The Elder Scrolls

The Elder Scrolls are an ancient series that almost everyone has heard about. These games are huge masterpieces of technology that go above and beyond what any other game series do. Some of the first role playing games (RPG), and certainly the most massive, this series has countless spin off games, but for sake of article length I will be writing solely about the five main games, and their expansions.

The Elder Scrolls take place on the mythical continent of Tamriel, in the mythical world of Nirn. Tamriel is where all of the Elder Scrolls games take place, even though three other continents exist on Nirn. Tamriel is broken up into 9 provinces, each with a native race. Cyrodiil, is at the center of Tamriel, and holds the capital of the Cyrodillic Empire, which at the time of Arena, Morrowind, and Oblivion (later games in the series) controls all of Tamriel. Cyrodill's native race is the Imperials, humans off medium stature. Black Marsh is south east of Cyrodiil, and is home to the Argonians, a reptilian race with humanoid stature. Due south of Cyrodiil is Elsywere, a tropical land, home to the Khajit, a feline humanoid race. West of Cyrodiil is Valenwood, home to thick walking forests,which are inhabited by Bosmer, (Wood Elves). Wood elves are small, and have a greenish hue to their skin. Far off the coast of Valenwood is Summerset Isle, home to the Altmer, (High Elves). These tall people have a gold colored skin. Back on the continent, North West of Cyrodiil is desert land of Hammerfell, home of the Redguards, a dark skinned human race. North of Hammerfell is High Rock, native land of the Bretons, a half elf, half human race. Due north of Cyrodiil is Skyrim, the icy and mountainous home of the Nords, the oldest human race on Tamriel. Finally, Morrowind is north east of Cyrodiil, and south east of Skyrim. Morrowind is home to the Dunmer (dark elves) a purple, blue, or gray skinned people with red eyes. Though not a true region of Tamriel, Orsinium is important because it is the home of the Orsimer (Orcs), a race of large green humanoids related to elves. It is important to remember that none of these races in the Elder Scrolls is inherently evil, think of them as different countries in the modern world. The entire Elder Scrolls series is set in a kind of Middle Ages, and all combat is done with swords, axes, knives, bows...However magic exists and can be used for almost anything. Magic to kill exists, along with magic to heal. Magic to alter the world around you exists, along with magic to illuminate minds and dark areas. And finally, magic to conjure demonic warriors or raise the dead exists too. There are multiple guilds that the player can join, including the Fighters Guild (combat trainers, and mercenaries), the Mages Guild (trainers in magic), the Thieves Guild (to learn how to steel, and make money), and the Dark Brotherhood (a organization of assassins). It would be impossible to write about all the features of the Elder Scrolls series, so check out the link to the wikia, at the bottom of the page, and learn everything you want to, including information on vampires, werewolves, wereboars, and werebears.

The first game in the Elder Scrolls series was Arena (1994), and was massive. The game took place in all the regions of Tamriel, and featured a fast travel system because the player had to walk in 1:1 ratio with the 12 million square miles of Tamriel, so it could take 3 days in real life to walk from city to city. The player creates their character from any one of the ten races previously mentioned, and adds some basic customizations like hair color, and facial features. The player then creates a name, and a birth sign. Based on the race the player has chosen, and the birth sign, a play style is determined. If a player chose to be a Nord, under the sign of the crusader, they would be a warrior. If a person chose to be a High Elf, under the sign of the battle mage, they would make a great wizard character. Of a person chose to be a wood elf under the sign of the hunter, a great archer will have been born. However the player must be careful to not mix an incompatible race, and sign because an orc can't be a mage, and a Nord can't be an archer, and A Breton can't be a warrior, the play styles don't mix, and the character is week. A leveling system is established based on skills that are built up by use. The story of the game follows the betrayal of the Emperor by his Imperial Battlemage, and the player must retrieve 8 pieces of the staff of chaos, and complete 17 dungeons. Arena also had hundreds of miscellaneous quests, that are usually simple in nature, and the guild quests given when the player joins one of the guilds. Arena is unforgiving to new players, and is quite an action packed game. Arena was also one of the first games to have day and night cycle, stores close at 8:00 pm, people go to their homes, and monsters wander the streets. Arena is a great game, that immerses the player into the world. However upon release Arena was very buggy, and contained enough glitches to make the game impossible to beat.

The Elder Scrolls II Daggerfall (1996) was the second game in the series, and massive, compared to even modern games (smaller than arena). It is estimated that the game covers 63,125 square miles, over 15,000 towns, cities, villagers, and dungeons to explore, and over 750,000 non-playable characters (NPCs) to interact with. Like Arena, Daggerfall uses a race, and birthsign character creation system, returns with the leveling system, and has thousands of miscellaneous, and guild quests, so many in fact, that I will not go into a single one for fear of having to go into more. The game limits players to the regions of High Rock, and Hammerfell, and the story is just as long as Arena's, the player must free the restless spirit of a dead king, and obtain the key to the Numidium a massive, humanoid automaton for the Emperor. There are multiple political struggles in the story, Iliac Bay, an area in High Rock has seceded from the Empire, and the Orcs of Hammerfell are rebeling, and trying to make their own kingdom. The Empire wants to regain control of Iliac Bay, and either crush the Orc uprising, or allow it to happen then annex the new Orc kingdom. Based on the player's choices, there are six possible endings. 1: The player TRIES to take control of the Numidium. 2: The player allows the Numidium to be destroyed by a magical wizard king. 3: The Orcs obtain control of the Numidium, and use it to make their own independent kingdom. 4: The Empire gains control of the Numidium and uses it to regain total control over Iliac Bay, and the Orcs. 5: One of the Iliac Bay rulers gains control of the Numidium, and uses it to destroy the other rulers of Iliac Bay. 6: A necromancer king gains control of the Numidium, and uses it to make himself a god. Because of the six different endings the writers for later games had to create a supernatural occurence, and dubbed it the Miracle of the West, in which all six possible endings happened at once. The player dies, one of the Iliac Bay rulers conquers the rest, and forms one Iliac Bay kingdom, the Orcs create their own kingdom, the necromancer king becomes a god, the Empire gains control of the Orc, and Iliac Bay kingdom, and the Numidium is destroyed. Daggerfall was well received and had slightly less bugs, and glitches than Arena, delivering a massive, game, with a great story.

