The Eagle's Tale » Games

Madden ’12 pumps game past ’11

DRN-000 — Fri, 09 Sep 2011 20:24:53 +0000

This offseason in football has been quite hectic on both the professional and college level. The NFL lockout stole most of the show, and players have had little time before the preseason games to get back into their stride. The lockout also affected EA Sports as they had to delay the release of Madden NFL ‘12 to August 30th instead of the 9th as they planned in advance. A little bit more time to shape the game, however, has done quite a bit to help the game.
The rosters remained untouched from the free agent frenzy that ensued when the lockout ended, so players can change the teams themselves if it bothers them that much that Marion Barber III is still with the Cowboys despite Dallas releasing him over the offseason. Unless, of course, you have access to Xbox Live or PlayStation Network, in which case all you have to do is use the EA Onlinepass that comes with every copy of the game and get automatic roster updates. No more rushing to change up the teams every time someone in real life gets cut or traded.
An odd thing I noticed is that I didn’t have a hard copy of the instruction manual in the game. It may have just been my copy or only on Xbox 360, but they only included the required warnings that come in every instruction booklet that no one except me reads. It later came to my attention that EA Sports decided to put their manual in-game and available to players throughout the course of a game. It was confusing at first, but that idea was very innovative for them even if it was a rush job when they realized a mistake in printing the instructions.
The actual gameplay is a step up from last year’s edition. The physics engine is improved to where there are no pre-animated actions. Every tackle, block, rush, pass, goal-line stand and onside kick plays out different from every other. Runners, receivers and quarterbacks can still fight for yards and try to stay alive until brought down, which in some cases could require another defenseman. Each team gets authentic introductions and each stadium is more lifelike than in ’11.
EA Sports decided this year to make significant changes to Franchise Mode. Player roles return to show how each member of the player’s team and opponents’ teams stack up, allowing players to make deals for men that lean toward strengths and some that cover for weaknesses. In-game players may also display rating changes depending on their performance game by game. If one or more men start doing well in games, racking up reasons for teams to fear them every time they set foot on the field, they start off on hot streaks, though a bad game can end one. If they botch too many plays and start trembling at the sight of other opponents, they hit cold streaks and need a better game to get back on track.
Play Now mode still has custom matchups in addition to Super Bowl XLVI for players who don’t feel like going through an entire season and skip to the biggest game of the year, set at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. EA Sports even worked in endings specific to each team for winning the championship, which includes the confetti shower, MVP naming, Super Bowl parade and a visit to the White House to shake hands with President Obama and hand him a #44 jersey from the winners.
Overall, the game seems that they were just out to pack in as many improvements as they can just to shove in the consumer’s face, but I could not find a lot of things wrong with it. The adaptable computer opponent can get cheap at times, but Madden has always had that to keep games challenging until the final whistle.

I recommend the game for all fans of the sports game genre and all who have bought and/or played Madden before and enjoyed it.

Xbox 360 now supports USB storage

Austin Gibson — Mon, 10 May 2010 19:23:32 +0000

A recent update to the Xbox 360 firmware now enables the console to use USB flash drives as a method of storage.

A minimum of 1GB of storage must be available on the USB flash drive for it to function properly. A flash drive with a capacity of up to 16GB will be supported; however two may be used simultaneously for up to 32GB of storage. Anything higher than a 16GB capacity will only have that amount recognized, while all other space is simply ignored.

Visit www.xbox.com/en-US/storage/default.htm for more information.

The history of Hacky Sack

Austin Gibson — Thu, 22 Apr 2010 19:24:58 +0000

The footbag, or “Hacky Sack,” has cultural origins from nearly every country, including China, Thailand and Native America. The modern sport was invented in 1972 by John Stalberger and Mike Marshall. Marshall had made a small bean bag and was kicking it around while Stalberger was recovering from knee surgery. Recognizing a new way to exercise his knee, Stalberger joined in on kicking the bag and invented a game they called “Hackin’ the Sack,” and eventually marketed the product under the name “Hacky Sack.”
When Marshall suffered a fatal heart attack in 1975, Stalberger took over the business and started the National Hacky Sack Association. Stalberger later sold the rights to Wham-O, Inc. to produce the footbag.
Since the games invention, various different versions have come about including “Footbag Net” with a similar style to volleyball, and the more commonly played “Freestyle Footbag” where players do tricks while passing the bag around in a circle without using their hands and not allowing the bag to touch the ground.

‘Green Day: Rock Band’ to hit shelves later this year

Austin Gibson — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 20:24:17 +0000

“Green Day: Rock Band” will be the fifth installment in the “Rock Band” franchise to be released later this year. The exact date of the game’s release has not yet been announced.

