Leveling Down

Medal of Honor’s most memorable feature may very well be this dude’s beard.

Was it really that long ago that we heard EA proclaiming that it would challenge the king of FPS shooters, Call of Duty, with a reboot to its venerable military FPS series, Medal of Honor? By now many of us FPS fans are aware that Medal of Honor did not get received too well by the gaming community. Should it have gotten the NBA Elite 11 treatment and simply pulled before it was even released? Hit the jump to read my review.

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Are these four games enough to hold against this holiday season’s sequels?

Going into this year’s holiday gaming season, I am lacking enthusiasm. I don’t know if it’s because I’m busier now or if the current games this holiday season are just not as exciting as in the last couple of years. To be honest, most of the games I am about to call out I haven’t played yet, but based on buzz I am reading and demos I’ve played today’s entry will sort of be my knee-jerk reaction as to why I am not excited about what’s in store for the 2010 holiday season.

The problem is, we have so many sequels that are worse than their predecessors or sequels that don’t exactly blow their predecessors out of the water. This leads me to find practically all of them lacking in the excitement category that I have had in past holiday seasons. How many sequels are being released this holiday season? Let’s see!

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Games like Modern Warfare 2 and Starcraft 2 are worth more than their retail price.

Having now completed the 8 hour game that is Dante’s Inferno, I’ve started thinking more about the crazy idea that this game retails for the same price as a game like Modern Warfare 2. With Modern Warfare 2′s Stimulus Package earning millions and millions of dollars amidst some complaining about the expensive $15 price tag, analysts have discovered that the $15 price tag was actually too low, since sales were higher than expected at that price. Maybe $20 would have been the sweet spot? In any case, it has gotten me thinking as of late about the disparity between the value of games. Are all games created equal? Of course not. Yet why are they all charging $60? I guess it works because in the end, games that are more than worth the $60 retail price will continue to sell like hotcakes while games that are not worth it will sell far less quantities. Game studios will make more for games that are worth more, but is it the best pricing strategy?

I may sound crazy when I say this, but I am actually willing to pay a monthly fee for certain games. Now this may sound ridiculous since why would someone offer to pay more for something when he’s already getting it cheaper? If I can play Modern Warfare 2 online for free already, why am I suggesting that I don’t mind paying for it? Because it’s one of the most entertaining games I’ve played in recent history that continues to captivate me month after month while other games get beaten and put back on the shelf or sold. Read on for the list of games being released this year (and Modern Warfare 2) that I would consider paying a monthly fee for and why.
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EA is now including one-time use codes in their more popular recent releases

I don’t buy every game at launch. In fact, I rarely do these days except for games I’m willing to pay the $60 price tag for on day 1. But with interesting games that aren’t worth the $60 on day 1, I’ll wait until I either have more time afterward or the game is cheaper. Gamestop fills this niche for me, as they often run promotions such that I can buy a game still retailing for $60 at about half that for the used price. I don’t love buying used games, but at half the price it’s certainly something I partake in from time to time. Publishers and developers hate this, as Gamestop makes all the money from used game sales. EA has implemented “Project $10″, and for me it’s actually worked. Read on for what it’s about and why I think it works.

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Battlefield: Bad Company 2 is getting a lot support from fans, but it’s debatable if it’s even better than its predecessor.

I finished Battlefield: Bad Company 2′s campaign this past weekend, and have spent a decent number of hours in the multiplayer that I can give a pretty thorough final “review” on my time with the Xbox 360 version of the game. In short, if you enjoyed the first Battlefield: Bad Company game, the second one pretty much continues more of the first, although I’m not sure if it’s necessarily better. I’m not one of the people that was really blown away by this game like I was with Modern Warfare 1 or 2, and regret to say that I’ll probably be putting this game back on the shelf without even spending a considerable amount of time in the multiplayer. Read on for my thoughts why.

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Trying to get through Final Fantasy XIII, Battlefield: Bad Company 2, Dante’s Inferno, and Mass Effect 2 before the end of the month is shaping up to be a bit ambitious…

I’m bad. My backlog continues to balloon even though I thought I solved this problem before. Now with the entire PS3 exclusive library (pretty large, actually) going to be a part of my backlog later this month, I have to seriously figure out what I’m going to do. Apparently I can’t stop myself from buying games that go on sale, so the next best thing I can do is to try to make an estimate of what I will be playing over the course of the next month and come up with some realistic goals to give myself some sort of control. Read on for what I am forecasting my gaming time to be within the month of April…

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Battlefield: Bad Company 2 continues the wisecracks and camaraderie of the first

I started playing Battlefield: Bad Company 2 last week and have since put a few hours into both the single player and the multiplayer. I feel like I’m taking crazy pills or something when I think the game isn’t THAT good nor is it as good as its predecessor. I’m more in line with Bloosoda’s impressions that he shared earlier: it’s ok, but it’s no Modern Warfare 2. Yet I’m reading articles, reviews, and forum threads with people really loving it and all that. Maybe part of it is due to PC gamers giving it more love, but as a 360 gamer, I keep wanting to shut this game off and go back to Modern Warfare 2. What am I missing?

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One nuance I’ve learned on my way to Prestiging is that the Pave Low Killstreak is broken

This past weekend, I finally hit my first Prestige in Modern Warfare 2 after a little over 60 hours of game time. I’ve had an on and off again relationship with the game, and unfortunately for Final Fantasy XIII these past couple of weeks, my interest for Modern Warfare 2 was on so most of my gaming time was spent there. You know you’re playing too much Modern Warfare 2 when you’re driving and you see a really small plane in the sky and your first instinct is to try to grab your Stinger because you suspect it’s an enemy UAV. Then you realize that this is real life and not only is that small plane a commuter plane, but that you don’t even have a rocket launcher.

Read on for some new tips I’ve learned from getting to that first Prestige and what’s next for me.
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The snow-based Port Valdez is the one playable map in the demo

The Battlefield: Bad Company 2 demo was just released last week on the Xbox 360, so I got a chance to play around with it for a couple hours in the last few days. PS3 owners have been lucky as they had access to the beta since last November.

Read on for my likes and dislikes, as well as my initial comparisons to the first Bad Company.

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World of Warcraft & Team Fortress 2 continue to give PC gamers updates

It’s interesting for me to see the “evolution” of the PC gaming landscape. Growing up on Doom, Quake, and Duke Nukem, I’ve lived through the rise and decline of the PC gaming scene, from the introduction of first person shooters, real-time strategy games, online multiplayer, 4X strategy games, and now MMORPGs. If you’ve also grown up with fond memories of Doom & Quake, I highly recommend checking out the book, Masters of Doom. It’s a well-written book that chronicles how John Romero and John Carmack met, formed id Software, and completely shook up the gaming industry. Having said that, today’s entry will contain my more general thoughts on the PC gaming landscape, and why I’m still excited for its present and future.
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