One of the used games that I got last Christmas, and which I finally completed, was Crackdown. It wasn't on top of my list, but since I have a friend who wants to revisit it, I thought I'd better finish it so I can loan it out :-)  The main idea of the game is that there are three crime syndicates in Pacific City, and you as the real bad-ass law enforcement office (from "the agency") are tasked with cleaning things up.  The more skill points you acquire, the more your skills (physical strength, guns, explosives and driving) increase.  The more your skills increase, the more you can progress through to other city levels.

It was an interesting game, even though I only got  20/50 achievements ;-)  There is an achievement in which you have to climb the agency tower (pain in the butt) and jump off into a small pond.  If you hit the pond, you survive and get an achievement. If you don't, you die and respawn at the base of the agency tower.  Well... I made it all the way on top...and then I missed the pond by thaaaaaaaat much.  I didn't feel like going back and trying again.

The driving mechanic of the game was OK.  I didn't really get that many skill points for driving, so maybe that was the issue, but the car handling was a pain.  It reminded me of  Grand Theft Auto...and I just didn't like how cars handled in that game.  It was much more fun to punch, kick and shoot my way to the bad guys, rather than try to run them over.  Too bad, because there is an achievement for driving as well ;-)

The sequel to Crackdown deals with genetically enhanced mutants that have taken over the city after the end of this game.  Seems interesting, but I am wondering if it's worth the price and time investment.

Since iOS 5 came around, I have been without a Jailbreak.  In the grand scheme of things, there are some things that I do miss from the jailbreak, including biteSMS (the ability to send an SMS from anywhere) and LockInfo (which I had paid for).

One of the things I noticed with my lack of Jailbreak is that I don't use "2do" as much.  2Do, is a nifty little to-do application on the iPhone and iPad that synchronizes with toodledo.  Over the years I've kept track of homework assignments on it, things to take care of and people to get back to.  It was, and still is, a pretty nifty app.  When I jailbroke my iPhone, I had a little plugin (seen in the right) for LockInfo that showed my next 7 days of to-do items!

This was pretty nice, because it encouraged me to actually use 2Do more, and to actually jot down tasks that I needed to take care of.  Once I lost my jailbreak, my usage of 2do went dramatically down.  Even though there are badges that show you how many tasks there are to do, they don't tell you WHAT the tasks is.  The only way to get it on your notification list it to add crazy amounts of alarm notification, which I don't want to do...

With iOS 6 coming out, and my 3GS being left out in the cold, I am wondering if it's time to re-jailbreak ;-)

Or...maybe back to the past? Going Retro?  Hmmm... Perhaps going retro is a more appropriate title.

In any case, having played Halo 3, Halo 3 ODST and Halo Reach and liked the, I decided to read to 4 Halo Books. I read (or rather listened to) Halo Evolutions I, and the first trio of Halo Books (Fall of Reach, The Flood and First Strike)  in audiobook format (thank you library!). I enjoyed those and I am now waiting for the second trio of books to come my way (again courtesy of the library).

Given my interest in the Halo Universe, I decided to order Halo: Combat Evolved, the anniversary edition, and Halo 2 (even though it's for the original xbox) to play and wrap up the original trilogy. I am quite eager to play Halo 4 when it comes out, but I will probably wait for February or something when prices go down. I have a real hard time paying full fare for a game :-) $60 is a little too pricey for my tastes. I am also curious to see how much the game play and storyline of Halo 2 will keep me occupied considering that there are no achievements in the original xbox games.  Usually, even if I don't like a game that much, I try to complete it so I can get the achievement.  I wonder, with no achievements, will I be motivated to complete the game just for the sake of the storyline?

What I find interesting about the Halo Universe is that the spartans really remind me of the super soldiers in captain america.  I'd like to see a Halo movie come out that does justice to the franchise. 

Once I completed Halo: Reach I decided to play through Halo 3: OSDT, just to keep the story in that Universe going (plus I was really engrossed in the mythology of Halo).  The game was rated for 4 hours of play, which means that I must really stink because it took me several days of playing this game in order to complete it ;-)

Initially I was a little put off that the game only took place in New Mombassa, but the game was actually quite impressive, especially with the use of its story telling techniques! ODST kept me engaged in the game  - even though I really, really hated seeing certain old familiar enemies who are particularly a pain to beat.

Spoiler: I was actually wondering if my main character would die in the end, like Noble 6 (and the entirety of Noble Team) did at the end of Reach.  I was really happy that no one from the team perished at the end of this game. Since this game took place right before Halo 3, I am wondering if this team of ODSTs will be seen again in some other game.

As far as achievements go, I managed to grab 20 out of 47 achievements (not bad). There are a number of 5-point achievements for killing enemies with specific weapons in specific stages in specific ways. M'eh.  If I had time and meraki (at the Greek say), I would bother with these (I could probably get 5-6 more achievements), but considering that I have more unfinished games to play, better focus on plot than 'chivies.

I am looking forward to getting Halo: CE and Halo 2 (I wish there were a remastered version of this one as well) and Halo 4. :-)