Food Review (Chicken and Bacon Premium McWrap from McDonalds)

Yes. Another damn food review ... it seems like it's all I bother doing at this point. Wanting another chicken McWrap, I decided to get a grilled chicken and bacon one to see how it would be. Naturally, McDonald's fucked up and gave me the crispy chicken. This is my review.

As it turns out, this picture's pretty deceiving. There was a ridiculous amount of lettuce in this particular McWrap, and the bottom wasn't folded correctly, resulting in a huge pile of lettuce, three pieces of chicken, and a tomato down there. The first one I had wasn't made this poorly, so I have to figure a mentally handicapped kid made this one. The chicken tasted a lot like the chicken that's in McDonald's Southwestern chicken sandwich, which is a plus. As I already mentioned, there was a shit ton of lettuce, and there were a good number of bites that were lettuce and bread, with no ranch (I didn't say that there was basically no ranch in this? Oops.). The bacon was pretty bad, but manageable ... just a quick look at it lets you know it was microwaved. The tiny bits of cheese that were in there were pointless, and didn't add anything. The tomato and shitload of lettuce seemed to be fresh, for what it's worth.

Overall, not as good as the sweet chili McWrap -- not so much because this one was made pretty badly, but because it doesn't taste quite as good. The premium McWraps are good, lunch-sized options, and are a meal within themself. Not the best thing I've had from McDonald's, but worthy of a buy... so long as the person making yours knows how to fold the goddamn bread.

+: Chicken. Price. Size.
-: High-school-drop-out folding job. Way too much lettuce. Pretty poor bacon.

3.5/5

Food Review (Grilled Chipotle Chicken Sandwich and Loaded Tater Tots from Burger King)

I don't usually do two food reviews in one, but what the hell... no one reads these damn things anyway! I CAN DO WHAT I WANT!!! Alright, so today for dinner, I kind of had a hankerin' for Burger King (unusual, I know) and remembered that they had some new things on the menu. Oh, Burger King... constantly adding shit to the menu while not caring about the quality of the product... ON WE GO!

First of all, this is the way Burger King describes their chipotle chicken sandwich:

Made with perfectly seasoned, premium white meat chicken, this twist on the popular TENDERCRISP^® Chicken Sandwich will thrill your taste buds thanks to the spicy chipotle mayo, sweet Caramelized style onions, thick-cut bacon, pepper jack cheese, ripe tomatoes and fresh-cut lettuce sandwiched between a warm, artisan-style bun. Also available as a wrap. 


The chipotle chicken sandwich wasn't at all what I thought it would be. Not just because the picture (as usual) was WAY off, but because it didn't taste chipotle-esque at all. In fact, I didn't notice any even on my sandwich. I opted for the grilled chicken just for the hell of it... the nutrition facts on it blew my mind. Most notably, over 3,000mg of sodium. Uh... what in the HELL!? Okay, okay... the taste. Burger King's chicken has always been some of my favorite at fast food restaurants (especially their Tendercrisp variety), so I knew what to expect. The bread was soft and had a slight sweetness to it. The chicken was hot and juicy (albeit salty... imagine that), the bacon was crispy and better than I thought it would be, and the melty cheese actually had flavor. The caramelized onions were bland though, the lettuce and tomato weren't exactly fresh (as usual), and, like I said, I didn't get any chipotle flavor. It tasted alright besides that, but it's still not something I'd get again. The sandwich was WAY smaller than I had anticipated, and the slippery chicken breast bastard kept sliding away every time I took a bite... definitely messy.

+: Chicken has good flavor; tasty bacon; cheese.
-: Seemingly zero chipotle mayo; 3,000mg of sodium, size, price.

3.25/5


And for the loaded tater tots:

A bite-sized snack that is sure to kick your meal up a notch! Enjoy warm fluffy potatoes filled with flavorful bacon and sweet onions on the inside, with a savory and crispy crumb coating on the outside. Available in eight, 10 or 12 piece servings. These LOADED TATER TOTS™ potatoes are great for sharing and are a savory complement to any meal.


And that's that. The important thing is the taste, as always. I opened up my little box of tots and they were fresh out of the fryer -- imagine that. Glistening with grease, and hot through the cardboard. I took a bite, and I liked it, unsurprisingly. It's nothing but a loaded baked potato in form of a tater tot, so it's hard to go wrong with that. They're not mind blowing, but still worth a purchase and another and another. There's not much else to say about them, other than that they should probably have a permanent spot on Burger King's menu.

+: Hot; fair value; don't even really need ketchup.
-: Limited time item.

4.25/5

Food Review (Arby's King's Hawaiian Roast Beef and Swiss)

For the love of God, Arby's, make this a permanent menu item. That's pretty much it. The Hawaiian roll is sweet, soft, and just a lot better than the run-of-the-mill sesame seed bun. Also, it's a bit bigger, so the sandwich is more filling. This sandwich wins due to its wide amount of flavors and textures. The sweet, soft bread, salty roast beef, crunchy and sour pickles, and slightly spicy dijon mustard. Add a packet of Arby's sauce, and it's perfect. The one thing that I pretty much forgot about is the Swiss cheese. The only reason I knew it was there was because I saw it. A single slice of cheese against all of the other flavors was pointless, and only added calories. A second slice of cheese may have helped it.

This is one of the best things that I've ever had from Arby's. The sandwich itself is about $4, which I guess is a fairly reasonable price, given its size and the average cost of fast food now. If you like Arby's regular roast beef sandwich, then this is something you absolutely need to try... but only if you like pickles. And mustard. If you don't like either of those, then, in the words of Gordon Ramsay, "Piss off, yeah?"

4.5/5

+: Tasty as all hell.
-: $4 for a sandwich wouldn't be all bad, but the bread, as good as it is, is there more than the roast beef is -- 1/3 more roast beef my ass!

Food Review (Sweet Chili Chicken Premium McWrap from McDonalds)

     Yesterday I decided to get McDonalds, and I decided to try a McWrap -- a Sweet Chili McWrap, to be exact. To be more exact, I opted for the grilled chicken, because... what the hell. This is my first time posting a picture on this blog, but that right there is what you get.

     Coming in at just 360 calories, this McWrap manages to be relatively healthy ... unsurprisingly though, there's a shit ton of sodium (1030mg/43%). The taste of this McWrap is decent, but it's not because of the chicken. The grilled chicken is all moist and whatever, but it really doesn't have much flavor, which makes the four decently-sized strips of chicken per wrap relatively pointless. It took a few bites for me to get any of the sweet chili sauce, as gravity had to force that shit to the bottom. Additionally, despite the good amount of chicken, the last quarter or so of my McWrap was basically a salad, since the chicken wasn't evenly distributed. I'd recommend jiggling the McWrap around a little bit to get some of it to settle. Who cares how retarded you look, it'll make the whole thing consistent.

     Given the reasonable price of these McWraps, it's impossible to not recommend. While I'm sure the crispy chicken would taste better (what a SHOCK that would be), this wasn't bad at all, considering the value. I haven't had the chicken and ranch or chicken and bacon McWraps, but I'd have no doubts that those would be "okay" at worst. Hard not to recommend this particular McWrap, at least.

4/5

+: Great value. Kind of sort of healthy. Sweet chili sauce is as good as ever. Whatever ranch that's in there actually works well with the sweet chili sauce.

-: Chicken's damn bland. Had to wait at the window for awhile for some stupid ass reason.

?: If this is considered a "premium" McWrap, what do they consider the OTHER McWraps?

Game Review (Call of Duty: Black Ops II Uprising)

It's been out for a little while now, but I never got around to reviewing it. I wasn't as excited for Uprising as I was for Revolution simply because I've recently lost some interest in Black Ops II and just haven't played it all that much the past two months or so. Just like in the last review, I won't bother reviewing the Zombie map -- in this case, Mob of the Dead. I realize that's, for a lot of people, the biggest part of these map packs, but I tend to never get around to play Zombies. I've heard some great things about Mob of the Dead, and all signs seem to say that it's the best Zombie map in the game. Anyway, on to my interest, the multiplayer maps.

---

Encore: This map takes place in England, and is set primarily around a stage. Encore, for the most part, offers many medium-range firefights, but there are a couple close-quarters areas on the map. I don't think Encore is the most interesting looking map, but it's laid out decently. Without a doubt, the center of the map is the main attraction here for gun battles -- imagine that! If you're a sniper, this wouldn't be a mad map choice to whip one out and see what you can do. The map size itself is about medium, but a sniper would not be an awful choice. On the other hand, I wouldn't really recommend a shotgun or an SMG, but to each their own. A respectable map -- I'd like to play it more to form a better opinion, but for now it gets a 3.75/5

Magma: Another map with an environmental hazard ... if you're too stupid to guess what it is, it's magma. This is a pretty interesting map, but I can't decide if I really like it or not. I'm not sure if it's the spawns or the map design or what, but I find myself running around the map quite often without seeing (m)any guys. Magma, I don't think, is a very big map, but it plays like one because there's a lot of "downtime". It looks good, but I'm not completely sold on it yet. Overall, a pretty average map. I should also add that I didn't find the magma to factor into the gameplay at all in the matches I played. 3.5/5

Studio: I didn't realize it until just before researching the map before playing it that Studio is a remodeled version of Firing Range from the original Black Ops, which proved to be one of the most popular maps in that game. While I liked Firing Range a good bit, I figured it would be just as overplayed in Black Ops II as it was in the first game... and I was right. Nothing against the map, but it ALWAYS gets chosen over the other three maps in this pack, it seems. Essentially, the map is transferred from a Firing Range to, you probably guessed it, a studio set in California. While it's not very war-like, I think it looks awesome. A castle? An alien set? A Western set? It makes calling out enemies much easier, and makes the map more interesting. 4.25/5

Vertigo: The map I knew the least about, Vertigo immediately think, "Damn. That's a bland looking map." Vertigo takes place on a rooftop, and it's really a map with nothing but whites and greys. While I was thinking it'd be a "meh" map that would involve randomly scurrying around on one level of a rooftop, I soon noticed that there was an inside section to the map that I thought automatically made the map a notch above what I thought it would be. Vertigo has medium-short sightlines, so an SMG would be optimal on this map, though I've seen plenty of people do pretty well with a shotgun on this map (especially in the middle of the map), and I also enjoy using assault rifles. Doesn't look too great, but it plays pretty well. 4/5

---

If I was a bigger fan of Zombies and had people to play with, I'm sure I'd absolutely love this map pack. As I got the Season Pass for the multiplayer maps, I'm satisfied. While there are really only three *NEW* maps, I don't have anything to complain about here. As it turns out, the Firing Range remake, Studio, is probably my favorite map of the four -- despite the fact that it will be voted for until I vomit. I think the maps in Revolution were probably more interesting and fun to play as a whole, but this is a solid offering. The one thing I'm disappointed in is the lack of a gun in this pack, for one reason... if Treyarch had the plan of only releasing one gun as DLC, they should have "gone out with a bang" by releasing it as a part of the final map pack. I'm not knocking down my rating of Uprising for that reason, but it's a bummer. If you like Black Ops II and its multiplayer, you shouldn't need me to tell you to get Uprising. Better yet, if you don't have it yet, get the fucking Season Pass and download Revolution right along with it.

