Pickups and My Day of Gaming

On 08/20/2013 at 03:40 AM by KnightDriver

Got Over G Fighters for $4 and Samurai Warriors 2: Empires for $9 at GameStop. They're just the discs, but whatever.

Later the same day, I got back to playing Cabela's African Safari and finished South Africa with a tricky mission to find a very shy and elusive animal. It took several tries before I found them all. Then I was to go to Namibia for the next Safari but my 360 kept giving me bad disc error messages. I cleaned the CD several times, but it just wouldn't load the next area. So I gave the disc to my friend, who has an earlier version of the 360, and it read the disc just fine. So I had to watch him play Namibia. I was pissed, but I ordered another disc off Amazon for $10. I don't understand why my slim 360 doesn't read as well as his earlier model 360. I makes no sense to me.

I put in Over G Fighters that I had just picked up and tried out this hard core military flight sim. The first mission has you launching a fighter jet off the deck of an aircraft carrier and firing missiles at other planes. The graphics were pretty good and the feel of the aircraft, including all the sounds, seemed very authentic. I was playing on Beginner just to get a feel of it. First, I crashed right into the ocean. Next, I got shot down by an enemy missile mainly 'cause I was taking too long pursuing the enemy. Then I settled in and shot down all the enemy to finish the first mission. I did another few missions, but when I got to the training of take-off and landing, there was a problem. They don't tell you exactly how to land, and so I kept crashing into the ground. It seems it wouldn't be too hard if they just gave you a quick overview of how to do it. Like what speed, and what elevation to be at when near the runway. It was very frustrating and I decided I didn't really enjoy the flight sim experience even though it was neat to do it once and see how it looks from the cockpit of a modern fighter jet.

Then I put in Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion but first reviewed the guide on xbox360achievements.org for some tips. I've played this game several times before and never got too far in it. This time I would follow a guide and do it right. Basically, I ratcheted the difficulty all the way down and then went for the Arena fights first. I got up to Gladiator before I had to stop for the night. It was fun to fight in the arena all day (in game time), then go and get drunk, find a woman to talk to and max out her favorable opinion of me with the persuasion mini-game, then sleep in the Merchants Inn, wake up the next day, and go upgrade my armor and weapons before going back to the Arena to fight my way to the top. What a life I was making for myself!

Then I went to see Kick Ass 2 with a friend of mine. I didn't much care for it. It had none of the intensity of the first one.

Chris Yarger Community Manager

08/20/2013 at 06:30 AM

I liked the second Kickass movie. A lot of the critics are tearing it up, but I enjoyed it!

KnightDriver

08/20/2013 at 03:18 PM

Some good moments, but it fell kinda flat for me emotionally.

leeradical42

08/20/2013 at 07:07 AM

The flight sim experience takes some practice after all it not simple to fly a million dollar jet fighter i actually dont have any problems taking off and landing although landing on a aircraft carrier is freaking hard as hell but keep in mind you dont have to land in the game you can skip landing and take offs entirely but like i said in my reveiw theres people who play sims then theres people who dont and pateince is a virtue in this game.

08/20/2013 at 03:22 PM

Yea, I saw that you could land automatically from that guide I read, but you have to do it once manually for the training. It's just on a normal runway. I know you're supposed to nose up just before touch down, but I kept rising back into the air. Somthing about cutting your thrust at some key moment I think.

08/20/2013 at 07:30 PM

Set your throttle between 75 and 80 when you land and switch to landing veiw and keep the nose just above the altimeter when the rear wheels hit drop the nose down and apply full flaps and speed brakes but its all about angle remember that.

08/21/2013 at 02:26 AM

Wow! Ya know, the guide I read suggested strongly that I read the manual because Taito makes great manuals, but I don't have one. I should look it up online so I know how to control all that stuff like "flaps" and "speed brakes".

08/21/2013 at 07:49 AM

Yea this game almost reqires you to have a manual for the controls because flight sims is a must have manual for controls.

08/20/2013 at 09:30 AM

Using the T/F-18A (note, no extra slugs or weapons and full internal fuel),

lower your speed to around 300 KPH (approx.). Power should be at 82 to 85 to

keep your plane aloft -- the airspeed will stay the same. Check the gear and

hook and with "landing view" active, locate the single vertical green line to

your right. Bank right, then line yourself up so the center of the airplane is

centered to the line. Nevermind the landing light and other garbage. You're

going to eyeball it. Keep the altimeter around 70 M or so (this is not the

same number from the NES version of Top Gun, which assumes a glide down).

This will help you land on a carrier hope it helps

TheMart22

08/20/2013 at 09:55 AM

Your time in Oblivion sounds fun. I just bought this on the Steam Sale and looking forward to getting started. I'm tempted to go powerhouse instead of my usual magic route in TES games

08/20/2013 at 03:27 PM

Oblivion is the best. I think I'll go pick up the GOTY edition and give my regular edition to my friend. It's always fun to see how someone else approaches the same game your playing. The guide I'm following has me doing the Arena first and then all the Guild Quests before doing the main story. I always went for the main story before and always got side tracked and then killed by some mission that was too high a level for me. I'm excited to get back to it so I can finally see the whole game. This game is why I got a 360.

goaztecs

08/20/2013 at 12:57 PM

Can't go wrong with gaming on the cheap.

I kind of like those Cabela games. It sucks it that your console didn't read that part of the disc. Sounds like the problem that the PS2 had where some of them couldn't read the blue bottom games.

That flight sim sounds tough. Top Gun turned me off to landing on carriers.

08/20/2013 at 03:31 PM

That Cabela game is really fun. My buddy took over when mine didn't work and had a total blast. It was fun to watch him play it too. I can't wait to start it up again. It really does have nice graphics. This is why I try stuff on the cheap. Sometimes I find a really fun game.

Over G Fighters wasn't as tough as I expected though. I thought I wouldn't even get into the sky, but I managed several missions. I probably could get through the game with a little more patience. It's actually a very accessible game.

Halochief90

08/20/2013 at 03:47 PM

I enjoyed the Ace Combat games (up until the most recent one) for their semi-realistic flight experience. Like you though, I don't think I could get into the super realistic flight-sim.

08/21/2013 at 02:10 AM

As you would expect, the pace of combat is a lot slower than an arcade style game.

daftman

08/20/2013 at 09:16 PM

I have no experience with any of these games but hey, I like Kickass. Haven't heard anything about the second one but I'll wait and make up my mind for myself.

I loved the first one. Second one. Not so much.

PixlBit