The Elder Scrolls III Morrowind (2002), was the third chapter in the Elder Scrolls series, and the first to limit the player to one region, Morrowind. Although Morrowind is 0.01% the size of Daggerfall as far as land area, location amount, and NPC amount goes, it had a bilion times more detail. Morrowind was the first real graphical step in the Elder Scrolls, and featured more individuality in NPC's, and explorable locations. Also there was more physical detail in everything from plants to monsters. The same creation, and leveling system is used in Morrowind, as is used in Arena, and Daggerfall. Like it's predecessors, Morrowind features a main campaign and multiple miscellaneous quests, along with the guild quests, and the ability to join the Imperial Legion. The main story puts the player in the role of a prophesied hero who will save Morrowind from a horrible doom. This is accomplished by killing the minor god who is causing a plague in Morrowind. The quest is long, and involves some interesting politics between the different Dark Elf clans in Morrowind, which the player can be involved with. Morrowind sprung two add on campaigns, the first was Tribunal, which has the player following a short story line, and killing a mortal Queen trying to become a god. Tribunal also introduces the Dark brotherhood into the series. The second expansion was Blood Moon, which adds the island of Solstheim to the map, slightly north of Morrowind, and east of Skyrim. The story follows the character as he ventures to Solstheim to investigate some werewolf incidents. This leads to the player having to fight to the death with three other warriors on a glacier for the entertainment of a demon prince. Once the player wins, he must fight the demon himself, and flee the island. Blood Moon also adds the East Empire Company (a naval trade company) as a joinable guild. Morrowind and it's expansions were the first of the modern Elder Scrolls games, that which are played on consoles, and feature extreme detail, right down to the grass, and fish.

Oblivion (2006) was the next Elder Scrolls game, and like Morrowind stayed in one region, Cyrodiil. The game has the same creation, and leveling system as it's predecessors, and took a major step graphically from Morrowind. Like all of the Elder Scrolls games to this date, Oblivion has a main story line, and countless guild and miscellaneous quests. The Dark Brotherhood, and the Blades are now joinable guilds, but the East Empire Company, and the Imperial Legion, are taken away from playability. This is also the last game to feature Uriel Septim VII (the Emperor in Arena, Daggerfall, and Morrowind). The story casts the player as a prisoner who escapes with the Emperor, and a few of his loyal bodyguards (the Blades) through a secret tunnel under the jail. You witness the death of the Emperor and a few of his bodyguards at the hands of a group of demon worshippers, who are trying to usher in their demon lord from his plane of oblivion to the surface world. All of the Emperor's legitimate sons are also assassinated, and the player (creation method for the character is still the same) is tasked with finding his last heir, his illegitimate son Martin. Once Martin is found, he and the player go on a harrowing adventure across Cyrodiil trying to stem back the flood of demon invaders. Oblivion gave birth to two DLCs, Shivering Isles, and Knights of Nine. Shivery Isles transports the player to the deadric plane of oblivion Shivering Isles, ruled by the daedric prince of madness, Sheograth. The player can choose to join the Golden Saints, or the Dark Seducers, both of whom guard half of Sheograth's realm. Once the quest with the side you have chosen is completed, you become the duke or duchess of that half of the realm. The DLC culminates in a battle with Sheograth's other aspect Jyggalag. Knights of Nine puts the player back in Cyrodiil, and starts with the player investigating recent murders at the temple of one of the nine gods of the Imperial pantheon. The player then receives a prophecy telling him of his destiny to reform the Knights of Nine (an ancient order of knights dedicated to serving the gods), and kill the sorcerer king responsible for the murders. To reform the Knights, the player must find the 8 relics sacred to the order (Helmet, boots, gauntlets, cuirass, shield, mace, and sword of the Crusader.). Along his quest he meets NPC's who assist the player, and join the Knights. Once the player is in possession of the relics (He will be wearing all the armor, using the shield, and fighting with either sword or mace) he and his knights kill the sorcerer king. Oblivion was extremely well received, along with both expansions, and like Morrowind, received game of the year from multiple sources.

