-Saigo-'s GameSpot Friend's Reviews -Saigo-'s GameSpot Friend's Reviews -Saigo-'s GameSpot Friend's Reviews en-us Copyright (c)1995-2013 CBS Interactive. All rights reserved. http://www.gamespot.com 20 Wed, 22 May 2013 04:02:38 -0700 GameSpot -Saigo-'s GameSpot Friend's Reviews http://img.gamespot.com/gamespot/shared/promos/misc/gs_logo.gif http://www.gamespot.com 135 40 Tue, 21 May 2013 21:15:53 -0700 NightFox313 reviewed Silent Hill for the PlayStation... http://www.gamespot.com/silent-hill/user-reviews/811592/platform/ps/ ...and gave it a 9.5!

It made me cringe.

I yearned to play it, but at the same time I dreaded gripping my hands on the controller to do so. I loved and despised playing it. This is the game that made me question if pressing on was really a thing I wanted to do. It made me want to vomit. It was mentally draining. But still I went on to complete it, and here I am now.

Breathless. "The fear of blood tends to create fear for the flesh."

Silent Hill is just one of those games. A gripping narrative, a believable cast of characters, coupled with a chilling soundtrack and unnerving set-pieces are everything one could want in a horror video game. However, rather than just going for the standard B-movie scare-tactics a la Resident Evil, Silent Hill redefines the horror genre, while - in its own right - the way for a completely new and horrifying genre - psychological horror. A game that was so terribly scary, I had to draw in all of the courage I could possibly take for a human being to play it. And that's what makes this game such a memorable one, and it is indeed an unforgettable experience that I could never forget, no matter how hard I tried. All of the good memories I had with it, complete with all of the ones I didn't want to remember - Silent Hill simply burns a sick, twisted, and distorted image of a peaceful resort gone wrong into the deepest caverns of your mind. And no matter how hard you try scratching it out of your memory, it'll always still be there.

Developed by KCET and published by Konami, Silent Hill was released for the original Sony PlayStation on 31 January, 1999 - during perhaps "the golden age of horror video games". Notable hits such as Clock Tower and Parasite Eve were making their way into the pool of countless survival horror games at the time, but the most renowned and successful survival horror franchise - Resident Evil - was clearly raking in the dough. However, with the release of Silent Hill, things took a disturbingly hard turn. Gone were the zombies and biological disasters, and that Scissor Man lunatic. The horrifying, terrifying creatures of Silent Hill were the things that could only be seen in your worst nightmares - from the deepest bowels of the earth. That's what made the game so intensely scary and yet so satisfying; the feeling of the unknown has never struck more fear into me from any horror game I've played than Silent Hill.

Resident Evil went for the famous jump-scares that plague many of today's independent "indie" horror games. Biological experiments gone wrong would crash through a disturbingly reflective window when you'd least expect it. It's a shame, really, because whenever there was a window to be seen, you could already expect something to crash through it when you come across the same area later in the game. Silent Hill takes all of the cheap scares and throws it out the window. It embraces you relentlessly, throwing every single piece of violent and disturbing imagery as inhumanely possible and envelops you in its pure-evil atmosphere. That's where the magic of Silent Hill lies. And the way the game's atmosphere was so meticulously, so painstakingly designed to remind you of your worst nightmares (and to, of course, conjure up some new ones) works so unbelievably well that you fear that the game you're playing could potentially be a reality. It's like inviting a living hellish nightmare-town into the safety in your own home.

You play the game through the eyes of Harry Mason, a middle-aged man whose occupation is a writer (however, don't take the phrase too seriously; Silent Hill is a third-person psychological horror game - although it occasionally uses fixed camera angles in some cases). He takes his seven year-old daughter, Cheryl, along with him for a vacation in a peaceful resort town, Silent Hill. During a long drive through the night on the highway, Harry notices that a mysterious young girl is walking across the street, and tries to swerve violently to avoid impacting the girl but ends up crashing his car and is knocked out unconscious. However, the long drive wasn't all for naught - upon waking up in Silent Hill after the car crash, Harry notices that Cheryl is missing and ventures out into the ominous fog that defines the town of Silent Hill. He vows to find her and discover the unknown secrets of the creepy town and find out if the world he is in is a reality or a living nightmare.

Trust me, I'd go on and on but that puts you at risk of some major spoilers. So I'll just leave it at that. The third-person camera makes use of some fixed camera angles for more cinematic in-game shots (and in cinematic cutscenes) and the freakier scares, but for the most part the camera is always controllable, giving you a better view of your surroundings. That might seem that having a camera you can easily control takes away from the fear, but it only adds to it in the end. At least it doesn't venture into the notorious trope of Camera Screw and adding artificial difficulty by having a seriously uncooperative camera.

Harry Mason is in a way an "everyman", or an average person who has no real defining qualities other than being an average Joe and simply serves as a sort of avatar for the character. The scary thing about this is, is that Harry is in no way a seasoned veteran, nor has he ever had any sort of experience with fighting, and that makes you feel like you're helpless in some cases - like you're so hopelessly weak and have no chance of surviving in the hellish world. Controlled from a third-person perspective, Silent Hill doesn't feel as clunky in controls or as robust as Resident Evil's infamous "tank controls". There are several ways that give the gameplay a more fluid feeling, such as being able to strafe from side-to-side and - my personal favorite - the ability to shoot and walk in any direction at the same time. The combat system is so limited and hard-to-use, but is effectively scary in the sense that Harry has such little experience with fighting - especially fighting things he's only seen in his worst nightmares.

Harry will also have to take care of himself and manage a rather large assortment of items. The majority of the weapons are melee-based, but ranged weapons can also be used. There is a strangely large amount of ammunition to be found in Silent Hill, and there will be rare cases where you'll run out of ammo for your shotgun or hunting rifle unless you've been shooting it around like a mad dog. Healing items are few and far between, and you're likely to use them frequently, as Harry is a generally weak individual. He can die from a few attacks and is relatively, physically weak - which only adds to the feeling of helplessness, isolation, and desperation. Keys and other items are used for navigating throughout Silent Hill, and maps have to be found to traverse through the large overworld. Locations vary from convenience stores, small houses, to police stations and gas stations. I won't spoil the more important locations.

The atmosphere in Silent Hill is simply the best I've seen in the genre. Derelict and dilapidated buildings, along with cafes and mom-and-pop stores that have seen better days all add to the feeling that Silent Hill is an empty, deserted town. The haunting vision of a town with a dark past is only enhanced by the addition of Silent Hill's trademark: fog. The fog is so thick and heavy that you have no idea what might be ahead of you. Cleverly used as a way to hide the Sony PlayStation's limitations at the time, the game's limited point-distance is hidden with the fog effect that is used so effectively that it made the daytime as scary as pure darkness. The game tricks you into thinking you're in a safe place, and the numerous save points scattered throughout the overworld make each one feel like a breath of fresh air.

And then the lights go down. There is no mercy now. Silent Hill grips you at the neck and refuses to give you any chance of hope or feeling of safety. It is a brutal, mentally-draining experience until the very end. My most memorable moments of the game came from the relentlessly dark portions of the game, where Silent Hill was enveloped in pure darkness. This is what makes Silent Hill so unique in the horror genre. During these portions of the game, enemies are far more disturbing and aggressive. All you have to light the darkness with is a flashlight attached to your jacket - and you never know what lurks ahead or what is hiding in the impending shadows. This is where the radio comes in. Whenever an enemy is nearby, the radio will emit static, and the sounds of demonic children with bloody knives can be heard growling as their bare feet scrape towards your direction. The shrieking of gargoyles and the moaning of the possessed inhabitants of Silent Hill send chills down your spine and make you want to cover your ears in fright.

The tension is further increased with the music and sound departments. Masterfully composed, the game's soundtrack is minimalist in some cases while heart-pounding in others. Depressing and mellow undertones add to the psychological elements of the game, and Harry's feelings that he might not make it out alive with his daughter can be reflected in the game's soundtrack. The haunting blaring of the air raid sirens in the background are so mysteriously timed in the game; so startlingly original. It all makes you wonder about the mysteries of what really happened in Silent Hill. There's nothing scarier when you've just narrowly escaped an ambush from bloodthirsty, savage dogs with the relentless lashing of industrial beats and entering into a room you've never been to before, only to notice that the music has suddenly disappeared. The fear of the unknown is the greatest scare-tactic in this game, and it worked so effectively that I had to play the game in breaks at times, listening to Bossa Nova music - the game is that intense. It robs you of your sanity and throws you into multiple locales that you've never even imagined before and expecting you to explore it.

And where would a great horror game be without puzzles? Silent Hill is chock-full of riddles and clues, many of which left me scratching my head in confusion. Puzzles are abundant and are deviously confusing and devilishly created to make you want to look up answers via walkthrough. Many will leave you frustrated, especially later in the game. The problem about the puzzles is that many of them are so impossibly vague that they put Zelda and Metroid to shame. They are ridiculously hard, but the feeling of conquering the puzzles are so satisfying that it's hard to judge whether the riddles add or subtract from the game. Aside from these, Silent Hill adds a twist on the puzzles. It takes standard items you'd find in your average household and forces you to cleverly use them in a different way. The game really makes you think about that random rubber ball in your inventory, or that metal ring.

The scares of Silent Hill are its core, next to the atmosphere. Even though they almost never use jump-scares to make the player have to buy a new pair of pants, the feeling of imminent death and the fear of what lurks ahead scares me way more than the dogs that crashed through the mansion windows in Resident Evil. Sometimes you'll hear your radio emit static, but there won't be anyone around. You might hear noises in a room next to you, or you might enter a room you once thought was safe but as soon as you open the door a possessed nurse is ready to stab you senselessly. In many cases, you'll wonder if you're hearing things, such as hearing scraping noises on the walls of the room next to you or a banging on the door shortly after you enter an operating room gone wrong. The disturbing imagery works so well here, taking conventional objects and places and turning them into things you'll want to stay away from in real life. The game psychologically attacks you whenever possible, and burns the visions into your skull, making you want to forget the horrifying scenes you've just seen even though it's impossible.

Silent Hill is a startlingly original entry in the horror genre. It builds up the tension to the point where you're simply expecting something to happen, but nothing does. And then it gets you when you least expect it. Although on the short side (the first playthrough can be completed in around five to six hours), every scream you make and every pounding your heart makes makes the journey worth it. It's like an amusement park ride from hell, and the characters are sympathetic. It makes you actually want to care about Harry Mason and whatever might happen to his daughter Cheryl, along with the mysteries of Silent Hill and the tragic occurrences of the past.

It made me want to check into a psychiatrist. It made me want to close my eyes forever. Anything you see in this game will be a thing you'll want to forget about. Silent Hill is a game that defines horror, and is pure psychological horror fuel. It's a game that will build you up and break you down, and drag you through a world you won't ever want to remember.

The game that I wanted to forget. The game that will always strike a chord of fear in my heart.

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"NightFox313 reviewed Silent Hill for the PlayStation..." was posted by NightFox313 on Tue, 21 May 2013 21:15:53 -0700
]]> http://www.gamespot.com/silent-hill/user-reviews/811592/platform/ps/ Tue, 21 May 2013 09:35:15 -0700 Spinnerweb reviewed Army of Two: The 40th Day for the PSP... http://www.gamespot.com/army-of-two-the-40th-day/user-reviews/811558/platform/psp/ ...and gave it a 8.0.

