Being flat on one’s back for an entire week has its advantages. For instance, I’ve finally gotten to learn and play a game that I’ve heard a number of people talk about – Catan – on my Xbox 360. It’s pretty easy to learn, and either I’m a fast case study or I’ve just gotten quite lucky, but I managed to beat the Moderate-level AI on just the fifth game I’d ever played. And it wasn’t a small win, either – I won the game with a 6-point lead over all the other AI players. Of course, the first time I’d played the AI on that level, I was the one who got blown out of the water, having only earned 3 victory points by the time the game came to an end.
I’ve also gotten a chance to play some Texas Hold ‘em and done fairly well at the game. That one definitely takes some learning to figure out the nuances of knowing when to play and when to fold. But it’s fun when the cash is fake. I don’t know that I’d enjoy overmuch if I was putting real money down on the table.
Now, I’m still flat on my back – pinched sciatic nerve – and unfortunately the recovery process is taking longer than it probably should, so I’ll probably be on my back for another two or three days. But I have my laptop and my 360 close at hand, so I think I’m set for a bit yet.
Tags: catan, health, texas-hold-em, video-games, xbox-360
I am well pleased. I’ve heard horror stories about people who have had to exchange their Xbox 360 consoles, and then had to spend several hours on the phone with Xbox customer service trying to convince them that they should be allowed to keep the Xbox Live Arcade games they’d purchased and download them to their new console. So, either theirs were unusual technical problems or Microsoft has changed their policies because I went to download Aegis Wing again last night, since I knew it was a free download, only to discover that it already had the checkmark next to it that says I’d already downloaded it. Sure enough, when I selected it, I was asked if I wanted to download it again. Checking the other three arcade games I’d purchased previously revealed that they also simply asked to be downloaded again – I didn’t have to purchase any of them a second time. Sure, I have to play through them again to regain my saved progress from before, but that’s a small price to pay when getting all my games back costs me not one penny out-of-pocket.
Tags: microsoft, video-games, xbox-360, xbox-live-arcade
As promised, here’s another of my review write-ups for the Halo 3 Beta – this one on Gametypes.
Slayer in H3 was…. slayer, albeit much more enjoyable. With more balanced weapons and a chaingun on the ‘Hog that just kicks butt, this gametype was, quite simply, a blast. It will kill or be killed and watch the totals ring up on the scoreboard. First team to 50 was declared the winner of the match. The new things you had to watch out for, though, were spike grenades, the Spartan Laser, trip mines, power drains, and bubble shields. Those new toys added an interesting dynamic to gameplay to took a while to get used to.
I barely got to play any Capture the Flag in the Beta. I can probably count the number of CTF matches I was involved in on one hand. But what I did get to play was fun and enjoyable. As far as I could tell, most of the gametype elements were the same on this one, with the exception that I don’t think the flag bounces anymore when you throw it, so you couldn’t count on that little bit of extra distance. And the flag clinks when you pick it up from its pedestal, which was a very nice effect to add in there.
Territories got a nice upgrade to its format. Instead of two teams competing for territory captures, you have one team on an Assault-style offensive mode and one team on defense. Five territories, two-minute rounds, capture as many as possible. Initially, I think everyone agreed that the time to capture a territory was simply too long – at least until we figured out that the more team members in the territory, the faster the capture. And suddenly, we warmed right up to it. I like this format for this gametype much better than the H2 version.
I’m afraid that I don’t believe I played a single Assault match during the Beta period. Apparently, Bungie weighted the playlists away from Assault because a friend who got in on the Friends & Family phase only play two matches. Anyone who did get to play Assault, though, is more than welcome to weigh in with an opinion on it in the comments.
VIP was a new juggernaut-style gametype. Two even teams, each one has a VIP equipped with an overshield (and who possibly deals extra damage). Kill the opposing team’s VIP as many times as possible while protecting your own for the win. I admit I didn’t like this gametypes quite as much, but then again I didn’t really play it enough to really get the hang of it. And it seemed like I always ended up playing it on Snowbound, which made it that much tougher to master. It wasn’t too bad, overall, but I can’t wait to get into the custom gametype settings and see what can be tweaked to make it a little more fun.
What are your thoughts on the gametypes in the Halo 3 Beta?
Tags: halo-3-beta, video-games
I’m going to try to run a series of Halo 3 Beta reviews starting today that examine a number of elements from the game. This first entry in the series is going to look at the new maps.
Valhalla
Valhalla is far and away my favorite map of the three. It’s a roughly symmetrical map set in a valley with a base at each end. A small stream flows through middle, bisecting the map and giving a little visual interest. And let me just say that the water effects are stunning!
My favorite new thing here is the man-cannon – grav lifts tilted to a 45-degree angle so as to launch your avatar into the map. Each base has two man-cannons, one of which shoots you straight to the middle of the map and one that shoots you 30-degrees off to one side. Your gametype strategy will often determine if you use one of these and which direction you wish to launch.
Each base also hold a variety of weapons, two Mongooses, and a Warthog – the latter of which now features a pumped-up chain gun that will quickly lay waste to almost all opposition.
There are all kinds of great locations on this map for various strategic maneuvers. Commanding the knolls in the middle, though, is often the best spot for controlling the map. A sniper rifle or Spartan laser based here can kill just about anything that moves. But watch out for that ‘Hog and gunner because they can drive over that hill before you realize you’ve even been gunned down. So far, my favorite gametypes for this map are Team Slayer and Territories. I’ve yet to play a CTF game, so I don’t really know how the dynamics play out here.
