Debrief: Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3

Throughout the year, my interest for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 has grown. While the E3 gameplay reveal didn't start the flame, hearing more and more about its multiplayer aspect did, for it seems that with every entry there is always something wrong with the online component.

Modern Warfare 2 was plagued with Nuke boosters and glitched lobbies, while Black Ops suffered from an iffy spawn system and was ridiculed for taking quickscoping out of the equation.

So, hearing that Modern Warfare 3 would harken back to the gun-on-gun, tight gameplay days of Call of Duty 4, and that there would be less emphasis on air support, I will say, I was becoming excited.

But, before we get to all that, we must not forget that Call of Duty is known to also have an exceptional single-player component, and Modern Warfare 3 doesn't disrupt that streak. While it may not be the most engaging plot-wise, Modern Warfare 3 certainly doesn't let up on its essentially non-stop climax.

The five-hour campaign takes you across the globe and, in Call of Duty fashion, has you playing as a soldier from multiple outfits, this time the from the American Delta Force and the British S.A.S. team accompanied by series "mascot," Price.  You'll start off in Manhattan trying to de-occupy Wall Street and you'll end up leaving your mark in various other areas, such as Paris and Siberia, all in an attempt to save a president and his daughter to prevent him from spilling the launch codes for a nuke attack. Oh, and you're also after the head baddy, Makarov. It's nothing that hasn't been done before, especially the whole "give us the codes" bit, but it works well enough here to pull you along from one hectic encounter to the next.

The usual assortment of missions return in Modern Warfare 3, where one minute you'll be a typical foot soldier only to be hopping onto an on-rails segment the next. Stealth missions, sniping missions, and even AC-130 missions all come together to make the single-player campaign, though they don't bring the same impact that came along with them when first introduced back in 2007. The AC-130 mission, especially, now seems more obligatory for the genre than a water-cooler moment.

Those that have been following the Modern Warfare timeline up until now will see the entire story come together quite nicely in the end, though the actual endgame came off to be slightly ridiculous, even by Call of Duty standards.

Once finished with the campaign, multiplayer will be what devours most of your time with Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, be it the co-operative "Spec Ops" missions or the competitive suite.

Competitive-wise, you've no doubt by now deciphered whether or not you like what Call of Duty offers. Those who haven't been too keen on it in the past best look away now, because Modern Warfare 3 most definitely won't change your mind.

Modern Warfare 3's multiplayer is still enhancing what it began delivering a few years back, and this year that enhancement mostly comes in the form of the perks.

Fans will be happy to hear that the perks act more as assists now rather than full-on buffs, notably with the omission of the "Stopping Power" perk, which in past games made bullets do more damage. Unfortunately, the attempt at finally having a balanced perk system comes at the price of the developers playing it safe, with all of the perks on offer being what we've already seen in the past, albeit with slight, slight adjustments or a having a different name. It's a bit saddening to see that there's not much room for perk experimentation this time around.

In terms of leveling, you now level up your gun with use, and this is how you unlock different scopes, camos, and other attachments. The more kills you get, the more experience the gun gets, leading to more unlocks becoming available.

The gets culminated into the new "Weapon Proficiencies" option, which are a set of weapon-specific perks that you'll unlock and attach over time. These include adding range to the gun, decreasing its kick when fired, or increasing its melee speed. You may even recognize some of the "Proficiencies" as former perks, such as the two attachment perk, "Bling," now known as "Attachments." Although you can look at this as taking former perks from one area and adding it to another, the "Weapon Proficiencies" do add another level of depth to the already robust class-customization, and serve as a welcomed addition to the barracks.

The other new addition to Modern Warfare 3's multiplayer, and undoubtedly the biggest, is the revamped Killstreak system. Now known as "Strike Packages," this system breaks the Killstreaks into three distinct classes: Assault, Support, and Specialist.

Assault has your typical set of steaks, including UAVs, Predator Missles, AC-130s, and the like. New additions like the Reaper have you sending laser-guided missiles to their targets, and a strafing run will send five choppers across the map, gunning down whoever is in their path. All work well, and all are fun to use. On the flip side, there is still a large amount of emphasis on aerial gameplay, negating the aforementioned idea. It's still a common notion to be stuck hiding in a building for minutes at a time.

Support sees you playing recon for the team, where your streaks include only team-specific streaks, such as the aforementioned UAV radar, counter-UAV, EMPs, anti-aircraft turrets, and the ability to airdrop Juggernaut armor for yourself, which makes your the proverbial walking tank. Those who were wishing that Call of Duty become more team-based oriented will surely find joy here.

