GTA IV Lock Box Amazon Bundle Review

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(More customer reviews)This is worth every dollar. The lock box is nice and solid and worth the price alone and the book was a added suprise. I got mine on sale for $13.73 and that's cheaper than the game would have cost. I would have liked the Rockstar key chains also but sadly that's the only the thing in the pictures you don't get. Don't pass this up.

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What does the American Dream mean today? For Niko Bellic, fresh off the boat from Europe, it is the hope he can escape his past. For his cousin, Roman, it is the vision that together they can find fortune in Liberty City, gateway to the land of opportunity. As they slip into debt and are dragged into a criminal underworld by a series of shysters, thieves and sociopaths, they discover that the reality is very different from the dream in a city that worships money and status, and is heaven for those who have them and a living nightmare for those who don't.

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Red Dead Redemption: Special Edition Review

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(More customer reviews)This "Special" edition is just what you get if you preordered it from Gamestop. If you go soon enough, you still might be able to get a copy of it at Gamestop because they usually have extras. Don't pay 30$ more for something you can get from a store and not have to pay shipping (and use trade in credit as well if you have it!)

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When federal agents threaten his family, former outlaw John Marston is forced to pick up his guns again and hunt down the gang of criminals he once called friends. Experience an epic fight for survival across the sprawling expanses of the American West and Mexico, as John Marston struggles to bury his blood-stained past, one man at a time.
Special edition includes:
- The Deadly Assassin Outfit: John Marston's "Deadly Assassin" outfit causes your Dead Eye meter to regenerate at twice the speed.
- The Original Game Soundtrack: The original score composed by the critically acclaimed recording artists Bill Elm and Woody Jackson.
- And Exclusive Challenges

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Table Tennis Review

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(More customer reviews)If I told you a year ago when the Xbox 360 was being finalized and games were starting to be talked about, that Rockstar was supporting the system, what's the first thing you'd think of?? Grand Theft Auto? Midnight Club? The Warriors? Sure, something like that. But then what if I told you in March that the first game Rockstar (keep in mind we're talking about Rockstar here) was going to put out on the Xbox 360 was Table Tennis (better known as PING-PONG!! in the US), would you have believed me? My very first reaction to that news was, "What, are they putting it out on Xbox Live Arcade??" I mean, seriously; Table Tennis?? From the guys that make rated M games? Were they serious? Was this a joke? The answer to those questions in order was: No, yes, yes, yes, and no. In fact, Rockstar Games was so serious about this game they really marketed it on the net and in game magazines. They were dead serious about it. And when you play Rockstar's Table Tennis, you'll see that too.While it's not a system seller, or a game that is going to revolutionize the sports genre, Table Tennis is not only solid, but authentic! This isn't an Xbox Live Arcade level game. And it's on shelves for $39.99, which is a relief from the usual $59.99 games. The question I pose is this: Is a Table Tennis game worth even a discounted price of $40? Well, Rockstar makes a heck of a case for it with a very solid game. And no, you're not playing against hookers, and armed Mafia gunmen aren't going to jump out from the stands with machine guns and start shooting at you. It's just Table Tennis.
Ok, some quick basics about Rockstar's Table Tennis. The game modes here unfortunately are pretty bare, and that has a little bit of impact on the game overall, but not a lot. There are 11 playable characters in the game; 7 men, 4 women. They come from all around the world; Japan, Germany, USA, Sweden, Brazil, and more. Each player has their own distinctive attributes and gameplay. Some are faster than others, some more powerful, some with more spin they can put on the ball. Who you choose to play with can be as important as the gameplay itself. There are only a couple of players at the beginning to chose from, and the rest you unlock by playing through the game. It seems like you unlock characters based on winning total number of games, but you also unlock them through playing offline tournaments. There are three tournaments to play with different difficulties. There is also an exhibition mode with three levels of difficulty. There's no create-a-player, nor is there a career mode; two things that a game like this should absolutely have.