High Ground
High Ground is just that – a ruined base sitting at the top of the hill that must be defended (or stormed) at all costs. Access can be gained through a portable grav lift over the wall on the left side, through the bunker at the base of the wall, through the main gate (that first has to be opened from inside the base, by a stairwell on the right side, or through a short tunnel off the staircase. Despite these access points, the defense can quickly force a chokehold on access, making it very difficult to secure those territories, grab the flag, or plant the bomb.
Weapons litter the map, and two new action items – the bubble shield and the power drain – grace this map with their presence, affecting the dynamics of battle in new and interesting ways.
Oh, and watch out for those spike grenades. They stick to whatever surface they strike and throw shrapnel every which-way. They’re only instantly deadly is they get stuck to you, but they’ll take your shields down in an instant, if you happen to get caught in the blast cone.
Storm the base, take the High Ground. That’s what this map’s all about.
Snowbound
Snowbound is my least favorite map at the moment, but it’s growing on me the more I play it. This map features two bases in a winter landscape. The bases are connected by an underground tunnel, and there are a series of force-fields in each. Players can pass through, but weapons-fire and grenades cannot – you might just find yourself with a face full of explodey if you’re not careful.
Be careful not to walk outside the perimeter of the map – there are cannons lined up for the sole purpose of blasting your sorry butt back onto the map. So, no straying!
Ghosts are the vehicles of choice on Snowbound. After all, anything with wheels simply won’t roll well on this terrain. Oh, and grenades don’t bounce on the snow, either. Remember that.
All in all I’m loving the Halo 3 Beta. The visuals are fabulous, taking advantage of the greater processing power of the Xbox 360 and launching the Halo experience to the next level. I can’t wait to see what multiplayer maps get released in the final version in September!
Tags: halo-3-beta, high-ground, Reviews, snowbound, valhalla, video-games
Wow. This video makes the graphics of Halo 2 and Halo 3 look only comparable, when in fact Halo 3 has the much better graphics. I suspect poor video resolution is to blame here.
Tags: halo-2, halo-3-beta, video-games
This is oh-so-nice to see. Maybe the neighborhood will actually start to get better, eh?
Tags: banhammer, video-games, xbox-live
Due to some unfortunate timing, I missed being able to make the Friends & Family cut for the Halo 3 Beta by about 24 hours. I also missed out on the other previous opportunities for clinching beta invites due to not having an Xbox 360 when those options were available. But a gracious friend opened the door for me to get into the beta through the final (and what will undoubtedly be the most common) opportunity – the Crackdown option.
And today is the day that the Beta goes completely public, so of course, at the time of this writing, the Crackdown option is already cracked down. I’m actually not overly upset by this. Technical issues happen, and I realized several days ago that this one held the highest risk of breaking upon launch. It’s fortunate for me, then, that I’m forced to be at work today, so that I can’t sit at home to obsessively refresh Bungie’s homepage every five minutes for a status check.
I’m not optimistic about my chances of being able to download and play tonight – my gut tells me this may take a day (or more) to resolve. I’ll just have to sit back and continue to wait.
Tags: bungie, crackdown, halo-3-beta, video-games
I apologize in advance – it’s likely that for the next three weeks, most of what you’re going to read here is going to involve the Halo 3 beta. I wasn’t able to get advance tickets to this thing through the Friends & Family invites, but I’ll be joining up and playing as much Halo 3 as I can starting on Wednesday. I’ve already been able to watch a bit of video from those who’ve been lucky enough to get in on the Beta in the first wave, and I’m positively salivating at the chance to join with the mass rush later this week.
So apologies to those of you (probably just about everyone) who couldn’t care less about Halo or video games. This is going to pretty much dominate my attention for awhile.
Tags: halo-3-beta, video-games
“The real test of Halo’s power will be this fall when we see how well Halo 3 moves Xbox 360 consoles.”
No, the real test of halo’s power will be figuring out how many Xbox 360s have already been moved because of Halo 3, in addition to how many are moved when it releases this fall. Because the fact is, there are many of us who have acquired 360s already in anticipation of Halo 3’s release this year. There are more numbers to look at in the statistics than just those surrounding the immediate release date of Halo 3. Apparently, they guys over at Joystiq don’t know much about statistics.
Tags: halo, halo-3, Statistics, video-games, xbox-360
The fans speak, and Bungie delivers. Word came down today that on April 17, two new Halo 2 multiplayer maps go live for download. Initially, talk was that Microsoft was going to release these new maps as Xbox 360 exclusives, an announcement that fans responded to with a great deal of animosity. Bungie quickly stepped up and said they would go to bat for their fans and urge Microsoft to release the maps to everyone with an Xbox Live Gold account.
Personally, I think Microsoft made a wise and fair decision in releasing these maps to everyone who owns Halo 2. It would have been patently unfair to release them any other way. The two maps – Tombstone, which is a remake of Hang ‘em High, and Desolation, which is a remake of Derelict – are maps I never got to experience in Halo: Combat Evolved. I’m pumped about being able to finally play these two popular maps and try them out in Spartan-vs-Spartan combat.
Good choice, Microsoft, and thanks for loving your customers so much, Bungie! We owe you one!
Tags: desolation, halo-2, multiplayer-maps, tombstone, video-games, xbox, xbox-360
