Pretenders vs Contenders

Ok, another November is here and that means the big guns are rolling out as far as game releases go. Some have been out a few months, some are just releasing, and a handful are yet to come. My takes on the big'uns of the 360 circuit to date:

Halo 3: Why not start with the biggest fish in the pond? Looks great, controls great...I mean, its Halo so of course it does. Unfortunately online co-op is the only thing in my view that kept the campaign interesting, as Bungie clearly phoned in the single player aspect of this game. Online is phenomenal of course, and Bungie once again raised the standards there. If you love online play you must own this game. Sadly I suck beyond description online with this game, so it got traded in a few weeks ago. I can't blame my lack of skittlez on Bungie though, for overall content and replayability I give it a 10/10.

Guitar Hero 3: They say good things come in 3s. Well, apparently "they" didn't have Neversoft programming the third entry in their series. The new wireless guitar is actually quite good. The rest of the game, notsomuch. From a VERY questionable setlist (ya know, the subtitle of this game is LEGENDS of Rock...) to a skewed jump in difficulty, this game falls apart for those of us not quite skilled enough to conquer past GH expert mode or even hard mode. Comparing it to GH2 I found it to fail miserably, even in local multiplayer. I have to give this one a very disappointing 5/10.

Call of Duty 4: With Infinity Ward back in the drivers seat of the CoD franchise, you expected that good things would happen. They did. Albeit short, the single player campaign is nothing short of astounding. Looks great, plays great, sounds great. Diverse and as challenging as you want it to be, I dare you not to play through this game with a silly grin on your face as you spill countless pints of enemy blood in a contemporary setting. There are some signifigant problems online however, with many people not being able to join friends game sessions. I'm one of the people affected by this. No one wants to accept responsibility for this either, MS blames IW and vice versa. Random games run just fine, but this is 2o2p...who wants to join random games? Because there's no online co-op in single player and because of the connectivity problems online, this title gets 8/10.

Kane and Lynch: I considered this title to be somewhat of a wildcard before it released: it looked enticing but could have easily fallen flat as well. The end result seems to be somewhere in the middle. Interesting concept and decent voice acting with lots of bullets. Sounds good. Of course you need all those bullets because it takes 3 headshots to take down most cops in the game. Its definitely a mixed bag to date. I haven't finished it nor have I tried it online so I can't really score it, all I can say is I recommend at least a rental here.

Assassin's Creed: This one had a solid buzz when it was announced, however as more info was revealed it seemed (to me anyway) that less was expected of this title from Ubi. The big "surprise" in the game is revealed almost immediately, which was a very curious decision to say the least. I have found the controls to be a bit wonky, the enemy AI to be in the "spotty to poor" range, mission objectives to be somewhat obscure, and overall the game locales to be very uninteresting. To put it simply, I have no desire to finish it. Like with K&L I haven't played it all the way through so I cannot score it, but I would recommend passing on it altogether.

And now a quick look at some of the biggies coming out in the next month:

Mass Effect: Just typing the title of this game made me soil myself. I've gone out of my way to avoid most media hands-on impressions and video releases. I've been told the gameplay itself is somewhere in the 40 hour range and more than 1 playthrough is warranted to get the full experience. In my world thats good stuff. And oh yeah, did I mention its made by Bioware? I am fully expecting this game to make me hug my 360. Available in just a few days that will undoubtedly feel like years as they pass.

Rock Band: The reviews are already out for this entry from Harmonix, apparently the only devs that can actually pull off a game like this, and they are good. Whats troubling to me is the fact that this game seems designed to be experienced as multiplayer in every mode, and that just doesn't work for me. (and yes I know the word BAND is in the title...just saying is all) Combine it with EA being involved, a curiously small setlist, and a whole stream of DLC already announced and ready to be purchased in addition to the $170 that the bundle costs...and I have to pass. What that boils down to for me is songs being left out of the game just to be sold for more profit later on, and I call bullshit on that practice. However I know I'm in the minority on this one, so y'all have fun with it. Just don't say I didn't warn you. :)

I think thats the big ones, I might have missed something that you consider big. Sorry. Anyway, just thought I'd throw my 2 cents out there about some of these releases. Looks like some solid titles to keep us busy the rest of the year, and this isn't including all the "B List" titles that are releasing or have released the last few months of 07.