Battlefield 3

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List Price: $39.99
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Today's Bonus: 57% Off

I have to say I was a COD type of player. My friends would talk to me about BFBC2 and I would say "That game looks boring, where is the action?" But got to admit, I got tired of COD, same old gun and run. I wanted something more complex.

I played the BF3 beta, and damn after getting in the Metro Station, from the Operation Metro Map, and hearing the bullets, the RPG's on the edge of getting you, and the explosion all around, I got hooked up. It is so realistic, having "TurtleBeaches" or so, really helps a lot. It is intense, full of action, and really fun.

For all those people saying "I get killed really fast, they are all just camping, I can't even get close to the objective, I get lost on the map 'cause is too big" Well, don't run like a noob in the middle of the street! take the long way around, be sneaky get behind them and kill them, and most important of all press the SELECT button when you see an enemy to "spot" it, as this is a team based game, your friends will see them when you "spot" the enemy. When spawning get into a vehicle, better if it is a Tank or an Amphibian, with them you can get close to the objective and kill lots of enemies, it is better if you are an engineer as you will be able to "fix" it when damaged.

I can't deny there are some issues such as: Voice chat being choppy, bugs here and there, but no game is complete when it first comes out. I think it will just get better after some patches, don't listen to the trolls, and just give it a try. Hope you find out how good this game is. CHEERS!

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Ok, I gunned half through a few hours of single player simply for the trophies and then dropped it for a few hours into the MP end of stuff. This is an early rummage of thoughts to give some people on the fence an idea of what they are getting into. Even most of the PC reviews out there have been pretty vague. I haven't cleared this 100% for the Platinum or put in 100 hours of ranking. But I have been playing Battlefield games for awhile so some early thoughts after a few hours.

First off -200+ meg update before you can play then you're off to the races. Battlefield: Bad Company 2 was similar to Crysis, in that you could navigate the landscape the way you wanted, within an admittedly small area. Wooden huts and hideouts were for the destroying if you were so inclined. In Battlefield 3, you are literally led by the nose with little blue and red boxes on EXACTLY what to do. It's pretty insulting. Walk one foot too far this way or that way, and you are immediately told to "RETURN TO THE BATTLEFIELD." The levels are much more confined than the last game, but I think they went way too far on the scripted confrontations. On the realism end, there is a a few instances where a Marine will drop dead right in front of you and the other soldiers will just walk right by. Pretty lame, Marines don't tend to do that sort of thing. So the story sucks, but nobody reads Playboy for the articles right? Character models are not the strong point here. Where in CoD, everything looks like shiny plaster, here they look like clay . The environment textures look good most of the time, but occasionally do load slowly. Also, first thing I would do, is jack up the controller sensitivity, the default setting is way too slow. So far, I see a real missed opportunity in the single player end. I don't know why they just don't take the large maps from multiplayer and come up with a story based task for the single player. Corridor shooting needs to finally die. Anyway, the campaign doesn't do much new thus far, but there are good points. The audio is absolutely stunning. On my surround sound, the bullet hits and muzzle sounds are really awesome.

But playing Battlefield by yourself is like buying a banana just to eat the peels.

There is the new seemingly obligatory online pass to jump through and then you are greeted with a "free" M1911 pistol reward. Yay.

Online, there are still some occaisional collision problems from the beta. I have been sapped by a LMG more than once half stuck in the floor geometry of a building, but other than that the game does play pretty good. This is Battlefield so when you can spawn on a boat and grab some airpower you'll probably crash right away. haha. It happens every time. In 1943 it took me awhile to get the plane over Suribachi too. But there is a new feeling of dominance gunning around with the Apache's instead of just having tanks or jeeps with machine gun mounts. I haven't had too much time with the jets in Conquest yet, but I'm getting there. Tanks are still the main fun for me. There's nothing more satisfying than blasting down an entire roof where a sniper is camped out stopping your troops from getting the Gas Station capture point. Bullet drop with snipers from BC2 seems less pronounced or it may be a placebo.

Maps range from HUGE to more conventional "CoD" style boxes for deathmatch. For me, TDM really is pointless in this type of game but it is a game mode that never seems to die no matter what game they put it in. Whatever, I prefer the larger skirmishes with objectives, but I think the larger maps do bring up the obvious. This game is probably better played on the PC for one real reason and it has nothing to do with graphics. The PC will hold 64 players and that is where the real meat of the series has always been. Eventually, I'll probably up for the PC sku when I can afford an upgraded rig, but this does well for now.

Battlefield 3 is not for everybody. Black Ops this is not. MW2, this is not. You cannot hide in a tin roof building like in Favela during an Apache onslaught and expect to ride out the bulletstorm. You can't run around and knife from 10 meters away. If you played Battlefield BC2, MoH, or even the PSN/XBL 1943, then you'll know what you're getting into here. Weapons sway, reloading takes time and there's no MW2 pinball score counters. If you are curious and big on CoD quick turn maps where you can noob tube to a nuke with OMA this is probably not your game. Battlefield matches can be long drawn out affairs and inching your way on foot to objectives or blasting your way through buildings to a flag is a better way to success. Not to say the knifing isn't useful. If you don't play as a team you will have a very bad day. FYI you can't jump off the top of a three-story building doing a 360 turn and pop a guy in the head with an Intervention and run off into the sunset with a 73-7 k/d in Scrapyard with the chopper gunner singing in the background. Battlefield isn't about killstreaks, it is about a 'battlefield.' Ironic I know. Battlefield 3 pretty much holds to the history of the franchise thus far. There are some mistakes here and there all of them in the single player end mostly because I feel it is a mistake to try to compete with Call of Duty. Call of Duty is a slowed down Quake 3 fun but aging, fake and in no way a war game. Battlefield 3, on the other hand, is pretty much the game it was 10 years ago, but now with much better graphics, more lethal vehicles and stunning sound design. Don't buy into the hype one way or the other. But if you're tired of endless 'nade spamming, chopper gunner spamming, host lag, knife spamming, and want something objective based give Battlefield 3 a look.

*****

UPDATE: I'm going to just drop a few last pieces in and leave it at that. Right now I'm rocking the ever popular M416, suppressor, bi-pod and Holo with the M26. There was a point around level 7 or 8 where you really start making a weapon your own with the sights, rail attachments and the game really starts to come into it's own. It no longer feels like the early "grind" and you start to know the maps. Even TDM starts to make sense at least on Metró. Though CQB is still clumsy. I haven't touched the single player again and I doubt I will. Frame rates could be a tad better, but this was built for a PC with SLI cards, so what can you do? Oh and the Battlelog stats site is ripped almost completely from the Killzone stats site. Go figure. Not sure if Xbox live lobbies are back up yet, but 3/4 time I get dropped immediately into a game from PSN. Once in awhile I get kicked during search. Server list is helpful and would be welcome in any other console FPS. I'm in for the long haul. If you got the stomach for the climb to level 45, it's worth it. There are few things more rewarding in online gamedom than making a push with a good team in conquest, hopping over a rail to heal a fallen teammate and throwing up cover fire with a well tuned weapon with an Abrahms tank on your back blasting the wall of an apartment building with laser sights bouncing around on your position to take the win. Hard to find this type of experience anywhere else.

*****

I've got my MW3 preorder in on the 360 but I absolutely have to post this. It's so funny because I think it's true.

Look up -14 Ways to Spot a CoD player in Battlefield 3 on the OXM UK website.

*****

Well I caved. Finished a new PC build with a Core i5 2500 and 2 GTX 560 ti's. Battlefield 3 runs like glass. EA's Origin is awful, but the game is just stunning. Maps are much bigger and even single player earns a few points back. I'll still be playing on PSN, but the PC version has to be seen in motion to be believed. If anybody has any questions on the differences, let me know.

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Overall i think its very good,

It is Bad company 2 with better graphics and enhanced maps, new weaponry and upgrades for all you can drive. Is very fun to get into the battle because it feels closer than its predecessor, there is no calm in any place of the maps, the sound and visual effects are very good and has the same destruction that BC2, which is something important in the franchise.

I think the intensity itself of this war game will be always better than the COD games.

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I had to do a review on this because of all the negative reviews. It's almost like they're not even playing the same game! The graphics on this game are right up there with Killzone and Crysis 2's campaigne. Definitely top notch for this generation of consoles. A review below says the game is messed up because the mini-map doesn't show your enemies when they are shooting.. THIS IS BECAUSE THE MINI MAP ISN'T SUPPOSED TO SHOW YOUR ENEMIES WHEN THEY ARE SHOOTING! The only way for an enemy to show up on your mini map, is if you or someone on your team highlights the enemy in their cross-hairs and pushes select, this calls the enemy out to your entire team for a short amount of time. How about instead of saying the game is faulted, learn how to actually play it! The ONLY people complaining about this game are the ones that are comparing it to Call of Duty. Well it's not Call of Duty, and that's a good thing! I'm not a 'fanboy' of either and I'm without a doubt getting MW3 as well. I can already tell that I'm going to play MW3 for a week, then go right back to BF3. This game is amazing, it took BF2 and improved on it in every way possible. I haven't even touched the single player yet. The multiplayer alone is worth the money. I haven't had any kind of lag, freezing or kicks of any kind. No glitches either. The game runs like a sewing machine! The graphics are insane for a console, there is TONS of unlocks to get, the maps are GIGANTIC and you can even fly a jet over the battle grounds and parachute into battle.. AGAIN, THAT'S FLY A JET, JUMP OUT AND FREAKIN PARACHUTE INTO THE BATTLE!! How is that not awesome? Great game and it's worth every bit of the hype. It's not Call of Duty, it's Battlefield 3!

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I could write a page telling you about the different abilities and strategies of the soldiers...

or the many vehicles you could master driving and flying...

or the team and squad based strategies you could employ to dominate...

or the fully destructible environments so no one is truly safe. Like hiding in buildings? Well watch out for that tank, chopper, or jet. The building is going down!

or even the awesome different game modes including Rush, Conquest, and Team Deathmatch....

