So GameFly sent me the new UBISoft game Call of Juarez. A game loosely based on the American Wild West. The game has you play as two different characters who share past experiences together and forge new memories through out the game. In my opinion this game dynamic has never been one that I truly enjoy. The first character you play is Reverend Ray McCall, then you play a few missions as Billy Candle and back and forth.

The game play is pretty basic. It is the shooter on rails that we have all come to love. In standard UBISoft style it has really good graphics. I would compare the graphics to Rainbow Six: Vegas on the Xbox 360. But that is about where that comparison ends. The game play is a little more cryptic and what you exactly need to do next to move to the next level can be a little difficult to figure out at times. The one thing I have never done in a video game before was pick up a bible deliver a sermon of fire and brimstone from a church pulpit. So you have to give them credit for some new game play action there, although it was not something I was terribly thrilled with doing.

As with all western games, you get some game mechanic which gives you the ability to pull of super shooting. Here in Call of Juarez you go into a concentration mode. When you do this two cross hairs scan across the screen and turn red when the move over an enemy on screen giving you the chance to plug two or three rounds of hot lead into them, hopefully sending them off to a good long dirt nap. This adds a level of complication due to the fact that you have to watch both cross hairs at the same time and they generally speed up and slow down and travel at different speeds. This makes it a little harder then the slowing down time feature that was used in GUN. But I do like the GUN style game play better.

Another interesting feature of Call of Juarez is the building block play you get to do with crates and boxes. In different areas of the game you get to stack crates in order to form stepping blocks to allow you to areas of the map. Here the developers took the game mechanic exactly from Half Life. If you have moved stuff around in Half Life it looks the same in Call of Juarez.

For all you Achievement Junkies out there, I really like the way the Achievements were setup. Most of the Achievements are given out to you if you perform some task in each level. And to do this you may have to play the level one or two extra times to get it done, but all in all I really liked the setup. The multiplayer Achievements are your basic kill so many players using some sort of method such as killing with explosives, head shots, or by some other means.

The multi player functions in the game are very well done and allot of fun. The maps seemed to be laid out quite well. The weapons and different character classes seemed to be well balanced. Running around the Old West setting with the old weaponry was a pleasant change from the Sci-Fi, World War II, and Modern day weapons that most shooters offer today. Without being able to discharge twenty to thirty rounds inside of a second really makes the user cautious, and with the rifle you really want to make that first shot count. The one problem I had with multi player is there just were not allot of people playing. I could not find anyone playing Skirmish, or Robbery and there were only four games going of team death match.

All and all this is a good multiplayer game, with a single player campaign that definitely above the average. Gamers who like the Wild West genre and maybe enjoyed Red Dead Revolver, or GUN this game is a definite rental. I plan to purchase this game but will probably wait until I can pick it up new for $40.00 or used $25.00.

Next Generation posted an interesting article today. For the first time since November 2006 more people are searching for the Xbox 360. Since the release of the Nintendo Wii in November 2006 the Wii has been what the masses seek. But this month our favorite Next Generation console has finally been the hot item on the series of tubes.

But this raises the question are people looking for information and reviews with the idea of purchasing an Xbox 360 or games for it? Or are they looking for ideas and tips on how to deal with the Red Ring of Death that seems to also be getting allot of press these days. “So what is driving the increase in searches for Xbox 360? It appears to be a combination of hype for new games, rumors of a price drop and no doubt some queries about the recent problems,” Tancer concludes. If you are interested in some more details read the full article here.

Source: Next Generation

Sounds like Rare is finally back developing for a Nintendo platform. Kotaku is reporting that Viva Piñata is set to appear on the Nintendo DS platform. This crazy game about creating a garden of Piñatas sounds like a perfect match for the Nintendo DS and its many of the wacky other titles. Viva Piñata was a successful title on the Xbox 360 platform.

This then begs the question, why is a Microsoft owned studio developing games for a Nintendo platform? Since Microsoft currently lacks a hand held gaming platform, lending a little support to the Nintendo DS is the perfect move to help kick Sony when they are down. I know allot of gamers would be very happy to see both Microsoft and Nintendo adopt the old theory of “…the enemy of my enemy is my friend.” Now if Microsoft and Nintendo could just get together and work out some sort of deal to produce Goldeneye on Xbox LIVE Arcade and the Virtual Console.

Source: Kotaku

Today only Amazon.com are selling Hour Of Victory for the Xbox 360 for $39.99, reduced from $59.99 with free shipping.

No, no, no, no, no, no. Forget this deal, instead run down to Circuit City. They have a Killer deal on MS points, $40 of points for just $20, Woot! Via CAG

Are you claustrophobic?  Care to see some more of the world from the windshield of your favorite tiny vehicle?  Well wait no more, a new expansion pack Mad Tracks Bravo is now available on XBox LIVE.  This little purchase is packed with a huge amount of content.  Eight new mini games that you can use to drive and slide around in Antarctica, a German Dance Hall, and play Hide & Seek in a French Museum.  These new game types and maps are going to only set up back about 350 points.

