I love the original Crash bandicoot trilogy. Then the games went downhill until last years Crash of the Titans came out and gave the series the reboot it needed. So needless to say I was highly anticipating this newest entry in the series but does it continue with the past games trend or is it more crap?
Thankfully we get some that is almost more of Titans but more open ended and in the scheme of things more flawed. Not saying it's a bad game or unplayable but a few annoyances hinder the game a little.
Unlike the last game this one has an open world interface. You start off outside Crash's hut which worlds as a hub of sorts. From there you have three paths. They lead to new locations. if you've played a platformer before you can guess that a desert theme and ice theme will be found. From those locations you find more.
It's not as open as that because you can only go to the ruins first and from there more spots open and as you gain new monsters to sue you can access the other areas. This means a lot of backtracking and if you're aiming for all 1000 achievement points then you'll become annoyed quickly because some of them are tedious.
A new addition, and one of the few new pluses for this entry is the ability to store a monster. It's a great idea really and makes it slightly easier to access hidden locations, as long as you can find it. See, just like the last game you can jack a monster. Beat it up until a star forms and then you can leap onto it's back and control it. They do major damage and this time around they gain experience, as does Crash when he's solo, and they get stronger. It's a good idea but some of the creatures feel useless and finding any decent spot to advance them will bore you after a while and yes there are achievements linked to levels.
The games biggest flaw though is the constant back tracking which gets tedious after a while. You just know you're running from the right path back to the left over and over and it's always because you don't have that one creature needed to pass an object and the annoying part is once you have fought that creature once it's appears everywhere else in the game as well.
The game does mix platforming and action rather well and despite being more 3D than 2D this time it's still fun and doesn't feel as half assed as past entries. Thankfully the game looks good too and runs smoothly. The locations, while not overly original, are bright and colorful. My favorite thing is the cut scenes which are totally random and use different art styles each time. It's highly amusing and one of the things that kept me going.
The game also has a decent plot with Cortex uses an all-in-one headset to control the world. So it's up to our hero Crash, who is oddly played off as being dumb, to save his friends. It works and the plot adds some nice homages for long time fans.
Control is a little spotty at times and can hinder some of the platforming bits in the later levels. I also found the constant switching between creatures to be tough as you have to really keep an eye on all of it in the middle of a jump.
All in all thought the game is fun. Not too long but it's amusing and offers enough things to distract you for a fw extra hours. Plus it's a "bargain" game since it's retails for $50. Maybe not worth that price but for $30 or so I'd say it's worth picking up. otherwise it makes a perfect rental.
Story - 7/10
Graphics - 8/10
Control - 8/10
Sound - 8/10
Game Play - 8/10
Replay Value - 6/10
Final Score - 8/10
Saturday, November 22, 2008
Saturday, October 11, 2008
Zoids Assault
I won’t lie to you. I’ve only seen half an episode of this anime. I’m not a mecha fan but I am a srpg fan and this looked like a quick 1000 achievement points.
Boy was I wrong though and I really wish I hadn’t even bothered. Granted I didn’t read reviews and a friend told me the game was glitched but he’s usually wrong so I ignore his comments.
Well, it isn’t glitched but the game is heavily flawed. The biggest problem is that there is no real rhythm or reason behind what happens in the game. I don’t mean the story either, I kind of ignored that, but the game play feels so disjointed that half the time I had no idea what was going on.
The game is made up of 14 missions I believe, might be a few less but I know there isn’t more. From the little I did play each mission is destroy all enemies and when almost done some more will pop up to be killed. Imagine the fun of that over and over for 14 stages…
Unlike a normal srpg you don’t gain levels during the missions, only after does the experience count and cause you to level up. This makes things harder than need be and trust me, the game is pretty hard,
The biggest flaw is that there are so many mechanics at work it’s hard to just jump into the game and without a proper tutorial I felt lost from the first mission and really, it’s sad when you almost lose the first mission in a srpg and you’ve played many before.
See, I can’t even put into words the problems I ran into. I could attack an enemy and do 0 damage while he would counter attack and does 878 damage or I’d do 200 damage and he would counter attack with 700 damage. It felt entirely random.
Not only that but there is no rhyme or reason behind where you can attack. In true srpg fashion you can move around the grind only so many spots and your attacks only effect specific areas. One would think that it would always be five in front of you if that’s what it is but with long range weapons it’s totally random where your attack areas will be so you end up wasting time hoping from spot to spot to see if you can actually hurt someone.
You also can’t align your Zoid in the direction you want it to but that’s okay because it has no baring with if you counter or not, that seems to be a random trait as well. Facing an enemy whose one space in front of you, you most likely can’t counter attack but hey, the one attack from five spaces, yeah you can counter attack that one. And don’t worth they almost always counter attack you.
As you progress you gain new equipment and skills but you learn quickly that the emp skill will save you every time, once you learn how to use it but again the game gives almost no direction for that task.
The game does offer some decent, if not a bit grainy, anime cut scenes. It’s all dubbed over though so don’t go in expecting Japanese dialog. The game has so-so music, it may or may not be lifted from the anime but as I said before, I have very little experience with it.
The game is one fugly mother though. The textures are non-existent, the landscape is barren or has some nasty PS1 trees. All Zoids look the same no matter what you do to them and the menu system couldn’t be more generic.
I remember playing a bargain bin srpg for the PS1 called “Eternal Eyes”. Yeah, it’s better than this game. It’s really sad that not only did Atlus port this poor title over but they had the nerve to charge the full $60 retail price for it.
If you’re willing to stick with it, repeat missions to spam levels then you may get the 100 points, 650 are for just beating the game. If I see you with the points I’ll congratulate you because they are well deserved for the suffering this game imposes upon the player.
I don’t recommend this game in any shape or form. Don’t rent, don’t buy and don’t even borrow. Fans may get a little enjoyment from it but I doubt it. As a rpg collection I doubt I’ll be adding this to my collection because then it means I’d have to actually beat it.
Story – 6/10
Graphics – 2/10
Sound – 5/10
Control – 6/10
Game Play – 3/10
Replay Value – 4/10
Final Score – 3/10
Boy was I wrong though and I really wish I hadn’t even bothered. Granted I didn’t read reviews and a friend told me the game was glitched but he’s usually wrong so I ignore his comments.
Well, it isn’t glitched but the game is heavily flawed. The biggest problem is that there is no real rhythm or reason behind what happens in the game. I don’t mean the story either, I kind of ignored that, but the game play feels so disjointed that half the time I had no idea what was going on.
The game is made up of 14 missions I believe, might be a few less but I know there isn’t more. From the little I did play each mission is destroy all enemies and when almost done some more will pop up to be killed. Imagine the fun of that over and over for 14 stages…
Unlike a normal srpg you don’t gain levels during the missions, only after does the experience count and cause you to level up. This makes things harder than need be and trust me, the game is pretty hard,
The biggest flaw is that there are so many mechanics at work it’s hard to just jump into the game and without a proper tutorial I felt lost from the first mission and really, it’s sad when you almost lose the first mission in a srpg and you’ve played many before.
See, I can’t even put into words the problems I ran into. I could attack an enemy and do 0 damage while he would counter attack and does 878 damage or I’d do 200 damage and he would counter attack with 700 damage. It felt entirely random.
Not only that but there is no rhyme or reason behind where you can attack. In true srpg fashion you can move around the grind only so many spots and your attacks only effect specific areas. One would think that it would always be five in front of you if that’s what it is but with long range weapons it’s totally random where your attack areas will be so you end up wasting time hoping from spot to spot to see if you can actually hurt someone.
You also can’t align your Zoid in the direction you want it to but that’s okay because it has no baring with if you counter or not, that seems to be a random trait as well. Facing an enemy whose one space in front of you, you most likely can’t counter attack but hey, the one attack from five spaces, yeah you can counter attack that one. And don’t worth they almost always counter attack you.
As you progress you gain new equipment and skills but you learn quickly that the emp skill will save you every time, once you learn how to use it but again the game gives almost no direction for that task.
The game does offer some decent, if not a bit grainy, anime cut scenes. It’s all dubbed over though so don’t go in expecting Japanese dialog. The game has so-so music, it may or may not be lifted from the anime but as I said before, I have very little experience with it.
The game is one fugly mother though. The textures are non-existent, the landscape is barren or has some nasty PS1 trees. All Zoids look the same no matter what you do to them and the menu system couldn’t be more generic.
I remember playing a bargain bin srpg for the PS1 called “Eternal Eyes”. Yeah, it’s better than this game. It’s really sad that not only did Atlus port this poor title over but they had the nerve to charge the full $60 retail price for it.
If you’re willing to stick with it, repeat missions to spam levels then you may get the 100 points, 650 are for just beating the game. If I see you with the points I’ll congratulate you because they are well deserved for the suffering this game imposes upon the player.
I don’t recommend this game in any shape or form. Don’t rent, don’t buy and don’t even borrow. Fans may get a little enjoyment from it but I doubt it. As a rpg collection I doubt I’ll be adding this to my collection because then it means I’d have to actually beat it.
Story – 6/10
Graphics – 2/10
Sound – 5/10
Control – 6/10
Game Play – 3/10
Replay Value – 4/10
Final Score – 3/10
Sunday, September 21, 2008
TNA Impact
So many words can be used to describe the rage that this game gives me. It's so many different things rolled into one that creates a game that is perhaps the worst game to grace this generation of gaming.
I know that sounds harsh but come on. It's a wrestling game, how do you screw that up? Well ask the makers of this title because they some how not only screwed the game play up but wasted the unreal engine as well.
The character creator is one of the worst I've seen and every character comes out feeling more generic than a real life wrestler. The arenas all look the same. The one blood spot is in the same spot on every stage, the only difference is the backdrop. What's up with that? Granted you can unlock and use new moves by playing the game more but it's a slow process and they don't do much until you have the best ones anyway.
The games biggest flaws come from control and the game play itself. If I'm knocked to the ground and I hit left on the left analog stick to roll left, why is my guy rolling right? it doesn't happen once or twice but all the time. As if my guy is rendered useless by some head trauma except my head is still green in the stat area, as is rest of my body so why am I unable to go in the direction I want to go in?
To add insult to it all is the reverse option. Hit RB when it pops up to reverse a move, if it's reversible. So unless the AI character has all non-reversible skills then I want to know why I reverse once out of every 20 or so tries. Sure, you wouldn't always pull off a reversal but the AI does. It will reverse you every single time and I've even had them reverse my reversal. Huh?
The game features a bounty of modes but it's all wasted by the game play. See, not only is their the control issue and the horribly cheap AI but the games pin system also feels broken. An AI character can break out of anything, even if his body is all red but you can lose with all green. See, the problem is that you need to waggle the analog sticks left and right to break out of it but unlike other games you ened to be slow and methodical about it except you don't have time for that so you will most likely fail.
Failure should be the theme of the game. While the story mode is long, it becomes monotonous. Chapter 3 (there is 6 total) is nothing but tag team after tag team. How boring. Yes it's fun at first but really it's the same thing over and over and never does the game offer much variety in it's events and it would rather beat each one to death before giving you a new one.
The load times are downright terrible as well. Each character intro must load up and with tag team battles it equals to about 6 or 7 load screens to even get the fight going. Matches can last a =while though and hey, maybe you will win one once in a while. Don't expect easy achievements though as some are glitched, some are crap (top of the leader board) and some can only be obtained by preordering the game from Amazon. Thanks Midway!
One would think on-line would at least be fun and less chepa but it isn't. There is never anyone on and the game is fairly new. Not only that but it's laggy as hell and you know something is up when the leader board #1 spot is 311 wins and 0 loses... Really? oh that's because they quit out of matches when they are losing to avoid any penalties... It's 2008, shouldn't we have restrictions put in to negate this abuse?
I can't even recommend this game for a rental ebcause it's so mediocre. The graphics are as bland as they come, the control is often questionable and the AI is so abusrd that it isn't even worth the frustration. But hey, some people love the game, despite it's many flaws and broken game play mechanics. Either way, it's easily one of the worst made games to come out in a while.
Story - 3/10
Graphics - 6/10
Sound - 5/10
Control - 3/10
Game Play - 4/10
Replay value - 2/10
Final Score - 3/10
I know that sounds harsh but come on. It's a wrestling game, how do you screw that up? Well ask the makers of this title because they some how not only screwed the game play up but wasted the unreal engine as well.
The character creator is one of the worst I've seen and every character comes out feeling more generic than a real life wrestler. The arenas all look the same. The one blood spot is in the same spot on every stage, the only difference is the backdrop. What's up with that? Granted you can unlock and use new moves by playing the game more but it's a slow process and they don't do much until you have the best ones anyway.
The games biggest flaws come from control and the game play itself. If I'm knocked to the ground and I hit left on the left analog stick to roll left, why is my guy rolling right? it doesn't happen once or twice but all the time. As if my guy is rendered useless by some head trauma except my head is still green in the stat area, as is rest of my body so why am I unable to go in the direction I want to go in?
To add insult to it all is the reverse option. Hit RB when it pops up to reverse a move, if it's reversible. So unless the AI character has all non-reversible skills then I want to know why I reverse once out of every 20 or so tries. Sure, you wouldn't always pull off a reversal but the AI does. It will reverse you every single time and I've even had them reverse my reversal. Huh?