I have played all the FPS games including all COD, Battlefields, Homefront, Halo, ect...

If you are looking for something more than kids running around seeing who can kill the most people first with no strategy and the same redundant gameplay... game after game, after game, after game... ummm... well look no further.

I loved battlefield 2 and this is even better. MW3 is the first COD game i am passing on. I have lost all interest in the franchise. To me it has gotten stale. I found I was only playing Zombies in black ops after getting bored with the multiplayer.

After playing Battlefield and seeing all it has to offer I cannot go back to COD. This game even got my 30 year old friend who never played games before hooked.

It takes a little getting used to if you are used to COD but once you get the hang of it you will love it. HUGE boards, large teams, so many strategy options, so many vehicles... Damn I have to go to work. I just wanna play!

Get it and I will see ya on the Battlefield!

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Champion Jockey G1 Jockey and Gallop Racer (PS3)

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It is an exciting game, but it is difficult to handle. I think more visually missing at the time of the race. I prefer to use traditional control instead of "Move Control".

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Wall Clip - Game Controller Storage and Organizer

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My husband bought these because he likes things all organized and whatnot...I don't really care about that stuff, I throw clothes and other junk all over. My husband got all tired of me leaving my tv, xbox pc and ps3 remotes everywhere so he ordered these, installed them and asked me a lot of times to put my controllers in them on the wall. Well, I did, and they're actually really cool. You can make them lazy friendly by just putting them on the wall wherever you sit the most. It's pretty nice to not have to actually move from where you're sitting to turn on the various electronic gaming items.

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WWE '13

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List Price: $32.00
Sale Price: $19.99
Today's Bonus: 38% Off

I have been a huge wrestling fan and wrestling game fan for pretty close to 2 decades now. I was excited for this year's game mostly for the "Attitude Era" mode that replaced the Road To Wrestlemania from WWE '12. After playing a few matches and checking the movesets and also briefly starting the "Attitude Era" campaign, I must say I am throughly impressed with what THQ produced this year. The graphics are amazing, the gameplay is improved from last year, and the enhanced audio is somewhat better from WWE '12. There is very little to complain about in WWE '13, though there are very trivial minor things to mention;

1}Some character models are kind of wrong. Certain faces in the game are wrong. Classic example; Shawn Michaels. He looks like a cross between Chucky the killer doll from Child's Play and Bret Michaels from Poison. Seriously, couldn't THQ have scanned the real HBK's face and put that into the game? Also, some hair textures look awful. It's not enough to noticeably effect the fun factor, but hardcore wrestling fans will notice these things.

2}The gameplay is definetely improved, but still has a few bugs. Certain weapons have glitchy interaction and certain environments are kind of spotty and buggy as well. While certain things like table interaction have been improved, they still lack table finishers like the older Smackdown games had. Granted, the "predator technology" is a relatively new addition since WWE '12 and THQ will have to perfect it. It's all minor though and not something to harp on.

3}Outdated looks and/or missing parts; Some current superstars are missing entrance gear and their looks. In the case of Daniel Bryan, he doesn't have his ring jacket he's had since before last year's Mania. Also, his in-game character model looks the same as it did in WWE '12. His hair is exactly the same and his beard looks too neat and trimmed as compared to the "goatface" thing he has had since shortly after Wrestlemania of last year. Again, this doesn't affect the fun factor but true wrestling fans pay attention to detail. THQ needs to as well to truly capture the real WWE experience accurately. Kinda seems like rushing the product year-to-year makes THQ lazy and they simply use the same model each year unless there is drastic change in apperance.

Attitude Era mode has been great so far. The challenges are abit frustrating at certain points, but it is awesome to relive some of the moments from WWE's golden days. Certain events are given more weight than others, though. I didn't like how the Montreal screwjob was kind of glossed over in comparision to the detailed DX formation. That was a big event and not doing it in-depth is kind of selective. However, I've only started the DX campaign and haven't unlocked all of them. Bret Hart has an unlockable campaign, which I'm hoping will cover more of the Montreal event.

Bottom line: I haven't even begun to scratch the surface of WWE '13's wealth of material such as creation modes, WWE Universe 3.0, or other features yet. I've only played a couple of hours with it and I'm impressed with the overall product. People always want to claim WWF No Mercy on N64 or Wrestlemania 2000 were the best wrestling games. Not anymore. With additions such as catching finishers and Oh My God moments, this is as close to real life in-ring WWE as it gets. While there are minor things that THQ can improve upon, this game stands out as the best WWE game to date. Any true WWE fan or wrestling fan in general will appreciate what WWE '13 has to offer.

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Prior to my update; I had a very high opinion of this game (you can see my original review far below).

However, as of January 2013, I deem this game is in no condition to be sold.

It is HEAVYILY bugged.

The game developer THQ went bust, and now no one will fix the many problems still in the game!

Here are just some of the many bugs that will forever go unpatched;

** Story Designer bugs

(No crowd audio during matches in Story Designer. Also players have reported freezing when trying to save a created story among many, many other issues.)

** Superstar threads glitch

(When you create a new attire coloration for some superstars, the attire will appear spotty in-game)

** Ring announcer bug

(The ring announcer will sometimes not announce a superstar as they make their way out to the ring, but instead just say "AND")

** Created finishers bug

(Created finishing moves deal considerably less damage than ordinary special moves)

** Various moves cause perma-freezing

(Though not very frequently; at times when a player does a move on another, it will cause a perma-freeze to one or sometimes both superstars)

** 1 count bug

(even after heavily damaging an opponent [A.I. controlled] you'll get only a one-count)

** Broken Attributes

(Players have tested attributes and proven that many of them have no affect)

** Broken Pin bar

(even after dealing a considerable amount of damage to an opponent [user controlled] their kick out meter will still be large.)

** Triple-Threat matches don't work [A.I]

(A.I. in triple threat matches are the absolute worst. Triple-Threats will always turn into a handicap match one way or another because A.I. only changes target when you hit them. If nobody hits them, guess what? Whoever they were targeted on when the match begins remains their target throughout!)

Virtually every mode of the game has some sort of problem. Including the Universe mode.

I also want to add that the online servers are terrible. Even with 2k now "supporting" WWE '13.

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Last year, when WWE 12 was released to mixed reviews, I personally believed it to be a great game for a fresh attempt. In alot of ways, I thought even WWE 12 was the best game of it's time. Coming from a hardcore wrestling game fan who's played just about every WWF,WCW,ECW,LOW(and loads others I'm probably leaving out)WWE 13 stands out as possibly the best WWE game ever released. The roster is deep for a wrestling game, plus you once again have 50 CAW slots. So basically, you have the ability to have every big name ever in wrestling in the game.

The Attitude Mode is a welcomed change and a fitting tribute to the most popular time in WWF/WWE history. I especially like the video packages that recap the real life events, as well as the in game cutscenes counterparts. The match objectives are cool as well, and despite being frustrating at times, is awesome when it rewards you with unlockables. I can't believe it took till now for WWE to do away with the RTW and implement actual footage and events from the real life shows. This mode alone is well worth the price of the game.

The creation modes are once again awesome, as they have a few minor changes, but otherwise are the same as last year. Not a bad thing though, since the creation material last year was superb.

The gameplay is by far the bread and butter of 13. If you're like me, then you loved it last year, and this year it is more polished and refined. With the additions of catch finishers,OMG moments and comebacks, it's about as realistic as a wrestling game can be to real life in ring action.

My only minor gripes with this game is some slowdown in gameplay, a few odd character models, and some collision issues. However, all of that is so minor and trivial that I still give this game 5 stars, as it is that fun and addictive. A must own for any diehard fan of wrestling and wrestling games...

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It is all too fitting that the "Best in the World" graces the cover of, possibly, the best wrestling game in the world. If any ONE person has issue with this game, they have to be nuts. Sure, it has it's VERY minor inconsistencies (i.e. Bossman missing his gloves), but is that really any reason to completely trash and dismiss the game? It has TWO games worth of a roster and TONS of options. For me, the little things like having 4 attires for classic Kane, 3 themes and 4 trons for Undertaker, and probably every WWE titles that ever existed and more, makes the game a huge improvement.

But wait. For those who are all about everything that has to do with the gameplay, you're in for a treat, too. I expected the game (and would've been OK with, given the huge roster alone) to handle just like last year. Uh uh! This is a whole new beast, and as the controls have not changed, the flow and feel of every move has. Moves are executed with nearly 100% perfection and realism. Even the new, more enthusiastic crowd makes the experience that much better. Hearing that crowd during the match makes me feel like I'm there and that every moment is an epic one. It makes me want to keep playing the match or excited for the next one.

A big thing for me, is the existing superstars' movesets. It was just last year that I actually started to play Universe mode with the actual superstars and I felt that most of the ones I played with, their movesets were not accurate. So far, I've played as HBK, Miz, Kane, CM Punk, '98 Rock, DX Triple H, and Paul Wight and feel as though their stock movesets are as accurate as they can be. Even playing as Paul Wight (Big Show) was fun, and I've never enjoyed playing as Big Show!

Lastly, one other thing that I love (but get a little annoyed with) about the game is the reversal system. It is still the same, yes. But it seems to be much more touchy this year. Meaning you need to be more skilled than ever to nab a reversal. But this is certainly a good thing, as it provides a more challenging A.I. And I haven't even increased the difficulty in the options menu yet.

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Really, I am giving it 4 and a half stars and rounding it off to five. The Game play is easy to pick up, the graphics are very good. A code in the booklet allows you access to some content, but one drawback is they make you pay $19.99 for "WWE Fan Axxess" to get some other downloadable content, including some of the current WWE talent, one a current title holder and another a headliner on the Pay Per View event they just held two nights ago. I'd understand including them as unlockable content, but after just dropping $60 on the game, I think that the current roster should be included in the price of the game the way EA sports made Madden.

