Review: Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 2
Ubisoft introduces GRAW on PS3 as Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 2, the sequel of GRAW that was game for Xbox 360. The GRAW games are less about story and more about shooting with next-generation weaponry. GRAW 2 puts you in the character of Captain Scott Mitchell of the 5th Special forces Group in which you go on both solo and team missions to accomplish the set of objectives which includes rescuing Mexican journalist, neutralizing enemy camps and more. Like in its prior version, this game is also a mix of on-foot and in-vehicle action mission sequence. Here you are provided with squad system which lets you command a squad, so it’s not only you to care for. The enhanced communication system makes it easy for you to control your teammates and vehicles.
This game introduces a new battlefield drone called the mule, which is used as mobile cover, remote-controlled scout, battle field resupply and healing. the mule is in direct control of you from the camera view. The game uses Sixaxis control to some extent. You can go through the level stealthily by using suppressed weapons and sneaking and if not then go through with the guns blazing. The battle in this game is awesome, where you can find vehicles exploding, helicopters buzzing, and guns firing all over the place. The campaign is very short but GRAW 2 gives you great multi-player which provide wide range of competitive games, from objective based to team death-match. The six mission co-op campaign is also great as you get along with up to 15 other players through a separate storyline.
The visuals in GRAW2 are also more stunning like atmospheric lighting and effects. The incredible setting sun over the desert, or gaze at gigantic pillars of smoke rising from the fires of a war. The game sounds are also excellent. Ghost recon Advanced Warfighter 2 makes a compelling case for a game that you have to play.
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Review: Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Vegas
After the success of Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Vegas on Xbox 360, Ubisoft brings this game to PS3. The PS3 Version is just as good as Xbox 360 version. In Rainbow Six Vegas you control the character of Logan Keller, the leader of three men assault team. You have to stop the terrorists who strike the casino and hotels of Las Vegas. Due to excellent combat in this game some missing feature can be overlooked. The game transitions from first-person to third-person perspective when you get behind the cover.
In Rainbow Six Vegas you are accompanied by two teammates. The AI controlled mates are great as they can do everything as good as you can. Giving order to your teammates is easy, you just have to place the marker and press X button and they move to that position. This game support the Sixaxis motion control, which can increase the complexity of the simple task. This game is challenging on its default mode. There is no health meter, so when you take damage you don’t have to worry about health pack, all you need to do is to find cover and avoid taking shots. If you set your difficulty to realistic, the damage you can bear before you die is very less which will result in you dying a lot, but when you do, you will know what mistake you did and you get to learn from your mistakes and next time you play smartly. The single-player campaign can be played cooperatively on PS network, both in story mode and in terrorist hunt. You can also play with up to 4 players, which is great since the single-player campaign features only three agents at a time. This game also features an incredible multi-player mode. You can customize your character over time by unlocking new weapons, and accessories. The action in both the mode is intense.
Rainbow Six Vages has excellent graphics. The amount of detail of every object is impressive, as you can see all the high-tech gear these commandos carry. The sound of game is as good as expected. Rainbow Six Vegas is an excellent game for those who enjoy tactical shooting or intense multi-player action. In-spite of all this, rainbow Six Vegas lacks a satisfying ending.
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Review: Call of Duty 3
Call of Duty 3 brings World War II alive which has ended in 1945 on new battleground of PS3. Call of Duty 3 starts in 1944 when you successfully landed on the out skirts of France. You were placed in the character of a soldiers of America, Britain, Canada and Poland. Every campaign for each country has a different storyline which gives you sense of how much effort it took to capture France which was under the rule of Germans. The intensity and playability of this game remains unimpaired, despite of missing features in comparison with Xbox 360 version.
The game starts with training mission where you learn to fire weapons, throw grenades and hot to move around. Here you are provided with two aim of the rifle one which is not much accurate and other which brings the gun to your eye level and you use the weapon’s sight which more accurate. You can also perform melee attack by pressing right analog stick. This game let you scoop up the grenade thrown by the enemy and toss them back. When you complete your training, you ride into the battle field. You will fight alongside the AI-controlled soldiers. You will face around 14 missions which are not quite intense but not so dull also. This game is not as fast and not to slow, rather you have to place your every move rapidly and carefully.
