Medic Media

In light of Modern Warfare 2 being released and being awesome it seemed appropriate to make this list.  These are my Top Ten favorite Xbox Live games since the birth of the service back in November ‘02.  Xbox Live was brilliant when it was first released, allowing console gamers to compete and chat online with friends.  It was also incredibly addicting, and I would play for 10 hours straight and not even realize.  Here are my ten favorite games to ever take advantage of the service.

10.) Return to Castle Wolfenstein: Tides of War

Was this the inspiration for the name of this blog?  OMG NO WAY!

It’s not so much that this game was particularly good and I’m probably working off of straight nostalgia here but Wolfenstein (pronounce “Wolfy”) held a ton of great experiences.  The game featured 3 game types if I remember right, one saw players trying to recover a set of documents and transmit them while the other team defended, one was an Elimination game type with no respawns and honestly I can’t recall the last one.  Probably because I never played it much.  The game had a lot of character.  It gave players a few choices of classes each with special abilites, the Medic, the Engineer, the Soldier, and the Lieutenant.  The maps we’re interesting with a take on D-Day called “Beach Invasion” that had a fun glitch that allowed players to blow themselves over the wall.  Any one who played this game knows that “Ice” is where it’s at though.  As far as the Xbox Live service goes this game has features that I think should be implemented now, I can’t understand why they aren’t.  The game allowed players to vote to change the map, boot an annoying player, change game-types, and change teams.  Voice masks and nicknames also faded away, what a shame.

9.) Crimson Skies: High Road to Revenge

This game was incredibly refreshing, breaking away from the barrage of first-person shooters that we’re drowning the Xbox.  The game only featured 5 or 6 maps (more were released for download later) but they all played extremely well.  “Chicago” was easily my favorite though, especially for capture the flag.  On a team of 4 you’d have two balanced crafts, like the “Devastator” patrol the center of the map and intercept fast-movers, a “Bulldog” (the fastest plane in the game armed with a machine gun and a big shotgun) make a run for the flag, and you’re defender would be either a “Brigand” or the “Doppelganger.”  Dogfights were intense, especially in some of the faster planes like the “Desert Fox” or “Dust Devil.”  There really isn’t much to this game, it didn’t do anything special, but everything it did do it did right.  Crimson Skies is definitely a hidden gem of the Xbox and thus one of my favorite Xbox Live games of all time.

8.) Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow

Here’s another game that breaks the mold of the typical Xbox Live shooter.  This game took a lot of risks, restricting teams to only two players.  The spies would try to complete a series of objectives, like stealing documents or accessing a computer, while the mercenaries would defend.  The spies were armed with a non-lethal shock-pistol and were allowed to bring three pieces of equipment with them such as smoke grenades, sticky cams, and a device that would let you listen in on their voice-chat if you shot someone with it.  I’ll never forget using that device and hearing “God damn it, he’s listening to me, I know it.  I know he’s just hiding listening to me.”  The Mercenaries are the complete opposite of the Spies, armed with high powered and very accurate assault rifles, grenade launchers, and trip-mines.  The games were intense.  Playing as the Mercenaries was scary, the spies we’re fast and could easily sneak up behind you and break your neck.  Playing as the spies was stressful, if you were seen, more often then not you were killed immediately.  Sure the game was unbalanced most of the time, and Chaos Theory fixed this, but something about Pandora Tomorrow just made it more fun then it’s successors and it provided many hours of playtime.

7.) Project Gotham Racing 2

First person to comment stating the name of this car wins a special prize.

Just like Splinter Cell, this game had successful sequels that improved on the formula, but PGR2 always stood out from the crowd.  Walking around the showroom to buy your car with Kudos earned from drifting around every turn on Nurburgring was so cool to me.  The actual racing was great, and it was accessible for almost anyone, but this game really became one of my all time favorites when someone showed me a player-created game type called “Cat and Mouse.”  In an 8-player race you would have 4 teams of 2, each team is comprised of one Mini Cooper (the mouse) and one Cat (which would typically be a car from the Ultimate Class like an Enzo Ferrari or TVR Speed 12).  The point of the game was to get your team’s Mouse across the finish line first by any means necessary.  As the Cat you could simply smash into the other Mini’s, create roadblocks, push your Mini through the straights (which would actually increase the top speed by 30 or 40 mph), and protect you Mouse from other Cats.  This game-type was so much fun and became so popular that it was included as an actual game-type in future iterations.  Still, none of them lived up to PGR2 in my eyes.

