Commits #5 and #6

Well the Michigan recruiting season has continued the pattern of dual commits at the same position at the same time.  This time Tight End is the position du jour and Michigan got themselves a good looking pair.

First to drop was Farmington Hills (MI) Harrison's Devin Funchess.  Rivals profile.  Junior film.  Both sites are in pretty close agreement about his size at 6'5" and 205.  Now I think he might be a little heavier than that right now but regardless, his size is such that you might project him to be a pass catching variety of TE.  His film would suggest that as well as it does not show him doing a lot of blocking.  Scout has him rated as their #6 TE thus far and a four star prospect.  Very nice catch for Coach Hoke and his staff.

The second TE to choose in favor of the Wolverines on the 22nd was Cincinnati Sycamore's A.J. Williams.  Rivals profile.  Scout lists him as a three star and the #15 TE in the country.  Both sites are exactly the same on his size listing him at 6'6" and 260.  This is where you will notice that he is significantly larger than Funchess and could reasonably suggest that Williams will be more of a blocking TE.  I actually would not at all be surprised if he was moved to OT or even if that is where they are recruiting for in the first place.  260 pounds as a high school junior is pretty large and you would have to think that a college weight program (not to mention another year of high school) would add quite a bit more weight to him.  Whether they move him to OT or keep him as a blocking TE, both are needs so this is another good pick up.  I would like to see U-M still land Ron Thompson at TE, so it would be in my opinion a good thing that Williams may be able to move to OT.

Things are moving along nicely despite the recent loss of Zeke Pike to Auburn as expected.  There are plenty of other very nice QB's out there and there will probably be a few more offers going out as the staff evaluates more film and has a chance to see some of these guys at camp this summer.  Going forward the largest areas of need are DT and DE.  There will be a QB, there will be a RB (or 2), there will be a couple more OL's, and there will be a WR (or 2), but I think that the DL has got be the focal point right now.

Commits #3 and #4

Michigan held their annual Spring Game over the past weekend and while I was not impressed with the product out on the field, I was impressed with the result on the recruiting front.  Coach Hoke and his staff received two verbal commitments, both from highly regarded linebackers, to get things moving on the defensive side of recruiting.

The first to announce (even though an asshole reporter from a newspaper in Ohio leaked the info a week earlier when he was specifically asked NOT to) was four star linebacker Kaleb Ringer from Clayton, OH (Northmont HS).  Rival profile.  Junior film.  Ringer is an inside LB with decent size at 6'0" 219, although I prefer my MIKE LB to be a bit taller, and he is well received by the recruiting services.  Although Rivals hasn't ranked him yet (or anyone else for that matter), he is expected to get the same four star rating Scout gave him.

The second commit, also from an inside linebacker, was a bit more surprising.  Not necessarily that he committed but I wasn't expecting it to happen so soon and it kind of seemed spur of the moment.  Not that I'm complaining!  This one came from in-state star Royce Jenkins-Stone (Detroit, Cass Tech HS).  Rivals profile.  Junior film.  RJS is a little taller at 6'2" and is listed at 215, although pictures from Saturday show him looking closer to 225 IMO.  He also gets four stars from Scout and should get the same from Rivals.  As long as I'm giving my opinion here, I like RJS a bit more than Ringer, though I think both will be good for Michigan down the line.  Solid pick ups and I'm pleased with both.

Now comes the tricky part.  Michigan is still heavily involved with a few more LB prospects, most notably James Ross and Joe Bolden, but how many more will they take?  Conventional wisdom says there is only room for one more and that it needs to be an OLB.  Well, it can get a little stickier still.  All of these guys can probably play either inside or outside so what it comes down to is, who do they like more?  I would go with Ross.  Not that I would say no to Bolden because that kid can play, I would just pick Ross if I had the choice.  As it is, it looks like it may come down to whichever decides to pull the trigger first (assuming one or both wants to).