Lastly, there's the Specialist class. Here, players can unlock an additional perk with each streak, ending in a total of six perks equipped. While at first this sounds game breaking, rest assured that is not the case. Also, players can only select their already unlocked perks for the streaks, so they can't select the level 39 perk "Scavenger," for instance, if they are only level 4. The lone-wolf players of the world will find that this setup will suit them nicely.

The "Strike Package" system doesn't necessarily evolve the original Killstreak system, though it's good to see that Infinity Ward and Sledgehammer have been tinkering with ideas in which to add some flare to it. Would I prefer this system over the prior ones? Probably not.

If there's one drawback to Modern Warfare 3's multiplayer, it's in its map design. Or it could be the spawn system. One or the other. The maps offer the tight gameplay that Infinity Ward said would be offered, which is great, but this also comes coupled with the spawns essentially being on top of one another, and it isn't unusual to spawn right in the path of enemies, or them spawning in your path. It's great to see that there is less downtime between the respawning and action cycle, though at this point matches can play out rather frustratingly.

It's also unfortunate that, timeline issues not withstanding, some elements from Black Ops have been omitted. The dive mechanic was a useful tool when caught off guard in a firefight, and was quite balanced, and the lack of Wager matches is an upset. Granted, there are no COD Points anymore, but they still could've been incorporated somehow. 

Still, even with its downsides, some of which can be rectified in the future, Modern Warfare 3's multiplayer is as addicting as ever, and with the constant spamming of XP and unlocks ticking across the screen, you will always be saying, "just one more match 'til that unlock."

"Spec Ops" is Modern Warfare 3's co-operative offering, and comes in the form of missions and wave-based survival. The missions rip scenes straight out of the campaign and have you and a buddy performing altered objectives of what was offered in the story. These bite-sized chunks are fun and require communication, such as the mission where one player is the gunner in an AC-130 while the other is pressing the opposition on the ground. They will certainly test your team skills.

The survival mode is the more addictive of the lot, and mixes up the gameplay with the ability to buy Killstreaks, perks, and weapons from one of the stations located on the map. The levels available here are also ripped from the other modes, so you'll have an advantage knowing the lay of the land. 

"Spec Ops" also has its own level progression, adding yet another carrot dangling in front of you.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 wraps up the trilogy in a tight campaign, and anyone who has been following the series since day-one will enjoy how everything pans out. The multiplayer gets props for trying to keep the formula fresh after all these years, though heftier additions and revamps in future iterations would do it some good. Still, you'll be glued to the screen for hours on end as you mow your way through countless levels, and anyone who enjoyed a Call of Duty game in the past will find a lot of joy here.

Review based on the Xbox 360 version of Modern Warfare 3, which was provided by Activision in the form of the "Hardened Edition." Due to current issues, ELITE was not utilized at the time of this review.

Debrief: PAYDAY: The Heist

Oddly enough, one sub-genre that hasn't been explored much in the first-person shooter realm is heisting, be it bank heisting or any other kind of robbery. Given its nature, a game revolving around heists could make for a perfect co-operative shooter--if done correctly, that is. 

Overkill Software, comprised of members from the late developer Grin, are attempting to fill the void with their downloadable co-operative first-person shooter, PAYDAY: The Heist. Packing in six levels, four-player co-op, and a crazy amount of unlocks for only $19.99, PAYDAY seems like it should be the ideal purchase in which it sounds, but a few things go awry in this quest for riches.

As noted, there are six heists to perform in PAYDAY, each taking around 20-30 minutes to complete. All of them are meant to be replayed multiple times ala Left 4 Dead, and all are rewarding, white-knuckle experiences. The heists have varied themes--a bank heist, crack house, freeing a prisoner, and a diamond heist to name a few--though unfortunately they mostly have you performing the same rituals to complete them. It's a surefire thing that you'll have to defend a certain area for a set amount of time, and make sure that whatever it is you're either hacking or breaking into goes uninterrupted. 

From there, you go into the second leg of the heist which is scoring the loot, and then, bringing the goods from one point to another for your extraction--if you aren't performing another defensive scenario, that is. 

And that's about the long and short of what each mission requires, plus or minus the few mission-specific gameplay elements that may be thrown at you, such as one mission where you need to be a bit stealthy--which, even then is hard to pull off. Repetition doesn't necessarily make a game bad, mind you, it's just a bit disheartening that each heist plays out in roughly the same manner.

