Leveling Down

The Left 4 Dead 2 demo hit the marketplace yesterday for Live Gold members, and I was able to give it a spin. As someone that really enjoyed the first Left 4 Dead, I felt it would be good for me to share my mixed thoughts on the demo. But first, what is the demo all about? The Left 4 Dead 2 Demo features the first 2 (of presumably 4) parts of The Parish campaign, one of the five new campaigns in Left 4 Dead 2. You are able to only play those two levels – either offline with AI (as well as split screen with a buddy) or online with others. The demo menu also shows various other modes that are not available in the demo: Versus, Survival, Scavenge, and Realism. Scavenge and Realism are new to Left 4 Dead 2.

More »

 
Before my mind gets completely sucked into the gaming onslaught of the 2009 holiday season and I forget about my recent experience the Oblivion Expansions, I wanted to share my impressions since I completed them this past weekend. I decided to go through The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Game of the Year Edition last week since it’s been sitting on my shelf and I told myself I wouldn’t play the Fallout 3 GotY edition until I got some enjoyment out of the Oblivion GotY edition, which contains the original Oblivion game with the two DLC packs: Knights of the Nine and Shivering Isles.

Knights of the Nine was the first of the two major expansions released for Oblivion, and because it was released perhaps too early in the 360’s life cycle, Bethesda Softworks didn’t put any extra Achievements into this particular DLC. This expansion retails for 800 MS points ($10) online, and provides about 10 hours of extra gameplay through a major quest line that has you journeying around Oblivion’s world and assisting the knights with their quests. It’s not a bad expansion, but it pales in comparison to Shivering Isles due to the fact that it’s not only somewhat short, but it still takes place in the regular edition’s world.

Of the two expansion packs, I dove into the Shivering Isles expansion first, which may have been a slight mistake since I ultimately found Knights of the Nine to be less satisfying in comparison. Shivering Isles was the second of the two major expansions released for Oblivion, clocking in at 1600 MS Points ($20) online, with 250 extra Achievement points, and about a 20 hour major questline (along with several hours of minor subquests) in a different world as you step through what is basically a warpgate to the Shivering Isles. I enjoyed Shivering Isles a great deal because it was a living breathing world with new towns, characters, dungeons, and all sorts of landmarks. While the main questline was only 20 hours long, for completionists that are dead set on exploring everything the Shivering Isles have to offer, you’ll be clocking dozens more hours.

The two expansions come on a second disc included with the Oblivion GotY edition, so it’s actually possible to simply install the expansions onto your 360 hard drive and never need the disc again. (I believe the Fallout 3 GotY Edition second disc with the 5 expansions functions in a similar manner.) Also of note – you are able to access the expansions pretty much right away in the game. I created a new character for both the Shivering Isles expansion and the Knights of the Nine expansion.

 So what can I say about these expansions? Certainly don’t buy them for $30 online today since the full game itself with the expansion retails for $30 in stores. And how can one really judge whether it’s worth spending more money for 20-30 more hours of questline content when the original game can last you dozens, or even hundreds of hours? In a way, I do like that the expansions provide you with a major questline to follow, as playing the regular Oblivion game and only following the major quest lines would have you finishing the game in about 50-60 hours. So the pricing is right. Definitely recommended, especially those of you that never got into Oblivion, but enjoyed Fallout 3. Oblivion holds up amazingly well today, and will continue to hold up as the highest rated RPG on the 360.

In my last entry about Borderlands, I made the decision to cancel my pre-order due to the fact that the item management system in the game turned out to be terrible. However, the game did have aspects that I was interested in, and with Best Buy running a Buy 2 Get 1 free sale on all console games $59.99 or less, I bit. (For those wondering, my 3 games ended up being Borderlands, Fallout: GotY Edition, and Brutal Legend.)

Anyway, on to Borderlands. Barring the issues with the item system that made me cancel my pre-order in the first place (no trading window, a lack of unique developer designed items, no loot rules, etc.), the game is fantastic in every other aspect and definitely recommended. I came to terms with accepting that I would play this game more for the action/RPG experience, and not to be a lootwhore. After all, people have already figured out a way to easily dupe items on the 360 version, so no real sense in coveting gear because it can all be shared anyway. My new goal in the game is to reach 50 with each of the 4 classes, but with Modern Warfare 2 and Left 4 Dead 2 on the horizon, reaching 50 with one class is probably more practical.

