Gears of War 3: San Francisco Jam!

There aren't too many releases that get the blood flowing quite like a new Gears game. The latest one, which came out this week, is the third and supposedly final game in the Gears series...I doubt that. The game sells way too well for them to just stop making them. Something tells me we'll see a Ge4rs of War before too long.

If you've ever played Gears of War or the sequel then you basically already know what to expect from the single player campaign. Visceral cover based combat against relentless enemies, huge boss fights set in a post apocalyptic world, guns and bullets and blood and guts and boomers. Aside from new locales, new enemies, and new weapons, there is little changed about Gears of War 3. It plays basically exactly the same as the first two games and that's alright with me. If it ain't broke...don't fix it.

The story is excellent and has quite a few BIG moments to it. I'm not going to talk about it because I don't like taking the chance of spoiling anything for anyone, but they big moments are quite BIG. All I'll say is at the end it does wrap up in a way that makes it look like the trilogy is over, but I just won't believe it until I see it. The franchise is far too valuable to just stop making games with the Gears name. The game is pretty short, about the same length as previous games which means it can easily be beat on normal difficulty within the first or second day. However, there is a ton of online content, and I'll be talking about that some more...next Game Beard. I haven't played enough of it to talk about it here.

Next is my surprise game of the year. Crawling from the depths of franchise hell comes a shocker of a good game...Driver: San Francisco. I, like many others, assumed the Driver franchise was done. After some mediocre to bad games, I figured they were done with it. When I heard about this game, I was surprised, but my expectations were extremely low based on the previous entries. However, I am very happy to say, Driver: San Francisco shattered my expectations and pulled this dead and bloated franchise out of the murky water and back into the hearts of gamers everywhere...or at least back into my heart.

The game is good...very good. They took the formula, distilled out all the extra crap, and just left the meat of what makes a good driving game...driving. There is nothing on foot, the only time you aren't in a car is when you're floating above the city deciding which driver to possess next...wait, what? Driver handles the out of car stuff very simply. You're character is in a coma, so he can enter a ghost mode at any time and switch cars. This extends beyond just picking a car for a challenge. If the challenge is to take down a runaway thief, you can possess the cars ahead of them and drive them directly into their path to take them down with vicious ferocity. The story is out there a bit, but honestly, I didn't care. I was having too much fun possessing drivers and racing cars.

The story is a bit bleh, but I barely noticed. Honestly, there really could have been no story and just a series of challenges and I still would have loved the game. The driving is a nice arcade style that requires skill, but also can be handled by gaming novices. Some of the late challenges get downright brutal and only the most seasoned player will get through them. There are a ton of different licensed vehicles, from super cars to pickup trucks to DeLoreans, the latter of which has a special bonus if you go over 88mph.

Finally I'm going to talk about a game that's been out for awhile but I only just recently played. The new and improved NBA JAM! I waited a long time to get it because frankly, I didn't feel it was worth full retail price. I finally found a price I could swallow and purchased it. I was definitely right in waiting, it's a really good game, but there is very little meat to it.

It's the exact same formula as the original NBA Jam, 2 on 2 basketball with 3 players per team being available. You push and shove opponents while dunking from the free throw line with great ferocity. Hit 3 shots in a row without your opponent scoring and you go ON FIRE! This doesn't seem to have the same impact it used to. I remember in the old SNES game when you were ON FIRE! pretty much every shot went in. In the new version the difference seems to be negligible other then your dunks getting bigger and better. I can't say a whole lot more about it...it's NBA Jam. It's basically the exact game they made in the past with some shinier graphics. This isn't a bad thing, per se, but I was hoping for a little more. Worth the $15 I paid for it, but not much more.

Another brilliant installment of The Game Beard will be coming your way soon. Next time I'll be talking about Resident Evil 4HD, maybe some about upcoming games I'm interested in like Batman, Skyrim, and Uncharted 3. Also, look for a new top ten list coming your way hopefully sooner rather then later.

Captain America and the NFL. I've Got Patriotism Running Through My Veins

Been too long since I last got my blog on. Been playing a fair amount of games lately and I'm going to do a few updates over the course of the next week or so to catch up. This update will be dedicated to two things every blue blooded American patriot should love. Captain America and NFL Football.

So I'll start with Madden 2012. Before I talk about it, let me just say that Madden and I have a history. I've been buying and playing Madden football since 1994, the first year it was on the SNES. I still remember the infamous error where the New York Giants and New York Jets had their entire rosters switched. I was there for the switch from pixels to polygons, when the hit stick was added, hot routes, blah blah blah. All of the changes. I've watched the game take big steps forward and then take big steps backward. I've bought the new version and been immediately disappointed by the lack of change some years.

