ORBITAL DROP SHOCK TROOPERS!

Back in July I had a chance to get a hands on preview of one of the most anticipated shooters of the year, Halo 3: ODST. It expands on the already epic canon of Microsoft's staple Halo franchise and looks at an entirely different aspect of the war with the Covenant.

Although labeled Halo 3: ODST, the game actually takes place between Halo 2 and Halo 3 (think Shadows of the Empire for the Star Wars universe). It also deviates from following Halo's main hero, the Spartan known as Master Chief, and instead follows a group of ODSTs (Orbital Drop Shock Troopers) on the other side of the universe as the events of Halo 2 are unfolding at the same time.

After playing a preview of what looks to be the best game of the series so far in terms of combat, I spoke with Bungie's Community and PR Director, Brian Jarrard, about the direction the series is taking as well as about the characters we play with in Halo 3: ODST.



-Ray Carsillo

RETURN TO GLORY

It's that time of year again. Stacks of fantasy football magazines litter the floor of your living room, emptied Red Bull cans overflowing your trash can, and your thumb is locking up from practicing smashing the truck stick on your game controller.

Football season is practically here and with it comes the annual release of one of the most popular (and profitable) franchises of all-time, MADDEN.

After a down year in 09, EA Sports went back to the drawing board with their even-year team (two teams at EA are constantly working on the Madden franchises, one on even years and the other on odd) and have come out with possibly the best Madden ever.

It's hard to decide where to even begin in our discussion of improvements so we'll start with the first thing you see when you pop it in your console. The graphics are back to a standard worthy of the current generation of consoles and for the Madden franchise. The players and playbooks do not look condensed on the field and having full, individual models in the stands again makes the game look gorgeous.

The gameplay is smooth, although it slows down a bit on kickoffs on the Xbox 360. Aside from this minor lag, the game is smooth in every other aspect. This is a surprising point considering the inclusion of this year's main selling point, the all new PRO-TAK.

PRO-TAK is Madden's new gang-tackling system to provide the most realistic tackling system to date. Now, your speed running back can be pushed forward for that extra yard by having his offensive linemen come up from behind and help push him through that pesky cornerback or a power running back that would normally run over that lanky safety (Brandon Jacobs) can be slowed down enough for linebackers and defensive ends to catch up and assist with the tackle to prevent the back from getting that critical first down.

The PRO-TAK animations are seamless and it is as close as you've ever gotten in a video game to watching real football.

Along with the inclusion of PRO-TAK, there is also an updated playbook that includes the Wildcat formation for certain teams. The four setting difficulty system also returns and has been made the primary difficulty system again over last year's dreadful Madden IQ. Although Madden IQ can still be used as an option, the game automatically sets itself up with the Pro difficulty and you can adjust up or down from there.

There are only two real downers in this newest Madden experience. The first is that it takes a lot of time to speed through all the replays and get through the game. I understand that the game has a lot to load (especially for Xbox 360) to make it look as smooth as it does, but it almost feels just like real football because it takes so long to get to your next play selection.

This is especially evident when you get to halftime and they try to force you to watch an NFL Network-like halftime show hosted by Fran Charles and Alex Flanagan. Fran actually hosts the show and Alex voice-overs stats around the league, which makes no sense, and not just that the guy is named Fran and the girl is named Alex, but because that they didn't show the hot chick and showed the dude instead. Incase you didn't get the memo; most people who play Madden are guys. Tangent aside, trying to fast-forward through the halftime show is like trying to drive a Corvette ZR-1 through five feet of mud.

The other downside is the return of Cris Collinsworth and Tom Hammond as the color commentary and play-by-play announcers. Collinsworth isn't really that bad with his color although he tries a little too hard to have his own oxymoronic sayings in pitiful attempts to sound like John Madden used to ("When the offense runs a play and it isn't a negative, it's a positive"). The real downer, once again, is Tom Hammond who is just dry and dull to the point where you want to stick your head in the sand while you play.

These minor complaints aside, this might be the best Madden in half a decade and is the first one truly worthy of the current console generation. PRO-TAK is a brilliant addition and the gameplay is back to the high level we were used to from years past. The only other major complaint is that I'm deeply saddened by the absence of John Madden in his game. Aside from an opening credit montage that he voices and his image occasionally popping up in different menus, John Madden has almost completely removed himself from his own game. It will be interesting to see where the franchise goes now with its founder looking to step back from the helm.

Ratings are based on a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being the best.

Graphics: 10.0: The visuals are flawless. I couldn't find a single glitch. It is a visual gem.

Audio: 6.0: A great selection of music on the menus as always from EA Sports. They know just what tunes would get you pumped up for football season. The audio gets a low number, though, due to how bad Tom Hammond does the play-by-play and how Cris Collinsworth's impersonation of John Madden is shameful. They still can't get Al Michaels to come back?

