Disk Inserted

Having not played the original Modern Warfare, or any of the former Call of Duty titles for that matter, I was a bit hesitant to get this game. Sure, I wanted to get in on all the hype and try something other than a futuristic first person shooter like Halo, but I wasn’t sure if a “war” game would interest me. I picked up Modern Warfare 2 back in the beginning of December, and I have yet to be able to put it down. Infinity Ward, you have amazed me with an awesome title for the Xbox 360! Also available for the PC and PlayStation 3, Infinity Ward’s Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 takes place five years after the previous installment. The campaign mode is divided between the multinational counter-terrorist group, Task Force 141, which is tasked with eliminating ultranationist Vladimir Makarov, and the U.S. Army Rangers, who are tasked with defending the United States from a Russian invasion. Settings for the game include Afghanistan, Rio de Janeiro, Siberia, and Washington D.C.

Modern Warfare 2 has received highly positive reviews from various gaming websites, attaining a 94% aggregate score on Metacritic, with praise stemming primarily from its in-depth multiplayer component. According to Wikipedia, Upon its release, the game sold approximately 4.7 million copies worldwide in 24 hours!

For more information about Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, check out the game’s article on Wikipedia’s website, located here. Now, without further interruptions, on to my review!

* Just a fair WARNING, the Campaign section of my review contains loads of spoilers! *

The game’s controls are quite simple to pick up, especially for me. I hate games that require memorizing the manual to get all the controls and button layouts down pat. By default the controls are as follows:

A – Jump up/over obstacles
B – Crouch; Press again to prone (lie down)
X – Reload/Use
Y – Switch Weapons
RT – Fire
RB – Frag Grenade
LT – Aim
LB – Special Grenade
RS – Look/Aim; Click to melee
LS – Move; Click to sprint
D-Pad – Inventory
START – Pause
BACK – Multiplayer scoreboard

Multiplayer

To be completely honest, It’s quite easy to level up in the game. Remember, I picked up the game around the second week of December and have been playing it everyday since and at this current time, I am a Level 43 Major. That means I don’t suck! Okay, okay… I do…

Leveling up requires XP or “experience points” which are usually granted for kills, assists and completing objectives. Even if you only get one kill throughout the entire match, don’t worry; chances are you’ll still get XP though it’ll be a small amount. There are multiple varieties of multiplayer modes like Free-for-All, Team Deathmatch, Domination, etc. You’ll have to explore your personal tastes and see which one is best for either your comfort or “pwn” zone.

Free-for-all is just that… an every man for himself fight for the most kills. First time and/or novice players, avoid this game type until you are comfortable taking on trash talking high school kids with no life other than school, homework and video games. Most players don’t care if you’re a new comer or a veteran to the game, they’ll still find ways to kill you and look cheap doing it. If you’re going to give this game type a shot, take my advice… being a “back stabber” via melee or the Tactical Knife will save you in close encounters with your enemy… especially on smaller maps like Rust and Highrise. Lock-on launchers are a must on bigger maps like Afghan and Wasteland where airstrikes are common and helicopters have free roam of the open, unobstructed skies. Experienced players (and campers) like to guard the hallways and the airplane cabin on Terminal. Take a quick shortcut through the bookstore and take your time peaking around the corners. A simple smoke, stun or flash grenade will be sure to surprise the snipers waiting for you at the end of the hallway.

In Modern Warfare 2 they took custom ability to a whole new level. There is so much you can do to make your class new and unique! Along with the classes are the Callsign and Kill Streaks which you can choose from and customize.

Custom Classes

In Modern Warfare 2 the custom class set ups are a bit different than past Call of Duty games. You get to choose one primary weapon (with one attachment unless you have Bling), one secondary weapon (with one attachment unless you have Bling Pro), one equipment, one special grenade, one death streak, and three perks. To make the best custom class available, you need to think about what type of person you want to be. Each class can have it’s strengths and weaknesses which you can try to enhance and cover up.