The Elder Scrolls V Skyrim (2011), is the latest title in the series, and probably the most impressive. Skyrim takes place over 400 years after Oblivion, and multiple political shiftings have taken place. The Empire now only controls Cyrodiil, Skyrim, and High Rock due to the secession of Black Marsh, followed by an Argonian invasion of Morrowind. Summerset Isles also seceded along with Valenwood, and formed the Aldmeri Dominion, an empire equal in power to the Cyrodiilic Empire's, and an empire where elves are superior (high elves in particular). The Aldmeri Dominion enticed the region of Elsywere into seceding, and becoming a political ally to the Aldmeri. The Empire,and the Dominion then went to war, which lasted many years and the promptly named Great War ended with some changes to Tamriel. Part of the Aldmeri's peace terms were that the Blades be disbanded, the god Talos be considered un-devine, his worship be illegal, and policeable by the Dominion, and that half of the region of Hammerfell be granted to them. All of these demands were granted by the Empire, but the people of Hammerfell refused to let the Aldmeri take over, and the Empire was forced to abandon it as an imperial province. Thirty six years later, the region of Skyrim rose up in civil war, because the Nords wanted to become independent of the Empire. This is where the player steps in, but the war isn't the main story line, it's a secondary story line, a new type of story line that is smaller than the main quest, but larger and more flexible than guild or miscellaneous quests. This is only one of a few new features in Skyrim. Another is dynamic weather, which is randomized by the computer, mounted combat (the ability to ride a horse was included in Oblivion but the player couldn't fight from it) along with a new creation system. Instead of choosing the sign the player wants to be born under, they choose to take the blessing of one of thirteen magical stones. The stones must be found, and can be switched at the players leisure. Some stones even grant special powers. The leveling system is also overhauled to be made more streamline. Now each skill type has a level, and the levels of all the skill types make up the player level. Skill level is built up the same way as before, and every time the player level is increased by 1, a perk is granted. A perk grants specific abilities to any skill tree. For example the overdraw perk is used to grant 60 70 80, or 90% more damage by bows. Skyrim also introduces a duel wielding system, which the player can use to wield a one-handed weapon (sword/axe/mace) in each hand. The final addition to Skyrim is words of power. These are a type of dragon magic, that are made of of words in their language. Three words can be combined into one large word to make it super powerful. Dragon shouts (as words of power are calles) range from fire breath, to slowing time, to freezing a person in a block if ice. Back to the story line, the main quest follows the player all across Skyrim as he must fight the dragons which have returned from the past (yes, full blown flying, fire/ice breathing dragons), and are being brought back to life. The quest is epic, and includes many of the dragon shouts (the rest can be found at dragon shrines/word walls) included in the game. Skyrim is graphically better than Oblivion was by lightyears, and has some of the most detailed plants, animals, sky, and water of any game. Containing over 300 hours of quest based gameplay, Skyrim has guild quests, from the Companions (the new fighters guild), the Dark Brotherhood, the Thieves Guild, the College of Winterhold (a school of magic replacing the mages guild) the Blades (now a secret organization with a handful of members devoted to dragon slaying), and the East Empire Company. There is also the civil war quest line, during which the player either joins the Stormcloacks (as the Nord rebels are called) or the Imperial Legion, and fight in an epic war, culminating in victory for whichever side the player chose. Skyrim has three DLC's the first of which is Dawguard. Dawnguard allows the player to either join the Dawnguard an ancient guild devoted to vampire hunting, or the vampires themselves, and fight with the other for control of multiple artifacts of power. Dawguard adds new dragon shouts, new locations, a new type of magic devoted to vampire hunting, and two new species of dragon. The second DLC is Hearthfire, which gives the hero the ability to build custom houses, and adopt children (marriage was included in the base game). The most recent DLC was Dragonborn, which sends the hero to the Island of Solstheim (Morrowind: Blood Moon) to defeat a dragon priest who is returning to life to rule the world. Dragonborn's quest was critically acclaimed, and added new dragon shouts, many new locations, a new species of dragon, and the ability to ride dragons. Skyrim won game of the year, and is probably the most immersive of all the Elder Scroll games.

Overall, the Elder Scroll series is gaming Nirvana (not in reference to the band). I believe it deserves the perfect score because it incorporates immersive gameplay, great graphics, fantastic soundtracks in all the games, and some of the most amazing stories in video game history. The only discrepancy on the Elder Scroll report is issues with bugs, but Bethesda has been very good at producing game patches to fix the issues.

Overall 10:10

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Medal of Honor

Medal of Honor is one of the oldest titles in the FPS (first person shooter) world. After producing multiple quality games, that flew under the radar, as far as popularity goes, the series took a hiatus for some years before returning with a partnership with the epic Frostbite 2 engine.

Medal of Honor (1999) was released for Playstation as a pioneering FPS with an objective based victory system, which means that completing objectives like destroying artillery, or killing an officer, will lead to mission victory. Like most Medal of Honors, the original took place in WW2. Unlike Call of Duty (not yet developed), Medal of Honor usually has the player all alone in a mission, and focuses on "Super Soldier" abilities. Medal of Honor also featured a two player split screen deathmatch game mode, that allowed two players, to fight against each other on maps. New characters could be unlocked as well as new maps. Medal of Honor was a gaming revolution, and was extremely successful. 

Medal of Honor Underground (2000) was the prequel to Medal of Honor. The player takes control of a French resistance soldier that was featured in Medal of Honor. The gameplay is much the same, and the Super Soldier attitude of a one man army game is maintained. The split screen returns from Medal of Honor, and a bonus mission is unlocked at the end of the game. Underground was well received, but not as well as Medal of Honor had been.

Medal of Honor Frontline (2002) was the next console title in the series, and returned almost all of the features of Medal of Honor, but had dramatically improved graphics. The game is set in WW2, and the player starts out as an infantryman on D-Day. The first mission is team based, but after that, the familiar one man army gameplay picks up, as the player is sent on special missions all over Europe. Split screen returned once again, but the gunplay remained mostly the same as it always had. Frontline got good reviews, but was not as well received as either Medal of Honor, or Underground.

The next console title was Medal of Honor, Rising Sun (2003). This was the first game to take place in the Pacific theater of WW2. The graphics were improved from Frontline, but the gameplay was much the same. The campaign took the player from Pearl Harbor to Burma, and involved more team based gameplay than any Medal of Honor (MoH) before it. However, some espionage black ops mission still took place. This was the first title to have a strong story line, that involved multiple characters, that the player could connect with, and some family ties. Rising Sun also improved upon the split screen, allowing up to four players, and four more AI controlled soldiers in free for all (ffa) or team deathmatch gameplay. The game also added an online multiplayer, that was similar to the split screen as far as gameplay is concerned. Rising Sun got mixed reviews from critics, but personally I believe that it was the best game in the series at that point.