The game features a bounty of modes but it's all wasted by the game play. See, not only is their the control issue and the horribly cheap AI but the games pin system also feels broken. An AI character can break out of anything, even if his body is all red but you can lose with all green. See, the problem is that you need to waggle the analog sticks left and right to break out of it but unlike other games you ened to be slow and methodical about it except you don't have time for that so you will most likely fail.
Failure should be the theme of the game. While the story mode is long, it becomes monotonous. Chapter 3 (there is 6 total) is nothing but tag team after tag team. How boring. Yes it's fun at first but really it's the same thing over and over and never does the game offer much variety in it's events and it would rather beat each one to death before giving you a new one.
The load times are downright terrible as well. Each character intro must load up and with tag team battles it equals to about 6 or 7 load screens to even get the fight going. Matches can last a =while though and hey, maybe you will win one once in a while. Don't expect easy achievements though as some are glitched, some are crap (top of the leader board) and some can only be obtained by preordering the game from Amazon. Thanks Midway!
One would think on-line would at least be fun and less chepa but it isn't. There is never anyone on and the game is fairly new. Not only that but it's laggy as hell and you know something is up when the leader board #1 spot is 311 wins and 0 loses... Really? oh that's because they quit out of matches when they are losing to avoid any penalties... It's 2008, shouldn't we have restrictions put in to negate this abuse?
I can't even recommend this game for a rental ebcause it's so mediocre. The graphics are as bland as they come, the control is often questionable and the AI is so abusrd that it isn't even worth the frustration. But hey, some people love the game, despite it's many flaws and broken game play mechanics. Either way, it's easily one of the worst made games to come out in a while.
Story - 3/10
Graphics - 6/10
Sound - 5/10
Control - 3/10
Game Play - 4/10
Replay value - 2/10
Final Score - 3/10
Thursday, September 11, 2008
Facebreaker
Facebreaker is one of those games that came out of nowhere and my OCD is the only reason I even rented the game.
At a young age we're told not to judge a book by it's cover and the same thing could be said about this game because it has one ugly cover that doesn't do the game justice. Actually, it does do the game justice as the poor art work shows how much effort went into making this game.
So many things are wrong with this game but it is able to do a few things correctly. The create a character this a little above average. You can use a pic of yourself via the internet or if you have the Camera for the 360 you can take the pic that way, you upload those and make a boxer that kind of looks like you.
It's a fun feature because it's cool to think that anyone who breaks your face will always have your head on their wall. There's also a ton of downloadable characters and you can always upload your own.
The problem is that the basic stuff is very limited and it isn't as indepth as a fighting fan would want. Wait, you thought this was a boxing game? I guess at it's core it is but the fast action and the combo system makes it a fighter more than a boxing game. If you want real boxing then get the new Fight Night due next year, this is all about the fighting.
Visually the game has a cartoon look to it, most likely to keep the game at a T rating. It looks pretty good and the animations run smoothly. The characters in the story lack originality but still look good. Arenas feel a bit drab and lame.
The game offers a quick player feature, a story mode and an on-line mode. Nothing much else to do which kind of sucks I guess. The achievements are mostly story based and shouldn't take anyone more than a day to net 600 or so, once you learn the games mechanics.
See, the game has an odd fighting style to you. The B button throws your opponent. The A button is a light attack and the X button is a heavy attack. Once you build up your meter you can hit Y to instigate a super attack, if landed it opens up the chance to break their face. The game never says this but you have to random mash buttons here or you will just allow them to continue to the fight.
You can block with the right trigger and if you hit A when they are attacking with a low attack you can parry. You can also dodge but I have no clue how. The game kind of throws you into the ring and it's a tough battle.
The AI feels too cheap and even on the easiest setting I found myself having a lot of trouble very early in the game. If this was a little more like the other arcade boxer back on the PS2 and Dreamcast then it might have been fun but it becomes frustrating, not fun.
The on-line mode seems fairly lively for just coming out and not being a AAA title. I did notice there is a lot of lag depending on who hosts the match and there is a delay from when you hit a button to when the character performs the action on-line.
The game offers a lot to unlock but most of it has to do with create a character so if that isn't your cup of tea then there isn't much to do besides aim for the achievements. The story mode is fairly short, if you're able to finish it.
At $60 this game isn't worth it at all and even if it was $10 I'd be hard pressed to even think about buying it. If you like the demo then rent the game because it most likely won't be what you're looking for as I see the target audience for this game to be almost non-existent.
Maybe I'm being harsh with the game but it isn't exactly fun, except on-line, and even that has problems. Even the EA servers crashed this morning and we pay for this kind of service via Xbox Live... For $10 it might be worth buying but right now I'm going to have to say to just pass this game over because it doesn't have enough to warrant the price tag and what you do get isn't very good either.
Story - N/A
Graphics - 6/10
Sound - 5/10
Control - 7/10
Game Play - 4/10
Replay Value - 3/10
Final Score - 4/10
At a young age we're told not to judge a book by it's cover and the same thing could be said about this game because it has one ugly cover that doesn't do the game justice. Actually, it does do the game justice as the poor art work shows how much effort went into making this game.
So many things are wrong with this game but it is able to do a few things correctly. The create a character this a little above average. You can use a pic of yourself via the internet or if you have the Camera for the 360 you can take the pic that way, you upload those and make a boxer that kind of looks like you.
It's a fun feature because it's cool to think that anyone who breaks your face will always have your head on their wall. There's also a ton of downloadable characters and you can always upload your own.
The problem is that the basic stuff is very limited and it isn't as indepth as a fighting fan would want. Wait, you thought this was a boxing game? I guess at it's core it is but the fast action and the combo system makes it a fighter more than a boxing game. If you want real boxing then get the new Fight Night due next year, this is all about the fighting.
Visually the game has a cartoon look to it, most likely to keep the game at a T rating. It looks pretty good and the animations run smoothly. The characters in the story lack originality but still look good. Arenas feel a bit drab and lame.
The game offers a quick player feature, a story mode and an on-line mode. Nothing much else to do which kind of sucks I guess. The achievements are mostly story based and shouldn't take anyone more than a day to net 600 or so, once you learn the games mechanics.
See, the game has an odd fighting style to you. The B button throws your opponent. The A button is a light attack and the X button is a heavy attack. Once you build up your meter you can hit Y to instigate a super attack, if landed it opens up the chance to break their face. The game never says this but you have to random mash buttons here or you will just allow them to continue to the fight.
You can block with the right trigger and if you hit A when they are attacking with a low attack you can parry. You can also dodge but I have no clue how. The game kind of throws you into the ring and it's a tough battle.
The AI feels too cheap and even on the easiest setting I found myself having a lot of trouble very early in the game. If this was a little more like the other arcade boxer back on the PS2 and Dreamcast then it might have been fun but it becomes frustrating, not fun.
The on-line mode seems fairly lively for just coming out and not being a AAA title. I did notice there is a lot of lag depending on who hosts the match and there is a delay from when you hit a button to when the character performs the action on-line.
The game offers a lot to unlock but most of it has to do with create a character so if that isn't your cup of tea then there isn't much to do besides aim for the achievements. The story mode is fairly short, if you're able to finish it.
At $60 this game isn't worth it at all and even if it was $10 I'd be hard pressed to even think about buying it. If you like the demo then rent the game because it most likely won't be what you're looking for as I see the target audience for this game to be almost non-existent.
Maybe I'm being harsh with the game but it isn't exactly fun, except on-line, and even that has problems. Even the EA servers crashed this morning and we pay for this kind of service via Xbox Live... For $10 it might be worth buying but right now I'm going to have to say to just pass this game over because it doesn't have enough to warrant the price tag and what you do get isn't very good either.
Story - N/A
Graphics - 6/10
Sound - 5/10
Control - 7/10
Game Play - 4/10
Replay Value - 3/10
Final Score - 4/10
Monday, August 25, 2008
Too Human
Too Human is brought to us by the fine folks at Silicon Knights. Don't know who they are? They are behind Eternal Darkness and the Metal Gear Solid remake on the Gamecube. Both titles have their own following but wind up being hit or miss with gamers. You'll either love those games or hate them (MGS is due to changes and not quality).
I was very interested in Too Human. Maybe the hype machine got me, who knows. I remember downloading the demo and hearing how bad it was so I never actually played it, figured I'd give it all a fresh chance without reading any more into the game.
Fans of the hack n slash dungeon crawler might feel like rejoicing because it's rare for a console to get one of these. Not sure of the genre? It's like Baulder's Gate on the PS2 or for those PC gamers out there, it's like Diablo.
This means you wander around a dungeon, hit attack over and over, collect their dropped money and items and continue along your way.
Too Human is a promised trilogy (that or I'm getting it confused with all of the other planned trilogies out there). Either way the plot is fairly crappy. You're some cyber god and you have to stop this chick/thing called Hel... Yes, it's that original. What's great is that it involves a ton of Norse mythology. Problem is, if you don't know any or very little the plot, despite being paperthin, just might confused you more than it should.
Playing on-line and not seeing the story progress? Well that's because all story elements have been removed from the co-op experience. This is good and bad. I'd rather it being up to the player to decide how they want to see the story unfold.
Speaking of the on-line play I find it to be the only way to enjoy this game. The single player is boring and hectic all at the same time. By this I mean that it gets tiresome dying a lot. I know, I must suck at the game. However there is no penalty for dying, you respawn either where you died (which can be a problem) or the last checkpoint (which is another problem when it's a two minute empty hall walk.
There are maybe 6 types of enemies in the game. Most are prone to the four different level types. You have the normal drone enemies that fall quickly, a tougher drone that requires a good combo and then you have what one would consider mini-bosses if it weren't for them being every couple of minutes.
Once you learn how to take an enemy down you should progress safely, for a while. The games largest flaw is the equipment system and the leveling system. They go hand in hand actually.
To level up is utterly pointless. The enemies level up with you and the highest level is 50. Once reached it's where equipment will make the game more playable.
That's the other problem though. You need to be a specific level to equip some items. Once that level is reached or passed it doesn't matter. The flaw in this is that the equipment wears out and needs either recharged or switched. You can augment the equipment to suit your playing style but that makes the equipment more worthwhile but a lower level means it becomes outdated quickly.
This means that no matter how good you are at the game, it all boils down to your equipment and god forbid you're in the middle of a boss battle and all of your equipment fails at once. You barely do any damage and I'm not even sure if you can go shopping in the middle of a boss fight.
The co-op experience on-line makes this a little more enjoy. Except we pay for a service where you get kicked for not being a high level or the connect is randomly lost. It also became a problem finding people who actually talked and played. So while you're playing with someone it might as well have been a robot as the other person sat mute.
I did find myself enjoying the game a little more as I played on-line. It wasn't as frustrating and not nearly as boring but there are some other flaws that hinder the experience as a whole. I experienced lag a couple times during more hectic areas and it's something I shouldn't get on a game, while new, that doesn't seem all that popular.
The graphics can also be hit or miss. The first area is one I found to be impressive. The transition between cut scenes and actual game play was smooth and sexy. The robotic creatures looks great and shiny. Things went downhill after that as we ventured into an ice forest, some lab and then a fiery place. Did we run out of original ideas or what?
I even found the sound to be a bit of a let down. The music did nothing for me and think for a game where you wander areas forever there would be a little better music than what we get. The sound effects did nothing for me either and I really can't remember anything about them.
The games largest fall comes from the control setup. Shooting your gun is easy, as is using your special skills. The problem is that the melee combat is put onto the right stick. I works great for the most part, once you spend some time with it but it leaves one major problem. There is no camera control. You can hit the left bumper to center it but I constantly found myself without a good view to the action and then I'd be dead.
The game is rather short as well. It took me 10 hours to beat the game but I replayed the second and third areas 9there's only 4) twice so I'm sure it would have been more like a 7 hour experience. For an action game that's an okay time but not for a rpg.
There isn't even much post game to do but raise your level and get new equipment. No real secrets besides some battle areas. We do get achievements but I got half of those in one play through. The one saving grace is two endings, all determined by your choice before entering the second area.
The one aspect I did love was the tree of skills. Think the Sphere board from Final Fantasy ten but more simple. You have a tree with three paths that ultimately end at the same area. You get some variety here and with each level up you can put 2-3 points toward a skill, which may open up new ones. What you see is what you get though as there are no hidden branches. Upon completion of the first area you make a choice. Once that choice is made you can venture into the second tree by hitting the right trigger, most don't know this thought because the game doesn't offer a tutorial at all and throws the gamer to the wolves. This second tree is smaller but the skills are better. These skills depend on your choice though.
I could sit here and say Too Human is the best dungeon crawler ever but it isn't. It isn't the worst either. Too Human falls into a gray area for me. I'm okay with having played through it once and maybe the word "suffer" pops into my head but I don't think I would ever recommend this game to anyone. It has some flaws but ultimately it does nothing new or interesting for a genre that's kind of meh at the moment. Maybe SK should have spent more time with the game and created more for a player to do so let's hope there is some downloadable content down the road because this is one game that needs it.