The game will feature virtual simulations of Billie Joe Armstrong, Mike Dirnt and Tré Cool, performing on guitar, vocals, bass and drums respectively. All previous peripherals designed for the “Rock Band” games will be compatible with “Green Day: Rock Band,” however no indication of specially designed instruments to resemble those of the band members has been announced like those of “The Beatles: Rock Band,” though the idea remains plausible.

No specific tracks have been formally announced, but “American Idiot” was seen being played during the announcement trailer for the game leading to speculation that the track will be available in-game. Previous Green Day songs made available for download in previous “Rock Band” games, such as “¡Viva La Gloria!” and “21 Guns”, will be compatible with “Green Day: Rock Band”. Also, all tracks in the game will be made exportable to other “Rock Band” titles except “The Beatles: Rock Band.”

‘Guitar Hero 5′ a number one hit

Austin Gibson — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 20:39:05 +0000

You wipe the sweat from your face; you and your friends have been waiting for this moment for a long time now. This is your chance to play an encore in front of all your fans and to prove you have what it takes to be a rock super star. You pick up your guitar and look to your friends as you prepare for what could be the biggest moment of your life. In the middle of your song, a friend pauses and runs off to the restroom as you come back to reality and find yourself in your living room.

“Guitar Hero 5” is the next game in the long line of the “Guitar Hero” series and like the others, the story is pretty simple and straight forward. Players perform songs in venues, collect stars and rise to super stardom. There is almost no story involved and the only video that hints at a story is in the beginning and end of the game. While there is no story, the game adds a new twist to the career mode.

Instrument specific challenges are added, asking players to meet a requirement to unlock new items such as new instruments, clothing and new characters. The challenges range from having a 4X note streak for a minute to strumming certain notes. Some of the challenges require you playing with a band and if a band member completes a challenge, other players get the reward as well, so you won’t find yourself playing and instrument you are not very good at or do not like.

The game has also made an improvement on band game play making it more enjoyable to play with friends. The restrictions of the previous games where you had to have a band with a guitarist, a bassist, a drummer and vocalist, are gone as now players can make a band of any instrument combination. Players could play with a band of three guitarists and one drummer or two bassists and a vocalist and a guitarist.

“Guitar Hero 5” also has some guest appearances including Matthew Bellamy, the lead singer of Muse, Carlos Santana, Curt Cobain, Johnny Cash, and Shirley Manson from Garbage. The game is true to the look to the musicians down to the appearance and actions. Each of the special guests plays some of their most popular songs and can even be unlocked as playable characters.

The game also has some new modes to play in a feature called “Party Play”. This new mode allows four friends, or eight online, to play in new versus modes. Some of the options include playing where the fewer notes players miss the faster the song will get making for a fun challenge. Another mode gives points out for the longer players have a streak. All of the old modes like “Face-Off”, “Pro Face-Off” and “Band vs. Band” are still available, but the new mode offers more variety.

“Guitar Hero 5” out does itself with the largest song list of any “Guitar Hero” title. There are 85 songs in total with all of them being master tracks (Original Recordings). The songs have a wide variety ranging from “Johnny Cash” to “Iron Maiden” and some heavy metal songs from “Children of Bodem”. Players could even add more songs by adding in their downloaded songs as well the entire song list from “Guitar Hero: World Tour” and “Smash Hits”, all for a minor fee. This makes for a total of over 200 hundred songs, so players no longer have to switch between the games to play certain songs.

Players can download more songs with Xbox Live or Playstation Network for a small fee to expand their music library. Songs from “Jimi Hendrix”, “Metallica”, “The Killers” and others as well as entire albums can be downloaded. There is a huge store to get more songs, but “Guitar Hero” is a little behind in downloads when compared to “Rock Band”.

“Guitar Hero 5” does great work continuing the series with new features and loud songs. What the game lacks in downloads, it makes up for in fresh new game play. The game once again proves that there is still life in the series and is still just as fun now as when it first came out. Get a group of friends and turn up the volume because this game is meant to be played loud. “Guitar Hero 5″ gets an 8 out of 10.

New feature added to ‘Ubisoft’ games

Austin Gibson — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 18:42:07 +0000

Game developer Ubisoft has created a new community and rewards system called Uplay. Uplay lets players join a community for their favorite Ubisoft games and earn in-game rewards just for completing certain tasks that are already part of the game’s plot. Currently, Uplay is only available for “Assassin’s Creed 2,” but will also be implemented for use with “Splinter Cell: Conviction” and “R.U.S.E.” in 2010.

Uplay is definitely a value to the games because it lets players unlock in-game rewards for free as opposed to paying for them through the game console’s server, thus saving players money or “points” that could be used for something else not available in such a way. Similar ideas to “Uplay” will hopefully be used by other developers as well and let players unlock more game features without paying out-of-pocket expenses to to do so.

New update for Xbox 360 available today

Austin Gibson — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 20:46:13 +0000

A new update for the Xbox 360 consoles is now available via Xbox LIVE. The new update allows users to access Facebook, Twitter, Zune and Last.fm through their Xbox 360 consoles.