Following Rising Sun was Medal of Honor European Assault (2005). This still is my favorite MoH, despite the outdated graphics. These same graphics however, were a slight improvement upon Rising Sun, state of the art at the time. European Assault (Ea) overhauled the MoH series with a slew of new features. The first was the introduction of iron sights, like Call of Duty, Ea had the actual sights of the gun used for aiming, instead of just zooming in with on-screen crosshairs. A new HUD was installed, which alerted the player to primary, and secondary targets, & squad mates. The new HUD was an obvious improvement, but not as good, as the introduction of a more team focused gameplay. Every mission in Ea except the final mission was team based. Not only was the player now surrounded by allies, but three AI controlled soldiers were placed under command of the player, every level. These soldiers could follow movement, and attack orders, and be healed by the player. They were also less susceptible to death than other allies, but still killable. The player lost points for every dead squad ally under his command, and lost vital assistance during the mission itself. This addition made the super soldier feeling of previous games almost undetectable, but it sprang back with the next feature; adrenaline mode. Points for adrenaline mode were accumulated with kills, and when a player entered adrenaline mode, they were made invincible for a short period of time. The last new feature was the ability to play with different factions. While the player maintained one identity (American Sgt. Holt), the allies the player fought with ranged from British Commandos in France, to Desert Rats in North Africa, to Soviet partisans, and infantry in Stalingrad, to Americans during the battle of the Bulge. The multiplayer was maintained from Rising Sun, and added no new features. Ea was very well received, and is still worth the money to buy today (if you have a gamecube/wii, ps2, or xbox).

Medal of Honor Vanguard (2007), had large console shoes to fill, inherited from European Assault. The game takes place in WW2, and the player controls a U.S paratrooper during multiple airborne mission across Europe. The game added a couple of new features, including weapon customization, and starting every level via parachute drop onto the battlefield. The biggest change was the completely team based gameplay. Vanguard finished the job that Rising Sun, and European Assault had started, in completely removing the one man army gameplay from campaigns. The squad mechanic of Ea was removed, but the intelligence, and resilience of all of the players allies has been improved to compensate. The online multiplayer was expanded upon to incorporate more players into a game. Vanguard also had the best graphics to date in the series, but despite all that had been done, was given poor scores by critics. I am of the belief that Vanguard is quite a god game, and deserves a solid score.

Medal of Honor Airborne (2007) was the first major blunder in the Medal of Honor series. The gameplay was almost identical to Vanguard, and the story followed the same lines. The only differences between Airborne, and Vanguard were improved graphics in Airborne, and expanded multiplayer in Airborne. The fact that the games were so similar, and released in the same year, did nothing to improve my opinion of the game.

Medal of Honor Heroes 2 (2007), was the next console game in the series, and the last to be based during WW2. The third MoH to be released in 07, Heroes 2 featured a short campaign based around a U.S Army Ranger, and his missions in france, with his Squad mates. Heroes 2 had the best graphics of any of the MoH's to be released that year, and the biggest multiplayer, featuring up to 32 players. Heroes 2 received poor reviews, but that can be attributed mostly to the fact the Medal of Honor was overdone in 2007. An overall good game.

Medal of Honor (2010) was the first MoH game to be produced after the brief hiatus. It was also the first MoH to not take place during WW2, but in modern Afghanistan, and to earn an M rating from the ESRB. Medal of Honor had the first campaign that spread the player out between four characters. Graphics in MoH were great in both campaign, and the new modern (like that of CoD or Battlefield) multiplayer. The game was well received, and offered, a few new gameplay features, including, a new healing system, based on time, not medic packs. MoH graded well with critics, and offered variety to the Call of Duty, and Battlefield dominated FPS world again. The one knock I have for MoH is the flurry of map packs for multiplayer that could be bought online, a regrettable development in all big FPS.

Medal of Honor Warfighter (2012) was the second blunder of the Medal of Honor series. The game looked promising from afar, but when it came down to the line, Warfighter's story line was atrofied, the gameplay glitchy, and the graphics... par. Warfighter puts the player in the shoes of tier 1 operators from America once again, but this time the narrative is shallow and painfully easy, compared to the previous entry. However the multiplayer showed great promise,with an impressive lineup of playable operatives from the Navy SEALS, Special Operations Division, Australian Special Air Service Regiment, Canadian Joint Task Force 2, German Kommando Spezialkräfte, Norwegian Forsvarets Spesialkommando, Polish GROM, Russian Alpha Group, South Korean SEALS, Swedish Särskilda Operationsgruppen, and British Special Air Service. This impressive lineup brought variety to the gameplay, but that couldn't save the multiplayer from the plagues of underdevolped maps and boring game modes.

Overall, the Medal of Honor series has a history of good games, established improvement with each title, multiplayer growth, and minor flaws overall. Extremely similar to the early Call of Duty games (see Call of Duty: Good post) it receives the same score from me:

8.5

Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoyed, and here's the link to info on the frostbite 2 engine.

Forstbite Info

Call of Duty (Good)

For the sake of expediency, and article size, I have decided to divide the Call Of Duty (COD) series, into two parts: the old (good) COD games, and the new (unsatisfactory) COD games. I know this is a controversial decision, and most people will discredit my video game opinions just for putting the words Call of Duty, and the word unsatisfactory in the same sentence, and I might just be crazy, because COD is the biggest name in first person shooters (FPS) right now, and has a huge following (with nine year olds and the unadventurous). I will also be omitting any non-console games (Call of Duty will be an exception) in the series review to keep the titles down below 20.

The first title in the COD franchise (named: Call of Duty) hit storefronts in 2003, and was an instant success. It's WWII setting, and combat style was very similar to the already established Medal of Honor games, but Call of Duty had improved graphics, and allowed the player to play not just as American infantrymen, but as Soviet riflemen, Soviet T-34's, & British Special Forces. This diverse gameplay, set up a strong single player game, even though the intertwining storyline between all three nations was poor. Call of Duty possessed a lot of features that were new the the FPS world. Call of Duty was the first game to limit the amount of primary weapons the player can carry (2), and number of grenades (10), and a fire selection o certain guns. It was also one of the first FPS to use the iron sights of the gun when the player aims, instead of just zooming in with the crosshairs. Unlike most FPS at the time, Call of Duty was team oriented, and forced the player to work with their AI controlled allies. Because of these revolutionary new features, and the campaign diversity Call of Duty was well received, and critics gave it scores ranging from 8-10.