Story - 6/10
Graphics - 8/10
Sound - 5/10
Control - 7/10
Game Play - 6/10
Replay value - 5/10
Final Score - 5/10
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Alone In The Dark
My first exposure to the Alone in the Dark series was back on the original Playstation with the Curse of One Eyed Jack or some lame subtitle like that. It was a horrid game that I could barely advance in but back then I didn't have a guide or anything to help me with it.
Next came The New Nightmare on the PS1 as well. I thought the game was slightly better than that original one but ultimately it was still a steaming pile of crap. Over shadowed by the awesomeness that is Resident Evil and Silent Hill.
I will admit to being excited over this new title.This new generation of gaming has been lackluster when it comes to the survival horror genre. I think Dead Rising is the only game to even fit the genre thus far. But thankfully we have this disjointed turd from Atari so we now have two whole survival horror games.
Alone in the Dark tries so damn hard to be good and different and just a master piece. It's faults lie in the fact that it's too ambitious for its own good. Instead of allowing the player to immerse themselves into this awesome world we are forced to do mundane tasks with our equipment to solve mediocre puzzle.
Not until around chapter 3 will this really kick in but it's so boring to hunt for some tape, a bottle, a clothe and some bullets to create a Molotov cocktail to blow up a wall to advance. Yes, it's a great idea but do we really have to make it so tedious and really, what are the chances of finding all o those in a storage room in a sewer?
That isn't the only thing that the game tries but fails at. The combat is done via the right analog stick. Anyone who has read any of my reviews knows how much I hate this. Granted, it isn't too bad in this game and it opens up some variety in how to take the enemies down but we also need to use it to solve a puzzle so it really sucks that you need to use a pipe to hit a wire out of the water and it just isn't catching correctly.
The biggest flaw in the combat is that to kill the vamps or humanz you need to use fire or knock them off a ledge. So you can waste a ton of bullets to open up a wound to attack with fire or to even knock them down. You can combine flammable liquid with a bullet to make fire bullets but it takes a few shots still to hit the fissure in the enemy and light them up. So even that is glitchy.
The entire game is a glitchy mess though. The driving segment, which are some of the worst in a video game to date, are full of annoying glitches. Rules are ignored that are told to you in chapter 4, in chapter 2 I would constantly get stuck on objects or the games physics would work against me or the game would just stutter along as it couldn't handle this totally awesome segment that is ruined by sloppy and loose controls and bad programming.
Story wise the game falls into the cliched amnesia plot line. Fine but we know who the main character is. Why should be pretend to know nothing for the first 4 chapters and while the twist is nice around that point, I just couldn't feel bothered to deal with rest of the game. This is also the first game I've ever played where I could skip to anywhere but the final 3 areas from the start and without a cheat device. Kind of silly really.
Even the graphics are a let down. Our hero looks kind of ugly and resembles the guy from Prey. The locations, while awesome (it's New York based) they also lack some details. Animations are good thought but the frame rate drops at times and things do look a bit generic as well.
What makes this even more annoying is that the atmosphere is totally here. The music is so fitting and awesome, some of the best I've heard in a while and everything else in the game seems to be working against it.
A quote from the film "Brokeback Mountain" was stuck in my head while playing this game "I can't quit you". It's funny but despite all of the blatant flaws and game play issues I wanted to play because it would get something almost right and it was damn cool. Hell, I even considered buying it now from gamefly but in the end I couldn't bring myself to finish the game, let alone by it. The flaws really out weighed it in the end and it's a shame because it could have been good and frankly it should have been because the market is dead and in need of some love for this genre and us fans have gotten the shaft yet again.
So maybe we can be happy with the up coming Sire episodes on the PS Network or Resident Evil 5 on Friday the 13th of 2009. For now we have Alone in the Dark and while a rental or bargain price would seem fair, just be warned that it is full of flaws and tough to really love.
Story - 6/10
Graphics - 6/10
Control - 6/10
Sound - 8/10
Game Play - 6/10
Replay Value - 2/10
Final Score - 5/10
Next came The New Nightmare on the PS1 as well. I thought the game was slightly better than that original one but ultimately it was still a steaming pile of crap. Over shadowed by the awesomeness that is Resident Evil and Silent Hill.
I will admit to being excited over this new title.This new generation of gaming has been lackluster when it comes to the survival horror genre. I think Dead Rising is the only game to even fit the genre thus far. But thankfully we have this disjointed turd from Atari so we now have two whole survival horror games.
Alone in the Dark tries so damn hard to be good and different and just a master piece. It's faults lie in the fact that it's too ambitious for its own good. Instead of allowing the player to immerse themselves into this awesome world we are forced to do mundane tasks with our equipment to solve mediocre puzzle.
Not until around chapter 3 will this really kick in but it's so boring to hunt for some tape, a bottle, a clothe and some bullets to create a Molotov cocktail to blow up a wall to advance. Yes, it's a great idea but do we really have to make it so tedious and really, what are the chances of finding all o those in a storage room in a sewer?
That isn't the only thing that the game tries but fails at. The combat is done via the right analog stick. Anyone who has read any of my reviews knows how much I hate this. Granted, it isn't too bad in this game and it opens up some variety in how to take the enemies down but we also need to use it to solve a puzzle so it really sucks that you need to use a pipe to hit a wire out of the water and it just isn't catching correctly.
The biggest flaw in the combat is that to kill the vamps or humanz you need to use fire or knock them off a ledge. So you can waste a ton of bullets to open up a wound to attack with fire or to even knock them down. You can combine flammable liquid with a bullet to make fire bullets but it takes a few shots still to hit the fissure in the enemy and light them up. So even that is glitchy.
The entire game is a glitchy mess though. The driving segment, which are some of the worst in a video game to date, are full of annoying glitches. Rules are ignored that are told to you in chapter 4, in chapter 2 I would constantly get stuck on objects or the games physics would work against me or the game would just stutter along as it couldn't handle this totally awesome segment that is ruined by sloppy and loose controls and bad programming.
Story wise the game falls into the cliched amnesia plot line. Fine but we know who the main character is. Why should be pretend to know nothing for the first 4 chapters and while the twist is nice around that point, I just couldn't feel bothered to deal with rest of the game. This is also the first game I've ever played where I could skip to anywhere but the final 3 areas from the start and without a cheat device. Kind of silly really.
Even the graphics are a let down. Our hero looks kind of ugly and resembles the guy from Prey. The locations, while awesome (it's New York based) they also lack some details. Animations are good thought but the frame rate drops at times and things do look a bit generic as well.
What makes this even more annoying is that the atmosphere is totally here. The music is so fitting and awesome, some of the best I've heard in a while and everything else in the game seems to be working against it.
A quote from the film "Brokeback Mountain" was stuck in my head while playing this game "I can't quit you". It's funny but despite all of the blatant flaws and game play issues I wanted to play because it would get something almost right and it was damn cool. Hell, I even considered buying it now from gamefly but in the end I couldn't bring myself to finish the game, let alone by it. The flaws really out weighed it in the end and it's a shame because it could have been good and frankly it should have been because the market is dead and in need of some love for this genre and us fans have gotten the shaft yet again.
So maybe we can be happy with the up coming Sire episodes on the PS Network or Resident Evil 5 on Friday the 13th of 2009. For now we have Alone in the Dark and while a rental or bargain price would seem fair, just be warned that it is full of flaws and tough to really love.
Story - 6/10
Graphics - 6/10
Control - 6/10
Sound - 8/10
Game Play - 6/10
Replay Value - 2/10
Final Score - 5/10
Monday, May 5, 2008
NBA Ballers: Chosen One
I don't know why I torture myself with these games. I really don't like them, I have no real interest in them and yet I play them and suffer. Maybe if someone loaned it to me I wouldn't mind so much but this was a painful experience.
The last Ballers game really wasn't too horrible. It wasn't great but no where near as bad as this. The coolest feature is a story mode, that has no story and instead is more of a challenge mode. This is a boring chore more than anything else. When you get to one of the later chapters you need to beat someone without allowing them to score. How is that a story? it's a disguised challenge mode with lame challenges.
The game offers some one on one, some two on two and some one on one on one. It all plays the same and the AI tends to be amazing. The game allows for slick moves and exciting dunks but without a manual (this was a rental) I was unable to figure out half of the stuff.
It became more of a chore than anything else really. The game does offer some super easy achievements if you're willing to play through the entire game. Besides that the game also offers some on-line play. No one seems to play it. I ran into two people in one hour. The entire on-line boils down to you picking the best player with perfect stats, walk and shoot a three pointer that has a 98% chance of landing and just see who scores the most. You will almost always win if you steal the ball once.
The entire game is just a bore. The only thing it does well is provide some nice visuals. Character models look great and the courts are both interesting and unique. Well, unique in the sense of something out of an episode of Cribs.
Maybe you will like this game but I haven't met anyone who has liked this game as it's a big ole snorefest. One of the worst games to hit in 2008 and this so far has been the worst year of gaming in a long time with only one real title worth picking up so far for the consoles.
Story - 0/10
Graphics - 9/10
Sound - 7/10
Control - 7/10
Game Play - 4/10
Replay value - 3/10
Final Score - 4/10
The last Ballers game really wasn't too horrible. It wasn't great but no where near as bad as this. The coolest feature is a story mode, that has no story and instead is more of a challenge mode. This is a boring chore more than anything else. When you get to one of the later chapters you need to beat someone without allowing them to score. How is that a story? it's a disguised challenge mode with lame challenges.
The game offers some one on one, some two on two and some one on one on one. It all plays the same and the AI tends to be amazing. The game allows for slick moves and exciting dunks but without a manual (this was a rental) I was unable to figure out half of the stuff.
It became more of a chore than anything else really. The game does offer some super easy achievements if you're willing to play through the entire game. Besides that the game also offers some on-line play. No one seems to play it. I ran into two people in one hour. The entire on-line boils down to you picking the best player with perfect stats, walk and shoot a three pointer that has a 98% chance of landing and just see who scores the most. You will almost always win if you steal the ball once.
The entire game is just a bore. The only thing it does well is provide some nice visuals. Character models look great and the courts are both interesting and unique. Well, unique in the sense of something out of an episode of Cribs.
Maybe you will like this game but I haven't met anyone who has liked this game as it's a big ole snorefest. One of the worst games to hit in 2008 and this so far has been the worst year of gaming in a long time with only one real title worth picking up so far for the consoles.
Story - 0/10
Graphics - 9/10
Sound - 7/10
Control - 7/10
Game Play - 4/10
Replay value - 3/10
Final Score - 4/10
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Dark Sector
Dark Sector sure has a sexy box art. You cannot judge a game by its cover though so when I asked a friend about the game he said it was terrible and a horror title. Well, it's been a long time since I've played a horror title so I was all over this one.
I was instantly met with let down as I booted the game up. It felt like Gears of War. Then I entered the second location, the rain was falling and the dark textures just brought an awesome gloomy atmosphere.
It's something this game does correctly. It oozes with atmosphere, and everything is dark and gritty and it looks gorgeous the entire time. It also runs into some problems. It fails to create anything unique or outstanding and instead we get typical locations like sewers and warehouses.
Enemy models also lack anything all that interesting and besides the bosses I really can't say I was impressed with the humans or the creatures. I will admit the creatures had a creepy look to them but Uncharted hit the PS3 last year and had the same creep factor to some of it's enemies and pulled off the scares better.
What makes this entire game almost worth while is the Glaive. It's your main weapon for killing enemies. Think of it as a boomerang but as you advance through the game you gain new skills like being able to control it in midair and other stuff. The game introduces them slowly so it constantly feels like you're gaining something awesome and new a couple times a chapter.
What else is cool is that you can interact with fires and electric malfunction with the glaive. Doing so will charge them with these powers and later you can cause it to explode and do double damage when elements are used.
Now you don't need to use the glaive the whole time. You actually have a handgun and later you can buy other guns at the black market. You can also pick up dropped enemy weapons but you only have 30 seconds to use it before it becomes useless and they have worked that into the plot.
Speaking of the plot I should just get that out of the way now. You're a special ops person and you end up getting bit by a creature and pretty much your arm starts to mutate, which is how you get the Glaive. The plot is actually kind of cool but by the end you realize they never thought it all out and so much is left unexplained or numerous plot holes are left open to drive a truck through.
Thankfully the game is really fun and it's because it borrows everything from Gears of War. You walk into an area and take cover. Now you sit there and kill everything until they are all dead and move into the next area. The puzzles are few and far between and besides some sweet boss fights it doesn't offer much that requires some thought.
I also found the game to be boring after the first few chapters. The stages became overwhelmingly long and they reached the point of tediousness which is never a good thing. The game does offer a lot of check points so that was nice at least. But don't expect a long game. 8 hours would be pushing it for this one.
The enemy AI really doesn't help matters either. They tend to stand there, shoot, take cover and wash and repeat. No real thoughts behind it and they never rush you. The creatures bum rush you but go down quickly. In the next breath you have humans with shields who are down right crazy, hard to hit and kill you in two hits. What makes it worse is that each scenario feels the same, like no real variety and even when you gain control of a vehicle it felt like the same ole thing all over again but now in a big clunky machine.
The game also offers on-line multiplayer but I didn't bother with it. Maybe at another time, at which point I'll update this review but as it stands it just didn't interest me. It does offer a few unique modes like virus mode but again, I didn't play it so I can't full a real comment on it.