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Thrustmaster Ferrari GT Experience Racing Wheel for PS3 and PC

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Sale Price: $50.59
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This is a great wheel for the ps3. I have burnout paradise, blur, split second, need for speed shift, and motorstorm. It works great with all of them. It has a feature to where you can map any of the buttons to different buttons. The gas pedal is automatically mapped to the R2 button as the brake button is automatically mapped to the L2 button by default. It has different sensitivity settings and a great feel as well as button placement. I also have the logitech gt wheel which is also a great wheel but I find myself using this wheel more. Mainly because it works on all racing games, the gt wheel only works with some games. It doesn't have force feedback which is the only real drawback I have to say about this wheel. I bought this wheel before I bought the gt wheel and I'm glad I did. I have never had any problems with this wheel so far, just make sure you plug it in before you turn on your ps3 with the wheel switched to the ps3 instead of pc. With that said I have plugged it in after I turned on my playstation in the middle of a game while paused and it still worked. Overall great wheel, very universal as far as compatablility with other games, and wheel and pedal unit just feels great while driving.

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If you are dedicated fan of racing games, and specialize in driving in them exclusively, the Ferrari Experience Racing Wheel is the wrong product for you, and you probably know that already. For an average gamer like me, who occasionally dabbles in racing games, the hundreds of dollars needed to get some of that gear is an overkill. I still like to have better control than a standard dualshock gamepad, and amazingly, this racing wheel provides it for the about same price. The wheel itself is solidly built of sturdy plastic, and very well laid out with the paddle up/down shifters and all the action buttons. With the strong clamp, mounting this wheel sturdily should be no problem at all. You can however forget about playing it in your lap, the tension of the bugee mechanism makes that impossible. The wheel is a bit on the small side, and the bungee cord tension mechanism is stiff, but the steering control provided by it far surpasses the dualshock thumbsticks. The pedals are very sturdy as well, and provide a nice amount of control over the gas and braking. They do unfortunately tend to slide around a lot, and I ended up mounting them with velcro. Once I did that, they stayed put. I lucked out, and had an old wooden TV stand laying around that provided the perfect mounting setup for this product. If you don't have something like that, a visit to the local store to pick a cheap one is highly recommended. I also love the programmability that this wheel has. Due to this, it is a much better choice than the Ferrari Universal 5-in-1 Racing Wheel, also by Thrustmaster. That wheel is slightly cheaper, but does not allow you to change much, making it potentially less compatible with games. Spend the few extra bucks, and get this one instead.

I tried and made this wheel work in Burnout Paradise, Gran Turismo 5, and Need for Speed Shift. With the programmable buttons, and the fact that the wheel is detected as a standard PS3 controller, this should work with almost any game. The only thing this wheel can't be programmed to have is the horizontal axis of the right thumb stick, and most racing games (with the exception of Modnation Racers) don't use that axis for anything but camera control.

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The quality of this wheel is simply great. From the paddle shifters to the pedals to the wheel itself, it is hard to believe that they sell this thing for less than forty bucks. The pedals have great resistance and ample amount of travel. Anyone who has ever used a cheaply made wheel knows that if the pedals don't have much resistance or travel, then you can't control the car because you either have 100% throttle or 0% throttle 100% brake or 0% brake. Well, with this system, that is not a problem at all. You can easily ride around at half throttle or apply half brake. The extra resistance for these pedals does mean that you need some sort of mount or ballast to keep the base in place. If you want a cheap solution, do what I do and put a 10 pound weight on the base. There are also screw holes in the base so that you could easily attach to plywood or something else. The wheel also has ample resistance with the "bungie cord" system. You will need to mount this to a table or cockpit, but this is easy because the built-in clamp is very sturdy and works with tables of all kinds. Even the paddle shifters are high quality with ample resistance. I just can't say enough about this wheel. I want to save up for the Logitech G27, but for now I am very happy using this quality alternative at 1/10th the price. BTW, I use this wheel with Gran Turismo 5 for the PS3. It detects the wheel as a regular controller, but this is not a problem at all. Just remap the buttons correctly and you are off to the races... The diameter of the wheel is a little small for my taste, and the force feedback doesn't work with GT5, but those are very minor issues when you consider the price tag.

02-01-2011 Update

-----------------

Just rented "Dirt 2" for the PS3 and found out this wheel doesn't work at all with this game. I'm very disappointed. The wheel is still great for the price, but just wanted to warn people about this particular game.

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I should start by saying that this was the first steering wheel I've purchased for my PS3. So I can't compare it to others.

I played "Dirt" and was right away disappointed by the large amount of steering I had to do for the small amount of turning the car in the game would do. So I immediately put it in the higher sensitivity mode. This was better, but still not great. For instance I would turn the wheel 1/2 of the range to the left, but the car would only very slightly turn. Not much more turning of the wheel would result in the car making the maximum turn. So basically the range wasn't consistent.

Then I threw on "Motorstorm". The performance was MUCH better. The range of steering was right in line with the steering range of the vehicle on the screen.

One note: I had to restart my PS3 in order for the peddles to be detected. For some reason when I plugged it into the PS3 after it was already booted it detected the steering wheel, but not the peddles.

So, bottom line, for the price it seems like a good deal!!

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I have had this wheel for about 4 months now, no problems so far. While I don't actually play racing games all that often, the ones I do have work fantastically with the wheel/pedals. The two main games I play are Dirt 2 and Grid, these are both Codemasters games, and the great thing is under their control settings there is an actual preset for this wheel to make setting it up a whole lot easier. I'm assuming all future Codemasters releases will have this preset available as well. The only game I couldn't get to work was GTA IV, they finally enabled wheel support in a patch not too long ago but this isn't one of the wheels they made compatible. Overall construction, it does feel kinda flimsy but it is actually pretty tough...I've put it through a decent amount, it also kinda sounds like some people just get lucky when buying one, some people get very unlucky. Either way if you can't afford a $200 wheel/pedal combo like me but want something you are going to use occasionally then this is a good buy.

Edit Update 12/24/2012 Device is still working fine, I don't use it as much as I used to but nothing on it has broken yet. I have been using it to control vehicles in Planetside 2! (With Xpadder software)

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Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2

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Sale Price: $89.40
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I typically am a FPS guy, but I LOVE MARVEL. One of my favorite games of this generation is MUA. I've played through it about 6 times and unlocked and collected every possible item. MUA had tremendous variety as it followed a story created specifically for the game that allowed to introduce a hodge podge of characters in different locals.I had super high expectations for MUA2. I can't say that I'm dissapointed, but I don't think it's as good as it's predecessor.

I'll start with the presentation. The characters look great. The specialty "fusion" moves also look awesome and allow for some moments that will remind you of battles straight out of the comics. The environments on the other hand are really bland. The nature of the game, a level grinder, means you have to see a lot of the same enemies. MUA had you traversing all over the Marvel universe, so each level had a fresh look. You can't really plan on battles in space when most of the story takes place in an urban environment. The cut scenes are okay. Some are terrible, some are pretty cool, nothing on par with Square Enix to drop your jaw.

The gameplay is similar to MUA with the exception of the commands and fusion moves. You can no longer direct your heroes into battle, which means they do a lot of following you around. I can't remember a teamate disabling a shield or taking the initiative to attack enemies that were surrounding me. At times they were practically useless. I played through twice, once on casual (easy) with my yongest son and once on difficult. On the higher difficulty level, there were times I wanted to chuck my controller because the teamates stood around and watched me die. Another new touch that I like is being able to swap squadmembers on the fly. As long as they are not dead, you can switch out, so if you really want Storm and Iceman's fusion for a paticular level, put them in. If heavy hitters are working, grab Luke Cage and Thing. Several characters are locked throughout depending on wich side you choose, so playing through twice is a must. That really adds to the replay value because you do get some differnt boss battle and looks at the levels.

I didn't play online, but I did play with 3 players at home. Although it was easier having human teamates, there are times where it is nearly impossible to tell where your character is. Perhaps the game deserves credit for truly epic battles, but some of the boss battles are very dissorienting. The camera also doesn't pan far enough back and will warp you, a la Nightcrawler, to your squad. Unfortunately it will leave you open to attack or move you away from a supervillian you may have been attacking. Very frustrating.

I was also dissapointed in the unlockables. The number of characters is smaller. The are fewer costumes to unlock and they are purely cosmetic this time around. I've read the articles on IGN regarding the mountains of NPC's in the game (Non Playable Characters). In MUA, if you ran into someone, chances were pretty good that you were going not just going to play them, but unlock and upgrading two or more costumes with differnt abilities. Not so this time around. Obviously there are plans for downloadable content. The great thing about MUA2 is that it is REALLY fun. If Activision decides to release episodic DLC, MUA2 could have a long life span. Who wouldn't want to play Secret Invasion or World War Hulk? The game engine is there to make it happen. If it ends up being ten or fifteen dollars for a costume pack or three bucks for a new character, MUA2 will find its way to the shelf.

Ultimately, MUA2 is missing the variety, upgrading and customization of MUA. It feels like it took a step back away from RPG territory and more into brawler territory. It is a lot of fun to play, if not more stripped down. The DLC will end up being the key to how good MUA2 ends up being.

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The Ultimate Alliance games are basically extensions of X-Men Legends, with a four-character team going through an action-RPG hybrid.

I had been ambivalent about the first X-Men Legends, but I also thought that X-Men Legends II all but perfected the formula. So it was with high hopes that I put the Ultimate Alliance 2 game disc into my PS3.

At first, I was quite disappointed. The learning curve seemed unusually steep for me, even though I had played through X-Men Legends II about a hundred times. Gradually, over two days, the game started to feel more fun and I completed the Advanced (normal) difficulty.