Campaign

So basically, a private went undercover (chosen by General Shepherd) in a massacre in Russia with a man named Makarov. Makarov knew he was an American undercover so he killed him and left the body at the scene. The Russians then believed it was the Americans that planned the Massacre and invaded the U.S. with super steal planes. Task Force 141 (the English) went working with the Rangers (the Americans) to get all of it straight. They found the bullet Makarov used to kill the Private in the massacre and traced it to Brazil where they went after some people for intel. After that, Task Force 141 infiltrates an oil rig to gain access to a fortress known as the Gulag where they try to find a prisoner Makarov is after. The prisoner turns out to be Captain Price.

Meanwhile, the Rangers (Led by General Shepherd) are still fighting the Russians in the U.S. Task Force 141 infiltrates a Submarine Base as a contingency plan for the U.S. He sets off a 6 megaton nuclear missile in the atmosphere which causes an EMP to occur right over the U.S. Nobody dies but all the electronics are gone. The Rangers were out numbered but the EMP helped them retake DC. The U.S. campaign ends there saying they’ll be heading to Moscow soon and burn the place down.

General Shepherd gives Task Force 141 intel that there may be one of two places Makarov can be. They split up and head to both places at once. Roach is with Ghost and Price is with Soap. Roach and Ghost gather lots of intel from Makarov’s Estate but don’t find Makarov. They head to the extraction area where General Shepherd is. There the General betray and kills them. Price and Soap find out and try and warn them but they’re too late. Shepherd was working with Makarov from the start. The General’s thought was to become a world wide hero through this world wide disaster. So they find where the General is hiding by convincing Makarov he’s just being used like they were. This became apparent to Makarov because the Rangers started attacking Makarov’s men while Price and Soap were in the middle of it sneaking past them. They go to take him out but get injured in the process. They kill him and escape with Nikolai to a safe house, and the game ends.

Got all that? Great…

Special Ops

The Special Operations mode is either a single player or two player split screen or online. Two missions MUST be done with two players. You cannot search for partners but only invite people. Missions are unlocked by earning stars, which are acquired by playing levels at certain difficulties. Regular difficulty earns one star, hardened earns two, and veteran earns three. Missions will be divided by groups called Alpha, Bravo, Charlie, Delta, and Echo, with the latter being the hardest.

If you play two players with one person on a different/lower difficulty than the other person, the stars earned will not be as high as it could be. If one person is playing on Veteran and the other is playing on Hardened, than the highest amount of stars that person can get is two stars instead of three stars for completing the mission. If one person goes down than they go into Last Stand unless they get shot even more than they’re just down and cannot shoot. The partner can revive them, but if both partners are down than the mission is failed. On certain missions where the partners can’t revive each other, the mission will end once one of the teammates dies; he will not go into Last Stand.

A few cons, nonetheless, but nothing to cry about. It’s mainly about timing and tactics.

In Conclusion

So, you still think you have what it takes to grab the game and get going with leveling up and completing the Campaign and Special Ops missions? Give it a go! You won’t be disappointed with this game nor will you be able to put it down. Mark and myself (and soon to be Mike) usually play Team Deathmatch on Xbox Live. If you think you’re main enough (or woman enough) to challenge us, our gamertags are PhishShticks, IBraineater and HrubixCube.

For more information on Callsigns and how to obtain them, visit this link. (Thanks, Mark)

Good evening once again, fellow Gamers and Gamerettes! Your’s truly, Mike checking in, and I have a review on a really cool PC game you might wanna check out. It’s called Tropico 3.

For those of you that are fans of city building experiences, as I am, Tropico 3 is nothing short of pure fun. First of all, I must say the graphics are absolutely astonishing with everything beautifully rendered in high definition detail. Kalypso entertainment gave their graphics engine a MAJOR overhaul. So much so that it won’t even run on my PC! I have to play it whenever I go to Jonathan’s house since his computer is the only machine that can run it.