There is some basic online play as well, and that's a given now with Xbox 360 games. And this game makes use of the 360's Spectator mode in it's "Table Tennis Network". In fact, you get achievement points for watching a match online. Then of course you have your ranked and non-ranked matches. The only problem with playing online is that there is no lobby system. Once you're game is done you're thrown back into the main area where you have to look for another game, or wait for another invite if you want to play the same person. You should have the ability to keep the room open to play another match. But that's minor.
What is amazing about Table Tennis is it's complete attention to the detail of the actual game. I played a lot of ping-pong in college. I am in no way, shape, or form, an expert or a tournament player. I played a lot for fun. But I did learn how to put spin on the ball, how to make drop shots, and how to take a step back from the table in order to really fire up my volleys. So I felt like I was a little more more than just a casual player. So I recognize the authenticity of Rockstar's physics engine they put in this game to make it feel and play realistic. In fact, I have to say this really is as authentic a game in regards to ball physics that I think I've ever seen. It's one of the reasons I am highly hooked on the game. Table Tennis as a sport is all about power and spin. In order for a player to dominate his opponent in Table Tennis, they have to master being able to put high amounts of spin on the ball so that when the ball hits the table it veers in that direction so sharply that the opponent either mis-places his paddle to where he can't effectively return the ball, or with the addition of power, simply can't react fast enough to get the paddle to the ball. The better your accuracy on the table, and the better your spin ability is, the better player you are going to be. It's a small table, but it's a big game. And I can't stress enough how impressed I am in the way Rockstar was able to capture that. The reality is that no volley will ever truly be the same. Just like in real life, you can place that shot that just grazes the table so that it still counts, but it never actually bounces. And yes, you can even hit the net with so much power and spin that a sure dead ball would actually "scoot" over and bounce on your opponent's side. I've seen that a couple times. But everything about the real sport is here, including high speed volleys, overhand slams, side-of-the-table saves, pop-ups, and every once in a blue moon a headfirst dive. That doesn't happen often.

The other thing that Rockstar did very well with their Table Tennis game was make the controls super-easy to learn, but challenging to master. And they give you two ways to play; letting you really pick your own style. Much like a regular Tennis video game, buttons have different shot types. With Table Tennis it's all about spin, and the amount of spin and power you want to put on the ball. You have topspin, backspin, leftspin, and rightspin. I am assuming I don't have to explain to you what each does? I'll say this, if you want the ball to slow down when it hits the opponents side, you use backspin. If you want to hit a real power shot, use topspin. So, you can do one of two things here. Each face button controls a spin, and if you look at the face buttons, you'll be able to tell which does what (A is backspin, Y is topspin, etc:). OR, you can use the right analog stick in the direction of the spin you want to put on the ball (up for top, down for back, etc:). As you might imagine, using the right stick is more challenging than the face buttons. But for some reason for me it seems more natural. I used them both, and I just preferred to use the stick. It just feels right. But you have the choice. Now the left stick moves your player around the table, but you also use the left stick to aim your shot. The longer you hold the spin stick or button, the more your ball will react in that direction; like pre-loading your shot. While you're doing that, using the left stick will stop your players movement and aims your ball. The longer you hold the left stick for aiming, the closer to the edge of the table you'll go. But too much and you'll hit the ball out of bounds or into the net; so be careful. If you're looking for a safe shot, simply don't use the left stick at all.

What makes Table Tennis so fun is that you get to focus on the table itself, and not running all over a court trying to return a ball. For the most part, you don't move a whole lot in the game; you stay fairly centric to the table. But when the time is right, you will begin to move your player around a little, getting into a corner, or stepping back to play longer volleys. And sometimes it's to play defensive as well when you have to go get a shot. But when you get to a point where you have to move around a lot and you want to sort of calm the game down a bit, or if you want to get that little extra oopmh in there to get your opponent out of position for a killshot, there are some extra controls you can use. The left bumper gives you a nice soft drop shot that has no spin, and no power. It's just designed to easily get the ball over the net so you can race back into your main position. It helps if it looks like you're about to get crushed. And if your opponent is far back from the table, dropping the ball in there could catch them off-guard and unable to return the ball. Now for the opposite when you want to get that little extra spin or power on the ball to maybe force your opponent to cover a deep corner, or do have to as I like to call "Tron Disc Block" the ball (holding the paddle like a shield) which can pop the ball up into the air for you to slam down, the right bumper is a focus shot. And with a focus shot you have a focus meter. The better you play and the longer your volleys, the more your focus meter fills. As you use focus shots, the meter depletes of course. If you are totally in focus and your focus meter starts to flash, you can get into a "full-focus" mode, where all your shots temporarily have that little extra spin and power to them. And your player will react a little faster as well. If you really want to see something cool, watch what happens when both you and your opponent go into full-focus mode. It's like the tournament scene in Forrest Gump. The screen around you gets dark and the crowd noise silences. All you see is the table, ball, and your opponent; and all you hear is the sound of the ball hitting the table and paddles. First one to flinch!

Now, I only have one complaint about the gameplay, and that is the computer AI. One would think with the power of the Xbox 360, AI in a sports game would improve. Not so here. I don't mind a competitive computer opponent. I can't always jump online, and if I want to get my achievements and Gamerscore points, I have to play the offline tourneys. But why is it that in every sports game, at some point the computer just decides enough is enough, and totally obliterates you? I could be playing the medium tournament and come up against...Read more›

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Rockstar Games Presents Table Tennis is a groundbreaking, next-generation sports experience. Enjoy incredible speed, fluid control and depth of play in this amazing new table tennis simulator. Unmatched intensity of the real-life sport, with authentic physics and intuitive gameplay that mimics the experience of true international table tennis competition.