The first console game in the series was Call of Duty Finest Hour. Like Call of Duty it took place from Soviet, American, and British points of view, during WWII. Instead of an intertwining storyline like the original Call of Duty, it had four distinct story lines (American, Russian inf, Russian tank, and British). Finest Hour involved more tank warfare in the Soviet campaign, and introduced it into the American campaign. There was also vehicular warfare introduced into the British campaign in the form of a jeep ride. The graphics were improved substantially, from Call of Duty, but besides that the only new feature was multiplayer. Up to 32 people could play 16v16 battles with the xbox or ps2 (gamecube was incompatible with Finest Hour's multiplayer). The game received poor reviews because of it's similarities to Call of Duty, but with all of the Call of Duty features, was still a good game.

Next on the COD console list is Call of Duty 2 Big Red One (2005). Big Red 1 was the first game in the COD franchise to focus on one unit the entire single player campaign, U.S Army 1st Infantry Division. The game followed the 1st across North Africa, Sicily, D-Day, France, and into Germany. The game was a graphical masterpiece compared to Finest Hour, and had a good soundtrack. All of the classic COD features return, as well as tank gameplay, and multiplayer. Big Red 1 was the first game that might be considered crude verbally in the COD series, but none the less was well received. Overall another good game by COD.

The following title in the series was Call of Duty 3 (2006). COD 3 was the first game in the series to not include PC versions, and returned to WW2 with the old COD tradition of playing as multiple nations. COD 3 has just one large campaign that takes place a month after D-Day, but the player control interacting soldiers from America, England, Canada, and Poland. In the American section of the campaign, the player fights as two American infantrymen, securing key locations in France for the allied advance. The British part of the campaign is played as a single SAS commando, who leads a squad of paratroopers deep into France. Once joined by another squad of SAS paratroopers, and a some French resistance troops, the player must cause general havoc behind German lines, to assist with the Allied advance. This is more a clandestine part of the campaign compared to the other parts, and involves more deaths to key persons. The next section of the campaign puts the player in control of a private in the 4th Canadian Armored Division. Like the American, and Polish campaigns, the Canadian takes place at the front line of the battles in France, and besides tank fighting, involves some infantry skirmishes. The Polish campaign is similar to the Canadian campaign in the fact that it gives the player control of a tank, and some infantry battles and puts them onto the front line in France. The Polish campaign is probably the bloodiest since it involves a last stand defense of a strategic hill, before Canadian reinforcements arrive. COD 3 was well received, and continued the multiplayer tradition. A graphical improvement from Big Red 1, it would be the last COD game to take place in Western Europe during WW2.

The next console title in the COD series is Call of Duty 4 Modern Warfare (2007). Taking place in 2011, Modern Warfare was the first COD game to not take place during WW2. Modern Warfare was also the first COD game to have an M rating (17+). While COD 4 did increase multiplayer exponentially, and start selling map pack DLC's (a regrettable development), it still had a strong storyline. In a fictional future, Russia is in a state of civil war, and a fictional Middle Eastern country is taken over by an anti-western extremist. The player takes control of a US Marine, who is taking part of an invasion of said small fictional country, and a few urban combat missions ensue, before a nuclear WMD goes off in the city killing all inside, which is US Marines and Navy Seals. Before the nuke goes off, the player takes control of a British SAS commando, who performs 2 operations and gathers information tying the Russian communist rebels to the leader of the fictional country. After the nuke detonates, the player is once again given control of the SAS commando who, in a series of missions, kills the leader of the country while working with Russian forces. The true villain of the story is revealed to be the leader of the Russian rebels, and a joint task force of American Marines, SAS commandos, and Russian loyalist forces capture the leader's son, save the US Easter Sea Board from destruction, and fight a large battle in which almost everyone is dead or wounded besides the player, and a handful of Russian loyalists. The rebellion has been put down, and the small fictional country restored to order but the whole this is hushed up by the governments. COD 4 was well received for it's storyline, multiplayer improvements, and graphics, and is still a great game today.

The last good title in the COD series is Call of Duty World at War (2008). The game returns the series to WW2, however the majority of the game takes place in the Pacific theater, and the Red Army's advance to Berlin. The majority of the game takes place in the pacific theater, as the player controls a US marine in multiple missions from Peleliu to Okinawa. There is also a mission in whoch the player is in control of a Naval petty officer flying in a Catalina flying boat. The player must shoot down Japanese planes, and rescue naval crewmen in the water during a naval battle. The other part of the game follows a Soviet infantrymen, and the Red Army's push to Berlin from Stalingrad. There are multiple mission involving T-34 tanks, that add diversity to the campaign. The multiplayer is practically the same to COD 4, and no new features are added besides slightly better graphics (almost indistinguishable from Modern Warfare's). Multiple map packs went on sale for multiplayer, and a new co-op mode was added to the game called Nazi Zombies. 2-4 players fight off infinite waves of Nazi zombies in this split screen mini-game. World at War was a huge success (especially the zombies), and was unfortunately the last good Call of Duty Game.

Overall the first handful of COD games were inventive games that showed great development in all departments, good story lines, and (eventually) one of the most acclaimed multiplayers in the gaming industry. However, like most FPS series, COD suffers from sever repetitiveness, however the vehicle integrated gameplay, and multi-national gameplay helped to cut through this. Overall score for the series:

8.5 of 10.
Hope you article helped, and please check out these videos of COD gameplay.

Total War

Total War is a PC exclusive that has won the hearts of millions. When it comes to historically authentic Turn Based Strategy (TBS) or Real Time Strategy (RTS) Total War takes the cake across historical eras. Total War has 8 main titles to date, along with 2 spin offs, all of which have been huge successes in their own rights.

