I was fiddling around on my Gamefly account today, and I was surprised to find that they had a full log of every game I ever rented from them, started from 2008 to the present. I decided to use this information to my advantage and factor in how many games I rented for the year 2010 and, based on the yearly membership price, determine if it was worth it. Below is a list of all the games I rented in 2010:

January:

• Darksiders
• Brutal Legend
• Dead Space

February:

• Aliens vs. Predator
• Dynasty Warriors Strikeforce

March:

• Prototype
• Guitar Hero: Smash Hits
• Prince of Persia

April:

• Valkyria Chronicles
• Jurassic: The Hunted
• Dynasty Warriors: Gundam 2

May:

• Lost Planet 2

June:

• Green Day Rock Band
• Transformers: War for Cybertron

July:

• Just Cause 2
• Lego Harry Potter: Years 1-4

August:

• Mass Effect
• Mass Effect 2

September:

• NHL ’11
• Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions
• Fable II

October:

• Fallout: New Vegas

November:

• Modnation Racers
• 3D Dot Heroes

December:

• Super Mario Galaxy 2
• No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle
• Fable III

As a side note, I would like to mention that the months of May and June were very busy, as I was actually working the month of May, got married on May 30, and had our honeymoon until the middle of June. I’m just saying that the total number of games would have been a bit more aside from the wedding.

So I rented a total of 27 games throughout 2010, and we can say that I averaged about two games a month. I pay for the Gamefly service on an annual basis and with the 20% discount given for paying for a year at a time, I pay $150 (plus tax.) So in 2010, I spent about $150 to rent 27 games, which came out to about $5.55 a game.  Before I started renting from Gamefly and would go to the local Blockbuster or Movie Gallery to rent games, it would run me about $8.00 for five days. Seeing how I spent $5.55 per game, and kept each game on average of two weeks (technically could keep as long as I wanted with no late fees), Gamefly proves to be cheaper in that department.

Of course, I would never rent 27 games a year from a retail store…maybe 10 a year. So one could argue that Gamefly is more expensive because it technically makes me rent more than I normally would. While that is true, Gamefly does have one more savvy detail to bring it over the top: it is the cheapest place to purchase games. While I could look at all the games I rented in the past year, I could also look at all the games I purchased from Gamefly in the past year. I paid $7 for Ghostbusters and Lost Planet 2 last year, which is probably $10 cheaper than I would be able to get a used copy at Gamestop. I also purchased WWE Smackdown vs. Raw 2010 from Gamefly the day it came out. While Amazon and other retailers charged $56-60 for it, I got it from Gamefly for a total cost of $45.89, clearly making it the cheapest place to get this new release the day it came out.

Finally, Gamefly does save money by stopping me from buying games that I would have purchased used from Gamestop if I didn’t rent from Gamefly. Some classic examples are the Mass Effect and Fable games. I had just won a 360 in August, so I had a need to catch up on 360 exclusives I had missed out on. If I didn’t have Gamefly, I would have went out to purchase Mass Effect, Fable, and probably some other games. But thanks to Gamefly, I was able to rent them and enjoy them at my leisure without having to make a purchase.

You can say that $150 is pretty steep to spend for games. But when you think about it, the average game costs $60, so you would be spending quite a bit if you wanted to play games when they first come out. With Gamefly I’m able to rent them the day they come out and then send them back when I’m done. I’ve done it for Smackdown vs. Raw 2010, Aliens vs. Predator, Two Worlds II, Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions, Fallout: New Vegas, and more. While it would have cost me quite a bit to get purchase these games the day they came out, I was instead able to get them, play them, and then send them on their way, and it cost me only $5.55 a game!

I think that, after looking over my 2010 Gamefly rental and purchase history, I can confidently say that Gamefly is a must for today’s gamer. I’ve praised them many times in the past, but looking at the information above, I think it speaks for itself that Gamefly is the cheapest way to play as many of today’s games as possible.

If you want to try Gamefly free for one month, shoot me an e-mail at rob@bigbadbob113.com and I’ll send you a referral link so that you can try the service for a month.

