Two quick game reviews

I've been going for easy achievements still, and that means quick game reviews!

Terminator: Salvation

This game tried very hard to be like Gears of War. It's play style is very similar, but it just doesn't come close. It's not a terrible game, but it's not a good game either. You'll tear through it in a day, easily getting all the achievements, and then you'll be done with it and never think about it again. You can play this game co-op, if you want, but it's not really necessary. Of course, if you have a friend who wants to get some achievements too, go at it.

As for the story, this game is actually a prequel to the latest Terminator movie (which I still haven't seen, shame on me). The premise is pretty basic. While out on a mission, John Connor gets a distress call from a group of resistance fighters trapped behind enemy lines. He decides to go after them, even though the rest of his group thinks it's a suicide mission. That's about it.

The game is pretty simple, but it's short and does have a few cool vehicle levels. Rent it, or get it used if it's really cheap.

Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer

A lot of people have decried this as one of the worst games on the 360, but I actually enjoyed it. I'll admit, it was very poorly designed, but I still had fun with it. Maybe it's my soft spot for all things Marvel.

This game loosely follows the movie of the same name. Aside from just dealing with the Silver Surfer, Dr. Doom, and the US Army, though, you'll also go up against classic FF villains the Skrulls, Red Ghost, and Terrax. And no, just like in the movie you never really see Galactus.

You run through each level switching between members of the FF on the fly (or you can have up to four player co-op), beating up enemies and solving simple puzzles while you collect points to power up your heroes. Each character has a unique set of super powers. The problem is that you'll spend a good 90% or more of the game as Thing. There's just no point in being anyone else. He's the strongest, and even on the highest difficulty he just tears through the enemies as long as you keep him powered up. Not only will you spend most of your time as Thing, you'll also keep doing the same move over and over. His ground pound move sends out a shockwave that affects all enemies around you, and is really strong. It even affects flying enemies! So even though you have a good variety of moves in the game, you'll spend the whole time using just one.

There are a few times when the game forces you to be the other characters. Each one has their own solo level. Human Torch actually has three, but they're all flying levels, usually chasing after the Silver Surfer. Mr. Fantastic has to stretch his way through a space station hallway filled with lasers, and the Invisible Woman goes on a sort of stealth mission through a military base. Oh, and Thing has a very short solo mission where he has to plow through a room full of enemies (replaying this mission over and over is a good way to power everybody up, by the way).

So yes, this game is hugely flawed in its design, but it still plays well. I had a fun enough time with it that I didn't even gripe too much that the difficulty achievements don't stack. Yes, you will have to play this through twice to K it. The game is pretty short though, and if you get all the collectibles on your first play though, you can just blast through the second one, only stopping on Thing's solo mission to power up.

If you find this game cheap somewhere and you're a big Marvel fan, pick it up. It'll be a good couple of days' playing time. Or just rent it if you want more easy achievements.