sideline gamer: call of duty modern warfare 3

I've been watching video games again... because its video game release season (that's what PJ tells me, anyway), and as far as I can tell, this Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 thing is a big deal... possibly the biggest. I know a lot of people are probably going to compare this to Battlefield 3 (again, that's what PJ tells me) but I'm going to avoid doing that because I feel like they are actually very different games, even though they have baseline similarities- like both being WW3 type games, and taking place in NYC as well as major European cities.  Moving on...

MW3 opens on Wall Street- which was INSANE!  It was so realistic, eerily life-like and perfect... you know, until everything started blowing up and crumbling down.  In the first minutes of the game, you play not only in the normal shooting mode, but also in a helicopter and in a boat!  I could tell it was awesome because PJ got really excited about the boat, I got excited when I saw the Staten Island ferry terminal.

Some of the cooler parts of the movie... err... video game... are the slo-mo segments and the AC-130 plane support mode.  There are times in the game where you bust into an area, either by falling through the ceiling or exploding open a door, and things go SLOW.  This gives you a chance to very carefully and thoughtfully kill every person in the room besides whoever you are trying to save or capture.  I usually took these moments to marvel at how you literally kill everyone in sight during these games.  In contrast to these very slow, very precise moments are the AC-130 plane support parts.  Basically, you're surrounded by enemies on all sides, and you get transported somehow from the ground into a plane that shoots at everyone coming at you and you are then able to save yourself and your buddies.  Once you save the day, you are spirited back to the ground, pretty seamlessly, and then you continue to shoot everyone in sight.

Honestly, one of the best parts of the game is the end.  I know that sounds horrible but bear with me.  I'm not going to give you any details, just in case you also pretend video games are movies, but the end was satisfying in a way that a lot of other games recently are not.  It's like the bonus scene at the end of the movie, when you get the satisfaction of seeing everything resolved.
Good. Stuff.
I knew this wouldn't be complete if I didn't comment on the on-line gaming mode.  After a few weeks of Team Deathmatch and cursing 12 year old boys on surround sound, I can give a bit of insight.  My one comment is that all the maps seem kind of... similar.  Sure, they are literally all over the world and look totally different... but the density of spaces and the actual size of the areas are all pretty much the same.  I'm hoping that this is something they will work on with map packs... or blah blah blah I just watch this crap because I have to.

<3 barb

*all images link back to their original source

sideline gamer: battlefield 3

PJ has been wanting me to do a series like this for a while, and I figured it was about time I get going on it.  What you may or may not know is that I spend a lot of time watching PJ play video games.  I know it seems totally lame and weird, and at first I didn't really enjoy it, but that's changed now that I'm following along with the storylines. At this point, there's not much difference between watching a video game and watching a TV show.  I'm still sitting on the couch, only now instead of yelling at the screen I can yell at PJ and have a direct impact on the outcome of the story.  Bonus: if I don't complain about watching video games, he doesn't complain about me making headbands.  Totally a win/win!  

Anyway, as you can tell by the title of this post, the first game I've decided to review (or just chat about, since I have no claim of knowing anything about video games) is Battlefield 3, for Playstation.  You may have heard of it... I honestly never had before... First impressions: the animation is crazy realistic, the sound (on surround sound) really puts you in the middle of the action, and the voice acting just sells the whole thing.  Pretty early on in the game, there are buildings literally falling down around you... yea, it’s awesome.

The story is told through a series of interrogations and flashbacks- the question and answer video portions are what drives the story forward, while keeping you on the edge of your seat in suspense.  The flashbacks do make things a bit frustrating at times, since you know that everyone around you (including the character you are playing) knows what's going on, but you don't have a clue.  Again, this just keeps you pushing ahead to see what's next.

On to gameplay, which I can really only judged by the way PJ reacts to the game.  I want to start by saying that this game is difficult, sometimes prohibitively so.  You're rushing and moving and hustling along for like 2 minutes, and then you die... Then you need to play those two minutes all over... And over... And over... Until you figure out (in some cases) the precise thing you need to do to get you into the next scene.  To make matters worse, every time you die, it's the same animation.  That drove me crazy!
Throughout the game, you play 3 different characters.  You play the soldier being questioned, you play another American soldier (who is the shooter on a plane- like Goose from TopGun), and you play a Russian who is moving parallel to your American soldier.  You also spend some time driving and shooting from a tank!  According to PJ, playing each of the ground characters felt distinct, they moved differently. Clearly the flying segment was totally unique- probably one of the most fun moments of the whole thing, I'd like to high-five whoever developed that one.

I'm not going to spoil all the fun for any gamers out there who might actually be reading my post, so I'll finish by saying that this is probably the best game I've watched- it rolls out very much like a movie!  The only downside?  Even with PJ dying every 43 seconds, it was only 5 or 6 hours of gameplay... I probably could've watched a bit longer ;-)

<3 barb

PS- What do you think about making this a series of posts?  I have at least 3 other games that PJ has played recently, is currently playing, or will play soon... so it's doable if you think it will be fun!

(all images from gamestop.com)