GTA was addictive from its very first release for the PlayStation (PSOne). The PSOne allowed publishers to push the envelope into more and more mature titles with more adult subject matter.  Still a 2D game in its first 3 releases (GTA, GTA2, and GTA: London), Rockstar would change the console game world with GTA III.

GTA III is what finally forced me to buy a PS2. My world was completely changed.  I never owned any of the Nintendo systems but did play the Marios and the Zeldas, but never id a game speak to my male id like GTA III.  Combining so many styles of gaming (Third-Person Shooter, Rail Shooter, Driving, Racing, puzzle-solving), GTA III opened up an entire universe for gamers to explore.  No longer tied to the standard corridor/maze of classic first person and third person shooters like Doom, Quake, and Splinter Cell.

Rockstar extended the Gameplay and amped up the mature content in GTA:Vice City and GTA: San Andreas.  Vice City introduced motorcycles are money collection while San Andreas introduced full character control with clothing, eating, and exercise.  Many blasted San Andreas for having to much depth but Rockstar really pushed the envelope push the PS2 to its limit.

GTA IV promises to be a revolutionary change.  WE again return to Liberty City the scene of GTA, GTA III, and GTA: Liberty City Stories.  But this re-imagined space is not the same place we murdered Sindacos and jacked cars in from of the Callahan Bridge.

Throughout the month I will highlight awesome GTA moments, reviews, and talk every thing GTA as we prep for April 29 -> GTA IV Day!

The Story So Far…

Halo 3 begins just after the ending of Halo 2 – when Master Chief jumped from the ship hurtling towards Earth.  He lands like Kal-El coming to our planet to become Superman!  After the marines find him and a quick system check – you and the Master Chief are put right into the action.

It wouldn’t be Halo if it weren’t action packed.  You play along side the Arbiter up against the Prophet of Truth and the Brutes.  The Prophet has come to Earth to destroy the gallixy and you need to stop him!  I’ve only played through two of the major campaigns – and of course I’m hooked.  I usually play through the game before I check out the multiplayer – but that won’t happen this time – I’m going to get in to the multiplayer right away and update you on one of my In Play posts.

Since there is no true “tutorial” stage, it took me awhile to figure out the controls and some of the new weapons.   There is a new grenade type and a new “equipment” upgrade that could be a shield, grav lift, or cloak.  Just push the X button to deploy the equipment.

The only thing that took me awhile to figure out was that I had to push the RB button to get on the one of the ships.  After killing all of the enemies twice – I finally hung aroud the ship long enough to figure it out.

There is a nice complemnt of weapons – with my favorite so far being the War Hammer.  I love crushing the skulls of the Brutes with that thing!

So Halo 3 is the game of the week, and I’ll spend plenty of time playing it – It’s my new Obsession!

The game play is very simplistic.  You tilt the world to the left or right and bounce the Loco Rocos through a series of levels collecting berries to help you multiply and collect picokories and Mui Mui to earn points at the end of each level.  You do have some enemies trying to stop you though.  You have to watch out for the Moja who are out to eat you!

The best part about the game is the music.  The Loco Roco sing an almost lullaby song that is very relaxing.  I often find my self humming the theme while I’m playing – causing my wife to look over at me during our commute together. 

The game is pretty challenging as the levels progress.  At several points in order to gain the maximum score you must have a certain number of Loco Rocos in your party to wake up the sun, moon, or plants.  Your Rocos sing and the awakened character gives you a piece of your Loco House.

There are two mini games.  One a lot like the claw game from Toy Story fame, where you can collect pieces of the Loco House.  The other Chuppa Chuppa I haven’t unlocked yet – so I can’t tell you too much about it.

Loco Roco is very addictive as you try again and again to gain the max number of points at the end of a round and find all the secret areas on the map.  So easy, any gamer can just pick it right up and play.

Burnout Paradise changes things up a lot.  Now instead of a world map or lists with different events to select – you as the player drive around Paradise City starting races, road rages and burning laps at intersections.  Their are also crash and timing challenges on each of the city streets. 

You collect cars in the junkyard and can repair vehicles in the repair shops.  New in this version -> you don’t get cars for completing challenges, you get a chance to “acquire” the car.  To get it you must perform a takedown out on the open road.  Afterwards the car is available in your junkyard.  Albeit damages -> so get it repaired!

The races are tougher since there are many routes to the finish line – but that makes it fun. 

I’ll get to log in about 5-8 hours of game time this week and I’ll update you with some In Play throughout.

I haven’t tried the multiplayer options but will this week. I’ll have a detailed “Over-30″ review in about a week.

I got the version for the Xbox 360 since that’s what my friend has.  I try to get games that I can play online with friends, since I really don’t have too many opportunities to meet people that have Xboxes and PS3s in the corporate world.  Plus, after I beat a game – It just gets boring if I’m not playing a human.

I wanted to be ready to challenge my boy who has had the game for several months, so I powered it up as soon as I got home.  The first thing I noticed was the music.  I like how EA included some Hip Hop on this game.  I was disappointed in the lack of diversity on both Burnout Paradise and on NCAA 2008. 

Since my used game didn’t come with a manual, the first area I went to was Training.  The training games seemed simple enough.  Just mash the buttons to punch right? — WRONG!  After standing there like a bump on a log while the timer counted down, I finally hit the Start button so that I could see the controller configuration screen.  The default setting is Total Control Punching.  Well, I want total control – so let’s figure this out.  After about 5 tries with the punching dummy, I figured out how to jab to the face and to the body.  Only after I went back out to the other training mini-games did I discover that I could learn how to punch in the Sparring mini-game.

Fast forward to Create a Champ.  I wanted to create someone in my own image, so I have a tall, muscular guy with a short cut and a goat-tee (which I don’t really have anymore).  I must say that the customization options are amazing and the graphics on the 360 make this a great addition.  I thought I would be able to take him right into a fight, but when I tried to do career mode – the game started to walk me through creating another fighter.  I wanted to get to some action – so I just backed out of that and chose the option to take a real boxer and build him up.  So I selected Sugar Ray Leonard.

I pumped up Sugar Ray’s power, agility, and speed and set the other attributes to around 20%, leaving about 9% for his chin.  The career mode makes you do training once you sign a contract and in training you can build up your attributes.  I did some heavy bag training to build up my chin and heart.  Then it was on to the first bout!

Ding Ding! My jabs and combos were a little weak, since I still didn’t have a good feel for the controls.  The boxer “International” was putting it on me a bit, and got the best of me in round one.  During the break, I listened to my (free) trainer and learn to stick and move.  I enjoyed eyeballing the Round Card girl in her bikini – (why do they all have tattoos?).  The next round, I really gave it to International, sticking and moving, bobbing and weaving, and blocking and parrying.  I took round 2 and then we split 3 and 4.   The bout ended in a draw.

I couldn’t go out like that – so I in the next fight, I started out sticking and moving, but also using my haymaker punch.  I knocked down the next boxer in the first round and then got a TKO in the second round.  The third fight ended in a TKO in the first round because the boxer stopped defending himself. 

I think I have the hang of it now.  I’ll read some pointers online to really make sure I know as much as I can about counter punching and defending myself. 

I’ll have a good time playing Fight Night Round 3 this week.  By the weekend I should be ready to take on my friend and become the Champ!