All in all Dark Sector is a typical yet fun shooter. It isn't worth the price tag but if you find it cheap then it might just be worth checking out. Just don't expect a horror title as it's very reminiscent of Gears of War with some mild horror tones here and there.
Story - 7/10
Graphics - 10/10
Sound - 7/10
Control - 8/10
Game Play - 7/10
Replay Value - 5/10
Final Score - 7/10
I was instantly met with let down as I booted the game up. It felt like Gears of War. Then I entered the second location, the rain was falling and the dark textures just brought an awesome gloomy atmosphere.
It's something this game does correctly. It oozes with atmosphere, and everything is dark and gritty and it looks gorgeous the entire time. It also runs into some problems. It fails to create anything unique or outstanding and instead we get typical locations like sewers and warehouses.
Enemy models also lack anything all that interesting and besides the bosses I really can't say I was impressed with the humans or the creatures. I will admit the creatures had a creepy look to them but Uncharted hit the PS3 last year and had the same creep factor to some of it's enemies and pulled off the scares better.
What makes this entire game almost worth while is the Glaive. It's your main weapon for killing enemies. Think of it as a boomerang but as you advance through the game you gain new skills like being able to control it in midair and other stuff. The game introduces them slowly so it constantly feels like you're gaining something awesome and new a couple times a chapter.
What else is cool is that you can interact with fires and electric malfunction with the glaive. Doing so will charge them with these powers and later you can cause it to explode and do double damage when elements are used.
Now you don't need to use the glaive the whole time. You actually have a handgun and later you can buy other guns at the black market. You can also pick up dropped enemy weapons but you only have 30 seconds to use it before it becomes useless and they have worked that into the plot.
Speaking of the plot I should just get that out of the way now. You're a special ops person and you end up getting bit by a creature and pretty much your arm starts to mutate, which is how you get the Glaive. The plot is actually kind of cool but by the end you realize they never thought it all out and so much is left unexplained or numerous plot holes are left open to drive a truck through.
Thankfully the game is really fun and it's because it borrows everything from Gears of War. You walk into an area and take cover. Now you sit there and kill everything until they are all dead and move into the next area. The puzzles are few and far between and besides some sweet boss fights it doesn't offer much that requires some thought.
I also found the game to be boring after the first few chapters. The stages became overwhelmingly long and they reached the point of tediousness which is never a good thing. The game does offer a lot of check points so that was nice at least. But don't expect a long game. 8 hours would be pushing it for this one.
The enemy AI really doesn't help matters either. They tend to stand there, shoot, take cover and wash and repeat. No real thoughts behind it and they never rush you. The creatures bum rush you but go down quickly. In the next breath you have humans with shields who are down right crazy, hard to hit and kill you in two hits. What makes it worse is that each scenario feels the same, like no real variety and even when you gain control of a vehicle it felt like the same ole thing all over again but now in a big clunky machine.
The game also offers on-line multiplayer but I didn't bother with it. Maybe at another time, at which point I'll update this review but as it stands it just didn't interest me. It does offer a few unique modes like virus mode but again, I didn't play it so I can't full a real comment on it.
All in all Dark Sector is a typical yet fun shooter. It isn't worth the price tag but if you find it cheap then it might just be worth checking out. Just don't expect a horror title as it's very reminiscent of Gears of War with some mild horror tones here and there.
Story - 7/10
Graphics - 10/10
Sound - 7/10
Control - 8/10
Game Play - 7/10
Replay Value - 5/10
Final Score - 7/10
Conflict: Denied Ops
I've never played the Conflict series before but people seem to love the games. Sadly I've started the series off with one of the worst titles this generation and I really have no interest in the previous entries.
The game starts off like any other shooter. You're sent on a mission in some desolate place and you need to kill the leader. The plot will advance from there using stereotypical crap to move it all along.
If you've played Army of Two then the game play may feel natural to you. You have control over two characters at once. Well, the AI controls one while you control the other. If one dies you can switch to the other character and heal the one who is now dying. It works pretty well but the game never told me you could switch thus a few unneeded deaths landed my way.
The game really doesn't give you many directions and one would think that such a linear level setup I wouldn't get lost but alas the game failed to mention (yet again) that I needed to shoot down this hover chopper that was doing nothing but hovering. Sorry, I thought I only had to take down hostiles but I guess not.
One thing the game does have going for it is the destructible environments which is cool because you can use the cannon on the tank to blow up a tower and other stuff. Problem is that it's only specifics and main items can't be damaged which in the end defeats the purpose of it all.
To make it all worse is the fact that the game looks like it was beat by the ugly stick. Bland textures and horrid load times make this feel more like a PS2 title than a 360. The animations are bland and all of the enemies share the same clothes and faces.
The entire game is fairly boring as you just run into a room, shoot people, hide, repeat and then walk up to your objective and hit A. There are times where you may need to climb up a step or something and you'll use A to do that but it's slow and clumsy and the game can easily ambush you right at that time and there is no way to cancel that movement until it is finish.
One saving grace for the game is the fact that the vehicle control have way decently. Of course it's also tiresome moving around in a tank and when your AI partner controls the gun yet never fires, forcing you to do both just irks me to no end.
The game does feature on-line play but I couldn't be bothered to touch it. One thing the game does do right is the achievements which are nicely done. Not too easy nor too hard and they range from completing the game to just completing what some would consider hidden bonus objectives. For example if you go the entire way in the tank without it blowing up you get an achievement and trust me it's a little harder than one would think.
All in all this is just another crappy FPS that is clogging up the consoles these days. It plays like crap and it some how looks worse. The game is riddled with minor glitches and sloppy AI. I say pass on this bad boy all together.
Story - 5/10
Graphics - 2/10
Sound - 6/10
Control - 8/10
Game Play - 4/10
Replay Value - 4/10
Final Score - 3/10
The game starts off like any other shooter. You're sent on a mission in some desolate place and you need to kill the leader. The plot will advance from there using stereotypical crap to move it all along.
If you've played Army of Two then the game play may feel natural to you. You have control over two characters at once. Well, the AI controls one while you control the other. If one dies you can switch to the other character and heal the one who is now dying. It works pretty well but the game never told me you could switch thus a few unneeded deaths landed my way.
The game really doesn't give you many directions and one would think that such a linear level setup I wouldn't get lost but alas the game failed to mention (yet again) that I needed to shoot down this hover chopper that was doing nothing but hovering. Sorry, I thought I only had to take down hostiles but I guess not.
One thing the game does have going for it is the destructible environments which is cool because you can use the cannon on the tank to blow up a tower and other stuff. Problem is that it's only specifics and main items can't be damaged which in the end defeats the purpose of it all.
To make it all worse is the fact that the game looks like it was beat by the ugly stick. Bland textures and horrid load times make this feel more like a PS2 title than a 360. The animations are bland and all of the enemies share the same clothes and faces.
The entire game is fairly boring as you just run into a room, shoot people, hide, repeat and then walk up to your objective and hit A. There are times where you may need to climb up a step or something and you'll use A to do that but it's slow and clumsy and the game can easily ambush you right at that time and there is no way to cancel that movement until it is finish.
One saving grace for the game is the fact that the vehicle control have way decently. Of course it's also tiresome moving around in a tank and when your AI partner controls the gun yet never fires, forcing you to do both just irks me to no end.
The game does feature on-line play but I couldn't be bothered to touch it. One thing the game does do right is the achievements which are nicely done. Not too easy nor too hard and they range from completing the game to just completing what some would consider hidden bonus objectives. For example if you go the entire way in the tank without it blowing up you get an achievement and trust me it's a little harder than one would think.
All in all this is just another crappy FPS that is clogging up the consoles these days. It plays like crap and it some how looks worse. The game is riddled with minor glitches and sloppy AI. I say pass on this bad boy all together.
Story - 5/10
Graphics - 2/10
Sound - 6/10
Control - 8/10
Game Play - 4/10
Replay Value - 4/10
Final Score - 3/10
Monday, April 14, 2008
Turning Point: Fall of Liberty
Turning Point had such a stellar idea it would figure they would fudge it up along the way. Imagine a world where we lost World War II and the Nazi's have started to invade North America. Pretty interesting idea.
The problem is that they take every single cliche, hamper it all down with bad everything and then make the game so glitchy it isn't worth even a rental. I'm jumping ahead of myself though.
Graphically the game looks like it belongs on the PS2. The textures are non-existent and the levels themselves feel underwhelming with roofs, London houses and trains. Not only that but the enemies all look alike. The smoke and explosions are also poorly done, as if I was watching a Sci-fi original movie.
Voice work is your typical fair. They must have a specific group that is used for these games because it always sound the same. The music is so forgettable that despite the fact I just played for a few hours, I don't even remember the music. Guns sound okay, explosions are less than impressive.
The game even has an odd control setup. left bumper is run, right bumper is gernade. Left trigger is aim and right trigger is fire. A is jump, B is melee, Y is to duck/crawl and to be hoenst the view doesn't even change so I couldn't figure out that it actually allowed me to duck. The aiming with the right stick is a bit sporadic and overly sensitive.
The game play itself is as stale as it comes. You travel along linear paths with no ounce of moving beyond it and yet I would constantly get confused because and lost because doors magically open and the game constantly tells you that you're objective has changed but no vocal announcement, just a text message and you have to pause to actually see what the game wants you to do next.
The game really just has you ducking and firing and then moving along these linear paths. The AI is rather brain dead and they tend to run in circles. The amount of damage they deal seems to be random and based on the area, not weapon or actual shot.
Granted I only played through half of the game but it was just so poorly done. I died a number of times due to me getting stuck in debris and walls. Not only that but the game uses a terrible check point system and one would think you'd have a check point before the train with 6 snipers but instead that segment is in the middle of a rather large area and dying there due to the game randomly shoving a sniper rifle of my own and just telling me to wing it just wasn't a smart idea on the developers part.
The game features on-line play but it's for deathmatchs only and due to the game flopping so hard I doubt it's life is all that action packed now and I doubt if it ever will be. So we get a short campaign and a half assed on-line factor as well.
I can't recommend this as rental or a purchase. It just isn't worth while and I can think of at least 10 other shooters that are better than this released in the past year. This is right up there with the Outfit and Front lines as the worst of the past 12 months.
Story - 8/10
Graphics - 4/10
Sound - 4/10
Control - 7/10
Game Play - 5/10
Replay Value - 4/10
Final Score - 3/10
The problem is that they take every single cliche, hamper it all down with bad everything and then make the game so glitchy it isn't worth even a rental. I'm jumping ahead of myself though.
Graphically the game looks like it belongs on the PS2. The textures are non-existent and the levels themselves feel underwhelming with roofs, London houses and trains. Not only that but the enemies all look alike. The smoke and explosions are also poorly done, as if I was watching a Sci-fi original movie.
Voice work is your typical fair. They must have a specific group that is used for these games because it always sound the same. The music is so forgettable that despite the fact I just played for a few hours, I don't even remember the music. Guns sound okay, explosions are less than impressive.
The game even has an odd control setup. left bumper is run, right bumper is gernade. Left trigger is aim and right trigger is fire. A is jump, B is melee, Y is to duck/crawl and to be hoenst the view doesn't even change so I couldn't figure out that it actually allowed me to duck. The aiming with the right stick is a bit sporadic and overly sensitive.
The game play itself is as stale as it comes. You travel along linear paths with no ounce of moving beyond it and yet I would constantly get confused because and lost because doors magically open and the game constantly tells you that you're objective has changed but no vocal announcement, just a text message and you have to pause to actually see what the game wants you to do next.
The game really just has you ducking and firing and then moving along these linear paths. The AI is rather brain dead and they tend to run in circles. The amount of damage they deal seems to be random and based on the area, not weapon or actual shot.
Granted I only played through half of the game but it was just so poorly done. I died a number of times due to me getting stuck in debris and walls. Not only that but the game uses a terrible check point system and one would think you'd have a check point before the train with 6 snipers but instead that segment is in the middle of a rather large area and dying there due to the game randomly shoving a sniper rifle of my own and just telling me to wing it just wasn't a smart idea on the developers part.
The game features on-line play but it's for deathmatchs only and due to the game flopping so hard I doubt it's life is all that action packed now and I doubt if it ever will be. So we get a short campaign and a half assed on-line factor as well.
I can't recommend this as rental or a purchase. It just isn't worth while and I can think of at least 10 other shooters that are better than this released in the past year. This is right up there with the Outfit and Front lines as the worst of the past 12 months.
Story - 8/10
Graphics - 4/10
Sound - 4/10
Control - 7/10
Game Play - 5/10
Replay Value - 4/10
Final Score - 3/10
Wednesday, April 9, 2008
Spiderwick Chronicles
Spiderwick Chronicles is based off the hit movie that was released in theaters in 2008. It has more in common with the film than the books and actually, besides a few side quests like objectives, it follows the film almost spot on.
I wouldn't call myself a fan of the books anyway but the film was very enjoyable and I can happily say the same about this game. The plot itself is simple. Jared, his twin Simon and their sister Mallory move into a new mansion after their parents split. Jared finds a book written by his great uncle Arther Spiderwick. It's a book containing everything a person could want to know about the fairy realm but when he opens the book he releases its presence to Mulgoroth who is an evil creature that wants to book so he can rule all.