Call of Duty 3’s online gather 24 people to play. There are 9 different multi-player maps and 6 different modes for play which includes team battles, flag capturing and much more. Online mode gives you 7 different kits to choose from, if you don’t want to be a regular soldier. You can find jeeps, tanks and motorcycle throughout the level. Call of duty 3’s graphics are great. The outdoor environment are impressive, plenty of lushes, thick grass and trees to take cover and they all look great. The game’s effect and sound are outstanding. Explosions from grenades, rockets and bombs are so realistic and impressive. Game sounds phenomenal if you have hooked it up with a surround sound setup.
Call of duty is a great game and intense experience. The graphics and sound are excellent. Some couple of features missing makes PS3 version inferior to Xbox 360 version. But if you are much into this series then Call of Duty is a must play.
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Review: Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell Double Agent
Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell is a series of excellent stealth action game. National Security Agency’s secret agent, Sam Fisher travel around the world to different destinations. Splinter Cell: Double Agent, Splinter Cell arrives for the first time on the PS3. When it comes to high-tech spying and tense game-play, Splinter Cell is definitely recommended. This game gets its name as Sam Fisher has to work for two master, the NSA and militant group called John Brown’s army. You won’t find any difference in the basic moves and strategies in any of the games prior to double agent. As Ubisoft changes things a bit which now include a trust meter which indicates the trust of both the group on you. So you have to make the decision very carefully because you have to make both the group happy, but some times it not possible to do this and sometimes you have opportunity to make both the group happy.
In this game you can play as you like, you can get through a level without getting detected or raising alarm or you can sneak around the darkness and strike with silenced pistol or rifle, snap neck or use the knife or you can use your own creative ways to whack out enemies. It won’t take much time to complete single-player game, but the impressive multi-player game-play in which the team of three spies have to hack into computer terminals to steal secrets and to accomplish this they have no weapons but armed with high-tech gears. While the other team, the mercenaries heavily armed have to do everything to prevent spies to get the secrets. The nature of the map and differentiation of the spies from Sam Fisher makes the Double Agent multi-player better than the prior versions of Splinter Cell.
In the multi-player game, spies is play from a third-person perspective, while the mercenaries play from the traditional first-person perspective. When you play as a spy, you have stealth as your major advantage over the mercenaries. Though, you don’t have any weapons then also you can sneak up behind and choke them to death. On the other hand if you play as mercenaries, you are armed and you are faster than spies. Double Agent Multi-player is typical cat and mouse game.
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Review: Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Vegas 2
The Rainbow Six Vegas was great , then Rainbow Six Vegas 2 is awesome. In campaign mode, your character is referred to as Bishop and you hunt down terrorist and save hostages. This is all about hunting down terrorist and preventing terrorist to get Vegas. Like its predecessors, you play each stage with you two AI team-mates. There are great scenes in the campaign, great firefights and much more. The best way to cross any open space in any shooting game is to sprint through that place. The addition of sprint button accomplish that task as it increases the pace of the entire game. You can sprint forward as well as sideways and it is very to control. The campaign mode is not that long but is way to get you ready for online play.
Talking of online play, this the only place which can be used to level up your character and get new gears. But in this game, you can now gain experience, gears by playing through the campaign. The good thing of playing campaign is that you get weapons and clothing customization unlocked before playing the multi-player mode. In-spite of this addition the options for online play has been slimmed down. In its previous version, the campaign can be tackled by four player which is cut down to two. The other addition to online play modes which are team leader, total conquest and demolition. The graphics are good when you see blood spurts from bullet wounds, splattering walls nearby. There will be many times when you get killed by an enemy because you were busy admiring walls. The sound effects are excellent.
Though there are differences between PS3 and Xbox360, but graphics are comparable and the game-play is identical, so PS3 version is more to recommend. This is the best tactical shooter action game and that makes it better than any other game present to this date.
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Review: Assassin’s Creed
Ubisoft features one of the most unique game-world created. It is a fun and exciting action game with loads of stuff to do and places to explore. You will explore 3 major cities Jerusalem, Damascus and Acre. Each city is featured with towers, market squares and corners where people stand and converse. Altair has deep effect on the world, the cities are entities of their own and their own flow and personality. The cities are huge and at early chapters where they open to let you travel from one side to another side of the city. Every object is textured so fine and animation are equally well done also. On high-end PC, these elements look more stunning then they look on Xbox360 or PS3.