Sometimes you get that feeling. You want a game that is satisfying, but not excessively challenging. Usually you associate it with a good licensed game, like back in the PS1 days, but good licensed games are hard to come by now. Well, Army of Two: The 40th Day for the PSP definitely has that endearing quality that a lot of games don't have. It's easy, it's short, the graphics aren't the best on the system - but the game succeeds most importantly because of its enjoyable gameplay.

Salem and Rios from the first Army of Two game are back, this time in Shanghai, going from meeting a contact to a pointless detour through a zoo to saving the world. The story isn't mind-blowing, but it makes the game hang together, which is enough because it's the gameplay that is the main factor here.

Ever played Age of Zombies? The gameplay is somewhat like that. You press the face buttons to shoot in the direction of their placement, for example, pressing X to shoot downward - this is a top-down game, see. But you can also rescue hostages, buy upgrades and new weapons, pick up items such as cash, shields and power-ups, and then there is the Morality feature. In this, a cutscene plays and you have to make a choice that is either 'good' (which usually gives you no benefit but hey, you did the right thing) and 'evil' (which can give you cash, weapons, and other gear in exchange for pricking your conscience). While Morality cutscenes don't really affect the story except towards the end of the game, it's still fun and makes you go through the game again to make different choices.

There is also an achievements-like feature where you unlock achievements as you progress through the game. For the completionist, this too increases the replay value.

While Army of Two: The 40th Day is not a long game - it can be completed in one long afternoon, it was fun enough for me to play it over and over again. If you know what you're getting with this game, chances are it will be so for you too.

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"Spinnerweb reviewed Army of Two: The 40th Day for the PSP..." was posted by Spinnerweb on Tue, 21 May 2013 09:35:15 -0700
]]> http://www.gamespot.com/army-of-two-the-40th-day/user-reviews/811558/platform/psp/ Tue, 21 May 2013 08:32:48 -0700 Spinnerweb reviewed Dante's Inferno for the PSP... http://www.gamespot.com/dantes-inferno/user-reviews/811556/platform/psp/ ...and gave it a 3.0.

Were that there were copyrights for gameplay. Sony's God of War franchise, as I have always stated, sucks - but they might have gleaned even more cash by suing EA for making such an absolute rip off of their games.

The game is set in the Crusades; Dante is busy killing in some place near Jerusalem. But because he's unskilled, he gets stabbed and dies, but fights off Death and takes his scythe. Then he goes to hell (literally) to get back his wife Beatrice from some smoky-hazy guy, who, I don't know, might be Satan or just some demon; I haven't read Divine Comedy (didn't have the patience for bad poetry) and I didn't play Dante's Inferno to the end (didn't have the patience for bad gameplay). So this Satan/demon bloke takes away his waifu for some reason... the game repeats the same cutscene where Dante vows to Beatrice not to have any 'pleasures of the flesh' until he returns from the Crusades... so what did he do? Adultery? Killing? Like I said, I wasn't interested enough to find out.

So the story is pretty bad. Dante is a weak-chinned, unlikeable jerk, and the game never really manages to make you care about what happens. I have played plenty of horrible games to the end just to see how the story ends, but in this case I just couldn't be bothered. I don't know if it's because the base material for this game's story is awful or the game struggles to settle into its twelfth-century setting. Probably both.

The sound in this game is low and is only hearable on the maximum volume both in-game and with the PSP speakers, and it's not memorable either. Some of the music tracks were almost, but not quite, listenable to by a person with functioning aural cavities. The voice acting is just plain awful - especially Dante's.

The graphics are very good and the only plus point in this entire game. This game actually surpasses the God of War games on the PSP because they had an awful framerate, but the visuals in this game are undeniably excellent. The CGI cutscenes were decent too.

The gameplay is identical to that of God of War - so basically, it sucks. A God of War fan might enjoy mashing the square button and pressing triangle only for the heck of it once in a while, but I don't. Like God of War, you can upgrade your abilities and unlock new attacks with 'souls' collected from defeating enemies. I hated the gameplay in God of War, therefore I hate the gameplay in Dante's Inferno. You almost can't tell them apart.

It's a very easy game, since the enemies are so stupid you barely ever have to guard. Unlocked combos don't have crushing power like you'd expect - indeed, some of them are even weaker than the attacks you have at the start. The combo system is broken - if you take a hit, you sometimes don't get knocked out of a combo, and you still build up your combo even if you repeat the same move over and over.

An avid God of War fan might enjoy Dante's Inferno, but I didn't. In my opinion, it's slightly better than the abysmal God of War games on the PSP, because at least the graphics aren't technically busted. But the visuals do not make this game worth playing. The horrendous gameplay, presentation, story, voice acting and music take care of that.

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"Spinnerweb reviewed Dante's Inferno for the PSP..." was posted by Spinnerweb on Tue, 21 May 2013 08:32:48 -0700
]]> http://www.gamespot.com/dantes-inferno/user-reviews/811556/platform/psp/ Mon, 20 May 2013 15:11:47 -0700 benleslie5 reviewed BioShock Infinite for the PlayStation 3... http://www.gamespot.com/bioshock-infinite/user-reviews/811535/platform/ps3/ ...and gave it a 10.0!!!

It's never easy to find the best first-person shooter game out there on any platform there's been some classics in the past like Goldeneye and Timesplitters 2. BioShock Infinite is one of those that should be highly recommend to any gamer out there, if you haven't played the series before or you have played BioShock 1 and 2.

Set before the 60's during the events of BioShock 1 and 2, Infinite takes place in 1912 where Booker DeWitt heads to the lighthouse which transports him to Columbia with the mission from Luteces to "bring us the girl and wipe away the debt". Elizabeth plays a very important role throughout the main story; she is not like other people you'll meet in Columbia. Throughout the story you'll be escorting Elizabeth and finding out what is really going on its story.

Gameplay: Like the past two BioShock games if you've played them do feel a little similar on its first-person shooter with a mix of RPG elements you've still got your standard weapons like the pistol gun, machine gun and shot gun, you'll also get other guns which you'll use later on through various parts of Columbia. You'll also get to use the grappling gun which you can either attack against enemies or grabbing on railways connecting to buildings called skylines where you can ride your way around the city feeling like you're on a roller-coaster.

The fun part is when riding the skyline and shooting at enemies at the same time, you can also grab on to hooks which can help you get across various building and areas you can't reach; you can also assassinate your enemies from above if you see a star icon when they are not looking.

Another feature in Infinite by pressing L1 you can use powers and abilities using vigors, which is similar to BioShock's plasmids and tonics. You can burn your enemies by insinuating them or murder of crows can summon a swarm of crows to attack enemies. You will get more powers later on in the game and some of the powers are pretty cool to use, when you finally rescue Elizabeth she can help you lock-pick through certain doors and padlocks, she can also help you find money and items. You'll have a health bar and salt bar for powers, you'll find cash machines where you can purchase stuff and upgrade weapons and powers to help you get through the game. If you're not sure where you suppose to go you can press the up button where a green arrow will tell you where you need to go.

Graphics and Sound: BioShock 1 and 2 were setting in an underwater city, in Bioshock Infinite the floating-city of Columbia is set in the skies which feels more like a Steampunk game with it being set during the early 1900's. The stunning visuals and environments are extremely impressive to look for a first-person shooter; it does feel more like an open world game where you can go anywhere you like around Columbia.

The animation for the characters are very done and could have been perfect for an animated film if it ever happened despite the amount of violence and blood you'll see throughout the game. You can easily get yourself lost around the city if you're not too careful, and as I mention on the gameplay section riding the skylines do make it feel like you're on a roller-coaster ride making you feel that you're riding it.

Troy Baker does the voicing for Booker and Courtnee Draper does the voicing for Elizabeth, both actors have really much made this game perfect for its fine voice acting and also the same with the rest of the characters you'll meet in Bioshock Infinite with the setting being set in 1912. You will hear some remix music from the 80's and 90's but being done in the setting around that time making it more impressive to listen to.

Overall: I really don't want to spoil the ending or the main story for Bioshock Infinite you'll also hear some of the best quotes and see some of the most memorable moments in gaming. Clearing the game on your first play through can take you at least 20 hours or more pending on if you want to try and collect everything including audio tapes. There is trophy support if you want to collect trophies, there's even quite a few easter eggs being added in fans will really get a laugh out of it.

Unlocking 1999 mode after your play through is the biggest challenge with it being on the hardest difficulty setting making it more rewarding to play the game again and again. I rarely play first-person shooters but this one is highly recommended to any gamer out there for their collection.

Get the full article at GameSpot

"benleslie5 reviewed BioShock Infinite for the PlayStation 3..." was posted by benleslie5 on Mon, 20 May 2013 15:11:47 -0700
]]> http://www.gamespot.com/bioshock-infinite/user-reviews/811535/platform/ps3/ Mon, 20 May 2013 14:17:32 -0700 rigbybot127 reviewed Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories for the PSP... http://www.gamespot.com/grand-theft-auto-liberty-city-stories/user-reviews/811533/platform/psp/ ...and gave it a 8.0.

Rockstar had a pretty stellar idea: Grand Theft Auto on the go! Liberty City Stories was their first portable (good) Grand Theft Auto, and this is GTA on the go. No compromises were made….. to the GTA III game mechanics. This entry, unfortunately, leaves out some of the new features introduced in the previous title, San Andreas, such as the ability to customize your car and free-aim while moving; though most of us used the auto-aim more often than not; it's still unfortunate that they had to compromise a bit due to the PSP's being less powerful technically than the PS2. Still, this is like GTA III on the go; in fact it's a prequel to GTA III, with some added features, such as the ability to pick between a couple of already-owned outfits (though you can't buy, and fully customize like in SA), as well as unlocking some; and a brand-new, hefty campaign, with a good story, that sets up one of GTA III's main mission-givers, Toni Cipriani, the main protagonist of this story; and a decent, fun local multiplayer.

Like I mentioned before, you will be playing as Toni Cipriani, an NPC from GTA III, and a made man in the Leone crime family. Toni Cipriani leaves Liberty City after killing a made man for Salvatore Leone, and lays his head low for a good while. In 1998 (3 years before III), he returns to resume business as usual, only to realize that in the time he had been gone, he had his rank stripped from him, and gave it to Vincenzo Cilli. He now just a goon, and has to work his way back up the ladder. To do this, he must take out two other rival families; the Sindaccos and the Forellis; and help a couple of familiar GTA III faces…..

If you've played GTA III (since it's been 12 years, you should have), you will be instantly familiar with the map, since it's almost exactly the same as III's, but with minor cosmetic changes (such as store signs and the such) ; as well as a Little Italy section that isn't in GTA III (for good reason….).

Perhaps the biggest improvement compared to III is the inclusion of motor bikes, marking the first time a player has ever driven a motorcycle in Liberty City, since they were outlawed prior to III, by a public ordinence supported by the Maibatsu Corporation, to make room for cars (including their Maibatsu Monstrosity). A great improvement over San Andreas is the removal of having to exercise and eat, though that means that you now have one less way to heal yourself.

Unfortunately, there were some pretty great features introduced in San Andreas that have been removed, the most jarring removal being the ability to swim, which means that water is once again an instant death trap (the in-game explanation for this is that the water in LC is very toxic, and will kill you in a matter of seconds). You also can no longer climb, making reaching certain hidden packages difficult; and the ability to fly aircraft is removed entirely (unless you use cheats). Also, due to the nature of the PSP, you can no longer manually control the camera, since there is only one stick, though this isn't really a problem; this feature is included in the PS2 port, which features controls identical to III and Vice City.

