Now Playing on the Xbox 360

I've been so wrapped up in NCAA Football 10 recently that I haven't bought a game in a couple of months.  I've been waiting with bated breath for November 10th to come, though, when the game I've been looking forward to for months will finally be out.  Yes, I'm talking about Modern Warfare 2, the next game in the "Call of Duty" franchise (though they have removed that name from it).  Get a load of this trailer and tell me this isn't going to be a cool game!




But in the meantime, I wanted to do something else other than NCAA Football 10, so I bought two games the other night.

The first is CSI: Hard Evidence.  This is a fairly fun crime-solving game based on the hit TV show.  All of the actors lend their voices to the game, which definitely adds to the atmosphere.  The game's a couple of years old, so you'll get to play with Warrick Brown and Grissom as well.  There are 5 cases in the game, each one with one of the characters helping you out.  You play a trainee CSI, so at the end of each case, Grissom gives you his evaluation of how you've done.  You piece together the evidence, interrogate the suspects, and use the Crime Lab to put it all together.  It's like 5 mini-episodes of the show.

Unfortunately, the actors couldn't be bothered to give it their full attention, or something.  While it's cool hearing their voices talking to you, their voice acting is rather wooden.  Plus, their graphical representation is extremely hit and miss, with only Brass and a little bit of Grissom really looking too much like the characters.  Catherine doesn't even have a chest!!!! Though I do like how they have her always standing with her hand on her hip, pushing out what little chest they do give her.

Also, I love the transitions between scenes, and how they have overhead shots of Vegas, just like the TV show.  Two problems, though.  I would have preferred that these transition shots were actually the loading screens, but instead they pop up and then the loading screen appears.  I hate loading screens.  Secondly, the shots are very low-res, so they're kind of blurry.

It was things like this that kept me from buying the game for so long.  But now that it's $15 at EB Games, I consider it well worth the money.  I'm currently just starting the 3rd case, and the first two have been interesting (though the guest cast has the same acting problem, for the most part, especially when they try and emote).  For those of you interested in gamerscore (you Xbox fans will know what I'm talking about), it's one of the easiest games to get it in.  All you have to do is finish the game to get 1000 points.  There are no other weird things that you have to do.

For $15, I love this game.  Any more than that, and I would say it's a rip-off.

The second game I bought, I haven't actually played yet, but I will once I'm done with CSI.  It's called Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood. It's the sequel to Call of Juarez, a rather good but mildly disappointing first-person shooter western.  This sequel is actually a prequel, taking place a few years before that game and just after the Civil War.  It again involves playing two characters, but this time, they're brothers.  We supposedly get to see the good Reverend Ray before he became a fiery reverend, along with a brother that maybe something happens to in this game.

I've seen some good reviews of this game, and one of the supposedly good things about the game that's kept from the first one is the impressively beautiful Western vistas.  If the graphics in this game are just as good as the first, then I will be very happy.  Supposedly, they're even better, so I'm looking forward to that.  I also love first-person shooters, so this will be a good one.

The reviews were a bit lukewarm toward the game (I saw a lot of 7.5 scores and the like), so I waited for this to come down in price too.

But Modern Warfare 2 is the Holy Grail that I'm desperate for.  That game will be bought on opening day, and not just for the story (though that trailer makes the story look frickin' awesome).  It's also for the multiplayer, as I've been getting a little bored with Call of Duty: World at War.

Is it November 10 yet?