The Bull Pen #2

The Bull Pen #2

I recently purchased games #26 (Fable), #27 (Jade Empire), and #28 (Mechassault 2) to add to my ever growing XBOX collection. I would like to think that it is a very diverse collection of XBOX games anchored by a strong lineup of first person shooters, since it is my favorite game genre. However, upon further inspection, there are a surprisingly high number of action games as well as sports titles.

First Person Shooters: Halo, Halo 2, Medal of Honor: Frontline, Return to Castle Wolfenstein.

Sports: NHL 2K3, ESPN NHL 2K5, ESPN NFL2K5, College Hoops 2K6, Amped

Racing: Sega GT, Project Gotham Racing

Platform: Jet Set Radio Future, Voodoo Vince, Spongebob Squarepants: Battle for Bikini Bottom

RPG: Knights of the Old Republic, Knights of the Old Republic 2, Fable, Jade Empire

Action: Grand Theft Auto 3, GTA: Vice City, GTA: San Andreas, Prince of Persia :The Sands of Time, The Simpsons: Hit and Run, MechAssault, MechAssault 2, Crimson Skies. Star Wars Battlefront 2

Stealth: Splinter Cell

I would like to point out one game on this list in particular and that is Jet Set Radio Future. It is a game that I got with the first XBOX Bundle and kept me so enthralled that I did not even buy Halo until about a month and a half later. I can understand why the game did not sell well as it is rather unique in terms of platform games but the quality of the game is wonderful. There are some tunes in the game that will stick in your mind long after the game is over. The cel shading graphics look wonderful and the gameplay, while simplistic at times, offers some challenges that are fun to try. I will go out on a limb with this but I think the game would have done 10x better if it had been released with XBOX Live capabilities. The multiplayer modes would have been better to play against real humans and offer a different mix from your FPS, racing, or sports online types. Anyways, JSRF is a game that you should pick up; that is, if you can find it and can find it at a reasonable price.

In Halo 2 custom game action, I got a chance to run Checkered Flag the other night for the second time and things did not go so well the second time around; well, at least for me and my team. 8 to 12 players (even teams) is still the preferred setting but I wish there was some way to make the Warthogs re-spawn faster. Perhaps a way I can modify the game is to make it a round based game instead of 1 round with score to 5 to win. That would tend to eliminate the issue of flag hoarding. If anybody else has run this game, please feel free to offer your suggestions.

Next time: I hope to discuss my favorite custom game, Room of Doom, as well as discuss some of the perils of playing mixed clan arranged games.

RagingBull888 (Old Man Mafia)