So what is Borderlands and why am I really digging it? The main reason I’m enjoying it is because it combines aspects of several top tier games. When I first started playing it I thought to myself, “Wow, Borderlands is like the current generation’s Phantasy Star Online.” Phantasy Star Online was an addictive online action-RPG that was released originally on the Dreamcast, but also found success on the Gamecube and Xbox due to its online play. People had to pay monthly fees to play it, but you joined up with several other players online and went through dungeons and quests together killing enemies to level up and find cool loot.

Borderlands preserves the most enjoyable aspects of Phantasy Star Online: the social aspect of the game – allowing for up to four players to play together with enemy difficulty scaling and better treasures dropping. At the same time, Borderlands implements a well-designed quest system that is not unlike soloing in World of Warcraft or practically any online MMORPG these days. I for one loved to solo in World of Warcraft, doing quest chain after quest chain since you were always rewarded with loot and experience. Borderlands implements the quest chain system superbly as well, and I can’t help but reminisce about WoW questing when I play Borderlands.

Tying the package together is the sound FPS system of the game. Surprisingly, the FPS mechanics in the game work very well. Fallout 3’s FPS mechanics were kind of hokey, but Borderlands is very intuitive because not only are there understandable statistics on weapons like accuracy and kickback on a weapon, but the control system is basically the Call of Duty 4 system. Fans of Call of Duty 4 will be right at home in playing this game and aiming for headshots. It can very much be played as a FPS game so it should appeal to action gamers as well.

For those of you that have yet to experience such addictive online RPG games such as World of Warcraft and Phantasy Star Online, surely you must have experienced the addictive nature of Call of Duty 4’s leveling up and challenges. Borderlands is like that (it has its own set of challenges that provide extra exp) but now throw in 4-player online co-op and tons of new weapons to find and share and you have a game that you can play with friends for many, many hours.

In summary, I can forgive Borderlands’ poor item system because all the other aspects of the game are just so well done and enjoyable. I even forgot to mention the amount of humor present in the game, as it doesn’t quite take itself so seriously and makes the game even more amiable. I recommend the game to anyone that was a fan of any of the action-RPG games that I’ve mentioned above, or even FPS fans that want to play a game where the emphasis is on co-op and not adversarial. Pick it up today for yourself and 2 friends, with Best Buy running the Buy 2 Get 1 free sale and let me know if you want to play co-op. I’m soloing for now, but would love to find some people to play it with – after all, I’m going to have to since people don’t really share loot in public games…

While Bayonetta was pushed back to release in 2010 for us Americans, Sega is still releasing Bayonetta in Japan next week. Consequently, a demo was released last week on the Japanese marketplace and I ended up acquiring it through the same means as I did with the Resident Evil 5 demo that was originally only released in Japan.

For those that don’t know what Bayonetta is, it’s the next big “classic” Japanese action-adventure game from the director behind Devil May Cry, Viewtiful Joe, and Okami. I say classic because in this day and age, games in general are really not as difficult or challenging as classic Japanese action-adventure games that we grew up on (see practically every game on the original NES). In fact, the only ones I can think of today that have the ability to be challenging yet enjoyable are the Ninja Gaiden series and the Devil May Cry series. And as a fan of both series, Bayonetta is definitely on my radar.

In a way, it helps that I’ve been replaying Devil May Cry 4 recently, because I’m seeing many similarities and influences that Devil May Cry 4 has on Bayonetta. The game engine seems to be the same, the combat style and mechanisms appear to be very similar, and the scantily clad outfit Trish was sporting in DMC4 was taken to the next level for Bayonetta’s outfit. And strangely again, Bayonetta follows the Devil May Cry series in having you play the role of something demonic and going up against evil “angelic” forces.

The 360 demo consists of a tutorial and two different levels. What’s also kind of neat is during the loading screens, you can practice the various different combos that Bayonetta has. The first demo level (exclusive in the 360 version of the demo and not present on the PS3 version) consists of Bayonetta fighting angelic enemies on a large chunk of land matter or broken building (I forgot which) as it slides very quickly down a slope and basically enters free-fall. The background moves faster and faster as you find everything around you falling while you pummel all of the enemies. It was definitely crazy and I was initially overwhelmed by how fast and relentless everything was.