The sound of the game is more impressive than graphics. The game does a good job, making sure you hear what you need to hear. Conversation are delivered with great perfection and lovely musical themes that add even more. The game is mix of stealth, action and platforming. To complete your mission you have to follow all possible leads which may involve pick-pocket, beat information out of target or listen to secret conversation. You can pounce your enemies by your blade or kill them from distance by throwing draggers. In start it feels easy but as you proceed the boss fight against endless attackers, you require perfect timing to counter every strike.
The PC version is not the superior one but if you do not get chance to play it on Xbox360 or PS3, then you can go for this version and immerse yourself in this world. If you have the high configured PC then this is the game you should have in your collection. In this you have ton of stuff to do apart from your official goal, you can spend time in finishing every quest and collecting every flag around the city.
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Review: Grand Theft Auto IV
Rockstar introduced a new game of GTA series in Xbox 360. Grand Theft Auto IV, present much more than stealing cars, killing cops and criminal. GTA IV is game with irresistible story line. GTA now present the online multiplayer feature in addition with its story mode allow you to connect with 16 other players across the world. When it is neck to neck compitition with human opponents improved controls helps you a lot. GTA gives you outstanding visual design, great animation and excellent sound which give you real time experience.
Unlike GTA’s predecessors you don’t have to do what is meant to do, but you can now make your own decision of doing what is right rather than following instructions in several occasions as you play further in the story. Every decision you make has its consequences which can prove good or bad further in your story. You don’t have to just kill people or make deliveries, now you can do mission on bank heist, kidnapping and job interviews. You will find new abilities like taking cover behind the objects which makes it easier to take on enemies as you can aim shots at them while you take cover.
GTA IV introduce new GPS system which works as police scanner and helps you to get rid of cops very easily as minimap show the exact locotion of the cops. All you need to do is select the safest passage out of the area and remain out of sight for 10 seconds or so. This game provides you various option to discover new Liberty city. GTA IV gives you internet with all kinds of web sites, most interesting of them is online dating. Keeping friends and dates happy will help you to play through the game and sometimes come in handy such as having a doctor as a friend can be lifesaver. GTA provides a new feature : A Cell Phone. All you have to do is pick up the cell, select a friend whom you want to dial and talk about what you want, it can favor, or work or simple chat. In this Game you have to careful while steeling a car because if car is locked then you have to break the glass with your elbow and need to hot-wire to get it started, but be careful, cars do have alarms which will beg nearby cops to come after you.
The single player game, which you can still play after completing story and it won’t be difficult to find people to play with on its new multiplayer feature. Rockstar has outnumbered by the features that it is irresistible to stop playing because if you think you found and had fun with all the feature then it can surprise you anytime.
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Review: Siren:Blood Curse
From decades, survival horror games were not only corpses and creepy atmosphere, but also protagonists. At first, Siren: Blood Curse, seems to be outdated but if you give it a chance, you will find that its chilling ambiance, episodic presentation gives you very good exprience. Blood Curse starts with television crew arriving in Hanuda and accidentally discover ritual involving human sacrifice. It rapidly becomes clear that everyone in Hanuda is a corpse person, unlike zoombies, they retain their human identities. The games best thing is you can play with seven playable charachter that includes girl of 10 year old, a high school student and many more.
Blood Curse develop a irresistible playing game because of the implementation of sight-jacking system which allow to see through the eyes of the other character. Sight-jacking present a terrifying experience where you see yourself hiding or running for your life through the eyes of the shibito who is on your tail.
The graphics of this game aren’t impressive as for games for PS3 and you can come across same loations very often. While some animations are satisfying such as severe blow to shibito. The game has great sound effect or effective surround sound gives you real time experience such as when enemies are close by and the way heartbeat sound pulsates. The voices of shibito will really shivers down your spine. Blood Curse has short running time, less number of villagers and inconvenient controls but due to its sight-jacking system, it is an unusual terrifying game.
