Forza Horizon 2 Review

Forza Horizon 2
XBox 360/XBox One
Microsoft Games/Turn 10/Sumo Digital (360)/Playground Games (XBONE)
Review Based on XBox 360 version

What's new:
The setting moves from Colorado to the French/Italian border area.
The races basically open to any car you own. The cars are sepearted into 10 categories (i.e.: Cult classic cars, supercars, classic supercars, dirt, etc.), meaning you can run the race 10 times with ten different cars. There are 32 races and with 10 ways to win them, you really have 320 races.
Each race also has a sponsor slot, meaning that if  you race with the suggested car (Ford, Dodge, Mercedes, etc.) and you win, you get a credit bonus.
In the first Horizon, you smash signs to get discounts on parts. Now there are three types of sings: Parts, Fast Travel and Credit Bonuses. There are 150 signs to smash instead of 100. Many of the signs are off-road, too.
The events you did to get Fast Travel discounts in Horizon 1 are now called Bucket List events (some are off-road also, although most are just off the main road). There are 30 of them.

What's different:
The stereotypical rivals in Horizon are thankfully gone.

What is the same:
Basically most of the cars from Horizon are still here. Even ones that were DLC (like the Top Gear favorite Ford Van, but no Porsche still) .
The feel of the game is basically the same.

Remember, this game is based on the 360 version, which doesn't have weather factored in and is based on the Horizon engine, instead of the XBONE edition based on Forza 5. It's basically the same game as Horizon. Unlike some critics, I'm not pushing the grade down a gigantic amount because of it.

GRADE: A

The Price is Right: Decades (PS3) Review

I bought this game on PSN about two years ago, but didn't play it very much. After the debacles that were the Jeopardy and Wheel of Fortune games, I decided to give this (and game show video games in general) another chance.
The selling point of TPIR:D is to play TPIR in different years, the games I played ranged from 1977 to 2008. I'll assume you know how to play TPIR so I'll just skip that part. The obvious selling point to play the "pricing games." I've read from other reviews that not every pricing game is in this game, but the most famous ones are. One game I played was called "Professor Price," which was apparently only played two or three times in 1977. Once you play a pricing game, you unlock it and can play it separately by accessing the archive, which tells you the premiere date, ranking by premiere date and retired date (if the game was retired).
Well at least goofy characters are acceptable in this game, unlike Jeopardy, but your characters aren't too goofy. They physically react to things happening instead of laughing or whatever they do in the THQ game show games. Instead of Drew Carey or Bob Barker appearing in the game, the current announcer introduces the game.
The only problem with the game is the crowd sound. I know the crowd is almost always yelling during the game, but the sound in this game is almost like a riot is taking place in the studio. It's almost constant and even worse, it's loud. Even when I raised the music and voice all that way and had the crowd just one notch above zero, it was still pretty loud.
The game also has a tutorial mode to tell you how each pricing game is played, but at least you could skip those or (unlike the other mentioned games) tell the game to skip them in the options menu.

Overall, compared to Jeopardy and Wheel of Fortune, this game is a marked improvment, but it's still simple and a game you should probably get if it's cheap or rentable. This game on PS3 is download only. It's on disc for Wii and Xbox 360.

Overall rating: B

Double Review: Jeopardy and Wheel of Fortune (XBox360)

Basically, these games are fairly faithful versions of their counterparts, but both games have one major problem. Whoever thought up the idea of having the contestants whoop and laugh or moan everytime something happens apparently didn't realize how annoying it is. Yes, I do mean everytime. Now maybe on WoF that might be okay (contestants just clap on the show though) but on Jeopardy it's inexcusable. The male contestant has a laugh that sounds like a horror movie clown. The female contestants are a little better, but it's still a major programming issue. You can't turn down their voices here, because you'll also turn down the major reason for playing this game: the vocals of the hosts of the show (Pat Sajak and Vanna White for WoF and Alex Trebek on Jeopardy). Again, a major flaw with this game.
Another flaw on WoF is that every time you play a game, it still plays the tutorial of the different rounds and prize wedges. Thankfully you can press the Y button to skip them, but still, I've played nearly 10 games on it and it still thinks it the first time it's ever been played.
The last problem with these games are the accessibility of the games. I've read a couple of reviews on Gamefly (where I rented these games) and the online multiplayer is basically empty. Maybe the reason for that is because the price on these games are still too high. On Amazon, WoH is 20.99 for XBox and 22.99 for PS3. Jeopardy is $22.73 on Xbox and $17.80 on PS3. On XBox Marketplace WoH is 19.99 but Jeopardy is 29.99. Why are game show video games so damn expensive? Games like these should never be sold for more than $19.99.
Okay, these games in general are good, but while the basic game is good, the presentation kills a lot of the fun of these games. Rent these games unless you can find a really good deal on them. I'm not responsible if you punch the TV screen when the male contestant giggles for the billionth time.

