Review shenanigans

It has been a busy few weeks. First of all I had the joy of fifteen previews to write and then there was the small matter of the review backlog to contend with. Seeing as myself and Webb were out at Gamescom a few games had kind of fallen by the wayside, so it was on us to try and catch up.



First onto the chopping block was Madden 11, which is pretty much the same old thing that we have seen year in and year out. I do actually enjoy NFL games even though I've never really followed the sport itself, hell I've been playing Madden games since way back in the Nineties on my trusty SNES. In fact, now that I think about it, my tactics have really changed very little since then. I almost always use shotgun plays and rarely rush the ball - I'd probably be amazingly predictable if I played online often enough.

I actually did enjoy this version, but I wondered (as I always do) just how long EA can continue to release the same game with one or two tweaks? The question has always bobbled around, but in this shiny, new age of digital downloads it becomes more pertinent than ever. After all, EA could easily make new modes and roster updates available as DLC. I doubt they will mind you - but there is nothing really stopping them if they wanted to. Other than the crushing loss of revenue these yearly sports updates bring, of course.

Anyway, my review should be up on X360A in due course so I'll pop up a link when that happens.



Next up was Kane and Lynch 2: Dog Days.

Hmmm.........

Thinking of something positive to say is tricky for this one. Oh - the game is only about three hours long, less if you play co-op probably. So that's a bonus. To be honest it was one of the worst games I've played in a while - and when you consider the crap I play, that's a pretty big statement. I think it was more disappointing because of the developers involved and the fact it is a fairly big budget title. I expect smaller games to be worse on some level, because they don't have the chops to keep up with the big boys, but when a high profile title is a letdown it is more noticeable. K&L2 was far too short, the story was non-existant and the characters are just annoying at best.

On the flipside you have the wonderfully innovative multiplayer (probably should have filed it under 'good things to say' a bit earlier). As trying to pull off a heist with teammates that could turn on you at any second leads to pure fun times. However, even massive online games like COD have a decent single player campaign attached to them - which this game most clearly does not.

I would say better luck next time, but I really hope there isn't one, more Hitman instead, if you would be so kind.

I seem to have taken this review away from achievements and more towards random chat, and my writing shenanigans of course, so it may well stay that way. I do enjoy talking about all things games, so I'll try and keep things entertaining. I've just started on my review of HAWX 2 so you can expect some banter about that - and I'll probably wax lyrical about achievements too.

All in good fun.