Last January, I checked out my top ten most viewed blog posts ranging from when the site started in April 2009 until January 2010. Today I was using Google Analytics to see how my site traffic has been the past week, and I decided to see how it was for all of 2010. While some of my posts continue to be popular, it seems that some new ones from the past year have swooped in and usurped some of my posts from 2009. So without further ado, here are my Top Ten Blogs of 2010 (in order of visits received):

1. Geocache Adventure #13: Return (again) to Schodack Town Park

Surprisingly, my last geocache adventure was not only the most popular of them all, but it also dragged in the most traffic to my site in 2010. To add to that craziness, I published that blog on September 22, 2010.

2. Sacred 2 Character Build Guide: Shadow Warrior

This is not a surprise, as it was ranked #3 on last year’s list. I’m glad to know that I can still draw in the Sacred 2 crowds.

3. Sacred 2 Character Build Guide: High Elf

This blog gained some popularity, as it was ranked #10 last year.

4. Geocache Adventure #1: East Greenbush Town Park

Ahhh, my first geocache adventure…the one that got me hooked on the hobby.

5. Explanation of Combat Arts/ Skills in Sacred 2

Yup, Sacred 2 sure draws a crowd on my site. This particular post took a big dive, since it was my top traffic gainer in 2009.

6. Captain Morgan’s Lime Bite

Can’t go wrong with Captain Morgan, and I’m really surprised this simple review of their new mixer is so popular

7. The Unfortunate Series Finale of My Name is Earl

I was really upset to find out that the show got canned without being able to receive a true final season. I’m still hoping that they will reunite and get one last season in. It’s not like Jason Lee has anything better to do…(cough) (cough) David Seville (cough)

8. King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters (or Losers)

As much as I hated that jerk Billy with his greasy hair, I did indeed enjoy the documentary. With this new contender entering the arena (I think he’s Korean), I would love to see a sequel.

9. Book Review: Resistance: Gathering Storm

Not the best book I ever read, but it did breathe some new life into the world of Resistance. I’m glad to see it continues to be popular on my blog, as it was ranked #6 in 2009. I would have liked to have seen more books, and hopefully another one will be written soon with Resistance 3 on the way this year.

10. PS3 Review: Aliens vs. Predator

Of all my game reviews, I’m surprised that this one made it out on top…and I’m glad that one of my game reviews did make it to the Top Ten.

So those are my Top Ten Posts of 2010. Some have been staples since the beginning, such as my Sacred 2 posts, and others came as complete surprises, particularly my blog about the Captain’s Lime Bite. I’m also glad to see that geocaching has been getting me some traffic, as I enjoy writing up those stories. I’ll be curious to see what happens this year, and how this list will look when I post The Top Ten Posts of 2011.

As you may know, I had some real issues with the AVP demo that came out two weeks ago. While the demo proved the game had a good premise and some great ideas, complex controls and the fact that it was impossible to get a game going left me a bit concerned for the final product. Well, I received the disc from Gamefly on Thursday, and have since then given most of the different game modes a whirl. Unfortunately, the demo gave a very accurate pretense on how the finished game would be…a game with great ideas, but executed badly.

First off, the story/background to the game is virtually non-existent. The game takes place shortly after the events of Alien 3, but I would not have known that had I not read it somewhere online. There is no background story at all, and the cut scenes, while looking and sounding good, do little to explain what the heck is going on. Im going to take a stab at it and say that humans find some ancient Alien/Predator temple and start creating mutant Aliens. The Marines and Predators come in to put a stop to it, resulting in a three-way battle royale to be the last species standing.  There are three single player campaigns (Marine, Alien, Predator), and each three tell the same story through the respective species point of view. For example, as an Alien you are defending the hive from the invading factions, and as a Marine you are called in to clean up the mess. That being said, I’ll start this review up with the single player campaigns.