4/5

Food Review (Mighty Minis from Arby's)

After seeing a few advertisements for these things, I was immediately intrigued ... while Arby's could have easily done the gimmick of releasing just plain roast beef on slider buns, they actually added new things to two of them! (Actually four... there are six Mighty Minis total: Roast beef/turkey, spicy roast beef/turkey, and crispy onion roast beef/turkey)

Alright, so basically these minis are two slider buns that are still connected with roast beef (or turkey) and whatever other toppings, depending on which you got. The problem with this is that they lay the roast beef across both buns, so it's hard to rip them apart cleanly. More impractical is trying to eat both while they're still together, as if it's a mini sub. Either way you do it, it'll be sort of messy... I'd have rather Arby's just released a full-sized sandwich instead of trying to make the minis.

Crispy Onion: This one's pretty uninteresting, but it's not awful. Simply, it's roast beef with crispy onions on top. Not fresh ones, but rather ones that are out of a bag or can. They don't taste bad, but it's basically like those French's onions that come outta the can... just a little bit better. The sauce they put on is apparently "Au jus spread", but I really didn't find that it added much different flavor that wasn't already there from the combination of the roast beef and the onions. Not bad at all, but rather average. 3.5/5

Spicy: Saving the better one for last, this one was pretty tasty and more interesting. This one has roast beef (or turkey, whichever you choose) with pepper jack cheese and roasted red jalapeno ranch sauce. Sound better? It should, because it is. Personally, I'd've only liked this more if they put the crispy onions from the other one on here. The ranch sauce that they use is actually surprisingly good, and has a decent amount of heat -- it won't make your nose run or your eyes water, but it's noticeable. Would get again. 4.25/5

As I said, there's also a plain roast beef or turkey Mighty Minis selection, but that's no fun. The only difference between those and their big brother sizes is that the bread used for the Mighty Minis is different. It doesn't taste different, but it definitely has a chewier texture. The Mighty Minis from Arby's are pretty yummy (the spicy one in particular), but they're difficult to eat without being messy. Either you somehow rip them in half (not an easy task without having the meat slip out), or try eating it like an elongated roast beef sandwich. If you have a knife, use it ... it'll make your life easier, and cleaner. I hope Arby's considers keeping them around.

4/5

Food Review (Wendy's Asiago Ranch Flatbread)

Wendy's "new"est release is of the flatbread ... which seems to be a fairly popular thing now by a lot of fast food places. The Wendy's Asiago Ranch is ... ... good.

The problem with it is that it's not really new, outside of the bread that they use, and it's nothing new or spectacular. I guess Wendy's is trying to give an image that they're getting healthy, but a quick glance at the nutrition facts for these flatbreads will show just how "healthy" they truly are. Lots of fat, tons of sodium. This Asiago Ranch Flatbread is simply the Asiago Ranch chicken sandwich reassembled into a whole-grain flatbread. That's not a bad thing necessarily, but it is what it is.

The chicken is pictures as being a few slices of chicken, but I just got half of a grilled chicken filet thrown inside. I don't normally have grilled chicken at fast food places, but this was actually pretty tasty. The Asiago Ranch sauce (which I've had before) is as good as ever, even if it's a bit salty. The highlight is the bacon -- Wendy's has always had some of the best bacon in fast food, in my opinion.

Should you try it? Absolutely -- especially if you've never had the Asiago Ranch chicken sandwich. The contents slip and slide around when trying to eat it, so it's not something to eat while driving or something like that, but I still recommend it.

4/5

Food Review (Cool Ranch DLT (Doritos Locos Taco) from Taco Bell)

It's not officially out until tomorrow, but they were still selling them today, so I got one. To be more specific, I got a Cool Ranch DLT Supreme. Like the original Doritos Locos Taco, this one comes on its own or as a Supreme, which has sour cream and tomatoes. Both DLTs (Nacho Cheese and Cool Ranch) cost $1.29 for the regular taco, and $1.69 for the Supreme... though I'm sure it varies by location.

I wasn't a huge fan of the original Doritos Locos Taco, but I didn't dislike it, either. Since I prefer Cool Ranch Doritos to the Nacho Cheese ones, I figured I'd like this one a lot more. The truth is, it's not much better. Like the Nacho Cheese DLT, you really can't taste the Doritos seasoning all that much with the meat, lettuce, cheese, and (if you add it) sauce. It's like a regular taco, with a saltier shell and a very slight ranch flavoring. I actually found that the Nacho Cheese DLT had more flavor (and tasted saltier). Despite that, I think I actually like this Cool Ranch one a little bit more. The seasoning's subtle as hell, and just one of these tacos wouldn't fill the stomach of a baby sloth, but it's still pretty tasty. The biggest problem I have with both Doritos Locos Tacos is the price... why the hell does it cost $1.69 for a Supreme? It should be 99 cents for a regular and then $1.29 or something for the Supreme.

Despite the, in my opinion, relatively unfair price of the DLTs, both of them are pretty decent... though not nearly as great as a lot of other bloggers will have you believe.

3.5/5

Game Review (MLB 2K13 - 360)

Since I know there aren't (m)any reviews out there, I've decided to type this review up. Generally I wait a few days after a game releases to post a review, but I've already played for about 7 hours today, embarrassingly enough.

Graphics: 3.5/5 You'll be seeing me saying phrases like this a lot in this review, but... same as last year, from what I can tell. If you've played MLB 2K at all for the past three or so years, then you've seen 2K13. Wonky animations, some horrendous player faces, and an overall "blah" look to the game. They aren't God awful, but they're barely average. Additionally, the menus are exactly the same as MLB 2K12's, just with the 2K13 logo instead.

Sound: 4.5/5 As many people would likely say, the sound in 2K13 is fantastic, and much better than The Show's. If it weren't for the commentary in the 2K series, the games would be FAR less enjoyable, in my opinion. The conversations between Philips, Thorn, and Kruk seems to come naturally and realistically, and lines aren't repeated ad nauseum, with the exception of: "Let's take a look at how the Tigers stacked up against the league last year", yada yada yada. That kind of crap happens four or five times a game, and it got old a couple years ago. Not only is the commentary (mostly) outstanding, but the MLB 2K13 soundtrack isn't too bad either:

"Faster Babe" by 2AM Club

"Take Me Away" by Blue Oyster Cult

"City in Silhouettes" by Funeral Party

"Natural" by Infusion

"Club Foot" by Kasabian

"Peeled Apples" by Manic Street Preachers

"Little Secrets" by Passion Pit

"Take a Walk" by Passion Pit

"Don't Let Them (Cool Off)" by Peter Bjorn and John

"Young Folks" by Peter Bjorn and John

"Fire Burning" by Sean Kingston

"No Hope" by The Vaccines

In my opinion, 2K13 has a solid setlist, and I believe it's better than last years. "Club Foot" is a popular song that many people have probably heard before, and "Take a Walk" by Passion Pit is a song that was most recently played in Taco Bell's Doritos Locos Taco commercial.

Fun: 3.75/5 Despite the fact that this game is, from what I can tell, a perfect port from 2K12 (minus the online leagues, I noticed. Yes, you read that correctly -- no only leagues in 2K13), it remains a decent enough game. If you can get passed the fact that the guys at 2K got paid to do nothing but add the Astro's new uniforms and switch them to the American League this season, then you'll enjoy it. The jersey colors haven't been corrected (Powder blue Yankee caps and brightly contrasted purple on the Rockies road unnies), a lot of players don't have updated pictures, and the scoreboard that was changed prior to the 2012 season at Comerica Park in Detroit hasn't been renovated in this game. Some of these issues are inexcusable, but the fact is, this is the only baseball game on the Xbox 360. MLB 2K13 isn't at all a bad game, but it doesn't mean 2K shouldn't be ashamed of themselves for making such minute changes to this game. Let's be honest, I'm giving this quite the generous review score.

3.5/5

+ The commentary is the highlight as always; The soundtrack is enjoyable; Games play quite well when using custom sliders (I recommend checking OperationSports.com and downloading MKHash's); At least the Astros are in the AL West with their unattractive new uniforms.

- The game still has horrendously unrealistic animations; Most of the player models creep me out; The commentary mentions statistics far too often; No online leagues; The colorblind guys that are responsible for jersey colors are apparently still hired; General laziness by the entire 2K baseball team.

Game Review (Call of Duty: Black Ops II Revolution)

The Revolution pack has been out for Black Ops II for a couple weeks now, but I just decided to cave and get the Season Pass. I had gotten ELiTE Premium for Modern Warfare 3, a game that I don't think is as good as this one, so I figured I may as well try it out. Besides, the four new maps piqued my interest, and I had picked a dead dude's Peacekeeper off the ground several times and enjoyed using it. (Note: I will be excluding Zombies from my review due to the fact that I haven't played Die Rise or the new Zombie game mode, I'm not sure WHEN I'll play it, and I don't know if I ever even WILL play it.)