There's virtually no story to speak of in PAYDAY, except for each mission's mini-plot, and you will not be attached to either one of the four main characters--Dallas, Hoxton, Wolf and Chains. The game is purely about the co-op aspect, which actually works in its favor. PAYDAY is a great example that a strong narrative isn't always needed in a game.

When performing a heist, you're going to need equipment, and PAYDAY: The Heist definitely doesn't stiff you here. You start off with a silenced pistol, a basic assault rifle, and hand-ties for those pesky hostages. You then progress through the game, ranking up--where cash is the new XP--and unlocking more advanced versions of them, as well as a shotgun, submachine gun, light machine gun, and new equipment like trip mines. There is an impressive amount of unlocks in PAYDAY: The Heist, all spanning three different categories, that will not only keep you busy for a while, but also change the game up in various ways making each play-through fresh. They all cater to a different play style as well, and keeping a balanced team is vital to winning.

Team enhancements are also available to unlock, providing bonuses like cash and damage multipliers. 

Everything mentioned above will be used to take out the police that stand in your way of scoring the big one. They come at you in waves during each mission, and these brothers in blue aren't pushovers, even with your fancy gadgetry. In fact, the enemy A.I. gets a bit infuriating, and a lot of times seems downright unfair. Granted, you're performing a robbery, so resistance is to be expected, but in some instances it seems that cops just spawn out of nowhere, and no matter how many you have taken down, you may still find yourself surrounded, where as other instances are fair and a bit more controllable. Cops just spawn in an endless cycle at times, providing a sense of randomness where skill has very little to do with progressing in a mission. The cops have impecable aiming abilities too, even when you're on the other end of a city block. 

Your teammates provide some support, but not enough to the point where the fight seems fair in the slightest. Even in co-op, the game can be relentless. If there's one thing that PAYDAY can really benefit from, it's balancing, and that's perhaps the biggest flaw holding it back from absolute greatness.

Aside from your standard coppers, there are a handful of mini-boss enemies that will require a few of your teammates to gang up on. The Bulldozer, pictured above, sports an incredibly heavy set of armor, and takes quite a bit of damage, similar to the Tank in the Left 4 Dead series. Then you have the Taser, who of course, sports a taser. You need to keep your distance from this guy, and if you find either yourself or your teammates caught in his grasp, you have 15 seconds to get free. The Shield comes into the scene with a riot shield, where players need to flank around him to take him down. Lastly, you have the Cloaker, a Sam Fisher lookalike who takes alternate routes to hit you and your team where you least expect it, and can be very, very deadly.

Each mini-boss is executed very well, and keeps the pacing of each heist from going stale. 

The controls in PAYDAY: The Heist are a bit of a miss, in that on the PlayStation 3 they tend to feel really stiff. Aiming in particular is tough to pull off accurately at times, especially since the enemies move constantly. There's also a slight heaviness attached, and with a game based on precise timing, the heaviness feels out of place. The fluidity in aiming and controls found in most other shooters is absent here, and seeing as how PAYDAY is a first-person shooter at its core, its wonky controls can damper the experience. This is said to be rectified on the PC version, though I was not able to compare the two. 

One feature that seems like a no-brainer for a co-operative title of this calibur is split-screen, which, unfortunately is not in PAYDAY: The Heist. Quite odd, too, since there's not much information displayed on the screen where having it split would be an issue.

PAYDAY: The Heist takes an interesting road down a crowded genre, and for the most part succeeds. Partnering up with friends to score a nice payday is an exciting, thrilling experience. Making it to an extraction point after twenty minutes of hell has you breath a satisfying sigh of relief. There are some noticeable flaws in its overall balancing and gameplay mechanics, but given how fresh of an experience PAYDAY offers, you may find yourself being a bit more forgiving.

While there are a ton of other games coming out this holiday season, you would be doing a disservice to yourself and to Overkill Software by not shelling out the $20 to play PAYDAY. It's different. It's fresh. And it's a good time.

[Review] FPS Freek EPIC

When it comes to online shooters, people try to obtain every advantage they can in order to have an edge over their opponents. Headsets are perhaps the most sought after product in this case, as having a rugged headset will allow players to hear, with precision, an enemy's footsteps, and in some games, even their breathing.

Kontrol Freek is adding another tactical advantage to the online shooter market with their FPS Freek controller attachment--a pair of analog nub extensions that are designed to provide extra comfort and more precise maneuverability through a wide variety of games.

