Sheding light on Shadowrun

I've always heard, "Don't Judge a Book by it's Cover"... That being said, I'm guilty of just that it appears. I heard just little about the new title from Microsoft and how this would be the first game that they would release to play on Xbox 360, Games for Windows, play on Xbox Live and against or with each other. Interesting so far and I look at the artwork and think its some kind of Pitfall game on steroids perhaps. So I move on and look at something else.

Luckily I had a first hand chance to actually see & play this game at the GSB Road Tour in Dallas and I have to report that I now stand corrected. This game is awesome from the visuals to game play and all points in between. Not only does it blend the worlds of Fantasy & Sci-fi together in its usage of both Magic & High Tech weapons, this first person shooter bridges the gap between Console and PC gaming once and for all.

I really like the round based, reward style of play the game has to offer and how you can purchase certain types of Magic and Weapons in between gaming rounds. This feature reminds me a lot of Diablo II and upgrading your armor, weapons, or purchasing magic items before heading back out to battle. The various classes of characters you can plan and how they have certain advantages is a huge plus and encourages more team play than the solo run & gun style.

If I hadn't seen this game first hand, I more and likely would have just passed it up all together. I'll have to do a better job and look harder at games from now on or I'll find myself missing out. This title has clearly moved way up on the chart at a very close 2nd, behind Halo 3 and could slide into first perhaps. I had a small list of 5 titles in my head of must buy games for starters and I'm afraid that Lost Planet has now fallen out of my top 5 list.

Top Five Must Buy for Xbox 360

1. Halo 3
2. Shadow Run
3. Assassins Creed
4. Moto GP 07
5. Viva Pinata (So my girls can play)

Gamerscore Blog Road Tour - Dallas

The end of the Gamerscore Blog North American Road Tour wrapped up in Dallas last night with the event taking place at the very swank Hotel ZaZa, located in their Crouching Tiger suite. The setting was an incredible and very relaxed place to meet up with other local Gamers & Bloggers for an evening of fun, games, food and refreshments.

Some of the local gamers that made it out were none other than DeaconBlade 360, Soufizzy, RuKaMiR, GameSkills, willieb 52, NASCARVinny, and MiyamotoMusashi just to name a few. With about 7 Xbox 360 game systems, spread all through out and with controllers all around, what more could you ask for?

How about some first hand looks at some very fresh games? We got to look at a couple very new games and they only asked that we don't take photos or write about these games. So all I can say is they are very visual and appealing games to watch for down the road. So what games can I talk about then from the event?

How about today's brand new released Shadowrun & Forza Motorsport 2 for starters and clear favorites of mine for the night. I also had a chance to look at Tenchu Z and rocked out on Guitar Hero II for the night. It was really cool to put all of these games through their paces and nice to know that I'm not the only one that can send his car right into the walls while racing Forza Motorsport 2. The also had some really cool Live Arcade titles to check out as well, but all in all I think Shadowrun was the game people liked the most.

I also got to check out the soon to be released Wireless Keyboard adaptor and found it to look and feel incredible. It was only a prototype, but it sounds like it is very close to what they had on hand to show us. I can see how this will be a big plus for messaging your friends while on Xbox Live. Well I plan to have more in depth reviews on some of the titles later in the week, but in short and if your looking for a couple new titles for the 360, rush out and get Shadowrun and Forza Motorsport 2, you'll love them.

Halo - Combat Evolved

The flag ship game from Microsoft's corner at their launch of the original Xbox was none other than Halo. The sci-fi shooter that takes place on a mysterious ring world sounded cool and very different for its time. So not only was Microsoft launching into the console ring, they were bringing a lot of new games to the table as well.

I honestly stuck to my PC guns and felt that was where I wanted to game and enjoyed the online options at the time. I didn't do my research into what was planned for the Xbox and as cool as it sounded, I would just have to skip out on playing Halo.

I'm playing catch up now and really enjoy the game play and learning more about the Halo series. I still have a ways to go in completing the first Halo campaign and pretty much know the story, having read Halo - The Flood by William C Dietz.

William's book does a really great job in following the story line of the first game and also telling the story from the Covenant's point of view. I guess you can say that some of the magic is gone, having read The Flood and now working my way through the game, but I have to say that the first time I landed on the ring world called Halo was an awesome feeling and its been an incredible ride to say the least. No matter what I know is about to happen, I mean I'm still the one playing the game, I just have a slight advantage is all.

My goal for now is to try and finish both campaigns and all of the books before I start playing Halo 3 in September. It also means getting the much awaited Xbox 360 Elite. I love the game play in Halo 2 and the little bit that I've seen online of the beta for Halo 3 is going to make this a must for all Halo fans and a huge score for both Microsoft & Bungie.

Halo - The Fall Of Reach

Eric Nylund's novel titled Halo - The Fall Of Reach, sets up the background for the ever popular Xbox game Halo - Combat Evolved. Having never played Halo before I started reading the first book and was hooked. For the most part the story was excellent and captured me from the start and was a really easy read.

Little did I know that as I read the story, I'd fine myself wanting to check out the game and experience what it had to offer. The book explains all about the Spartans and introduces you to the Covenanat. In Nylund's first Halo novel we learn all about Spartan-117, John or Master Chief if you prefer to call him that and how he arrives to the strange world called Halo.

Being the Xbox fan that I am, I found myself wanting to experience more of the Halo world and was lucky to gain access to a special addition Xbox Halo console and try out the Halo game first hand. I'm not finished with the campaign, but I'm thoroughly enjoying the trip so far and have been impressed with how well the original Xbox and game plays. I've also enjoyed playing Halo 2 and look forward to the Xbox 360 Elite and Halo 3 coming out later this year. If your new to the Halo universe, I recommend checking out the books and the original games.

Spartan in training

Well for about the past 3 weeks, I've been training at becoming a better Spartan warrior. I've had just around 130 battles online so far and its been a blast. The Halo faithful are clearly experienced at their level of game play and it's been some what of an up hill battle at times for me, but I find myself improving, however slowly it may seem.

This past weekend Bungie released the new maps (with fixes) again and reset the player levels. They use to match you up in Rumble pit games based on your level and for what ever reason have removed that group and only place match ranking in the team games now. I'm not sure how much of the unranked Rumble Pit games I'll take part in now, I really enjoyed the old method and being matched up with a few people along the same level of game play. I also really like the team play more and find it a little easier to go up against 4 and know that I have 3 people on my side so to speak.

I've enjoyed the campaign mode of play and find it a good form of practice at times. I'm looking forward to the purchase of the Xbox 360 Elite and Halo 3 when it comes out. Clearly playing video games has been fun and I've been really impressed with the Halo series, I'm also looking forward to some other games as well, but the Halo series will be my all time favorite.

In a little over 2 days, the public beta for Halo 3 will come out, this is a 360 only title and it will be interesting to see over the next 3 week how many people will take part in the 3 week test. I look forward to hearing reviews and hope to still find a few playing Halo 2 and improving in the meantime.