The series started with Shogun Total War (2000), which was a revolutionary game for it's time, both in gameplay, and graphics. In the campaign, the player assumes total turn based control of every aspect of a medieval Japanese clan, from building up their cities and castles, to diplomatic negotiations, to training and commanding armies. The campaign takes place on a 2D map of Japan, and all aspects of the game are oversized. Armies are made up of individual types of units, which comes in groups of around 60 (normal settings, cavalry, and different infantry units have smaller or greater numbers of men). When two armies engage on the campaign map, the player turns into the commander of the army (he is not physically incarnated). This is when the RTS engages, and the player is forced to do the best they can to win. When the battle ends (for good or bad), the player returns to the campaign map. You win the campaign by controlling regions. To control a region, you must own the capital, which is the sole city/castle of that region. If you lay siege to a city/castle and are victorious, you are given control of that region, and can build up that city, improve that regions roads or agriculture, or train troops from the population. Certain troops require certain buildings, for instance to train Samurai you must have built a dojo. Cool features of the game include the non martial aspects, which include using spies to gather information, using assassins to kill enemy generals/agents, using diplomats to secure alliances against your enemies, bribing your enemy (a quick way to get a new army, general, or city), and using your navy to transport your troops, blockade trade routs, and win (non playable) naval battles. The graphics were none to shabby, and the game had little glitches for the systems of the time. One expansion was released, Mongol Invasion, which took place during the Mongol invasions of Japan. A multiplayer existed, which pitched players against each other in RTS battles. Overall a great game for the time. However is is so outdated, most systems have trouble handling it now.

The next title in the series was Medieval Total War (2002). Set in medieval Europe, Medieval Total War is the same concept as Shogun, and has nearly all the same features. The player takes control of a Medieval European state (England, France, Wales, Russia etc...), and performs the same tasks as in Shogun Total War. Two new feature was added, with Historical Battles. These allow the player to command armies in famous historical battles like the Battle of Sterling Bridge, and Religious difference, which introduced the new agents of Priests, Bishops, and Cardinals. When a new religion arrives in an area, and begins to convert people, the citizens start to become unhappy, and settlements could rebel. The graphics were improved slightly, and the game picked up the multiplayer of Shogun. One add-on was released, Medieval Total War Viking Invasion, which added a viking faction, and some smaller factions in the english isles. The map was centered around a very detailed England and Scandinavia. The game was well received, and isn't as glitchy on new systems, as Shogun.

The next game in the Total War series was Rome Total War (2004). With the biggest campaign so far in the series, Rome Total War stretched from England to The Middle East, and from Scandinavia to Saharan Africa. A new campaign map feature was 3D. Now the campaign map is displayed with 3D cities, agents, and geography. A new mercenary system was added, which allowed the player to buy military units in an area, and different units changed in different areas. The game allowed the player to take control of one of three Roman families, or other factions (Gaul, Germany, Carthage, Parthia) that existed in the times of the late Roman Republic/Early Roman Empire. The features were roughly the same, but graphics were improved tremendously. Multiplayer, Religion and Historical Battles return, along with two expansions, Barbarian Invasion, and Alexander. Barbarian Invasion utilized the same map as Rome, but took place at the fall of the Roman Empire. The Empire itself is broken into East, and West, and new factions include the Franks, the Saxons, the Celts, the Huns, the Vandals, and many others. Alexander allowed the player to step into the shoes of Alexander the Great, and the campaign map was centered on Greece, Egypt, Persia, the Saudi peninsula, and a tiny bit of India/Pakistan. Both add-ons were well received, and Rome Total War, in my opinion has one of the best soundtracks in the history of video games.

The following title in the series was Medieval 2 Total War (2006), the revised version of Medieval Total War. Medieval 2 brought absolutely no new features, but improved the graphics immeasurably, and included all of the previous features (including multiplayer), and included another fantastic soundtrack. Medieval 2 had different (and more) factions than Medieval, an each was far more individualized. Medieval 2 was the first Total War title to have individualized soldiers in a unit, instead of every soldier in a unit looking the same. Soldiers might have different shield patterns, clothing patterns, hair color, or facial features. Besides that, the graphics themselves were greatly improved, and new kill animations were added. Four extensions were developed, Britannia, Crusades, Americas, & Teutonic. In Britannia the map focuses solely on the British Isles, and includes new factions like Ireland, Wales, the Barons Alliance, and Norway, in combination with the original factions of England, and Scotland. Crusades was centered around the Holy Wars in the Holy Land, and included two new factions, the Kingdom of Jerusalem, and the Principality of Antioch, in Combination with pre-existing factions the Turks, Egypt, Venice, the Byzantine Empire, and the Mongols. Americas' campaign map was set in North, and Central America, and included 5 new factions, the Maya, the Tlaxacalans, the Tarascans, the Apache, and the Chichimec, along with the pre-existing factions Spain, Aztecs, England, and France. Teutonic was centered in the Baltic, and was focused around the Teutonic crusades against the Pagan Lithuanians. Four new factions were introduced, the Teutonic Knights, Novgorod, Lithuania, and Norway, along with the original factions, Denmark, Poland, The Holy Roman Empire, and the Mongols. In Teutonic, a new feature was added were, crusading Nobles would arrive in the Baltic with armies to fight pagans with the Teutonic Knights. The game and expansions were all well received, and Medieval 2 is one of the best strategy games on the market right now.

The next game in the series was Empire Total War (2009) which took place in the 1700's, and introduced a slew of new features. To start, Empire introduced better graphics, a new diplomacy system, Naval combat, many unplayable factions, the biggest campaign to date in any Total War, and major changes in the campaign map. To start with, no longer does the player need to train a diplomat, and send him to a foreign country to engage in diplomacy, now, there is button to hit so that the player can open negotiations with any other nation. Naval combat was finally introduced, and is very similar to land based combat, each ship is an individual unit, but contains many men, and natural factors like wind, and ocean swells must be taken into account. Empire introduced The campaign map is huge, and includes Eurasia, the Indian Subcontinent, the Americas, and the South Pacific. No longer is the region capital the sole structure in a region, with Empire, a region could have a capital city, a minor city, a port, and multiple agriculture, mining, and trade sights. The capital is not the center of activity for a region anymore, but control of it still grants control of a region. And combat has taken a new angle with the gunpowder units like line infantry grenadiers, and dragoons, along with cannon, and new cavalry units. Graphics improved slightly, but these changes were focused mostly on individual soldier detail. Empire was a successful game, and maintained the multiplayer of previous games. An army of unit packs have been released over time, but only one substantial new campaign, which was the Warpath Campaign. This map was focused on North America, and the Europeans fight with the Native Americans over land. The European and American factions stay the same, but new Native American factions are added to the mix. Empire was well received, and laid the foundation for the next Total War game. However, Empire was the start of the only two unpleasant features in the Total War series, high quality computers start becoming necessary to run the games, and Steam is required to run the games, both are highly inconveniencing.