FPS Freeks have been on the market for a while now, and the latest of the lot was designed specifically with Gears of War 3 in mind. Dubbed, "FPS Freek EPIC," these crimson-colored nubs also sport Gears' skull omen right in the center, reminding you that you are indeed fighting the good fight for the COG.

Aesthetics aside, the FPS Freek EPIC offers a much more comfortable, much more satisfying feel when handling either an Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3 controller--yes, they're compatible on both controllers. You simply pop the two nubs on and you're good to go.

The added length to the respective analog nubs  administers  more free-flowing combat as you constantly move the sticks from side to side, and the concave form reduces strain on your thumbs.

In fact, going back to a standard controller felt more constricted, more sluggish, if you will, when trying to perform various techniques. Oddly enough, the sticks also felt lighter with the FPS Freek EPIC attachments on as opposed to playing with them off.

The EPIC's thick rubber also ensures that, no matter how sweaty your mits get, even in the toughest of battles, you'll never perform a sloppy move in-game due to moisture-filled nubs. Couple that with the aforementioned raised skull omen, and you've got yourself a hefty grip.

Aside from Gears of War 3, the FPS Freek EPIC also works for a wide variety of other popular shooters. As with Gears of War 3, I felt a drastic difference when playing the Battlefield 3 open beta with the EPIC. Being the fast-paced game that Battlefield 3 is, I was able to pull off headshots easier, follow my targets more smoothly, and control my recoil a lot more fluently with the EPIC than I had ever done prior. It was a bit awkward on the PlayStation side, though, since the "Select" button is a huge asset to the game, and the added length to the sticks made it quite difficult to access the button easily. Still, there was improvement found. 

Oh, and don't worry, tournament players, these are completely legal.

The FPS Freek EPIC undeniably provides a more tactile feel on the controller, and allows for an easier, more comfortable gaming session. The science in the added analog nub length providing a more accurate shot certainly holds true. However, don't mistake these to be miracle workers, and that your shoddy sniping aim will be alleviated instantly. Think of them more like an enhancement as opposed to a remedy. Basically, they won't fix your shaky hands, and you should probably let someone else pick up the sniper rifle next time, bucko.

This product is more or less targeted at the more diehard players of a series, whatever it may be, but won't provide such a distinct "edge" that casual players will be at a disadvantage. Still, I can't see myself playing any shooter without these babies, and will without a doubt have them with me on the front lines of Sera and Battlefield 3 alike. 

The FPS Freek EPIC can be purchased for $13.99 on Kontrol Freek, along with their other FPS products.

[Review] Resident Evil: The Mercenaries 3D

The drought of playable games on Nintendo's revolutionary 3DS handheld is slowly coming to a close, and next up is Capcom's Resident Evil: The Mercenaries 3D, a $39.99 title based around the series' highly popular mini-game. Is it worth the price-tag to slay zombies against the clock, or should you conserve your ammo (and money) for something else?

As noted, Resident Evil: The Mercenaries 3D is not your typical Resident Evil title. This time around, things revolve around the game's "Mercenaries" mode which debuted in Resident Evil 4 and returned in Resident Evil 5. This time-attack mode pits you--and perhaps a buddy--against both the clock and a ton of infected beings as you aim to get the highest score possible. A fairly simple premise that can ultimately end up providing an insane amount of replay value.

The biggest concern many people have about Mercenaries 3D is whether or not this one particular mode warrants its own game. Is there enough "meat" in this title to make someone want to buy it? Well, the answer is yes.

To me, the ideal portable game, be it on a handheld or iOS devices, is one that allows me to get in and out quickly while also providing a satisfying gaming experience. Angry Birds is a prime example of this, as depicted by both its popularity and my personal experience. Now, don't get me wrong--The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D is great, and I am certainly going to be first in line to purchase Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater 3D when it releases later this year, but those games require too much time and devotion for me to want to play it consistently. I can easily pick up a game of Angry Birds before I say to myself, "I want to play Zelda on my 3DS." Unless you are consistently on the road, handheld games don't necessarily have to be epic masterpieces that are on par with console games.

So, to wrap up the last two paragraphs, Resident Evil: The Mercenaries is the ideal handheld title.

Let's talk some details, shall we?

Mercenaries 3D offers quite an extensive tutorial, so even the most novice Resident Evil player can quickly learn the ins and outs of the series. After you learn the ropes, the game consists of levels where you take down zombies while fighting the clock. At the end of each round your numbers are tallied up and you are given a score--D,C,B,A,S,SS--and from there more levels are unlocked. That's about all the "meat" there is to the game, but you know what? That's ok.