Wheel of Fortune: C+
Jeopardy: B-

Forza Horizon Review

XBox 360 Exclusive
Microsoft Games/Turn 10/Playground Games

When I got my 360 earlier this year, it came with Forza Motorsport 4. At first I wasn't thrilled. I've never been a fan of driving simulators. Since I'm not a driver I found it annoying to have the car be that realistic. I never got past B license on any Gran Turismo game and I didn't enjoy the original Forza on the original XBox. But after giving it a chance and enjoying the game a lot more than I thought, I found out about Forza Horizon.
I got the game from a Gold Box deal on Amazon and when I started playing the game, I loved it immediately. Unlike the Motorsport games, Horizon is more like Midnight Club. It's a open-world racing game where you are a rookie driver at a fictional racing/music festival in Colorado. The storyline involves you as the rookie driving festival races to move up the divisions and become champion. Each division has a "rival" who you try to beat to the next division. When you do, they challenge you to a race and if you beat them, you get their car they challenged you in. Each rival is kinda a one-dimensional stereotype (a urban street racer, a Jackass-like reality show host, a billionaire [who made in fun of my Audi R8 for some reason, probably jealous since I beat his Lambo] and the champ, Darious Flint.) Don't worry about the story that much, it's not like you're playing racing games for the plot after all.

Along with the festival races, you also get to race in street races, which earn you more money and unlike the festival races, civilian traffic is also a factor. Two random and fun additions are "publicity stunts" and "barn finds." Publicity stunts are races mostly involving you versus a non-car. One race involves a 1970 Mustang vs a P-51 Mustang, you vs. a hot air balloon, a helicopter and some racing involving Minis and Pergeouts.

Being a next-gen racing game, there are tons of cars in the game with tons to buy as DLC. Even though the game is now $30, you can spend $50 to get the season pass and get every DLC car. Personally, I only bought a couple DLC packs (my favorite being the Top Gear pack, which actually has a Ford Transit Van, weird, huh?). They've also added a Rally expansion for $20, which is recommended if you're a rally fan and was disappointed with Dirt Showdown. The 1000 Club was also added, giving you specific tricks, races or challenges for you to do with each car. That DLC is free and gives you stuff to do if you've already won the championship.

Although I'm comparing it to Midnight Club, it's still a Forza game, the driving are realistic and that's what makes the game for fun than Midnight Club or Need for Speed. Playground Games had previously made Blur, an underrated arcade racing game that I loved, and they did a great job here. If they make Forza Horizon 2 on XBox One, I might consider getting it (meaning an XBox One).

My grade: A+

Nicktoons MLB Review

Rated E

Review based on XBox 360 Version (Downloaded from XBox Marketplace)

Buy at Amazon

Rent at Gamefly

Maybe I'm not the best person to review this since I haven't seen a Nicktoon since the mid 90's when Ren and Stimpy were first on and when Doug was actually a Nicktoon (Doug later became a Disney property by 2000), but around the All-Star Break, XBox Marketplace had the game on sale for $2.99. It was 90% off! It was cheaper than renting it and it took only 1.6 GB of Hard Drive. So I figured I'd give it a try.

I guess you can say that this is a kid-friendly version of The Bigs, the arcade-like MLB game 2K created a couple years back. It still has the violent collision at the plate occur when there's a play at the plate. Maybe they should have had that option depend on which Nicktoon character is the runner. Prince Zuko or Yak would make since, but Kitty Katswell or Katara bowling the catcher over is rather weird at times.

If you like Nicktoons and enjoy baseball, then this game is a fun little romp for you. If you're not a Nicktoons fan, I would suggest just renting this game. If you have an XBox 360, it's an easy way to get some Achievement points.

Grade: B-

Grand Theft Auto V First Review

Rated M for Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Mature Humor, Nudity, Strong Language, Strong Sexual Content, Use of Drugs and Alcohol

Review based on XB360 version.

