Happy Thanksgiving!!!

I'm sorry I couldn't post this yesterday but I was with my family. Anyways, Happy (Late) Thanksgiving to everyone!! Hope you enjoyed the vacations, too bad they are almost over....

Fifa Soccer 08 Review

Fifa Soccer 08 is the newest version of the top-selling Football (Soccer for the Americans) franchise by EA Sports. It is all about trying to get as close as possible to the real sport with more teams, stadiums, players, boots, etc.
While many people have always argued about which soccer game is better, Fifa always ends up selling more simply because Ea Sports has most of the FIFA license leaving its rival game, Winning Eleven, with less teams. I have played the Fifa games since the 98 version and you can only notice difference in graphics and teams. But with the newest entry things are changing drasticly, for the good. First off all, Fifa has decided to copy Winning Eleven's control style and has made some improvements over it. You now change players with the left bumper instead of the "A" button. Players have many tricks at their disposal like their real life counterparts, but sometimes they are a little bit too overpowered, fortunately the A.I is much more smarter this time. It predicts plays and becomes really tough to beat.
But even if the game controls like real football, it is nothing special if it doesn't look like it, so that's why the game needs to looks amazing. It does look gorgeous on HD (High-Definition), players move realisticly, some of them move exactly as in real life thanks to Motion Capture, and even look like themselves. But this only applies to big name players such as Ronaldinho, Wayne Rooney, and others. Less important players don't even look like the real thing, it is really dissapointing to see them in the game. But aside from the everything else looks pretty good, the stadiums, the footballs, even the boots look good!
Sound is a very important factor in sport games and FIFA 08 doesn't dissapoint in this aspect either. Most of the teams have their own cheers and the commentary is very good. There are tons of phrases comming from the narrators Andy Gray and Martin Tyler. Also if you switch your console's main language to spanish you will hear the Mexican narrators Enrique Bermudez and Ricardo Pelaez from Televisa. I do like the Mexican comentary more but it gets old really quickly, even frustrating.
FIFA 08 has really improved from last year's mediocre attempt and its a great addition to the franchise. If you really like football/soccer you should not hesitate in buying or even renting this game.

Graphics:9.0
Sound:9.0
Gameplay:9.5
Entertainment:9.5
Replay Value:9.6
I give this game a : 9.3

WELCOME TO MY BLOG!

This blog is about all new videogames I get my hands onto and also about those shiny new gadgets we (or maybe I should say "I") love so much. Please feel free to comment and add any suggestions. Hope you enjoy it!

Marco Hernandez

Guitar Hero 3 Review

Guitar Hero 3 is the newest installment of the famous franchise originally created by Harmonix and RedOctane but since these companies have parted different ways (Harmonix was bought by MTV) this game was developed by Activision (who bought RedOctane).
Well the game is a rythm based game were you have a guitar shaped controller that you use to hit the incoming notes on-screen.
Now that Activision has bought the franchise, there is a better selection of songs in the game. The songs included in the game are the following:

1. Starting Out Small

• "Slow Ride" – Foghat
• "Talk Dirty to Me" – Poison † (Vocals re-recorded by Bret Michaels)
• "Hit Me with Your Best Shot" – Pat Benatar
• "Story of My Life" – Social Distortion
• "Rock and Roll All Nite" – Kiss (Encore)

2. Your First Real Gig

• "Mississippi Queen" – Mountain
• "School's Out" – Alice Cooper
• "Sunshine of Your Love" – Cream
• "Barracuda" – Heart
• Guitar Battle vs. Tom Morello (Original Composition)
• "Bulls on Parade" – Rage Against the Machine (Encore played with Tom Morello)

3. Making the Video

• "When You Were Young" – The Killers
• "Miss Murder" – AFI
• "The Seeker" – The Who
• "Lay Down" – Priestess
• "Paint It, Black" – The Rolling Stones (Encore)

4. European Invasion

• "Paranoid" – Black Sabbath
• "Anarchy in the U.K." – Sex Pistols †
• "Kool Thing" – Sonic Youth
• "My Name Is Jonas" – Weezer
• "Even Flow" – Pearl Jam (Encore)

5. Bighouse Blues

• "Holiday in Cambodia" – Dead Kennedys
• "Rock You Like a Hurricane" – Scorpions
• "Same Old Song and Dance" – Aerosmith
• "La Grange" – ZZ Top
• Guitar Battle vs. Slash (Original Composition)
• "Welcome to the Jungle" – Guns N' Roses (Encore played with Slash)

6. The Hottest Band on Earth

• "Black Magic Woman" – Santana
• "Cherub Rock" – The Smashing Pumpkins
• "Black Sunshine" – White Zombie
• "The Metal" – Tenacious D
• "Pride and Joy" – Stevie Ray Vaughan (Encore)

7. Live in Japan

• "Before I Forget" – Slipknot
• "Stricken" – Disturbed
• "3's & 7's" – Queens of the Stone Age
• "Knights of Cydonia" – Muse
• "Cult of Personality" – Living Colour † (Encore)

8. Battle for Your Soul

• "Raining Blood" - Slayer
• "Cliffs of Dover" – Eric Johnson
• "The Number of the Beast" – Iron Maiden
• "One" – Metallica
• Guitar Battle vs. Lou (The Devil Went Down to Georgia - Steve Ouimette) (Inspired by the Charlie Daniels Band)
• "Avalancha" – Héroes del Silencio
• "Can't Be Saved" – Senses Fail
• "Closer" – Lacuna Coil
• "Don't Hold Back" – The Sleeping
• "Down 'N Dirty" – LA Slum Lords
• "F.C.P.R.E.M.I.X." – The Fall of Troy
• "Generation Rock" – Revolverheld
• "Go That Far" – Bret Michaels Band
• "Hier Kommt Alex" – Die Toten Hosen
• "I'm in the Band" – The Hellacopters
• "Impulse" - An Endless Sporadic
• "In the Belly of a Shark" – Gallows
• "In Love" – Scouts of St. Sebastian
• "Mauvais Garçon" – Naast
• "Metal Heavy Lady" – Lions
• "Minus Celsius" – Backyard Babies
• "My Curse" – Killswitch Engage
• "Nothing for Me Here" – Dope
• "Prayer of the Refugee" – Rise Against
• "Radio Song" – Superbus
• "Ruby" – Kaiser Chiefs
• "She Bangs the Drums" – The Stone Roses
• "Take This Life" – In Flames
• "The Way It Ends" – Prototype
• "Through the Fire and Flames" – DragonForce (unlocked by completing Career Mode)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_songs_in_Guitar_Hero_III:_Legends_of_Rock

The graphics have been improved greatly and the gameplay is perfectly tuned. There is also multiplayer options, both on a single console or over online play.
The only thing I did not like about the game was the in-game advertising, but aside from that I totally recommend this game to everyone.

Graphics:8.5
Sound:10
Gameplay:9.5
Entertainment:9.0
Replay Value:9.8
I give this game a : 9.2