Downhill: Oh thank God, Treyarch has given us a snow map. In the original Black Ops, I believe a quarter of the 16 disc maps were snowy. My assumption is that a lot of people got bored of the mostly white maps, but I missed the fact that Treyarch negated the option of putting at least one on the Black Ops 2 disc. Fortunately, they brought one in as DLC, and it's a lot of fun. Downhill takes place at a ski resort. Knowing that bit of information, you could assume that there would be a good number of hills and buildings -- and there are both of those things. The map is approximately medium in size, and is ideal for an SMG or maybe even assault rifle, though there are a couple prime spots for snipers to house up in. There's something that Treyarch added to this map that will likely frustrate a lot of players -- the killer lifts (I forget the real name for them) that will splatter you at a lightning velocity of approximately 1.5mph! While these are somewhat annoying, they move so slowly that it would really be pathetic if you were to die from one of them, in my opinion. I think it would be cooler if they traveled a bit faster and people could ride them in a circle around the map (while of course having some blind spots). I enjoy this map a lot. 4.25/5

Grind: Here's an interesting map... Grind takes place at a skate park in California. In Treyarch's preview video for Revolution, they claimed that Grind removes corners... and that's just a lie. Sure, there are a good number of ramps and pipes that eliminate corners, but there's also the building in the middle that has plenty of  close quarters combat with corners galore. Regardless, I like it. The main problem I have with Grind though is that no matter where I go, I feel extremely vulnerable. The building in the middle has a lot of rooms and corners and it's hard to determine which is safe to go in -- it's really a guessing game. Grind looks great and plays pretty well, but I'll have to play it some more to really decide if I enjoy it or not. For now though, it gets a 4/5

Hydro: This one takes place at a foreign dam. This is a smaller, mostly symmetrical map with medium sight lines at best, and two levels of action. Of course, the most notable thing about Hydro is the bottom level that spews water out and kills anything in its path. Fortunately though, there's a bit of a warning to let you know that you'll get destroyed if you don't get out in a timely fashion. Some may complain that this is some sort of a stupid gimmick, but I like it more than the bullet train on Express. I could see this being a very popular map among competitive and casual gamers alike. Relatively simply designed, but quite a blast to play in spite of that. 4.25/5

Mirage: Here we have a map that takes place in a desert in China. This seems to be a map that people seem to love or hate. Even before playing these maps and having only seen the Treyarch preview video, I had forgotten about this map. After playing it, I know why. First of all, it feels and looks like it should be in World at War, not Black Ops 2. Second, the way that it's designed is just, overall, frustrating. It has potential, but this map seems to encourage camping much more than the others in the pack. It's a decent, medium sized map, but it just doesn't do a lot for me in terms of how it looks or feels. It remains better than some other Call of Duty maps I've played in the past. 3.5/5

Finally, the SMG that's included in the pack, the Peacekeeper. I was told by a number of people that the Peacekeeper was a very good gun... and it is. The best way to describe the Peacekeeper is that it's an SMG/AR hybrid. That is to say, the Peacekeeper has a fire rate similar to an SMG, but almost with the range of an assault rifle. Another added benefit of the Peacekeeper is that it feels like the stock attachment is on it even when it's not when you look down your sights due to the fact that it's an SMG. I haven't used it too much (I've maybe gotten 150 kills with it), but I've enjoyed it quite a lot so far. I find that it's an extremely useful gun for most of the maps in this game (ones that are medium in size) for several reasons: It's mobile, so it is easier to move around, the fire rate helps at close range, and enemies can be taken out at a distance with a reasonable number of rounds fired into their bellies and/or heads.

Knowing that there will be four map packs, I feel like it's safe to assume that there will likely be a single downloadable gun in each pack (and perhaps two in one of the packs). This time around we got an SMG, so next up will likely be an assault rifle, shotgun, LMG, or sniper. I'd like to get more guns than just five, but who am I to complain? I've been wanting DLC guns for a couple years now, and now I've finally gotten my wish.

The Call of Duty: Black Ops II Revolution DLC is an expansion that's hard to not recommend. From what I've heard, Die Rise is an excellent Zombies map (though it's a bit drab in my opinion... why can't there be a less depressing Zombies map?), and I haven't even touched it. If you buy Revolution just for the Zombies map, I'd guess that you'd be disappointed, as it's just one level for a price of $15. If you buy it for just the multiplayer maps, you four maps at a price of $3.50 a piece (I say that because I figure the Peacekeeper would be worth $1 to the average player). And, naturally, if you buy Revolution to play all of it, you get 1.86GB of good, Call of Duty fun. No matter what you decide to primarily play if/when you get Revolution, I don't think there's any doubt that this pack is of the best value of any Call of Duty pack, and I don't think that there's any arguing that you'll actually get quite a lot for your money if you decide to get the Season Pass for Call of Duty: Black Ops II. For those two reasons, it gets the rating that I'm giving it.

4.5/5

+ All four maps are above average -- especially Downhill and Hydro.
+ At last... a downloadable gun!
+ For once, $15 for a Call of Duty pack, and I can say it's a good deal.

Game Review (NHL 13 - 360)

Having purchased NHL 11, 12, and now 13, I've been hoping that with each purchase, the game would get better... unfortunately, I've been left disappointed just about every time.

Graphics: 4/5 The graphics, I think, look a bit better than a year or two ago, but the wonky looking collisions are still there, and there are more God awful faces than good ones.. there's also no emotion on any of the faces either.

Sound: 3.5/5 Seemingly the same exact commentary as the past couple years, which isn't too bad, but the soundtrack's more miss than hit, and that's unfortunate. The fans, hits, and sound of saves/the puck hitting the boards is as good as ever, and only made better with a headset (Turtlebeach or something).

Control: 3.25/5 Nothing but frustrating ... the puck has a mind of its own way too often, and the AI is just stupid. Also, the whole "realistic physics" and "explosive skating" things are fine and good, but it almost literally takes 2 hours and 15 minutes for you to turn around and get a puck that's five feet behind you.

Fun: 3.25/5 It's really not much different than the past two years, but I've just had enough of the bull. The game's presented very well, it looks good, and it can be fun when it doesn't feel like the rubberband AI is deliberately working against you (Three of your own teammates on one guy in a corner, he comes out with the puck and scores on what should be an easy save). There are also countless other problems that I have with it. To name a few:
   
     1.) I will often have a handful of breakaways and 25-30 in one game, and the opposing goalie -- regardless of rating -- will often make a Jesus Christ save every single time. The other team will then get about two goals with their first three shots on goal, resulting in a power down of my 360.
     2.) Often times I'll throw my player's body on the ice to block a pass or shot, but I'll go to a replay and clearly see the puck pass through my body.
     3.) While passing across the ice, the puck seems to magically hit a skate or stick almost half the time.
     4.) The AI in Be a GM will constantly offer trades with the same player over-and-over again, despite declining the trade once, twice, thrice, etc.
     5.) Players like Datsyuk can take down Wookiees without an issue.
     6.) User-controlled player is often left alone with the puck on attack while the team decides it's the right time for a line change ... even if it's just a few moments after a faceoff.
     7.) Overall, the AI is pretty awful. The box is full of shit in claiming that it's better than ever, or something along those lines.

Thankfully, I only paid $22 for this game ($40 on sale, $20 gift card). It's not an unplayable game, but it's nothing more than a glorified version of rock, paper, scissors. Getting a goal is as rewarding as ever, but it doesn't really matter when the opposing team can get an easy wrist shot goal from just inside the blue line as often as they do.

3.5/5

DVD Review (Friends: Season 10)

This review's pointless and out of nowhere, but I realized that I reviewed Friends seasons 1-9, but neglected to do the final season. Season ten, I think, is a season that shouldn't have even had happened. It's not terrible, but it's mostly unnecessary. Its only purpose to me is to make loose ends meet. While most shows would have tried doing this in a season and have it fall flat on its face, Friends makes it work. There are a lot of average and somewhat forgettable episodes throughout this season, but the ending is great and memorable enough to make me give the series ending season a pretty decent rating.

4/5

While that seems to be well above average, season ten's a little bit of a letdown in Friends' standards.

Food Review (Grilled Onion Cheddar Burger from McDonalds)

McDonald's unfortunately did away with their CBO, and seemingly have replaced it with something somewhat similar ... it's a CBO, minus the bacon, and without the sauce that was on it. Regardless, I wanted to try the Grilled Onion Cheddar because it was only a buck, and I expected it to taste like a slider.

For a dollar, I can't complain. The cheese doesn't add much, but the caramelized onions give the burger an almost bitter sweet taste. The burger patty is pretty small, but again, it's about what should be expected from a dollar menu. There's not much to say about this burger positively or negatively because it is what it is ... a simple and cheap burger. I figure this'll be a good way to get money back on the money they lose for each McDouble that they make ... plus I think it tastes better. Definitely a burger for people that love onions, because there are a lot of them.

4.25/5

+: Caramelized onions give the Grilled Onion Cheddar a slider flavor; Only costs $1.
-: Not as good as the CBO.

DVD Review (The Simpsons: The Complete Fifteenth Season)

It took a year, but season fifteen of The Simpsons is finally on DVD and, for whatever reason, Blu-Ray. This season there are 22 episodes, commentary on every episode (as usual), sketches, a couple commercials, and deleted scenes.

Unlike many other Simpsons seasons, there aren't really any complete duds in this season. Not only that, but there aren't any extremely memorable episodes either. Rather, season fifteen basically contains 22 slightly above average and entertaining episodes. I found myself rating mostly every episode in my head between a 3.5 to a 4.25 out of 5. My personal favorite of the season I suppose would have to be "Margical History Tour" because it's Treehouse of Horror-esque, and well written with some good jokes. Most of the other 21 episodes included aren't too far behind.

The extras included seem to be far less than some other seasons. For instance, even in season thirteen and fourteen they had a "Best of Ralph" and "Best of Treehouse of Horror" section, respectively. I was hoping and thinking that this set would have a "Best of Otto" compilation, but I was wrong ... that, or I just haven't found it.

The Simpsons: The Complete Fifteen Season is a must-buy for fans of the show, and a "get it eventually" buy for fair weather fans. Every episode is either average or a notch above, so there's nothing you have to see. Still, I feel that this is an underrated season, and I don't think it's nearly as bad as a lot of people make it out to be.