The game features a handful of unlockables--characters, outfits, skills, uh, characters--that shouldn't be too hard to acquire for anybody, making the game rather accessible. Each character has their own weapon loadout which gives the game a lot of staying power by seeing how different each level plays out with each particular character. You may rack up a high score in one level while playing as Chris, but you can then find out that playing at Claire won't produce the same results.

For a handheld title, or more importantly, a Resident Evil title, Mercenaries 3D controls very well. Inventory swapping, reloading, and map utilization all work well with the touch-screen, making Mercenaries 3D a breeze to play. Reloading can be done either by aiming the weapon and pressing B or by double-tapping the weapon's icon on the screen. Aiming works extremely well for the device, and Mercenaries 3D now gives the option to aim in first-person perspective, and finally, the ability to move and shoot simultaneously; this sounds good on paper, but the end result is a stiff mess, and you can't adjust your angle while shooting, you just look straight. Odds are you'll end up never using this mechanic.

The game's visuals are real strong and certainly impressive for a handheld. The 3D effect adds a lot of depth to the visuals, but as with most 3DS games it doesn't add much to the gameplay itself. However, being such a white knuckle, frantic game, the 3D effects tend to make the visuals look distorted due to the constant jerky motions when playing.

There are a few other downsides to Mercenaries as well. For one, the frame-rate takes a dip every now and then, most notably with the enemies that are in the background. Probably in an effort to keep things in front of the player running smooth, enemies in the background tend to show their pixels and have stiff, rugged movement until they cross a certain point in the level where they fully load up and walk normally. A minor gripe, but one that should still be noted for the graphics department.

The sound design is simply abysmal, and perhaps on par with the Pokémon games' Pokémon battle cries. Voices, gunfire, and music sound muffled, low, and scratchy. Don't bother trying to help the matter by inserting headphones into the 3DS port, because that just amplifies the horror. This is probably the biggest issue with the game entirely, and one that could've been easily avoided.

Resident Evil: The Mercenaries features both online and offline co-operative play, but after almost a week being out the online servers were still unplayable.

Despite a few shortcomings, Resident Evil: The Mercenaries 3D is a solid 3DS title, and those looking to dust off their handheld--in addition to Zelda, that is--should look no further than here. Mercenaries features fast-pasted, zombie killing action, great visuals, and hopefully at some point great online co-operative play. Sure, its $40 price may be a bit too steep for what it offers, but at a price drop the almost unlimited replay value it can provide certainly justifies a purchase. Be on the lookout for a sale on this one. 

[Review] Greg Hastings Paintball 2

Downloadable shooters are becoming quite popular nowadays, and while Greg Hastings Paintball 2 is technically a shooter, it brings an "X-factor" that sets itself apart from the rest of the market. Yes, you guessed it--Greg Hastings Paintball 2 brings paintball! However, does this PlayStation Network downloadable shooter have what it takes to warrant a purchase?

For a downloadable title, Greg Hastings Paintball 2 offers a lot of content. You get a Career mode, online and offline multiplayer, a bevy of unlocks, 62 maps, and if that weren't enough terrain to throw some paint in, you also get a solid map editor. There's no question that GHP2 brings a lot to the table, but in the end the Career and, ultimately, the multiplayer aspects get repetitive quicker than you'd think.

Career mode has you, a ragtag dude, being coached by none other than Mr. Hastings himself, who aims to take you to the top of the paintball totem pole. He leads you and your building squad of ten to various events and promotional invitations spanning three different branches--Speedball, Woodsball, Recball--across the United States and Europe, all in hopes that you'll do him proud in the long run. There is no other concrete story to speak of after that, and information is given out via briefings either pre or post each event. What the career actually boils down to is a bunch of multiplayer bot matches (comparable to Brink) fought across the game's seven different game modes. The game modes are quite fun...at the beginning, but you'll soon realize that they end quickly after marking (killing) each enemy. CTF games will more often than not end with the enemy team depleted of members rather than with an actual flag capture. This mostly occurs in Career, but multiplayer and exhibition allow you to add "reinsertion" rules.

