I LOVED Syndicate and X-Com overhead strategy. Especially X-Com with it’s points. Nothing more frustrating than to take a guy you’ve leveled up and move him full speed ahead to have him run out of points with a Alien right in the next square.

Maybe they are doing something awesome with these games that will make me believe but I can’t even get past the openings of the trailers without a wave of disappointment washing over me.

Both of these games can get my money no questions asked if they include copies of the originals. I’ll pay for the games also if it means they’ll spend the cash to put them on XBLA.

Playing: MW3 Survival

Bam and Swaggers go over the basic Pros and Cons of the new Call of Duty MW3.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OuPQjb04Kt8

Raise The Roof – Find a good location and plac Yvette’s house, Gather materials to build the house, Build Yvette’s House to add her to your Kingdom – R: 500 C, 4 XP

Talk to the Animals [2 parts]
1 – Get Plucky – Buy 4 Chickens, Feed 4 Chickens – R: 500 C, 4 XP
2 – No Bull – Buy 2 Cows, Feed 2 Cows in your kingdom, Spend Reputation Hearts to buy 1 Large Trough for your thristy animals – R: 500 C, 4 XP, 1 Feed

Nature Lover [11 parts]
1 – From Gloom to Bloom – Place 5 flowers, something pretty, Feed 3 Animals, keep your creatures healthy!, Clear 2 Rocks in your Kingdom to prevent Yvette’s toe from getting stubbed – R: 500 C, 4 XP
2 – 14 Carrots – Plant 14 Carrots. They’re wort their weight in Coins!, Have 14 Carrots to feed the bunnies, Give love to your Neighbor’s crops, too! Accelerate a crop in 1 Neighbor’s Kingdom – R: 500 C, 4 XP
3 – Chicken Lover – Feed 4 Chickens, there is nothing sadder than a hungry Chicken!, Harvest 16 Flax – R: 500 C, 10 XP
4 – Bird Feeder – Plant 10 Wheat, Your Neighbor’s animals could use some love, too! Feed 8 Chickens in Neighboring Kingdoms – R: 375 C, 3 XP
5 – A Bit Bullish – Buy 2 adorable Baby Cows, Have 20 Wheat to feed your animals – R: 750 C, 15 XP
6 – Fence Me In – Have 8 Wooden Fences to keep the animals safe, Move 2 Cows. Carefully!, Your Neighbors’ Animals could use some love, too! Feed 1 Cow in 2 different Neighbors’ Knigdoms – R: 500 C, 10 XP
7 – For The Birds – Place 3 Trees, Buy 1 Bird House, Water 6 Saplings – R: 500 C, 10 XP
8 – Peace Is The Answer – Have 1 Workshop in your Kingdom, Have 3 Wooden Clubs, Sell 3 Wooden Clubs – R: 750 C, 15 XP
9 – Beastie Collection – Let 2 Beasties live in your Kingdom, Buy 1 Keep Off Sign to protect the Beasties from visitors – R: 750 C, 15 XP
10 – Beastie Confection – Keep the 2 Beasties safe a bit longer. They may just be hungry…, Have 5 Animals away from the Beasties, Get 4 Mystery Meat to feed the hungry Beasties [FEED] – R: 750 C, 15 XP
11 – Rearm the Kingdom, Craft 3 Wooden Clubs, Banish the 2 Beasties. Gus will be happy! – R: 1000 C, 20 XP

Yvette Wants a Gift! – a Button

Sticks And Stones – Click on a tree to chop it (0/5), Gather 5 Stone by Mining Rocks – R: 250 C, 3 XP

Penny Pinching – Tax Yvette’s house for Coins – R: 250 C, 3 XP

A Noble Beginning – Place 5 Rubble Walls to enhance your castle, Get your Castle to level 10 so you can explore – R: 250 C, 3 XP

Into The Gloom – Rescue Rafael from the Gloom – R: 250 C, 3 XP, 1 Expansion Crystal