6.)  Halo 3

I rank this lower than it’s predecessor simply because by the time this game had released, the untouched formula had become very stale.  If you hadn’t really played Halo 2 though then Halo 3 was a fresh experience, and even more so than that, it’s one of the most polished games around.  Halo 3 presents itself well, everything in the game works, is balanced, and varied.  There’s also 4-player online co-op, which is actually one of the better parts of the game.  There are a ton of game-types and variables, a lot of cool weapons and vehicles, and a nice selection of maps.  One of my gripes with the game though lies with the maps, they’re not as good as Halo 2, and I can’t help but feel like I’m being milked with DLC released every couple months for a premium price.  The game’s hype is it’s own worst enemy here, and if you take it for what it is, it’s still one hell of a game.

5.)  Gears of War

Gears of War was the Xbox 360’s first big smash and it made a great first impression.  The co-op campaign is still arguably one of the best gaming experiences available on the console.  The multi-player was originally shunned for it’s low 8-player maximum, but the formula worked well.  The game only had a few game types and about 8 maps, but they we’re all well laid-out and balanced.  It was gritty and raw, and that was the main appeal.  Everything felt awesome, it made the player feel bad-ass no matter what was happening, and the small teams really called for a lot of communication and team work.  The reason I put Gears 1 on here instead of the sequel is because of a lot of the changes that we’re made.  The second one does not play as smoothly, there are a lot of “cheap” tactics, and even though the Horde mode is awesome, it doesn’t stand up to Left 4 Dead.

4.)  Left 4 Dead

You can include the sequel here too since it’s basically just an expansion pack, but Left 4 Dead made a big splash when it debuted last November.  Valve is a company that always delivers and Left 4 Dead is one of the most intense and visceral co-op experiences you can have.  Teamwork is absolutely necessary, which makes it almost impossible if you do not play with friends.  Hearing the music play when a witch is nearby is haunting, and it’ll take everyone on the team to make sure she’s destroyed without having a chance to kill anyone.  On top of the co-op is the Versus mode, which pits 4 survivors against 4 special infected as well as A.I. controlled hordes of zombies.  Again, teamwork is absolutely necessary, as the special infected are pretty much useless solo, but you can make some very effective traps if you communicate with your team.  This is a formula that is going to be around for years, hopefully it stays fresh.

3.)  Halo 2

I played Halo 2 pretty much every night for the better part of a year, and continued to play every now and again for an additional year or so.  This is easily one of the longest lasting console games of all time.  I remember seeing at least 15 people on my friends list everyday when this game was released, there was so much to do and all of it was fun.  The match making system was revolutionary and the amount of customization for player-created game-types was outstanding and even still there were game-types that were made up beyond what the game allowed.  “Zombies” is another example of a player-created game type that became so popular it was hard-coded into the sequel.  There were some dark times too, where cheating and hacking became a huge issue, but with the great support from Microsoft and Bungie all of the major problems were fixed fairly quickly.  Honestly I don’t even want to know how many hours I’ve clocked on this game, it’s probably disgusting, but few games deserve the attention more than Halo 2.

2.)  Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2

Yeah, that’s right.  My second favorite Xbox Live game of all time was released only 2 weeks ago.  This spot would have gone to the first Modern Warfare but the second one is better in every aspect, at least when talking about multi-player.  This game strikes a wonderful balance between realism and fantasy that makes it fun without being over-the-top.  The match making system is the best out there and it’s a mystery why every game doesn’t use it, it’s flawless.  The game sports a great selection of game-types, although there are no customization options.  The leveling system is what keeps the game fresh.  When you first start playing and you have a good match, unlock a challenge or two, there are explosions going off every where along with some searing guitar solo’s and you can’t help but get a chubby.  Teamwork is big in this game, although one man can turn the tides, the team that works together usually wins.  The guys at Infinity Ward have done a great job creating and refining this formula and hopefully it’ll last a while.

