We here at Counter Agent would like to take a second and plead with game makers to include co-op in their games. ALL NEW GAMES SHOULD INCLUDE CO-OP OF SOME SORT. We prefer split screen co-op as its always funner to play a game with one or more buddies at the same house. It seems that game makers are moving towards this. About the only redeeming value for Halo 3 single player was the co-op (although we still had a problem with only one Master Chief,  see our review).  There are games on the horizon that have co-op as the center of their gaming, most notably “Army of Two”.  This game has got us more and more excited with every teaser we see. We can only hope that the soon to be standout game of the winter (Call of Duty 4) will include co-op.

So please game makers ………KEEP THE CO-OP COMING!!!!!!!!!!

Just when it seemed that fighting Nazi hordes to save Europe was over. Just when you thought “I will never play another WW2 shooter”. Another one comes along and we couldn’t resist it. I am a big fan of WW2 shooters but have grown tired of the genre, then along comes Medal of Honor Airborne and I believe once again. The MOH series of games has been pushed aside by Call of Duty in recent as the premier WW2 shooter. With COD moving to a modern combat genre MOH has picked a perfect time to change up the system and give us a pretty darn good game.

The first thing that you’ll notice is that the levels are free roaming, no more point A to point B only. Its a welcome change and can make the game playable multiple times. You’ll also be able to parachute into any part of the battlefield. While landing in an intense fire fight can make your survival tough it can also give you the needed advantage. The ability to land anywhere, such as roofs, into blown open buildings and enemy bunkers makes for different gameplay each time as well as perfect sniping posts (if your into sniping as I am). When landing behind enemy lines make sure you nail your landing or it will be a short life for you.

Also the game allows you to pick what weapons load-out you want before you deploy. It has a small arsenal at first including some German weapons and as you pick up weapons they will be added to your load-out screen so you can start with them. This leads me to personally one of my favorite things and that is the weapons upgrades. This caused me to play the game through multiple times as getting these upgrades is quite addicting. You can get the upgrades by using each weapon to remove a Nazi from the game. Granted while some of the upgrades don’t seem to do much, some of them are great such as the addition of scopes, larger mags, and bayonets.

The levels are done well and really make you feel like you’re in old world Europe. They aren’t extremely large so navigating them is easy. Although the last level is a bit of a maze and I admit to getting lost a couple of times.

As with most WW2 games the AI leaves a bit to be desired. While the Nazi’s are fierce and will not run away they also will not move to and from cover very often so getting a sight on them isn’t all that difficult. The Nazi’s are also split up into classes and the lower the class the less battle hardened they are and thus easy to dispose of. The top of the Nazi food chain are the Nazi Elite, they are well armored soldiers with MG 42 machine guns that they carry around and are quite hard to take down (aim for the head). This was a nice addition. The AI of your teammates is awful as usual. It is nice to have multiple guys around so the bad guys aren’t just wasting you, and the AI is good for a few kills but more than a couple of times the AI decides to run in front of you just as your tossing a grenade and the grenade comes bouncing off their helmet right back to your feet.

Mutliplayer just seems a bit tacked on and really isn’t all that great. This game would have been a great co-op game and I’d like to see a WW2 game with co-op in the future.

All in all this game did not disappoint in a world where there may already be to many WW2 games. MOH Airborne gives a bit of a twist that makes it better then most recent WW2 games. With Call of Duty leaving the WW2 game behind and if your just itching to waste some of those easy to hate Nazi’s this game is worth picking up.

Let’s get this out of the way first off. Should you buy this game? The answer is yes… if you want a great, fully featured multiplayer experience. However, if you’re looking to “Finish the Fight” with Master Chief and friends I’m gonna have to give this a pass, and here’s why.

The Single Player Campaign

OK, I am one of the many that played the first and second Halo games and got completely wrapped up in the epic sci-fi story presented through a wonderfully addictive action game. As many people who played through Halo 2 know, the ending was kind of a let down. I was very much looking forward to the next chapter in the Halo canon. Boy was I sad when that story was told in an experience lasting less than six hours long. Really Bungie, six hours? I don’t know how many of you out there still play single player games, but I do, and I’ve sat through movies longer than that, and they didn’t run me $60. The real problem isn’t even the length of the game, it’s the story. Without giving too much away, let’s just say, the end of this story goes the way of the Matrix series. All throughout the experience your game is temporarily interrupted when Cortana or the Gravemind talk to you for a few seconds, this gets very annoying, seeing as how it adds nothing to the overall story and pauses gameplay. Look, I really wanted to like this game, and I do, it’s just not the amazing single player experience it should have been. The co-op is a great addition, however, it can greatly reduce the time taken to finish the game and why I don’t know but only one person can be Master Chief while the rest of the players are stuck being the Arbiter and two nameless Elites, which really ticks me off, not only because your a stupid alien, but you start out with crappy alien weapons instead of the human ones Master Chief gets. The first two games let both co-op players be the Chief, who cares if it doesn’t make sense i’d rather be Master Chief. Because Master Cheif is the reason this game is so cool. Much of the levels are basically the same as halo 2 with the same feel and look, albeit the look is sharper. The amount of backtracking is exhausting and really drags the game down. It took under 6 hours to finish and would have only been 4 without the backtracking. Where this game really shines is in the multiplayer area where for some reason everybody can be Master Chief if they want.