But Tropico 3 not only has it’s astonishing, crisp graphics to boast about, but the added realism that comes with a city building game is there too. For instance, when you construct a building, you will see it start out as planks and scaffolding. A truck from your construction office will then bring builders to the site, and they will build your building for you.

At first glance, the “Island” and it’s style of buildings, will bear a striking resemblance to Cuba. In fact, this is what the game is based on. In Sandbox mode, you can choose to play as Fidel Castro, Che Guevarra, or create your own avatar that wanders the island and supervises everything that you, El Presidente, are “watching”. Another thing I find to be a really cool feature of the game is how you not only manage tourist attractions, but also the native people within your own country. Have a rebel that is conspiring against the government, and you’re trying to avoid being overthrown? NO PROBLEM! simply arrange for your secret service agents to take him out. Got a riot going on? Call in the army to eliminate and disperse the rioters. In addition, for newer players, the people at Kalypso have also taken the liberty of starting off every island you play with essential buildings – e.g. construction office, Teamsters office to move product to the docks for shipping, and a dock, seeing as how this is the only way for your island to make money.

When you first start playing the islands, I would strongly recommend you place at least one or two tobacco farms right off the start. Tobacco usually gets a good export price to get you going, then you can build a cigar factory later and really amp up your income. The same applies with sugar cane farms and rum distilleries. You can also make a lot of money by building the right tourist attractions. once your island starts attracting more affluent tourists, they usually are extremely hefty spenders, and you’ll make a substantial profit. On the training side of it, the tutorial is extremely user-friendly and thorough, and it’s quite easy to get the hang of the way the game runs.

Overall, Kalypso has come a long way from the Tropico 1 and 2 days back in 1998 and 1999. I would strongly recommend this as a can’t miss edition to every gaming library. a solid 10 of city-building genius

Hey everyone! Jonathan here. I got my Windows 7 Launch Party Kit in the mail today and I’m going to be giving you a quick little overview and unboxing tour.

The best part about my pack is the included 32-bit and 64-bit copy of Windows 7 Ulimate Signature Editon.

So, as you can see, the main essentials that are required to throw any party are included in the pack. Napkins, streamers, balloons, etc. I’m going to hooking my laptop up to my 46” Samsung LCD in the living room to show a presentation and tour of Windows 7.

If you’d like to attend my launch party and you are somewhat local to the Northern NJ area, please shoot me an email at jonathan@diskinserted.com and let me know.

Hello my fellow gamers! Just checking in once again, and apologizing for not posting anything in a while. I recently have set up my Xbox Live account and have been somewhat addicted since my last post. For those of you that would like to add me, my gamertag is HrubixCube. If you forget, just ask Jon.

Anyway, what I have come to write to all of you about is a review of two levels I have recently downloaded for Tomb Raider Underworld- Beneath the Ashes, and Lara’s Shadow. For 800 Microsoft points each, I must say I was disappointed by the length of both of these levels. I would have liked to have had more time playing as Lara’s doppelganger and a more involved story involving her double- but first, those of you that are not familiar with the plot behind both of these levels, Lara’s shadow allows you to play as the doppelganger of Lara- the one that killed Alister in the game- and use its powers to overcome challenges Lara couldn’t otherwise pass.- on that subject, Lara’s double possesses what is known as “Shadow power” which gives her increased speed, agility, sharper aiming, and basically the “Lara on steroids” approach to the game. The thing I did not like about this level, firstly is that Lara’s shadow is actually the SAME LEVEL split into two parts. The level it takes place in is the remains of the Yggdrasil ruins after Lara kills Natla. The double is entrusted with activating a machine to keep Natla alive, then destroying the machine at the end of the game, which means you essentially visit the same area twice. Another thing I dislike about Lara’s shadow is that if you download this level, be prepared to face thralls over and over and over again. tons of them. After a while, I got sick of constantly fighting thralls and wanted an actual enemy I could shoot. The thralls seem to be immune to Shadow Lara’s bullets, and even if you use her enhanced firing ability, you’ll go through an entire clip before the thralls actually die. Lara’s double can also perform hand-to-hand combat against her enemies, the designers didn’t vary her combos. Her Shadow blast is effective as a knockback attack, but initially that’s all it’s good for. you’d have to significantly damage an enemy before it kills them. The same result occurs if you shadow strike your enemy on the first hit.