The next Total War game was Napoleon Total War (2010), and as the name suggests is centered around the life of French General, and Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte. The game added two new features, & improved upon Empire's graphics. All of the features of Empire return, but the campaign play is based on Napoleon's conquests. The first campaign is Northern Italy, where a young Napoleon is given command of the French army of Italy. Once that campaign is beaten, the Egypt campaign is unlocked, where a slightly older Napoleon has invaded Egypt, and the surrounding Middle East. After that campaign is beaten, the mastery of Europe campaign is unlocked in which Emperor Napoleon is trying to take over Europe. After that campaign is beaten, the Waterloo mini-campaign is unlocked, in which resurgent Emperor Napoleon marches on Waterloo, and destroys the coalition once and for all. If all four Napoleon campaigns are beaten, the Coalition campaigns are unlocked which allows the player to take control of Great Britain, Prussia, Russia, or Austria. Like Empire, Napoleon had a slew of unit packs, but only one campaign add-on the Peninsular Campaign, which pitches France against the combined forces of Spain, Portugal, and Great Britain. France, Spain, and GB are all playable, and new units are introduced. The new features of Napoleon include a multiplayer campaign mode which pitches two people in a campaign game similar but different to the main campaign, and a new campaign feature: attrition. Attrition kills troop when armies march through desert or snow, however to counter this, armies can be restocked with new troops when in friendly territory, automatically. Napoleon has a fantastic soundtrack, and was well received even though some critics though it to be too similar to Empire.

The most recent PC game from Total War was Shogun 2 Total War (2011), which took place in medieval Japan. Shogun 2 was a good mix of the exciting culture, factions, and units of Shogun 1, the gameplay and features of Napoleon, an award winning soundtrack, and amazing, ground-breaking graphics. Not much needs to be said about Shogun 2's main game because of it's ties to previous games, but it did have many unit pack, and faction expansions, and two campaign add-ons. The two campaign add-ons were Rise of the Samurai, and Fall of the Samurai. Rise of the Samurai takes place at the very beginning of Japan's medieval times, and follows the rise of the Samurai warrior class, and the ascension of the first shogun. Fall of the Samurai takes place at the end of Japan's medieval times, and centers around the decline of the Samurai warrior class, and the Shogun, in response to an import of western ideas, and technology. The game and both expansions were well received, and had amazing graphics, but Shogun 2 was criticized because of the (historically authentic) similarities between the different clans, and it's effect on gameplay diversity.

Total War Battles (2012) is an iOS and android Total War game, and the first of the series to be released off PC. Battles is based on Shogun 2, and is strictly an RTS. The graphics are good for a mobile device game, along with the gameplay/story line, however no online multiplayer exists for it. Battles uses Shogun 2's soundtrack, and is an overall fun game. probably worth the five bucks it costs.

The next PC Total War to be released will be Rome 2 Total War (2013). With a campaign map larger that Rome's, a new soundtrack (some of the old music will appear), new factions, the best graphics to date, and a million other undisclosed features, Rome 2 is set to be big. Creative Assembly has yet to release a list of all the new features, but we already know of all the playable factions, the size of armies and cities (bigger than ever), and the existence of named and numbered Legions. Only some footage and screenshots have been released from the siege of Carthage, and Battle of the Teutoburg Forest, but they are impressive, and some impressive numbers have recently been released. The game will feature 183 regions, 117 faction (8 of which are playable) and 500 units. All of these are impressive numbers, and only expand upon the weight Rome 2 carries.

The newest Total War announcement has been Total War Arena, and all we know so far is that famous generals and their armies will be pitted against each other from all across history. We know nothing right now, but that sure does sound good.

Overall, I believe the Total War series is gaming Nirvana, with great gameplay, good historical authenticity, great improvement from game to game, and some fantastic sound tracks .nothing can beat it. My rating:

10/10

For more information check out these picks or the link to a great site. Until next time.

http://www.twcenter.net/forums/showthread.php?p=12450489#post12450489

Assassin's Creed

This series hit the market with a huge BANG! In fall 2007, Assassin's Creed came out. It was the story of Altair, a high ranking member of the Assassin Order, an ancient group of individuals from all walks of life, who come together to stop the Templars, who were an equally ancient group of individuals who seek to rule mankind. The Assassin's believe that humans have the right to rule themselves, and that the Templars should be stopped at all costs. Assassin's Creed takes place in the Holy Land, during the time of the Crusades. The game supports a strong main character in Altair, and many famous supporting characters such as Richard the Lionheart, or Saladin. As far as game play is concerned, besides an excellent story line, in which Altair must assassinate 10 individuals, and a massive plot twist takes place, there are the graphics, which for a early PS3/Xbox 360 were excellent. Most of the game play itself is stealth based, involving silent kills, or bribes, or blending in with crowds, or interrogating city guards in quite, dark, alleys. The combat is fun, but challenging, because open fighting isn't what Assassins are meant to do. There is an interesting array of weapons including, a sword, a short sword or dagger, throwing knives, and a hidden blade, which is a mechanism on the wrist of an Assassin, that can be displayed then hidden almost instantly, and is used for silent, under the radar kills. As the game progresses, weapons are upgraded, and city guards become more aware of your presence, making it far more challenging to be discreet. Speaking of cities, they are where the majority of the game takes place. The big cities include Acre, Damascus, Jerusalem, and Masyaf, which is were your Assassin HQ is located. the game progresses through these cities, and they frequently change hands from crusader, to Muslim, or other way around. In between all the cities is a generic no-mans-land which is filled with military camps, and is frequently the sight of battle between Crusader, and Muslim armies, which you can participate in. Overall a great game, and even though it's a bit outdated, it is still worth the buy.