1.)  Rainbow Six 3

Surprised?  You shouldn’t be.  Rainbow Six has been a staple in the tactical FPS genre forever and the third installment was really something special.  Featuring something like 30 or 40 guns was unprecedented at the time (and is still somewhat impressive), and each one was useful in its own right.  The teamwork and strategy involved in this game was masterful, seeing as it was so easy to die.  This was one of the last great games to include a health bar, ever since Halo 2 regenerating health has become the new standard.  However, I think my single favorite part about this game is the map selection.  Every map had a certain character to it, and every player had their own favorite and plan of attack between the “Suicide Hallway” on Airport 1 to the “Wiener Corner” on Warehouse.  On top of that, new maps were released every so often and, get this, they were completely free.  FREE!  The stand-alone expansion, Black Arrow, was just as good and added a built in clan system (and no, not lame ass clan tags but scheduled clan matches) and some great new game-types like Total Conquest (see Call of Duty’s Domination mode).  This game was terrific and made me really proud to be a member of Xbox Live.  On top of the exquisite competitive multi-player there were also two co-op modes that could be played with 4 players and we’re insanely intense on hard.  Between Rainbow Six 3 and Black Arrow this game effectively lasted me almost 2 years, too bad the follow up, Rainbow Six: Lockdown, was the biggest piece of shit ever to grace my Xbox.

God damn it, this was incredibly difficult, I really had to sit down and think.  In some cases I picked a band first and said “Alright, I absolutely need to have a song by this band.”  Other cases had me just sifting through my library going “Oh yeah, that song is awesome… hmm… nah.”  After having this on my mind for a few days and questioning my very existence I think I have assembled a fairly accurate list of my Top Ten Desert Island Songs.

1) Decrescendo, RX Bandits

The RX Bandits, not really well known and I can not understand why.  I first heard this song a couple of years ago at a backyard party, it was on a mix CD that was neglected so it had looped at least half a dozen times.  I don’t remember any other song that was on that mix besides this one, and ever since that day I have been a loyal RX Bandits fan.  This song in particular is special, it demands my attention when its on, I listen intently from beginning to end every time and have the urge to throw my fist in the air out of excitement every time Matt Embree shouts “GO!”

2) Home, Dream Theater

I’ve been a fan of Dream Theater for years, although I don’t approve of their latest ventures.  This song contains one of my favorite guitar riffs of all time and is one of the sole reasons I decided to learn the guitar.  Every time I listen to this song it unlocks memories in my brain, I don’t what it is, but it hypnotizes me.  This was also one of the first songs I thought of when asked to build this list.  “The city’s cold blood calls me home.”

3) Bombs Over Baghdad, Outkast

Alright, shifting gears here.  This song makes my god damn bones move.  If you can listen to this song without moving what-so-ever then you are inhuman.  I hear this song and I get an overwhelming urge to drive as fast as possible while screaming at the top of lungs.  This song has more energy then Apollo, the Greek Sun God, after drinking an entire gallon of Sunny D.  I think this song has given me ADHD, and I’m absolutely okay with that.

4) Days Like These, Cat Empire

The Cat Empire is the definition of “chill.”  This is the song I’ll be listening to while sitting under a palm tree, resting up against a Tie fighter wing, and sipping some coconut milk.  Listen to just the first 30 seconds of this song, if it doesn’t put you in a better mood then I will allow you to pop me on the schnoz.

It’s days like these
That make us happy
Like a puppy getting lucky
With a Lassie hassle-free
Hours passing by
With the beat one two
Said it’s days like these kicking back
Just doing what we do

5) Welcome Home, Coheed and Cambria

Arguably the band’s best song, and one of the few songs that I actually like by them.  I don’t consider myself a Coheed fan, but if all of their songs sounded like this one then I would definitely change my mind.  This song has power, like Mjollnir and the the son of Odin kind of power.  Claudio’s vocals fit very nicely in with everything, I mean, I have no idea what he’s singing about, but does that really matter?  If it rocks, then by holy hell, it fuckin’ rocks!  Also, the fade out with the orchestra and choir is brilliant.  This will be the song I listen to while I punch trees in an attempt to get them to release nourishment.