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Review: Madden NFL 09
EA brings Madden NFL 09 on Xbox 360. Madden NFL 09 is just what anybody would have expected. Top – player animation, detailed playbooks and competitive multiplayer are main features of this series. This time Madden had introduced Cris Collinsworth as a commentrator who will tell you and correct you where you have played wrong moves and this feature is introduced as Backtrack. Player would find IQ test at first start of the game which will include running, passing, tackling, and pass-coverage drills and hence decide game’s difficulty level for you. Your IQ level change while you play the game and will need effort to balance your IQ level.
Here you will find various improvements in gameplay like ability to bluff plays, call audibles without changing formation and smart – route option is also available. The game provides more dynamic camera angles, dunk the ball over the goal post, climb up the wall in the admiration, steal another player’s move, do Chad Johnson’s River Dance or Steve McNair’s hands-to-the-helmet pose, or taunt Denver fans with the Mile High salute and much more.
Madden series has done so good for every enhancement like the backtrack feature, Collinsworth, or improved visuals. But there’s some drawbacks like Superstar mode are same as before, pass coverage in the middle of the field is poor, or online leagues are not overwhelming.
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Review: Samsung BD-P1500 (Blu-ray Player)
Samsung new Blu-ray player the BD-P1500 becomes a more compelling option.It is relatively inexpensive compared with other Blu-ray players with very good image quality.If you are not interested to buy the Panasonic DMP-BD50- Sony Playstation 3,the Samsung BD-P1500 is better choice for the money.The BD-P1500 upgraded its standard DVD resolution to 1080p and supports full HD Blu-ray movies, naturally. Samsung claims it will update the BD-IP500 by adding Profile 2.0 support and onboard DTS-HD Master Audio decoding in the future to fight back against PS3.
Presently Samsung BD-P1500 is a Profile 1.1 Blu-ray player, which can operate picture-in-picture commentary tracks such as Sunshine.Samsung is promising to update its player with a Profile 2.0 player so that it can access the BD-Live features on a Blu-ray Discs.The BD-P1500 can internally decode Dolby TrueHD, but currently can’t decode DTS-HD Master Audio bit stream output for all high-resolution audio formats.It also provides ethernet port for firmware updates.
Samsung BD-P1500 Specifications:
General:
Product Type: Blu-Ray disc player
Form Factor: Tabletop
Width: 16.9 in
Depth: 10.8 in
Height: 3.3 in
Weight: 8.6 lbs
System:
Parental Lock: Yes
VCR:
Sound Output Mode: Stereo
DVD:
Media Type: CD, DVD, BD-R, CD-R, BD-RE, CD-RW, DVD-R, BD-ROM, DVD-RW
Built-in Audio Decoders: DTS decoder, Dolby TrueHD, Dolby Digital, Dolby Digital Plus
Media Load Type: Tray
Supported Digital Video Standards: VC-1, H.264, MPEG-2
Supported Digital Audio Standards: PCM
Upscaling: Yes
Output Resolution: 480i, 480p, 576i, 576p, 720p, 1080i, 1080p
Audio System:
Digital Audio Format: DTS digital output, Dolby Digital output
Response Bandwidth: 4 – 44000 Hz
Dynamic Range: 100 dB
Signal-To-Noise Ratio: 110 dB
Total Harmonic Distortion: 0.003 %
Additional Features: Upgradeable firmware
DVD Features:
Additional Features: BD-Live, JPEG photo playback, Progressive scanning
Remote Control:
Type: Universal remote control
Technology: Infrared
Connections:
Connector Type: 1 x HDMI ( 19 pin HDMI Type A ) – Rear, 1 x Component video output ( RCA phono x 3 ) – Rear, 1 x Composite video/audio output ( RCA phono x 3 ) – Rear, 1 x Digital audio output (optical) ( TOSLINK ) – Rear, 1 x Network ( RJ-45 ) – Rear, 1 x USB – Rear
Power:
Power Consumption Operational: 28 Watt
Power Device: Power supply
Type: Power supply
Power: AC 120 V
Manufacturer Warranty:
Service & Support: 1 year warranty
Service & Support Details: Limited warranty – Parts – 1 year, Limited warranty – Labor – 90 days