The second demo level is a lot more traditional as it takes place on ground and you can move from section to section, breaking objects for money, defeating pockets of enemies, and eventually taking on bigger boss-like enemies. Here I was able to try out moves and get a better feel for what Bayonetta’s core gameplay is all about. The game seems to have something similar to Devil May Cry 4’s grading mechanics as well, since you’re graded on how you perform in each section of a level.

Famitsu, the primary Japanese video game magazine, recently gave Bayonetta on the 360 a perfect score, which surprised me a great deal. It’s still somewhat of a derivative game, as it borrows many concepts from Devil May Cry 4 so I was surprised that it could land a perfect score. The best way I can describe the demo is that it feels like the Devil May Cry games, but is much more over the top: explosions everywhere, enemies circling around you, items dropping and disappearing, Bayonetta performing all sorts of crazy moves like huge boots or fists knocking enemies out, guns shooting from her shoes, slowing down time by dodging enemy attacks, and finishing moves like a guillotine chopping enemies’ heads off, etc. I couldn’t even take it all in the first time I played through the demo because there was just too much going on. After I played through it a second time though, things clicked and now I’m just enjoying it as opposed to wondering what the heck is happening.

One new feature that I forgot to mention that also goes over the top in Bayonetta is nudity. With a large amount of her body wrapped in her own hair, when she performs a lengthy combo, the finishing move will generally require more hair. Thus, more hair leaves her skin and in a way, the player is almost “rewarded” with quick shots of skin when the player is able to perform more advanced moves. I don’t have any complaints about that, although we’ll see if my wife says anything when she sees me playing this game. The game is definitely not for kids. While it has classic game design, it’s super violent and shows a lot of skin. Sounds like my type of game!

The Joker is an awesome foe, and is used to great effect in this game

I don’t always write about games espion4ge has already reviewed, but I’m enjoying Arkham Asylum so much I had to sing its praises. A couple things up front: I do read comics in passing, though mostly Marvel stuff, but I definitely prefer Batman to anything else DC has. Secondly, I basically agree with the things espion4ge wasn’t cool on: it’s kind of annoying to run through the majority of the game in Detective Mode, the boss battles are weak sauce, and I guess the adventuring isn’t that great, though I never enjoyed games like Tomb Raider so I don’t have much to compare it to.

But yes, in a sentence, I love this game. Here are some of the reasons why:

1. You never are doing the same thing for too long. As the game moves along, you keep switching between hand to hand combat, stealth missions, “detective” missions, etc. Not only that, there are also certain sections where you have to play a certain way, whether you are sneaking around in the sewers trying not to disturb something or trying to navigate your way up a large structure without using your grappling hook. The game does a great job of mixing things up and the different gameplay styles mesh together very well.

2. Combat evolves from button mashing to surprisingly deep gameplay. Once you get used to the combat system it gets crazy, and it becomes extremely elegant and fun. As you move from enemy to enemy, stunning them, throwing your batarang, pounding them when they are on the ground, it is incredibly satisfying. I love it, and it makes use of every single face button (and one of the triggers) incredibly efficiently.

3. I also find the Riddler challenges really fun to figure out. For some reason, I’m really enjoying running around the different areas finding all the medals and solving the riddles (which I didn’t even figure out how to do until I was well into the game). I usually hate collect-a-thons, but in this game I am really enjoying it. Go figure.

4. The combat and predator challenges (outside of the main storyline) are also tons of fun. They take real skill to master (skill I don’t have yet) and are really enjoyable takes on in-game battles. I really love the predator challenges because I feel like Batman does stealth right: you aren’t invincible and you HAVE to be stealthy. In MGS4 and Splinter Cell I always felt like I could overpower my enemies, but in Batman I know I have to stay in the shadows or else I’m done.

5. Finally, what I love most about this game is that it feels so cinematic. It’s like I’m watching a Batman movie, but I’m getting to play it. I am really enjoying the story, the premise of the game is great, and everything about the presentation is top notch. Part of it is the fact that the gameplay keeps changing, each section feels fresh (I think I’m past halfway through) and has a different feel to it.

What can I say, I love the game! Pick it up if you have a chance, if you’re a fan of 3rd person games you probably will like what you find. If you’re a fan of Batman – you’ll love it.