6) Brooklyn, Young Blood Brassband

A brass band?  Really?  Yeah so it’s not rock, hip hop, or anything in between.  It is, however, a pretty kick ass song.  Young Blood Brass Band is not your typical marching band, they coined the term Riot Jazz for crying out loud.  This song is groovin’, it has some great phrasing, and they do things you never thought were possible with a Sousaphone.  If you didn’t think it was possible to rock out with a Trombone then I really suggest listening to this group, I know I will be for the rest of my life on this god forsaken island.

7) Stockholm Syndrome, Muse

Here’s another song that makes me shake my fuckin’ body.  Like literally shake, like a seizure.  I listen to this song in my car on the way home and I pretend that I’m a god damn rock star.  It’s amazing how well I can play drums while driving a 3000 pound vehicle.  This will be my exercise song, I will sprint laps around the island while belting out “This is the last time I’ll abandon you” in my best falsetto.  And then I’ll shout “I wish I could!” as I head bang until my ears explode.

8) Master of Puppets, Metallica

Aside from the last 10 years Metallica has been a force to be reckoned with and no song displays their metal prowess as much as Master of Puppets.  The song should be retitled to Masterpiece , because that’s what it is.  This is metal, all you punks who think “Bullet for My Valentine” is metal don’t know shit about shit.  This song wastes no time, as soon as it starts it kicks your ass, then it melts your face off and feeds the remains to the devil.  Excuse me, I need to go rip something in half.

9) The Last Time, Gnarls Barkley

This was a tough one.  I knew I needed a Gnarls Barkley song somewhere in here.  I was going to pick Transformer but I’ve already got Bombs over Bagdad. So instead I went with The Last Time, a feel good song (rare for this group) with an incredibly catchy tune.  This is going to be the song thats stuck in my head all day, every day.  It’s so damn catchy and the chorus gives me chills every time.  Cee-Lo is an incredible singer and Danger Mouse is easily my favorite DJ of all time.  I love this shit.

10) Double Vision Quest, Minus the Bear

Another not-so-popular band that I adore.  I was introduced to them a little more than a year ago and they have been one of my top plays since.  I saw them live and this song blew my mind.  It manages to be mellow and energetic at the same time, preposterous I know, but you’ll have to listen to it to know what I mean.  I love the effects they use, they obtain a very electronic sound with being an electronic band.  The guitarists are very proficient, the lyrics are fun to sing along to, and the bass and drums keep you tapping your feet.  The song is so well put together and moves so nicely that it never gets boring, which is essential for a lifetime on an island.

Well there you have it, 10 songs that I’ll be stuck with for the rest of my life.  Enjoy the read while try and find some shells to make cool elbow pads out of.

Imagine this, you’re flying your Tie fighter in the Bermuda triangle. You’re gunned down by that pesky X-Wing and crash land on an island no one has ever been to. Your Tie is destroyed beyond repair. The only piece of available technology is a Macbook Air, and the only working program on it is itunes with a library of almost every song ever recorded. Laying next to it is an ipod Nano with available space for only 10 songs. The Macbook will explode after uploading the songs, so make sure to get out of the way. Choose wisely, these may be the last 10 songs you’ll ever listen to again. Here are the 10 songs I would pick.

There is no specific criteria when choosing this list. Artists can be repeated and these necessarily don’t have to be your favorite songs. These are the songs you want to listen to for the rest of your life. No particular order.

1) River of Dreams, Billy Joel

I wouldn’t necessarily consider this one of my favorite songs of all time, but I love it nonetheless. The main reason this song made my list is for nostalgic purposes. If you asked me in 4th grade what my favorite song was this might be it. Living on Long Island, I grew up with Billy Joel. My Dad used to blast this song on cassette in my living room for my sister and I. We loved it and still do. I take it back, this might be one of my favorite songs of all time.

2) The Car Song, The Cat Empire

I’ve only been listening to The Cat Empire for a few months now but its easy to get hooked. Musically, they offer a wide range of styles. They are a great feel-good band and are all about just having a good time and kicking back. The Car Song is a song that really captures that feeling.