Assassin's creed 2, Brotherhood, and Revelations are all centered around Ezio Auditore de Florenzi. At the beginning of Assassin's Creed 2 (2009), he is a young Italian man, who is unaware of his families role as Assassins. After is father, and two brothers are executed he is thrown into the role of the Assassin, and is instructed by his uncle Mario. With his training, and with the help of all the other, well paced, Italian Assassins, who are more discreet than there young counterpart, and the inventing skills of non-Assassin Leonardo DaVinci, he is able to take revenge for his family, and become a full fledged member of the Assassins. The game has an equally entertaining story line as the first, and maintains many of the same principles. The game takes place all over Italy, in cities like Venice, Florence, Rome and others. Ezio fields the same weapons as Altair, with the addition of a poison blade, which is used for poisoning enemies, who proceed to go into death fits and distract other enemies, another wrist blade, which enable Ezio to make double assassinations, and a wrist gun, a simple black powder weapon mounted on the wrist, behind the wrist blade. The new weapons make Ezio deadlier in a fight than Altair in pitched battle. New features include the ability to dye your robes, and buy new weapons instead of upgrading the old ones, and lower your notoriety in a city, by doing small tasks (very useful to remain incognito). You can also pick up weapons dropped by your enemies and use them for a short amount of time. Another great game, however this one has multiple DLCs, which add more story to the game, and unique robes. A multiplayer game is added, in which players fight try to assassinate each other. This is also slightly outdated, but still worth the buy.

Assassin's Creed Brotherhood (2010) picks up, three days after the events of Assassin's Creed 2. It is centered around another revenge story, this time Ezio takes revenge against the Borgia family for killing other members of the Auditore family. The entire game takes place in Rome, and Ezio is revisited by a few of the other Assassins from 2, along with Leonardo DaVinci. The biggest new feature of this game is the ability to recruit new assassins in Rome, and send them all over the world to help other Assassins.. The game is basically a war for control of Rome, pitching Assassins against Templar controlled Borgia troops. Beside a whole crew of Assassins, Ezio gets a new weapon in the crossbow, which he carries across his back and uses for long range engagements. The combat system was also given a makeover, and it is now easier for Ezio to engage guards in open combat. The story line is equally great as the previous two, and includes all of the features of 2. Brotherhood also come with a plethora of DLCs which add more story content, and phenotypic features. The multiplayer returns with minor updates. Like all of the previous games of the series, this deserves to be played.

Assassin's Creed Revelations was the last installation of the series to center around Ezio, however some of the game play involves the long dead Altair. Ezio, now elderly, and the head of all the Assassins in Italy, travels to Constantinople, to learn about the past of the Assassin Order. The new enemies are the Templar backed Byzantines, and the templar allies, the Janissaries. The story line is, as usual, very involved and entertaining. All the features, and weapons of 2 and Brotherhood come to Revelations, along with two new weapons, the hook blade (very useful for zip-lining or interesting assassinations), and a bomb making mechanic, which allows the player to make a variety of different bombs from ingredients found or bought around the game. The Assassin recruiting returns with minor updates to the assignment feature, and a new feature, tower defense is brought to the game. In tower defense, Ezio is in charge of a small band of Assassins, who are defending their base from a multi-wave Templar assault. The multiplayer returns again, and because of the recent release of the game (2011), the graphics are up-to-date. Another great game in the Assassin's Creed series, a must buy.

The most recent installment of the series is Assassin's Creed 3 (2012), or as it is most commonly known, AC3. The story jumps from Renaissance Italy, and Etzio, to Colonial America (Boston and New York). The new Assassin is Connor, a half white, half Native American, man. He is the largest, and strongest Assassin so far in the series. Connor, in an attempt to stop the Templars from entering America, joins forces with George Washington and the colonial rebels, to gain independence from the English, who's military is backed by the Templars. The story is, like all the other games in the series, par-excellence, and follows the American revolution. Besides the Templar-Assassins conflict, and the America-England conflict, a conflict emerges in the game between Connor's new life, and his Native American life. A slew of new weapons are introduced. Connor is armed with a sword/axe/blunt weapon (player's choice), a flintlock pistol, dual wrist blades, poison darts, robe darts (interesting weapons that can be used to hang enemies from tree branches), and dual wielding a knife and tomahawk/dagger (player's choice). The assassins recruiting feature returns, along with the multiplayer. Naval combat is introduced, Connor is the captain of the Aquila, a small (upgradeable) ship that can be used with the French navy to stop the British, or used to find Templars to assassinate on the high seas, to find pirate treasure, or to privateer and gain riches. As of this post, one DLC has come out for AC3, a alternate story that adds a lot of new gameplay. Another absolutely great game, a must buy.

The next Assassin's Creed game to come out will be Assassin's Creed 4, Black Flag. It follows the story of Edward Kenway, Connor's grandfather. The game is to be released in fall 2013, and will be 40% naval combat. Edward is a pirate, who's Assassin skills make him uber deadly. He duel wields two cutlasses, and has four flintlock pistols, along the the wrist blades. The naval combat is very much the same, but the map includes Cuba, Jamaica, the Bahamas, Mexico, and the rest of the Caribbean. Not much information has been released, but the game looks promising.

Overall rating, based on story line, playability, replay ability, however, the repetitive feel between games and missions impedes this series from getting a perfect score.

9 of 10

For more information on Assassin's Creed visit the link below the pictures.

www.assassinscreed.com

Welcome

I'm coming at you with the best video game series' currently on the market. Only series' will be included, not single games. The reviews and scores will be based on my personal opinions, and observations made from playing the games themselves. Each series will receive a plot review, along with cool features, the best and worst facts, any DLC information, and a one-to-ten overall rating. I will also whip out links, and pictures, with each post.