I'll jump, I swear I will...!

There are times when I am playing Geometry Wars that I swear I am going to scramble off my couch, crash my way headfirst through the glass doors, and violently fling myself off my balcony, screaming all the way down to my doom in psychotic frustration!

GAAH!

So if anyone happens to notice that I have not blogged for weeks on end...please be advised that I am more then likely splattered on the sidewalk bleeding my life away and babbling about how Geometry Wars, the devil, and Microsoft, made me to do it...

Call Of Duty 3

Dirt and grime clog my nostrils; the grit is thick and coarse upon my tongue as I choke back a dry hacking cough from the dust and debris in the air. The smoke billows out of the doorway from the old dilapidated, timbre house across the street, dissipating only when the crack of a gun roars out raining deadly lead against the crate that I am huddled behind. Frozen by fear I grip the wooden shaft of my rifle, my knuckles white, my face set in a grim determination…the seconds tick by.
Take the house and sweep the enemies within: those are my orders. Easier said then done.

Rushing through the main door the smoke billows around me, flames from the scorched furniture lick at my heels as I raise my rifle and blast death at the enemies before me. Three of them, they go down like sacks of flour, the first shot squarely in the forehead - doesn’t even know what hit him! The second and third soldiers aren’t so neatly disposed of, they die almost instantaneously as I riddle their bodies full of holes and hate.

All around me and outside of the house I can hear the screams of the dying. Agonized pleas of mercy begging for pity, gurgles and squawking sounds from throats filling with blood…death is everywhere…

My partner and I (I don’t even know his name – does he have a family?) rush the staircase to the second floor, he takes the lead and in turn takes the bullet that was meant for me. His dead eyes stare at me as I roll past him and duck in the alcove at the top of the stairs. Down at the end of the hall I can see two of ‘em, Nazi bastards. I fire my gun blindly pinning them down and at the same time I reach to my belt for the last grenade I have left. I pull the pin and hurl it forward, the Nazi’s see it coming and they scramble like pigs at feeding time. The one on the left takes a shot in the throat, paying more attention to the grenade then me he didn’t even have a chance to realize that he was dying. However as I sit there reveling in my victory I failed to notice that the other soldier managed to find the grenade that I tossed and is standing there in the doorframe with it in his hands. I shoot once…twice…three times into his belly – patterns of his entrails can be seen sprayed across the wall behind him. He falls down dead with the grenade still in his hand. Ducking back into the security of my alcove I listen for the explosion of the hand grenade…it blasts clean all traces of what transpired – mine enemies remains vaporized from the searing heat and brutal shrapnel.

The house has been cleaned.

My mission has been accomplished.

Freaking hell – Call of Duty 3 is pretty damn intense. It’s not Gears of War…and after playing Gears no shooter can really compare…but shit ya, COD3 is a bang up action fest. I'll be the first to say that the World War II genre is done and done and done when it comes to shooters, but what the hell its Call of Duty, right? Always room for Nazi's and tanks and sniper rifles...

And Gods bless head shots!

Metroid Prime 3: Corruption.

Soon...

I gots it, I gots it, I gots it I do!!

I picked up Gears Of War today. I gotta say, it feels like I've been waiting forever for this game - and I'm not ashamed to admit the flush of excitement that came over me when I put the disk in and the game fired up for the first time.

It doesn't disappoint one bit - and all the hype surrounding it is very well deserved. The run and gun days are over, it is now time for stop and pop, I'm absolutely loving the concept of taking cover in this game. The simplicity of just needing to really worry about one button (A button) to take care of all your cover options works very smoothly, and leaves you plenty of time to focus on taking out the enemy rather then trying to remember what does what.

There's a chainsaw on my gun!!

Yup.

And I swear to the gods I let out a holler when I was online and chainsawed my first victim, add to that the ability to curb stomp your opponent when he's down to finish him off, and you discover really that that's what Gears Of War is all about.

No doubt in my mind - this is the game of the year.

...

Also, while I was at the store getting Gears, I picked up the wireless headset/mic that was just released. Its pretty slick, waaaaaay overpriced - but hey, it makes me feel like Jack Bauer while I wear it, and thats worth the price in itself.
Over all though the headset works as good (if not better) as the wired set that comes with the Xbox 360.

EDIT -- Upon further use, I have sadly discovered this mic a shameful rip-off from Microsoft. I payed 70 freaking dollars and the bloody thing screams feedback and distortion into the ears of whoever happens to be at the receiving end. 80% of the time I end up having to switch to my default wired mic/headset.

Gears Of War.

Well, Ive had my XBox 360 for a number of months now...and am very much enjoying it. Whenever a new console comes out there is usually one or two games in particular that catch your eye and in their singularity make you desire ownage of said system.

For me the game on the 360 that makes me touch myself privately at night in silent ecstacy is Gears Of War. This is the game that told me I would indeed one day be owning a 360. My plan in all honesty was to wait for this game to hit the market before I actually bought Microsofts new system. Of course as I blogged about here, plans dont always work out the way one intends. And besides the release date for Gears Of War is a far away November 7th and there was no way I wanted to wait that long for Microsofts little fun box.

"Gears of War—a third-person tactical action/horror game—is being developed
by Epic Games exclusively for Microsoft Game Studios and the Xbox 360™ video
game system. As Marcus Fenix, you fight a war against the immense Locust Horde, which not only out powers but outnumbers you, your squad, and the entire force of the Coalition of Ordered Governments. Gears of War is the only game to blenda deep and disturbing story of human survival against an endless mass of nightmarish creatures, a next-generation tactical combat system, and unsurpassed visuals and special effects. The story unfolds as a ragtag group of soldiers use every last ounce of strength to survive the onslaught from the forces of evil, which begins on the historic Emergence Day."

"Gears of War is designed for gamers aged 18 and older, who seek a deeper and more connected story that revolves around mature themes and depictions. The massively scoped worlds, memorable characters, and epic story line of Gears of War play out like an intense and unsettling Hollywood blockbuster action film. Movie-quality cut scenes, cinematic camera moves, and in-game storytelling bring the brutal, emotionally charged narrative to life, and this narrative remains alive because it is seamlessly controlled by you, Marcus Fenix. "

Its gonna rock our socks off! I cant freaking wait.

Republic Commando.

Finally I got my hands on the new Star Wars game Republic Commando. All in all not bad. Haven't quite finished it yet, actually truth be told I'm only four levels in. :P

Its a typical squad based action shooter with plenty of throw backs to the Star Wars universe. The thing that drew me to this game over some of the other Star wars stuff is that your not an all powered Jedi warrior in this one. The game looks at things from a different perspective. Your a soldier. Life is gritty, and not nearly as glamorous as all those fuckers that get to live in Cloud City. That and Storm Troopers have always been dead sexy! Always loved em...Ever since I was a wee tot. Sure the Jedi were cool I guess in their little cloaks and waving their cool blinky lightsabers around, but I was always mesmerized by the flashy white armor of the faceless storm troopers.

Graphics are awesome, there's some sweet CGI and suprisingly enough there's a good amount of humor in the banter between you and your troops, which actually upon further reflection is kinda wrong since your supposed to be a clone trained to search and destroy. gameplay for the most part is pretty smooth. There are some glitches with your squad getting hung on rocks and shit, but for the most part things clip a long at a pretty bug free pace.

The game isn't the be all and end all, but it is a lot better then the majority of the crappy Star Wars games that are out there right now (Jedi Knight/Knights Of The Republic games excluded).

Overall I figure I'd give the game a 7 outta 10. Prolly better in the long run to wait for it to drop down in price before picking it up. Just don't let it blink off your radar all together.