Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2

Date Acquired: 11.10.09 (Hardened Edition)

Date Completed: 11.14.09

Thoughts: All year I was sure I wasn't going to get this game. I haven't even played the first Modern Warfare for goodness sakes! But the day it came out, the positive buzz was high and the reviews were glowing. My friend Matthew was getting it, and Special Ops mode really intrigued me. So Matthew and I went to Best Buy and we each got a copy. I got the last hardened edition, which I generously let Matthew buy, only to see 50 more of them at the front lanes when we checked out, so I got that version.

In the last few days the game's single player has come under fire. People have criticized it for everything from being to short, to being boring, hard to understand, etc. I can understand the too short complaint, and the plot was hard to understand. But while I was playing the game, I loved it. It had a lot of great moments, but even the regular moments were fantastic. The graphics, the attention to detail, the different routes you can take to get to the same place, thus allowing you to flank an enemy while your platoon hits them from another side.

To do: I started Special Ops mode the same day that I completed the single player. THat mode seems to have a lot of possibilities and I expect to have a lot of fun going through that, as well as going through the game on veteran difficulty.

Halo 3: ODST

Date Aquired: 9.22.09

Date Completed: 9.27.09

Thoughts: I bought this game for one reason and one reason only: Because my friends and I will play it together online. I loved the first Halo, but only thought the last 2 were good. Definately wouldn't have bought this on day one without the multi player incentive (I still don't own Halo 3)

The game was fun enough in multi player but ultimately not my bag. The campaign is by far the worst campaign of the Halos. Taking away all the familiar things (the map, dual weilding ,shields, jumping higher) and replacing these with.... uh nothing, was a terrible decision. Because they'd weakened the main character, they also had to make the mission less epic. It felt so generic, not like a Halo title at all. The online firefight mode, a take off of Gears of War 2's popular Horde mode proved to be fun for a while, but not the addiction that Horde mode was. Bungie's legendary customization is gone from this title. You have almost no choices to customize horde fire fights, despite the fact that several skulls can turn on depending on what wave you're on, you have no ability to decide which skulls come on, and when, or if at all. We should be able to create a customized firefight mode among our friends and dictate what enemies will appear, what vehicles, weapons, things like that. And there have been no updates for this that would address this issue via DLC. It just doesn't feel like Bungie put their usual amount of care into the game, and now we know that another Halo game is coming out a year later, and it's easy to see this game for the rushed, half-hearted attempt that it is.

To Do: Still need to go back and beat this on legendary

Uncharted 2: Among Thieves

Date Acquired: 10.13.09

Date Completed: 10.30.09

Thoughts: I initally thought it would be months before I bought this game. I hadn't even played the first game yet, and I was quite sure I wanted to do that before playing the second. I started the game on 10.11.09, 2 days before U2 came out! But it really sucked me in, and I was finished with it by Friday. That same day, I immediately put Uncharted 2 into my PS3 and started playing. I was dying to know what happened to the characters. I was actually dissapointed with the opening scene, as cool as it was, I wanted to get to the back story right away. (Also the climbing up the falling train car was a bit of a pain, and cheaply the game makes you do it again later) I knew Sully would be in the game, I figured Elena wouldn't be in the next game, having gone the Bond Girl route in favor of Chloe, the new model. But I expected at least some small throwaway comment to let me know what happened with her. So when we come face to face with her in chapter 5, it was a nice surprise.

This game is getting great reviews, and deservedly so, but I take umbridge with the notion that it's greatly superior to the original. I have the benefit of playing both games back to back, and while I loved both, I think I have to lean slightly towards the original as my favorite. Now maybe when I go back and play them both, I'll change my mind. 2 is supposed to be a deeper experience, and I may appreciate that more on the next walkthrough. Admittingly I really just wanted to get through it ASAP so I could find out what happens next. I was addicted to the plot!

To Do: Play through the game on harder difficulties. Play around a little more with the multi player.

Uncharted: Drake's Fortune

Date Aquired: 10.11.09 -The first day of the Toys R Us buy 2 get 1 free sale. I knew since the day I got my PS3 and played the demo that I needed this game, but I had other games on my plate (like Batman) I wanted to play first, so my goal was to have Batman finished before the sale, and I made it on the last day.

Date Finished: 10.23.09

Thoughts: There was not a doubt in my mind I was going to love this game, and it met my expectations. I began the game and reached level 5 on the first day I had it, but I chose to replay the first 5 levels because I wasn't getting trophies. I replayed it the next day, and the trophies worked. (I know it shouldn't have taken me 5 levels to notice that, but I'm new to Trophies. This is the first PS3 game I've finished. Loved the plot, the gameplay, the voice acting, there really wasn't anything I didn't like. I originally had this in my head as a Tomb Raider clone, but this game is much better than Tomb Raider. The combat is much better, the story, plot and voice acting are much better. It isn't loaded with obtuse puzzles where combat is an afterthought like Tomb Raider.

To Do: Play through the game again on a harder difficulty

Batman: Arkham Asylum

Date Aquired: 8.23.09 as a gift from Jennifer

Completion date: 10.10.09

Thoughts: I wasn't originally going to pick this up, but after the great worth of mouth, and the toys r us free $20 gift card, as well as the fact that I like Batman, I decided to try it. Loved the game, thought it was great. Good length, lots of different types of game play, Great job at creating a mood, loved the audio files I found, liked the voice acting. I can see the comparisons between this and Bio shock. While the Asylum doesn't have the same personality that Rapture has, the audio diaries and nuances mean more to the player because we're already familiar with the characters like the Riddler, Poison Ivy and the Joker. If I have a complaint it's probably the final battle. Firstly, the idea that Batman got injected with the Bane syrum was pretty cool, but what was dumb was that he was able to defeat the Bane syrum's affects on his body with his will power. He just willed himself not to change. It's chemistry, his will power would have no affect on it. Playing the end as a venom-Batman against a venom-Joker could have been pretty cool. Maybe have us about to kill the Joker and then have the fog lift and see that we're holding Commissioner Gordan or something and almost killed him as the Joker escapes, clearing the way for the inevitable sequal. As it was the final battle against the Joker was lame, and relied too much on the formula they'd already established to beat him. They should have been more creative for the final boss battle. But that's a relatively minor concern, the game was fantastic.

To do on this game: Play the challenge modes, Play the harder difficulties.