Another staple brought over from it's console brethren is the car radio, which features music and talk radio. Unfortunately, the music isn't all that great, and even Lazlow can't save this mess of a radio. It's not just a mess in programming, as it's also pretty glitchy, and inconsistent. Whenever you leave a vehicle, the programming will often change to something else, or the audio track will start over. Still, Lazlow is pretty funny; and Liberty City's FCC seems to be more lax when it comes to censoring profanities on the air than in III.

Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories is another solid entry for the series, and is deserving of a playthrough. It may not be the best Grand Theft Auto, but it's still pretty fun, with a hefty playtime (for the PSP). One thing I have to say is that it has a rather easy ending, which is off-putting, considering how the rest of the game isn't all too easy. Still, if you're a fan, or are just looking for a solid open-world game for your PSP, give this one a try.

Get the full article at GameSpot

]]> http://www.gamespot.com/grand-theft-auto-liberty-city-stories/user-reviews/811533/platform/psp/ Sun, 19 May 2013 22:57:25 -0700 ZanarkandTidus reviewed Shadow Hearts: Covenant for the PlayStation 2... http://www.gamespot.com/shadow-hearts-covenant/user-reviews/811512/platform/ps2/ ...and gave it a 9.5!




I'm a big JRPG fan and I've played lots of JRPGs on my Playstation 2 and Shadow Hearts Covenant is not only one of my top 4 favorite JRPGs for the Playstation 2 it's also one of my top 5 favorite Playstation 2 games.

Shadow Hearts Covenant is quite a unique RPG indeed.To quickly explain what makes it a unique and captivating experience I'll say it's story is set during World War 1 and demons are corrupting humans and causing the war to escalate and become more brutal.The story has a love story and a romance triangle.The atmospheres for story scenes and environments are often incredible because they'll have a hazy or mellowed-out feel from the way it uses dim lighting beautifully or the way colors are used for the sky and it's combat system combines fast reaction-time and turn-based elements and Shadow Hearts Covenant has some great,diabolic-sounding music too.

As for a more in-depth review for it,I'll start off with it's story.

Like I've said,it's story is set during World War 1 and certain demons are corrupting humans/creating pacts with certain humans who have a lot of power in the world in an effort to control the world.This will cause humans who have formed alliances with demons to do despicable acts of evil and will even cause the war to escalate and brutality of the war to escalate.

The main character in the game is named Yuri who is a male who can transform into a variety of demonic forms and he's one of the good guys who is trying to use his demonic abilities to scare away invading soldiers and he lost the woman he loved named Alice in the first Shadow Hearts game.In Shadow Hearts Covenant he becomes inflicted with a curse and after certain events a busty German female officer named Karin accompanies Yuri to help him find a cure to the curse,after all he saved her life during an earlier story event.As you'd expect,the story becomes much more than about finding a cure and becomes about saving the world and a bunch of other characters will join your party and some of them are quite interesting because of their occupation(such as a puppeteer who uses his puppet doll in battle and one of the characters is a wrestler)and some of the other characters are involved in some emotional story moments that relate to them personally as well as the main story and you'll meet some interesting villains.

The story has a romance triangle since Yuri's heart still belongs to Alice and he hasn't given up being with her again but another female character has taken a liking to him too(I won't say who it is)and the story has great plot twits and can be very emotional and can be chilling from the shocking acts of evil by some of the villains.The story has some exciting,high-action moments too and will take you to numerous famous places in Europe as well as outside of Europe but I won't spoil it for you.

Other things that makes it's story great is the way it's presented,the love story-related scenes are emotional because of their delicate artistic effects and their delicate and heart felt dialogue and even from certain action scenes.As well as story scenes that have poetic narrative and are in relation to the love story or from dark but beautifully poetic story scenes accompanied by morbid-looking,dark-themed but at the same time beautiful cinematics that can send chills down my spine whilst being beautiful at the same time in a similar way to Demon's Souls story presentation does.

As for the game play,it's like most other JRPGs in the sense you'll travel to different towns/cities and you can/will need to interact with people in them and you'll level up your characters and will need to utilize various character abilities in battle.Even though each character has unique abilities they can also be equipped with abilities if they're equipped by items referred to as crests.So you can make most characters be a white mage(healer)or give them abilities to buff or do elemental damage.Yuri and another character are capable of transforming into demons,Yuri can transform into a wider variety of demons so he can gain elemental properties as well as a wide range of abilities for attacking or healing whilst the other character who can transform into a demon uses demonic forms that focus more on strength and speed.

The battle system is turn-based but the number of times you hit an enemy and how much damage you do and whether you actually hit an enemy or not or use a spell effectively or not depends on your button timing for the ring system.You can also customize the ring so you don't have to do as many button presses but it also means less chances to hit your enemy(meaning if you mess up the timing with a button press you will have less chances to damage an enemy or use a spell).It's a good risk vs reward system.The battle system also lets you decide whether you want to knock an enemy down,backwards or attack from a high angle and combining the right combination of these attacks can allow you to perform combos.I like the battle system for the game because it makes you concentrate and stops it feeling like another generic turn-based system as well as encourages you to experiment and gives you the option of trying a few risk vs reward systems.

The only thing I dislike about the game play is there is annoying obstacles in the way if you want to level grind such as areas where random enemies appear are often far from an inn forcing you to use healing magic and items to replace MP and stocking up on MP is a waste of money that could be used to buy better weapons/armor.

As for the games visuals,like I've said the atmosphere in the game is incredible and the dim use of lightning and and shades of yellow lighting and orangey sky affect and darker,evil-looking atmospheres and industrial environments all go well together but there is some charming little town environments too.The cinematics for the darker,morbid story scenes are beautiful and dark and the same time.For certain romantic scenes,the dim use of lighting and shades of yellow and the way it combines with being on a train and seeing Yuri and Alice there together is really quite something,and there is a nice haziness to these scenes to let you guess is this just a dream or a vision of something to come?

On a technical level the graphics have a decent amount of realism for a 2004 PS2 game and combine that with stunning artistic effects the game is really lovely to look at.

The music can suit the romantic moments quite well because of it's delicate piano music and there is some great,diabolical-sounding music for battles.Some of the voice acting sounds a bit silly and I would have liked it if Japanese voice acting was an option.

Overall,Shadow Hearts Covenant is a unique,special and heartfelt JRPG experience and is amongst the best RPGs released during the 6th gen and IMO is one of the best games released during the 6th gen period.

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]]> http://www.gamespot.com/shadow-hearts-covenant/user-reviews/811512/platform/ps2/ Sun, 19 May 2013 15:35:46 -0700 Ravenhoe reviewed Batman: Arkham Asylum for the PC... http://www.gamespot.com/batman-arkham-asylum/user-reviews/811495/platform/pc/ ...and gave it a 9.0!

As every other geek on this planet, I am a big fan of the dark knight (even though I thought his last film was not that good despite the hype) and I am thrilled to say that this has been the purest Batman gaming experience I had the pleasure to taste so far. Yes, there are some shortcomings, but all fade away in the bright light of quality that Rocksteady delivered with Arkham Asylum.

The visuals, sounds, music and the great voice acting (especially Batman and the Joker) create a very broody, yet exciting atmosphere, a perfect fit for the dark undertone of the Batman comics, while maintaining the thrilling spirit of adventure that makes this franchise so energetic and popular.

The setting is a tad weird, a large island, which serves as an asylum, certainly makes it much easier to create the game in terms of level desing, yet I would have prefered some more realistic locations, in line with the comics / films / lore. On the other hand, the setting gave the designers the freedom to throw in all sorts of bosses (a who is who of batman villains, most of which are second class villains, I reckon they are saving Catwoman and The Penguin for some other time) and levels. The remote setting makes it possible to have a whole island taken over by plantlife without you getting the weird feeling that you are playing some weird Japanese RPG.

The combat is visceral and so is the level 'solving', even though I found the game quite easy to beat, unless you are trying to find each and every secret level and item that is, but I am not a completist and here to beat the single-player story and that's it, thank you very much.

When it comes to first person combat, be it medieval melee or martial arts, most games either lack the finesse and excitment of combat or have control schemes that make your fingers go all entangled on your ass (Severance, TMNT, Dark Messiah of M&M etc.). Batmam AA manages to make the combat easy to get into, yet you still feel that you are in charge of the action the whole time. The pacing is also very nice, with some parts relying on your stealth skills while other are just bedlam and brawling like there is no tomorrow.

The idea of leveling Batman up is neat but never really takes over the game like some RPG game would, but it is a nice addition to add some depth and tangible feeling of progress as you fight your way through hordes of people with make-up issues.

The story is nice, not a lot of twists and Joker wants to take over the world (O rly?). As usual, all the villains are never inclined to kill Batman when they have the chance but rather let him live, only to have him thwart they plans before curtain fall, ... what the heck, that is what it's like in the movies too eh ?

All in all, this game is loads of fun and I sincerely hope that the other games in the series (City and Origins) add a bit more spice to the levels and the story, but retain the tight and super-polished gameplay. SLICK !

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"Ravenhoe reviewed Batman: Arkham Asylum for the PC..." was posted by Ravenhoe on Sun, 19 May 2013 15:35:46 -0700
]]> http://www.gamespot.com/batman-arkham-asylum/user-reviews/811495/platform/pc/ Thu, 16 May 2013 21:17:45 -0700 Lucky_Krystal reviewed Hyperdimension Neptunia Victory for the PlayStation 3... http://www.gamespot.com/hyperdimension-neptunia-victory/user-reviews/811401/platform/ps3/ ...and gave it a 8.0.

Hyperdimension Neptunia Victory is an extremely niche JRPG developed by Idea Factory/Compile Heart and published by NIS America. It is the third installment to the series, but knowledge of the past two games isn't really needed to understand Victory's story.

I'm going to say it again, because it's a very important point: Neptunia is an extremely niche game. Expectations are key. Neptunia is riddled with that quirky and silly brand of humor that parades almost all the games that NIS America localizes. It constantly pokes fun at itself and never takes itself seriously. If you try to take the game seriously for even a moment, your brain will explode. Trust me, don't do it.

It's heavily story driven nature, anime styled art, moe characters, and light hearted tone will undoubtedly turn some people off. But if you are okay with this sort of thing and give the game a chance, then you won't be disappointed.

Victory takes what mk2 established and further builds on it. In this installment, multiple additions are added to the gameplay. Victory introduces that scout system, used to send out your itty bitty minions to scavenge dungeons for loot. When they come back, they'll report to you, bringing you items, money, other scouts, and sometimes nothing at all. At rare times, they'll report that they've found a way to boost the amount of money and exp you can earn in a dungeon. Sometimes they'll report that they found a hidden area or a brand new dungeon for you to explore.

The game now features an in game achievement system. It calculates things such as number of jumps, damage dealt, damage taken, number of times KO'd, times fought on the front and back lines and so forth. Each time a character attains an achievement, a certain stat will increase.

The battle system has also undergone some slight alterations. The battle system is still turn based. When it's a character's turn, you are allowed to move a certain distance based on the character's MOV stat. You are given 3 kinds of attacks. One type focuses on raw power. Another focuses on breaking the enemy's guard. The last one is for building up the EXE gauge. The EXE gauge is a new feature that allows the characters to use powerful EXE skills as well as a special 4th attack, whereas in the last game, you had to build up a character's individual SP gauge to execute this. Characters are now given full SP stats. Your SP is fully healed only with items and by leveling up. So it's imperative that you spend your SP wisely.

You are allowed 4 members in your party at a time, but you are able to switch out with other members in the vanguard. Pairing up two girls will net you different bonuses in battle. It will also allow you to execute special assist attacks unique to different characters. Though this all depends on the revamped Lily system. In the last game, only Nepgear's relationships with the other characters mattered. This time around, each person has a separate level for every other character. The level must be at a certain point in order for the boosts to take effect.

