MrKniceGuy.com

Category: Xbox 360

  • Far Cry 3 Review

    FarCry3

    I have been a fan of the Far Cry series since the first Xbox game was released. Running around in the jungle and shooting all kinds of stuff was just way too much fun to pass up. Since then I’ve followed the series religiously. Far Cry 2 was good, but Far Cry 3 has expanded greatly on many of the successful parts of the game while going back to some of that classic jungle fun.

    The story is actually pretty solid. Some reviews have made fun of the main character Jason Brody for being “hard to relate to,” but I actually found it a joy to move through the story and develop him as a person and as a warrior. While he does go through a massive change, it’s done it a fun and interesting way, bringing you down the rabbit hole with him. The rest of the supporting cast take a major back seat to Jason with the exception of a few folks who help him along the way, but the point of the game is to shoot stuff and playing with any of them wouldn’t be nearly as much fun.

    The gameplay is extremely satisfying. But if killing the bad guys isn’t enough there is hunting of rare jungle animals, finding lost letters and tomes and helping villagers  to take up your time. I didn’t keep track of the total game time (and I’m still not 100% done) but there is plenty here to get your money’s worth.

    The Multi-player and co-op dynamics are very fun as well. Teaming up with 3 others for the c0-op missions reveals a separate but related story centered around the islands. I experienced some major glitches while playing with a friend on the Xbox 360, but we made the best of it and still had a good time. I’m waiting anxiously for an update to those issues though so hopefully we’ll see that soon. Multi-player does an amazing job of requiring teamwork to win, a feature I welcomed after playing many other modern shooters. The team based play is tight and fun and well worth spending some time playing up the ranks. Ubisoft has release some decent online tools to continue the fun outside the game and manage your multi-player loadouts, decryption of items and other in game settings at the farcryoutpost.com as well as mobile apps for Android and iOS.

    If you like open world shooters, dynamic worlds and a fun story, check out Far Cry 3. It’s available for PC, Xbox 360 and PS3 on Amazon and your local game store. Already have it? Tell me what you think in the comments below.

    -mrkniceguy

  • Halo 4

    If you look at the tag cloud the bottom right corner of the site, you’ll see that one of the most talked about games here at mrkniceguy.com is Halo 3. It’s no secret that I’ve been a fan of the Halo games for the past 11 years. It’s been a fun series to play and uncover more and more of the story about Master Chief and Cortana. I’ve followed their adventure ever since the first Halo came out on the OG Xbox. So when Halo 4 was released, it was a no brainer to pick it up and play.

    Halo 4 logo

    I purchased Halo 4 at launch and jumped right in to the game. Playing through the first two missions on Heroic, I’m here to report that it’s every bit as good as the previous 3 Halo games. Master Chief, Cortana, and the Covenant are all back and a new class of baddies yet to be engaged. Not only is the story good, but the game looks and feels beautiful and clean. It has that classic Halo feel with a few extra elements added. The dynamics added in are pretty natural for the gameplay and don’t feel like they were just “thrown in.” The only story complaint I have so far is some pretty long cut scenes. But we’re here for a story, right?

    343 Industries (commonly referred to as 343i) took over development when Bungie parted ways from Microsoft Game Studios and went independent, which was a mutually beneficial move. Microsoft then employed 343i to develop the next big piece of the Halo universe. And I think they’ve done a great job.

    My favorite part of Halo 4 so far is actually the sound-scape. Sound has always been a make or break point for me in movies and games, and 343i does it right. The sounds are amazing. Doors opening and closing, the guns, the baddies, the epic struggles. It all sounds great.  I generally play with a pair of Turtle Beach headphones, so I get a full ear of the sweet, sweet sounds. And I like it.

    Multiplayer is quite fun, although at this point the map selection is pretty light. I feel like I’m playing the same map every 3 or 4 games. Upcoming map packs will fix that but I wish the game had shipped with more places to play. The playlists don’t even rotate through all the maps that ship with the game but instead land on the same 3 or 4 in Infinity Slayer. That being said, I’ve spent plenty of hours on those maps and haven’t really gotten bored. Yet.

    Halo 4 is solid. I’m still working my way through the campaign and will tell you more about that at a later date, but for now I can say with confidence, you should pick it up.  You can even buy Halo 4 in the newly created mrkniceguy Amazon store.

    Halo 4 Gallery (more…)

  • Why I Think Reed Hastings Knows What He Is Doing – Netflix and Qwikster

    The internet is a-buzz with negative comments regarding the recent letter and price changes from Netflix (NFLX), of which I’ve commented on before.

    Reed Hastings, CEO and Co-Founder of Netflix recently wrote a letter, which was emailed to all customers as well as posted on the Netflix blog. In the letter, Mr. Hastings apologized (admirable and humble, a sign of a true leader) for the lack of communication regarding the price change as well as detailed a massive change (massive unless you paid attention to the details the first time around) to the Netflix corporate structure. This change comes in the form of the DVD portion of the Netflix company becoming it’s own organization (again, not a surprise if you paid attention during the price change) named Qwikster, with it’s own website and seperate name on your monthly credit card statement. The new service changes only in name but the function remains the same, shipping movies to your home. As a bonus, they also announced that video games for the Xbox 360, PS3 and Wii would be available through the service soon.

    So, two things from me. First, I think Reed did a great job handling this whole thing. While initially there seemed to be information missing (like what exactly did they mean by separating the streaming and DVD portions of the company) the follow-up sought to remedy that and announce further what they intended for the company. Secondly, I believe they see the two services as needing to grow at different paces, with streaming taking the lead. The move makes complete sense IF you understand the future of the business to be streaming, which I believe is the future and Reed and associates seem to agree with me. STARZ will be regretting the departure when Netflix moves to fight for streaming and picks up better distributors.

    So, what’s the bottom line, Netflix has communicated their commitment to the future of movies at home, and that future IS streaming. If the company restructeruing, a few more bucks a month (come on people, it’s waaaay cheaper than cable!) achieve this, then I’m all for it.

    For the record, my DVD plan ended September 1st. I now only subscribe to the streaming side of Netflix. If you’re a movie studio and you want a piece of the pie, it’s time to get on board.

    The future is streaming. Netflix, make it happen.