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Red Dead Redemption Review

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(More customer reviews)A man is forced by the government to accept a difficult task . A powerful man, who was formerly a popular leader but is now considered a criminal, must be eliminated. Getting close to the target will require a long, arduous expedition to a highly fortified compound. The government must not be connected in any way to the mission. Sound familiar?
No, the target's name is not Kurtz in Red Dead Redemption. But it might as well be. Rockstar has once again taken inspiration from a masterpiece of cinema. In the same way that the Grand Theft Auto series is strongly linked to works by Singleton, Scorsese, De Palma, and Kurosawa, Red Dead Redemption pays homage to Francis Ford Coppola's Apocalypse Now.
On the surface, RDR appears to be based on classic Westerns. The game is set in the American frontier at the beginning of the 20th century. There are plenty of references to films directed by John Ford, Sergio Leone, Clint Eastwood, and Sam Peckinpah. The driving forces behind the game's narrative, however, are questions about duty versus honor, confrontations with enemies who may not truly be opposed to what your character represents, and most importantly, the achievement of spiritual redemption by completing a psychologically harrowing journey. Western films often address these themes as well, of course, but without any ambiguity or ambivalence. It's always crystal clear who is good, who is evil, and what is right and what is wrong in these films. In contrast, RDR and AN deliberately obscure their moral viewpoint on the actions of their characters.
Anybody familiar with Apocalypse Now will recognize that many aspects of RDR's story are directly analogous to events in AN. While the characters and motivations of John Marston and Final Boss (no spoilers here) are never as fully developed as those of Captain Willard and Colonel Kurtz--due to both Rockstar's avoidance of Metal Gear Solid-length cutscenes and the limitations of the videogame medium--all of AN's key plot points are present in the game. There's even a minor reference to the sniper execution scene in Full Metal Jacket that helps reinforce RDR's connections to AN. All of this adds up to a rich and compelling story arc, especially considering RDR is a videogame.
Story and influences aside, the bigger question is whether or not Red Dead Redemption is fun to play. The answer is YES. The graphics, especially the environmental effects, are outstanding. There's a good chance you will find yourself just sitting on a horse admiring a spectacular sunset or taking in the dramatic view from a mesa or hilltop and not doing anything else. The controls are easy to learn and quickly become intuitive. Finally, as is the norm with Rockstar, the game's world is gigantic and full of missions, mini-games, and random encounters. A few minor things feel a bit unfinished, such as some missions that involve long journeys without characters saying anything, or unrefined (it's left to the player to figure out how the inventory management system works while playing) but there aren't any glaring flaws overall. Well worth picking up.
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A note about the John Hillcoat DVD
The 30-minute movie on the bonus DVD uses footage from cut scenes that mostly occur early in the game. Don't watch the movie before playing unless you want a "Preview of Coming Attractions." Also, the movie can be streamed or downloaded from Rockstar's website.

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The 30 minute short film, created and directed by John Hillcoat (the director of The Proposition and The Road), chronicles a slice-in-time of protagonist John Marston as he tracks down his former fellow outlaw and friend, Bill Williamson. Along the way, Marston encounters many of Red Dead Redemption's eclectic cast of dreamers, misfits and liars. Using the world of Red Dead Redemption as a virtual film studio and created entirely with in-game assets and technology, Hillcoat re-imagines Marston's pursuit of justice and salvation.

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Red Dead Redemption: Undead Nightmare Review