And then the stink bomb dropped.

The worst part is, just like X-Men Legends II, this game actually has ample charms. Too bad it takes away most of the enjoyment with the major problems it lobs at you.

Pros:

Terrific character diversity. Characters' attacks are varied and have great personality.

The Navigation button, which you can use at most points in the game to point you to the right direction on where you're supposed to go next, and what the next objective is. Every game should have one.

The story is actually pretty interesting, though the overlong and unskippable movie files are irritating.

The two alternate storylines are a good idea.

Some innovative touches -such as "Attitude" in conversations, the "Audio" files that you can activate in a map -add to the vibe.

Having different "Fusion" attacks (co-operative super moves among characters) is great. If only they weren't so underpowered. See below.

Cons:

Extraordinarily dumb game interfaces. For example, the X-Men Legends games wisely arranged your characters in a cross pattern, because it matches your D-pad shape. Now, they arrange your characters in a straight row, and in a bizarre order (Up, Right, Left, Down) so that every time you switch characters, you're confused to no end. Or, take the Team Selection menu. It's not alphabetical, it's not by category (eg. X-Men together, Avengers together), it's not by anything, so that you have to look extra hard to find the character you actually want. Who the hell decided on this? The screen for choosing your boosts is also nonsensical; you could spend five full minutes looking for the boost you just picked up, and you won't find it.

Many unskippable "cut scenes". More and more games do this, and it's annoying as all out, especially when replaying harder missions. You have to wait a full minute for endless dialogue yapping just to get to your actual game. Video games aren't to be *watched*. They're to be *played*.

Horrible save system. When you hit "Save", it doesn't actually save your game -it saves up until your last checkpoint, which could have been 15 minutes ago. Don't tell me it's saving when it's not! Also, before extremely hard boss fights like Tinkerer in the Repeater Tower, it doesn't give you the option to save. So if you lose that fight, you have to go through the 25 minutes of arduous plowing through endless enemies. A great way to make the player give up the game rather than play on...off I go to the second-hand bin.

The "Legendary" (hard) difficulty level is inhuman. Consider this: Even mid-bosses (of which there can be 40 in one map) can take 45 per cent of your life bar with one hit. X-Men Legends II also had very high-damaged enemies, but X-Men Legends II had a healing system with Scarlet Witch's party-healing boost, plus 40 healing tokens you can store. Guess how many healing items you can store in Ultimate Alliance 2? TWO. That's right, you could use a healing icon, get hit by a mid-boss, and it'd be like you never used it at all. This game's alternate healing method is retch-inducingly useless. You're supposed to be able to collect "red orbs" which heal you, but the problem is, you get them by breaking environment objects -and in boss battles, there usually are none. This means in a boss battle, you can only afford to get hit only about eight times with your four characters. Two hits will kill a character, and there's no way to heal them back up. The "superheroes" in your team should be renamed "superwimps". Hell, three hits from an ordinary soldier enemy will kill you, yet you have to spend your superpowers a few thousand times in every map.

The enemies' AI is supra-genius, while your teammates act like kindergarten children. Another reviewer said it well, "Your teammates just sit and watch you die." Even worse, more often they crowd around a super-powered boss, gleefully eating all of the boss' most powerful attacks. While computer-controlled teammates don't take as much damage, this means that if your character is dying and you have to switch, you'll find yourself immediately next to the boss and it's most likely you'll lose 85 per cent of your life bar before you can even get away. And this game fills the screen with so much garbage that you can't tell where you are most of the time. Once again, Ultimate Alliance 2 breaks a feature that had been nearly perfect in X-Men Legends II -the ability to assign AI combat tactics (such as aggressive vs. conservative, close combat vs. long-range combat, using beam weapons rather than fists) to computer-controlled allies, which had prevented Cyclops from trying to feebly kick his enemies rather than use his optic blasts. In this game, a computer-controlled Jean Grey will just go toe-to-toe in melee combat against a boss character, when she should be throwing firestorms that do 12 times the damage. This is just an insult to the player. Shame on you, Activision.

The camera sweeps from angle to angle, ignoring your frantic efforts to control it with the right stick. And when an enemy is to the bottom of the screen, your visibility is about one step ahead of you. I can't tell you how many times I'm fighting a boss, playing the run-and-gun game, only to have the camera zoom into a useless extreme close-up of my character, so that when I do the evade move, I roll right on top of the boss who is waiting offscreen. Two hits, boom, you're dead! Just why Ultimate Alliance 2 decided to break this feature so badly is incomprehensible to me, because X-Men Legends II had a fluid camera that you can control, so that you never lose track of where you are. Killing a player by mucking with the camera is utterly unacceptable, in any circumstance. What's next, making all enemies invisible? Making the entire game screen black for the entire game? Think how challenging that would be!

This one infuriates me the most, because X-Men Legends II did it so right, but Ultimate Alliance 2 completely ruins it. After completing the normal difficulty, and training up your characters, the game informs you that you have to play the Legendary difficulty from the beginning -otherwise all your unlocked features, character building and abilities, boosts etc. are all flushed down the toilet. And I've already mentioned, the Legendary difficulty turns all your "superheroes" into "superinsects", with enemies that can kill you with three hits, ignore your attacks while rushing at you *and* firing projectiles, and can take about 100 hits of your powers before they die. And don't forget, you have to fight the camera -if you evade a lot, you could end up in a camera angle where you have maybe an inch of visibility all around you, so you can't aim at the boss, but s/he can rush right in your face and mash you to a pulp in two seconds flat. In Legendary difficulty, my Level 60 character actually feels worse than my Level 1 characters when playing in the Advanced (normal) difficulty. Which obliterates the enjoyment of levelling up your characters -if the only way to level up your characters is by fighting enemies 100 times more powerful than you, then what's the point of levelling them up?

And the ghost of X-Men Legends past continues to haunt the player. Players of the X-Men Legends games will remember that those two games had this bad bug where if you advance in the games far enough, sooner or later you hit upon these irrecoverable game freezes that nothing short of a hard reset will cure. Half a decade after the first X-Men Legends, it absolutely boggles the mind to see that Activision *still* hasn't fixed this issue. And it's not caused by the same thing as X-Men Legends 2, since Ultimate Alliance 2 doesn't have random item drops. I've spent over 30 hours building up the "Heroic Deeds" and unlockables of Ultimate Alliance 2, and now the game freezes at least once per play. It is further evidence that Activision is more concerned about appearances than quality control.

I can't imagine what had possessed Activision to break this game so horribly. Even more saddening is that, given the number of good points that *do* exist in the game, this could have been an enjoyable game. Instead, chuck another game into the "too hard to play, blood-pressure-increasing" pile.

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Marvel: Ultimate Alliance was a fantastic game. It managed to pull characters from the breadth of the Marvel (and technically the Ultimate Marvel) universe together for an epic adventure which took place in its own history and world. You didn't have to be a comic fan to appreciate the game, but it helped, and the controls were simple. The worst part of the game, arguably, was that specific costumes you might want your characters to wear gave bonuses you didn't want, or that the power sets were too broad.

I was excited for M:UA2, despite the fact that it takes one of the hands-down worst storylines of Marvel as its template for action, despite having an epic lead-in to a cosmic mash-up following the previous game. So, instead of having a potentially cosmic and epic issue, instead you have a game predicated entirely around the "reality" of superheroics and almost nonsensical choices given the history of a comic-book universe.

In almost every way, I found this game to be inferior to the previous one, though there are areas which would arguably be easier for players to handle. Let me go through the points quickly.

1) Storyline is hit-or-miss depending on your preferences. After the epic scale of the previous game, this one was at least a little disappointing. In the previous game, you went across the Universe and into Asgard, home of the Gods. In this one, you get to go to New York and ... um ... a Prison which could've actually been anywhere aside from the Negative Zone (where it's located) because you don't see anything but a boring prison interior.

2) Hero selection is generally common-fare. You get most people's favorites, and some key storyline characters (arguably) like Penance and Songbird. Frankly, for all the storyline good they did me, I would've rather had Hawkeye, Cyclops, Magneto, Ghost Rider, Doctor Strange, or Moon Knight ... and if you're looking for the awesome costume array from the first one, too bad, each character only gets one, and arguably, not a single alternate favorite in the bunch (i.e. no Black-Suit Spidey, no Grey Hulk, no War Machine or Ultimate Iron Man not even the Silver IM Movie suit, but a clunky-looking version of his classic armor.) Also, unlike M:UA, it doesn't matter who you pick, you don't get to select and customize your teams like in the previous version (spending experience to improve their teamwork and collective bonuses), but rather get "medals" which can be next-to-useless (Ooh, +10% fire damage ... that's great for the Torch and ... ummm ... why am I spending one slot for that?)

3) Power selection is simplified. I actually applaud this somewhat, as it puts some basic powers in easy reach at the start, something that M:UA didn't always do. However, each character only gets 4 powers, meaning that you have much less customization ability. This isn't a bad thing for most players, but it makes managing your own powers relatively pointless. Since you get XP so easily in this game, and only 4 powers, just let the computer level you and worry about hitting the "X" button 1000 times.

4) AI. The Boss Fights in M:UA and M:UA2 are both pretty rough, considering some of the second-stringers you're dealing with. I don't care how powerful you claim Electro's become, when faced with Spider-Man, Iron Man, Cap and Wolverine, he's got about as much lifespan as a candle in a monsoon. But that's par for the course in these games. What makes it worse is that the dumbed-down AI of M:UA (from X-Men legends where you can actually make people hang back) where you need to direct your forces with general commands is turned utterly stupid. You no longer have control of your allies, but rather they run straight into high-damage boss attacks or groups of foes where they get torn apart. While a greater abundance of healing in this over the previous game mitigates that somewhat, it's still frustrating to find your allies unconscious simply because you didn't stupidly charge with the rest of them.