Twitter works relatively the same as it normally would on computers, but Facebook has a feature that allows gamers to check updates, post in-game achievements to their news feed, view photos and even invite Facebook friends that are not already on the gamer’s Xbox LIVE friends list.

The new Last.fm feature adds the capability to stream music and lets gamers create their own “stations” similar to the way Pandora internet radio does. The Zune player is a more hi-definition version of the media player Xbox LIVE had already employed. This means users still must pay to view content, but can get it in a much higher resolution.

The only downside to this new update is that users must be signed up under an adult account, meaning users ages 17 and under will not be getting this particular update until a “safer” version is created.

Sony has also released information that limited Facebook integration will be available in an upcoming Playstation 3 firmware update. So PS3 users will not be missing out on this feature, they’re just going to have to wait a little longer.

‘Halo Wars’ takes a ‘Risk’

Austin Gibson — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 19:01:46 +0000

The popular video game “Halo Wars” has been combined with the classic strategy-based board game “Risk.” Players can take control of the UNSC, the Covenant or the Flood, each with its own objectives and game play. The UNSC is the human army, while the Covenant and the Flood are of alien descent. Whichever side is chosen, players fight for control on a board version of the “Halo” setting Arcadia. The game comes with over 290 custom figures including UNSC fire bases, scorpion tanks, Spartans, Covenant command centers, Arbiter, and Flood juggernauts. A custom game board and seven dice are also included.

“Risk: Halo Wars” is approved for players ages twelve and up and accommodates up to three players. For the latest news about the game, go to www.thestrategicconquest.com

‘The Beatles: Rock Band’ just short of Beatlemania

Austin Gibson — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 15:56:27 +0000

‘The Beatles: Rock Band” follows the Fab Four through their music career from their beginnings at the Cavern Club to their final performance atop the Apple Records building rooftop. The game features 45 songs from The Beatles’ catalogue including “I Want to Hold Your Hand,” “I Feel Fine,” “I am the Walrus,” “Back in the USSR,” “Here Comes the Sun” and “Octopus’s Garden.”

Players are able to play guitar, bass, vocals or drums just as in previous “Rock Band” titles. In celebration of The Beatles, however, special versions of the instruments are available for the game inspired by the instruments played by Paul McCartney, John Lennon, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. The instruments are sold separately from the game or can also be purchased in the special edition box set for $249.99.

“The Beatles: Rock Band” should definitely be on the “To Buy” list for both “Beatles” lovers and “Rock Band” fans alike. The game lives up to standards set by the previous two “Rock Band” titles in terms of game play. However, one downside is that players cannot use downloadable content from other artists as can be done on the previous games. The game play, therefore, can become somewhat boring if the player is not a “Beatlemaniac.”

The price of the special edition box set is relatively high compared to that of the standard version priced $100 less. A positive side is that the game does not feature opening bands making it focused and original. Also, the likenesses of Lennon, Harrison, Starr and McCartney are astoundingly uncanny to the musicians. This game gets an 8 out of 10.

“The Beatles: Rock Band” is rated “T” for mild lyrics and tobacco reference

Official websites: www.rockband.com www.thebeatlesrockband.com

‘Batman: Arkham Asylum’ sets high standards for franchise

adviser — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 21:03:54 +0000

The latest addition to the Batman franchise is the video game “Batman: Arkham Asylum”, which was released on Aug. 24. The action takes place in Gotham City’s Arkham Asylum, the holding place of some of Batman’s greatest adversaries including Poison Ivy, Bane, Killer Croc and, of course, The Joker. The game begins with Batman returning The Joker to Arkham, only to have him break loose and take control of Arkham Island. As the Dark Knight, players use a dynamic free-flow combat system and the skills of the world’s greatest detective to take down the Clown Prince of Crime and regain control of the facility.

The game also includes a challenge mode with varying requirements to complete each level ranging from achieving a given score to performing certain moves on enemies. One disappointment of the game is that when a character is defeated they go into the ragdoll effect, meaning their bodies flail uncontrollably as they fall to the ground. Making the defeat of characters more realistic would make the game more engaging. Also adding more key, but omitted, villains of the series, such as Mr. Freeze, would make game play more enjoyable to the hardcore Batman fan. Nonetheless, the overall story and game play lives up to, if not surpasses, the previous Batman standards. This game gets a 10 out of 10.

Batman was created by Detective Comics, more commonly known as DC, in 1939 and has since been the basis for several more comic book series, animated series, movies, videogames and a live action television show.

“Batman: Arkham Asylum” is rated “T” for alcohol reference, suggestive themes, tobacco reference, violence and blood

Click here for “Predator Mode” gameplay footage from comicbookresources.com

Official website: www.batmanarkhamasylum.com