With Beneath the Ashes, the plot seems disconnected from Lara’s Shadow- Lara returns to Croft Manor to examine the Eitr stone, which can not only create thralls, but when she learns the phrase “Akeshiva” at the end of the game, she can control them. All Beneath the Ashes consists of is a level that is supposed to be a dungeon beneath Croft Manor that Lara ventures into in search of this thing. A lot of unanswered questions remain- What happens after the doppelganger kills Natla again? Does Lara create any Thralls using the Eitr stone? the levels were too short to really answer these in depth, and had it not been for the six new uniforms that Lara can wear for these new levels, and her double’s “Shadow combat” I probably wouldn’t have downloaded them.

I’d give these a 4 at best.

This post is a little bit about Capcom’s remake of Street Fighter 4. I played this game at MicroCenter the other day, and firstly, I must say that Capcom did an excellent job with re-making the graphics engine. The high-def monitor that the game was being demoed on only added to the impressiveness. The sharp 3-D graphics engine applies to the backgrounds as well, which have been brilliantly done for this remake.

All of your favorite classic Street Fighters are back, such as Cammie, Chun Li, Ken, Vega, Dhalsim, Balrog, M. Bison, E. Honda, and the other originals, as well as some additional new fighters: Dan, El Fuerte, Fei Long, Gen, Gouken, and more. In addition, in Arcade mode, each character has sort of an “Anime” cutscene involving them joining the street fighter tournament. Even though this is a Japanese game, as much as I dislike anime, I find these cutscenes to be very well done and smoothly added into the game.

Character gameplay is very smoothly edited and each character’s moves are seamless in transition. I was using Vega for the game demo, and I will be the first to admit, even though I am not good at fighting games, Konami could have gone with more of a Mortal Kombat control system to pull off combos. I found myself pulling off combos out of sheer luck and button mashing instead of accuracy in button pressing. there are also “Ultra” and “Super” combos for each character, which deal massive damage, but some of which are quite hard to execute. I managed to pull off Vega’s super by sheer luck. He jumps in the air, and flips over and pancakes the opponent about three times… not really impressive, but different characters have different supers.

Overall, Street Fighter 4 is good with graphics, but I didn’t find the combos to follow any coherent string. It was all button-mashing and moving the joystick wildly with the hope that you’ll get lucky and pull off something that’s actually good. Other than that, if you’re good at fighting games of any type, you can’t go wrong with this. I’ll give it 7/10

TIP:

This post is a little about the game Sims 3 for PC. I got this game recently, and despite the $50 price tag, it was worth it. A lot of different elements from previous Sims games were added, such as the ability to “Garden”- from Sims 2 seasons- and also the ability your Sims now have to “collect” things- e.g. rocks, insects, seeds, etc. The community lots are still there from previous Sims games, you can’t build on a community lot, nor can you see inside the actual building at what’s going on- two features I think are lacking from this new installment. An expansion pack is in order, as there are still some things missing-e.g. going to college, pets, running your own business, etc, but it’s hard to say what Maxis is going to be releasing for this series in the future.

In addition to the nice things about this game, the “Style creator” lets you customize anything. and I mean anything. want a plaid paint job on your sports car? go for it! A pink guitar? No problem! This is one of the things that I would have to say that Maxis got very creative on, and I think the style creator is a neat idea in and of itself. Instead of downloading patterns and taking up more space tho, Maxis needs to come out with a “Style package” for the Sims 3, and put new style patterns on a CD that nobody has seen before.

There is so much that can be done with and to this game, that I can’t wait to see what Maxis has in store next. I’ll give it 8/10