5) Cutscenes. In M:UA you were treated to epic cutscenes like an over-powered Doom defeating heroes and reshaping the world, Loki attacking Asgard with mutated berserkers, and Nightcrawler's heroic fight in Castle Doom. In M:UA2 you get to watch high-contrast static images as if you were watching a cheaply-done news report and heroes picking up trash after a battle. Wow.

In all, M:UA2 is probably better to get if it's your first time playing an Ultimate Alliance game. It does all the basics and has slightly more interactivity, but the world seems smaller, gritter and less heroic. If you've already played M:UA, you're not missing anything by skipping this except the chance for plaing a few new faces (like Gambit and Juggernaut.) If you want a real epic hero experience, get M:UA and let M:UA2 pass you by.

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I enjoyed the original Marvel Ultimate Alliance, not because it was an exceptional game (it's not) or because it had cutting edge visuals and sound (it doesn't)...I liked it because it was a chance to play as all my favorite Marvel superheroes in a pretty original gameplay style. Then comes MUA 2. The graphics really haven't improved much, and aside from a slightly different story line not much has changed. I did appreciate the ability to choose registration/anti-registration sides at first, but even this doesn't do enough to differentiate from the first game. I know these programmers have a formula that worked for them with the original, and that they don't want to mess with it too much. However, I feel they could have done a lot more with the PS3's capabilities without alienating the people who loved the first MUA. I'll be stepping down from my soapbox now.

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This review may appear late in relation to the game's release date. After all, I received the game as a Christmas gift... and what an awesome gift it was!!! If you are not a fan, or not a current follower, of Marvel Comics then I strongly urge you to read no further and to not buy the game. You may be confused and disappointed. For those who arethis game is for you!

The game is directly based off of the Marvel Comics series "Civil War", in which the Marvel Universe is split in two over the forced registration of all mutants (non-heroic and the like). This puts X-man against X-man, brother against sister, even villians against villians. For those of you familiar with the comic book series, the game follows the storyline beat for beat. If feels as if you are playing the very pages from the comic. There are scenes in the video game that are taken right out of the story. The game designers did a fantastic job re-creating the pages and allowing the fans to play them out in the game.

This is one reason I gave the game 5 starsgame play. It gives the fans the opportunity to experience something we've all dreamed aboutplaying the characters from an epic storyline and feel the action for themselves. As I mentioned before it follows the comic book mini-series to a "T" and the graphics are amazing! The cut scenes and in-game play are flawlessly integrated. There are some improved issues with the camera angles and I didn't feel so claustrophobic while playing like I did in the first one. However, like the first Marvel Alliance, players can be confused which is which when playing multi-player during epic battle scenes. Other than that, it is great.

Another reason it gets a 5 star is for the graphics. They are stunning, and so is the character design. Granted the playable characters are limited, the ones that are playable definitely make up for it. People have complained about the limit of playable characters, but don't be fooled. The game is awesome and the ones you do play don't disappoint.

I hope this review has helped. Like I said, this game is meant for the die hard Marvel fans, but your avid comic book reader shouldn't be let down either.

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Borderlands 2 Deluxe Vault Hunter's Edition

Customer Ratings:
List Price: $99.99
Sale Price: $79.96
Today's Bonus: 20% Off

Such a great game, and seeing the artwork behind it is a nice bonus too. Really great and innovative job by the folks at Gearbox.

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I spent countless hours on the first game, and now i intend on doing the same with the sequel. This series has given me hours of enjoyment, laughter, and challenge. Really, i am not just saying this. I recommend this franchise to anyone into FPS or RPG's, it mixes very well.

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What can I say... Its BORDERLANDS 2... That should be enough... This is a review for the PS3 Deluxe Vault HUnters edition... Its pretty cool.. Worth the $80... Yep... You get the game of course... A code for downloadable skins for the characters and a special air mine... A concept drawing book with some descriptions and what not of the creating process for the game... A 5 pack of stickers... A foldable map of the planet... And a bobblehead toy of Marcus(the arms dealer) in a ammo vending machine replica box... Of course all of this comes shipped in a Borderlands 2 graphic box... All in all a nice little collection that wont break the bank to much(unlike the limited edition collectors one which is selling for around $280 as I this)...

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Everything that I wanted at a great price. I like the avaialbility and content. The add-ons were a bonus and I continue to play this game to this day.

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This game is amazing going above and beyond its expectations. I only wrote ten words though so I wrote this sentence so I could post the review.

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Skylanders Giants Portal Owner Pack

Customer Ratings:
List Price: $59.99
Sale Price: $31.95
Today's Bonus: 47% Off

I am writing this review for my 11 year old son. He loved the first skylanders game and collected all the guys. He saved his money and bought the new game and reached the end in less than 24 hours. He felt cheated. He said you don't even need all the new giants and figures to play the game. The one it come with is all you really need. He was disappointed because there are only 16 levels and they are to easy to beat. He thought this game should have been about half the price he paid for it, because you only got about half a game.

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Okay, needless to say, the game is great! It'll keep you and the kids entertained for hours.

However, if you plan on collecting all the characters like I did for The first Skylanders game; you'll be disapointed if you buy the Portal Owners pack. First off you only get the disk and one Giant (Tree-Rex) character (boo, hiss, boo!) If you spend an extra $15 bucks and get the starter pack you get the disk, and one Giant (Tree-Rex) and two regular sized characters (Jet Vac & Cynder) *$11.99 each sold separately plus an extra portal of power.

Lets see (for you collectors) the extra two characters you get with the Starter pack run about $12 bucks each separately. Pay an extra $15 bucks on the starter pack, save yourself approximately $9 and the hassle of collecting these two separately. Plus you'll have an extra portal of power in case yours craps out on you. The Starter Pack is the better deal!

Once again, the previous owners of a great game, get screwed over again. More money for less stuff??? Because that's how it works in the long run.

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Lots of fun for kids under 10. I wish it took longer to clear the game. Kids cleared it in a matter of days!!

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Only because we didn't receive all the characters, other than that great product. My son will love this for Christmas, now if I can find Giant Spyro....

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Make sure you have to portal from the other game (Skylanders) as this does not include it. Great game, kid appropriate, and very nice to continue the adventure started by Skylanders.

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Saitek PP32 PS2700 Rumble Pad for use

Customer Ratings:
List Price: Price Unavailable
Sale Price: $38.88
Today's Bonus:

Excellent gamepad for the price, its sturdy, the L2 R2 triggers feel very nice, the analog joysticks are very precise, and the precision aim button comes in very handy for FPS's. There is no driver/software cd in the package, you have to go to Saitek's website to download them. I was having a problem with the SST software (which maps keyboard, mouse, and hotkey commands to the controller) because it was crashing my games. I later figured out that having keyboard commands mapped to the controller in games with gamepad support causes a conflict. So, Only use the keyboard mapping software in games with no gamepad support and you should be problem free. All in all its a great product, and I would definitely recommend it to anyone who is comfortable with a PS2/PS3 style controller.

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Its a good pad overall, but the sticks are in square gates with rounded corners that make it difficult to play games like MLB2k10 that require you to make precise circular motions at the periphery of the gate.

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The second that i got this controller in hand, I was very impressed. I have semi-small hands, and i was afraid that this controller would be to big and bulky...

It was not. The Feel of the controller is very comfortable, and surprisingly only weighs about 2 pounds! The whole reason that i bought this controller, was

for the ability to switch the positions of the left joystick and directional pad. I was relieved when i noticed that when i do switch the joystick and pad, that

in addition to changing their place on the controller, the functions of the joystick and directional pad migrate with them when they switch! so no mater what

position you have them in, the functions for the game that your playing for the joystick and the directional pad stay assigned to their intended devices so only

the positions have switched. for Example...

let's treat the joystick as F1 and the Directional pad as F2.

now you start playing a game where the fuctions to navigate

the Game Menu are only assigned to F2, and the functions to

control the in-game character are only assigned to F1.

when you switch the places of F1 & F2 on the controller,

F2 will remain assigned to the Menu and F1 will remain

assigned to controlling the in-game character.

You'll be supprised to see how many "Hard to control" games become playable with this controller. It has really changed my opinion about Several games already.

Trust me, this will change the way that you look at PS2 & PS3 games.

also, this controller has an added bonus of functioning as a PC Computer GamePad!

The following Operating systems should already have the necessary drivers for this Device:

Windows XP(All Editions) Service Pack 3.

Windows Vista(All Editions) Service Pack 1 & 2.

Windows 7(All Editions)(All Versions).

How ever, if you still feel that you need the Official Driver for this Device,

Here is the link to Download the official Driver:

([""])

(Under Drivers, From the Drop-Down list, Select your Operating System and then Select "Cyborg V.3 Rumble Pad", then click "Download Driver".)

I hope this review was helpful.

and thanks for Reading. :)

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Saitek PP32 PS2700 Rumble Pad for use with PC or PS3 Game Console

Hey my name is Corey Jones. I purchased the Saitek Cyborg Controller from Cordolio.com through Amazon.com... I have to say that the services was great and the product was promising. The product itself gets a 9.7 out of 10 from me cause it is an amazing controller with very minor minor minor design flaw. Again 9.7 out of 10 excellent controller and the people who sent me the controller gets a 10 out of 10 they were quick with the delivery and helpful with it. I bought it used and it got a little roughed up in the mail, but that's because the postal workers didn't do their job well, Cordolio.com on the other hand made sure that it was packaged properly and when I told them of this problem, they were happy to send me a better working controller for no extra cost. I say if anyone wants to buy a really great gaming product, they should buy from Cordolio.com products on Amazon!!!