Farming 101 [3 parts]
1 – Cropping Up – Plant 3 Grapes on the Farm Plots, Harvest 3 Grapes – R: 250 C, 3 XP
2 – The Plot Thickens – Place 2 new Farm Plots, Plant 5 Flax, Harvest 5 Flax – R: 500 C, 4 XP
3 – Getting Wet – Clear 10 items around your water sources, Move 5 Farm Plots. Place them next to water to irrigate them, Harvest 10 Irrigated Crops – R: 250 C, 3 XP, 1 Fertiziler

Prepping For An Invasion – Have 1 Workshop in your kingdom, Get 1 Alchemist Powder by visiting your neighbors and helping them, Craft 1 Club from your Workshop – R: 500 C, 10 XP

A Little Something Extra [3 Parts]
1 – Stay Grounded – Build 1 Cottage to collect taxes from, Move 1 taxable building onto the Courtyard – R: 500 C, 10 XP
2 – Throw It On The Ground – Purchase 3 pieces of Brick Courtyard, Move a Maiden’s Tower on to Courtyard, Tax 5 buildings placed on Courtyard – R: 500 C, 10 XP
3 – Throw It On The Ground – Have 1 Lumber Camp in your kingdom, Move a Lumber Camp near some trees and see what happens!, Have the Lumber Camp 2 times to see the time reduction in action! – R: 500 C, 10 XP

Make It Hail [2 Parts]
1 – Knock Down Drag Out! – Collect the Wood Club from the Workshop, Use the Wood Club from your inventory to put the hurt on a Beastie, Banish 1 Beastie – R: 500 C, 10 XP
2 –

Sell It All! – Have 2 Silver Ore, Sell 2 Silver Ore from your inventory – R: 500 C, 10 XP

Good Foundations – Place the house foundation for your new subject, Build Rafael’s House to add him to your Kingdom, Click on houses to collect taxes – R: 500 C, 4 XP

Stranger in the Gloom [10 Parts]
1 – Walk To The Light – Have 1 Campfire to light the way out of the Gloom for the stranger, Fish for 2 Pails of Water… Just in case the fire gets out of control, For the safety of others, clear 10 Rocks, Plants, Dead Trees or Stumps – R: 500 C, 4 XP
2 – Work The Kinks – Have 6 Honey to help with the rub down, Have 10 Stones for Rafael’s Hot Rocks Massages, Have 1 Rolling Pin, to roll out the knots [FEED] – R: 500 C, 10 XP
3 – Fear and Loathing – Consume this free Gloom Rat Potion, side effects may vary, Have 2 Animals Bones as proof of your heroism against Senor Shadow’s Beasties, Clobber 1 Beastie in a Neighbor’s Kingdom – R: 750 C, 15 XP
4 – Woo Who? – Buy 1 Table for an intimate dinner for the stranger and Rafael, Buy 2 Torches to add that romantic glow, Have 1 Chicken Meat (and 0 Salmonella) – R: 750 C, 15 XP
5 – Momentary Distraction – Have 1 Bubbly Grog to help drown out memories of the trapped lady, Buy 1 Barrel to keep the Grog coming, Feed 1 Cow in 4 different Neighbors’ Kingdoms, you know, for fun – R: 750 C, 15 XP
6 – Warning Signs – Have 20 Wood Logs to make wooden warning signs, Use 1 Super Chop from your Inventory and chop a tree, Clear 3 Tree Stumps from Neighboring Kingodms to encourage them to put up signs and not stub toes – R: 500 C, 10 XP
7 – Send In The Dummy – Change your Character’s Outfit to put on a dummy, Have 7 Beeswax to create a wax dummy of Rafael, Have 3 Flasks to fill with the scent of Rafael [FEED] – R: 500 C, 4 XP
8 – Spread The Word – Have 3 Love Letters to send to the trapped stranger [FEED], Unwither 1 Crop in 3 different Neighbors’ Kingdoms, Earn 20 Reputation Hearts – R: 750 C, 15 XP
9 – A Noble Cause – Buy 3 Brick of Cobblestone Courtyard to pave the way to the stranger, Buy 3 Lanterns to light the way from the Gloom, Raise your Castle Level by 20 points to better face the Gloom – R: 750 C, 15 XP
10 – The Mysterious Stranger – Find and Rescue the Mysterious Stranger and her House from the Gloom – R:

