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Store Displays: A Must for Game Collecting

A short description, detailing how to obtain store displays from Game Stop.

Battlefield Bad Company 2 Review for Xbox 360

Base 2 presents:

Battlefield Bad Company 2 Review

            For Xbox 360

by Contreramanjaro (Sam)

            There are quite a few people familiar with the Battlefield series of games. These people are also  likely to be familiar with the name Dice. These people are largely PC gamers due to a shallow pool of Battlefield titles available on consoles. Only recently have consoles been able to stand toe to toe with PC's in the online playing field. With this evolution, Dice delivered a great Battlefield title for the masses as well as the core audience.Populating the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC, Battlefield Bad Company 2 delivers the classic Battlefield feel with a great modern user interface and level design. This is my in-depth take on the title. 

Physical:

            Packaged in an unsurprising green plastic case typical of Xbox 360 games, Battlefield Bad Company 2 possesses some of the most appealing artwork I’ve ever seen. Preston Marlowe, your single player character is shown walking in what looks like a charcoal drawing or an engraved stamp plate showing an orange glow on one side of his body. His lowered gun and stolid disposition reflect his frustration with the war in game.

Front of case

Plastic saving design

            Other than the main character on the front, the front cover is dedicated to showing off the multiplayer abilities in the game. Two helicopters, a heavy tank, a personnel transport, and a soldier are shown approaching, each one with a Gamertag or screen name above it. The Dice logo is front and center serving as much as an advertisement for the game as the rest of the box. Finally, the phrase ‘Defining Online Warfare’ is proudly displayed on the front of the packaging.

Menus and Navigation:

            The menu navigation is very fluid and shows some resemblance to the genius design of the Express Media Bar that is found on the PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Portable. Getting into a single player, or multiplayer match is extremely easy and very streamlined. It makes Call of Duty look complicated. Dice and Electronic Arts have done extremely well with the navigation in this game.

Single Player:

            There are 13 missions in the game with three possible difficulty levels. The first level is actually a throwback to World War II. The rest follow the continuing story of Bad Company. A group of more expendable soldiers, Bad Company is sent on the less desirable missions with somewhat high mortality expectancies. While it is a continuation of the first story, you will not lose that much if you do not play the first of the two games. This time you are not the cliché FNG of the group so there’s not quite the high school fitting in game you were thrown into in the first game.

            The difficulty of the missions is what veterans of first person shooters would call boring. If you are a gamer, stay away from easy. It is insultingly simple with enemies diving into bullet paths.  So starting on medium or even hard is not a bad idea. There is no achievement for playing through on hard except for the final mission, but if you find the game boring, step up the difficulty. There is some decent enemy AI hiding behind the difficulty settings barrier.

Playing through once is enjoyable enough, but trying to find collectible guns spread throughout the missions or destroying the M-Com stations can extend your experience if you are into achievements, however there isn’t much desire beyond that. For what it is, the campaign is enjoyable; however if you do not plan to play online, take a pass on this title. The online experience is this games defining feature. There are plenty of cut scenes scattered throughout the campaign, some of them enjoyable, others feel like forced comedy. The characters are unique enough however you never feel a relationship with them. It feels more like a movie.

In the end, I really enjoyed the single player campaign. I know that battlefield games are based around their multiplayer, so I can forgive the campaign's  briefness but it does not keep me from wanting more.

Multiplayer:

            This day in age, online multiplayer has come to define each console. If you look back to who was doing it first, chances are pretty good you’ll come across Dice and Battlefield 1942. They didn’t do too well with their move to consoles with Battlefield 2: Modern Combat. It was a solid game but never could take hold for consoles. They shook that trend up with this release.

Dog tags from stabbing victims

Building on where the first Battlefield Bad Company made it after several updates, the only missing ingredient to this game was players. This has never been a problem. Thanks to a full-featured multiplayer demo, this game has a great community and wonderful upgrade systems. This is what it felt like the downloadable title Battlefield 1943 lacked. If you liked that game, you’ll love this one.

Conquest, Rush, Squad Rush, and Squad Deathmatch are the game modes you can play here. They all work great too. Plenty of maps let this game be fresh and familiar for every multiplayer game. Upgrading classes is really quite addictive. One may find themselves doomed to complete upgrades for all classes: assault, engineer, medic, and recon.

The maps are big and very well designed. I have yet to hear a complaint about the map design. It is also extremely innovative in the way that the environment is fully destructible. Often a heavy tank will level a building if an opposing sniper has tucked away inside.

One terrible thing that has happened to the online part of this game is the inclusion of VIP codes. They are part of EA’s attempt to increase sales of new titles rather than used. If you don’t have one, you are prompted to enter one every time you log on. If you do have a code however, you get access to free downloads so it is not all bad.

Controls:

The controls simply work. They divert a bit from the standard Call of Duty or Halo console controls but they work great and do not take any time to learn.

Sound Design:

Do you have surround sound or a subwoofer? If yes then owning this game has just gone from a option to a requirement. I have never been more impressed with in game audio than I have been in this game. The deep bass, wonderful sounds of normal things are perfectly replicated which may even cause a completely sane man to turn around to the sounds of a tank behind him. It’s hard to describe a sound in text but this game has come awfully close to perfection with this element.

Artistic Presentation:

Graphically this game does impress, and then you realize that it’s all destructible and it seems even greater. The various environment types used in this game all look great, from vegetation to snow covered mountains. This is built on the Frostbite Engine and it reproduces lighting and textures in a way that reminds me of a very stable CryENGINE 2. It feels like a more cinematic 24-30 frames per second but I have no complaints and rarely saw a frame rate drop. 