The first one I played through was the Aliens. The campaign starts off with you (an Alien) chained up in some research lab, and you must break out and go on a killing spree. The Alien’s gameplay style is that of stealth. The Alien must stick to the shadows, crawling on walls and ceilings in order to sneak up on unsuspecting prey. While this makes for a unique FPS experience, it can get frustrating quickly, as the camera tends to get confused on where you are, and can make for a spinning, sickening screen. The Alien has three main attacks: a light attack (claw), a heavy attack (tail), and a lunge attack. Also, if behind an opponent (or standing over a downed opponent), the Alien can perform their instant kill grapple move, which will result in a head being severed or a chest being pierced. Another weird thing about the Alien is that some of the humans are unarmed civilians, and instead of killing them you harvest them by opening their mouths so a facehugger can latch on. I say its weird because there seems to be no point to it. In the AVP game on the Jaguar I used to play, Aliens could harvest human players, but it was either for health or extra lives. The only thing is that you get a trophy for harvesting every civilian in the game, but otherwise there is no point to not killing them. The Alien can regenerate health by hiding and avoiding damage, which will result in the slow healing of the health bar. In the end, the quick, stealthy gameplay of the Alien proved to be the most fun.

The second campaign I played through was that of the Marine. You start off as a rookie Marine who’s squad crash lands on the planet, and you must fight for survival as you make your way to the temple. The Marine’s controls and gameplay are similar to any FPS you have ever played…you walk around, collect guns and ammo, and kill anything that moves. This is the most familiar mode, and I highly recommend playing through as a Marine first to get used to the game. One thing I didnt mention in the Aliens campaign is that every character has a blocking system. Holding L1 and R1 together will cause the Alien, Predator, or Marine to block incoming attacks. If a character attempts to hit with a light  attack, blocking it will deflect it, allowing you to counter with an attack. This is probably one of the lamest features of the game. Imagine, an Alien is running at a Marine. The Marine throws his hands up, and the Alien’s claw gets deflected. As the Alien stumbles back, the Marine counters by pistol-whipping the Alien, causing it to fall to the floor. The Marine then opens fire, killing the xenomorph as it struggles to get up. This melee combat system is extremely lame, and makes online death matches extremely cheesy and lame (not to mention the single player campaigns very easy.) But enough of my rant on the flawed melee.

As I said, the Marine is your basic FPS gameplay. You start off with a pistol, but can pick up a pulse rifle, shotgun, sniper rifle, smart gun (like a chain gun with auto-targeting) and flamethrower along the way. You can only carry three guns at a time, so you will constantly be switching off weapons as you run out of ammo. All weapons have a secondary fire which have different effects. For example, the pulse rifle can fire off a grenade, and the sniper rifle will zoom in. The Marine’s health system is similar to that of Resistance: Fall of Man. The health bar is made up of three sections. If you avoid damage for a certain amount of time, a damaged bar will refill on its own. However, if a bar completely loses all its health, it can refill automatically. Instead, you will need to use a stimpack, which can be picked up across levels and will refill all health. The Marine campaign was decent, but there was nothing really unique about it… it’s just your standard FPS.

The Predator campaign was the last one I played through. At first I didn’t enjoy it, but as I played more I got more into it. The Predator, like the Alien, requires the player to use stealth. However, unlike the Alien, the Predator is extremely slow. You definitely get the impression that you are hunting when playing as the Predator. Early in the game, the Predator relies heavily on melee combat. There are four different weapons the Predator can collect (shoulder cannon, throwing discs, mines, and a spear), but they only appear as the story moves along. The shoulder cannon uses energy, which can be replenished by hacking into Marine computer terminals throughout the level. The other weapons have unlimited ammo, making them useful in that respect. However, they are slow, so it is not smart to run into a room and expecting to have guns blazing like the Marines. Also, like the Aliens, the Predator can grapple enemies from behind for a one-hit kill.