4/5

Food Review (Loaded Grillers from Taco Bell)

Beefy Nacho Griller: This one, to me, is the least interesting of the three (not to say any of them are really original). Beef, nacho cheese, and crunchy red strips. Taco Bell's just taunting all of us with this thing. It's almost a Beefy Nacho Burrito, but it has the flavorless red tortilla strips instead of the cheese ones. I dislike this one mostly because the strips are nothing but a soggy mess once the bread gets grilled. Why even bother with them? Unless you literally eat your Griller instantly or in the restaurant at Taco Bell, it'll be mush by the time you get home. Still tasty and of a good value, but nothing new here. 3.75/5

Loaded Potato Griller: Yikes. It scares me to see that a lot of people like this one best. The potatoes at Taco Bell are pretty decent (I get their taco or the side of potatoes time-to-time), but this burrito is nothing but a salty mess to me. It's potatoes, nacho cheese, sour cream (I always get minus sour cream in burritos.), and bacon. Oh. Bacon. That should be good. Nope. In the past Taco Bell has tried putting bacon in/on things, but their bacon is awful. It's bacon bits straight out of a container and they're unappetizing... they add almost nothing but salt to an already salty Griller. This could be a tasty one if Taco Bell used "real" bacon. Not sure I'd have this one again. 3/5

Spicy Chicken Griller: Chicken, sour cream (not for me), and Lava sauce. It's a simple little concoction, but it's awesome. The chicken has a citrus flavor, and the Lava sauce brings a good heat. The first time I tried it I didn't think it was so hot, but the second time I felt a good burn. It also seems like this Griller tends to have more weight to it than the other two, so you get more for your money. 4/5

A pretty good promotion from Taco Bell, but I'm still waiting on the damn bastards to make the Beefy Crunch Burrito (or even the Beefy Nacho Burrito, I guess...) a PERMANENT MENU ITEM. I'll be going to Taco Bell quite a bit to take advantage of these cheap 99 cent Grillers.

9 Ways to Get Good (or Better) at Black Ops 2

So, you're a noob. If you aren't a noob, you're a good player that's looking to maybe get a little bit of an edge in Black Ops 2. Whatever the reason is, you're likely here because you want to play better at the game. I'm here to suggest some things that ought to help you improve your game dramatically within a short amount of time. The list of these tips aren't in order of importance, so don't worry about that.

1.) Play with friends and communicate. This one should be an absolute no-brainer. If you're just going out and playing any game mode other than a Party Game or Free-for-All by yourself, you're likely to lose many games and end up frustrated. If you want to see your win/loss ratio climb (and even your K/D can if you have a communicative team), then you'd better get a group of at least 4 people in each match you play. I understand that most game modes are 6v6, but a group of 4 and 2 randoms will beat a group of 6 randoms just about any time.

2.) Use smaller Scorestreaks. What I mean by this is, don't bother trying to get the K9 Unit or the Swarm ... chances are that you'll never get those once. Instead, use things like the UAV/Hunter Killer/CUAV/Care Package/Lightning Strike. My personal combination tends to be UAV/Hunter Killer/Lightning Strike because I find it most effective overall, but to each their own. These Scorestreaks are easily attainable in any game mode -- assuming you go for the objective -- and you'll have a streak almost at all times.

3.) Use guns appropriate to the map. With these Black Ops 2 disc maps being as small as they are, an SMG will be perfect on nearly every map... even a shot gun can be super effective on a number of them. On maps with some longer sight lines (and there aren't many of them), and assault rifle will work a bit better. Overall though, an SMG is probably the type of gun to use right now in Black Ops 2 until Treyarch either nerfs them a tad, or releases larger maps as DLC.

4.) Don't use random perks. If you're playing most objective game modes, you're going to want to play smart. I personally love to run a class that has Ghost AND Flak Jacket in the first slot, Cold Blooded in the second slot just because, and then Tactical Mask in third. These perks (especially Ghost, Flak Jacket, and Tactical Mask) work wonders in objective matches for too many reasons to count. Ghost allows you to flank (Don't stop moving with Ghost, otherwise you'll show up on the radar), Flak Jacket will take the brunt of explosives, and Tactical Mask renders all tactical grenades other than EMPs useless. In game modes like Headquarters and Hardpoint, I feel like those perks are essential.

5.) Likewise, don't use random equipment. And to add to that, don't bother wasting a Pick 10 slot on a grenade if you never toss them. Like the perks I listed above, I find that things like Shock Charges and Bouncing Betties work fantastically when defending objectives. If you don't get a kill, you at least get a hit marker that'll let you know where to look and possibly get the kill.

6.) Switch button layout to Tactical. I decided to do this soon after starting to play Black Ops 2, and I haven't looked back. What this does is switch the "panic knife" button with the crouch button, making it easier to drop shot. Drop shotting tends to be useful when someone unexpectedly comes around the corner, or when you're getting shot in the back and need to duck down quickly. Many people consider(ed) this a "douchebag" tactic (including me), but I decided, if you can't beat them, join them. I don't drop shot too often, but it seems to work a good bit when I do decide to do it.

7.) Learn the maps. Another basic strategy. Running around on Hijacked with a sniper is a terrible idea ... for the most part. I've seen people do it and get a good K/D, but a K/D doesn't mean a thing in an objective mode. If I die from a sniper in this game, I tend to feel pretty good about my chances for winning, since that player is way more than likely not helping his team. Also, you'll want to learn key choke points, and also some nooks and crannies to "camp" in when an objective is nearby. You should definitely look around for headglitching locations. It shouldn't be too difficult -- Treyarch has seemingly put them everywhere on just about every map.

8.) Try League Play. It's there for a reason. Whether you consider yourself a "serious" Black Ops 2 player or someone that plays pretty much exclusively for shiggles, League Play is there for you. Granted most people playing it will be playing to win, you'll be paired up with people of similar skill levels, so you don't have to worry about getting "pubstomped" when playing in random matches.

9.) Finally, experiment with classes. Don't bother asking what a friend uses as his primary, secondary, equipment, or anything else ... he/she may not have the same play style as you do. So rather than do that, mix and match with the Pick Ten and figure out what guns/perks/equipment suits you.

These 9 ways to improve in Black Ops 2 are just a few of many. If you want to ask for more tips or maybe want to play Black Ops 2 with me, send me a message on Xbox LIVE (OrdealByFire). My friend list will be full, so yeah. Send a message first.

Food Review (Bacon Portabella Melt from Wendy's)

I'm not sure of this burger's state as I had it a couple weeks ago now, but I'm pretty sure it's a limited time item. The Bacon Portabella Melt throws a Wendy's burger patty on a bun with bacon, mushrooms, and cheese sauce.

The first thing I noticed about this burger was just how pathetically tiny it was. I'm used to fast food restaurants giving smaller portions by the year, but this looked junior sized. I haven't gotten a burger from Wendy's for awhile, so maybe they shrank again, but this was pitiful.

Luckily, it tasted good. Wendy's hamburgers admittedly aren't my favorite, but this is a burger I'd get again. Wendy's bacon is above average as far as fast food bacons go, but its the combination of that artificial cheese sauce and the mushrooms that make this worth getting.

3.75/5

+ Bacon! ... albeit average bacon. The mushrooms -- they're the highlight.
- The size - or LACK of size - of the sandwich.

Food Review (Grilled Chicken Parmesan Sandwich from Burger King)

This is a late review seeing as how the limited time offer is over with now, but I'll be reviewing it regardless.

I read a few reviews here and there and I saw a lot of people displeased with this sandwich, so I figured I'd offer my own opinion. Basically, I chose to get the sandwich grilled because I figured the breading on the chicken would just all soggified with the marinara on it.

First of all, I think Burger King probably has the best fast food grilled chicken. Many places have their grilled chicken seasoned with nothing but salt, but Burger King's has a distinct grilled taste to it, so that helps this sandwich a lot. The marinara sauce is obviously not of the best quality (it tastes like it was out of a can), but it's tolerable. The only issue I have with this sandwich is the parmesan shavings that add absolutely nothing but calories and a waxy texture.

I'm actually sort of disappointed this was a limited time item. I had a couple sandwiches, and I'd probably get more now and then if they were still available.

3.5/5

+ Burger King's chicken.
- Waxy, flavorless cheese.

Food Review (XXL Steak Nachos from Taco Bell)

Back in May, I remember reading that XXL Nachos were "coming soon", and they're finally out. I'm not a huge fan of getting nachos at Taco Bell, but decided to get the 1 pound steak nachos for $6.

True to the name, this is a big plate of nachos, and it's loaded. The chips are topped with steak, melted cheese, nacho cheese, guacamole, beans, pico de gallo, and sour cream. After opening the box, I was somewhat pleased with what I saw. It had a good bit of heft to it, but I wasn't too happy with typical Taco Bell's fashion of putting all of the toppings right in the middle. This resulted in a soggy mess between the time they made it and the short ride home. The steak is very "meh", and I didn't get very much at all. The huge globs of sour cream, guacamole, and cheese in the middle blended together and made a warm, not-so-appealing goo. Due to its sheer size, the last quarter or so of the nachos were cold by the time I was finishing.

The XXL Nachos aren't awful, but I'd rather get a mix of things for $6 at Taco Bell than settle with this. Taco Bell, I'm STILL waiting on the Beefy Crunch Burrito -- or at least the Beefy Nacho Burrito.

3.25/5

+ Certainly XXL.

- Half soggy chips, half crispy chips. Probably not worth $6, despite its size. Nothing new.

Food Review (Crispy Chicken CBO from McDonalds)

When I first saw advertisements for the CBO, I didn't think it would be that great. Cheese, bacon, and onion on a burger/chicken sandwich. Big deal. It's been done only about a billion times before. I opted for the crispy chicken CBO and it's the best chicken sandwich I've ever gotten at McDonalds. Granted McDonald's isn't my go-to fast food restaurant for chicken, this surprised me. The bun is -- apparently -- whole grain and isn't normally used at McDonalds. It also has a hint of sweetness to it, which I approve of against the saltiness of the bacon. The bacon isn't that great (it seems microwaved, to be honest), but the onions, and especially the sauce, make this a sandwich well worth ordering.

I haven't had the angus CBO, but I think it would be fine. Not quite as good as the crispy chicken (the sauce just goes really well with it), but no doubt tasty.

4.5/5

+: The bread. The sauce. The sandwich as a whole.
-: On its own, the bacon is underwhelming. Small. Somewhat expensive for what you get.