So, I'm 46% into this game according to the 100% checklist in the game and I can tell you that this GTA so far is the best GTA since Vice City (my personal favorite) and surprisingly a more fun game than the last two Saints Row games. Rockstar fixed what I considered the one weakness of GTAIV: the fun and humor. GTAIV was a little too serious with its plotline about Niko's previous life was kind of a downer and the insistence of having to have relationships and friends was annoying to me. I know relationships where in GTA: San Andreas, but it was a minor part of the game.

This game has a neat little way to spice things up. If you're driving around, the GPS will occasionally flash and an event happens. Usually some characters purse or vehicle is stolen and you chase after the character (one woman's pink classic car was stolen and it took forever to kill the carjacker and bring it back), then you have the choice to keep the car or money or return it and do a good deed. Sometimes a character is on the side of the road and needs to go to another place and you drive them there. One time I got out of the game in a forested area of SA and a mountain lion attacked and killed me. That was kind of weird.

The storytelling is great. Franklin (kind of similar to Carl for SA), Michael (a dead ringer for Tommy Versetti in Vice City) and Trevor are great characters who are very different people who have different experiences in the game (some characters can do certain things that only they can do, like Trevor is the only one that does "Rampages")

I'm just short of halfway on the game and so far I've robbed a jewelry store, stole a weapon from a Blackwater-like group (then gave it back) and of course stolen cars, shot at people and ran from the cops. In GTAV, the cops aren't directly on you like other GTA games (and most notably Saints Row IV, since Steelport is a simulation, the cops appear from thin air and you have to chase a golden CID at fast running speeds to lose your wanted level). If you cause enough trouble, you have to try to hide from cops on the street. On your GPS, little flashing red and blue dots appear with cones that show their line of sight appear. If you avoid the cops, your wanted level disappears. Now, I imagine that it's not the same if you do something right in front of (or especially at) a cop, but I haven't done that yet.

So, halfway in, my review of GTAV is: A

Saints Row IV Review

Deep Silver/Volition Inc. 2013

Rated M

Review based on XBox 360 Version

My first experience with Saints Row was the second game, which was the first on the PS3. I only got to play the first game when I got my 360 earlier this year. Ironically, it's the only one of the four games I haven't finished yet. This may be because when you go backward on a game series, you realize that the first game is usually weaker than the newer ones. Just the idea that your character doesn't talk in SR1 and then basically won't STFU in the other games (they mention that in the new game, apparently your character was scared when he [male only on SR1] was scared speechless by Julius and Gat and the others]) kind of turns me off. But I had the same problem with playing the first Mass Effect after playing ME2 and ME3. But enough of my problem with playing games out of order, back to the review.

Saints Row IV may feel like an expansion pack to Saints Row the Third. Well, that's because it is. It's basically the same Steelport as the first, except that your cribs are gone, the Syndicate tower is replaced by a gigantic UFO, and there's gigantic platforms all over the city which you can super jump to (it's easier later in the game after you upgrade your powers). The story (which isn't really important in a SR game, but nonetheless) is that after you and the Saints prevented a nuclear attack on the US, ride that wave to become President of the United States. Well, at least you get to have a "name" in this game. Aliens attack the White House, and capture you and a large amount of your crew. The aliens put you in a simulation of Steelport and, well somehow you have to destroy the aliens in a series of missions inside and outside the simulation. Along the way, Earth is destroyed and Johnny Gat is still alive and your character has super powers like super jumps, firing icy and fiery projectiles and explosive ammo.

The game is still just as fun and practically insane as the previous games. But there are some annoyances. First off, once you get all these powers, the game becomes way too easy. I played it on Normal difficulty, but after I reached Level 25, you're basically invincible. Your notoriety also shrinks way too quickly once you play the game long enough and I was able to take 100% control of the city by Level 30, making notoriety useless since there are Saints everywhere. Kill one person, a cop shows up and five Saints shoot him before you can even shoot him. In normal circumstances, you can lose all your notoriety by chasing a "Golden CID" and destroy it. But at higher levels, the notoriety drops so fast, it's unnecessary. One time, I tried chasing it, and the notoriety disappeared, and so did the CID.

Mind you, none of the major DLC has been released yet. Maybe they'll have a way to keep the notoriety from dropping too quickly. I hope Volition will consider that.

I would give Saints Row 2 a A- and Saints Row the Third an A. I will give Saints Row IV a B+. This grade can be adjusted when all the DLC comes out (and the probable GOTY edition comes out). With GTAV coming out next week, hopefully Rockstar looked at the Saints Row games and I hope they remember to add some fun and goofiness in GTAV. Something I thought was lacking in GTAIV.