advanced maps. They were doozies – I spent at least 45 minutes on each of them. But it was worth the 30 extra cheevers.

But what hit me was that I really had forgotten how great The Orange Box (which includes Portal, Half-Life 2 and its two episodic sequels, and multiplayer-only Team Fortress 2) really is. And although our Threevue Game of the Year went to Call of Duty 4, both Tyler and I voted TOB as #1, while Mark who clearly knows nothing about video games voted it #5.

If you haven’t played Portal, go buy The Orange Box and play it. And play through the Half-Life 2 games while you’re at it, when you get a spare 20+ hours. It’s safe to say that the entire experience is equivalent to that picture above.

Death Cab for Duty

This is a little eerie since I just posted about their new album the other day, but two-fourths of Death Cab for Cutie will be online tomorrow night playing COD4.

I’ve never done this “Game With Fame” thing, but if I was going to, tomorrow would be the time to do so. I’ve been a fan of the band for close to ten years now, and it would be pretty sweet to shoot them in the face. Even if it is just the bassist and drummer.

What I’ve Been Playing

I haven’t had the time for any sort of extended gaming sessions lately, but the limited amount of nerding-out I have had has been filled with quality games. A few weeks ago, when I had more disposable time, it wasn’t a big deal to spend a few hours playing a bad game like Manhunt 2, or the Iron Man demo, because I knew something like COD4 or Mass Effect was only a finger away. Now though, free time is at a premium, and just like Tyler tells his boyfriends, it’s all about quality over quantity.

So, here’s a quick rundown. I usually play five to ten minutes of Patapon in the morning before school everyday (that’s the most childish sentence I’ve ever written). Some days, like today, I have a break, and get the chance to play Peggle between classes on my iPod. Before, if I didn’t have to work, I’d come home and spend some time destroying my little brother in COD4, but I haven’t done that in so long that I forgot what a kill-cam even looks like. My console game-time had been devoted to GTA4 lately, but other than driving a few guys here and there, I’ve barely scratched the crime-filled surface. I did just play through You Have to Burn the Rope, but that takes about as long as it does for me to ruin my chances with a girl (sub-30 seconds). But, like I’ve been saying, summer’s right around the corner.

Editor’s Note: Sorry for the jab, Tyler, but that’s what you get for not posting in six days.

Impressions: New COD4 Variety Map Pack – Dueling Editors Edition!

With the new Call of Duty 4 Variety Map Pack now live and wreaking havoc on Xbox Live (double xp this weekend!), two-thirdsvue of us are sounding off on what we think about the pack:

Mark:

So now that I’ve had ample time with the Variety Map Pack, I feel that I can actually talk about them semi-intelligently. First off, it’s really hard to play in a new map when I know every nook and cranny of the old ones better than I know my own apartment. I know these maps are new for everyone, but I was getting my ass handed to me for the first couple sessions because I was doing more exploring than fighting. Now I’m fairly comfortable with them, except for Killhouse, which for some reason I still haven’t played.

Right off the bat, the most striking thing with these new maps is how colorful they are. The originals, with a few exceptions, are full of grays and browns, but the new maps are full of bright, vibrant colors. Creek has a broad range of light and dark hues, ranging with the deep gray and black cave, to the green, lush above ground foliage. Creek has a definite WWII time period feel because there isn’t anything inherently modern about it. I really like that because it feels like an earlier COD map transplanted into part 4.

Speaking of throwback maps, Chinatown is a revamped Carentan from COD2, and it’s totally awesome. The action is mostly CQC, both in the really cool Chinese style buildings, and on the streets of the Hong Kong-esque city. This map contains a lot of deep reds and oranges, bright colors missing from the original maps.

In conclusion, if you regularly, or even irregularly, play Call of Duty 4 online, then there is no reason that you shouldn’t get these maps (unless you are really poor, in which case Russ said he will buy them for you). I really hope these maps get integrated with the originals so I don’t have to choose between the new or the old ones when I play. Also, I really want to play Killhouse, so come on COD, and give it to me.

Russ:
Let me start out by admitting that I haven’t played this game online all that much; whereas Mark and Tyler have multiple plays through the online ranks, I’m still on my first level 17 or somewhere around there. That being said, I still really enjoy and appreciate this game. Both “Creek” and “Chinatown” maps are brand new locales for me, but “Broadcast” is essentially the same as that TV station level on single player. I like when they make a single-player level into something similar on the multiplayer side, because immediately I can get my bearings.

I got slaughtered on the “Creek” level. It’s mostly open-air with an awesome tunnel that no one seems to go into, and I’m so bad at long-range combat that I get sniped left and right. That and I kept mistaking falling leaves for people. “Chinatown” seemed like your average close-quarters city level, similar to some that are already out. I did notice that there was a DVD rental basement, which is a pretty cool new dynamic. I did pretty well on this map, just because I was able to get a jump on guys by flying around a corner real fast, guns a-blazin’. “Broadcast” was my bread and butter, simply because I knew the area already. I stuck mostly to the rooftops, and had a pretty good kill/death ratio (read: 1/1 is my target).

There’s another map, “Killtown” or something like that, but you have to play some other game mode to get to it, and that’s asking a little too much of me right now.

almost there

I’m only 5 gamerscore away from 14,000 cheevers. I’ve played through a few games recently, which has helped up my score a couple grand in the past few weeks. Currently, I’m about 75% of the way through The Simpsons Game, which I both love and hate, and should hit the magic number tomorrow.

I still really wish that COD4 had achievements for the online multiplayer. The ranking system does an ok job of making me feel like I’m accomplishing something in the game, but I would really love it if completing some of the challenges netted me a couple cheevers.

He’ll always be Gob to me

Will Arnett was my favorite actor on Arrested Development. He was brutally funny as a total dick brother and fit in perfectly with the top quality cast. So it’s cool to hear that he’s a fan of hardline FPSing. It just seems to me that he’s playing down the passion so as to escape the stigma that  afflicts adult, male gamers.

Man, if I was playing COD and I heard the scintillating and sultry voice of Will Arnett comming over my headset I would have a hard time backstabbing him if he were on the opposite team. I’d still do it though… gotta live by the code.