The Predator has a similar health system to that of the Marine, in which they can obtain health packs throughout the level and use them when necessary. Like in the movies, the Predator has unique vision abilities, as well as the ability to turn practically invisible. The Predator’s vision is extremely helpful. You can use it to scan the entire map in front of you for key locations and items you can pick up. Also, by pressing the circle button you can alternate between normal vision, “thermal vision” (to make it easier to find Marines), and “Alien vision”, which allows you to hunt down Aliens easier. The invisibility action is performed with the push of a button, but I rarely saw it work. If I was stationary and invisible on a ledge, a Marine who walked into my field of view would usually spot me and attack. One cool thing that the Predator could do was that he could lure enemies out. After targeting an enemy, you can select a space in sight, and the Predator would say something mockingly (like in the movies) and the enemy would walk over to where you selected. This makes it easy to separate a pack of Marines for some easy kills. The Predator campaign starts off slow and difficult, but once you get the varying controls down and start picking up better weapons, it gets better.

Now lets move on to the online modes. AVP offers a variety of online games, but my favorite by far was the co-op survival mode. In survival mode, you and up to three buddies can join forces as a squad of Marines who must face off against ever-increasing waves of Aliens in a confined space. There are plenty of ammo and health pickups which respawn frequently, so you will rarely find yourself out of ammo. The survival maps tend to be very dark, making it an intense and frightening experience as you and your buddies constantly spin about looking for the closest xenomorph. This all sounds like its a blast, but there is one major flaw which really kills this mode in the end…there is no respawning. Once your Marine is down, he is down and out until the other Marines are dead. So once you die, you basically keep watching your teammates play until they eventually all die. It’s not a lot a fun at all. Now compare this survival mode to that of Uncharted 2. In Uncharted 2, once a player “dies”, there is a small amount of time in which another player can rush over to him and revive him, allowing him to continue the fight. And if it so happens that the player cannot be revived and ends up dying, they will respawn at the start of the next wave, so long as at least one player survives to finish off the current wave. This means that just because you died, it doesnt mean your out for the remainder of the game. Unfortunately, this simple and fun revival mode did not make it to AVP, meaning that you will likely spend some time floating above your friends, secretly hoping they all die soon so that you will be able to start a new game so you can play again. This was a really bad move by the developers, and it really kills the best online mode that AVP has.

So if I said that the survival mode was the best, yet I bashed on it pretty hard, how do the competitive modes pan out? Not very good at all. The basic competitive mode is your typical Deathmatch. Up to twelve players can compete to become the guy with the most kills. Unfortunately, it wasnt very fun. The demo deathmatch, while hard to get into, was fun since everyone was just learning the controls and whatnot. However, now that the game is out and people have been playing for a few weeks, players have quickly learned to spam the melee blocking, meaning that there are plenty of cheap deaths to go around. Inexperienced players will easily fall to the one-hit cheapness of a stealthy Alien player, and who ever heard of a Marine pistol-whipping an Alien to death?! The melee combat is extremely lame and unrealistic, and unfortunately it follows over to the online play, making it a lot less fun.

There are some other modes, including an infestation mode where eight players try to survive to see who the last Marine standing is. The game starts with seven Marine and one Alien players. Each time the Alien makes a kill, that player respawns as an Alien. The basic gist of the mode is to be the last Marine standing when the remaining seven players are Aliens. Unfortunately, these online modes, while having potential, were executed poorly, making an extremely frustrating experience that is not a whole lot of fun, and does nothing to add to the replayability of AVP.

The Aliens and Predator franchise have been hit or miss. By themselves, they are pretty solid (with the exception of  Alien: Resurrection.) When combined, like the AVP films, they are usually failures, or if nothing more just a cheesy action-fest with no story. Sega took the AVP franchise and attempted to make an awesome game, boasting three single-player campaigns and a variety of online modes. However, the lack of story or depth in the campaigns, the inclusion of a melee combat system for all species, and the lack of revival in a co-op mode made the game barely playable. Fans of either series should get a guilty pleasure breezing through the campaigns, especially the Aliens one. FPS fans might enjoy the Marines campaign, and be intrigued by the differentiated competitive combat.