The Multiplayer Game & Matchmaking

Here is why you should buy this game. The multiplayer aspect of this game, starting with Matchmaking, is superb. The shear number of options is staggering. You can change everything including the newly added gravity options. There is a lot of new options for customizing your emblem, colors, and now even the armor on your player model. These and other multiplayer goodies must be unlocked in various ways throughout the game. Getting into a game couldn’t be easier. You select what type of game you want and you can even filter how you want it to search, quickest or best match type options. You get into games fairly quick and they’ve added a “veto this map” option while you wait for it to find players and load the map. Once you start the match you’ll notice how good this game looks and runs in multiplayer. While some of the levels have very basic architecture very reminiscent of halo 1 & 2, most of the maps look lush and pretty. The gameplay is extremely fast, much faster paced than Halo 2, kind of similar Unreal Tournament. Most of the weapons have been upgraded and a few new ones have been added, including the new fan favorite the Brute’s Gravity Hammer, which works kind of like the sword but has a large area of damage that can take out a few people in close proximity with one swing. The big new addition is the equipment. This includes useful new items like the bubble shield which temporarily protects you and whoever jumps into it. Parties are still available and work well. Once you’ve finished a match you have a plethora of stats to look through. If you’re registered on Bungie.net, which is completely free and quick to do, you will have access to even more stats about any of the matches you’ve played. You even have access to screenshots you can take from a match in Halo 3. That said, one of the big new features are the Saved Films. After you play a match or level of the campaign you can watch a full 3D video of it. In it you control a camera and fly around watching the battle from any angle, fast forward and rewind to see exactly how you were killed or take a screenshot of some freakin awesome, impossible shot you made to win the game. You can also send the videos to a friend if you want to rub in just how great you are. The last part of the Halo 3 multiplayer experience is a map editor called Forge. It’s really more of a map re-arranger than editor, as you can only place items in level and move them arround. The difference with this one and so many others on the PC is that this can all be done while you and your friends are playing the level. It’s fun, but feels more like a novelty that’ll probably be rarely used by most players. That said, this game has legs, it won’t soon be sitting on a shelf somewhere collecting dust. Much like it’s predicessor Halo 2, this game is probably going to keep gamer’s attention longer than the consoles lifetime. As far as multiplayer gaming is concerned, it doesn’t get much better.

Boom!

First off, this tip is for people who have NOT signed up for Xbox Live yet. If you just got yourself a Xbox 360 or you’ve finally decided to get online this tip should get you 1 month free Xbox Live Gold. It’s very simple.

1. Make sure you Xbox 360 is plugged in to a broadband internet connection.
2. Turn it on and choose the ’Join Xbox Live’ option.
3. Create a Gamertag name and start entering your personal information.
4. Once you get to the point during signup where you have to select from: ‘Silver, Gold, or Redeem’ choose Silver.
5. It will ask you if you’re sure you want Silver and not Gold. Even if you have a 48 hour trial redemption card, don’t use it. Select yes, you are sure you just want Silver.
6. After confirming the Silver account Xbox Live should say you’ve just qualified for a free 1 month trial of Xbox Live.

That’s it, you should now be playing games online for at least a month completely free.

Boom!

The much anticipated release of Madden 08 has passed and everyone who called in sick for the release date are back to work. If you hold Madden in the highest of esteem as I do this was to be the version to save the series. The rush job and failure of the last 2 Maddens for the next gen consoles had left the franchise a bit tarnished. It would have been better to not release it at then give us such a shoddy game.