By using actual film footage the story is told in a narrative fashion. This is one of the few times where the actual film footage is crystal clear. In game graphics are sharp and colorful. I found the game to be very pleasing to the eyes. Locations aren't the most exciting thing but they all look good and the enemy models look spot on to the film counterparts.
Not only does the game look good but it also offers the voice talent of the films original cast so that was an added little bonus. Even the sounds appear to come from the film. My only problem is that the music is kind of meh. I remember none of it besides the them from the film and even then one would think I'd remember something of the music after playing for 4 hours straight.
I hit this game running, which doesn't happen often and almost never when it comes to a game based on a film which in turn is based off a book series. However, this game is incredibly fun and just an all around enjoyable game.
You gain control of the three children as the plot unfolds and it's always one at a time for plot reasons. Not until the final chapter can you switch between them all outside the mansion. Each kid plays differently as well as Jared is stronger of the three and has normal throwing skills. Simon has a juice sprayer and explosive throwing items. Mallory uses the sword so her combat is quicker. I don't know if she can throw anything or what it could be. So while they are pretty much the same they do have enough difference to make them feel different.
The game is split up into chapters and you always have a check list of what you need to do but it is vague at times. The only time I was ever confused was when I was looking for a way back into the caves and the game didn't explain how to lower the red bushes which was sovled in a way I wasn't thinking of.
That's another thing. The game really doesn't have many puzzles and the only other puzzle requires you to capture three spirits and use them in an order to then smash something. It felt random and kind of tough as I had a hard time finding the sprites.
You collect sprites throughout the game. Each type offers a different ability be it extra strength, speed or a special power. You can hold three at a time so it's good to stock them. To catch them though you need to use the net and then draw there picture which is more of a paint by numbers minus the numbers. It's fun but an enemy attack can cause you to end the painting and set the sprite free. Once you capture a spirit you won't need to paint them again but this will cause some confusion when trying to fill the book.
You will constantly find yourself hunting for new information on sprites and trolls and whatever else would be in the field guide. So it's an extra collect-a-thon. The entire game feels like one though. Even at the start you'll need to find x item to get to x area and it just goes on like that.
It some how remains fun as the combat is simple but it also feels rewarding in a beat'em up way. The game isn't very long though and 100% is possible within 6 hours. There is a multiplayer mode which is either timed or point based and then you can select if you just want sprites or goblins or both and then you get points based on what you capture or kill. It's mindless but somewhat fun.
I would highly recommend this game to anyone looking for a good family friendly title. Platformer fans should also check it out as it's a nice refreshing title from the tired first person shooters the market is currently flooded with. Just don't go in expecting deep game play or anything that's deep. Sit back and enjoy one of the best games so far of 2008.
Story - 8/10
Graphics - 9/10
Sound - 8/10
Control - 10/10
Game Play - 8/10
Replay Value - 4/10
Final Score - 8/10
I wouldn't call myself a fan of the books anyway but the film was very enjoyable and I can happily say the same about this game. The plot itself is simple. Jared, his twin Simon and their sister Mallory move into a new mansion after their parents split. Jared finds a book written by his great uncle Arther Spiderwick. It's a book containing everything a person could want to know about the fairy realm but when he opens the book he releases its presence to Mulgoroth who is an evil creature that wants to book so he can rule all.
By using actual film footage the story is told in a narrative fashion. This is one of the few times where the actual film footage is crystal clear. In game graphics are sharp and colorful. I found the game to be very pleasing to the eyes. Locations aren't the most exciting thing but they all look good and the enemy models look spot on to the film counterparts.
Not only does the game look good but it also offers the voice talent of the films original cast so that was an added little bonus. Even the sounds appear to come from the film. My only problem is that the music is kind of meh. I remember none of it besides the them from the film and even then one would think I'd remember something of the music after playing for 4 hours straight.
I hit this game running, which doesn't happen often and almost never when it comes to a game based on a film which in turn is based off a book series. However, this game is incredibly fun and just an all around enjoyable game.
You gain control of the three children as the plot unfolds and it's always one at a time for plot reasons. Not until the final chapter can you switch between them all outside the mansion. Each kid plays differently as well as Jared is stronger of the three and has normal throwing skills. Simon has a juice sprayer and explosive throwing items. Mallory uses the sword so her combat is quicker. I don't know if she can throw anything or what it could be. So while they are pretty much the same they do have enough difference to make them feel different.
The game is split up into chapters and you always have a check list of what you need to do but it is vague at times. The only time I was ever confused was when I was looking for a way back into the caves and the game didn't explain how to lower the red bushes which was sovled in a way I wasn't thinking of.
That's another thing. The game really doesn't have many puzzles and the only other puzzle requires you to capture three spirits and use them in an order to then smash something. It felt random and kind of tough as I had a hard time finding the sprites.
You collect sprites throughout the game. Each type offers a different ability be it extra strength, speed or a special power. You can hold three at a time so it's good to stock them. To catch them though you need to use the net and then draw there picture which is more of a paint by numbers minus the numbers. It's fun but an enemy attack can cause you to end the painting and set the sprite free. Once you capture a spirit you won't need to paint them again but this will cause some confusion when trying to fill the book.
You will constantly find yourself hunting for new information on sprites and trolls and whatever else would be in the field guide. So it's an extra collect-a-thon. The entire game feels like one though. Even at the start you'll need to find x item to get to x area and it just goes on like that.
It some how remains fun as the combat is simple but it also feels rewarding in a beat'em up way. The game isn't very long though and 100% is possible within 6 hours. There is a multiplayer mode which is either timed or point based and then you can select if you just want sprites or goblins or both and then you get points based on what you capture or kill. It's mindless but somewhat fun.
I would highly recommend this game to anyone looking for a good family friendly title. Platformer fans should also check it out as it's a nice refreshing title from the tired first person shooters the market is currently flooded with. Just don't go in expecting deep game play or anything that's deep. Sit back and enjoy one of the best games so far of 2008.
Story - 8/10
Graphics - 9/10
Sound - 8/10
Control - 10/10
Game Play - 8/10
Replay Value - 4/10
Final Score - 8/10
Monday, April 7, 2008
The Club
Sega sure is polluting the market this year with a slew of titles that they normally wouldn't be involved with. The Club is the third Sega title I've played this month so it's surprising that it is continuing with their new trend of decent titles.
The Club is a ugh club where you shoot things. Well, sort of I guess. It's more like a game where you race through an area blasting enemies. Hell, the game has no real plot, think of it as a plotless Fight Club but with guns instead of fists.
Graphically the game is a bit boring to look at. Not that it looks bad but nothing stands out as being interesting. The red arrow signs pointing you in the right direction don't help matters but everything has decent details and the colors are vibrant.
The problem with the game is that it really doesn't have a whole lot going on. I'll say it right now, this game was a blast to play. It's mindless and fun. It requires almost zero thinking and its balls to the walls action formula is kind of entertaining.
The game is split up into 8 arenas, each having it's own theme like a train yard, a ship, war zone, prison. You get the idea. Not all that unique or interesting but the maps feel like mazes almost. The maps themselves range from very small to medium size. None will last more than a few minutes and everything is just about speed.
There is usually 6 or more stages per arena. These stages have a few different goals. it might be to stay within a marked area for X amount of time and just surviving. Another might have you running "laps" around the stage. Or you may just need to blow stuff up and reach the exit. Either way it's as mindless as it can get and damn it sure is fun.
You gain combos and there are hidden items that give you multiplies and other stuff so it just becomes this over the top shoot'em up and it's just fun, which is something I can't say about a lot of games.
The problem I ran into though is that some of these stages took forever to load. one took almost 2 minuets to load and I think it took me a lot less to finish which sucks after a few times and if you lose or want to restart then it has to reload. You only get five retries per arena so you have to watch what you're doing.
Sadly the game really doesn't have much else going for it. There are eight playable characters but they play too much alike to be all that fun. Otherwise you get on-line play but the community seems to be kind of dead which is a shame as it is fun to just mess around in this one.
That's it though. It has no real substance. if this was a bargain title I would run out and buy it right now. As it stands though it isn't worth the price of admission but I would highly recommend renting this game as I had a lot of fun with it, more so than any other game I've played in 2008 so far.
Story - 2/10
Graphics - 8/10
Sound - 6/10
Control - 9/10
Game Play - 7/10
Replay Value - 4/10
Final Score - 6/10
The Club is a ugh club where you shoot things. Well, sort of I guess. It's more like a game where you race through an area blasting enemies. Hell, the game has no real plot, think of it as a plotless Fight Club but with guns instead of fists.
Graphically the game is a bit boring to look at. Not that it looks bad but nothing stands out as being interesting. The red arrow signs pointing you in the right direction don't help matters but everything has decent details and the colors are vibrant.
The problem with the game is that it really doesn't have a whole lot going on. I'll say it right now, this game was a blast to play. It's mindless and fun. It requires almost zero thinking and its balls to the walls action formula is kind of entertaining.
The game is split up into 8 arenas, each having it's own theme like a train yard, a ship, war zone, prison. You get the idea. Not all that unique or interesting but the maps feel like mazes almost. The maps themselves range from very small to medium size. None will last more than a few minutes and everything is just about speed.
There is usually 6 or more stages per arena. These stages have a few different goals. it might be to stay within a marked area for X amount of time and just surviving. Another might have you running "laps" around the stage. Or you may just need to blow stuff up and reach the exit. Either way it's as mindless as it can get and damn it sure is fun.
You gain combos and there are hidden items that give you multiplies and other stuff so it just becomes this over the top shoot'em up and it's just fun, which is something I can't say about a lot of games.
The problem I ran into though is that some of these stages took forever to load. one took almost 2 minuets to load and I think it took me a lot less to finish which sucks after a few times and if you lose or want to restart then it has to reload. You only get five retries per arena so you have to watch what you're doing.
Sadly the game really doesn't have much else going for it. There are eight playable characters but they play too much alike to be all that fun. Otherwise you get on-line play but the community seems to be kind of dead which is a shame as it is fun to just mess around in this one.
That's it though. It has no real substance. if this was a bargain title I would run out and buy it right now. As it stands though it isn't worth the price of admission but I would highly recommend renting this game as I had a lot of fun with it, more so than any other game I've played in 2008 so far.
Story - 2/10
Graphics - 8/10
Sound - 6/10
Control - 9/10
Game Play - 7/10
Replay Value - 4/10
Final Score - 6/10
Jumper: Griffin's Story
Jumper was a film that looked great on paper and just failed to deliver anything worth while. The idea may have crossed over into the video game format nicely if it hadn't been for what I now consider to be the worst developer around, the team behind Looney Tunes: Acme Arsenel... Yes, they too are behind this monstrosity.
Think of it, a person who can jump anywhere they can think of. Just think of Japan and you could just hop right there in the blink of an eye. Well, this is a prequel to the movie so it had a slim chance of being good but frankly the plot is ass and involves a lad, his dead parents and an organization. yeah, we've all heard this one before.
Not only does the game insult us with it's story but it has some of the worst load times this generation. It takes a good two minutes for each level to load.
Maybe this would be acceptable if the game wasn't the fugliest thing this side of a transvestite shemale hooker. The textures are poor, everything is rooms with repeated items and small corridors. No thought went into the locations.
What makes the graphics even worse are the character models. There are three or so enemy types but they all look the same but have different annoying voices. What's worse than that is your guy kind of looks like them all as they seem to have the same outfit on and if you're not staring at the screen it's easy to not be able to tell which character is the oen you're controlling.
Again, this wouldn't be a problem but the game play itself relies on you knowing who you are. This is an action game through and through but it reminds me of a beat'em up but not nearly as entertaining as The Warriors of even Streets of Rage.
See, because you jump all over you can attack from all sides in the air so you kind of just hop around as each face button represents a direction. This is a flaw in itself as the camera shifts, which also shifts the true nature of where the shields might be up.
I'm getting a head of myself though. See, each enemy has a color around them. Green means it's their open spot and red means they will block you if you try and attack from that direction so it's like a match game. So you can see how the camera may cause some problems. Not only that but the camera often gets stuck on random items in the environment and that is always when an enemy is behind a pillar so you can't see their colors. There was also a room with red lasers that flash which again made it hard to figure anything out.
The game consists of five whole levels and should take the average gamer about 2 hours to beat and you should net at least 700 of the 1000 achievement points in that time frame. Seriously, no thought went into this title.
The boss fights are also a problem in the game. Between being too long or too cheap they are just kind of boring and put up less of a challenge than a room full of normal enemies. Thankfully the final boss has only one open spot and he sends random enemies who shoot nets to annoy you even more. Gee, thanks!
I don't know what else to say about this game. There is no real point to it. It's ugly as all hell. Sure Jamie Bell provides his voice to his character from the movie but his three lame one liners may force you to mute the game. This game has not one single redeeming value to it and it is by far the worst game I've played since the original The Mummy on the Playstation.
Story - 3/10
Graphics - 1/10
Sound - 2/10
Control - 6/10
Game Play - 1/10
Replay Value - 0/10
Final Score - 1/10
Think of it, a person who can jump anywhere they can think of. Just think of Japan and you could just hop right there in the blink of an eye. Well, this is a prequel to the movie so it had a slim chance of being good but frankly the plot is ass and involves a lad, his dead parents and an organization. yeah, we've all heard this one before.