The coliseum, item synthesizing, quests, and shares all make a comeback and play pretty much the same role as they did in the last game. Though this time around, the ending you get depends on if you've gathered a necessary set of items and scavenged for the hidden dungeons and viewed the cutscenes in these dungeons rather than shares. There are 3 possible endings: The normal ending, good ending, and true ending.

The battle system is addictive and loads of fun. One of my favorite parts is the ability to transform the characters into their far more powerful HDD forms. This mode jacks up their stats to give you the upper hand in battle. Some of your special moves and your EXE attacks will also don a different appearance. Also, the game once again gives you the option to customize your own combos.

The story is a silly, hot mess of gaming and anime references, playful banter, and random events. "It's so bad it's good" perfectly describes the story. It's intended to be something so thrown together and ridiculous that it induces laughter. Neptune gets transferred to an alternate Gameindustri in 1989. She meets alternate versions of the goddesses from her world as well as a new goddess ruling Planeptune named Plutia. A new group of enemies known as the Seven Sages opposes them. The Seven Sages aim to rid Gameindustri of CPUs and start a new nation without them. It's up to Neptune and friends to stop these dastardly evil doers.

The downside to the story would probably be the sheer volume of the dialogue. The game is very text heavy. And it's not even wordy for the sake of giving us some good exposition. Sometimes the characters just spend boxes and boxes of dialogue talking about NOTHING. There is both a skip and an auto advance option but even still, the dialogue could have been condensed considerably and the story probably wouldn't even have suffered. To add to that many of these cutscenes aren't voiced. Only a select few actually are, and it's great to hear the actual actors as opposed to just having music playing and reading unvoiced text. Whether you're playing in Japanese or English, the voice actors breathe life into these fun and hilarious characters each cutscene.

The English dubbing in particular has improved a great deal compared to the previous games. All the actors from the previous game make a great comeback, and it sounds like they have gotten far more comfortable with their characters. New additions such as Cherami Leigh as Plutia and Sandy Fox as Yellow Heart come in gun blazing, hitting all the right notes. But if you hate the English voices still or just prefer the original voices, you can switch over to the Japanese voice acting any time.

I have only a few complaints about the game. Dungeons and enemies are taken and reused from the previous game and stuck onto Victory with very little to no changes. There are some brand new areas and enemies but a lot of them are recycled. The fanservice is not as overblown or explicit as people make it out to be but it's still weird and unnecessary. The frequent innuendo the riddles Iris Heart's dialogue gets real old real quick. The game is also far more grind heavy than mk2. That isn't really a bad thing, seeing as it does give the game a bit of challenge. But not as much, seeing as all you really have to do to beat a particularly difficult boss is level up a bit, buff, and then spam your EXE attacks. The game still lingers on the easy side, though it is more difficult than mk2.

Hyperdimension Neptunia Victory is a splendid addition to the Neptunia franchise. Packed with a wealth of extra content and three different endings, this game will keep you coming back for more. Not everyone is going to enjoy this game. But the few people who do will find their trek through Gameindustri with Neptune and her eccentric band of weirdoes a marvelous and entertaining one.

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]]> http://www.gamespot.com/hyperdimension-neptunia-victory/user-reviews/811401/platform/ps3/ Thu, 16 May 2013 21:06:30 -0700 Lucky_Krystal reviewed Catherine for the PlayStation 3... http://www.gamespot.com/catherine/user-reviews/811400/platform/ps3/ ...and gave it a 9.5!

Catherine is a horror adventure/puzzle game that is engrossing, interesting, and a total blast to play. It's bursting with that unique brand of Atlus quirkiness that us Atlus faithfuls know and love. Everything from the music, graphics, animated cut scenes, gameplay, and story come together for an experience you'll want over and over again.

The story follows our hero Vincent Brooks on his quest through his personal troubles with relationships by day and his trek up a nightmarish tower at night. The story is excellent overall, complemented by its colorful cast of characters. The story deals with themes of infidelity, relationships, maturity, and commitment. You are given the choice of how you want to act in the game. Do you want to live a life of quiet and familiar comfort or do you want a life of chaotic excitement? It's a question the game makes you consider, and your choices mostly revolve around these two questions.

Catherine sports a lovable cast of characters that are brought to life by the superb voice acting and the hilarious and well written script. You won't see any cheesy one liners, flat tones, and cringe worthy delivery here. The all-star cast of veteran voice actors were obviously having a lot of fun with their roles. In addition to the more serious scenes, Catherine has a number of comical moments that even make their appearance in the various endings. Its story has the perfect balance of comedy and thought provoking themes to keep you hooked from the very start. Though to be totally honest, there was a lot of room for Atlus to do much more flesh out the characters and further explore the themes presented. But as it stands, Atlus did a very admirable job in trying to explore more serious themes in a game.

The beginning of the game shows you the basics of scaling the tower. You will push and pull several sets of blocks in order to reach the goal. Each stage has a different setup and requires a different strategy. Each night you are put in a different dungeon with a different boss at the end. It sounds simple enough but there's more to Catherine's gameplay than simply pushing blocks.

The bottom of the dungeon will collapse, so you'll need to get up that tower quickly. As you advance through the game, you will be taught and expected to master different types of techniques for scaling the tower, especially if you choose to take on the harder difficulties. Different types of blocks are also littered across the tower. You have your normal white blocks, heavy blocks, immovable blocks, cracked blocks, bomb blocks, trap blocks, monster blocks, slippery ice blocks, trampoline blocks, and mystery blocks. These blocks can be a big help or an annoying hindrance. In addition, other sheep will sometimes block your path to the top. They'll move blocks to mess up your path, knock you off a block, and some may even kill you. You can also nab some pillows to gain retries and special items that will help you out of a jam, destroy enemies, or give you a special boost.

Catherine's puzzle type gameplay is oddly addicting and very fun. But it's also very hard, regardless of what difficulty you play on. You are given a choice to play on easy, normal, and hard (read: hard, torture, hell). It takes practice to get good at the game. That and the proper utilization of the techniques you learn. But the challenging gameplay never feels cheap. It's frustrating yes, but cheap? No way. Sure you'll rage quit quite a few times while playing, but you'll always want to come back. If not for the satisfaction of clearing a particularly difficult puzzle, then definitely to continue the interesting story.

Now that's all during the nightmare stage. When Vincent is awake, he hangs with his buddies at the Stray Sheep bar. Here you can drink to your heart's content, boosting your speed in the nightmare stages. You can also talk to the other inhabitants of the Stray Sheep. Many of the bargoers are deeply troubled individuals. The player will occasionally be prompted by various dialogue choices that will ultimately decide the fate of the character later in the game. You can also play Rapunzel, an adorable 8-bit version of the nightmare stages. You can also talk to Erica, Boss, Jonny, Orlando, and Toby for some often humorous and playful banter. You can send text messages to both Catherine and Katherine. When composing a message, you are given 2 or 3 lines to say your piece. Each line gives you 2 or 3 different sentences that you can mix and match to compose a text message. A lot of Vincent's actions will affect the little red and blue meter that pops up from time to time. This meter will play a hand in which ending you get.

It is possible to beat the game in a reasonable and even fairly short amount of time despite its difficulty. With 8 different possible endings that depend on your choices in the game, there is plenty of replay value.

Outside of the main story, there's the two player competitive coliseum and four extra stages known as Babel. Babel is a far more intense and punishing version of the nightmares stages that are unlocked by gathering enough gold prizes on normal and hard difficulty.

Packed with extra content, eight different endings, multiple difficulties, and a story you'll want to experience more than once, Atlus has really outdone themselves with this game. It's mature and interesting story along with its addictive gameplay truly make it one the most unique and enjoyable games I've ever played. I'd recommend everyone give this game a go. I guarantee you won't regret it.

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"Lucky_Krystal reviewed Catherine for the PlayStation 3..." was posted by Lucky_Krystal on Thu, 16 May 2013 21:06:30 -0700
]]> http://www.gamespot.com/catherine/user-reviews/811400/platform/ps3/ Thu, 16 May 2013 16:21:14 -0700 Azghouls reviewed Assassin's Creed: Bloodlines for the PSP... http://www.gamespot.com/assassins-creed-ii/user-reviews/811392/platform/psp/ ...and gave it a 7.0.

Altair / Assassin's Creed … two synonymous names for the Assassin's Creed saga back in 2008. The PC / consoles got it, the DS got their version (Altair Chronicles in case you didn't know it) and now it's the PSP turn to get his adventure. How does this fare comparing to its console's counterpart, it's a decent addition considering some alterations are needed to suit the PSP's limited capabilities.

The events took place pretty much after Assassin's Creed as Altair discovered that the remaining templars are leaving for Cyprus. So he decides to attack their stronghold in Acre only to realise he's a bit too late for the party. Yet he did manage to capture Maria Thorpe … the only female templar for Assassin's Creed. And if that doesn't ring any bells, it's the one where Altair was flabbergasted stating 'what is this sorcery?!' when he discovers that he is a she.

The gameplay is essentially the same as its counterparts … that is, it's a free roaming action adventure where you need to climb specially marked viewpoints, scan the area for hotspots, and then follow your nose to your destination. However being a PSP, there's only one viewpoint per area as the memory capacity is not as large as its cousins. Also some features were taken away to suit the controls like 'eagle eye'.

Whilst your main goal is to assassinate high ranking templars, the overall combat still feels great as nothing's better than slamming your dagger into a victim's head. Yeah it probably sounds like I'm a sadist however it's very satisfying and the controls are extremely fluent. It also helps to have a decent tutorial and this game is no exception as it forms part of the adventure. Then again, all assassins' creed games are like that so it's good to carry on that tradition.

However the AIs are not the brightest bunch in the pack. Actually it's a lot easier than Assassin's Creed as combat near a body of water / on top of a building can never be simpler. All you need to do is push them to their death (yes no one can swim at all and obviously falling from a height can cause death...unless there's a bale of hay that only assassins can land on). So the point is there are other combat options than just swinging a sword.

There are also a garden variety of side missions for that little bit of rest and relaxation. To be exact, there are seven types being theft, interception (I hate those as the controls are quite difficult to perform the chase), assassination, delivery (time limit applies), interrogation (just hulk smash them silly), trailing and combat (basically three thugs ganging up on a civilian …kill all three to win). So there's a decent amount of side missions to break the ice.

And if you are in the mood for some exploration, you can collect Templar coins that dotted throughout the game as each sector has five silver coins and one gold coin to collect. Obviously the gold coin supposedly is harder to locate / obtain however all in all, they are not too difficult to find as the maps are quite small considering. And if you complete the side missions / kill soldiers in a variety of ways will earn you bronze coins. You can use these coins to unlock more features for Altair and you don't have to locate / complete all the side missions / combos to max out.

Whilst being a canon for the Assassin's Creed storyline, there is some slight confusion that doesn't seem to fit. The animus is displayed throughout the game … that is it forms part of your upgrades and synchronisation. Strangely though, Desmond is nowhere to be found and if you played Assassin Creed 2, Desmond has no idea about the relationship between Altair and Maria. And this forms the second confusion: Altair for some odd reason saves Maria on countless occasions even though Maria kicks him in the face a couple of times. Maybe Altair has a soft spot for her however what's done is done.

If there's a strong point to this game, it's the visuals. It's actually quite detailed for a PSP game as Altair moves fluently and the landscapes are quite detailed. Frame rates rarely stutter however there's a lot less civilians about. Thankfully though, they all do react however they spend most of their time just running away. And what almost made me fell of my chair is there's voice acting … not brilliant however decent enough as I was expecting a wall of text. Of course there's nothing wrong with that however it just threw me off guard. Also every important character is voice acted yet Altair does sound different; more Middle Eastern (which suits him better).

