I don't agree with Gerstmann's assertion that there are FPS games on PC in 2007 that "blow Halo 2 away in every possible way." I can think of two games that arguably do: BioShock and Crysis, but Halo 2's multiplayer was still superior (BioShock had no multiplayer and Crysis' was bare-bones yet still fun). Despite Call of Duty 4 being incredible at the time, I did not and still do not consider it superior to Halo 2 (or even Halo 3), despite its setting a very strong precedent for virtually all military shooters afterward. In my mind, Halo 2 still plays like a modern FPS that's full of spectacular set pieces, fun gameplay, cheeky humor, strong storytelling, and an unforgettable soundtrack. The only two things I think this port would have benefited from are 1) an online co-op campaign and 2) a further enhanced graphics engine. Otherwise, this is still a fantastic game with a legendarily broken Legendary difficulty.
Finished this one solo with one character (Jacob), and after 14 hours of completing every quest available to me (to my knowledge), I can say the game wears thin halfway through. It's far from unplayable, and I ran into only a handful of technical issues, but it gets stale pretty quickly. It's particularly mediocre; a solid 5/10 for me.
I finished Record of Lodoss War on the Dreamcast recently. Mr. Shoemaker makes no mention of the questionable optimization of the game, which appears to trade speedy load times for frame rates that take a dive with many on-screen enemies and graphical effects. More egregiously, however, is how false this statement is: "the standard weapons and armor that you find should get you through the game."
This entire game is centered around the blacksmith and mithril system, a full understanding of which is required in the latter half. It's the best aspect, ahead of the convenience of refilling potions and saving the game at will. There are myriad enchantments to "engrave" onto weapons and armor, and running around the land of Marmo in search of ancient words found monuments with abilities and attributes the player can collect and engrave onto items -- to say nothing of the optional dungeons -- is great fun, adding an extra dimension to the loot-hunting found in the average Diablo clone.
A major downside isn't the tedium but piss-poor level design of some of the dungeons, particularly the Dark Temple. A second detractor is the bland visual presentation and ugly textures, which I believe had much to do with optimizing load times. Other than that, the music is solid, the combat is fun, the characters are interesting (insofar as their role-playing archetypes are concerned), the Goblin Fort "home-base" system is extremely convenient, and the multivariate crafting system is the true gem this game offers. Not to mention that it isn't particularly long (15-20 hours if the player doesn't dilly-dally) but still offers a substantial challenge in the latter half of the game, requiring mastery of the blacksmith mechanics. If the visuals, slowdown, spotty level design, and a stray bug or two can be forgiven, then I think this is one of the best Diablo clones out there. Period.
I finished this game recently, and I think the presentation, story, humor, and characters are really on point. I also think the collectibles and load-out options are fantastic, but it's a bit too long, given every level's predictable layout: on-rails shooter a la Silpheed followed by an on-foot, third-person shooter segment. This repetitious structure, effectively 25-levels long that take about 15 minutes each to complete, hampered my enjoyment a bit, especially with controls that aren't conducive to longer play sessions. Nevertheless, it's a good time altogether, and I applaud the control scheme actually working and being fairly responsive.
I finished this game recently on normal difficulty and nabbed all the collectibles my first time through. I agree with this review, though I'd score it a 6. It's a fine game -- a shameless God of War clone, from the controls, combat, and progression -- but the level design is all over the place, the game has difficult sections as opposed to having a consistent level of difficulty throughout, and the story is awfully threadbare and banal despite deriving inspiration from a literary masterpiece. Nevertheless, the combat is tight if unoriginal, and the visual presentation is stunning. I enjoyed my time with it (roughly 7 hours altogether), but I wouldn't do it again.
@balugha: I also beat this for the first time recently, after having not played an AC game since the first in '07. I didn't care for this one altogether, but it's a good game. If we split the game into two parts, the ship part and the on-land "Assassin's Creed" part, then I think the ship part is unquestionably the best aspect of the game, especially when mixed with the on-land parts (such as boarding a ship after a sea battle or storming a fort). Ultimately, I found the missions of on-land parts to be dominant, repetitive, and simply a chore, coupled with a hum-drum plot and too few memorable characters. I also found the modern-day sections simply silly and out of place. I could sink many more hours upgrading the Jackdaw, overtaking forts, taking down larger vessels, and charting all the islands, however.
I'd recommend linking to GameSpot's own reviews (there's a review for all of them starting with Marvel vs. Capcom) and also providing the full game titles. For example, it's The Incredible Hulk Ultimate Destruction and X-Men Origins: Wolverine. To pick apart the latter, there was only one "Wolverine Origins" movie, and its sequel, simply titled Wolverine, is generally considered to be good. The description is also wanting; it's simply an old-school, M-rated, Marvel-licensed God of War clone. A genre isn't even mentioned for most of these games. There was also a home port of the Punisher arcade game, released on the Genesis, that pales in comparison to the arcade original but is still a fun two-player beat 'em up.
Coincidentally, I plat'ed this game and Miles Morales on PS5 recently. They're really fun games, and I think this one in particular does a fantastic job of crafting of a world that makes you care about its characters. The pacing is a bit disjointed, and the action does get monotonous (but still seamless and stylish) by the end, but everything else -- the score, voice acting, visual presentation, controls, characters, and story -- are top-notch. Personally, I wish we were able to spend more time with the NPCs as Peter Parker, because I really enjoyed Peter's relationships with May, Miles, Otto, and especially Mary Jane -- a testament to wonderfully crafted characters.
@kuninushi: It probably has more to do with an apparent imbalance created between the game and the gamer, because there's an assumption, to some extent, that the gamer and the characters should be on the same footing when it comes to the narrative and flow of the adventure. It's a tough balance, but "experiencing" the game along with its fictional playable characters is desirable, so if XC3's "twists" are intended to be groundbreaking -- as in, taking everyone, gamer and fictional characters, by surprise -- then it's unwelcome when the gamer can easily predict the twists before the game intends to reveal them. So if a gamer is yelling at the screen about how dumb the characters are, he feels like he has less control over his characters or that he has very little influence on the game overall, introducing a break in the immersion and creating a disconnect between himself and the adventure. Something like that.
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