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I mean the whole idea of the controller is pretty cool, the fact that you can switch it from the ps3 style to the xbox style is something I've never heard of so when I saw this controller I had to try it out. But realistically it seems like the controller buttons aren't made nearly as durable as I'd like. 2 weeks after I bought it the buttons started to fall into the controller itself I guess and got much harder to actually press with me having to consciously try and press the button instead of being able to do a fluid motion. Now a few weeks after that the controller buttons hardly work and I'm going to buy another replacement here shortly most likely, cool idea, worked great at first, just not built to last. Overall a bad investment if you are looking to buy one to last.

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Rapala Pro Bass Fishing with Rod Peripheral

Customer Ratings:
List Price: Price Unavailable
Sale Price: $99.99
Today's Bonus:

I purchased this right as it came out, mainly because I saw the fishing rod peripheral. I wasn't a huge fan of other Rapala games, so I was a little hesitant at first. I must say, hands down, this is one of the best new age fishing games I've played, probably THE best. The graphics are good, the gameplay is even better, and most of all I was uber impressed with how many species of fish are on this game. Bass, channel cat, flatheads, bullheads, freshwater eel, black and white crappie, walleye, trout, huge sturgeon, stripers, white bass, muskie, pike and many others I missed.

The only problem I have is with the fishing pole. It essentially works great, except for one thing. You have to twist the rod left and right to pull on the fish and keep it in the middle of the screen. If you reel while the fish is off to the left or right, you lose your hookset. You end up spending all of your time trying to get the pole to register that your are pulling left or right. It takes FOREVER to get in a decent fish this way.

I switched over to the regular PS3 controller, in which you only have to push left and right on the R stick to pull the fish back to middle. It is MUCH easier and you don't waste your whole challenge time allotment on one fish. In this aspect, it is actually a fairly easy game to play.

All in all this is a GREAT fishing game, and the fishing rod periph is really neat, but doesn't quite cut it during gameplay. It's sad too, because otherwise it works flawlessly. If you want the kids to be wowed, get the game/reel combo. If you just want a good fishing game to play for yourself, you'd probably be better off saving some dough and buying the game alone.

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the game is incredible. unfortunately, the peripheral fishing rod peripheral accessery is of poor quality. it didn't take but a couple of days before the handle of the reel snapped off. after searching tirelessly and in vain to find a replacement accessery im quite disappointed that it can't be purchased separately.

sincerely, donald gilmore

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I haven't played a good fishing game since black bassin and when this came out I though I'd give a try. The game play is awesome and the graphics on HD are unreal. Buy the bundle the rod makes it a blast. great for all ages.

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There is no fun and the game is so boring and the rod come with game is useless. Not worth to buy it.

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I love this game. It has fish that should be tested for steroids. lol I play it often when I can't get out to go fishing.

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Playstation 3 HORI PAD 3 Turbo Wireless - Red

Customer Ratings:
List Price: Price Unavailable
Sale Price: Price Unavailable
Today's Bonus:

The turbo feature works great, but the sensitivity of the controller is no where near as good as the stock controller. Makes it very hard to aim in shooter type games. I've since stopped using it, and its now collecting dust.

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I ignored the low rankings this controller has had, thinking that people must have just received lemons, but mine didn't work either. Could never get the wireless USB to connect with the controller. By the time I paid for shipping back and forth, it cost me more than the controller. If you do find a great turbo controller though, let the rest of us know!!

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let me get to the point:

pros

1) If you owned an X Box then you decided to go out and buy a PS3 this controller "Might" come as a blessing as it is similar in size to the X Box controller

cons

1) the turbo settings are useless, so if you think the turbo is going to give you an edge in online gaming ( COD, Warhawk) think again, expect to be very dissapointed

2) this is not bluetooth device like your standard controller you will use a USB port

3) the sticks feel really stiff and even after adjusting the sensitivity to the most sensitive they still are stiff and annoying

in short save your money, this product is crap

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I've had and used this product for some time and it has worked great. I would highly recommend it to my friends.

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This is good controller, I have had about 2 months no problems with it.

Pros: Adjustable sticks sensitivity and adjustable turbo speed.

Cons: Doesn't Offer vibration and is not able to be used for PS2.

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Dragon Age: Origins Collector's Edition

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First things first: in the past I have chastised EA a number of times for its release of cookie-cutter games, crippled with atrocious DRM schemes. So, in all fairness, I now have to say this: DRAGON AGE: ORIGINS IS A GAMER's DREAM! It is an excellent game and it comes FREE of any DRM madness. So, thank you EA for listening to your customers (let's only hope this new trend holds...).

This is one of those games that are easy to control, a joy to roam through and fun to play at no end.

I am a huge cRPG fan and cannot remember such a great companion/squad cRPG ever since the Baldur's Gate Saga. And to tell you the truth, this is the game I was dreaming of being able to play one day while playing BG (yeah, by now we all know that NEVERWINTER NIGHTS never delivered).

There are about a dozen gender/race/class/background choices and a great many combinations in forming your party. The armor and the weapons are exceptionally made and everything shows on your characters. And the graphics are truly beautiful! You have to see the rendering of flames to believe them.

Nevertheless, what really stands out is the gameplay. Every battle is a puzzle to be solved, pausing ever so often to reallocate enemies to the best suited party members (a feature I loved in BG!). Of course one can always turn off the autopause feature and let the AI take over the rest of your party and turn the game into an hack&slash action RPG (not exactly my cup of tea but, hey, it's still nice to know it's there).

Finally, this is a game made just like the classics in many ways, including duration. I am now playing the game for over 20 hours and I feel that I barely scraped the surface! DRAGON AGE: ORIGINS is one satisfying RPG!

My only gripe is this: I did not appreciate such short dialogue options. Most fit a single line and more often than not they consist of a couple of words. I like my RPGs to be wordy and challenging to my verbal imagination as well and I want my characters to participate in the humor, not just provoke it or react to it. Remember the long dialogue options in BG? Well, expect to find DRAGON AGE: ORIGINS much more laconic.

I guess 10 years of fast-paced FPS and blitzkrieging RTS do take their toll...

Now this is the COLLECTOR's EDITION which is almost 30% more expensive than the Standard edition. For the extra money you get: a tin case, a cloth map, a bonus DVD (soundtrack, making of documentary, concept art & wallpapers and strategy tips), an in-game quest and character as well as three enchanted items. Is it worth it? You be the judge.

The blood sprays, the swords clang and the spells explode. The animations are beautifully made and add a lot to both enjoyment and immersion. There is a verse in Homer's Iliad I love: "the warrior fell and his armor echoed around him" and I was reminded of it many a times throughout the game.

This game will stay with you. Do not miss on it.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

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Installation

For some reason it took three installs to get the program on my machine. Not sure why, I received no error message or other indication there might be a problem. So getting the game installed took nearly an hour.

Digital Rights Management

-DRM is not present in DAO. A simple CD Key and online registration to get an account with BioWare/EA and you're ready to rock.

Tech Support

Thank goodness the BioWare community is intelligent, helpful and generally proactive. Since EA purchased BioWare official tech support is passed off to EA. EA has no tech support to speak of. So imagine my frustration to find my NVIDIA GeForce 8800M GTX had issues running the game. I've got a gaming rig CPU Intel 2 X9000 2.8GHz, 6GB RAM, etc. and I could not run DAO. Big WTF. Thank goodness the BioWare Forums had the answers I sought.

Exclusive Content

The bonus items at start up are nice, having the Stone Prisoner is great (I think as DLC it retails for $15 US) But the Cloth Map is meh. The tin case is nice if you're into that kind of thing I often discard packaging in favor of my giant CD book. The features disk is interesting but if you want to play the game not see the whole shebang it may not be worth it for you. Overall I'd probably get the Collector's Edition again (it was a birthday present from me to me) but if you're on a budget or want plenty of bang for your buck its probably not worth it.

Gameplay

Graphics

Anyone that tells me the game looks outdated or poor isn't paying attention or can't witness DAO in all its glory. When I can see the pores on Morigan's face, the individual teeth on Dog (aka Rabbit) and see stray hairs on Alistair, it is amazing. Not to mention the burning, bleeding, spurting, freezing, effects from damage. Seeing an enemy break because he's been frozen is awesome. If you've got a mediocre rig a PS3 may be the way to go. I haven't seen a 360 in action so check those out but if you've got a machine that can handle the settings check the PC version is way worth it.

Cutscenes

If you've played BioWare games before you know they're big on story. If you've played Elder Scrolls, Fallout 3, Fable, Diablo, Guild Wars, LOTRO, and like the story this has more, and it is good. If you like Demon Souls this is less hack n' slash and more about the entire experience. Heavy dialogue, great and frequent cutscenes, are BioWare hallmarks. If that is not your bag you can hit ESC to skip the scenes.

I do miss the dialogue wheel from Mass Effect, I rather enjoyed hearing my character speak. Selecting dialouge options is akin to KOTOR or Baldur's Gate and at times it seems like your representative in the game is mute. This is not enough to discourage or dissuade me it is merely an annoyance.

Gameplay

Think an updated Baldur's Gate. As your avatar gets better at killin' he or she performs more stylized attacks and finishing moves reminicient of Fallout 3's VATS finishing/killing attacks. The game goes to SloMo and shows you doing X to critter Y. Navigating is easy your compass has a quest arrow when you use the feature.

One of the most interesting things are the "tactics" the more cunning your avatar or the higher the level you get more "if A then B" actions and choices making a very flexible but very effective "script" for combat. I.E. Condition: 'Self health is < 10%' Action: "Use strongest healing potion". The limitations are your ingenuity, imagination, tactical know how and your avatar's intelligence.

Downloadable Content (DLC)

I like the way the have DLC set up, it relay's what you have, what you can buy, and etc. It seems that Electronic Art's buisness model in DAO is to provide a solid and addicting product then have you purchase things to make the story more in depth. As a gamer it is annoying but I'll probably persist. As a stockholder if it would raise the share prices it seems like a good idea.