But I cant stress this enough…fan or no fan, DO NOT BUY THIS GAME!!! I received it on Thursday, and will be returning it by Monday. The campaigns are over to quickly and the online modes are only frustrating. I guarantee that you will not want to spend any more time with the game than you have to. That being said, I do recommend the game for a couple of days rental for fans of the franchise.

I just got the notification from Gamefly that Aliens vs. Predator has shipped, so I should be enjoying that by Thursday afternoon. Im looking forward to playing it since the demo was so lame and busted up. I have yet to check out the Predator, and I cant wait!!!

As I mentioned earlier, I had a bit of a hard time getting a match going in the AvP demo that launched on Thursday. I tried throughout the weekend at random times, and was unable to get another match going. Today I tried again, and I finally got into a match. I basically set it up and while it searched for a match, I walked into the other room and played around on the computer. After about six minutes, I began to hear other people on their head sets, which meant that I had finally gotten into a game.

First off, I must correct a previous statement. In my other post, I complained that you were unable to choose your character in the demo, and that both times I was assigned to be a Marine. That is only half true. You are able to choose your own character, but you have to be quick. For some reason, the developers didnt want an 8-Alien or Predator battle royale going down, so once the first few Aliens or Predators are selected (I do not know the exact number), the remaining players are automatically assigned to be Marines.

So upon getting into the demo, I quickly realized that I was able to choose an Alien, and did so. The Alien’s controls are off the hook. The Alien is very quick, and not only that, but you are able to jump onto walls and ceilings. As it was my first time playing as an Alien, I quickly feeling disoriented by running all over the place. Eventually I got the hang of it and realized what was going on. The Aliens two main attacks are melee, either with its tail or claws. There is also an option to grapple other players, but I was unable to figure out how. While there is a control scheme displayed while the match loads, it was impossible to read on my standard def. TV (yet another reason for me to get my hands on an HDTV.) The Alien could also “hiss”, but I couldnt figure out what its purpose was. I thought that maybe it was how the Alien regained health, but that was not the case. The other neat feature of the Alien is that it has some kind of heat-vision, where it can see other players through walls. Seeing how the Aliens have this and the Marines have the motion sensing equipment, I can only assume that the Predator has something similar.

Overall, I had fun playing around with the Alien, but I will admit I am no expert. There are a lot of unique controls which must be mastered in order to be successful as the xenomorph, and I am far from grasping it all. Still, it was fun, and definitely offers a unique twist and play style/strategy for a FPS competitive death match. I’ll feel better about it once I get some more hands-on time, which will be next week when I get the game in from Gamefly. Hopefully the final game will be more smooth and have less hassle than the demo had…

February is fast approaching, and with it comes about a bajillion (ok, maybe four-five) games that I really want to play. BioShock 2 is already out of that equation, since I pre-ordered it from Amazon for some sweet deals. I paid $52 for it, plus get $10 off a future purchase. That came out to be cheaper than if I had kept it from Gamefly.

So the question is, which of the remaining February releases will I hold out for on Gamefly? I narrowed it down to two choices: Aliens Vs Predator and Dynasty Warriors: Strike Force. I will be getting Dead Space in in a few days, and that will tide me over until February 16, when both AVP and Dynasty Warriors releases. Of course they both had to have the same release week, right? So it comes down to which one I should snag.

Dynasty Warriors is always great, and the inclusion (FINALLY) of online co-op makes it a near must-have. In fact, it might be such a must-have that I just wait for my b-day in April and hope someone likes me enough to get it for me. I dont know if its worth me renting it if its one of those games that I know I will own someday.

The other choice is Aliens Vs Predator. While that particular movie franchise sucks (not separate, but when they are merged into one film), the game seems to kind of steer clear of that, and it reminds me of the AVP game I used to play at my friends house on his Atari Jaguar. I really like the awesome replay value that the AVP game promises with three campaigns based on either Aliens, Predator, or the Colonial Marines, so thats going to be nothing but awesome.

In the end, I think I am leaning much further towards AVP, but I still have a few weeks to figure it out.