Game Review (Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 Disc Maps - 360)

Aftermath is one of the first maps many people saw in the game. It's a medium size map with a bunch of burning debris. This map looks quite a bit like a Modern Warfare 2 or 3 map in the way that it's designed and how it plays. It's not awful, but I have found nothing great about this map. Like Downturn in MW3, this map's a pretty big letdown. In MW3 I thought "Sweet! A New York map!" and it was awful. Now in this game I get to say "Sweet! A Los Angeles map!" and say just about the same thing. Meh. 3.5/5

Cargo is another one of the earlier shown maps. Cargo has a really nice feel to it, and it also plays well on seemingly every game mode due to its size and fairness to both teams regardless of spawn. It's not the best looking map in the game, but that's not what matters at all (I'll be bringing that up again in just a little bit...). Probably the most balanced map on the disc. 4.25/5

Carrier is terrible. What more can I say. It seems that in every Call of Duty there's that ONE MAP that I can't stand, and it's Carrier in Black Ops 2. The whole map is a clusterf*ck, and I find it super difficult to see enemies due to the colors of it. Most definitely a map I'd rather pass on than play in any situation, in any game type, on any day. Its only decent quality is the roofed portion of the map, and that part is tiny and pretty much completely insignificant for that reason. 3/5

Drone is a map that I feel will be very under-appreciated, and overlooked often. It's medium sized like many of the maps in this game, but it features a good bit of close quarters fighting as well as some long site lines. Drone is unique in that it has doors that automatically open up when you get near them in some areas. This is a fun map with a little bit of everything. 4/5

Express is the only map that I have noticed to have an "environmental hazard" ... at times during matches, a bullet train will speed through the map. Obviously, if you get in the way, you'll die ... so don't get in the god damn way, you turd. Express feels like Stadium from Black Ops 1 and Terminal from MW2 and 3 blended together. Why? It's mostly the aesthetics. Like Drone, this map has a good balance of long sight lines and some tight corridors. 4/5

Hijacked. Oh, Hijacked. How lovely you look. How frustrating you are to play. Had Treyarch decided to stretch this yacht out and widen it a bit, it would have made for a fantastic Black Ops 2 favorite, like Nuketown in the original Black Ops. Instead, it's a map with miserable spawns that causes rage-filled matches. The addition of the underground area should help, but it doesn't because almost nobody goes down there. In fact, I feel like few people even know it exists. Looks hot, but you'll rage a lot. That's Hijacked in a nutshell. I'll give it a fairly generous 3.5/5

Meltdown feels a lot like Nuke from Counter-Strike and Radiation from Black Ops. Not just because of the locales, but because of how sections of all three maps play. I'm not quite sure what  game types would be best here, but I do know that Team Deathmatch plays really well. Camping seems to be a bit of an issue on this map as opposed to some others, but the spots are obvious, and enemies can normally be picked off fairly easily. 4/5

Overflow is one of a few maps that doesn't come up all-too often in Black Ops 2. It has a pretty bland color palette and it doesn't look like it'd be much fun, but it just is. Overflow will likely go under the radar and be one of the forgotten maps in this game, but it's enjoyable. I'd much sooner pick this map over, say... CARRIER. BLEGH. 3.5/5

Plaza is another map that doesn't pop up in matchmaking often. I've also heard a lot of people groan when it has come up, and I'm not very sure why. I feel like this map both looks and plays like a Party Games map, but that's not a bad thing. It's one of the few maps in this game where you can run around the entire map and be effective with a shotgun or a hip-fired SMG. 3.75/5

Raid is just a really great map for seemingly any game type. Domination, Hardpoint, Search and Destroy... etc. It's not a map that makes me jump up when it gets selected, but it's suitable for anything. Not only that, but it's easier than most maps in this game to make call outs (Basketball court. Fountain. Kitchen. Garage), and that helps it. 3.75/5

Slums, like Overflow, is a map that doesn't look all that appealing, but plays wonderfully. I wouldn't be surprised to see this be a favorite disc map. Slums is a pretty small and very tight map with danger around just about every corner. You probably don't need me to tell you that if you're playing an objective game mode, you'll want to put on a Flak Jacket, because things can get pretty hairy. Slums is an ideal shotgun/SMG map as well. 4.5/5

Standoff is probably my most played map in Black Ops 2 for whatever reason, but I don't mind. It's not too bad. It's one of the bigger medium maps -- if you follow me -- and features a decent number of places for snipers to hang out. I find that Standoff looks like a map that could be in Call of Duty 2 or World at War. Makes for rage-tastic matches on Domination due to the ease to spawn camp, but it's treated me pretty well outside of that. 4/5

Turbine, correct me if I'm wrong, was the first map that Treyarch showed to the public. Byfar, Turbine is bigger than any other map in the game ... and that's unfortunate. I want more. The layout of Turbine is fantastic, and it seems that people don't camp too often on this map. This map has played well in some objective matches I've played, but it's best in good ol' TDM, I think. 4.25/5

Yemen will be another favorite of the community, I think. The map isn't very large, but there doesn't seem to be (m)any spawn issues on this map as opposed to some others, and it just has an interesting design that has made, and will surely make for, some great matches. Yemen's really fun and great on literally any game mode.

While most of my scores for these maps are average or slightly above, the overall collection of these maps is great. Treyarch had a better collection of maps in Black Ops 1, but this isn't a bad showing. I just have a couple questions. Where are the snow maps? Black Ops had a good number of them on-disc. And secondly, and more importantly, where are some bigger maps? Most of these maps seem to be very similar in size, and Turbine is the only one that I'd describe as large. I get that a lot of the community likes smaller maps where they can hipfire from any position and get a kill, but not everybody does that. I expect more large maps in DLC though, so I'm not that worried about it.

So that's it. As said, not many truly excellent maps, but only one that I truly dislike. Treyarch, unsurprisingly, has done a nice job for the most part compiling maps for this disc.

4.25/5

Game Review (Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 - 360)

Black Ops 2 has arrived. Just over two years since one of my favorite Call of Duty titles was released, Treyarch is back at it with the sequel. Rather than taking place in the 1960's though, this game hikes to 2025 and takes you on a ride. Here's my review. Not to worry, there won't be any spoilers... although there will be heavy emphasis on multiplayer.

I won't tell you about the story of Black Ops 2, but I will tell you how this Call of Duty is different from those previous. Rather than going from A to B to sometimes C, Treyarch makes this game less linear this time around. You have options of what you want to do/where you want to go, and they even affect the mission in minor ways. Your decisions won't completely change the story, but they're a wise addition that should have been added at least a couple years ago. This inclusion makes you feel like YOU'RE playing the game, rather than making you feel like the game is playing YOU. Without ruining the campaign for all of you, I can tell you that this is a game that's single player you will definitely want to go through ... especially if you played the original Black Ops.

Zombies. Well, I have to admit -- don't hurt me -- I wasn't a big fan of Zombies in Black Ops because I felt like the first handful of rounds was a complete waste of time and dragged on needlessly. This time around though, there's actually a STORY to Zombies ... imagine that. While I'm still not high on the game mode, I like it a heck of a lot more than I did in the last game, and I can guarantee that those that loved Zombies before will only enjoy it more. Don't think that's possible? Wait until you play the game. Also, for you stat addicts, Zombie stats will be tracked on Call of Duty ELiTE.

And the thing most people buy Call of Duty for ... the multiplayer. There are countless things to say about this. You'll have anti-CoD people tell you that this is the same game as last year. And the year before. And the year before that. Well, that's frankly not true. Black Ops 2 innovates almost as much as Call of Duty 4 originally did. Like the first Modern Warfare, Black Ops 2 may change the series forever. The whole Pick Ten system in this game is an ingenious idea that will seriously make you think when making classes if you want to compete. If you find that you don't ever use your secondary, add a fourth perk. If you don't throw grenades, add another attachment to your gun. The ability to customize your experience in this way will make you hungry for more unlocks and experimentation. As for the actual game play itself, the game just feels good. The main issue I have with this game is the same problem I had with MW3 -- lag compensation. Modern Warfare 3's was worse, but Black Ops 2 definitely has it, and it will make you have some really hot and cold matches.

Treyarch doesn't stop there, though. Black Ops 2 has now introduced a brand new thing called League Play. Whether you're a seasoned veteran or a newbie to the series, you'll be able to form a clan and face other clans with a similar skill level, thanks to Treyarch's skill-based matchmaking. If competing in heated clan wars isn't your thing, you can of course still hop into a random public match.

Also added to Black Ops 2 is what many people are calling "CoD Casting" mode. With this, you can view live streams (or previously recorded versions) of matches. This is going to be a useful feature to many ... especially those that are looking to learn techniques that the more seasoned Call of Duty players use.

Treyarch has done with Black Ops 2 what many people have long begged them to do: Change the series up. A lot of fans and critics felt that Call of Duty was releasing nothing but $60 map packs every year... I have to say, Black Ops 2 ought to shut those people up. From the ability to make personal choices in campaign, to the better-than-ever Zombies mode, to the most balanced multiplayer experience Call of Duty has probably ever had (At least since CoD 2), there's something here for anybody to love. Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 is one of the best of the series.

4.5/5

+: "Personalized" campaign; Zombies; Pick 10 system in multiplayer; Awesome weapon/perk/grenade/equipment balance online.

-: This game is nearly flawless and has added a lot of innovation, but I'm beginning to feel some FPS burnout; Multiplayer maps don't feel as great as I thought the Black Ops 1 maps did; Lag compensation is very obvious at times online.

Game Review (Halo 4 - 360)

It's here. It's finally here. After what I thought was a disappointment in Bungie's final Halo game, Halo: Reach, 343 Industries has taken the helm for a new trilogy. Halo 4 takes place after Halo 3, which was released over 5 years ago now. How is this game different?

As far as multiplayer (That will be the highlight of my review, sorry for the campaign fans), 343 has implemented a lot of things from Call of Duty. Don't let that scare you though if that idea doesn't sound good to you -- it works flawlessly in Halo 4. While the perks seem to run the multiplayer in Call of Duty, what truly should be the difference -- the gun -- is what truly matters in Halo 4. Unlike Call of Duty, there doesn't seem to be any overpowered "perk" in this game. Some of the guns seem to be excessively powerful, but they all have downfalls. Whether that downfall is a small clip or something else, 343 makes sure nothing in the game is gamebreaking, which is impressive. Something that should also be noted is that everybody in multiplayer now has the ability to sprint for a limited time, which makes the gameplay faster paced and more frantic. That inclusion, unsurprisingly, only makes this game better.

