Tough Break, Kid

Not that anyone noticed but I haven't been here in a while. Again. This time though, I have an actual bona fide excuse. I broke my wrist about a month and a half ago during a wrestling match with a steroid-fueled grizzly bear who also happened to be hopped up on PCP. He put up a tough fight, but in the end, I took him down.

Okay, that's actually bullshit. I broke it at the movie theater. I fell on the stairs while trying to climb to the top of Mount Theater 14 so I could enjoy Toy Story 3 with the kids. I lost my balance, fell, and tried in vain to catch myself on a stair.

There was a nice wet popping sound, excrutiating pain, and a really cool fireworks display that only I got to see.

To make a long story short, the cast has been off a few weeks now, but I still have a lot of pain and stiffness in my wrist but nothing that won't go away in time (I think.) All the same, until recently, typing was nearly impossible, and at the very least, rather uncomfortable.

It's funny to think that as a kid I always thought it would be cool to have a cast on my arm like it would be evidence of some epic battle that I'd survived. Then, at the age of 33, I actually got a cast and found out that not only was it not cool but it in fact sucked massive amounts of ass.

I remember seconds after I climbed into the chair at the theater; there I was gasping for breath, cradling my throbbing wrist and cursing my own stupidity. Two thoughts ran through my head in quick succession. One, the kids would have to miss the movie as I obviously needed to go to the ER. Two, I knew without a doubt I would not be able to play Xbox for quite some time.

I'm sitting there in agony and I'm actually thinking about shit like that.

Anyway, it's all over. The cast is gone, my arm has returned to its pre-atrophy state, and I'm back to gaming. Can't really flex the wrist all that much yet, but at least I've got the basics covered. Ahem.

I'm thankful it happened when it did though, since I'm going back to school in October and it's nice to have both arms operational.

Now that I've got all that off my chest, I'm off to finish filling out Gamestop satisfaction surveys in the vain hope I'll be the $500 gift card winner. Then, the kids go to bed, and I'm going to dive back into Mafia 2. Good times.

Sniper: Ghost Warrior Singleplayer Review

Ever since the days of Wolfenstein 3D, I've been a huge fan of the FPS genre. I've ventured into other fortes, like racing, 3rd person games and even flight sims, but shooters are just my thing.

Enter 'Sniper: Ghost Warrior' on the XBox 360. A few months ago I caught wind of this 'budget' title from City Interactive, and the screenshots and gameplay videos grabbed my attention at once. Most FPS games require you to go in guns blazing, but the thought of a current generation sniping game sounded fresh and interesting.

I headed out to Gamestop last night and picked up my copy, which at $39.99 didn't exactly break the bank.

Graphically, the game is gorgeous. The tropical jungle setting is lush and crisp. There are some jaggies once in a while, but nothing to break the immersion.

The controls feel great. If you've played another FPS recently, you'll get the control scheme immediately. It's virtually identical to Call of Duty, down to clicking the right stick for a melee attack. Movement is very precise and responsive.

Sound design is excellent as well. From the enemies chattering away as you sneak past them to the 'ping' of a silenced shot to the chatter of an M4A1, it all just sounds right.

The levels are fairly linear, with some flexibility to choose your own path.

A lot of people online have been whining about how the enemies seem to magically be able to find you when you're hidden. What people have not been talking about however is the stealth indicator in the game that shows you how well you're hidden. Using that as a reference, moving low and slow, and staying under the cover of foliage, you will stay concealed unless you literally bump up against an enemy. I haven't had any problems there.

One of Sniper:Ghost Warrior's trademarks is the bullet-cam. When you line up the perfect headshot and squeeze the trigger, you're treated to a Hollywood-style slow motion tracking shot of the bullet leaving your rifle, traversing the gap, and ultimately impacting your target with a nice bloody result. No matter how many times you see it, it's still a rush when the bullet cam kicks in.

There are a few small hiccups that detract from the game, but only slightly. Namely, the grappling hook, used in a few places to move to higher or lower ground. The controls are awkward and I ended up getting killed a few times as I seemed to get stuck trying to move down the rope and had to finesse the sticks to get the job done.

Fortunately, these incidents are few and far between.

Overall, for a shooter that doesn't come from an A-list studio, I think City Interactive did a hell of a job producing a solid, rewarding, and damned fun to play FPS.

At $39.99, it's a solid buy.

Call of Duty: Waw Map Pack 2

First impressions of Map Pack 2: Awesome.  I played each of the three new MP maps (didn’t get time for Japanese Zombies) and I have to say, each has a different feel, and is very well thought out and developed.  Banzai is essentially Bridge on the River Kwai with perks.  Lots of routes back and forth, lush jungle scenery, and just big enough to feel big without being huge (I’m looking at you, Airfield.)  This map seems to cater to rifles and machine guns.

Corrosion is a smaller, industrial map with lots of sniping spots and ambush locations.  Definitely more submachine gun and shotty action here.  Being a smaller map, it’s also a lot faster paced.

Rounding out the package is Sub Pens, an almost claustrophobically small map which is also a shotgun and SMG lover’s heaven.  Lots of good choke points lead to some pretty pitched fighting.  Snipers are not left out here though, as the main sub-bay is wide enough for some serious control room to control room sniper matches.  I used an SVT-40 with an aperture sight and cleaned up with it.

Listening to the Xbox Live chatter, the reaction was very much positive, and I have to second the opinion.  These well-designed maps definitely breathe some new life into the World at War gameplay.

Pair that with double XP from now through Tuesday the 16th, and it’s a knockout combination.

Verdict: 5/5  Treyarch knocked this one out of the ballpark, and I haven’t even checked out the new zombie mode.

Morning Lulz