Considering Bloodlines forms part of the Assassin's Creed saga, this one ends Altair's trilogy. One of the highlights for Bloodlines was that Altair's personality changed as he's a lot wiser. Also after every memory sequence, you get to see Altair drafting his codex and thinking aloud about his thoughts on the Apple of Eden, humanity in general and others. And if you played Assassin's Creed 2, it's the very same codex that Ezio was searching for. However as mentioned before, Desmond, the key link of it all, was missing so it does feel a little out of place. Play it if you want to see the connection between Assassin's Creed one and two.

Get the full article at GameSpot

"Azghouls reviewed Assassin's Creed: Bloodlines for the PSP..." was posted by Azghouls on Thu, 16 May 2013 16:21:14 -0700
]]> http://www.gamespot.com/assassins-creed-ii/user-reviews/811392/platform/psp/ Thu, 16 May 2013 06:25:07 -0700 pokecharm reviewed Where's My Perry? for the iPhone/iPod... http://www.gamespot.com/wheres-my-perry/user-reviews/811368/platform/iphone/ ...and gave it a 6.0.

The Where's Perry app was the free app of the week at Starbucks this past week, so I took the time to sift through a little bit of it after playing the free version months ago. The principle of the game appears simple at first. The goal is to get Agent P, Perry the Platypus, through the tubes to thwart Doof by clearing the way of water through tunnels. The first few levels are simple, by using your finger, or a stylus, you clear the rubble away. Amongst the rubble are also secret agent files and other items as well as gnomes that can be collected. The water has to douse the gnomes in order for them to be considered collected.

The game is actually quite addictive. I played about 20 minutes yesterday, but thought it had only been five or less. The graphics are quite good, I'm using an iPad 2 and the voices, Major Monogram and Dr. Doofenshmirtz are spot on. There are, so far, no appearances of Phineas or Ferb as of yet. The unlockables as you move along are for either other agents, some seen in various episodes of the show. The other unlockables are for Dr. Doofenshmirtz's inators, which are also very amusing.

Though this game won't ever garner great recognition, it is a fun game, perfect for a tablet or phone. For the price, I believe $3 only, it is well worth the purchase.

Get the full article at GameSpot

"pokecharm reviewed Where's My Perry? for the iPhone/iPod..." was posted by pokecharm on Thu, 16 May 2013 06:25:07 -0700
]]> http://www.gamespot.com/wheres-my-perry/user-reviews/811368/platform/iphone/ Wed, 15 May 2013 07:45:17 -0700 pokecharm reviewed Bulletstorm for the Xbox 360... http://www.gamespot.com/bulletstorm/user-reviews/811333/platform/xbox360/ ...and gave it a 6.5.

Bulletstorm starts off with a bang and doesn't slow down, despite a heavy dose of sophomoric dialogue and meandering story. The game is a first-person shooter (FPS) style that follows Grayson Hunt who is the leader of a special operations unit. Within the first five minutes of gameplay it is soon discovered that Hunt and his team have been deluded and decide to take action against the man who set them up to kill innocent people. What follows is a quick game of shoot anything that moves with any variety of weapons.

What Bulletstorm lacks in story it more than makes up for with easy controls and game play. The weapons are varied and you're able to swap them in and out at regular intervals. The enemies are only slightly varied as you move through the game, but the way you interact with each does change based on what weapons you have and what is lying around. The game awards points based on skilful ways of killing people. If you just shoot them down, 10 points. If you use a piece of the environment, you can get 100 or more. This added element encourages you to use things around you and not just run and gun, as most FPS games do.

The voice acting goes only as far as the story will allow it. The story is predictable, but yet it doesn't feel stagnant. I didn't feel bored at any point even though I could have guessed what would happen next. The dialogue was purposely childish, pandering to the lowest common denominator for the target audience, yet I didn't find it nearly as distracting or disgusting as I thought I would. The fact that the story resolves itself in decent fashion makes the lacklustre story worthwhile.

The graphics were actually decent, not great, but decent. A had a few screen issues and once had to restart a checkpoint because I was lodged inside something. With no jump button, it made movement very linear. The sound was spot on, especially for most of the explosions that occurred throughout the game.

Bulletstorm will never be up for a Game of the Year award. What it lacks in story it more than makes up for in easy game play and just plain fun. The game is a hidden gem, one I acquired for a cool $2 used, no, I'm not kidding. For that price, I can't be disappointed with any of the game. There was a good variety of things to do and achievements to unlock. The game wasn't too hard, but did require precision at some points. Overall, if you can get it used, it is well worth getting.

Get the full article at GameSpot

"pokecharm reviewed Bulletstorm for the Xbox 360..." was posted by pokecharm on Wed, 15 May 2013 07:45:17 -0700
]]> http://www.gamespot.com/bulletstorm/user-reviews/811333/platform/xbox360/ Tue, 14 May 2013 01:03:35 -0700 ShaineTheNerd reviewed Arcadecraft for the Xbox 360... http://www.gamespot.com/arcadecraft/user-reviews/811284/platform/xbox360/ ...and gave it a 6.0.

Having missed that era of arcade goodness, I have always wanted to experience the joy of walking into an arcade room, watching as fellow nerds talk, brag and argue about their hi-scores on their favorite video game cabinet, and just relaxing to the sound of video games. An even greater dream of mine is to actually own an arcade room, so as you could imagine, I was pretty excited to try this game out.

At first, it was fun. You start out with only a little bit of cash, a couple of cabinets unlocked that are ready for purchase, some decor that you can buy to jazz up your establishment, and that's about it. As you play and your business gets more popular around the neighborhood, more and more kids come in to play, thus giving you money, which lets you buy more games and decorations.
You can change the amount of money each game costs to play, as well as set the difficulty on your game. Charge more, you supposedly get more money, but the game will be less popular. Altering difficulty is the same way -- make it harder for more money, but you get less customers on that game.

You learn this all in the beginning, but you're told you'll get more money, but it becomes less popular. What they should have told you is, "Charge more/make it harder and no one will play, and the low amount that do play will complain and cuss at your game, which lowers your whole room's rating and you get, altogether, less customers." I had to pretty much lower all my cabinets to a quarter, and it had to be on "Easy" difficulty to be played even remotely. "Medium" difficulty can be used on a few games, but you better leave it at 25 cents, or else you just won't make money.

The more games you buy, the stronger of an electric-generator box you will need to buy. One lets you have 10 games, another 20, and the last grants 30. 30 game cabinets seems like a good amount, but that quickly adds up by year 3. You will have to eventually sell games. Since owning a cabinet for so long turns it into a "Classic" cabinet -- which grants more popularity to your arcade room for each one in possession -- this can be an annoying and dreadful task. Deciding which cabinet to get rid of can be very frustrating, and there is no way around it if you want to stay in business.

The way you organize and decorate your arcade room affects your overall popularity. Putting cabinets to a wall and beside one another helps, while scattering them around just wherever decreases your popularity. If you put a sequel besides it's predecessor, that causes both games to see a good popularity increase. As stated before, owning a console for so long gives it the title of "Classic". For every classic cabinet you own, you will see a bonus to you popularity. Changing your wallpaper and color scheme every now-and-again will net you a popularity increase, as well as stocking up on your seasonal decorations -- a jack-o-lantern and a Christmas tree.

The task of cleaning coins out of your machines, especially if you have 30 machines out, can be very tedious. You have to go to each one and hold in "Y" until you empty out all the coins. If you have 300-plus coins in the reserves, you will be sitting for about five seconds... per cabinet. You can hire an employee to do this task for you, but he is very sluggish, resulting in cabinets becoming full and rendered useless until emptied.

Little things here and there do require your attention, like say a customer gets rowdy with one of your machines; you have to quickly throw them out lest you have a broken machine. Maybe your vending machine ran out of pop; you'll have to refill that sucker so you don't lose precious seconds of money-accumulation. Sometimes an older cabinet will get jammed, sometimes chips burnout. It does add some variety to sitting around waiting for machines to be full.

The game features your avatar as the store manager, and even has your friends' avatars join in on some retro-fun -- and throwing them out is always entertaining. Though there are fun spots in the game, as mentioned before, it essentially becomes a giant snooze-fest while you wait for your machines to become full later in your career. Nothing new or fresh happens besides a FEW random events, and even they get dull after a while. It's a shame such a fun idea couldn't have been more... fun.

Get the full article at GameSpot

"ShaineTheNerd reviewed Arcadecraft for the Xbox 360..." was posted by ShaineTheNerd on Tue, 14 May 2013 01:03:35 -0700
]]> http://www.gamespot.com/arcadecraft/user-reviews/811284/platform/xbox360/ Sat, 11 May 2013 04:28:33 -0700 Spinnerweb reviewed Angry Birds for the iPhone/iPod... http://www.gamespot.com/angry-birds/user-reviews/811201/platform/iphone/ ...and gave it a 2.0.

"Angry Birds is so cute!" "Angry Birds is so awesome!" "Little birdies, take wing..." How many times have you heard sentences like these in the past half-decade? I would guess around 950, 000 times.

But Angry Birds is the Justin Bieber of video games. It's undeservingly popular and is potentially dangerous. Some of the birds are cute, and that's about it. It's a game where skill is thrown into a lake of carnivorous piranhas and all you do is pull the birds back on the slingshot and kill annoying green pigs.

There's only one tune in the whole game (not counting the tune that plays when you beat a level, which is almost the same and lasts, oh, half a second), and it's very annoying. The birds make noises when they launch and when you tap the screen to use their special ability, like the yellow bird can speed up, but that's all there is to it.

The visuals are decent - compared to most iPhone games anyway - but the game isn't enjoyable. It's nothing but pure frustration. You pull the birds and launch them repeatedly just for the heck of it. You become the Rambo of video games. You don't even look if you're hitting the pigs, all you want is to beat the level just so that you can get the hell out of here.

I don't know why this game is so popular - yes, the birds are cute, but then babies are cute and yet except for Charlie in the 'Charlie Bit My Finger' video none of them became exactly famous. Maybe it's because some people don't know what games are. They think they're just crap like this where you just exercise your index finger and leave smudges across your iPhone screen.

One of the worst, no, THE worst because of its undeserved popularity, casual games of all time.

Get the full article at GameSpot

"Spinnerweb reviewed Angry Birds for the iPhone/iPod..." was posted by Spinnerweb on Sat, 11 May 2013 04:28:33 -0700
]]> http://www.gamespot.com/angry-birds/user-reviews/811201/platform/iphone/ Sat, 11 May 2013 04:12:07 -0700 Spinnerweb reviewed Resident Evil: Deadly Silence for the DS... http://www.gamespot.com/resident-evil-deadly-silence/user-reviews/811200/platform/ds/ ...and gave it a 8.0.

Resident Evil: Deadly Silence is a port of the original Resident Evil on the PS1. What's truly impressive is that everything - the FMV cutscenes, the gameplay and the sound - all of it from the PS1 is intact. This is an amazing achievement for a DS game.

It's the same story, which means it's very good. The graphics are almost identical to the PS1 version except for some effects, and there isn't any slowdown which is a problem in quite a number of 3D games for the DS.

There's more - a new Rebirth mode, which can be called something like, 'Resident Evil Remixed.' Enemies are at different locations from the original version, and it's slightly harder. There are new puzzles, and it makes use of the DS's touchscreen and microphone.

