Xbox Live

Alright so finally my hard drive came in and I now have Live. Gamertag is Mavrek48 so if anybody wants to add me do so. I feel weird just adding ppl to mine without consulting with them so if anyone wants me to add them just send me your gamertag.

I have Crackdown, Call of Duty 4, Oblivion, and GTA IV if you guys don't remember.

First Thoughts On GTA IV

Frustrating.

Now I only played probably a half hour of GTA but I already have a few concerns. Now the graphics look great, totally an improvement. I always thought that the GTA games were good but the graphics have always been more on a cartoony style. This game takes it the more realistic way but still looks like a cartoon more than real. Anyway. My major concern is the camera. Now I have never played GTA on anything but the PS2 so maybe I am just a little jaded but Damn I am having trouble. Now driving itself is different yes but not extremely hard to learn, but my gripe is A) you have to steer your car, B) you have to give your car gas or brake, and C) you have to control the camera while driving, all at the same time. I'm finding this extremely frustrating. Now I did get better over the half hour so I'm hoping the game just has a learning curve and then I will be fine. Even walking around I am having fits with the camera. I feel as if I am always fighting the camera. Now I really hope I'm just doing something wrong or like I said it does have a learning curve, because if it stays the way it is, its to hard to enjoy the game. I'm more annoyed than anything, but I'm just wondering if anyone else has this problem and if its just getting used to the new controls.

Again I probably should have played a little more before I judge but I figured a beginners thoughts would not hurt.

Note: I finally watched Hitman and was a little disappointed. My fiancee really enjoyed it but I just was expecting more. Don't get me wrong, I was totally entertained but I was hoping for more of what I thought the game was. Stealth and disguises. Agent 47 being a quiet person, a cold person I expected. Now I know a movie needs dialogue, but I thought 47 talked to much. Also the script was really bad, corny at times. And a freak and random sword fight was a little out of place I thought. Also I noticed a lot of sound dubbing issues. A few times I saw the actor say one thing but I hear something else. That bugged me. Beforehand I didn't like Timothy Olyphant playing 47 but he really wasn't that bad, I thought someone older would be better but I found myself liking him. The problem again was the script. Not great. But still at the end of the day I'm glad I own it, I love the series and the movie was not terrible.

Couple New Things

Ok guys, sry I have not posted in a while. I really have not had anything interesting to write about. Ideas? Anyways I went out today and found Joe Dirt for like 2 bucks so I got that. Also I went ahead and bought GTA IV (hope it's good). I have a hard drive on the way so now I have a few games that maybe we can play together on Live, so that's a plus.

Game Review: Crackdown

Ok, so I just finished Crackdown and I'm really torn on this one. I really enjoyed the game but now that its over I still have the feeling of incompletion. I've sat back and thought about my experience playing Crackdown and I have many positive and negative thoughts on the game.

Positive

• Very, very addicting. Rooftop leaping has never been more fun.
• I liked how you could chose between a few different looking characters.
• Physics. The game had very fun physics. For example: I'm on a rooftop and I see an agility orb pretty far away on a pipe. Now in my head I'm thinking that there is no way that I will be able to land on that tiny pipe from this far away. But way more times than not, you will land wherever you want. The game makes it feel like you really have to try to land there as well, it doesn't feel like the game does it for you, which is good.
• I liked finding the agility orbs. To be honest, at times I enjoyed just running around looking for them more than the actual main story.
• I liked being able to raise your skills by using them over and over again. Little RPG element there I guess.
• Game was pretty good size, not huge, but big enough.
• Enjoyed how there were ledges everywhere to grab onto so it wasn't extremely hard to find a way onto a roof.
• Good variety of guns.

Negative

• Camera was horrible at times.
• Total lack of things to do after you beat the main game.
• REALLY, really short.
• Didn't like how by the time you leveled up most of your stats the main game was over.
• Bugged me that the enemies would continuously spawn until you killed the General.
• Some of the guns to me seemed to just be put in the game to make it seem like there were alot of guns, I only used maybe 4 different guns the entire game.
• Driving was not as sharp as it could have been.
• No side missions besides foot races and car races.

So my verdict is...I'm still glad I bought Crackdown. Only spent 16$ on it and it was worth that. It mixed elements of GTA with Spiderman to make a totally innovative game that yes could have been more polished but still is crazy addictive. I still have that empty, incomplete feeling towards crackdown but it will pass.

Note: Heard that the new Call of Duty will be named World at War is you guys didn't know. It's gonna be set back in WWII which worries me but they can't mess it up right? With how successful Modern Warfare was, they wouldn't mess with the game too much and risk screwing up that perfect blend would they? Also I'm not sure the same ppl will be developing it. Infinity Ward made Modern Warfare right? Pretty sure that's the developers, if not oh well. But also heard that it will have Co-Op which is awesome.

Few New Things

Ok guys I went out today and spent a little money and wanted to keep you guys updated.

• Reno 911 (First Season) - Ok now I have always liked Reno 911 to a point. It was never a favorite but always thought it was funny. Found it for pretty cheap for a whole season so what the heck. Also my brother is a cop so I've always wanted to show him this show and how it spoofs Cops.
• Dawn of the Dead/Land of the Dead - Ok I found this in a combo pack the other day and passed on it for some reason. I love Dawn of the Dead but wasn't sure about the other. So after a quick talk with Shep I decided to get it. Thanks Shep.
• Crackdown - Finally bought another game for my 360. Have always wanted to play Crackdown and have heard good things about it so, fingers crossed.
• Sweeney Todd - Now I have Sweeney Todd in the mail on its way here but decided to go ahead and add it. I Love this movie. Not a huge musical fan but Damn, this one was pretty great, prolly because of the dark nature of the movie.
• The Shield (Season 1) - Ok for anyone who doesn't know, The Shield is my favorite show ever. It comes on FX and it in the run with Nip Tuck, Rescue Me, things like that. This show is amazing. I strongly recommend watching it if you haven't.