Bonus:  Big time QB recruit Zeke Pike is announcing his college decision tomorrow and the internet is abuzz with speculation.  WOTS is that it is down to Michigan, Auburn, and Purdue.  Purdue?  Yes Purdue.  Unfortunately, most of the scuttlebutt is that the choice will be Auburn.  I hope the scuttlebutt is wrong because this kid is my #1 choice at QB.  Not the end of the world if he does pick Auburn, jut would like to have him in this class.

Game Review: Mass Effect 2

Waaay above my expectations.

Mass Effect 2 is the sequel (obviously) to the very popular and unique title of the same name.  I say unique because this type of game has really not been put together quite like this one is to my knowledge.  The type I'm referring to is a combination of RPG and FPS (I guess it's actually a third person shooter if you want to be specific).  Now I will say that I have been a huge fan of the RPG genre since the days of Ultima and the original Final Fantasy.  This is not an RPG in that sense but it is still an RPG.  You will upgrade your character as you choose throughout the game and more and better upgrades become available as you progress.  Also, your decisions in the game affect how your character develops and, even cooler than that, how your character will enter into Mass Effect 3 when it is released this fall.

I'm getting ahead of myself here, let's talk about the game itself.  You are Commander Shepard.  You can customize your characters appearance and back story, and even make him a her if you like.  Good start.  You are a commander in deep space in the future where interstellar travel is fast due to the discovery of "mass effect fields".  These fields do other things as well but we'll leave it at that.  You have been recruited to save the galaxy from annihilation (naturally) and you will do just that.

Through the course of you saving the galaxy, you will recruit new team members to join you.  Each one has their own recruitment mission and they all bring specialized talents to the team.  Some are sharpshooters, or biotic superbeings, or talented engineers and all are useful.  Each character's backstory is well developed and believable and they are each told in a way so as to lead them to be loyal to you, once you have helped them do something of course.

The gameplay is executed very well as you blast your way through missions.  There are quick pop-up menus that allow you to access your specialized powers (and those of your teammates) as well as your impressive weapons cache seamlessly.  There are obstacles to think about and environmental challenges to face as well as things placed along the way to help you.  The graphics are very good during the gameplay itself and I noticed zero lag or skipping.  Very smooth and impressive.  Even more impressive are the cutscenes and general cinematics of the game.  The voiceovers are outstanding and the scenes are rich and visually stunning without being drawn out, boring, or too long.  The smaller intricacies of the game just add to the experience.  There are a myriad of side quests for you to undertake and even several different opportunities at romance.

Romantic entanglement included.  I went with Ms. Lawson.

There is only one part of this game that wasn't a big hit with me, and that is resource gathering.  Even that wasn't that bad, it just became rather tedious.  There are a ton of different planets to be explored in the game around many different star systems.  Some of the planets will lead you to discover a side quest that can be completed that you wouldn't have known about if you hadn't explored that planet, but all of the planets have resources.  Throughout the game you must gather resources to be spent on upgrades to your weapons, armor, ship, and accessories.  You will come across some of these resources through finding small amounts during your missions, but the vast majority must be mined by scanning the planets you come across.  As I said, it's not that bad.  It does become quite tedious and even a little annoying but not enough to detract from the game itself.

I must admit I was very happily surprised by Mass Effect 2 (especially since I did not play the first one) and I couldn't put my controller down.  I spent about 27 hours or so to finish the game and I don't think it took me much more than a week to get it done.  27 hours in a week may not seem like too much to a lot of gamers but I rarely play a game as much as I did this one.  I was blown away quite honestly and I don't like to give out perfect scores, but this one earned it.  I find myself already anxiously awaiting the release of ME3 in Q4 of this year.  Final score:  10

Game Review: Call of Duty: Black Ops

Call of Duty: Black Ops is the latest in the line of the enormously popular FPS series.  The last installation, Modern Warfare 2, was my first venture into the FPS genre as I had never been a big fan of them.  I don't think I need to say that MW2 changed my mind on that.  Having said that, I had very high hopes for Black Ops and I will be comparing the two here.

