Tom Clancy Round Up

The Goozer Says—Ubisoft is about to add another Tom Clancy title to their library tomorrow. This makes for perfect timing to round up all of the titles: including current values on eBay and Goozex, links to reviews, and a mini-discussion on the franchise and the EndWar demo.

The Tom Clancy titles never got the full respect they deserve from me. I’ve only played Splinter Cell and Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter. I loved Splinter Cell and I cannot wait for the 2009 follow up. The game was a good change of pace after playing the CoD franchise religiously. On the other hand, GRAW was a bit difficult, but it was still fun to play, although I never finished the very last mission. I’ll probably still play GRAW 2, but it might be sometime in the distant future.

Rainbow Six Vegas is currently sitting on my shelf. I’ve been holding off playing it until I’m done with GRiD, Saints Row, and Battlefield: Bad Company. Currently, RSV is getting the shaft and collecting dust. But I’ll get to it, eventually, and I’m sure it will be a solid play. Yes, the Tom Clancy titles are good, but there are better games out there.

As for EndWar, I asked two other gamers their opinion of the demo, one replied back saying they couldn’t play it because he didn’t own headphones. While it’s true a good set of headphones enriches the game, you can bypass this option and still play, it just won’t be as fun.

The other gamer I asked to comment on the demo said, “Played a bit, but didn't understand really how to play. It didn't suck me in—the only thing I thought was fun was doing the voice commands. I've since deleted it and have no plans to ever play it again. BAD DEMO.”

He was right about one thing, the demo is not intuitive, and it takes several tries to figure out the game play. I really wanted to like this game. So I gave it several chances. At first, I liked it, then I didn’t like it, then I decided, yeah, I like it enough to trade for it down the line. It’s not a $60 purchase in my opinion or the opinion of the two dudes I asked to comment on it. It appears that Real-Time Strategy games on the Xbox 360 and PS3 have a very uphill climb.

But still, the TC titles are worth playing. And you can get them cheap. Dirt cheap. 

EndWar: Releases November 4

Splinter Cell: Conviction: Coming in 2009

GRAW: eBay $5.00; Goozex 350; Metacritic 90

GRAW 2: eBay $9.99; Goozex 450; Metacritic 86

Rainbow Six Vegas: eBay $10.00; Goozex 450; Metacritic 89

Rainbow Six Vegas 2: eBay $20.00; Goozex 550; Metacritic 82

Splinter Cell: Double Agent: eBay $8.99; Goozex 400; Metacritic 85

TGR Knows What Xbox 360 Owners Are Buying in November

The poll results are in and it looks like Cliff Bleszinski and the hype-machine have Horde-stomped the competition. Gears of War 2 took in 77% of the vote, with Call of Duty: World at War finishing a distant second place with 26% of the vote.

James Bond came in a respectable third place with 15% of the vote.

EndWar barely registered with only 5% of the vote. Out of 53 voters, EndWar got three lousy, stinking votes. Tom Clancy is probably happy he's sold the publishing rights to his name. It might not be a happy Holidays for the Ubisoft crew. Oh well. Maybe this will give them time to finish up the next chapter in the Sam Fisher saga. TGR would like that.

November Buying Decisions for the Xbox 360

One month from now, four titles that have caught your eye will be released for the Xbox 360. The question is, what are you going to buy and what are you going to hold out for? Also, six games that are dropping in value.

Nov 4: James Bond 007 in Quantum of Solace and Tom Clancy's EndWar
Nov 7: Gears of War 2
Nov 11: Call of Duty: World at War

One question that comes to mind is, should James Bond even be mentioned among GoW2 and CoD? And for that matter, should EndWar be in this list as well? Some of you might think World at War should not be mentioned along side Gears; or, you might think that GoW2 is over hyped and the game is going to be a major let down.

Let's Break It Down
James Bond is eternally cool, Tom Clancy has voice recognition gameplay, CoD has a flamethrower, and GoW2 features Horde stomping.

TGR's predictions: James Bond will eventually get played, but probably as a trade after it drops in value. EndWar sounds pretty cool, but shouting into the headset doesn't seem like that much fun. Depending on the reviews, EndWar might not get played at all.

That leaves GoW2 and World at War. At this point, loyalty to a franchise comes into play. If you're a die-hard Call of Duty fan then you might be leaning towards World at War, despite it coming from Treyarch. On the other hand, if you couldn't get enough of Gears of War, then you're probably leaning towards the sequel.

Looking at the top 10 Live games, it appears that CoD has the edge. But looking at the hype-machine GoW2 has going for it, the tables turn and GoW2 has the edge.

After weighing the pros and cons, TGR is staying faithful and going with Call of Duty: World at War for the November purchase. Is this a minority opinion? Will the rest of the Xbox 360 world bum rush the stores for Gears of War 2? Vote in the poll and make your opinion count (poll allows for more than one selection)!

Games to Hold Out For:
Here's a list of games that are currently dropping in value on Goozex. These are games you definitely want to hold out for on requesting:

• Alone in the Dark
• Burnout Paradise
• Call of Duty 4
• Don King Presents: Prizefighter
• Grand Theft Auto IV
• Tiger Woods PGA Tour 08