I received my free copy of Guitar Hero Van Halen in the mail this past weekend, so I decided to give it a try. The first thing that I sadly discovered was that the game shipped in a little cardboard sleeve, with no instruction manual or anything. It also wasn’t so nice to see “FOR PROMOTION ONLY NOT FOR RESALE” slapped across the sleeve and disc – but hey, the game works and I guess that’s what really matters. Apparently this game isn’t going to sit in a box in my 360 collection on the shelf.

Anyway, let me first say that I don’t even know any Van Halen songs at all. With my teenage years in the ’90s, I was raised on alternative rock like Nirvana, Stone Temple Pilots, and Green Day so I was either not even born yet or still an infant when Van Halen was putting out hits. What actually drew me in to wanting to play this game was not even Van Halen, but the guest artist songs on Guitar Hero: Van Halen.

And you know what’s surprising? Guitar Hero Van Halen has a tracklist consisting of more songs I’ve enjoyed than any other music game released so far except perhaps Guitar Hero 2. While everyone’s musical tastes are different, I’m pleased that I can play stuff like Fountains of Wayne’s “Stacy’s Mom”, Third Eye Blind’s “Semi-Charmed Life”, and Blink-182’s “First Date”. And then there’s other bands I recognize as well, such as Foo Fighters, Weezer, Jimmy Eat World, and The Offspring. Of course, when Band Hero and Lego Rock Band come out, those will probably have tracklists I find even more enjoyable than Guitar Hero Van Halen since they will be more pop oriented. But in any case, my point is, unlike Guitar Hero 5’s terrible setlist (for me at least), I actually want to play through Guitar Hero Van Halen to hear all the songs. I’ve even found some Van Halen songs I enjoyed, so that was a bonus.

Surprisingly, Guitar Hero Van Halen does sport a dated interface and doesn’t have the “advances” that Guitar Hero World Tour and Guitar Hero 5 have implemented. In fact, it feels like I’m back to playing Guitar Hero 2 again, and to be honest, I’m actually happy with that. The game is simple to play – I go through career mode and choose whatever difficulty I want to play, earn money from each song, and just progress along. It’s the formula I enjoyed in the earlier Guitar Hero iterations, until Neversoft went all crazy and started making it more and more complicated. I still believe that Guitar Hero should just focus on guitar, and leave it at that. While Guitar Hero Van Halen does allow for drums and mic, the game still feels more guitar oriented, which is what more serious Guitar Hero fans desire. I’m not sure if I can be considered a serious Guitar Hero fan or not since I only play on Hard difficulty, but I’m certainly pleased with the way the game turned out.

It’s strange but while Guitar Hero 5 sports several improvements to the series, I’m enjoying Guitar Hero Van Halen a lot more. So far I find not only Guitar Hero Van Halen’s setlist more enjoyable to play than Guitar Hero 5, but the charting seems to be better thought out too. I wonder if the development teams behind Guitar Hero 5 and Guitar Hero Van Halen were different – I wouldn’t be surprised if they were. It just goes to show you – even if a music game is easier to pickup and play and has more features, the music is ultimately what keeps you playing. If you didn’t already get this game free with your Guitar Hero 5 purchase, I’d recommend waiting it out anyway before it goes on sale. With the plethora of music games out now and continuing to be released, there’s no reason to buy one of these games on day 1 at $60 when they drop to less than half price within a year.

I sat down and tried playing through the first level of Dead Space Extraction just to see how it was, and the best thing I can say about it is that I didn’t want to stop playing it. In fact, I ended up playing through all ten levels in two days, which goes to show you that it is an enjoyable game – especially for Dead Space fans. In contrast, I’ve played through a few levels of Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles, and even though I’m a Resident Evil fan, I just found RE: UC to be too boring and never could force myself to get through it.

Dead Space: Extraction has many positive things going for it: an interesting prequel storyline that can be appreciated by those new to Dead Space, but even more appreciated by fans of the original game. Even though stuff can be hard to make out that’s far away at times, the graphics seem to be as good as what the Wii can handle. The sound, dialogue, and music are top notch. There is tons of spoken dialogue, and there are even audio files that you find that get played out of the Wii-mote itself, which is a nice touch. Part of me feels like the amount of effort put into the audio was to makeup for the “weaker” video presentation that the Wii is hampered by.