Conclusion:

The multiplayer is state of the art and the brief single player campaign is good while it lasts. There are areas where you can ask for more polish but overall it is a very fun game. The great controls, stellar sound design, fresh campaign and multiplayer with excellent graphics built on top of the great Frostbite Engine all lead to a great fun experience. That is what it is all about, right?

Buy Battlefield: Bad Company 2 (Xbox360™) at Play-Asia.com

Earth Defense Force: 2017

A few weeks ago, I was able to pick up one of my most highly sought after Xbox 360 games, Earth Defense Force 2017 ( EDF ). I fell in love with this game ever since Petedorr, a YouTuber with a great channel for gaming, posted his top 10 underated Xbox 360 games. EDF, was his number 10 on the list and boy, did it look like fun.

After many months of searching, normally forgetting to look for it, I finally obtained this highly addicting 360 arcade shooter. EDF, developed by Sandlot, was released in North America during the first quarter of 2007. For those of you who are not familiar with Sandlot, they created Robot Alchemic Drive ( RAD) for the Play Station 2. You will be reading references often about RAD and hearing us in our videos. This game went under the radar by most gamers. Everyone is missing out on this game.

However, EDF has many drawbacks. In this day in age, gamers are too focused with brilliant graphics, quality story telling, and innovative, yet pick-up-and-go controls. EDF does not meet any of these requirements. Naturally, it was not picked up by most gamers. And, as time went on, slowly dropped in price at used game stores until it was dirt cheap. That's where Base 2 comes in.

I, along with the other members of Base 2, were fortunate enough to snag a copy of EDF at Gamestop for roughly $14. This is a steal. Booting up the game, players navigate their way though simple options menus. They are basic and easy to use, allowing players to choose what level they would like to play, the weapons they carry into each mission, and the difficulty level. EDF has 53 levels ramping up in difficulty with every next level. As you make your way through the game you will unlock multiple weapons. Weapons, along with health packs and armor upgrades are the three items a player can collect in any mission. To obtain these weapons, the player simply has to defeat his enemy. This can be easy or extremely difficult depending on what difficulty the player has chosen. The difficulty levels are as follows: Easy, Normal, Hard, Hardest, and Inferno. The last one is my favorite, sadly, it is highly challenging.

EDF has a wide array of enemies to defeat: Black Ants, Red Ants, Spiders, Robots, Drop Ships, Tiny Spacecraft, Queen Ants, Giant Spiders, and mecha-dinosaurs. Some enemies are harder than others to defeat. Luckily, there are a few vehicles at every players disposal. Depending on the level, players are able to control a mech-like robot, tanks, speeder bikes, and Helicopters. Helicopters have very clunky controls and are very frustrating to use.

EDF, at its core, is a classic arcade shooter. Think of it as a high detailed Dreamcast title. The controls are quirky, and could use work. But, this doesn't take away the experience the game has to offer. It's simply mindless fun. Get together with a friend or family member and prepare to laugh from the beginning of mission 1. If EDF has Xbox Live support, then it would be eating up all of my time, along with my friends, and fellow members of Base 2.

Earth Defense Force: 2017 is a unique game. It simply can not be overlooked. It's price is almost too good to be true, and its replay value is extremely high. Gamers that are looking for next-gen graphics will be disappointed. Track this game down. Purchasing Earth Defense Force: 2017 will not be in vain.

Base 2 Used Game Show: Episode 2

Sam's Collection

Introductory Episode (2 of 5)

Sony Playstation 2

In 2001 the Playstation 2 was all the rage. For the low low price of more than I could fathom, I could get a video game console that also acted as a DVD player. This sounded awesome, but I decided to see what Nintendo did and then this mysterious entry of the Xbox. Time passed and my contentment with my PC as a gaming platform led to me skipping an entire console generation. In about 2006 I realized the sheer genius of the system and it's wacky amazing games. When the choice came down to getting a couple of Xbox 360 games or the now $129 PS2 slim, I went for the 360. Now recently I decided that I really really wanted a PS2, and as luck would have it, John (Griffolian) and I found a yard sale that was selling a few for five bucks. I ended up buying three with no guarantee that they would work. I got a 39001 50001 and a 79001. I'll tell you about the status of each console below.

I started buying games for the system a few months earlier knowing I would get one eventually. but I didn't even guess how lucky I would be on the cost. Without further ado, I present the list.

I'll start the list.

Console 39001 - $5

                Well, this one didn't read discs at all, blue, black, or silver.  We used it to make an Emotion Engine necklace.

Console 50001 - $5

                It works but won't read most blue discs.

Console 79001 - $5

                Works great except one of the magic gate slots is missing the dust door. I keep a card in at all times though so it doesn't bother me too bad.

2 Dualshock 2's - free with consoles

1 Dualshock - free with console

s-video cables for PS2

Power cables for all

Now for the Games.

In alphabetical order. Full case and book unless specified.

Clock Tower 3 - $3

Final Fantasy XII - $8

Half-Life - $8

Ico - $15

                This is more than I'd normally pay for a used game but normally this game goes for around $30 used so I got it.

RAD (Robot Alchemic Drive) - $7

                This game isn't in the original case and doesn't come with the book but I could not find it anywhere else complete. This will have to do for now until I can find it again.

For a total of $56, not too shabby. I have a long way to go but I'm pretty happy with my little collection. I've only had my PS2 for around two or three weeks so. Watch new episodes to see  new games I get in the coming weeks.