The cutscenes are fully voiced, and the FMV cutscenes are all there and haven't been dumbed down. The game plays quite well with the DS's controls, and best of all, Resident Evil is finally portable.

Any horror game fan with a Nintendo DS would do well to play this.

Get the full article at GameSpot

"Spinnerweb reviewed Resident Evil: Deadly Silence for the DS..." was posted by Spinnerweb on Sat, 11 May 2013 04:12:07 -0700
]]> http://www.gamespot.com/resident-evil-deadly-silence/user-reviews/811200/platform/ds/ Sat, 11 May 2013 03:07:00 -0700 Spinnerweb reviewed Facebook for the BlackBerry... http://www.gamespot.com/facebook/user-reviews/811198/platform/blackberry/ ...and gave it a 1.0.

Facebook... Why is it so successful? Because it encourages people to waste time. It is a menace to society. People visit it, everyday, posting things like, 'Brushing my teeth', 'having my breakfast' ... I mean, who cares?

The only beings it makes sense for is the older generation. Like, can't-get-out-of-my-wheelchair old. They can talk to their friends and it'll be like old times again.

But oddly, young 'uns use Facebook the most.

And it's glitchy. Every page you go to, it says, "Oops, ironing out a few kinks." There are awful waste-your-time online games like YoVille, FarmVille, ZooVille, CityVille and a possible AssVille.

I urge everyone to stay away from this.

It does nothing but create a bunch of narcissistic self-obsessed attention seekers, and I wish for a crushingly violent punishment for the assclown who came up with the idea of Facebook.

Get the full article at GameSpot

"Spinnerweb reviewed Facebook for the BlackBerry..." was posted by Spinnerweb on Sat, 11 May 2013 03:07:00 -0700
]]> http://www.gamespot.com/facebook/user-reviews/811198/platform/blackberry/ Fri, 10 May 2013 22:42:33 -0700 Spinnerweb reviewed Tomb Raider: Underworld for the DS... http://www.gamespot.com/tomb-raider-underworld/user-reviews/811192/platform/ds/ ...and gave it a 6.0.

It's easy to see that unlike other developers, Santa Cruz really did try (a little) to make this a good handheld version of a console game. But for whatever reason, whether out of laziness or because it was rushed to meet the release date, they didn't succeed. The end result is a game that is impressive in terms of visuals, but a mixture of too-easy gameplay and choppy sound results in a game that is disappointing and doesn't last very long.

One feat that I would commend the developers for is that the FMV cutscenes are all here, and all are intact, without any loss in quality. That is something that induces a 'wow', but let's get onto the actual game. The story is the same as the console version - in other words, it's very good, but after that it's downhill.

The graphics, like I said before, are amazing for a DS game. There is no slowdown like in other 3D games on the Nintendo DS, and the lighting is great. The character models aren't HD, of course, but they look very good on the DS.

The gameplay is on the easy side. Like, disappointingly easy. Sometimes you die because you don't expect it to be so easy and overshoot. Unbelievable. And there is no increase in difficulty as the game goes along.

The game plays like a 2D side scrolling platformer, but with 3D character models and environments. You use the touchscreen for the inventory. And man, the screen is dark! You'll only be able to see everything if you play on a DS Lite on the highest brightness setting. It's easy, even though Lara has all her moves from the console games like hanging from ledges, swinging around poles and using her grapple, because it's side scrolling. You can't fall off because you jumped a little too much to one side.

It should take an average of less than six hours to beat this game. So what good you can take from this game, can be taken from its screenshots - the graphics. Aside from that, unless it's your life's goal to collect every Tomb Raider game on every platform, or you don't have any other console to play this on except the DS, I would dissuade you from playing it.

Get the full article at GameSpot

"Spinnerweb reviewed Tomb Raider: Underworld for the DS..." was posted by Spinnerweb on Fri, 10 May 2013 22:42:33 -0700
]]> http://www.gamespot.com/tomb-raider-underworld/user-reviews/811192/platform/ds/ Fri, 10 May 2013 21:12:33 -0700 Spinnerweb reviewed Tomb Raider: Underworld for the PlayStation 2... http://www.gamespot.com/tomb-raider-underworld/user-reviews/811190/platform/ps2/ ...and gave it a 9.0!

Poor Lara. While I enjoyed every single Tomb Raider game in the original series, her popularity has been plummeting for a while now. People just can't be satisfied that easily. So what do the developers do? Do they just put in revealing costumes and a cover starring her midriff and hope it'll sell? Of course not. They do that, but they make a great game as well.

Underworld continues the story where Legend left off, and the story is very good. If this had to be the end of the series it's very satisfyingly so. My greatest fear, however, was that the game would be half-assed on the PS2 and the developers would give all the attention to the seventh generation version. But right from the start, Underworld restored my faith in developers. The FMV cutscenes are excellent, and amazingly the in-game graphics are comparable to the PS3 version - this isn't a joke. Whether it's because the PS3's version's graphics are bad or the PS2 one's are very good, depends on whether you see the glass as half empty or half full.

The gameplay is very similar to Legend, but it's more non-linear. You can do more stuff now - shift along small ledges just by moving the analog stick rather than taking a risky jump, and there's an obligatory bike in one level. There's also a 'realistic' factor that makes it more believable through animations and excellent graphics - when standing near a fire in the first level, Lara will raise her arms in that direction to protect herself from the heat. After climbing out of water, Lara's clothes will be drenched. Yes, the latter also happened in Legend and Anniversary, but I never stopped being amazed at how much the developers did on the PS2 in the matter of visuals. The music is good, and the voice acting is well done. There is some minor slowdown in the gameplay of the second level (the one with the giant squid in it) but it never amounted to excessive frustration.

Of course, it's still a PS2 game, so the developers had to make some sacrifices - namely, the double auto target mode from the PS3 version isn't here. Ah well. Who wants that, anyway?

Overall, the now-bankrupt developers did a really good job with it and it's a shame the series was rebooted, though it couldn't have gone on forever obviously and over a decade is a nice long run for a series... but Underworld is a very satisfying end to the original series whichever platform you play it on.

... Except the Nintendo DS, of course.



Get the full article at GameSpot

"Spinnerweb reviewed Tomb Raider: Underworld for the PlayStation 2..." was posted by Spinnerweb on Fri, 10 May 2013 21:12:33 -0700
]]> http://www.gamespot.com/tomb-raider-underworld/user-reviews/811190/platform/ps2/ Tue, 07 May 2013 15:08:22 -0700 WTA2k5 reviewed BioShock Infinite for the Xbox 360... http://www.gamespot.com/bioshock-infinite/user-reviews/811097/platform/xbox360/ ...and gave it a 8.5.

Who dares doesn't always win, apparently. BioShock Infinite is a game that far too often goes only halfway in realizing its many grand ambitions. It dares to speak on ever-relevant issues of racism, classism, and nationalism, but in an odd twist of irony, it marginalizes these plot elements that, in the real world, often lead to oppression and marginalization to instead focus on some good old-fashioned mind-bending speculative science fiction. It admirably deigns to not fall back on jarring cutscenes, but predicates most of its major mechanics on familiar shooting structures, leaving most of its truly affecting moments to be navigated through singular button-presses, that is, if you are given the opportunity to have any real input in these moments in the first place. It wants you to lose yourself in the visually engrossing but philosophically abhorrent world of Columbia, but many of the floating city's major players are paper-thin caricatures, and the game's wealth of audiologs feels cheaper and more overly-convenient than ever.

Still, it must be said that the fact that Infinite even partly accomplishes any of the tasks that it sets out for itself is hugely impressive. Considering many games have difficulties spicing up even the most rote shooting mechanics, unleash a deluge of cutscenes and quicktime events on players at every possible opportunity, and often struggle to not, themselves, be racist, BioShock Infinite stands out as an important step forward for big budget games that strive for serious artistry and drama. Irrational's latest isn't the gaming medium's magnum opus of cultural expression that one might expect given the game's self-serious artistic posturing, and huge critical acclaim, but it's still an utterly important release, and a damn good one too.

This is because there are plenty of things that Infinite gets totally right. The game's astounding audiovisual presentation is perhaps the foremost place to start. The game doesn't overtly flex any technical wizardry in the way an id or Crytek release might, but its sheer artistic splendor makes it one of the very best looking games of this console generation. At the root of this is no doubt the game's stellar environment, which ranks among the pantheon of gaming's greatest settings.

In the game's opening hour, players are slowly, calmly introduced to the seeming utopia of Columbia, an opulent, sun-drenched city above the clouds defined by exaggerated American expressions. Bright, idyllic gardens surround grand Palladian building; a peaceful stillness remains pervasive even through bustling storefronts and chatting citizens, only to occasionally be interrupted by enticing music selections (seriously, pay attention to this game's soundtrack), or - as players will encounter soon after arrival - a gleeful carnival complete with silly games and booming fireworks.

The game is wise to devote such a long period of time to simply navigating and luxuriating in its enticing environment, as Columbia is a true marvel that demonstrates the fact that Infinite's surely ungodly budget was put to good use - Irrational's hugely talented art team seems to have been truly unleashed. And though the game reserves for itself a few more simple moments of quietude, players will also soon discover their chief motivation for the rip-roaring action that consumes the vast majority of Infinite's running time.

Lead by the self-righteous and disturbed Father Comstock, most of Columbia's denizens have adopted a worldview that takes notions of American Exceptionalism to ridiculous but no less frightening extremes. Here, other religions have been extinguished in favor of a faith that idealizes America's founding fathers, as well as Comstock and his family, and all but the Anglo-Saxon adherents to this dogma are marginalized, reviled and exploited. This, as you might imagine, is causing some problems within the floating city, and tensions continually escalate from the moment you arrive.

But don't ready your spinning skyhook just yet, as there's quite a bit to dissect with this hefty plot setup. As mentioned before, Infinite has no qualms about diving headfirst into seemingly risky storytelling territory. But, much like the original BioShock's awkward and contradictory critique of Randian Objectivism, Infinite handles its set of sociopolitical critiques in a rather bumbling, heavy-handed, and ultimately ineffective way. For most of the game, these heavy themes of discrimination are mostly shock with little substance. Early on, for example, players will find themselves in the headquarters of The Fraternal Order of the Raven, an environment whose every last bit of iconography - including statues of John Wilkes Boothe, and enemies garbed in darkened Klu Klux Klan robes - spews bigoted filth. Troubling, to be sure, but this environment is never explored to a satisfactory degree in a narrative context. We are never told what drove the Order's members to this disgusting mindset, or what function it plays in Columbian society as a whole; instead we're instructed to simply tear through the environment, dismembering every racist we can find. Indeed, almost every one of the game's on-the-nose explorations of racism and jingoism seems to exist as more out of a desire to simply justify Infinite's absurd level of bombastic violence than a willingness to earnestly and cerebrally comment on these weighty issues.

It's a true shame, but again, the fact that the game is willing to go to these dark places in an upfront and confrontational manner when most games dodge around similar issues or make heavy use of metaphor and allegory in order to indirectly speak on them is commendable, even if it keeps Infinite's apparent daring from being something to truly celebrate.

But there is a second major component of Infinite's ideological critique, one that is much more subtly woven throughout the game, and one that ultimately cuts much deeper. Forgiveness and rebirth, in regards to its inherent inclusion in many major religions, is relentlessly examined and scrutinized over the course of the campaign in some truly unsettling ways. This side of the game's narrative might be so uncomfortable, in fact, as to offend adherents to the faiths that Infinite draws some heavily parallels to with its own disturbing belief system. The fact, however, that these themes aren't merely dabbled in, as are the game's superficial commentaries discrimination, but rather made absolutely integral to the core narrative and explored fully and fearlessly leads Infinite, in this instance, to fully live up to its grandiose goals. This is the moment where Infinite's narrative triumphs, and I can only hope that more games follow in its footsteps in bringing to light serious thematic content in a more direct manner, as can be seen so often in other media yet so rarely within video games.

