Dirt 2 (Xbox 360)

The 'Dirt' series from Codemasters was excellent from the start. Featuring online play, and tons of vehicles and tracks to race on, it shined as one of the best rally games on the Xbox 360. Not to mention, one of the best looking. Surprisingly, Codemasters improved on the formula, by adding more rally racing legends, and plenty of track and cars to choose from. The layout and presentation is also stronger, making Dirt 2 stand out among any other competing games from the same genre. The first Dirt game was quite long, in terms of it's career mode, and this one is no different. I love the graphics in this game! They are so amazing! Seeing as right now, the game is about 3-4 years old, it still is one of the sharpest looking games on the Xbox 360 in my opinion. There are plenty of music tracks in the game, but they only play during the menu screen, and not during the race. But that's fine with me. The track are not that great, but give the already outstanding game more character. I love that when you crash into or nudge other racers, they will respond to you via your helmet earphones. Also, there are preset names built into the game, so I can hear them say my own name when I win. This helps with immersion into the game world. There is so much to be said about this excellent driving game, but I would just encourage you to play it for yourself. It's  an almost always fun racing game that I have trouble putting down once I pick up the controller to play it.

Graphics: 10 out of 10 (no complaints!)
Sound and Music: 8.8 out of 10
Presentation: 9.8 out of 10
Gameplay: 9.9 out of 10

Overall: 9.6 out of 10

Sneak Peek: Flight Simulator X

Here is a quick look at Flight Simulator X for the PC. This set up includes a home made control board with all of the flight controls. For the steering there is a joystick that simulates an airplane. Although not shown in the video there are control peddles too that are used to steer the plane. A touch screen with a GPS map that also helps for navigation.


 

Crysis (Xbox 360)

Most gamers have probably already played this aweome first person shooter on the PC. And that makes sense. The game did come out almost 5 years ago, and only for the PC. But, you needed a powerful PC to even run the game, and few had the hardware capable to play Team Crytek's amazing shooter. Thankfully, EA has ported the game over to the Xbox 360, and very well I might add. This is one of the nicest looking Xbox 360 games you will ever play. But, as I often say, graphics don't make for a solid game. You need gameplay, too. And Crysis has it to boot.
Crysis is set sometime in the near future. There is a heated battle going on between Americans and Koreans, and you play as one of the soldiers sent in to take care of the opposition. But, you are not alone in the battlefield. You are equipped with a special suit, which gives you strengthened shield, health, jumping and running abilities, and just plain more power! By clicking one of the buttons on your controller, you can turn on your shields, which will slowly drain. But as soon as you turn them off, they will fill right back up. The same goes for your health and running and jumping speed. You will be able to make higher jumps and run much faster than normal by using your suit power. You can even turn on stealth, which is similar to Solid Snake in Metal Gear Solid. You are hidden from the enemy for a short while. The game path is slightly linear, but mostly open and you can decide where and how you want to go through the stages. It is very open to the player, and you can decide to be all sneaky, or go in guns blazing. The choices of gameplay really gives the game not only more replayability, but also makes it just so much fun to play.
One big deal about Crysis on PC was the graphics, and in 2007 it was amazing to machine gun a palm tree, and watch is tear apart and fall down. The same can be done in this version, but some things are taken out. The game runs nice and smooth, and I never noticed any screen tearing or motion blur, unless you are going extremely fast, or your character is hurt, which makes the screen blur a little. Snowflakes fall on your visor in cold stages, and water can splash on your suit, making it harder to see. The lighting and attention to detail on surfaces is quite amazing.
The story stands out because, it's a bit of a twist. Near the middle of the game, I won't ruin it for you if you have not played it, but let me just say, it's not all about fighting the Koreans. There is much more at stake than you may think.
The game is nice and lengthy at about 5-8 hours of gameplay, and it's just so nice and refreshing to see a FPS that is original and easy to play. I have to recommend this game to everyone. It's so good.

Graphics: 9.5 out of 10
Sound and Music: 9.4 out of 10
Presentation: 8.1 out of 10
Gameplay: 9.6 out of 10

Overall: 9.4 out of 10