The Search for Alastair [6 Parts]
1 – Look Beyond – Click the Full Screen button for a better view of your Kingdom, Click the ground and drag to look around your Kingdom – R: 250 C, 3 XP
2 – View From Above – Improve your Castle by buying 1 Maiden’s Tower, Gather materials and construct your Maiden’s Tower – R: 500 C, 10 XP
3 – Sterner Stuff – Add Crew members to complete the Maiden’s Tower, Explore out into the Gloom 1 time – R: 500 C, 10 XP
4 – It Takes A Village – Provide 2 Cottage as shelter from the Gloom, Tax 2 houses for coins, Gather 5000 coins for the Royal Coffers – R: 1000 C, 20 XP
5 – A Call To Arms – Have 1 Barracks, Collect Taxes from your Barracks, Have 1 Workshop in your Kingdom – R: 500 C, 10 XP
6 – A Daring Rescue – Exploration Crystals are required for Exploring. Have 6 to dispel the Gloom around Alastair, Explore the Gloomy Area and rescue Alastair – R: 500 C, 10 XP

The Great Hall [20 Parts]
1 – En Guarde! – Banish the 2 Wolves – 500 C, 10 XP
2 – Food and Shelter – Provide 4 Houses as shelter from the Gloom, Tax 7 houses for coins, Harvest 20 Wheat to feed your Kingdom – R: 500 C, 10 XP
3 – Thought For Food – Have 1 Kitchen for your Kingdom, Craft 4 Items from your Kitchen, Put your Cooking to good use. Use one item made in the Kitchen from your inventory – R: 500 C, 10 XP
4 – Clear Intentions – Move 5 items to make room for the Great Hall, Clear away 6 rocks, plants or trees for the foundation, Have 4 Regal Hoes to help with the clearing [FEED] – R: 500 C, 10 XP
5 – A Good Foundation – Prove your knowledge. Reach level Player 9, Get your Castle to 125, Place and contrust the foundation of the Great Hall – R: 500 C, 10 XP
6 – Tower Defense – Have 16 Rubble Walls to protect your Castle, Build a Moat for your Castle (0/4), Have 5 Dragon Scales to make shields [FEED] – R: 500 C, 10 XP
7 – Fortified – Have 2 Barracks in your Kingdom, Collect coins to build your castle. Tax the Barracks 3 times – R:

PROS
1) Kill Streak Rewards can be activated in any order – This is really nice to be able to store a UAV and then pull it out when you get your Stealth.
2) Support and Specialist Strike Packages – Interesting concepts. I feel kills required is pretty low for Support though on the high end.
3) Kill Confirmed – Just fantastic. Helps weed out the campers.
4) Gun Sounds and Reload animations – These look and sound nice and crisp.

CONS
1) Theater was lobotomized – Can’t save after game, can’t use 1st Person view, no dolly. Just ridiculously huge step back.
2) Challenges – A complete and total rehash from MW2. Beside images, nothing has changed at all. In fact we are missing challenges for new modes like Kill Confirmed and Team Defender and missing Challenges in Prestige for all the new Kill Streak rewards. Completely lazy.
3) Removal of Wager Matches – Why? These were fun modes and I would of rather seen them added too. I know there is no “money” in MW3 but exp points or double xp time or something could of been put up for winners. Or they could of just been XP bonus rewards at the end for winners.
4) Diving Out – Again, why? It was kind of worthless but removing it is a step back.
5) Can’t compare stats against players while in game – Really? I have to go out to Elite to compare KD with a friend? Come on.