Alright, here's where you can start revving up your skyhook. As he progresses through the carnival that greets him as he first steps foot in Columbia, Booker DeWitt, the game's playable and decidedly not-mute protagonist, begins to fully unravel the noxious worldview of Columbia's inhabitants. On his way towards a strange raffle that serves as the fair's main event, Comstock's voice booms over a loudspeaker, warning the citizens of Columbia about the arrival of the False Prophet, a man who has the letters "AD" burned into his right hand. Sure enough, our anti-hero holds his hand up to reveal that exact marking. And sure enough, during this eerie raffle event, the Columbians take notice of the mark, and Booker DeWitt swiftly digs a spinning hookblade into the skull of the first police officer that attempts to apprehend him.

With this, BioShock Infinite reveals its heavy emphasis on twitchy shooter gameplay and ridiculous amounts of gore. Engaging in the game's slick shooting mechanics feels no different than it might in the latest Call of Duty game; guns have a fantastic sense of weight to them and the responsiveness and ingenuity of the game's heads-up display ensures steady environmental awareness despite the over-the-top freneticism of many of the game's combat sequences. But where Infinite's combat truly shines is in its surprising mechanical density. Vigors that grant Booker special powers like the ability to shoot electricity from his fingertips or absorb bullets and toss them right back at foes serve as the first extra layering. For those familiar with the series, these powers might seem quite like the Plasmids introduced in the first BioShock, and though they do perform the same function, they're implemented in a far more balanced way in Infinite than they are in its predecessors; they're powerful and readily available but must be dealt out conservatively, as the mana pool they run on is rather restrictive.

But as gleefully destructive as they can be, Vigors are decidedly uninteresting in the face of Infinite's more inspired new mechanics. Booker's ability to latch onto the aerial Skylines running throughout Columbia is perhaps the most mind-blowing gameplay feature of them all. Though the mechanic seemed rather unbelievable during its first E3 showing a couple years ago, it speaks to the ingenuity of the game's level design that fluidly navigating Skylines that weave throughout many of the game's rather conspicuous battle arenas while taking shots at enemies, a potentially disorienting feat, becomes effortless after only a few encounters. The verticality and freedom of movement this system grants the game is awe-inspiring, and almost attaches a sense of childlike wonder to the act of mass-murdering racists.

For the first few hours of gameplay, these are the mechanics that Booker is limited to. It's during this time that he seeks to accomplish a seemingly simple direction mandated by a mysterious client: "Give us the girl, and wipe away the debt." Though this phrase ends up holding more significance than an uninitiated player could possibly know, it nonetheless serves as the impetus for finding Elizabeth, a young woman whose power to tear holes in the space-time continuum has, perhaps expectedly, lead her to be sequestered on the looming, Statue of Liberty-esque research facility, Monument Island.

So, as one might expect, this ability of hers adds more than a few layers of complexity to what might've otherwise been a rather straightforward plot. As the extent of her powers is gradually revealed, a suitably mind-bending narrative begins to form that comments, among other things, on the frail nature of identity and the profound ways in which a single choice can influence personhood, for better or worse. Though the introduction of converging space-time might seem to risk devolving the story into an Inception-esque exercise in overly complex authorial self-indulgence, BioShock Infinite uses this storytelling conceit to build a truly tragedian narrative.

But Elizabeth isn't merely a means for crafting a brain-melting metaphysical storyline. Nor is Booker DeWitt a stupefied on-looker who hails from the same lineage of horribly flat shooter protagonists as Gordon Freeman, or Corvo Attano. They are both memorable characters whose defined personalities infuse the plot's affecting tragedy with a true sense of humanity. Elizabeth, on one hand, starts out as a surprisingly cultured and self-aware inversion of the classic damsel-in-distress trope, and her evolution over the course of the game's ten- to twelve-hour campaign is astonishingly well-paced and believable. Her exaggerated features and expressive animations that pay homage to the distinctive style Grim Natwick invented for Disney solidify her as one of the most memorable and empathetic characters in gaming. DeWitt, by contrast, is predominately a closed-book, limiting himself to practical, yet charismatic antics strongly reminiscent of classic swashbucklers like Han Solo until his dark past is fully revealed during the final act. When that happens, he extends far beyond his narrative role as a foil to Elizabeth, and the resulting revelations cut to the bone. Major compliments are due to Troy Baker and Courtnee Draper, who faultlessly brings this odd couple to life even through all the mind-blowing turns the story takes.

The duo also serve as a great team during Infinite's huge combat sequences. Though Booker, as mentioned before, is in charge of most of the direct combat, Elizabeth is a key ingredient in what makes the game's massive shootouts so dazzling. Most significantly, she uses her ability to alter time and space to bring objects into the battlefields that didn't previously exist. Asking for a wall of cover to hide behind when a dozen enemies are facing you down, or perhaps a Skyhook that lets you access a sniper perch adds an exciting tactical dynamism to combat that feels especially important considering the sheer number of foes the game throws at you. Since you can only select one object to tear in at a time, more heated battles require a constant mindfulness and economization of Elizabeth's power that is as exhilaratingly strategic as the best of tactical shooters.

A smaller, but no less genius touch is the fact that Elizabeth tosses you mana and ammo when it feels clutch. Even when it becomes obvious that she's scripted to do so whenever your resources are running low, the notion that an AI is looking out for you is relentlessly fulfilling, especially in a game that constructs a scenario that might've so easily fallen into the dreaded escort-mission trap. Indeed, going back to other first-person shooters has become tough, as Elizabeth is not just a delightful companion in a narrative sense, but she's also integral to the satisfaction of Infinite's moment-to-moment combat proceedings.

Each of the augments to the core shooting experience are satisfying in their own right, but once they all start working in tandem, Infinite's combat scenarios reach the upper-echelon of FPS sublimation. Not since Half-Life 2 has a shooter married pulse-pounding twitch thrills to a deeply strategic core so seamlessly, and while leaving so much room for experimentation. The gritty sound design that punctuates the action is equally superb; a combination of abrasive string stabs, impactful weapon sound effects and some truly horrifying enemy damage reactions unfailingly sell you on the weighty ferocity of the mayhem you cause.

All this, of course, sounds amazing, and on some level it truly is. But consider this: for all its fast-paced entertainment, Infinite's combat never fully works. In a mechanical sense, it's pretty much as polished as can be, but the game's massive amount of carnage doesn't quite work within the context of the story. In fact, story and gameplay don't feel merged at all. While there's a fair amount of narrative justification for the heavy degree of violence, the fact that shooting people and ripping their heads of with a spinning hook is pretty much Booker's only way of interacting with the world undercuts much of the arresting emotionality of Infinite's narrative.

Highlighting this problem is the fact that many of the game's most powerful moments either preclude player input, or limit interactivity to the push of a single button. Elizabeth's ability to tear holes in the space-time continuum, for example, may have been the basis for some ingenious puzzle solving and narrative interaction, but players are instead left to simply push a button to demand entry into a new reality where they can proceed to shoot more people in the face. Again, this feels like BioShock Infinite going only halfway in bringing its many fantastic ideas to life; some truly inventive mechanical structures may have been borne out of the game's central narrative conceits, but Irrational has disappointingly opted to instead rely on more comfortable and pre-established action gameplay.

This disconnect is furthered by the game's odd focus on scavenging between each firefight. While the opportunity to really dig into and appreciate each environment, as well as get a break from the nearly nonstop action is welcome, the context of the narrative doesn't really support these detours either. Booker's mission is given an impactful sense of urgency, so the fact that the game encourages you to stop down for long stretches of time to eat random food items littered about and try to uncover Columbia's many secrets is rather off-putting. Early on, for instance, Elizabeth finds herself in immediate danger. An objective indicator flashes on-screen telling you to go rescue her, yet you find yourself surrounded by lootable objects designated by a pulsating golden glow. Of all the moments to try and fish pieces of cake out of a trashcan, this may be the least opportune, but Infinite's structure, which evidently values narrative over gameplay in terms of pacing and logic, continues to tempt you astray regardless. This might all seem a bit nitpicky, but considering the fact that Infinite is so intent on being treated as a significant work of art, these small annoyances can't be ignored, as they gradually undermine the meaning the game tries so hard to construct for itself.

BioShock Infinite is a game worth any mature player's while, but it has come at an unfortunate time. Within the past year alone, the industry has been treated to games like Spec Ops: The Line, The Walking Dead, and Hotline Miami, just a few titles that are capable of eloquently and expertly exploring dark themes while being cognizant of their respective mechanics' impact on the narratives they try to weave, making a game like Infinite - one that never fully accounts for the ways in which its gameplay influences the meaning and effectiveness of its story - seem a bit clumsy by comparison. David Jaffe, the brilliant designer behind games like God of War and Twisted Metal once deemed the relationship between gameplay and narrative as being like the combination of "chocolate and tunafish." I would argue that this claim isn't necessarily true, and games like Spec Ops are perfect demonstrations as to why that is. In the case of Infinite, however, Jaffe's argument has a haunting validity. But take heart, the chocolate that is BioShock Infinite's gameplay and the tunafish that is its story are pretty much premium grade when enjoyed separately. Just accept the fact that the combination is going to taste a little odd and find something to savor within it.

Get the full article at GameSpot

"WTA2k5 reviewed BioShock Infinite for the Xbox 360..." was posted by WTA2k5 on Tue, 07 May 2013 15:08:22 -0700
]]> http://www.gamespot.com/bioshock-infinite/user-reviews/811097/platform/xbox360/ Tue, 07 May 2013 13:42:46 -0700 WTA2k5 reviewed BioShock Infinite for the PlayStation 3... http://www.gamespot.com/bioshock-infinite/user-reviews/811095/platform/ps3/ ...and gave it a 8.5.

Who dares doesn't always win, apparently. BioShock Infinite is a game that far too often goes only halfway in realizing its many grand ambitions. It dares to speak on ever-relevant issues of racism, classism, and nationalism, but in an odd twist of irony, it marginalizes these plot elements that, in the real world, often lead to oppression and marginalization to instead focus on some good old-fashioned mind-bending speculative science fiction. It admirably deigns to not fall back on jarring cutscenes, but predicates most of its major mechanics on familiar shooting structures, leaving most of its truly affecting moments to be navigated through singular button-presses, that is, if you are given the opportunity to have any real input in these moments in the first place. It wants you to lose yourself in the visually engrossing but philosophically abhorrent world of Columbia, but many of the floating city's major players are paper-thin caricatures, and the game's wealth of audiologs feels cheaper and more overly-convenient than ever.

Still, it must be said that the fact that Infinite even partly accomplishes any of the tasks that it sets out for itself is hugely impressive. Considering have huge difficulties spicing up even the most rote shooting mechanics, unleash a deluge of cutscenes and quicktime events on players at every possible opportunity, and often struggle to not, themselves, be racist, BioShock Infinite stands out as an important step forward for big budget games that strive for serious artistry and drama. Irrational's latest isn't the gaming medium's magnum opus of cultural expression that one might expect given the game's self-serious artistic posturing, and huge critical acclaim, but it's still an utterly important release, and a damn good one too.