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(More customer reviews)This does NOT CONTAIN Red Dead Redemption's single player campaign. Undead Nightmare is its own single player campaign (along with the multiplayer bits outlined below when you buy the disc version of Undead Nightmare)
For those wondering, if you already have any or all of the Red Dead Redemption DLC, this probably isn't the most cost effective way to collect the rest (assuming you pay MSRP; currently Amazon is running it for $20 (Nov 29, 2010)).
Here's what you receive in this set, including current price on Xbox Live:
Undead Nightmare $10 (800 points)
Liars and Cheats $10 (800 points)
Legends and Killers $10 (800 points)
Outlaws to the End FREE and NOT INCLUDED in this set; I'm not sure if you can download this and use it w/ UN, though I don't believe you can
Xbox Live Total price: $30 (2400 points)
One option that is ALSO available on Xbox Live is the Undead Nightmare Pack for $20 (1600 points). The only reason this isn't the best option is under 2 circumstances: you've already bought ANY of the DLC ($10 each) OR if the MSRP of this stand alone edition is $20 (which, as of Nov 29, 2010, it is on the 360). Except for those circumstances, $20 is always cheaper than $30.
Another reason to buy this set is if you don't own the original RDR and JUST want to play multiplayer RDR, as this game contains the same multiplayer community as the original RDR and can be played with those that have just UN OR those that have RDR only. DLC restrictions not withstanding of course. This being said, however, I don't feel the multiplayer tight enough to justify buying this just to play multiplayer. And given the UN piece is single player (with exception to the horde style mode), and you won't necessarily know the characters (there is little to no character development as Rockstar assumes you already know the RDR cast), buying UN as anything but DLC doesn't make a ton of sense to me personally; this review is for those that decide to go this route anyway.
The final reason you should pick this up as a standalone release is if you don't have the hard drive space for the DLC. That makes perfect sense. Of course, the other option is to buy the DLC and buy a USB hard drive or USB memory device fast enough to install content to, which would allow you to use UN AND other DLC you may wish to own and your hard drive is full.Now for the review of the content proper.
Undead Nightmare. In an interview with a Rockstar employee, the statement was made that Undead Nightmare (UN) should be taken like this:
The cast of Red Dead Redemption (RDR) has evenings off but has access to the set, makeup and cameras. Being bored and having nothing else to do, they get together in the evenings and create a new production with the same characters and a twist on the RDR story and that is what UN is all about.
This description seems to make you think it isn't RDR canon then. It is. And that's the cool part. It plays right into the whole RDR game perfectly; well almost. RDR, for the most part, is believable. UN, well, we know zombies or the walking dead don't exist (plausible deniability here on my part!), but with the way it starts, and ends, it fits in the world almost seamlessly. If you take out the fact that zombies don't exist (plausible deniability again).
You take over John Marston's character once again. Without giving away too much of the plot, John feels tasked to finding a cure for the undead walking because of an issue that, once again, hits VERY close to home.
They've almost nailed this DLC to perfection. They bring back many of the characters you know and love from RDR and give you extra quests with them. Some "return" if you know what I mean, which is cool too. The music takes the RDR music and turns it on its head. Given the sickness present in the world, which infects people and animal alike, it is only right that the music is also infected!
What I don't like is the repetitive nature of the DLC. The quests are all well and good, but having to save towns constantly from zombie hordes is a bit tiring. Ammo is supposed to be kind of scarce, but given killing zombies isn't all that difficult, ammo tends to be quite plentiful, especially if you free all the towns whenever they are being over run. The other part I despise is the challenges. You think some of the challenges on the RDR are repetitive, mindless and don't fit well within the world? These are about the same. Sure, one can argue that the challenges help you and fit in the world by granting you more ammo and weapons, but really, it just feels like something added to be able to put the "20-30 hours more content!" bullet point on the box. If you ignore the challenges and only do the quests, you're probably looking at about 10-15 hours total, max, for UN.Legends and Killers Pack- adds areas to the multiplayer map, characters and the tomahawk weapon. The tomahawk adds challenges to the single player game, but nothing more for single player. My comment above on the challenges not really adding much stands for this content. IMO this one isn't worth $10 on its own.Liars and Cheats Pack- Adds new multiplayer mode (stronghold) where you defend a place or attack it on teams/posses, horse races in multiplayer, multiplayer Liars Dice and Poker (no Blackjack loving here), more characters, new map locations in multiplayer (plus hunting grounds) and the Explosive Rifle weapon (along with corresponding multiplayer and single player challenges; My comment above on the challenges not really adding much stands for this content.) Of all of the multiplayer focused DLC, this is the best of the set IMO given how much it adds.Over all UN is a fun game that continues in the spirit of RDR. I'm just not sure it's worth the price of standalone admission given how much you miss out on having not played RDR.Why 4 stars? The single player and multiplayer games are FUN. Even without playing RDR you can have fun w/ either, though I believe having played RDR gives you a better appreciation of the UN game, which is why I gave it only 4 stars instead of 5. As far as buying UN on its own, it really only makes sense if you meet any of the criteria outlined above. If you own RDR and have the drive space for DLC, buy the UN collection pack and get all of this without needing to wait for the disc. For those that own RDR, this is probably a 3 star release.

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The Red Dead Redemption: Undead Nightmare Collection is a collection of three downloadable content (DLC) releases for the open world third-party shooter, Red Dead Redemption on a single Xbox 360 disc. A stand-alone release, meaning that the original Red Dead Redemption game is not necessary for play, the three DLC bundled here include: the Undead Nightmare Pack, the Liars and Cheats Pack and the Legends and Killers Pack. Together these three contain a new single player adventure featuring John Marston in a zombie-stomping storyline, hours of new gameplay, new multiplayer maps and play modes, new characters, mounts, hunting opportunities and weapons.

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