It's Going to Be a Long Year

So I've been keeping an eye out on new content on Xbox Live, just because of the fact that there has been quite a lot of new stuff getting released lately (like UFC Undisputed 2009 demo, Red Faction: Guerrilla demo, Left 4 Dead's Survival DLC, more on all of that sooner rather then later).

For starters, the UFC Undisputed 2009 demo.

I'll admit that I was hoping there would be a demo for this, because I was curious to see what THQ had in store for the MMA giant's return to the gaming world. And since THQ has been doing pro wrestling games for over a decade now, I had a sort of doubt that maybe they were rehashing their work from Smackdown vs Raw and just slapping on some MMA fighters' bodies.

And after playing through the demo numerous times through, I can safely say that it is absolutely nothing like the Smackdown vs. Raw games. Hell, it plays unlike anything I've picked up before. There are no special move gauges, no finishing moves or anything like that. The fight, depending on what types of hits you're landing and where, it can all be over in matter of sheer seconds.

What surprised me was the depth in these fights, which easily exceeds any wrestling game. In wrestling games, you press certain button combos and you can strike to hell or slam your opponent. In UFC Undisputed, yes you can strike down your opponent. You can take them down to the mat and pound them mercilessly or go for a submission. But it isn't as easy as it sounds as there seems to be quite a lot of counter moves to these situations. Needless to say, I expect the fights won't be as fast as they were in the demo. Or at least the fighters will actually get in there with the intent of knocking your damn head out to the third row.

If nothing else, the demo only boosted my overall interest in this title. But hey, isn't that the point of the demo? Still, I am glad that this game is looking like it can live up to any hype that is thrown it's way.

The second game demo I encountered was Red Faction Guerrilla. The only thing that really caught my eye and locked up my attention here was the devastation you can unleashed. Unlike a lot of games, Red Faction Guerrilla allows you to destroy entire buildings. Hell, you can take down walls and all sorts of things. I was just having a blast just ripping through buildings as I "escorted" my hijacked walker back to the truck.

And kind of like Assassin's Creed 2, Red Faction Guerrilla is promising a ton of missions. So, using my brain power here, I think I can assume that there will be a whole lot of real estate to be demolishing throughout the course of this game.

The only thing left that I can saw about this game is this: Where and how do I sign up?! I'll tear Mars apart, one building at a time!

One last thing here that I feel a need to write about here and that concerns a little game called Left 4 Dead.

Now recently there was the Survival Pack DLC, which essentially gives you the Survival mode and some other multiplayer options (now I think all 4 scenarios are playable online). As I don't venture into online play too much, I opted to try out the Survival mode with my girlfriend.

Let me just say this: I do not see how it is possible to survive this without actually playing with four human beings. The AI for the other survivors is just ridiculous to say the least. They are so stupid! They are even less helpful here then they are in-game! I think our longest survival time was barely past 4 minutes and that was with a lot of pipebomb tossing just out of the gates.

I admit that I am a little sad by this, because my thought was this mode would have been something more like Gears of War 2's Horde mode. But alas, it is not...

Oh well! If nothing else, I am at least grateful that the DLC was a freebee or else I might actually be pissed off about it.