Burnout Paradise Online is going to get better...

With the second major update to Burnout Paradise coming out sometime next week according to their countdown, the folks of Criterion Games are already cooking up a third update codenamed Cagney which will make the online multiplayer what it was originally meant to be. For the many players that wanted Stunt Run, Road Rage, and Marked Man in online multiplayer got their wish granted with Criterion's announcement of those modes making it online. They are calling it EasyDrive with the three modes available to those who want to gather high scores like a single player stunt run, but taking out the opposition will also increase the multipler while getting taken out loses the combo. Online Road Rage makes its return and it is team based like Burnout Revenge of two teams of 4 with the same goal of one team racing to the finish line while the other team chases them to take them out. Online Marked Man is basically the same as when played single player, but now plays like Juggernaut in Halo 3 to me of one person being the Marked Man and if one takes out the Marked Man, he then becomes the Marked Man. For more details on Online Stunt Run, Road Rage, and Marked Man, check out the article from Criterion's own web site. These modes won't make the new update next week, but I expect them to make it after the first major wave of DLC surfaces with the new areas and cars. All I can have say now is this will bring me back to Burnout Paradise just like what the Legendary Map Pack did to me with Halo 3. 

Guitar Hero: Aerosmith Bundle = Not Worth It for 360 owners

Okay, Guitar Hero: Aerosmith is out sometime in June and the obvious bundle is also out at the same time. Good thing it is not as mandatory to buy it now with the previous Guitar Hero releases had bundles. As seen in the pic above, the game comes with the Gibson Les Paul, but now with an Aerosmith faceplate. If you already have 2 guitars to play Guitar Hero III if u bought Guitar Hero II on 360 and Guitar Hero III's Les Paul, then what's the point of getting another one unless you're crazy for another wireless guitar. For PS3 owners, this is more worth it for another guitar since Guitar Hero II didn't come out on PS3 if u didn't buy another Les Paul separately.  Then again, bundles for Aerosmith have to be pre-ordered to be purchased on its June release so retailers are doing something right for once with this series. I'm still on the fence on buying GH Aerosmith anyway, and luckily if one of my guitars don't break, I don't need to waste another 100 bucks on another Guitar Hero game. I might as well skip it with Ninja Gaiden II and hopefully MGS4 PS3 out the same month if my financial status is good enough.

Slightly off-topic - Soul Calibur IV is out on July 29 and will have a limited edition as well being 80 bucks. I'm a sucker for limited editions so I might as well get this one too since I like the Soul Calibur games, but not as much as the Tekken games especially playing Tekken 6 for the past month.

Halo 3 Legendary Map Pack Impressions

So the new Halo 3 maps came out today with the Legendary Map Pack and quite simply, they are flat out fun to play and way better than the Heroic DLC.

Let's start with Avalanche, the biggest of the three and a throwback to the Halo CE map Sidewinder. Significant changes were made towards movement with tons of man cannons. Since this is a big map, it is also vehicle-heavy with Mongooses, Warthogs, Ghosts, Wraiths, and a Hornet. The map itself seems symmetrical and designed for Objective-based games like Capture the Flag and Assault. For those CTF and Bomb games, they bring nice moments of vehicle and man cannon madness of dropping to an opposing base with a warthog or mongoose to arm the bomb or get the opposing flag. There is a long way and a short way to navigate around this huge map and usually vehicle control will dictate the momentum of matches. I never had such fun in a huge map which surprised me since I'm not a fan of the big maps in the Halo games. Avalanche is truly worth a play-through with 8 or more people.

The next map is arguably worth the 800 Microsoft Points alone, which is Blackout, a direct remake of Lockout from Halo 2. From the snow of Lockout, Blackout is now in the nighttime at an oil rig in some wintry place. What I mean by direct remake, nothing is significantly changed for the map, but it seems bigger than it used to be. The weapons are at the same places (Spikers are the exceptions at some spots) and close-range combat at its finest. Lots of Slayer and Team Slayer matches happened at Lockout when I played Halo 2 and Blackout promises more playtime and memories in the times to come. This is highly recommend for 4 or more players for matches to feel somewhat special. It is also surprisingly fun for SWAT as well. Personally, my favorite strategy for rack up kills is the Bubble Shield and Sword combo as people will fall for it. Other than that, get ready to throw some grenades in tight spots.

Finally, there's Ghost Town, which Bungie described in the first place as a Counter Strike-like map. It seems that way to me with tons of opportunities for cover and many indoor places for close-range combat. The map's size is medium-sized, but big enough to try out some Objective-based games. Even though I recommend Slayer and Team Slayer for this map as well with Active Camo and Overshield present. This map can cater to long range and short range action, which offers somewhat of a balance. It is also surprisingly fun to play SWAT and Team SWAT with many opportunities for long-range headshots with the Battle Rifle. In the end, I'm also surprised how this map can to be fun to play in for 4 or more players.

Bungie arguably released the best DLC for a Halo game with this Legendary Map Pack. All three maps can provide memorable moments for saved films and interesting to mess around with Forge. Avalanche is now favorite big map in Halo 3, Blackout still remains the greatness of Lockout from Halo 2, and Ghost Town is one of the better maps in the game period. It is safe to say I will be playing Halo 3 again for a while with this new set of maps. Don't wait for this one to be free in a few months and spend 10 bucks (800 MS Points) as soon as u can to experience Halo greatness again.