I'm sorry that my returning blog post is one so filled with misery and frustration, but I really don't know what else to do with myself right now. For the second time in a little over a year, my 360 has decided to kick the proverbial bucket.

Last year, the infamous red rings decided to tear the soul out of my 360 the day after my birthday. There I was with a handful of new games, and no console to play them. It was torture. Now I have an even worse matter at hand. My 360 has died AGAIN. I just figured I'd play a few minutes of Rock Band 2 before finishing homework and going to bed. Not to be. No sooner had I gone to check my friends list than the screen became pixelated. I figured it had to do with the NXLE, so I just shut it off. When I turned it back on, no WEEOOW tone or floaty logo greeted me, no BLEEP signifying my successful log in to XBox Live, just the crimson flash of a downed companion.

Normally, I'd just say "whatever, I'll deal," and move on with my life. However, for the second time, this horrible event has taken place right around a gift holiday. Christmas is in a little over 3 weeks, and it's not unreasonable to expect to receive a handful of games. In fact, the majority of my Christmas list is composed of 360 games and controllers and such. The odds of me getting my system back by that time, though, are looking very grim to me. The worst part is that it's not only going to affect my Christmas, but I will be 360-less through my vacation, a time when I'd actually be able to tackle such daunting tasks as the Endless Setlist or just sit and enjoy my free time.

I suppose on a bittersweet note (99 parts bitter, 1 part sweet), I'll now have no distractions from the college application process which has been hanging over my head like a guillotine blade for the past few months. Happy holidays, indeed.

First off, I'd like to say hello to any of my friends who actually read my blogs. I've been gone for almost all of the summer, so I haven't been able to write very much. It's nice to get back into a regular routine here at home though.

But enough small talk. I should probably make it clear that I haven't put much weight into Gamespot's reviews since the Gerstmann incident. I learned to get over it and use the reviews as a tiny bit of insight, but rely more heavily on demos, a collection of many reviewers, and friends' opinions. I was able to look past the 10 given to the fun but nowhere near perfect GTA 4. I was even able to look past the 10 given to the Metal Gear Solid 4, the latest entry in what is, in my opinion, one of the most overrated gaming series in history. But this 5.5 on Too Human blows my mind.

Let's set some things aside right now. Yes, the camera can be obnoxious sometimes. Yes, the game is short. (I finished one playthrough, looking for all side areas, in about 12 hours.) No, the story isn't all that appealing. But I'm really questioning whether Kevin VanOrd even played the game. To call it "too...frustrating to recommend" is HIGHLY overstated. The levels are big, but frankly I'm not sure why you'd be walking around when there AREN'T enemies. (KVO apparently decided to do so, making me wonder if he's looking for reasons to hate this game.)

Another of his complaints was that the status effects last too long, and that many will kill you since finding health is near impossible. I died a few times from poisoning and such, but those were times that I was already down below 50% health and had already broken the numerous containers (that usually hold health or money) that skirt most of the battlefield. The graphics are better than "decent," I've only experienced one minor glitch in my 20 total hours of play, and complaints about Baldur's "woosh and clank" noises are really trivial. I'd like to give KVO the benefit of the doubt and say that the ludicrous 5.5 score is due mainly to the fact that he expected the world from Too Human and didn't get what he was looking for, but I also feel that would be naive of me.

I urge everyone to give the game at least a rental. The demo is also a good length, and gives you a good feel for how the game plays out. If you go into the game expecting what the game is, a dungeon crawler with unbelievable amounts of loot (many of the items look stunning, by the way), you'll really appreciate what Too Human has to offer. Look for a review soon, once I've played the game a bit more and with all of the other classes.

This is clearly not a full blog. I just wanted to put it out there for anybody else on my friends list that has Rock Band: If any of you like Disturbed, the new pack is totally worth the download. The songs are great, and the expert drum parts are INSANE....loooots of bass.