DAO Creator is awesome. I don't know what the consoles can do with regards to this option but it allows PC players unlimited creativity and ensures amazing replay value.

Overall

I am very happy with the game. If you have any doubts cast them aside, there is enough knowledge to ensure bugs are being fixed (there are few if any) and almost all technical issues I've seen posted on the BioWare forums are resolved.

This is an extremely enjoyable game with a new twist on old genres and the story creates a world that I certainly hope persists in BioWare's repitoire.

Have fun, enjoy.

*UPDATE*

Content

The rating of M is well earned. Gore is aplenty with decapitation and similar fantasy violence. Those concerned about the romance plots should know that you can engage in sexual relationships. The scenes depicting these are similar you would see to day time television, no genetalia or reproductive organs. There is also prostitution though once again no nudity.

Buy Dragon Age: Origins Collector's Edition Now

To long time classic CRPG fans, Dragon Age: Origins (DAO) is a nostalgic trip back to the bygone era of CRPG Renaissance amist the blight of dark forces joined with many (certainly not all of them) of generic FPSs that gives you measley 4-7 hours on single player campaign and hybrid RPGs that blur the true quality of classic CRPG. While Bioware has released many games that all found financial success and critical acclaims, Bioware's track record since Black Isle's demise hasn't always been impressive among classic CRPG fans.

Bethesda has successfully reinvigorated non-linear, open-ended, free-formed, real-time CRPG of 'TES: Arena' and 'TES: Daggerfall' with 'Oblivion' and 'Fallout 3'. Now Bioware has done the same to narratively-focused, linear, story-driven, party-based tactical CRPG of 'Baldur's Gate' series with DAO. Both are in lineage of classic 'Dungeons and Dragons', 'Tolkien', 'Ultima' series and 'Wizardry' series. But each camp go for totally different experience.

Now for the fans of classic CRPG fans can finally find great solace in the latest medieval fantasy epic called 'Dragon Age: Origins'. This game really picks up the torch from the late Black Isle and its own 'Baldur's Gate' in terms of gameplay, design, lore, and character development and carries on the impossible task of putting CRPG back on the track. It generally succeeds with DAO but it will surely polarize many others too.

Those who began to acquire the taste of RPG through games like 'KOTOR', 'Jade Empire', and 'Mass Effect' must be warned though. DAO is not quite like aforementioned Bioware's titles. DAO is a classic, hard-core PC-centric western CRPG firmly rooted in D&D (Dungeons & Dragons) compared to the past three Bioware titles, which were hybrid western / console RPG geared toward more accessible and broader appeal that could be viewed as shallow to hard-core CRPG gamers. But there are definitely similarities among these titles too.

Those who began to acquire the taste of RPG through games like 'Oblivion' and 'Fallout 3' must be warned also. DAO is not a non-linear, open-ended, free-formed CRPG. You don't do anything anytime anywhere you please, and interaction with items and environment is non-existent. While you are given a fair amount of freedom once you pass the initial origin part and first big prelude, DAO is a linear game where main focus is on narrative focus via plot, dialogues, character dynamics, and of course tactical combat. DAO is the polar opposite to TES series. You don't have such freedom in DAO, but intensely plot-driven, character-driven game just not feasible in TES series. You don't get the visceral, in-your-face hack n' slash here. Combat focuses on character management during each wave of enemies. The action is governed by number-crunching Bioware's own original ruleset, similar to D&D ruleset. DAO gives you much broader scopes of battles with waves of mobs thrown at you alongside your companions, so it's totally different kind of pulse-pounding combat. But I personally love both styles.

And finally this is not a click-fest hack n' slash 'Diablo' clone or various MMORPG either. So if you are looking to get some fix for action RPG, 'Diablo 3' and WOW expansion are on the horizon. You won't get far in this game by just clicking your mouse pointer on your foes.

To some people, it might feel oddly enough it seems Bioware might have taken a step back, Bioware actually has taken a step forward from the games from the golden age of CRPG such as 'Baldur's Gate' series, 'Planescape: Torment' and 'Icewind Dale' series. And those of you who were big fans of 'Baldur's Gate' then were somewhat disappointed with 'Neverwinter Nights', you will be thrilled to finally have the heir to a decade-long empty throne since 'Baldur's Gate' in 'Dragon Age: Origins'.

You get to choose your sex, race, class and background to determine your origin among six different origins. Then you play totally unique origin story / tutorial for a couple of hours. Once you familiarize yourself with control, menu, etc, it leads you to big intro part where you wet your feet with couple of side quests and combat. A good 3-4 hours will be spent to this point. Then you see some exciting cutscenes and you are into the thick of epic battle and more exciting and revealing cutscenes. You get to play a part of the battle. And off you go finally to your main quest after the longest prelude of the video game history. And from hereafter things opens up and give you some freedom.

It still has loading screen between areas like all other Bioware games although it now feels less confined and limited in each area dut to the game's bigger scope created by newly created and much refined 'Eclipse Engine'. I just wish there's an open overworld map where you can actually traverse and level up fighting foes like classic Final Fantasy style instead of clicking on the world map and occassionally running into random combat area.

In terms of graphic, even on high-end PC, things are somewhat bland, blocky and jaggy. While the game doesn't look terrible and CRPG has never been the front-runner graphically, graphic in this game definitely looks dated even by the CRPG standards. By comparison to games like 'Oblivion', 'Fallout 3', and Bioware's own 'Mass Effect', graphic in DAO might even come as a shock. It generally looks more than fine on PC; just don't expect top-notch graphic.

Beside the confined world map, modular nature of the map with loading screen and not quite top-notch graphics, everything else is delivered with depth and grandeur. All the dialogues are voice-acted, except your player character, and there are tons and tons of dialogues in tradition of all previous Bioware's games. The gameworld is littered with lores. Weapons, armours, items, magic, skills, map, quest log, codex, character development / customization, party management and combat tactics are very well handled in robust menu design. DAO is the most PC-centric game since 2002 with 'Morrowind' and 'Neverwinter Nights'. You can handle the combat with either micro-management in 'Baldur's Gate' style using pause function and action queue or more fast-paced with programmable tactics slots for your companions. And the combat mechanics is similar with 'Baldur's Gate'. You have full 3D camera so you can zoom in and out on the fly with mouse wheel and pause with space key. While you have new tactics system, user-programmable command slots that control each and every member of your player characters, thers's only one action queue per character. While tactics slots do generally fine job, multiple action queues are desired.

What seperates DAO from other CRPG is character interaction and dynamic. The world is no longer black and white. Bioware abandons good vs. evil dynamic over much more ambiguity and complex shades of grey. The tone of the game is much darker and bleak. This in turn makes story truly dynamic unlike other Bioware games in the past that only give you the illusion of choice. Besides 6 different origin stories, you now have multiple endings and various permutations depending on your actions. The only thing set in the stone in DAO is the main plot; you are the protagonist who eventually leads the army against the force of evil. How you start, who you start with, who you side with, who you abandon, who you clash with, how you get to the finale, you and your companions' fate are all up in the air.

The story arc is massive, expansive and immensely complex with many different possible outcomes from branching storyline directly stemmed from your choices. It's also very heavy and mature thematically. At the end of my first 70 hour run-through as a human noble, I really felt as if I was truly ladden with the fate of the world as well as people around me. Political intrigues and personal agendas are everywhere. Choices you have to make are genuinely difficult and whatever the consequences you face are irreversible. Each and every single wave of combat feels difficult and exhausted. One wrong move and your party is wiped out. It really felt like a load of heavy burden often too much to bear. This is where DAO truly excels and shines. Not only DAO made me feel like I was actually integral and the most important part of the game, I wanted to embark on a brand new, totally different journey immediately after completing a long, winded and tiresome journey (in a very good way).

'Eclipse Engine' is much better and more powerful than ill-equipped tile-based 'Aurora Engine' and rightful 3D successor of 2D 'Infinity Engine' but still restrictive and modular in nature. I hope Bioware refine the engine in the future to open things up little bit more. It's down right annoying when you get stuck by a tiny pebble on the ground or simple nook and cranny. Loading between each area, both interior and exterior, is still present but each area being much bigger and more detail than ones created by 'Aurora Engine', along with much tighter camera controll, it alleviates a lot of problems. Furthermore, thanks to free 'DAO Toolset', we can expect tons of quality mods from a very active modding community that will probably surpass that of 'Neverwinter Nights' and possibly equal to 'The Elder Scrolls' community. There are already a few official DLCs available for purchase and several mods from 'Dragon Age Nexus', the same site that also host for both 'The Elder Scrolls' and 'Fallout 3'. I guarantee we can expect some terrific mods in the future from the site.

While I had not run into any technical glitches at all throughout my 70 campaign, there's memory leak problems, which cause the game's loading time gets longer and longer during each single continuous session. It's solved by occassionally restart the game but there's some serious loading time problem due to poor memory management.

This game runs surprisingly well on my now ancient P4 HT 3.0Ghz with 2GB RAM and nvidia 7800GS with everything max except AA and resolution, as well as my brand new Intel Core i7 with 6GB RAM and nvidia GTX 295 with everything max.

As for CE package, I solely got this edition because the regular edition comes with really flimsy plastic case, which is a new cheap trend among DVD movies and PC games to save cost. And I am happy they don't stack 2 discs on top of each other with seperate disc divider. As for contents, the cloth map is nothing like the one that came with 'Neverwinter Nights Limited Collector's Edition'. It's very cheap and useless. Extra disc contains about 60 minutes worth of making-of documentaries and promo materials as well as 18 music from the game. It also comes with a few free official DLCs, which are way way over-priced if you decide to purchase seperately.

While I am definitely not happy about the current business trend in the video game industry with DLCs over expansion pack, cheap package with weak manual, over-emphasis on online features, I commend EA for letting Bioware realize its vision with minimum artistic interference and toning down the DRM scheme from the draconian secuROM that forces Internet connection and limited number of installation to much linient version of simple secuROM DVD check. It's definitely step-up from 'Spore' and 'Mass Effect'.