I'll start with the story mode as that is where I always start and is also my favorite part.  I will say that the story itself is pretty well executed.  Using flashbacks as a base for the missions is a good idea and the segues from the interrogation room to the gameplay are well done.  I do not do much research on games prior to buying them because there are too many people out there that give away the farm and ruin it for everyone else, so I was not aware going in that the story would be taking place in the 60's.  I wasn't crazy about that because one of the aspects I really liked about MW2 was the high tech weaponry and gadgets, but you get used to it quickly and you don't notice or miss it as you play.  The individual missions are engrossing and fun to play and, perhaps most importantly, quite varied in what you have to do so as to keep you on your toes.  There are plenty of missions in which you run around and shoot your way through the enemy but even these levels are well varied by location and surroundings.  You will fight from the rooftops of buildings in a rainstorm, through a villa in Cuba, out of the Gulag in Russia, through the jungles of SE Asia, in the trenches and even underground tunnels of Vietnam, and on and on.  You also will have differing controls to work with.  When you're not fighting the grunt fight, you may be giving orders from an overhead spyplane via heat signatures, flying and fighting with a helicopter, driving or firing from the back of a truck, or even piloting a riverboat while blowing up riverside enemy camps.

As with MW2, I was disappointed in the shortness of the story mode.  It keeps you engrossed and, as I said, is my favorite part of the game but I know that's not the biggest draw of these games.  We'll get to the multiplayer in just a minute.  I will say this for the story mode, there is a pretty good twist at the end that I kinda had in the back of my mind but was very impressed with the way it unfolded. I wish they would make this part last longer for those of us that really enjoy it.

Okay, on to the part most people play these games for, the multiplayer.  I will preface this by saying that I am horrible at the multiplayer.  I mean epically bad.  I have gotten better but I attribute this to the fact that I never played a FPS until the last year.  Maybe I just suck, but I'm sticking with my assessment.  Anyway, I will say that the multiplayer in Black Ops is much better than MW2.  This may be due to the fact that I literally couldn't do anything in the MW2 multiplayer and got annoyed and didn't play it much at all.  I have actually gotten better so I imagine that adds to my enjoyment of it, but I still get my ass handed to me pretty much every time.  Whatever, the point is I actually enjoy the multiplayer and continue to play it so, advantage Black Ops.  The levels are very different just like in the story mode so there is plenty of variety for everyone.  I like the customization options for your player as well.

***Spoiler Alert*** - If you don't want to know about the extra hidden games within the game then skip to the last paragraph to find my summary.  There are two hidden games that can be reached the same way.  For both of these you will need to be at the menu screen where you are strapped in the chair in front of the video monitors.  If you look down you will see your hands are bound to the arms of the chair.  Alternating the left and right triggers will cause you to work your arms and break free from your restraints.  Once you have done this you can walk around the room.  There isn't much to see other than a computer you can access.  Access the computer and here you will be able to find your two hidden games.  The first is an overhead arcade style shooter that pits you against hoards of zombies.  It's straight out of 1988 and it's pretty cool that they included this.  I don't know if this makes me feel old or just nostalgic - then again those are probably the same thing.  To access this game type "doa" at the computer terminal.

The second game is even older school and is even before my time.  Zork, the text based adventure game in which you are likely to be eaten by a grue, can be accessed by typing "zork" into the terminal.  I've played this game before and it's kinda fun but quickly loses its novelty after about 30 minutes.  The keyboard interface is a pain to use through the XBox controller and if you really want to play zork, just google it and there's plenty of places you can play it for free from your computer.  Again, cool that they included it though.

SUMMARY:
Black Ops is a fun game that I have enjoyed and will continue to play (multiplayer).  I would even go back and replay the story mode but probably not until after I went back and replayed the story mode for MW2.  I have spent many hours with this game and would say that I have gotten my money's worth.  The better multiplayer overcomes the little things I liked better from MW2 and, while I wouldn't say I liked Black Ops better than MW2, there are some reasons to.  In the end, I give them the same score:  9.0