Not only does the game insult us with it's story but it has some of the worst load times this generation. It takes a good two minutes for each level to load.
Maybe this would be acceptable if the game wasn't the fugliest thing this side of a transvestite shemale hooker. The textures are poor, everything is rooms with repeated items and small corridors. No thought went into the locations.
What makes the graphics even worse are the character models. There are three or so enemy types but they all look the same but have different annoying voices. What's worse than that is your guy kind of looks like them all as they seem to have the same outfit on and if you're not staring at the screen it's easy to not be able to tell which character is the oen you're controlling.
Again, this wouldn't be a problem but the game play itself relies on you knowing who you are. This is an action game through and through but it reminds me of a beat'em up but not nearly as entertaining as The Warriors of even Streets of Rage.
See, because you jump all over you can attack from all sides in the air so you kind of just hop around as each face button represents a direction. This is a flaw in itself as the camera shifts, which also shifts the true nature of where the shields might be up.
I'm getting a head of myself though. See, each enemy has a color around them. Green means it's their open spot and red means they will block you if you try and attack from that direction so it's like a match game. So you can see how the camera may cause some problems. Not only that but the camera often gets stuck on random items in the environment and that is always when an enemy is behind a pillar so you can't see their colors. There was also a room with red lasers that flash which again made it hard to figure anything out.
The game consists of five whole levels and should take the average gamer about 2 hours to beat and you should net at least 700 of the 1000 achievement points in that time frame. Seriously, no thought went into this title.
The boss fights are also a problem in the game. Between being too long or too cheap they are just kind of boring and put up less of a challenge than a room full of normal enemies. Thankfully the final boss has only one open spot and he sends random enemies who shoot nets to annoy you even more. Gee, thanks!
I don't know what else to say about this game. There is no real point to it. It's ugly as all hell. Sure Jamie Bell provides his voice to his character from the movie but his three lame one liners may force you to mute the game. This game has not one single redeeming value to it and it is by far the worst game I've played since the original The Mummy on the Playstation.
Story - 3/10
Graphics - 1/10
Sound - 2/10
Control - 6/10
Game Play - 1/10
Replay Value - 0/10
Final Score - 1/10
Sunday, April 6, 2008
Sega Superstars Tennis
Sports is the hardest thing for me to review. I'm not into anything besides college basketball and hockey so my knowledge of the rules is very limited. However, this isn't your typical sports game and while I still don't know the exact rules of tennis, you really don't need to know them to enjoy this game.
Following in the footsteps of their once rivals Nintendo, Sega has compiled their own cast of characters in a sporting game. It uses the same engine as the Virtua Tennis series which I do enjoy every once in a while despite not owning any of them.
Sega has taken a different approach with this game though. It's all a mishmash of mini-games and actual tennis which is actually kind of interesting when you think about it. One thing Sega does have going for itself is that it's characters aren't all that typical and the different game genres really helps this game stick out in the crowd.
They took some care with this title for once and it shows with the graphics. We have very sharp and colorful graphics. There are ten themed courts, all of which are interesting to see but I do wish that each game represented had it's own court and character but we can't ahve it all. Either way we do get some nice themes going with the courts and I like the cameos in the background.
The actual tennis in this game is pretty fun, if you like the sport. Bouncing a ball back and forth could be amusing I guess but to be honest I've never played the real sport so who am I to judge. However, my only problem with the actual tennis part of this game, which really isn't that big of a part to the game, is that the AI seems very spontaneous. Meaning the difficulty, even on easy, can hit so that your opponent will slaughter you in one match but in the next just fall over for you. I also had some minor issues with seeing the ball but I got over that and it was mainly due to a random yellow spot that appeared and I had thought it was an indicator for where the ball was going but then it just happened randomly s I have yet to figure out what that actually was about.
There is also a super power that you and your opponent can unleash. These will cause the ball to do wacky things that are more annoying than anything and I can't help but wonder how many times I screwed myself over by trying to do them. Thankfully you can turn these off in the options menu which I highly recommend doing.
Rest of the game seems to be about the mini games, which don't feel like normal mini games. The main part of this title is called Superstars which gives you themed challenges per title. be it Sonic, House of the Dead or Alex Kidd. It's pretty amusing really and for Sega fans it's a wet dream come true. Sega doesn't always follow through with what you have here but it could be worse.
The mini games aren't all that exciting but each world has it's own thing going for it. You may end up in an actual tennis match, be it singles or doubles. Or you just might have a full on mini game.
My personal favorite mini games has to do with House of the Dead. You have hordes of zombies coming at you and you are hitting these fireballs from statues into them and knocking them down. yeah, it isn't complicated but it's pretty sweet. Besides that we get a mini game where Sonic needs to dodge bombs and electric shots, all the while collecting rings (in true Sonic fashion).
We also have some bland mini games though. The Jet Set Radio games are kind of lame. They have you collecting paint cans while dodging the police. Not really true to the spirit but the game but in the next breath you also get to splatter paintballs so all isn't bad.
As you progress through the Superstars mode you unlock new courts, new characters and new music tracks to listen to. This is awesome because you get classic Sega tunes from all the games that are featured here. If only rest of the game had this much effort put forth it would have rocked even more.
So besides quick matches and the Superstars mode we also have on-line play. No one really plays on-line it seems and the few games I did get into had an unfortunate meeting with some nasty lag. You can also watch matches via Sega TV which is useless but cool none the less.
I can't sit here and say this is the best game ever because it isn't. For a Sega fan it's an awesome experience and I see them getting the most out of this title. If you don't know who Beat or Ulala are then this might not be for you. In the end it has some flaws but fans will eat this one up and the game play isn't too shabby to boot but the on-line kind of hurts the overall package.
Story - N/A
Graphics - 9/10
Sound - 10/10
Control - 8/10
Game Play - 7/10
Replay Value - 8/10
Final Score - 7/10
Following in the footsteps of their once rivals Nintendo, Sega has compiled their own cast of characters in a sporting game. It uses the same engine as the Virtua Tennis series which I do enjoy every once in a while despite not owning any of them.
Sega has taken a different approach with this game though. It's all a mishmash of mini-games and actual tennis which is actually kind of interesting when you think about it. One thing Sega does have going for itself is that it's characters aren't all that typical and the different game genres really helps this game stick out in the crowd.
They took some care with this title for once and it shows with the graphics. We have very sharp and colorful graphics. There are ten themed courts, all of which are interesting to see but I do wish that each game represented had it's own court and character but we can't ahve it all. Either way we do get some nice themes going with the courts and I like the cameos in the background.
The actual tennis in this game is pretty fun, if you like the sport. Bouncing a ball back and forth could be amusing I guess but to be honest I've never played the real sport so who am I to judge. However, my only problem with the actual tennis part of this game, which really isn't that big of a part to the game, is that the AI seems very spontaneous. Meaning the difficulty, even on easy, can hit so that your opponent will slaughter you in one match but in the next just fall over for you. I also had some minor issues with seeing the ball but I got over that and it was mainly due to a random yellow spot that appeared and I had thought it was an indicator for where the ball was going but then it just happened randomly s I have yet to figure out what that actually was about.
There is also a super power that you and your opponent can unleash. These will cause the ball to do wacky things that are more annoying than anything and I can't help but wonder how many times I screwed myself over by trying to do them. Thankfully you can turn these off in the options menu which I highly recommend doing.
Rest of the game seems to be about the mini games, which don't feel like normal mini games. The main part of this title is called Superstars which gives you themed challenges per title. be it Sonic, House of the Dead or Alex Kidd. It's pretty amusing really and for Sega fans it's a wet dream come true. Sega doesn't always follow through with what you have here but it could be worse.
The mini games aren't all that exciting but each world has it's own thing going for it. You may end up in an actual tennis match, be it singles or doubles. Or you just might have a full on mini game.
My personal favorite mini games has to do with House of the Dead. You have hordes of zombies coming at you and you are hitting these fireballs from statues into them and knocking them down. yeah, it isn't complicated but it's pretty sweet. Besides that we get a mini game where Sonic needs to dodge bombs and electric shots, all the while collecting rings (in true Sonic fashion).
We also have some bland mini games though. The Jet Set Radio games are kind of lame. They have you collecting paint cans while dodging the police. Not really true to the spirit but the game but in the next breath you also get to splatter paintballs so all isn't bad.
As you progress through the Superstars mode you unlock new courts, new characters and new music tracks to listen to. This is awesome because you get classic Sega tunes from all the games that are featured here. If only rest of the game had this much effort put forth it would have rocked even more.
So besides quick matches and the Superstars mode we also have on-line play. No one really plays on-line it seems and the few games I did get into had an unfortunate meeting with some nasty lag. You can also watch matches via Sega TV which is useless but cool none the less.
I can't sit here and say this is the best game ever because it isn't. For a Sega fan it's an awesome experience and I see them getting the most out of this title. If you don't know who Beat or Ulala are then this might not be for you. In the end it has some flaws but fans will eat this one up and the game play isn't too shabby to boot but the on-line kind of hurts the overall package.
Story - N/A
Graphics - 9/10
Sound - 10/10
Control - 8/10
Game Play - 7/10
Replay Value - 8/10
Final Score - 7/10
Thursday, April 3, 2008
Army of Two
EA promised this to be a kick ass game without the AI problems that haunted Brute Force. Yeah, they lied and why am I not surprised. EA continues it's recent trend of releasing shit and we now get this woeful game.
Two guys are framed for something or other, they kill men for money, Iraq war blah blah blah. I couldn't have cared less. The frat brother reactions to each other is hysterically bad, the cast is just as absurd and it just did nothing for me.
Actually, I was playing a co-op game and I killed our target of the stage and he fist pumped me which I thought was hysterical and should never be done in real life. It's like this game was developed by frat boys who enjoy the post touchdown ass smack a little too much (not that anything is wrong with that) but it becomes too silly for this game.
To be fair though the game isn't THAT bad I guess. The visuals are nice to an extent. The enemies look dumb and really the art direction is just poss poor all around from the sets to the cast but the details are pretty well done and the customization of the weapons is pretty cool I guess. If you're into big shiny gold guns....
The music felt like it was the same three notes over and over and it did nothing to create a mood or any sort of atmosphere. The voice work was rather typical of the genre as well. Guns sounded okay but there was times where I would hear a random beeping for no real reason.
Speaking of no real reason let me just say that during my co-op missions my partner and myself would constantly get game over and we had no clue why. There was no inclination of what could have possibly caused the game over screen to pop up when both of us are standing. Maybe it's just another of the many glitches this game seems to have.
The actual game play is very co-op based. I found the single player experience to be painful due to my AI partner doing stupid stuff and with double taps on a d-pad and bumper holds for different terms it became a bit tedious trying to remember what did what and in the middle of combat one shouldn't have to worry about their partner running to death.
The game is made up one a single training area and 6 missions. The missions may take you up to an hour each so the play through time should be around 6 hours or so but could be as low as five hours.
Levels are laid out in a linear format but with connecting paths from branches so it could almost feel like it isn't but things tend to look the same. There are main objectives and secondary objectives and you gain many from them all.
Money is used for upgrades and new guns. It's not a very complicated system and at the start of every mission and at least once during a mission you'll get a chance to upgrade your weapons. I pretty much stuck with a specific main weapon and changed things up by suggestions of friends who suffered through the game already.
That was another problem. No one seemed to be playing co-op on-line. I ran into a grand total of two playing in 5 hours. That isn't a whole lot. The actual vs on-line is kind of boring as well. You use the maps from the stages and you have goals to do. The team who gets the most cash wins but everyone keeps their cash anyway. It could be interesting but that's all it has to offer. Wasn't very fun after doing each map once.
Not only that but you go through so many loading screens to get anywhere that it feels more like a chore. Even the main game has to load during the missions and it isn't like the areas are all that big either.
The game also has one sluggish vehicle moment and some horrific parachute missions that I pray is never included in another video game ever. It's just not very fun and it requires both people to try and communicate but because you need to focus your shot you can't see what's around and when you hop out of focus it will reset your aim. It does the same during normal combat and just becomes annoying.
Oh and lets not forget about if your partner is downed you have so much time to bring them back so you need to drag them to a safe place and hold them to bring them back to life. Yes, it even says hold and it makes no sense but maybe the man sweat has magical healing pwoers in this game...
There are so many other games in this genre that have done it much better that I can't even recommend this game for a rental. Go pop your copy of Gears of War into your 360 because a year and a half later it's still better than this game and looks better to boot. The on-line isn't even worthwhile and there sin't enough people playing co-op to make anything decent about this game.
Story - 4/10
Graphics - 7/10
Sound - 5/10
Control - 7/10
Game Play - 6/10
Replay value - 4/10
Final Score - 5/10
Two guys are framed for something or other, they kill men for money, Iraq war blah blah blah. I couldn't have cared less. The frat brother reactions to each other is hysterically bad, the cast is just as absurd and it just did nothing for me.
Actually, I was playing a co-op game and I killed our target of the stage and he fist pumped me which I thought was hysterical and should never be done in real life. It's like this game was developed by frat boys who enjoy the post touchdown ass smack a little too much (not that anything is wrong with that) but it becomes too silly for this game.