Finally, the best thing going for it is that the game works as an on-rails shooter. Visceral Games, the developer of both Dead Space and Dead Space: Extraction, manage to preserve the enjoyment of the interesting weapons and dismemberment of enemy limbs from the 360 game to the Wii game. I felt like practically very little of the gameplay was lost: I still grew worried as enemy aliens lurked closer, I still had to aim for limbs to slow enemies down, and I still had to effectively manage my reloading in the middle of being swarmed. The sense of fear present in the original was captured marvelously in the Wii game, and what I can say is that fans of Dead Space will enjoy Dead Space: Extraction. And who would have thought, but the Flamethrower is actually awesome in this Wii game!

However, there are some glaring negatives that make me cringe. Each of the ten levels is about 30 minutes long, and while that sounds decent for an “on-rails” shooter, Dead Space: Extraction is the first on-rails shooter I’ve played where practically half of each level is really just unskippable cutscenes and dialogue. Thus, it’s more of a “story-based” on-rails shooter, which doesn’t lend itself well to replay value at all. The first time through is amazing, but you’ll never want to go through again. There is a challenge mode that gets unlocked later that pits you against waves of enemies with no storyline whatsoever, but without any sort of online leaderboard, there’s no real incentive to go through it. And I don’t know how else to put it but say that the game is buggy. I’ve had to reset a couple of times when playing the game just because an enemy gets trapped behind an object or wall, and since you can’t kill it, you can’t progress through the game.

I enjoyed the game a lot as a Dead Space fan, but it’s not a game that should be in your collection as it’s short and lacks any sort of replay value. Dead Space fans should rent it, while others can probably pass. It was a delightful 5 hour ride, but it’s over so quickly that I can’t recommend paying $50 for it.

Jack Black still has some acting chops left in him

I’ve expounded on my love of Monkey Island and Full Throttle in previous posts, so it’s with optimism I downloaded the demo for Brutal Legend, made by the same Tim Schafer that made those two games. Schafer has long been famous for making critically acclaimed games that sold terribly at retail - Psychonauts being the prime example. Activision did not have much faith in Brutal Legend either, so they shed it during the Vivendi merger and EA picked it up. Will Schafer finally score a hit with critics AND the mass audience? We’ll find out “Rocktober” 13th, but before then I was curious so I checked out the demo.

Brutal Legend is an action adventure game with a twist: it’s a heavy metal epic. The game stars Jack Black as Eddie Riggs, a roadie who gets drawn into some sort of heavy metal world. The demo is pretty short, so it’s tough to get a feel for the game, but I was just playing to see how the presentation was.

Simple stuff first, the gameplay is pretty standard fare for a 3D action adventure, except you can’t jump. The A button swings your axe (a literal one) while the X button plays your axe (the guitar one) which essentially casts magic spells. There is also a Guitar-heroish type mechanic where you “play a solo” by hitting buttons rhythmically which can unleash spells as well. The gameplay is passable – it has the potential to get as deep as Batman but also could just end up being super shallow. We’ll see about that.

What I really wanted to see was whether the game was funny and how Jack Black did as the lead. Firstly, when the demo started, I was struck by the graphics and the presentation. There are metal songs playing throughout, and behind them the graphics and art style really are quite impressive. There is a great opening cut scene, and Jack Black (who I’ve gotten sick of on film) lends the proper tone and attitude to Eddie Riggs’ character. I love the look and feel of the game and the “trailer” at the end of it makes me excited to see what else it has to offer. It also has that touch of Tim Schafer flair, style, and humor that I remember from Full Throttle (a biker gang epic), so I can see how this game can really work.

Will I be buying this game on launch day? Probably not. But pending reviews, Brutal Legend definitely is on my wish list. Here’s hoping Tim Schafer finally pulls it off.

The Crash Course campaign was just released for Left 4 Dead on the PC and 360 last week. While the PC version of Crash Course is free, Microsoft has forced Valve to charge $7 for it on the 360 – an odd price for 360 DLC since most tend to be either $5 or $10. The pricing makes sense if you were to consider the $60 initial price tag for the game – each of the 4 campaigns was basically $15, and since Crash Course is half the length of one of the 4 campaigns, $7 is about right. Unfortunately, the retail price of the game today is $30, so $7 for half a campaign seems a bit steep, especially when considering that PC owners get it for free. Owning both the PC and 360 versions myself, I decided to give the free PC version a try.

