Review of Avatar Bowman 2

The popular game Bowman finally comes to the Xbox 360. It also has Avatars in it! Not only does it include the original 2D mode, Avatar Bowman 2 also includes a 3D version of the game with a whole new way to play.

Bowman consist of two archers. Each archer take turns trying to shoot an arrow at the other player. You aim the bow up and down to try to get the best angle. The power of the bow may be adjusted as well. Once the arrow is released you will see it fly towards the other person. Based on where the arrow has landed is how you will want to adjust your next shot. Wind is also a factor and can be changed around at the beginning of the game. The first archer to hit the other archer three times wins. 3D Bowman works similar to the original. Now armed with a crossbow you must aim left and right along with aiming higher and lower. Wind seems to play an even bigger role in 3D version requiring more drastic changes to your aim. Both can be played with computers or another person.

I love anything to do with bows so I was pretty excited to see there was a Bowman version on the 360. The game does okay with the actual gameplay. However, Avatar Bowman 2 doesn't always feel right. I don't know if it's the graphics or the shooting mechanic but it just isn't very engaging. The animation of the avatars seem a little off. Although the environments look decent it would help if there were different areas to keep the game fresh. The 3D landscape also could be used more. I was disappointed when I learned the 3D version has you face right in front of the other Avatar both on top of a hill. Fighting between the trees and around the castle would have given more variation and require more thought about where to shoot instead of mindlessly matching each shot next to your previous shot. I tried to find an online match but was unable to enter one. It does let you practice against a computer while searching for an opponent. One major issue I found is that in the classic mode if you shoot yourself it will actually count as a hit against the enemy. You essentially can win by shooting yourself three times in a row.

So is Avatar Bowman 2 worth getting? Maybe... If you are craving Bowman and want it on your 360 then this is a decent version. Not bad for 80 points but you could always find the original version for free. Try it first to see if it is right for you.

I give Avatar Bowman a 2/4.

Review of Avatar Karting

As far as I know there aren't too many kart racing games out on the 360. The few it does have are not considerably good. So does Avatar Karting surpass all hopes and dreams of becoming the biggest karting game on the 360? No, not really, but it is still a solid kart game that you can play for only a dollar. It also includes avatars!

Avatar Karting is a pretty basic game. It includes a single player area that lets the player race with seven other A.I. controlled racers. Single race, series mode, and a time trial lets the player choose what they would like to do. Along with that they can choose the color of the kart, the flag that they represent (USA, Germany, etc.) and some options about the brakes and the steering. It also contains sixteen different tracks to race on. Most of this is also included in the multiplayer, which features up to eight players and a consistent scoring system that seems to follow the player for his entire career of Avatar Karting.

I decided to team up with my legendary friend thepwnboss and jump straight into the multiplayer. When we first got on there was only one game going with about five people in it. We weren't able to join them but we noticed they had an absurd ping rate of like 63,000 or something. So we just played against each other for a while. The game is simple with right trigger for gas and left trigger for brakes. You also have a constant charging turbo power that you use by pressing the A button. That's pretty much it. There are no power-ups to pick up or traps to watch out for. The game does okay for itself even with such simple concepts. Periodically we would have another player join us (and somehow they were always super fast compared to us). While we hosted the game everything was fine. Eventually thepwnboss and I tried to join another game that popped up and we were able to play with about four other people. For the most part the game ran smooth and we didn't have any issues. Afterward I did a couple single player races. The A.I. is okay but they were rather easy after facing opponents online. There is a feature in single player races where if you hold the left bumper you can rewind time. This is useful if you make a mistake or crash into another vehicle.

There really isn't too much special about Avatar Karting. All the tracks look similar except for a few lighting differences. It seems like the same song is playing throughout the whole game too, of course you could always turn it off. But the game really doesn't do anything bad, it just doesn't do anything special. Still, for only a dollar this might satisfy your racing craving long enough to find something else.

I give Avatar Karting a 2/4.