But the ray of sunshine that is Madden 08 has come into our lives and we couldn’t be happier. First and foremost the game is actually fast again. The gameplay is back to the fast quick format that has set Madden apart. The biggest ad on is the gamebreaker feature. This got ragged on by some people but I liked it and thought it was a good idea. My complaint with it is if you’re playing against the computer its gamebreakers seem to work much better then yours, not so much that it hurts the game but it does suck none the less. The Gamebreaker is certain players who are super high rated in a particular stat. Like your QB can be a smart QB (guess what Rex Grossman isn’t one) where if you call the same plays on defense he will pick up on it and counter with a play to beat the defense. There are also smart players on defense that do the same. There are also things like brick wall defenders, bull rush pass rushers, hands receivers, and shut down corners to name a few. It adds a bit of fun to your games and when building a team in franchise mode you can’t help but get as many if these players as possible.

Back is the create a superstar mode which can be frustrating because you really can’t control your team. For me i enjoy the GM aspect of the franchise mode.

Of course most of the person versus person playing is done on xbox live, but if you happen to be playing the game with a buddy on the same TV you will have a hard time hiding what play you have chosen. They removed the 3 choice system for a 1 play at a time system. It can be hard if your buddy is a cheater.

Also added was a build a ring feature seems like a good idea but is really just wasted space. This is what a next gen football game should be it looks good runs good and will keep you coming back time and again. Keep playing Madden 08 because it is pretty darn strong. And next year lets make its release date a national holiday!!!!

I recently bought Ubisoft’s new guitar “game” Jam Sessions. It’s really more of a simulator than a game, though I have to admit I was really looking forward to it. I play “real” guitar and have always wanted something small and compact to take with me when I go on trips. Sometimes you get an idea and you’ve got nothing to play it on. For all intents and purposes it really is a pocket guitar, limited as it might be. For one thing it sounds great. The recorded guitar samples are spot on, although they’re only sampled from an acoustic guitar. The effects pedals are kind of weak and not very useful overall. The game boasts over 100 chords so you can play along to most any song, though you’re only going to be playing the rhythm parts and not lead (Sorry, no wicked guitar solos here, the game only supports strumming full chords, not individual strings). It would’ve also been nice to be able to change octaves for individual chords. The click track is more annoying than helpful, it would’ve been nice to have maybe simple drum loops also. Hopefully we’ll see a sequel with some more fleshed out features.

One of the problems with the game is who it’s really for, they say you can learn to play guitar by playing this game. This is sadly not the case. You are going to be very hard pressed to learn guitar from playing this game. It never shows a breakdown of the chords you’re playing and the display of the guitar strings you strum is represented by a single line in the middle of the touch screen. Don’t get me wrong, this is a great game, or whatever it is, but it is not a learning tool and it’s really not even a game. The songs (by songs I mean strumming patterns, no mp3’s or real full version audio songs) that come loaded on the cartridge are mostly obscure/b-sides from some moderately familiar artist.

So, the bottom line is, if you’re a guitarist already and want to play guitar on the toilet, buy this. On the other hand, if you’ve never played guitar before and you think somehow this is your chance to start a rock band, it may be fun for a while, but you’re not going to be rockin’ any sweet riffs any time soon.

Boom!

[rating:3/5]

Earth Defence Force 2017 for the Xbox 360, or EDF for those in the know, has got to be one of the best crappy games most people will never give a second look, if not a first. The game’s plot is almost non-existent and revolves around killing hordes and hordes of invading aliens, from giant insects to the occasional massive robot or drop ship. Variety is not a word I would use to describe EDF unless you’re talking about it’s weapons. There are over 75 unique weapons found in the game and are earned from killing enemies and collecting the spoils left behind. Of the 50 some levels most look very much the same. The graphics are sub par compared with most other action games on the platform and occasionally there is some harsh slow down. There are vehicles in the game as well, but they are so poorly implemented with almost unusable control schemes that make them more aggravating than fun.

So, why is this game so amazing? The real treat to it is it’s Split-Screen Co-Op play, available through the entire single player campaign. You can destroy pretty much any building you see and the weapons range from flame throwers, to homing missiles, to acid guns. The action is non-stop and just plain fun. It’s wildly satisfying when you fire a rocket directly at a 50 foot ant and watch as it explodes and catapults off the screen toward the sky. The game is strangely addictive, but it probably won’t hold up for very long. If you want a good, fun, mindless action for about 10-20 hours then this game is a good solid rental, but pass if you’re looking for more depth.

Boom!

If you’re interested in picking this game up, you can find it used at GameStop here:

Halo 3 comes out today and we at CounterAgent can’t wait. Bungie.net has just added new Halo 3 features for stat tracking. They work with both multiplayer and singleplayer matches. Go to Bungie.net to signup and check out all these new features.

Boom!