Early in your career is where things flow nicely--you get plenty of tutorials that will help even the most novice of players, the enemy artificial intelligence is very forgiving, and you certainly gain the fundamental knowledge of what the game of paintball is really all about. Unfortunately, after the first few competitions things get frustratingly difficult. The enemy A.I. drastically increases its difficulty while your teammates are left hanging in the open waiting to be shot. Sure, you can trade your current players for the constantly growing roster of new players that have much better attributes, but even then the odds are not in your favor. You can even "train" your teammates, giving them attribute buffs that they can use on the field which range from extra speed, increased accuracy, and so on, but that still doesn't suffice. There is also a command option which doesn't really help either, and the simplistic system doesn't make your team end up doing what you want them to. The A.I. in Greg Hastings Paintball 2 often times makes the game a chore to play. Luckily, if you really need to, there is the option to dumb it down a notch from the default option.

As stated previously, Greg Hastings Paintball 2 features a slew of unlockables, whether it be new paintball guns, weapon accessories, apparel, or even video reviews and overviews of paintball equipment. There is a noticeable difference between the lower-tiered guns and their upper-tiered brethren, and other gear and armor have nice touches too, giving you that hanging carrot experience of trying to unlock the next set of equipment. Later in the Career mode you'll even be at product-sponsored events that allow you to test some new stuff!

Image from Xbox 360 version

Unlike most shooters on the market, GHP2 plays out more tactically than your typical run-n-gun game. Cover is mandatory, because as soon as the countdown ends the barrage of pellets begins. The "cover" system is a mix between Killzone 3 and Army of Two, hence the quotations around the word "cover." As you may or may not know, Army of Two didn't have a cover system per se, but you were still able to duck and pop out behind objects to get your shots off--That's how Greg Hastings Paintball 2's cover system is, just with the added first-person view. All in all, this system works great, which is good news considering how much the game is revolved around it.

Multiplayer brings out the best of Greg Hastings Paintball 2, because where the single-player career leaves you yelling at the television, playing with a bud (up to 14 players in total, 7v7) really brings out the tactical nature of the game. You still play the same types of game modes (Capture the Flag, Point Capture, Sniper, Single Flag, Elimination, Assault, Recon), but the game becomes much more enjoyable knowing you have a more competent squad. Still, even with the entire list of customization options at your disposal, the multiplayer will eventually suffer the same fate as its single-player counterpart.

If you happen to find yourself bored of the provided lot of 62 maps, Greg Hastings Paintball 2 provides a map editor where you can let your imagination run wild on the given blank canvases. There's a hefty amount of set pieces to use, all of which you've seen throughout your tour with the game, so there should be no shortage of creativity.

The PlayStation 3 version of Greg Hastings Paintball 2 comes with both Trophy and Move support, though at the current time I was unable to test out the Move functionality.

One of the biggest things Greg Hastings Paintball 2 has going against it is its price. At $19.99, even with it's content, it's hard to recommend a purchase. With games like Section 8: Prejudice, Battlefield 1943, and even full-retail games on the PlayStation Store offering more polished experiences with prices ranging between $14.99-19.99, Greg Hastings Paintball 2 leaves something to be desired. The abundance of multiplayer maps is great, and the map editor is solid, but the frustrating AI and lackluster Career mode leave quite a sore spot. Had it been priced at around $9.99, I would definitely say go for it; multiplayer-wise, GHP2 brings a breath of fresh air into a crowded genre.

Rating: 3/5

Review based off the PlayStation 3 downloadable version of the game provided by Majesco Entertainment/Reverb Communications.  

Review: Mad Catz Microsuede 3DS Touch Pak

When a person buys a new gadget, particularly a gadget small in size, they usually want something that provides protection for it, or at the very least, a form of coverage. This same instance occurred to me as I purchased my Nintendo 3DS last week. I knew I didn't want a case that was bulky, nor did I need something that was able to hold fifty games at a time. What I wanted was a case that was easy to carry in my pocket as I ventured the world...meaning New York City.

What I bought was the Mad Catz Microsuede Touch Pak.

The Microsuede Pak is by no means the Otterbox of protective equipment, meaning, you can't drop your system fifty feet and have it survive. While the Pak does cover the 3DS quite well, the cushion surrounding the system is minimal, and a decent drop could still [potentially] wreck your system. However, what this Pak does offer is a slim folio holster for your $249.99 handheld system and a sleeve that holds up to three 3DS or DS cartridges.

The Pak can easily slip in and out of your pocket, be it the front or the back, and the suede makes it feel nice while doing so.

To add to your purchase, the Microsuede Pak comes with two pen-sized styli, in case you have long fingers like myself.

While there is not too much that can be said about a holster accessory, if you are in the market for a slim pouch that makes for an easy grab-n-go item, the Mad Catz Microsuede Touch Pak is definitely what you're looking for.

The Mad Catz Microsuede Touch Pak retails for $14.99.