Also there are new XBox LIVE themes available for 150 points.

Wind up and take off!

Via Press Release

Today only Amazon.com are selling Spider-Man 3 for the Xbox 360 for $41.99, reduced from $59.99 with free shipping.

Spiderman 3 isn’t a great game, but it’s at least better than the Superman game that came out last year, and if you are a Spiderman fan you’ll still likely get some enjoyment out of this title.

by
Charlie George

Do you get confused with the words RBI, ERA, or IP? Well fear not baseball onlookers, The BIGS is here to help. This is 2K Sports first foray into adrenaline/arcade baseball that, believe it or not, does not take away the excitement and realism you would expect from a baseball game.

I decided to take a look at a couple of the game modes and chalked up the good and the bad.

The 360 version is by all accounts for the “Armchair Athlete”. Here is how I rated it and why. On the 360 I started things off in Rookie Mode(Probably one of the most addicting aspects of the game). Essentially “Rookie Mode” sets you up as an up and coming Minor League player who has been called up to the team of your choice. You do some training, and assign skill stars as you progress. During this mode you will be put in 3-5 inning games where conditions, such as stealing a base and winning the game is mandatory. If you fail, its back up to the plate for you. Throughout the Rookies season you play other teams where you get opportunities to “Steal” players from them and such, The end result is you go in the Worlds Series(Naturally I chose the Cubs, yeah, the Cubs in the Worlds Series, definitely fiction). This was by far my favorite mode in the game.

Other modes are Exhibition, Home Run Derby, and Home Run Pinball, which puts you in Times Square where it’s pretty much a Home Run Derby. The more you smash up with the balls the higher the score.

Now with all the good there was some bad. The pitching, batting, throwing, and in-field mechanics are great. However the outfield is very glitchy in the area of player response. The ball would be hit right to them and they wouldn’t do much. I though maybe it was just my copy or I was playing badly, I played a few games on XBox Live and asked if they were experiencing the same thing so I was not the only one.

Now speaking of XBox Live, it’s great to see the rosters updated, and the game play for the most part is REALLY smooth, so props for that.

So when it comes down to it in the end, this game really does a great job of bringing that baseball experience to you. So my rating is a solid 8. It would have been a 9 if it wasn’t for the outfield issues. But all in all, its a great title and hope next years edition comes out next spring!

Today only Amazon.com are selling Xbox 360 Play & Charge Kit - Black for the Xbox 360 for $11.99, reduced from $19.99 with free shipping if you add another $13.01 to your order.

Did you get that black 360 controller last week? Finding your batteries always run dry just before you can deliver the Coup de grâce? Amazon’s got you covered with the 360 play ‘n’ charger.

Last week saw the addition of a new member to our family and again today yet another new member joins the Around the Controller Network.  While not quite as nice to look at as our last edition, and definitely has more facial hair, Ryan Williams is joining our family of bloggers (and hopefully in the future podcasters).  Ryan is the guy that is finally going to give Mark a run for his money on who has the highest GamerScore.  I tried to my hardest (with the help of Ryan) catch up to Mark, but realized that is a hopeless battle.  In the time I can amass 500 GamerScore points Mark will get 2000 more.  But hey at least I am not in last place like Charlie!  Ryan also plays his Nintendo DS, Sony PSP, Sony PS2, and tells me that he is eyeing that big shiny box called the PS3.  Ryan and I have played through Gears of War on Hardcore and Insane mode together.  I know first hand that Ryan is a Tiger Wood’s golf fan as he has handed me a good beating in that game more then once.  Currently we are working through Rainbow Six: Vegas together.  I am looking forward to reading Ryan’s thoughts about all that is going on in the world of gaming, and to quote Jennifer last week “Welcome to Geekdom!”

The Around the Controller Network family has another new member, Jennifer Baker. Jennifer otherwise known as techkitten on twitter is going to give her thoughts and views on the gaming. I am very excited to balance out all this Testosterone with a little Estrogen, and hear what the lady gamers of the world think about what is happening in the world of gaming. Jennifer some how got her hands on the almost impossible to find Nintendo Wii so she will be letting us know what she thinks about the Wii, Wii Games, Virtual Console, and all that is Nintendo. She also has an XBox version one and a Playstation 2 so I would bet she will chime in on some of those discussions also. There is also talk about an XBox 360 in her future…..so some day we can all play on LIVE together. And maybe if we are all really nice she will agree to join our Podcasts when we get them going.

Welcome Jennifer

Today only Amazon.com are selling Xbox 360 Wireless Controller Black for the Xbox 360 for $32.99, reduced from $49.99 with free shipping.

A great deal on the new black controllers, and $5 cheaper than the white style. You know what they say, once you go wireless..

Today only Amazon.com are selling The Darkness for the Xbox 360 for $34.99, reduced from $49.95 with free shipping.

Wow, with this game getting great reviews and being released so recently this is a really great deal!