The weekend is the weekend
And it’s sunny in the park
I’ll stay here with my beer and fish and chips till it gets dark
I’ve got a lot of homework
But homework he can wait
I never start my homework till it’s already too late
My parents say think about your future and my teachers say the same
But it’s hard
When there’s a basketball game in the park

This is a song that really describes a mindset I’m familiar with.

3) Everlong, Foo Fighters

Arguably the greatest song, off arguably their greatest album and arguably my favorite band. Easily one of my favorite songs period. Everything just comes together perfectly on this song and it’s one I never get tired of. What more can you really say. The Foo Fighters are one of the best rock bands out there today and this song is a masterpiece.

4) Undone (The Sweater Song), Weezer

Picking a song off of Weezer’s Blue Album is like picking which Sports Illustrated swimsuit model you’d like to date. You really can’t go wrong with any of the choices. Undone is one of my personal favorites and has such a unique sound, like all of the other songs on the album. You hear it, and you know instantly its Weezer. Weezer has some of the best songs to belt it out to and Undone is no exception. It’s one of the trademark songs of one of my favorite bands.

5) The Receiving End Of It All, Streetlight Manifesto

Streetlight is my favorite ska band and probably the best out there today. I could have chosen any number of their songs, but The Receiving End is my favorite song off their latest album. The horn part at the end is just flat out epic.

6) Starlight, Muse

Muse doesn’t get enough recognition here in the United States. Their performance at last week’s VMAs was their first performance on US television. They’re huge in Britain and Europe and are quickly becoming one of the world’s most popular bands. It was hard narrowing it down to one song but I went with Starlight, probably their most popular tune. Its just a beautifully crafted song and I could picture listening to it and looking at the stars, while I fall asleep in my hut crafted out of tie fighter parts and palm tree fronds.

7) Snow (Hey Oh), Red Hot Chili Peppers

The Chili Peppers have been going strong for 3 decades now and they seem to get better with each album. Stadium Arcadium, their 9th and latest album released in 2006, is a 28-song double album masterpiece. Snow is personally my favorite song and one I will never get tired of. The main guitar riff is outstanding and one of my favorite parts of any song I’ve ever heard.

8) The Good Life, Weezer

You can’t pick Weezer again! Yea well I just did, deal with it. Can you really blame me? They rule. Pinkerton has always been a controversial album. Some people hate it, others says its Weezer’s best. The debate over Weezer albums can carry on for days. For me, I love every one of their albums and The Good Life is one of my favorite songs. I have to mention my friend James who said he cried when we saw them play it live last month. I’ll always think of that when I hear this song.

And I don’t wanna be an old man anymore
It’s been a year or two since I was out on the floor
Shaking booty, making sweet love all the night
It’s time I got back to the good life

9) Party Hard, Andrew W.K.

Oh boy do I love this song. Boy do I love Andrew W.K. He’s not just one of my favorite artists, he’s one of my favorite people. I could have thrown any of his songs on this list but Party Hard is his biggest hit and it just says it all.

When it’s time to party we will party hard…

The first place I heard the song was on the soundtrack for Madden 2003. I spent countless hours playing the game and heard the song countless times. I loved it immediately, but I never really looked into the artist any further. Though I would always remember the song and how pumped I got every time I heard it. Years later, with the help of a few friends, I rediscovered Andrew W.K. and we’ve been pumping his party anthems ever since. I really just can’t say enough about how awesome Andrew W.K. is.

10) Best of You, Foo Fighters

I’ll end my list with another repeat artist. There was really no way I’m leaving this song off the list. Back in my early high school days, you could say I really wasn’t into music that much. Its not that I didn’t like listening to it, I just didn’t go out and spend money on CDs or illegally download it like everyone else did. Around that time Foo Fighters released In Your Honor along with its first single. I first saw the video on MTV Hits or something and was struck by it immediately. It was intense and powerful. I had heard of the Foo Fighters before but now I had to get more of their music. I took out a few CD’s from my local library and they instantly became my favorite band. Eventually I got an ipod for my birthday and I started to fill that bastard up. Thank you Foo.

Expect Parts 2 and 3 from Mark and Mike in the coming weeks.