The maps in the multiplayer mostly range from good to fantastic, with not even one map that I would say I truly dislike. The maps here have a vast variety from small to large in size, and snowy to grassy. My personal favorite has to be Exile, which is a fairly big map that makes for hectic Capture the Flag matches, and it just looks and plays phenomenally.

If you enjoyed Firefight from Reach, I'm sorry to say it's not returning. Instead though, 343 has included Spartan Ops. In this free mode, content will be released weekly with several episodes for you and your friends to play in. While the missions are fairly entertaining, I'm not quite sure what the purpose of them is, mainly because they seem to end before you even start going.

As for the campaign, I won't spoil a thing, but I will tell you that this is probably the best campaign yet in the series. The voice acting is better than ever, the humans' facial reactions are spot on, and there are -- thankfully -- very few parts in it that aren't fun. I can also tell you that this is one of the hardest campaigns I've played in a shooter... at least on its highest difficulty setting, Legendary.

I tried to keep this review relatively short. There is a lot to say about this game and its contents, but I wouldn't be able to do the game justice. Rather than have you waste 20 minutes reading this review, I'd rather give you that time to go out and get the game if you haven't already.

Halo 4 won't exactly change the genre, but it has taken the essences of Halo 3 and the good portions of Halo: Reach (Did I mention there's no Armor Lock in this game?), and made one of the best online gaming experiences for this generation. It could well be the closest thing you'll find to Xbox LIVE multiplayer gaming nirvana.

5/5

Game Review (Need for Speed: Most Wanted (Criterion, 2012) - 360)

Graphics: Most Wanted has plenty of pluses and minuses graphically. When I first saw this game for the first time I thought it looked outstanding. Once I got it, I was underwhelmed. It still looks good, but nothing like the videos. Edges of cars and the environment have a choppy appearance, and the city in the distance really looks like a PS1 or PS2/Xbox game. When it comes down to the races, sense of speed, and the cars themselves though, it looks fairly impressive... especially with how the framerate holds up -- for the most part -- when there are a bunch of cops and/or crashes on-screen. The temporary blindness when looking into the sunset or when coming out of a tunnel is also a nice effect. 4/5

Sound: Again, positives and negatives here. First, some positives: The cars sound awesome, especially if you have a pair of headphones for your 360 (Tritton, Turtle Beach, etc.). The way the cars echo in tunnels and in alleyways is great. It's nice to see Criterion add things like that to the game. The soundtrack, I think, is pretty good. It has a nice mix of dubstep and hard rock that only add the experience when in a race. The downside I have with the soundtrack already is that in just about 3 hours of playtime, I have heard some songs 5 times already. I'm not sure how many tracks are in the game, but my assumption is that it isn't many. If you don't like the song list, you can turn it off completely, or use your own playlist. The biggest downfall -- and it's not really a huge one -- with NFS:MW would have to be the police chatter. It's always the same routine ... "What make and model? What color? We need more cops. These guys aren't messing around. These guys are good." It's really rather redundant, and it's a shame, because it could have added a lot to the game. 4/5

Fun: My first impression of this game wasn't all that great. I was pretty underwhelmed. The more I explored the city, unlocked cars, completed races, and especially tried out the multiplayer, the more I enjoyed it. While the game only contains 41 cars, there is enough to do with each of them to keep you playing this game -- even on single player -- for quite a decent while. The biggest downfall of this game is probably the single player, surprisingly enough. It's been a lot of fun so far, but after just a few hours of playing the game, I'm almost halfway done with getting all of the Most Wanted cars. I really just wish Criterion/EA added more content to the disc. Thankfully, the multiplayer makes me forgive this lack of single player depth. The challenges in multiplayer are, for the most part, very entertaining. While the online isn't without flaws (They're rather minor things, but you'll pick up on them quite quickly if you decide to hop online), it's definitely entertaining, and playing this game without the Online Pass would take away a LOT of what Most Wanted has to offer. 4.25/5

If you have any interest in racing games, you have to get this game. After zipping through the city and thinking I had seen everything, I explored areas I had no idea existed. Fairhaven is a vast, fun city to race around in, and it's only better with friends or even randoms. It may not be without its problems, and it could use a bit more depth, but this exhilarating, essential sequel to Burnout Paradise makes Need for Speed: Most Wanted a must-buy for adrenaline junkies.

Pros: Multiplayer -- in short bursts, variety of Fairhaven's landscapes, varied car list.
Cons: No cops in multiplayer, minor online bugs, 41 cars seems a bit low, short single-player experience, city's just too small.

4/5

EDIT 11/1/12: The more I play this, the more I wonder why it's $60. It's no doubt an entertaining game, and I'll be playing it for awhile before selling it, but it's too much money for what it is, really. The single player story is nonexistent. The Most Wanted races are easy to attain Speed Points to play, and easy to complete. The city is fairly interesting despite its small size. The multiplayer is fun, but only in short bursts.

.

I originally gave this game about an 8.5, but I think I'd really give it more of a 7.5. Fun, but I don't see it lasting a long time. Hot Pursuit was the same way. For whatever reason I gave that game a 9, even though I had beaten it to 100% completion and lost interest in just over a week, as fun as it was.

Game Review (Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 Content Drop: September)

This is it -- the final month of downloadable content for Modern Warfare 3 (Or at least what we're lead to believe will be the last bit of DLC). August was probably the most disappointing month for Elite as far as I'm concerned, but after seeing some leaked images of this month's maps, I actually looked forward to September 5th.

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Boardwalk: This map takes place on a boardwalk on the Jersey Shore. Yes, it looks as cool as it sounds. It's a medium sized, mostly close-quarters map that has a handful of snazzy buildings to go into, such as a club, a laser tag lobby, and an arcade. Not just that, but you can go on the beach and go underneath the boardwalk. I was most looking forward to this map of the three from this month, and it hasn't disappointed me yet -- I'd probably go as far as saying this is my favorite map for Modern Warfare 3. Not only does this map look insanely neat, but it plays perfectly to my play style. The only reason I won't give this map a 5 is because the one far side of the map near the club there's a pretty pointless area I don't see anyone going at, as it's so far away from the action. I'm pretty sure its only real purpose is the original spawn at the beginning of the game. Anyway, yeah. Boardwalk is a brilliant map in just about every sense. It's just a shame you'll be too busy killing people to get a chance to see the map. Pro-tip: Private match. 4.75/5

Gulch: Gulch is set at an abandoned mining town in Utah. When I first saw some pictures of this map, I was intrigued. But with a name like "Gulch", I figured the map would be pretty large ... and indeed it is. The map itself looks great. The color of it, the water flowing through the center, some of the buildings... but the problem I have with Gulch is the same problem I have with most maps in this game -- the spawns. After my first match on Gulch, I could see this would be a problem. A map of this size, and you'll still die within a second and a half of spawning. I literally had a Kill Cam show a guy spawn, push his right stick right, and kill me instantly. Not only that, but Gulch has countless areas to sit up on around the map, which is great for snipers, but terrible for people trying to get out of spawns. Snipers will hop up in these areas and wait like vultures until you move. This could be a really good map, but it just doesn't all work. It's not terrible, but it's definitely frustrating. I probably set my hopes a little bit too high on Gulch. 3.5/5

Parish: Here we have the map I was most unsure about when I found out about these three maps. Parish is in New Orleans, and contains a church, a bar, and a slew of military vehicles that are scattered around, particularly on the "oceanic" side of the map. There's not much to be said about this map in my opinion, other than that to me it feels like a typical Infinity Ward map. This one's mostly close quarters and plays fairly well, but it's just not extremely memorable as far as its appearance goes. I'd say the size of this map is about the size of Boardwalk, probably a little bit smaller. I was surprised in my experience that some people on the other team were actually trying to snipe on this map on Kill Confirmed. Really...? Well, I think you can guess which team won. Anyway, Parish is decent. It doesn't look as purdy as Boardwalk or Gulch, but it plays better than Gulch, I'll give it that. For that reason, I'll slip it a 3.75/5

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And that's all for Modern Warfare 3's Elite Content Drops. That was a pretty quick nine months... This final 'drop' actually let me down. Regardless of the pretty decent scores, I was just overly excited when I saw these maps after the terrible month that was August. Still, Infinity Ward concluded MW3's DLC with a pretty decent bang. Not a bang that you'd hear from a .50 Cal, but a bang nonetheless.

4/5

Game Review (Rock Band Blitz - 360)

People have been shouting at Harmonix to make a new Rock Band game since they released Rock Band 3 in 2010... while this isn't a sequel, it's an interesting spin-off that will turn anybody into a junkie after just a few songs.

The idea of Rock Band Blitz is relatively simple: You're a one man band, and it's up to you to get multipliers for the guitar, bass, drum, vocal, and, occasionally, key tracks to get the highest possible score using only two buttons to hit notes for each. Also at your disposal are items that you can use to help aid you in your quest for that number one leader board spot.

That's the simplest way to describe the game... but if you haven't seen it, then the description means nothing. The game is just mesmerizing -- the way the track goes along a city street. How the colors glow. Unfortunately, you'll find yourself so immersed in the game as you play, you'll seldom even notice the neat backdrop Harmonix laid out for you. What makes the experience even better are the menus. They're really simplistic, but look great, and are easy to go through... what else could you really want? It fits this arcade-style Rock Band game well.

The soundtrack in this game, as you'd expect, is quite varied. You have fun.'s overplayed "We Are Young", Elton John's "I'm Still Standing", "One Week" by Barenaked Ladies, "Give it Away" by Red Hot Chili peppers, along with 21 other tracks (You can also play ALL Rock Band songs you have saved to your hard drive). When I first saw the set list, I felt it was a lot of hit and miss. The inclusions of P!nk and Kelly Clarkson put me down, but the truth is, those two songs; along with a good portion of the others, are actually a lot of fun to play. Even if you don't like some of the songs in Blitz, the game is $15 with the ability to export the game to Rock Band 3 for free. Well, how about that?