The Crash Course campaign can be played in co-op, Survival, or Versus, but it’s the Versus aspect of Crash Course that was the primary instigator for its release. Since the “Crash Course” campaign is only half the length of the other campaigns (2 parts instead of 4), players can play a versus game in half an hour instead of the usual 1 hour where they may not have enough time.

Left 4 Dead’s never been much about story, but Crash Course takes place after the “No Mercy” campaign since the level begins with Bill, Louis, Francis, and Zoe standing next to a crashed helicopter. The four characters also have new lines, which not only add more to their beloved personalities but help guide players in the right direction through the campaign.

The campaign is indeed short, but it’s still very enjoyable. I actually have very little to say about it aside from the fact that it feels like a natural addition to the original campaigns. The Left 4 Dead formula works, and while some have complained about Left 4 Dead 2 simply being a cash grab since it’s coming out so soon after the original, I can’t imagine people not having fun with it once it comes out. Crash Course gives us something new to briefly play around in if you can’t wait until Left 4 Dead 2’s release next month. For fans of the 360 game that want more, it really just comes down to whether or not you’re willing to pay for it. It certainly helps that there are extra Achievements with the DLC, but it’s still a burn that PC gamers get it for free.

cmfl3x has spent more time than me on the Firefight mode so he posted his impressions on it yesterday. This leaves me with sharing my impressions on the campaign mode for all of you today.  Having gone through the game solo on Legendary, as well as grabbed all possible solo play Achievements for it, I can pretty much say I have experienced what Halo 3 ODST’s campaign fully has to offer.

Either I’m slowly getting on board with the Halo train, or the campaigns are just getting more enjoyable and better designed. Again I will reiterate that I have never been a big Halo fan, as I found the first two games’ storylines and campaigns boring. I even found Halo 3’s storyline and campaign to be somewhat bland, but decent enough to play through it. Unlike my minor enjoyment with Halo 3’s campaign, I actually enjoyed Halo 3: ODST’s campaign a lot.

The storyline for Halo 3: ODST is nothing to write home about, as it’s pretty non-sensical (the forced romance definitely had me groaning). What I do like about the storyline is that it gives the game more of a premise to play lots of varied scenarios through the  role of the non-speaking “Rookie”, an Orbital Drop Shock Trooper tasked with traveling around the deserted city of New Mombasa looking for clues on the rest of his crew. When you find a clue, it calls forth a flashback to the squad member associated with the clue and you get to engage in a “past mission” that the squad member participated in. Each squad member has a different type of expertise, resulting in varied and enjoyable missions.

The Rookie travels through New Mombasa at night, so he tends to play a bit more stealth-oriented (with the help of a “night vision”-ish mode), knocking out enemies that are sleeping or sneaking by powerful foes that are not necessary to engage. Other squad members may specialize in sniping, driving a Scorpion tank, etc., so you really get to experience a wide variety in Halo style gameplay through the playing of each squad member. To be honest, maybe it’s because I played through both Halo 3 and Halo 3 ODST on Legendary mode, but I couldn’t quite tell the difference between Master Chief and the ODST “Rookie”. Both had regenerating shields, but the “Rookie” also has a life-bar under his shield. On Legendary in either game you practically die by charging straight in anyway, whether you’re a Spartan or an ODST and thus I had a hard time noting the difference.

I enjoyed Halo 3: ODST’s campaign more than any other Halo game’s campaign. That may make me sound crazy, but the way that Halo 3: ODST’s campaign flowed from start to finish was pretty tight and varied enough that I never got bored. Its difficulty is also just right – I would say that ODST’s Legendary campaign is about as difficult as Halo 3’s campaign on Heroic. It may be personal preference, but I liked ODST’s smaller level design and more personal encounters. In Halo 3’s campaign you were simply running too long to get from one place to another and every few yards you would be thrown a dozen or so enemies to plow through in large open areas. Some complain that ODST’s campaign is short at 5-6 hours, but I enjoyed it more than Halo 3’s expansive and monotonous campaign.

For those that are just getting Halo 3 ODST for the Firefight mode and Halo 3 maps, don’t overlook the campaign. It’s certainly worth playing through, and stands tall as one of the three main pillars in the package. While you can play it co-op with 3 other buddies, I reommend playing through it solo since that really should be how the game is experienced. I can’t think of anything I’d want to change about it, except perhaps extending its length. Unfortunately, a short campaign seems to be the trend of most FPS games these days.