Oblivion Expansion "Shivering Isles" Is Out!

As we speak, I am downloading the official Oblivion expansion pack "Shivering Isles". For any fan of Oblivion, I'm sure this looks amazing to you. It costs, however, a hearty 2400 Microsoft points. That's approximately $30, but I hear it is well worth it. I will most likely give a full review next week or next next week. Stay tuned and happy Oblivion-ing!

Review: Crackdown

The Game: Crackdown
The System: Xbox 360
Heres The Lowdown: You are a genetically altered ex-criminal who must fight three ruthless gangs in an attempt to make your city safer for its citizens.

My Opinion: When my friend told me to go download the Crackdown demo on the Xbox Live Marketplace, I was skeptical. "What's it about?" I asked. When I heard the premise, sure, it sounded kinda mediocre. But I was stuck in Oblivion for a while so I thought I would give it a shot.

Damn.

This game is crazy. Crazy good. The makers of the Grand Theft Auto series really hit it off with this one. The sandbox-like style of game play allows you to get on top of every building, drive almost every car, and it gives you the opportunity to do nothing involving the game plot. I spent about 2 hours just kicking cars and sniping innocent pedestrians. The actually plot is kinda too simple that it doesn't leave you asking "I want to know what happens after I kill this kingpin!". But it is satisfying infiltrating gang headquarters and blowing away the little henchman with shotguns, assault rifles, sniper rifles, pistols, grenades, and bludgeoning them with boulders or cars. I guess this game is really fun because of the scope of things you can do and probably will do to complete what you need to do.

When playing Grand Theft Auto I didn't really get into the whole mob-gangster style of it. But this, being taken place in the future and being a super-cop, for some reason felt more at home for me. You are the enforcer, not just the enforcee. Except that word doesn't exist. If you didn't like the feel of the Grand Theft Auto games, try this out. You might be surprised.

Now the Online Play is not everything I thought it would be, only because I didn't think they would take it in this direction. If you have another crack-addicted friend playing the game on Xbox Live, you two can join together to kick some butt in any way you please. Think of it being like the single player game, but just another cop like you helping you out. Simple but oh so sweet.

So what's the verdict? This one is a high-rent to buy. Addictive game play will keep you satisfied for at least 20 hours. Pick this up if you have an Xbox 360.

The Essentials:

Graphics: Shading is great on certain objects, but some objects have a cell-shaded type of feel. Very cartoony. Takes a minute to get used to, but it definitely does not dissapoint. 8/10

Control: Each button has it's own sole function, and the layout is easy to get into after about 20 minutes. 8/10

Sound: The sounds of gunfire are crisp and solid. The sounds of them nearly missing you leaves you a sense of adrenaline. The announcer guy reminds me of an old Justice League narrator, which is fine in my book. The soundtrack however is god awful. Nothing but foreign rap and hip-hop. The main theme "song" is about 10 seconds long and it loops over and over. Tweak the music and this sound will be pretty neat. 6.5/10

Till next week! Have a good Spring Break!
+John Bosson