Harmonix has proved with Rock Band Blitz that music games aren't dead. Blitz is easily in my top handful of XBLA games, and I see myself playing this for months and months. If the addicting game play wasn't enough, Harmonix's Rock Band World app on Facebook has every stat you'd want to know about how you're doing in Blitz. What your rank is on specific songs, your score, how many gold stars you have, your total Blitz cred... it's deep. If you have any interest in music whatsoever, you have no reason to not download this game.

4.5/5

+: Simple, yet complicated, addicting game; All Rock Band songs on your HDD will work; Rock Band World; Great value.

-: Unable to play offline/when Harmonix ever shuts the servers down, this game will be virtually unusable; No true, LIVE multiplayer; It's not possible to say, "Just one more song..."

Game Review (Counter-Strike: Global Offensive - 360)

After eight long years, Valve has finally decided to release a new Counter-Strike... this time, it's Global Offensive, and it's on PSN, XBLA, and, of course, Steam. GO brings back eight old-school maps (with slight tweaks and new textures), and also adds eight new maps that are only playable in their new games modes: demolition and arms race.

To be honest, there isn't much in Global Offensive that wasn't in Source, other than a newer look, new guns, and new maps ... it plays about the same way, but there's absolutely nothing wrong with that. If you've played Counter-Strike, you know the deal -- it's the Counter Terrorists versus the Terrorists across all modes. In "Classic Bomb" mode, the Counter Terrorists must kill all of the Terrorists or defuse the bomb before the bomb site is blown up. In "Classic Hostage" mode, the Counter Terrorists have to extract the hostages to the safe zone. Both modes are great, but I have a minor gripe: It bothers me that there are only two measly Hostage maps. Office and Italy are both good maps, but I could have used more.

The new Demolition mode is pretty great. It's sort of hit and miss, but mostly hit. Basically, for every round you get a kill, your gun switches. That's cool and everything, but the line-up of guns never changes. I'm not sure why, but that's a minor annoyance I have. One more thing that irks me is that the Demolition maps can only be played in -- you guessed it -- Demolition. Why you can't play them in the standard Classic Bomb mode is beyond me. The maps are definitely smaller in Demolition, but I would have liked to play most of them in some other modes. Regardless of being unable to do that, the new maps are all great from what I can tell, so I'm not sure why I'm complaining.

[Arms Race I'll review whenever I play it.]

Graphics: 4/5 Since it's an XBLA game, and for a game that takes just under 2GB to put on your HDD, this game is pretty impressive to me. Some textures are a bit bland on certain sections of the maps, but from my experiences, the game's been running smoothly. I can't complain for it not being a disc.

Sound: 3.5/5 Very average ... it sounds like Source to me, with almost no changes at all. I'm pretty certain they even use a lot of the same voice overs from bots in this game, too. It's not terrible, but Call of Duty and especially Battlefield 3 sound better. Then again, that shouldn't come as a shock to anyone.

Control: 4.25/5 NO AIM ASSIST. It's really great, in my opinion. If you can't aim, you'll get absolutely destroyed from a distance. Sure, you can hip-fire up close, but that's rarely that effective. A nifty button that's been added for this version of the game is the ability to press RB and do a 180 to turn around if you're getting shot in the back. The game as a whole feels old and clunky, but there's charm in that to me... in some sick, twisted way.

Fun: 4.5/5 And of course the most important thing, the fun. It's been too long since we've had a Counter-Strike game on the Xbox, and it's a sight for sore eyes with all of the other modern shooters on the market. Global Offensive will be a great game for months to come, assuming the core of Counter-Strike fans stay online.

Overall, I can see Global Offensive being one of the top purchases on the XBLA. If you enjoyed any other version of Counter-Strike, this is just that. Be warned that it's nothing like Call of Duty or Battlefield or many other shooters, but more like SOCOM, which I welcome to the Xbox 360. The inability to be in party chat while playing is sometimes irritating, but sometimes you actually get on a team full of GUYS and not CHILDREN that help you out. Hopefully the trial will sift through the real Counter-Strike players and the Call of Duty only players, and the cry babies will be gone from the game forever. CS:GO has its fair share of flaws, but for fifteen measly dollars, I don't see why you wouldn't get this game. We can only hope now that Valve updates this game for the 360 as they will for the PC.

4.25/5

+: Great alternative to other military shooters, classic Counter-Strike gameplay, ability to play as a BOT when you're dead, a lot like Source but expanded upon, it's on XBLA.

-: No in-game party chat allowed, server problems early on, can't play any map in any mode (nothing new), some other question marks, including: how long will this last on XBLA...?

Game Review (Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 Content Drop: August)

How I've DREADED August since realizing there would be zero multiplayer maps... two Spec Ops missions and a new 'Chaos' mode are all we get this month. So what's the verdict? Well skip to the bottom of the page if you're that damn impatient. Jesus. Anyway, here we go, starting with the achievements.

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Beat "Special Delivery" on Veteran - 15G
Beat "Special Delivery" on any difficulty - 15G
Use one of each care package in "Special Delivery" - 15G
Use only one self-revive in "Special Delivery - 25G
Beat "Light 'Em Up" on Veteran - 15G
Beat "Light 'Em Up" on any difficulty - 15G
Stab five stunned enemies in a row on "Light 'Em Up" 45G
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First up, Special Delivery. In this mission, one player takes control of an osprey gunner while the other proceeds on foot attempting to get intel, and rescue a hostage. The interesting thing about this mission is that the player on the ground can call in a care package that the osprey gunner drops. This wasn't a terribly difficult mission even on veteran, but it was definitely a lengthy one. As the player on the ground, you really have to be careful when advancing. Your best bet is to take a few steps forward, and then back, in an attempt to trigger the enemy spawns. 3.5/5

Next, Light 'Em Up. This mission takes place at Makarov's castle dealie. The first part has one player in a helicopter blinding enemies and shooting them up, while another has to take out others on the ground while picking up intel. After getting four pieces, you join your partner on the helicopter and fly to another part of the level, where you have to rescue a hostage. This took quite a bit of time initially, but your best bet -- even on veteran -- is to do it as quickly as possible. I mean, get all four pieces of intel within 90 seconds. Don't bother lollygagging, because the enemies respawn. This is more frustrating and time consuming than Special Delivery, but it's more fun overall... everybody likes a challenge, right? 3.75/5

As for Chaos mode, I have to be honest. I have no interest. I played Survival a decent bit when the game first came out (mainly to get the achievements, but also because the idea appealed to me more than Zombies), but haven't touched it since, MOSTLY because I want to be able to play with 3 other people, not just one. Lame. From what I've gathered, people have told me it's essentially Survival mode made 'arcade style', and limited to only a few MW3 disc maps. Alright ... this sounds like it'd be great to the 27 people in the world that are fans of Survival mode, but who else really cares? I know I shouldn't rate something I haven't even played, but I'll rate Chaos mode the same way I'd rate Survival mode ... about a 3.25/5. It's fun, but it gets old quickly, especially since you can only play with yourself or one other person. 3.25/5

Overall, a terribly disappointing month for any ELITE Premium owner. The Spec Ops missions are pretty fun, but once you play them once, that's over with. Because of that, there's no replay value outside of Chaos mode, which I don't think all too many people play. August is easily the worst month ELITE's had to offer so far. It's stupid that Infinity Ward doesn't even pay attention to what the players want. A month without a single multiplayer map is insanely ridiculous. I can hope for some more 'free' content like we got with Terminal, but I won't hold my breath. At least the final month, September, looks promising...

3/5

Drink Review (Mountain Dew: Dark Berry)

A limited release, Mountain Dew: Dark Berry was released to coincide with the movie "The Dark Knight Rises". Though I have no interest in Batman or anything related to him, and haven't since I was six-years-old, I got a 20oz bottle of this because I like Mountain Dew time-to-time.

To me, this almost just tastes like Voltage. Maybe with a little bit of berry on there, but there's nothing about this that stands out to me... It just tastes 'okay.' I was expecting a super grape-y flavor, but I didn't get much of any of that. Maybe some sour, like the Pitch Black Mountain Dew. It's not bad, but I won't miss it once it's gone, considering we already have Voltage year round.

3.5/5

Game Review (Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 Content Drop: July)

Better late than never -- a little over a week ago, the July Content Drop came out with the likes of multiplayer maps Decommission and Offshore, and the Spec Ops Mission Vertigo. The Modern Warfare 2 map Terminal also came out this month, but as it isn't considered part of ELITE's content, I won't include it in this review. First, the achievements for this month...

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Complete Vertigo on any difficulty - 15G
Complete Vertigo on Veteran - 20G
Kill all Juggernauts after they land on Veteran - 25G
Destroy all helicopters in Vertigo - 15G
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When I initially saw the picture of Vertigo, I wondered why they chose that to be a Spec Ops map rather than a multiplayer map ... and I STILL wonder that. It's a nice night time map that takes place on top of what I believe is a hotel. After time on the roof, you rappel down to the outside main entrance and fight some enemies. It's a really cool mission, really. The achievements are all easy with the exception of one -- beating the mission on Veteran. I'd say this mission is as hard or harder than last month's Arctic Recon mission. The other two achievements (since you get both 'Complete Vertigo on...' achievements when you do it on Veteran) are pretty easy. The Juggernaut one is simple so long as you play with two people... one person throws a flash, and the other unloads with a Pecheneg. Voila, you win. The helicopters one can easily be done if you go on the easiest difficulty BY YOURSELF. I got that achievement my first try. Not a super awesome mission, but it looks nice. 3.5/5

Decommission's a map that looks quite a lot like the Spec Ops mission Smack Down... not exactly, but it certainly resembles it. It's a medium/small sized map that is, frankly, overly frantic on game modes like Domination. The capture points are very close, and it's hard to keep more than one flag held down at a time. Because of the size of this map, you'll find yourself getting spawn killed and spawn killing others quite often. If you can get past that though, Decommission is actually a pretty fun map... which surprised me. When I did my first run through in a custom match by myself, I was expecting it to be a dud. Thankfully, it isn't. 3.75/5

If you played Ghost Recon Future Soldier, you'll recognize the feel of Offshore. It takes place on some sort of rig in the ocean. The size of this map is shockingly gargantuan due to its several floors, stair cases, twists, and turns. Normally I despise large maps, but Offshore makes for some entertaining games, especially with objective game types. Because of its size and numerous corners, there aren't many places people are willing to camp, so if you hate campers -- who doesn't? -- you'll likely approve of Offshore. 4/5

Overall, July is a pretty good drop. Maybe I've just desperately been missing real, true multiplayer maps, but these ones seem to play well. While I'm disgruntled with Infinity Ward for not making Vertigo a multiplayer map, Decommission and Offshore are both solid enough to make me be okay with that decision.

