Xbox Live Renewal

If the Xbox 360 was not good enough when it first came out, people would have been won back by the multiplayer feature, Xbox Live. This feature is not just another way to get more money into Microsoft's account, but it rather makes the multiplayer experience much smoother and enjoyable.

For example, Xbox Live lets you use one account - your profile, for every game and through your profile you can connect to friends and talk to them via a headset, or invite them to parties through which you can move together from one game to another with ease.

Its a rather hard job to find an Xbox Live membership in Jordan, due to the fact its not really supported by Microsoft. Instead I hooked up with a freelance modder for the Xbox 360, who turned out to be a great person who modded my Xbox and sold me a three month membership to Xbox Live.

The guy himself is a little younger than my father, and for some reason is a dad but mods Xboxs. I can now play on the Xbox online without having to worry about buying more games from abroad for high prices.

For those of you wanting to game with a fellow blogger, my gamertag is InboundSage. I use that one for online gameplay, but for offline gameplay and talking to friends I use the rather creative gamertag of NotAnotherBlog.

You'll find me playing either Call of Duty 5, Far Cry 2, or Sid Miers Civilization: Revolution. Sorry, but no Halo 3 people - I never liked the game and Call of Duty is better than it in multiplayer. Add any multiplayer suggestions to the comments!

Army Of Two Review

I’m just about to finish a new game I got for the Xbox 360, called Army of Two, and I thought I might as well review it. Since Christmas is around the corner, this game could be a good one for your shopping list.

The third person shooter genre is quite a crowded one, and a new arrival of a game into the genre usually doesn’t go very well, unless it gives a new idea that hasn’t been done before. And this is were Army of Two shines, in that it throws at you the new idea of co-op play.

Army of Two really puts emphasis on co-op play, where both you and your partner will enter battlefields swarming with enemies, and use cover and tactics intelligently, to kill your enemies, complete missions and earn cash.

To get the most of this game, you need to play it split screen with a friend. This isn’t because the virtual partner in single player is bad, but because you’ll achieve more of what you want when your with a human.

There are two other things that the game implies. A new system called Aggro is basically when one player gains the enemies attention by firing at them aggressively, while the other player gains an advantage of being somehow ignored, and can move stealthy to perform skillful tactics.

The other point is the vast customization that Army of Two gives you to change around weapons to your liking. It isn’t based mostly on creativity, but is more of a ranking up system, with you purchasing new weapons and upgrading upon them. You can add stocks, grips, bigger ammunition, even a shotgun or a grenade launcher on the front as well.

This doesn’t mean the game is perfect. One of the main flaws I noticed was that the game was rather short, and a few things could be improved on, such as melee attacks and the controls, as well as the soundtrack. But, all in all, Army of Two is a game that you should try when you’re with a friend.

Picking Video Games

After almost three months of searching around the streets of Jordan for any solution for modding my Xbox 360, I have finally been defeated and have not found any shop at all. In the end, I had to go ahead and order original games for my Xbox from Amazon. I ended up spending my entire years’ savings on three games and a controller, for £150.

Before I go on and tell you about the games I chose to play for god knows how long, I’d like to give you some advice on how to choose a game. It’s a rather simple procedure that ensures you get the best game for your money and don’t end up getting disappointed you spent your well earned money on a pile of rubbish.

The main point you must always take into consideration, and is the biggest impact on whether the game is good or not, is seeing critics’ views. Looking up the game on a popular review website, like IGN or Gamespot, is the first part of choosing a game. As a general rule of thumb, even before reading the review, look at the games score. Generally, any game over 9 is excellent, and don’t take this easily.

For example, 8.9 is not excellent, and reviewers really do take into consideration everything to determine if a game really does make the point of excellence. Games over nine are the ones to go for first, but there’s nothing wrong in going for something over 8. Below eight, however, is a no-no.

There are things you mustn’t look for. One of the first is well awaited for sequels, or in other words a new release to a popular series. Just because the company did it right before it doesn’t mean that it’ll do it better again. In fact, sometimes it comes out worse, like Need For Speed Undercover. Another thing not to look for is over-hyped reviews, such as the ones from magazines, since they tend to give a perfect full score to anything they find seems good, which isn’t always the case.
Putting all of that into mind, picking a game is simple.

Even if you’re stuck on two similar games with just about the same score, try watching a video review. This shows you game play and also tells you what’s good about the game and what’s bad. It’s a two in one deal, and you’re sure to get out of it picking the best one.

Considering this all, I went ahead and picked three sequels to games that reviewers considered excellent, or above nine in the score. The first was Gears of War 2, a sequel to an already excellent game, with better stunning graphics the second time.

Next was Fallout 3, an RPG that wasn’t much heard of until the third made its way through and marvelled all critics. This is a game that combines graphics, with a good storyline and interesting styles of game play. Lastly was the latest sequel in the Call of Duty series, World at War. According to reviewers, even though this went back into the World War once again, it managed to keep its name and stay a brilliant shooter.

Enjoy.