Plot/Plot Development: N/A: It's a sports sim...

Gameplay: 9.0: Long load times are the only real downside to the gameplay for Madden 10. PRO-TAK is the football gaming revolution we have been waiting for and hopefully it will last a lot longer than QB Vision did.

Replay Value: 9.0: After a while the typical gameplay glitches will start to arise if you are an elite Madden gamer, but if not you'll have fun pushing the A.I. to its limits. Add in online capabilities and Madden 10 is more than enough of a fix for any addicted football fan.

Overall (not an average): 9.0: After last year's version was barely average, the even-year team came out with a winner to pull the Madden franchise out of its short rut. The new PRO-TAK system brings the game to an entirely new level and the looks of the game have been brought back up to snuff. Everything else we love about Madden is still there combined with these improvements and positive additions makes this the best Madden in probably half a decade and the first to be worthy of the Madden franchise in at least three years.

-Ray Carsillo

THE HIGHWAY TO HELL

Fallen angels, hellfire-based powers, mind-control, and a lost god are all rolled into the new game for the Xbox 360, Infernal: Hell's Vengeance. You would think that all these amazing action elements would spell a sure winner, but this port of the 2007 third-person shooter for the PC, Infernal, should have stayed put.

The basic plot has you playing as Ryan Lennox, a renegade angel whose methods were called into question a few times too often by the holiest of causes and is banished to the earthly plane. His amazing talent with a firearm draws the attention of Lucifer, though, and he offers Ryan the chance to serve him in an attempt to maintain the balance between good and evil as heaven has supposedly procured a weapon that would vanquish sin from the Earth for all time. Now an agent of vengeance, Ryan Lennox must fight both an internal and external battle to maintain the eternal balance.

A decent sounding plot aside, this game is abysmal. The glitches in this atrocity are beyond anything I have ever seen on the current generation of consoles. Freezing after dying, while saving, and/or just standing around and you have easily the most frustrating gaming experience that I've had in years.

And that is just from the glitches! Never mind that there is no auto-save or quick save feature so when you do actually get into the plot of the game, on those rare occurrences, and forget to save and then die and get flung back two levels...THAT'S FRUSTRATION.

I understand how easy it is for a PC game to be directly ported to the Xbox due to the Microsoft connection, but you have to fix these small, irritating, repetitive errors when you do because console players expect a more streamlined playing experience than those who deal with the PC.

Add in that the graphics haven't been brought up to speed and do not take advantage of the 360's capabilities, the music is annoyingly repetitive, and the A.I. tries to overwhelm you more with sheer numbers than any sort of strategy, and you have a horrible gaming experience reminiscent of Goldeneye: Rouge Agent. There is no stealth required in this game and it is more about conserving ammo as you mow down seemingly limitless enemies in each room as the game tries to hold your attention through five sleep inducing levels.

Infernal: Hell's Vengeance was full of potential considering the abilities to wrap your bullets in hell-fire, teleport, and consume people's souls for energy. The lack of polish on this game, though, along with a plethora of glitches and a poorly implemented plot leaves me with no choice but to only recommend this game if you find it at the bottom of the $5 bargain bin somewhere.

Ratings are based on a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being the best.

Graphics: 5.0: Infernal: Hell's Vengeance looks exactly like the PC game it was ported from. No upgrades or polish added to visuals that were only on par in 2007 leaves this at a sub-par level now, especially considering the capabilities of the Xbox 360. This game is best described as visually lackluster and dull.

Audio: 4.0: Repetitive, uninspired music really takes away from the already poor experience with this game. On top of this, the voice acting sounds like it was done by a cast of anime voiceover rejects. The SFX are solid and is the only audible saving grace for Infernal: Hell's Vengeance.

Plot/Plot Development: 7.0: This gets a passing score because the overall plot is actually an awesome idea. Fallen angels trying to maintain the balance between good and evil sounds like it could be full of great action sequences that would keep you entertained for a long while. Due to awful story telling and glitches galore, though, the plot is implemented poorly and knocks this back down.

Gameplay: 1.0: Considering all the glitches, lag, and lack of firing accuracy (that's a big problem since it is a third-person shooter) and I could not give this anything more than my worst possible score.

Replay Value: 2.0: Aside from the three difficulty levels, there is nothing to bring you back to play this again, especially since you should be able to beat the entire game on the hardest difficulty without much effort, just like I did.

Overall (not an average): 3.0: Horrible glitches, abysmal gameplay, no replay value, and a lackluster attempt on the peripherals leaves this game towards the bottom of the bargain bin at best. This was a pitiful effort on porting over what was once a decent PC game over to the Xbox 360. I expected much more from this effort and am horribly disappointed. I would avoid this game at all costs.

Infernal: Hell's Vengeance is available now for Xbox 360.

-Ray Carsillo