Although it's little too early to tell whether DAO will eclipse 'Baldur's Gate 2: Shadows of Amn', DAO is definetely the best game from Bioware since the legendary game on the other side of TES series. DAO is without a doubt one for the age; crowning achievement among the very best of CRPG indeed.

'Morrowind', 'Oblivion', 'Fallout 3', 'Gothic Trilogy', 'Risen', 'The Witcher', 'Two Worlds', and now 'Dragon Age: Origins' closes this decade on a very exciting note for CRPG and joins the handful of elite 3D CRPG collection from this decade that rivals the golden era of 2D CRPG of 'Baldur's Gate' series, 'Icewind Dale' series, 'Planescape: Torment', 'Fallout', 'Fallout 2', 'Divine Divinity', 'Sacred', and 'Arcanum'. DAO will delight CRPG fans for a long long time.

Read Best Reviews of Dragon Age: Origins Collector's Edition Here

If you love the Epic Fantasy, Dungeons, Castles, and Knights genre of video games this is a great addition to the realm. These games used to be a bit more popular and they don't come out now as often as they used to . The gaming industry is very heavy in a lot of different genres and the military game is very popular right now. Anyway, I am glad this game came out. Some other great games in this genre are The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion: Game of the Year Edition. Gothic 3 Collector's Editionand Dungeon Siege.

About the game

This is a very complex game. It took BioWare five years to develop this game and it shows. There is an awful lot of stuff in it. And most of this stuff is what is expected. There is plenty of battling and plenty of world to explore. And it is a party oriented game so if you have played Dungeon Siege or World of Warcraft you are very familiar with the style of game play. As you adventure through and explore the world you pick up party members that will fight with you. And you have to put together a complimentary set of members. You need a balance. If you are a warrior you are going to need a mage for healing and a rogue for lockpicking etc. It's a nice way to explore a lot of different roles in the game.

Where this game gets different

There are some very interesting things about this game that set it apart from other games in the genre. First off, there are a lot of moral and ethical choices that you have to make during the game. Will you steal from others? Will you make sacrifices for the greater good? And these choices affect what happens in the game. For example: Will you kill the evil king who has been wreaking havoc? If you do then his daughter will not marry you. This ruins your chances to become the new king if that's what you seek. Or how about this: When battling the evil bloodmage you have the choice of making a deal with him. Will you spare his life in order to get a permanant boost to your constitution stat? If you do this then some of your party members will disapprove. Bad Karma! And it has an effect on the game. Party members will get upset with you and leave the party permanently!

Not for kids

This game is definitely not for kids. There is quite a bit of very realistic bloodshed and you have killing blows that will actually decapitate your foes. And, there are lots of cut scenes after battles where you and your party members are spattered with very realistic looking blood. And....You can actually woo and seduce other members of your party through gift-giving, conversations, and good karma actions. It is an interesting concept and if your seductions, which take time to develop, are successful you will be rewarded with an animated cut scene of the actuall nuptials (PG rated).

Some of the minuses of the game

I got the collectors edition with all the extras which include a special character, some special armor, and another realm with quests to explore. But the game doesn't come with a storage chest! Yikes, no place for your party to store all their stuff? Wow, all you can do is carry a limited number of things in your backpack and when it gets full you have to sell the stuff to vendors.

Well, seeing as this game is very quest oriented (There are hundreds of quests) you never know what stuff you are going to need to complete a quest. And, I love to accumulate all kinds of armor, weapons, gems and things. It is a fun part of the game for me. So this is definitely a minus for me. But they do offer a solution. You can buy and download the add-on quest that gives you a whole new area to explore and a party chest to store your goods. This downloadable costs seven dollars but is worth it for the chest and the extra game play. And it's a seamless download. You can get it through the game screen which means no worries about extracting files. You pay for it and click it and the game does the rest. In a few minutes the new game area shows up on your world map.

Crafting is a bit weak Crafting is a big part of many online games and other epic fantasy rpg's. In this game you can do some crafting like make potions and traps but this is definitely weak in the game. There are not a whole lot of options for this and materials tend to be scarce. I really like the crafting aspects of games and usually do a lot of it but there is not a whole lot of it in this game. Definitely a minus for me.

Political intrigue

I am not really sure if this is a negative but in the games I play and the epic fantasy books I read I tend to not be too interested in all the political intrigue. You know, this is where the various houses, lords, and barons are all struggling for power. In this game there is a lot of this and the decisions you make during game play have an effect. As you are trying to conquer the blight that is set upon the land you have to drum up support from the various houses and factions. The moral and ethical decisions you make do matter. And the quests you complete are a factor too.

Extra stuff

There is some real fun stuff about this game. The developers really took a good look at combat and there are lots of great sword and weapon moves that your character makes and there are some great mini animations. Sometimes when you fell a large creature like an ogre your character will actually jump right up on its face and issue the killing blow. The combat is pretty good!

Mechanics of the software

I have a fast computer with Windows Vista and everything has gone smoothly for me. The installation was smooth and game play is smooth, no crashes and no errors.

So, should you buy it?

This genre used to be the norm for video games but these kinds of games don't come out too often anymore. So if you like the genre then you definitely should get it. You won't be disappointed. It delivers what it promises.

This collectors version comes with a cloth map, lots of extra materials, a bonus character and more quests. But it doesn't come with the party chest for storing goods so if you want this you are going to have to spend another 7 dollars for the download -which is worth it.

And, because the game is so very complex I highly recommend you buy yourself a game guide. I bought this one: Dragon Age: Origins: Prima Official Game Guide (Prima Official Game Guides) It is absolutely necessary if you want to find all the secrets and make your way successfully through the complexity of the game.

It is what is expected from the genre; You are set in a medieval world and expected to save it from the forces of evil. Along the way you get lots of political intrigue, battles with monsters and lots of opportunities for adventure.

Want Dragon Age: Origins Collector's Edition Discount?

Deluxe edition stuff at the very end.

If you don't want to read my retarded ode to Bioware, please skip ahead to where it says, "Actual Review!".

Ah, Bioware. You're like an old girlfriend. The one who defined love for me (1). Then you hurt me (2). I still loved you, but I didn't understand; why did you have to do that?

You went your way and I went mine. Eventually I learned to forget. I met new people; sometimes I'd fall in love, but it was never quite the same (3).

We'd see each other every couple years, and we'd have a lot of fun for a night or two (4). But other times I thought to myself, "What are you doing with your life? We could be happy together! Why are you doing this? (5). After these ultimately disappointing hookups I'd always dig up our old photos and go through them (6). I'm not ashamed to say I cried a little.

You always told me you were searching for something. Learning who you were, and how to be.

Then, one day in early November, you called me. You said, "I know now; I know who I am. I know where I belong: with you." And then you came back home to me.

Then it all became so clear; you HAD been learning. It was the old you, but a new version! Everything past was prologue to this; the version of you I always knew was there. I just needed to have faith, and you'd see it too, and we could get back what we had, what we'd always known was us.

I love you Bioware. I realize now I've always loved you. Thank you for being in my life.

Answer Key!

1. Baldur's Gate I and II, the infinity engine that led to Icewind Dale, Fallout, and Planescape

2. Neverwinter Nights

3. The Elder Scrolls, Neverwinter Nights 2, FFX, FFXII

4. KOTOR, Mass Effect

5. Jade Empire, Sonic RPG

6. all those replays of BGII

ACTUAL REVIEW!

This is the best cRPG experience I've had in ten years. It becomes very clear within the first few minutes of your Origin story that you're experiencing gaming history. Not the revolutionary, innovative, awesome new mechanic kind of gaming history. This is analogous to a new album from your favorite artist that's been doing experimental side-projects for the last few years, and now comes out with a solid, deep, meaningful effort in a well-established form.

All the old ingredients are here: rich, meaningful character relationships; deep, tactically challenging combat; well written, thought-provoking dialogue trees. In short, everything you knew Bioware was capable of, but hasn't been fully present in any of their games since BGII.

Don't get me wrong; I've liked almost all of their games since then (Jade Empire and the Sonic RPG being the exceptions). It's just that none have fully satisfied me, or they've left me with the nagging feeling that something's just not quite right (re: KOTOR and Mass Effect feel slightly underdone).

This game is an instant classic, from a master of the genre. It's the kind of game that will be added to the roster of eminently replayable games (BGII, Fallout 1+2, Morrowind, Final Fantasy [pick your favorite], etc.). It's as good as or better than all of those.

Now, those of you that have NOT played Baldur's Gate, Fallout, Icewind Dale, NWN2, beware.

As evidenced by the very few negative reviews, the ad campaign for this game is not very representative of the content. This is a true western RPG, especially if you're getting it on the PC. Combat is challenging on every difficulty mode but easy.

IT IS BY NO MEANS a hack-and-slash or action RPG!!!

I still recommend it, but be prepared to open your mind to a new experience.

For those of you trying to decide on which version to get, here are some things:

If you played and loved Baldur's Gate, and got it because you bought into the "spiritual successor to Baldur's Gate" thing, get it for the PC, no question.

On the console, the camera is locked in behind the character in the style of Knights of the Old Republic or Mass Effect. This is fine for those who fell in love with Bioware since their console years began, but not if you want to play it for full tactical enjoyment.

Also, if you have a capable PC, the graphics are far superior to the consoles, which is often the case.

360 vs. PS3?

PS3 looks better, 360 moves smoother. 6 of 1.

Don't hesitate. Buy this game.

Learn it,

Live it,

Love it:

Bioware is Back.

P.S. For those of you getting the Deluxe Edition, the added content is completely worth it. You don't have to feel cheated; they did it right. Worth every last penny.

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