Now that all of that is out of the way and I've been confirmed as a "Madden expert" let's talk about 2012(not the mediocre John Cusack film).

The game looks good. Not a huge graphical overhaul from 2011 but it's noticeable. There hasn't really been a leap forward in terms of graphics for some time. It's alright though, the game looks good as is and doesn't really need to be tweaked right now.

There are substantial gameplay changes. For the first time the blocking and tackling in this year's Madden is not magnetic. Meaning that in the old versions when a tackler or blocker got close, the players would be magnetically drawn in to the tackle or blocking animations. It makes for a much more realistic game. Running the ball is fantastic with the new blocking. You can watch which direction players will be forced and wait for holes to open up in the line. It's the most realistic running game Madden has ever offered.

The passing game hasn't changed much, but the passing defense has. You really need to read the defense and know football on the harder difficulties or you will throw a lot of interceptions. The middle linebacker is freaking Superman though. He will knock down a ton of passes over the middle and make impossible reads. It's not very realistic in that regard. It's awesome though to make the correct read and fire an accurate pass into the hands of your receiver as he cuts in front of the defender for a split second. It's realistic and tough and fulfilling.

The biggest leap this season are the changes to franchise mode. You can finally trade future draft picks (though only one year ahead), free agent signing have become more like a race. As soon as a player is offered a deal, a clock starts ticking. When it runs to zero whichever team has put up the best offer gets the player. It isn't necessarily realistic, but it works well for a video game and it is an improvement over the old system. Scouting rookies has been improved as well. You can scout a number of players ahead of time and get an idea of how good they are before the draft. Again, not perfect, but better. Rosters are handled better, allowing 75 players when preseason starts. Cut downs are made weekly until brought back to the regular season roster size. It allows you to keep rookies and free agents that you are unsure of. You'll be given a question marked rating (which is often way off) with the actual rating being shown after you decide whether to keep them or not. Once yet again, not perfect, but better.

And that's the theme of Madden 2012...not perfect, but better. A step in the right direction with some solid bulding blocks for the future.

Now to discuss everyone's favorite super soldier, Captain America. I rented the game based on very little but it looked good enough, and I'm a pretty big fan of the Captain. My first impression of the game was "Batman: Arkham Asylum Lite" The gameplay borrows heavily from Arkham Asylum but is never quite as good. You fight with basic combos, when an enemy attacks, he glows and you can press a button to dodge or counter then continue your combat. It's never as flowing as Arkham Asylum but it still works pretty well. Hell, Captain America even has a sort of "Detective Mode" where you can make ledges and pipes glow, showing you possible pathways you can take.

I haven't seen the movie so I don't know if it follows the plot line but the plot in the game is pretty basic. Captain America thwarting some nazi plans with his fists and vibranium shield. There is some stuff about a giant robot and whatever, I didn't really pay attention. It wasn't honestly that interesting.

The biggest issue I had with the game is the mass of collectibles. Virginal statuettes, cowl and gloves, Prussian helmets, blah blah blah. So many things to collect. CERAMIC EGGS. 50 ceramic eggs, hidden throughout the battlefield for Captain America to find and store...in his magic pouch I guess. I think more impressive then Captain America single handedly fighting and defeating an army of nazis is his ability to carry 50 ceramic eggs unbroken while doing it. The military should be proud. None of the collectibles are particularly hard to find and they all show up on the map, but it takes you out of the game and you have to walk to every nook and cranny while nazis are advancing their plans around you.

For a movie licensed game, Captain America is a solid effort. Better than most of them, that's for sure. The graphics aren't going to impress anyone, and the frame rate often drops making the action choppy at time, but the overall package is worth the time. It's not a long game, I had it done with 1000 gamerscore in less then 10 hours, but it's long enough. Any longer and it would have been too long though. It's not a good enough game to compel you to play it for any longer then you have to.

That's it for this edition. Hopefully another will be along soon. I've still got Driver: San Francisco, Deus Ex, NBA Jam, Lego: Pirates of the Caribbean, Brink, The Maw, Test Drive Unlimited 2, The Saboteur, and other games to talk about. Not to mention Gears of War 3 and Resident Evil 4 HD coming on Tuesday. I'll be bearding a lot about these games so look forward to a lot of updates in the future.