Gaming notes

A few gaming notes from the last week:

- I finished Condemned: Criminal Origins. It was a fun game. It got a little repetitive towards the end, since the basic formula didn't change, but the fantastic atmosphere kept it entertaining. I wasn't very fond of the last level or so. Things got a little weird and they remove the two tools you relied on the most throughout the game, your flashlight and your taser. Seemed like a cheap way to make those levels harder/scarier. But overall, I enjoyed it.

- Powerpuff and I managed to do a bit of gaming this weekend together over Live. First up, Madden 2007.

We played a couple matches a little while back and we had experienced a bit of lag, but it was somewhat playable. This past Saturday when we tried a rematch, the game was so laggy we had to quit after 1 quarter. And I don't even know how we managed to play an entire quarter. Seriously, it was that bad. The game was running is slow motion.

Why EA cannot get a football game to work over Live with a west coast vs. east coast user is beyond me. There are not that many variables at play here. It is two people and voice chat. I can play Halo 2 with fifteen other players from all over the world, with rockets launchers, wrecking absolute havoc, and that game will run smoother on an old Xbox than Madden 2007 runs on a 360. That boggles my mind.

And this is ALL EA's fault, because every other game I have played online has been fine. CoD2 was spotty for a second there, but the patch fixed it. This has been going on with EA for years now. This needs to be resolved. This is the "next-generation". EA is the largest game publisher in the world and Madden is their premier title. This should be a non-issue.

- With Madden unplayable, we moved on to GRAW. We hadn't played it in a while and Powerpuff still had some of the co-op achievements to unlock. We managed to get him one, and that was about it. Man, Wharf is a bitch to complete with just two people. It is actually pretty hard no matter how many players you have, but with only two (and with no respawns, since that is the only way to unlock the achievement), it is hella hard. We must have played it 10 times, trying different tactics each time. We got close sometimes, but no dice.

Don't worry Powerpuff, you'll get those achievements if it is the last thing we do! I'll get the clan together and we'll try again soon.

- After dying in Warf for the 10th straight time, it was time for a change. But what to play? Eureka! Project Gotham Racing 3!

I bought PGR3 about 2 weeks ago through Circuit City, which had it on sale for $19.99. I know Powerpuff has had it since launch, but he hadn't really delved into it. I myself had played it sporadically since I purchased it, but I was too busy with Condemned to really give it a go.

Wow.

I gotta say, both Powerpuff and I were extremely impressed with the polish this game shows. Graphically, it is a knock-out! Silky smooth frame-rate, amazingly detailed tracks, gorgeous car models, and the best damn in-car view ever created for a game.

But best of all, the online portion of the game is both fun and runs flawlessly. And this was a launch game.

Take that EA!

We played various matches against CPU controlled opponents. It was a blast. I have a new found affliction with PGR3 (as was evident by both Powerpuff and I continuing our solo careers in the game for the rest of the weekend.

For any 360 owner who has not tried it and have even a slight interest in racing games, I give it my full endorsement.

It is also one of the games that makes the best use of Live that I have seen. Not only can you play a solo career, but you can play an on-line career as well. You can take photos and upload them. You can watch Gotham TV, which shows the best players in the world competing (great for learning some helpful tactics), you can access countless leader boards and view clips of how each player achieved that position, you can go to the Friends channel and watch people from your friends list racing, the list goes on and on. Very, very impressive stuff.

I only wish I would have discovered this game at the peak of its popularity, as most players have moved on to something else and the online portions of the game are not as active as they once were. Oh well, there is always Forza 2.