F-Rott

LoadCalibur: Lost Connection When you actually get to play, it's bogged down by so much loading you're wondering if you're playing an hourglass simulator instead. Terrible, botched release. I hope someone gets fired for the sheer astounding level of ineptitude.

I'm not seeing what all the entitled Xbox 360 reviewers are saying. I played the original Flashback A LOT back when it was on Sega Genesis, completing it multiple times. Yeah, it's not "OMG! PERFECT!", but then again, I wasn't expecting it to be. As a hardcore fan of the original, I was immediately immersed and involved the minute I started it up. Kudos to the original Flashback team for bringing it back with some damn fine HD graphics. It's just as I would have imagined an HD version would look like. It plays pretty similar to the original. I had no problem diving right in, because I'm accustomed to Flashback's original control scheme, which was to be honest, kind of wonky to begin with. The added extras, like the hidden eyes and RPG upgrading system, are nice and don't impede on the original's uniqueness. The level designs are still mainly there, with little added surprises. I think of it as "Flashback Easy" because it's no longer 1 hit deaths. For example, if you walk on the electric flooring in the first level, you're no longer immediately dead. If you're a huge fan of the original like I am, you can't go wrong with this new Flashback. The price is right as well.

After the fiasco that was GTA IV, I wasn't real keen on playing another entry into this series. GTA IV's terrible voice acting put me over the edge, and I just couldn't stomach playing it. I never really got too far with that game. I'm a GTA veteran, having been introduced to the series on the PSOne with the first entry. The only GTA I couldn't take was IV, and that's even taking into consideration the horrible use of the "N" word in San Andreas. It was in like, EVERY SENTENCE. The story was vastly improved for GTA V, and no more voice actors pretending to be Armenian without previous research. That drove me up the wall, having to listen to Nico stutter through every line in his hackneyed, broken English. Good riddance. There's lots of things to do, and if you don't want to do something, just do something else. There's something for everyone, and you don't have to like every activity. It's worth the price.