To be fair though the game isn't THAT bad I guess. The visuals are nice to an extent. The enemies look dumb and really the art direction is just poss poor all around from the sets to the cast but the details are pretty well done and the customization of the weapons is pretty cool I guess. If you're into big shiny gold guns....
The music felt like it was the same three notes over and over and it did nothing to create a mood or any sort of atmosphere. The voice work was rather typical of the genre as well. Guns sounded okay but there was times where I would hear a random beeping for no real reason.
Speaking of no real reason let me just say that during my co-op missions my partner and myself would constantly get game over and we had no clue why. There was no inclination of what could have possibly caused the game over screen to pop up when both of us are standing. Maybe it's just another of the many glitches this game seems to have.
The actual game play is very co-op based. I found the single player experience to be painful due to my AI partner doing stupid stuff and with double taps on a d-pad and bumper holds for different terms it became a bit tedious trying to remember what did what and in the middle of combat one shouldn't have to worry about their partner running to death.
The game is made up one a single training area and 6 missions. The missions may take you up to an hour each so the play through time should be around 6 hours or so but could be as low as five hours.
Levels are laid out in a linear format but with connecting paths from branches so it could almost feel like it isn't but things tend to look the same. There are main objectives and secondary objectives and you gain many from them all.
Money is used for upgrades and new guns. It's not a very complicated system and at the start of every mission and at least once during a mission you'll get a chance to upgrade your weapons. I pretty much stuck with a specific main weapon and changed things up by suggestions of friends who suffered through the game already.
That was another problem. No one seemed to be playing co-op on-line. I ran into a grand total of two playing in 5 hours. That isn't a whole lot. The actual vs on-line is kind of boring as well. You use the maps from the stages and you have goals to do. The team who gets the most cash wins but everyone keeps their cash anyway. It could be interesting but that's all it has to offer. Wasn't very fun after doing each map once.
Not only that but you go through so many loading screens to get anywhere that it feels more like a chore. Even the main game has to load during the missions and it isn't like the areas are all that big either.
The game also has one sluggish vehicle moment and some horrific parachute missions that I pray is never included in another video game ever. It's just not very fun and it requires both people to try and communicate but because you need to focus your shot you can't see what's around and when you hop out of focus it will reset your aim. It does the same during normal combat and just becomes annoying.
Oh and lets not forget about if your partner is downed you have so much time to bring them back so you need to drag them to a safe place and hold them to bring them back to life. Yes, it even says hold and it makes no sense but maybe the man sweat has magical healing pwoers in this game...
There are so many other games in this genre that have done it much better that I can't even recommend this game for a rental. Go pop your copy of Gears of War into your 360 because a year and a half later it's still better than this game and looks better to boot. The on-line isn't even worthwhile and there sin't enough people playing co-op to make anything decent about this game.
Story - 4/10
Graphics - 7/10
Sound - 5/10
Control - 7/10
Game Play - 6/10
Replay value - 4/10
Final Score - 5/10
Viking: Battle for Asgard
Viking looked like one bad ass game. Playing a viking and ravaging the lands. It looked like an action adventure version of Valkyrie Profile. So how could anyone really screw that up? Well, to be fair it isn't actually a bad game but it isn't as grand as it could have been or even promised to be.
Sega hasn't been on a winning streak lately since they were destroyed in a console war and then raped their mascot. I was instantly saddened when I saw they were involved with this game but I'm all about forgiveness and perhaps they are heading in the right direction.
The main focus of the game is to free captives, take over hideouts and villages and to find magical items to stop evil. Yeah, we're not exactly a real bad ass, more of a good vs evil kind of guy so we venture forth into the land of predictability and blandness. Don't expect a grand plot or even a half way decent one. If you saw the recent action flick "10,000 BC" then you may have a rough idea of the plot, but minus the love story because that just isn't manly.
To be fair though the game does look gorgeous. It's kind of hard to screw up a game that is so high in the fantasy look and thankfully they didn't screw that up. The locations are lush and the weather effects are nice as well. Character models feel a bit limited and boring but rest of the game looks great. But with great looks comes some nasty slow down in some of the more epic battles and when I see my guy chugging along like a midget on a bike going up hill then I know that this battle just shouldn't have been.
Combat is fairly simplistic, reminding me of a Dynasty Warriors game more than say God of War of Devil May Cry. You can buy new moves and all that but after five or so the game just ups the power of the moves so you have a very short supply of moves on hand for the entire game.
The world is my biggest problem with the game. It's made up of three islands. Each works as a city like in Grand Theft Auto 3. They tend too share a lot in common with their design and while some spots are interesting by the third island I couldn't help but feel a real nasty case of deja vu.
It doesn't help matters that the "missions" are so generic that a small child could have made them up. Go to a temple and fight the bad guys, save the captives in this town, ambush these troops. it never really varies from that path and to reach your main goal you have a little check list. Got the amulet? Check. Got the gem for it? Check. Have you powered it up to summon a dragon? Check. Okay then go and fight a boss and finish the island. It never goes past that so the game feels limited.
Maybe that's my biggest problem with the game. It feels like a tired retread of a genre and it fails to even try anything new or exciting. Yeah we get big massive battles but they aren't anything special. Yeah, I can summon a dragon for field combat but first I need to beat a sub-boss to gain some things to then summon it to a marked spot and then it just comes and does its job.
I could sit here and tell you this is a bad game but it isn't in the typical sense. It's just a game that's been done so many times before that it hurts itself by trying nothing new. You even get magic but again it's so limited that games like Devil may Cry from 5 or so years ago did a better job. For $60 I was expecting a lot more and instead I got something that feels like I've played it a hundred times. I recommend a rental for those interested but in no way do I feel this title is worth the price of admission.
Story - 4/10
Graphics - 9/10
Sound - 7/10
Control - 8/10
Game Play - 6/10
Replay Value - 2/10
Final Score - 6/10
Sega hasn't been on a winning streak lately since they were destroyed in a console war and then raped their mascot. I was instantly saddened when I saw they were involved with this game but I'm all about forgiveness and perhaps they are heading in the right direction.
The main focus of the game is to free captives, take over hideouts and villages and to find magical items to stop evil. Yeah, we're not exactly a real bad ass, more of a good vs evil kind of guy so we venture forth into the land of predictability and blandness. Don't expect a grand plot or even a half way decent one. If you saw the recent action flick "10,000 BC" then you may have a rough idea of the plot, but minus the love story because that just isn't manly.
To be fair though the game does look gorgeous. It's kind of hard to screw up a game that is so high in the fantasy look and thankfully they didn't screw that up. The locations are lush and the weather effects are nice as well. Character models feel a bit limited and boring but rest of the game looks great. But with great looks comes some nasty slow down in some of the more epic battles and when I see my guy chugging along like a midget on a bike going up hill then I know that this battle just shouldn't have been.
Combat is fairly simplistic, reminding me of a Dynasty Warriors game more than say God of War of Devil May Cry. You can buy new moves and all that but after five or so the game just ups the power of the moves so you have a very short supply of moves on hand for the entire game.
The world is my biggest problem with the game. It's made up of three islands. Each works as a city like in Grand Theft Auto 3. They tend too share a lot in common with their design and while some spots are interesting by the third island I couldn't help but feel a real nasty case of deja vu.
It doesn't help matters that the "missions" are so generic that a small child could have made them up. Go to a temple and fight the bad guys, save the captives in this town, ambush these troops. it never really varies from that path and to reach your main goal you have a little check list. Got the amulet? Check. Got the gem for it? Check. Have you powered it up to summon a dragon? Check. Okay then go and fight a boss and finish the island. It never goes past that so the game feels limited.
Maybe that's my biggest problem with the game. It feels like a tired retread of a genre and it fails to even try anything new or exciting. Yeah we get big massive battles but they aren't anything special. Yeah, I can summon a dragon for field combat but first I need to beat a sub-boss to gain some things to then summon it to a marked spot and then it just comes and does its job.
I could sit here and tell you this is a bad game but it isn't in the typical sense. It's just a game that's been done so many times before that it hurts itself by trying nothing new. You even get magic but again it's so limited that games like Devil may Cry from 5 or so years ago did a better job. For $60 I was expecting a lot more and instead I got something that feels like I've played it a hundred times. I recommend a rental for those interested but in no way do I feel this title is worth the price of admission.
Story - 4/10
Graphics - 9/10
Sound - 7/10
Control - 8/10
Game Play - 6/10
Replay Value - 2/10
Final Score - 6/10
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
Rainbow Six: Vegas 2
I guess I was one of the few who wasn't all that impressed with the original Vegas title. I'm actually not too fond of the Rainbow Six series in general. It all falls back on the piss poor Dreamcast version which haunts me to this day.
I rented Vegas 2 because it was the "IN" thing to do. Yeah, I'm all about playing the popular stuff even if it isn't my cup of tea. Let me say though that I had some highs and lows with this game and I'm going to bring them all to light.
If you've played any game that deals with you being a government operative and needing to take down some terrorists then you know the plot of this game. It's finale is almost worth while though but don't expect a refreshing take on a tired genre like Call of Duty 4 gave us last fall.
The game runs on the Unreal Engine which is rather pretty. The levels themselves feel a bit fake early on but once you hit Old Casino and on the textures and everything spice up. I love how so many things are destructible and how certain items can be shot through.
Character models are less than exciting and I do wish you had more facial and body type options for your character but I was able to create a half way decent character. The game also supports the Vision Camera but I don't have it so I can't tell you how well it works.
I'm normally not impressed with the music in a shooting title and this one did nothing for me. There was an instance or two that I enjoyed the music but most of the time it was just background noise. Voice work is the same ole fair. I wonder if they have a team of guys who do the voice work for these games as it's so run the mill.
My first problem with the game was that as I neared the end of the first mission my 360 gave me a disc read error and stopped working. It's done it before but whatever. Then for the next 10 tries when i tried to load the game up my 360 was telling me I needed to insert a 360 disc... A quick internet search lead me to a number of topics and complaints about the same thing. Thanks Ubisoft!
Now that that's out of my system lets tackle the game play shall we. We have three types of modes of play. Single player, Terrorist Hunter and Live matches. Single player can be done solo or in co-op. I found single player to be a total bore while co-op was a lot more fun. Here's problem number 2. The host would often quit as the level was finishing up which caused me to lose my Knight hit and the fact that I had finished a level. Thanks guys!
Yes I am bitter but whatever. The locations are fairly tame and not all that interesting. We get parking garages, casinos and penthouses. What I did like is that the game gives you some actual choices with doors and pathways for going through a number of different situations. One is in the penthouse level. You can rappel down the side of the building, jump through the window and pray you don't die. Or you can go down the broke elevator shaft and snipe them... Ah choices.
The enemy A.I. ran the fine line of brain dead and overly aggressive. it was always one or the other. Your team AI is mentally challenged and they tend to stand and cover even when no enemies are around and this is after I have told them to move on.
So to sum up this section I'll just say that single player is boring when done alone as it's too stale. On the other hand it's rather entertaining in co-op but here's a wish I had. If the host quits you should be able to finish the level.
There was also a few times where the levels in co-op play stuttered into life, enemies magically appeared and once I was re-spawned in the floor and ended up falling to my death finally only for the game to say I had created a crater in the Earth... Did we forget to beta test this game?
The next mode is Terrorist Mode. You have access to all of the Live multi-player maps (about 14 I believe).. Each stage has a set number of terrorists for you to take out. it's actually pretty fun and a good time waster. I actually had more fun with this than I did doing the single player by myself. It's also playable on-line.
The on-line play is rather annoying. If you play a ranked match it will boot you out after each match because it's ranked but this requires a few loading screens that are just too long and just shouldn't be that long to load a menu.
I did like the game play options, which are your typical fair and the menus and everything were nicely done. Just not a fan of all of the loading just so you can hunt for a new match.
The game also features a level up system. You gain experience for doing all kinds of different things. Not sure what really does it but I got a lot of points when I leveled up certain skills like close range kills. These level ups net you new equipment that let you take more damage or move faster or whatever. It's a nice system but the game never takes the time to explain it to you. I'm not sure if it's in the solo single player mode but it was in everything else, including co-op so I'm guessing it's there as well.
I part of me wants to recommend Vegas 2. Another part of me is pissed about the lack of quality testing that went into the products final stages. The on-line community isn't overly friendly either as in the matches I played, no one ever talked and if this is a team based system then people should chat... So I'll say it's worth a rental, maybe a purchase when it's cheaper and for those who have Xbox Live. Otherwise it really isn't worth it if you can't do co-op or the on-line stuff.
Story - 6/10
Graphics - 9/10
Sound - 7/10
Control - 9/10
Game Play - 8/10
Replay Value - 7/10
Final Score - 7/10
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
NFL Tour Review
I'm not a sports fan. The few sports I do like I don't really play because the idea of sitting in front of my tv and pretty much doing the same thing over and over forever with no real goal just doesn't excite me.
NFL Tour is yet another football title from EA Sports and let's be honest this is a tongue and cheek approach at their own Madden title but it fails in that entire approach.