3.75/5

DVD Review (The Simpsons: The Complete Fourteenth Season)

It came out awhile ago, but I just recently got it and finished watching the episodes and bonus features. Unlike any other DVD review I've done, I won't bother to review each individual episode this time, but I'll instead list some of season fourteen's highlights, as well as some of the duds.

I can say right away that I was surprised by this season. After season 10-ish, I haven't really enjoyed any of the seasons on DVD... bland stories, weak jokes, and just general mediocrity. For season fourteen though, I was happy to find that I actually LIKED a lot of the episodes.

Before watching any of the episodes, I read a lot of people's reviews complaining that Homer is beyond dumb in this season... that his IQ had dropped 30 points, and that he changed for the worse. While there are gags in some of the episodes that make Homer come off as a complete retard, most of the time the jokes were still funny to me, so the new Homer didn't bother me this season.

The season as a whole is average or slightly better throughout ... I found myself rating most every episode between 3.5 and a 4.25 rating out of 5. My favorite episodes of the season include "Treehouse of Horror XIII" (Mostly in part to the 'Send in the Clones' bit), "Helter Shelter", "The Dad Who Knew Too Little", "Three Gays of the Condo", and "Dude, Where's My Ranch?". Those five episodes I gave 'season high' 4.25s to. The worst episode, and the only one to get a 3.25 from me, is "Pray Anything". It's just a boring episode with very little to chuckle at. Regardless, the season averages about a 4/5 for me. Even though I wouldn't call a single episode from this season GREAT, I'd willingly watch most of these episodes a second or third time over again.

As for the bonus features, they're like the menus -- based almost entirely around Treehouse of Horror episodes from seasons past. I don't have any issues with this, but I don't understand why they haven't just released a Treehouse of Horror I-XX or XXII box set or something. I assume they'll do it at some point...

The other features include the usual... commentary on every episode, art galleries, and deleted scenes. I haven't and usually don't watch episodes with commentary, so I can't comment on how they are, but apparently Matt Groening isn't in many of the episodes.

Overall, The Simpsons: The Complete Fourteenth season is the best season to me since the tenth. Although nothing about this season will blow you away, you'll more than likely approve of more episodes than you disapprove.

4/5

Game Review (Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 Content Drop: June)

May's content drop for Modern Warfare 3 had a lot of stuff in it, including a new game mode called Face Off. For June's DLC, Face Off maps are back -- supposedly for a final time -- along with another Spec Ops mission worth 75 achievement points total. First, the achievements for said mission:

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Stay Frosty 15G - Complete "Arctic Recon" on any difficulty.
Sub Zero  25G - Complete "Arctic Recon" on Veteran difficulty.
dr0n3d 35G - Complete "Arctic Recon" in under 3:30.
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As I've yet to play Arctic Recon (Early issues with being unable to play it), I'll have to review it some other time. BUT, that doesn't prevent me from reviewing the Face Off maps -- HURRAH ... ... ...

First off alphabetically is Intersection, which takes place at an intersection in what seems to be New York City. Quite simply, this is the best looking and most fun to play Face Off map yet. While Getaway last month looked really good, the spawns absolutely ruined that map for me. Intersection is perfect. There are four main buildings on Intersection -- a bank, a library, a movie theater, and a pizza place (which has two floors). This not only makes it easy to call enemies out, it also makes this one of the bigger Face Off maps, which ALSO helps with the spawns which are normally horrendous in this game type. Not only is Intersection hands-down the best Face Off map, it is one of the best maps in the game period. 5/5

U-Turn is the first of the three that I played in this content drop. Upon spawning, it reminded me instantly of a condensed version of Ambush from Call of Duty 4 in that there is one risen, central street, with two areas on either side. U-Turn is very, very average, but made pretty bad by the absolutely atrocious spawn system. I've killed a guy or been killed by a guy twice within 3 seconds several times on this map already and I've only played it a handful of times. The key here is to NOT RELOAD after every kill, because the spawns are really just that bad. Even with good spawns though, U-Turn wouldn't be that great of a map. 3/5

Vortex is a very Call of Duty 2 or 3-esque map. It takes place on what seems to be a farm in the southern U.S. state. The map gets its name from. Well... look at the sky when you're playing the map. Anyway, Vortex may seem like a big map, but you'll really want to stay away from the center of it and stay around the barn/chicken coop, otherwise you'll find yourself in no-man's-land. Vortex is one of the better Face Off maps because although -- SHOCKER coming up -- the spawns aren't perfect, it's big enough to make it playable, unlike many of the original Face Off maps. 4/5

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While I was pretty disappointed with Infinity Ward not giving us any true multi player maps this month, two of these Face Off maps are worthy of playing, and although I haven't gotten the chance to play Arctic Recon yet, I haven't been too disappointed with any of the Spec Ops missions released to date. June isn't the best content drop to date, but there have been worse.
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3.5/5

Game Review (Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Future Soldier Multiplayer Maps - 360)

I reviewed the game, and now it's time for what you could be spending days playing on -- the multiplayer maps. Future Soldier has only 10 maps, but they vary a good bit.

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Alpha is a medium sized map that takes place at some sort of industrial plant. Alpha is intriguing in that there is a catwalk snaking throughout a good portion of the map, which encourages sniping. Still, there isn't much cover up there, so it's pretty easy to be taken out. Although it isn't terrible, Alpha just looks bland, and the games played on it are normally just average. 3.5/5

Cargo seems to be inspired -- at least in part -- by Call of Duty 4's Wet Work map. It is a short, narrow map (because it takes place on a ship) which makes it somewhat difficult to flank on. Wet Work was my least favorite map (after Shipment) in Call of Duty 4, and Cargo may well be my least favorite map in Ghost Recon. The way the map is designed makes it, as I said, difficult to flank, and the map itself just isn't very fun on the game modes I've played it on. 3/5

Harbor reminds me, at least in part, of Noshahr Canals in Battlefield 3. While the map is really laid out nothing like it, the look is somewhat similar to the first section of that particular Battlefield map. Although it doesn't seem to come up too often in the playlist, Harbor -- like the other two maps -- is just "meh" to me. Basically takes place near a harbor, obviously, and there are a lot of boxes to sit behind for cover. Not very interest, and just very bland, to put it simply. Playable, but not great in any sense. 3.25/5

Market is another map that reminds me of a map I played in a game in the past... SOCOM II's Crossroads. Again, while it feels pretty much nothing like it, I get the vibe when I see the map. While pretty much no map could ever surpass the greatness that is Crossroads, Market is one of my favorite maps on Future Soldier. It's similar to Alpha in size (to be honest, most of these maps are pretty close in size), to give you an idea of how large it is. I really enjoy Market because it has several distinct areas, it's memorable after one playthrough, and it just has a great layout. 4.75/5

Mill was one of the beta maps -- along with Pipeline -- but that doesn't really affect me because I never played the beta in the first place. Mill seems to be the most dreary on-disc map, but I suppose that's the way it should be, since part of the map takes place in a mini cemetery. Along with the cemetery there's, you guessed it, a mill, a few bridges, and what I believe is a dry-lake bed. As gloomy and Gears of Wars-y as this map feels, it's certainly enjoyable. 4.25/5

Overpass is one of the smaller maps in the game ... I think. Overpass has a street running through it, with two rows of buildings on either side. The street is a prime target for snipers, so you won't want to be out there long, as there is also minimal cover. This is a great map to rock a shotgun on, as there are a lot of corners and close-quarters combat, with not many long sightlines (Unless of course, you're in the middle of the map). After several plays, I'm still enjoying this map quite a bit, and it's one of my personal favorites. 4.5/5

Pipeline is the other beta map. While it was the first map I played in Future Soldier, it doesn't seem to come up in playlists all too often, which is a shame, because I actually don't mind it. Pipeline is a map that you can really use any type of gun on, due to there being several areas of the map where particular weapons are ideal. If you're indecisive though, go with an assault rifle. Not an incredible map, but fun, and I wish it would show up more online. 4/5

Rig is one of the biggest maps... at least it feels like it, due to the many levels and staircases on it. Rig, like Pipeline, is a map that you can get away with any gun-type, depending on which area of the map a particular objective is on. Snipers can lay out on the helipad and get a good view of a nice portion of the map, and shotgunners can run up and down stairs to blast peoples' heads off. Whichever you choose, you'll likely have a good time with Rig, because it hasn't disappointed yet on Conflict. 4/5

Sand Storm is the largest map in Future Soldier. While the image they show of this map in the game makes it look pretty bland, it's actually pretty awesome, and has one of the most unique feels of any of the others. One back part of the map has a large jet and a hangar, and another has a bunch of tents and sandbags for cover. Periodically when playing the map, a sand storm will come and decrease visibility for a time, which is sure to frustrate snipers without a thermal score. While you'd think a large map would be a bad idea in a game like Future Soldier, this one works, and works well. 4.25/5

Underground immediately reminded me of Rat's Nest from Halo 3... if you played that map, you'll likely see what I'm talking about. Underground seems to come up more often than any other map in the game in playlists, but I don't mind -- yet -- because I thoroughly enjoy it. It has some long sight lines and windows for snipers to go to on the outskirts, but the majority of the map encourages some shotgunning and SMGing skirmishes... I love the Rainbow Six-y/GoldenEye feel Underground brings as well. 4.25/5

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As you can see, not many stellar maps, but there are also very few "stinkers" in there. I could go without Cargo and even Harbor, but the rest of the maps are good or better, which can't be said for a good number of shooters out there. I'm looking forward to future maps in the form of downloadable content, and hope we get at least three packs. What I hope for even more though, is for the Future Soldier community to stay alive. Anyway, that's getting a bit off-topic ... overall, I'd give Future Soldier's maps a solid

4/5