We get one of the worst commentaries ever created in a sports game. it makes jokes about every commentary repeating itself and then this guy repeats himself immediately afterwards and you'll hear this three or four times in the whole 5 minutes a match takes. It's just annoying beyond belief.
Visually this game is one of the blandest efforts to hit the 360 in a long while. Character models feel dead and the arenas look like complete crap. Even the menus feels dated and bland.
The game play itself should be familiar to anyone who has played the NFL Street titles. I haven't played them so this was a new experience for me. You only have Tour mode and quick play as your main endeavors. Outside of that we get 2 mini games that I didn't mess around with because my 360 crashed on me which annoyed me.
Quick play as you picking your favorite real lfie sports team and playing a quick match. Achievement hunters should be warned that they only unlock on Veteran difficulty which kind of sucks but whatever.
The games AI is rather brain dead on almost any difficulty which is a shame because I think the over the top moves would be a lot more fun with the other team actually seemed to try.
What I did like is that you can break out of holds and other things doing random quick time events. It adds a sudden rush to the game play that makes it more fun than the Madden titles but remember, nothing is realistic in this game.
The NFL Tour mode is rather boring to be honest. You create a very limited character and have him join a team and then play through a season. It works just like quick play except you have a preset schedule.
The game also features on-line play but I didn't bother with it because again my game had crashed and I'm not big into sports games anyway and I have no clue why I even picked this one up.
At the end of the day I must admit that this was a fun waste of time but that's also what it was. A waste of time. The plays aren't overly original or interesting. The commentary is a major annoyance and the abundance of horrible rap music will haunt me for a while.
If you're looking for the next NFL Street then you may want to give this game disc a spin but I think you should try the demo out because it won't be for everyone and EA really fails when they try and make fun of themselves because it's more annoying than funny.
Story - N/A
Graphics - 6/10
Sound - 4/10
Control - 8/10
Game Play - 7/10
Replay Value - 5/10
Final Score - 6/10
Friday, March 14, 2008
Bully: Scholarship Edition
I really didn't care for Bully when it hit the Playstation 2 way back when. It felt limited and the game play wasn't too exciting. Plus the load times were terrible and too frequent.
I can't say much has changed here in this enhanced version of the title. It's pretty much the same game with better graphics and a few added classes to it plus achievements. So while it does add a little more to the game it's nothing that really extends it for a longer period of for those who actually go for 100% anyway as none of the achievements add much replay and the new content will add under an hour of new game play.
The new features are rather stark and don't add up too a whole lot. We get two new classes. Their rewards allow you to see locations of the hidden items. It's actually a rather helpful skill for those who want 100%. Besides that there really isn't much in the way of new features.
The graphics haven gotten an overhaul and they look much sharper. A few problems come with it though as my game had horrendously long load times and they are just too frequent. Not only that but the game chugged along at a mind numbing pace and I had trouble focusing on the actual game play.
Sure, game play isn't everything but the not even the story is worthwhile.You're a young lad who is sent to a boarding school because he's a big ole bully. Well when a bully enters a new school he has to work his way back up the food chain of the bully world or something. Sadly the role of a bully in this game means you protect nerds and make out with ugly girls. Wow, makes me wish I was a bully in school...
It doesn't seem like Rock Star has put much effort into the audio for the game either as the voice work seems to be exactly the same which ranges from good to horrid, depending on which character is talking. The music is rather forgettable and did nothing for me unless it was that annoyingly catchy song during music class.
Let's cover the game play though shall we. The game is a sand box title with a bit of structure to it. You have routine that should be followed but you don't have to. There is a clock and you have classes twice a day. You also have a curfew and if you're up past 2 AM then you pass out from being tired. This causes an unneeded bit of strain on you trying to finish goals.
What makes it more annoying is that if you're caught outside class or out past curfew you can be sent to class or to bed. This is annoying when you've almost finished off a tough mission only to get caught at the last second.
The combat system in the game is fairly simple at fist but you can trade some hidden items for new moves and going to gym class will also net you some moves. I found the fighting to be a bit more enjoyable after the first chapter. Not only that but you can also use different tricks like marbles and a powder to slow your enemy up and if a bat is near by just hit him with it.
Classes also play an important part in the game though. You can get better skills like talking your way out of a beat down or having better girl (or boy) skills.
Each class is a mini game of sorts. One is a rhythm game along the lines of Parappa the Rapper, one is a wrestling match where you just need to pull off the combos. My favorite is the lab mini game where you dissect animals. It's kind of gross to look at but it's rather fun.
The game is split up into chapters and each has about 10 or so missions for about 50 missions total. The game is actually kind of long for a sand box title and with all of the hidden rubberbands and stuff you can easily spend a few good days going for it all.
A part of me wonders why I found this adventure a bit more charming than the PS2 entry but I really can't tell you why. There are some problems though that really hold the game back. As I said before the load times are terrible and frequent and the lag in the actual game is unacceptable.
As far as the genre though you could do a lot worse but you could also do better I guess. It's a fun little game but it's world fills a bit shallow and the entire plot is kind of annoying rather than amusing. I like the more structured nature of the title though than say the completely open world of the Grand Theft Auto series but the time pressure is a bit too annoying.
Story - 6/10
Graphics - 8/10
Sound - 8/10
Control - 8/10
Game Play - 7/10
Replay Value - 7/10
Final Score - 7/10
Thursday, March 13, 2008
Lost: Via Domus Review
I've been watching the T.V. show "Lost" since it started. Well, I watched a friends tapes and then I would watch half a season and then wait for dvds. I'm actually watching this season from the start. When I heard a game was coming I was very excited but thee was some conflicting repots as to if the story was cannon or not.
Well, I resisted the urge to run out and buy the game and thankfully my rental service shipped it to me on release day. I did look up some minor information before playing and I had prepared myself for what was to come.
Good or bad I must say this game is only for fans of the show and I would recommend that you are caught up to the Desmond episode in season 4 before playing this so it won't ruin too much for you. Not a fan of the show? Then this will most likely not be for you.
The game plays like a mix of Myst and some of the more recent adventure titles. The action is very limited and it's pretty much some minor auto aimed gunning action ear the end of the game.
There are six or so chapters that the game is split up into. They all have a basic structure to them. Talk to people, find a flashback, interact in the flash back, go somewhere and the chapter will end.
I know that sounds simple and it really is just that simple. The entire game can be completed in under 5 hours and that is with all 1000 achievement points but you may need a guide to pick up one of those achievements as it's rather random.
The game does do a few interesting things. We get to visit familiar Lost locations like the boat which plays a part in the current season of the show and we have most of the cast here as well which is voiced by the real actors for the most part (a few aren't).
The games problem though besides the length is the puzzles. We have engine puzzles that have you putting in little paths for an electrical charge and we have... Well that's about it. We also have the caves which are the biggest pain in the ass in a game in a long time. The caves are dark and if you stay in the dark too long the mist kills you. So, you need to keep a torch or lighter lit. Fine except there is water and bats which blow your fire out.
The island is also hard to navigate at times as it feels like a maze and you end up having to follow mysterious signs to another sign until you reach a new area. Thankfully the game does allow you to skip to locations once you have found them.
You can also find items on the island like coconuts, bottles of water and other stuff. These things are used to buy other items like torches and a gun and to be honest I can imagine you getting screwed over if you never buy the gun but I guess the game forces you to at one point or another.
There are a few little odd jobs to do here and there in the game but otherwise it might as well be a paint by the numbers. I did like the bomb shelter bit and having to input the numbers. I think that was the only chapter I enjoyed.
My most hated chapter had to be the poorly done stealth chapter which has you hiding in trees avoiding the mist. It became tedious and having to backtrack through it with an explosive was even worse.
The entire game feels this way though. A little good with a little bad. The puzzles feel too watered down and there isn't enough substance to the title to warrant a play through for anyone but a Lost fanatic.
Visually the game is nice though but we don't have a lot of locations and a few of the character models seem to be a bit off. The cut scenes share the same graphics as the in game visuals and frankly it wasn't all that grand to look at but it does recreate a few key scenes from the show.
The plot is fairly simple for those who haven't seen the show. A plane crashes on a mysterious island and the survivors are trying to live and find a way off the island. So we get to see the crash, the first time with The others but it's all told through a new character created just for the game. His back story isn't all that interesting but I did like that we could slightly interact with his past to put the pieces together quicker.
For what it's worth the game isn't horrible and it's one of the better T.V. based games to be released but that really isn't saying a whole lot. Fans should give it a rent but anyone else should just pass this one by unless they want a quick 1000 achievement points.
Story - 7/10
Graphics - 8/10
Sound - 7/10
Control - 8/10
Game Play - 6/10
Replay Value - 2/10
Final Score - 6/10
Naruto: Rise of a Ninja
I'm a fairly big fan of anime but I have limitations to what I like. I don't really care for Dragon Ball Z and the few minutes I've caught of Naruto I wasn't overly impressed but it could have been the horrid dub voice of Naruto and this is coming from a fan of dubs.
So I rented Naruto despite my uninterested in it all together. As soon as I popped it in I was surprised by a number of things. Visually this game is a stunner. The cut scenes look fantastic with very sharp cell shading, some of the best this generation of gaming. The in game graphics are just a mild step down but the town, forest and even characters look good.
A few problems arise from there though as the game reuses a lot of models so you rarely run into enemies who look different and the town folk even look a lot alike.
I guess it wouldn't matter but the game also plays like a sand box title as you have many side quests and only 25 plot quests. The also also plays like a platformer, a fighter and it has little bits of a role playing game thrown in for good measures.
It can be a bit overwhelming at first but after a few minutes it becomes natural. A typical mission has you heading to a scroll marker on your map. From there a new marker appears and you head there. once outside the city you'll encounter not so random enemies and at this point the game turns into a fighting game.
If you've played any of the recent Dragon ball Z titles then you can imagine how this plays out but it isn't as over the top. You have two attack buttons, a weapon button, a jump button and a block button. The ideal way to play is to just do a reversal by blocking right before the attack hits and doing a nice combo.
There is more though as you have special moves, which are used outside of combat as well. These moves require you to hold the L trigger and push both stick in a specific pattern and then in another and then release the L trigger as the wave enters its zone. This is simple enough outside combat but it becomes near impossible unless you have dazed an enemy. So it kind of becomes useless except on rare occasions and when you do use it, it does some great damage if the enemy doesn't dodge.
As you play the enemy starts to use these moves as well which can be deadly for you. Not only that but you both get something called rage around the same time. The more damage you do and receive makes you angrier and once your meter is filed you go and do double damage and can't be hurt for x amount of time. Same for the enemy when he kicks it into over drive.
The fighting system is fun at first but because it's moves are a bit hard to pull off it becomes annoying. Some enemies are so fast you can easily be slaughtered and some just block everything and require so very fast thinking to hurt them and then suddenly they drop like flies.
Thankfully the game has a lives system which are called memos. You have four at a time and you can have them refilled or if you die three times on a boss it refills for you if you select it to. I found them to be very handy for almost all boss battles. You can also buy ramon which heals you but I don't know if you can use it during a fight as I never bought any...
The games world is fairly large but it becomes annoying quickly. The town is fun to explore and it feels much like Crackdown did with the extreme jumping and stuff. Once you leave though the game goes into a linear path with jumping over water, dodging swinging logs and jumping over bomb strings. It's rather simple but it also becomes boring.
Sadly things go a little more down hill when you open areas outside of the woods as you need to sprint up trees and you enter a lame mini game where you hop from one limb to another. It gets old quickly and you have to do it every time you need to go to that area and thankfully the game unlocks nothing but missions in that area but you need to accept them in town and travel all the way through the same mundane mini game again and again.
Within the game there are hidden coins and gold coins which are all sued to upgrade Naruto with new moves, stronger attack or defends or even new weapons. You may also need money to buy these things as well. Money is had from finishing missions or from battles.
The game has a lot of sub missions as well. You have hide and seek missions, delivery missions and race missions. None of which I found to be very interesting. You can also use your skill to turn into a woman to please some random men.
The games controls really hinder it at times though. In the open world Naruto runs at an insane speed that borderlines too fast to really control and this causes the jumping segments to be a bit harder than they should be. I also found that while the fighting controls were fairly tight they also felt limited in comparison to many other games.
The game follows the first 80 episodes of the anime. So I figured it would be a meaty game but in honesty it can be finished in 5 hours. The plot is shrunken down and basically you're a boy who everyone hates, you steal something and learn to become a ninja. The game ends on a cliff hanger but fans of the manga/anime should know what's to come.
The game does have some decent achievements and it felt like forever before I got one. The game will take a lot longer to get all of the achievements though. There is also on-line play which i didn't access because I really didn't want to but I haven't heard anything about it either. There are also downloadable characters to use but they cost money. You can also get a free download that gives you the original Japanese dialog which is nice because the dub voices are still terrible.
Fans of the anime will most likely love the game and for anyone who enjoys the Dragon ball Z games then they may enjoy this as well. if you're looking for a role playing title or even a platformer I'd recommend looking elsewhere. If the game focused on fewer genre types it may have been a little more fun and wouldn't have grown so boring after just a few hours.
Story - 7/10
Graphics - 9/10
Sound - 7/10
Control - 7/10
Game Play - 6/10
Replay value - 5/10
Final Score - 6/10
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