This is because there are plenty of things that Infinite gets totally right. The game's astounding audiovisual presentation is perhaps the foremost place to start. The game doesn't overtly flex any technical wizardry in the way an id or Crytek release might, but its sheer artistic splendor makes it one of the very best looking games of this console generation. At the root of this is no doubt the game's stellar environment, which ranks among the pantheon of gaming's greatest settings.

In the game's opening hour, players are slowly, calmly introduced to the seeming utopia of Columbia, an opulent, sun-drenched city above the clouds defined by exaggerated American expressions. Bright, idyllic gardens surround grand Palladian building; a peaceful stillness remains pervasive even through bustling storefronts and chatting citizens, only to occasionally be interrupted by enticing music selections (seriously, pay attention to this game's soundtrack), or - as players will encounter soon after arrival - a gleeful carnival complete with silly games and booming fireworks.

The game is wise to devote such a long period of time to simply navigating and luxuriating in its enticing environment, as Columbia is a true marvel that demonstrates the fact that Infinite's surely ungodly budget was put to good use - Irrational's hugely talented art team seems to have been truly unleashed. And though the game reserves for itself a few more simple moments of quietude, players will also soon discover their chief motivation for the rip-roaring action that consumes the vast majority of Infinite's running time.

Lead by the self-righteous and disturbed Father Comstock, most of Columbia's denizens have adopted a worldview that takes notions of American Exceptionalism to ridiculous but no less frightening extremes. Here, other religions have been extinguished in favor of a faith that idealizes America's founding fathers, as well as Comstock and his family, and all but the Anglo-Saxon adherents to this dogma are marginalized, reviled and exploited. This, as you might imagine, is causing some problems within the floating city, and tensions continually escalate from the moment you arrive.

But don't ready your spinning skyhook just yet, as there's quite a bit to dissect with this hefty plot setup. As mentioned before, Infinite has no qualms about diving headfirst into seemingly risky storytelling territory. But, much like the original BioShock's awkward and contradictory critique of Randian Objectivism, Infinite handles its set of sociopolitical critiques in a rather bumbling, heavy-handed, and ultimately ineffective way. For most of the game, these heavy themes of discrimination are mostly shock with little substance. Early on, for example, players will find themselves in the headquarters of The Fraternal Order of the Raven, an environment whose every last bit of iconography - including statues of John Wilkes Boothe, and enemies garbed in darkened Klu Klux Klan robes - spews bigoted filth. Troubling, to be sure, but this environment is never explored to a satisfactory degree in a narrative context. We are never told what drove the Order's members to this disgusting mindset, or what function it plays in Columbian society as a whole; instead we're instructed to simply tear through the environment, dismembering every racist we can find. Indeed, almost every one of the game's on-the-nose explorations of racism and jingoism seems to exist as more out of a desire to simply justify Infinite's absurd level of bombastic violence than a willingness to earnestly and cerebrally comment on these weighty issues.

It's a true shame, but again, the fact that the game is willing to go to these dark places in an upfront and confrontational manner when most games dodge around similar issues or make heavy use of metaphor and allegory in order to indirectly speak on them is commendable, even if it keeps Infinite's apparent daring from being something to truly celebrate.

But there is a second major component of Infinite's ideological critique, one that is much more subtly woven throughout the game, and one that ultimately cuts much deeper. Forgiveness and rebirth, in regards to its inherent inclusion in many major religions, is relentlessly examined and scrutinized over the course of the campaign in some truly unsettling ways. This side of the game's narrative might be so uncomfortable, in fact, as to offend adherents to the faiths that Infinite draws some heavily parallels to with its own disturbing belief system. The fact, however, that these themes aren't merely dabbled in, as are the game's superficial commentaries discrimination, but rather made absolutely integral to the core narrative and explored fully and fearlessly leads Infinite, in this instance, to fully live up to its grandiose goals. This is the moment where Infinite's narrative triumphs, and I can only hope that more games follow in its footsteps in bringing to light serious thematic content in a more direct manner, as can be seen so often in other media yet so rarely within video games.

Alright, here's where you can start revving up your skyhook. As he progresses through the carnival that greets him as he first steps foot in Columbia, Booker DeWitt, the game's playable and decidedly not-mute protagonist, begins to fully unravel the noxious worldview of Columbia's inhabitants. On his way towards a strange raffle that serves as the fair's main event, Comstock's voice booms over a loudspeaker, warning the citizens of Columbia about the arrival of the False Prophet, a man who has the letters "AD" burned into his right hand. Sure enough, our anti-hero holds his hand up to reveal that exact marking. And sure enough, during this eerie raffle event, the Columbians take notice of the mark, and Booker DeWitt swiftly digs a spinning hookblade into the skull of the first police officer that attempts to apprehend him.

With this, BioShock Infinite reveals its heavy emphasis on twitchy shooter gameplay and ridiculous amounts of gore. Engaging in the game's slick shooting mechanics feels no different than it might in the latest Call of Duty game; guns have a fantastic sense of weight to them and the responsiveness and ingenuity of the game's heads-up display ensures steady environmental awareness despite the over-the-top freneticism of many of the game's combat sequences. But where Infinite's combat truly shines is in its surprising mechanical density. Vigors that grant Booker special powers like the ability to shoot electricity from his fingertips or absorb bullets and toss them right back at foes serve as the first extra layering. For those familiar with the series, these powers might seem quite like the Plasmids introduced in the first BioShock, and though they do perform the same function, they're implemented in a far more balanced way in Infinite than they are in its predecessors; they're powerful and readily available but must be dealt out conservatively, as the mana pool they run on is rather restrictive.

But as gleefully destructive as they can be, Vigors are decidedly uninteresting in the face of Infinite's more inspired new mechanics. Booker's ability to latch onto the aerial Skylines running throughout Columbia is perhaps the most mind-blowing gameplay feature of them all. Though the mechanic seemed rather unbelievable during its first E3 showing a couple years ago, it speaks to the ingenuity of the game's level design that fluidly navigating Skylines that weave throughout many of the game's rather conspicuous battle arenas while taking shots at enemies, a potentially disorienting feat, becomes effortless after only a few encounters. The verticality and freedom of movement this system grants the game is awe-inspiring, and almost attaches a sense of childlike wonder to the act of mass-murdering racists.

For the first few hours of gameplay, these are the mechanics that Booker is limited to. It's during this time that he seeks to accomplish a seemingly simple direction mandated by a mysterious client: "Give us the girl, and wipe away the debt." Though this phrase ends up holding more significance than an uninitiated player could possibly know, it nonetheless serves as the impetus for finding Elizabeth, a young woman whose power to tear holes in the space-time continuum has, perhaps expectedly, lead her to be sequestered on the looming, Statue of Liberty-esque research facility, Monument Island.

So, as one might expect, this ability of hers adds more than a few layers of complexity to what might've otherwise been a rather straightforward plot. As the extent of her powers is gradually revealed, a suitably mind-bending narrative begins to form that comments, among other things, on the frail nature of identity and the profound ways in which a single choice can influence personhood, for better or worse. Though the introduction of converging space-time might seem to risk devolving the story into an Inception-esque exercise in overly complex authorial self-indulgence, BioShock Infinite uses this storytelling conceit to build a truly tragedian narrative.

But Elizabeth isn't merely a means for crafting a brain-melting metaphysical storyline. Nor is Booker DeWitt a stupefied on-looker who hails from the same lineage of horribly flat shooter protagonists as Gordon Freeman, or Corvo Attano. They are both memorable characters whose defined personalities infuse the plot's affecting tragedy with a true sense of humanity. Elizabeth, on one hand, starts out as a surprisingly cultured and self-aware inversion of the classic damsel-in-distress trope, and her evolution over the course of the game's ten- to twelve-hour campaign is astonishingly well-paced and believable. Her exaggerated features and expressive animations that pay homage to the distinctive style Grim Natwick invented for Disney solidify her as one of the most memorable and empathetic characters in gaming. DeWitt, by contrast, is predominately a closed-book, limiting himself to practical, yet charismatic antics strongly reminiscent of classic swashbucklers like Han Solo until his dark past is fully revealed during the final act. When that happens, he extends far beyond his narrative role as a foil to Elizabeth, and the resulting revelations cut to the bone. Major compliments are due to Troy Baker and Courtnee Draper, who faultlessly brings this odd couple to life even through all the mind-blowing turns the story takes.

The duo also serve as a great team during Infinite's huge combat sequences. Though Booker, as mentioned before, is in charge of most of the direct combat, Elizabeth is a key ingredient in what makes the game's massive shootouts so dazzling. Most significantly, she uses her ability to alter time and space to bring objects into the battlefields that didn't previously exist. Asking for a wall of cover to hide behind when a dozen enemies are facing you down, or perhaps a Skyhook that lets you access a sniper perch adds an exciting tactical dynamism to combat that feels especially important considering the sheer number of foes the game throws at you. Since you can only select one object to tear in at a time, more heated battles require a constant mindfulness and economization of Elizabeth's power that is as exhilaratingly strategic as the best of tactical shooters.

A smaller, but no less genius touch is the fact that Elizabeth tosses you mana and ammo when it feels clutch. Even when it becomes obvious that she's scripted to do so whenever your resources are running low, the notion that an AI is looking out for you is relentlessly fulfilling, especially in a game that constructs a scenario that might've so easily fallen into the dreaded escort-mission trap. Indeed, going back to other first-person shooters has become tough, as Elizabeth is not just a delightful companion in a narrative sense, but she's also integral to the satisfaction of Infinite's moment-to-moment combat proceedings.

Each of the augments to the core shooting experience are satisfying in their own right, but once they all start working in tandem, Infinite's combat scenarios reach the upper-echelon of FPS sublimation. Not since Half-Life 2 has a shooter married pulse-pounding twitch thrills to a deeply strategic core so seamlessly, and while leaving so much room for experimentation. The gritty sound design that punctuates the action is equally superb; a combination of abrasive string stabs, impactful weapon sound effects and some truly horrifying enemy damage reactions unfailingly sell you on the weighty ferocity of the mayhem you cause.

All this, of course, sounds amazing, and on some level it truly is. But consider this: for all its fast-paced entertainment, Infinite's combat never fully works. In a mechanical sense, it's pretty much as polished as can be, but the game's massive amount of carnage doesn't quite work within the context of the story. In fact, story and gameplay don't feel merged at all. While there's a fair amount of narrative justification for the heavy degree of violence, the fact that shooting people and ripping their heads of with a spinning hook is pretty much Booker's only way of interacting with the world undercuts much of the arresting emotionality of Infinite's narrative.

Highlighting this problem is the fact that many of the game's most powerful moments either preclude player input, or limit interactivity to the push of a single button. Elizabeth's ability to tear holes in the space-time continuum, for example, may have been the basis for some ingenious puzzle solving and narrative interaction, but players are instead left to simply push a button to demand entry into a new reality where they can proceed to shoot more people in the face. Again, this feels like BioShock Infinite going only halfway in bringing its many fantastic ideas to life; some truly inventive mechanical structures may have been borne out of the game's central narrative conceits, but Irrational has disappointingly opted to instead rely on more comfortable and pre-established action gameplay.

This disconnect is furthered by the game's odd focus on scavenging between each firefight. While the opportunity to really dig into and appreciate each environment, as well as get a break from the nearly nonstop action is welcome, the context of the narrative doesn't really support these detours either. Booker's mission is given an impactful sense of urgency, so the fact that the game encourages you to stop down for long stretches of time to eat random food items littered about and try to uncover Columbia's many secrets is rather off-putting. Early on, for instance, Elizabeth finds herself in immediate danger. An objective indicator flashes on-screen telling you to go rescue her, yet you find yourself surrounded by lootable objects designated by a pulsating golden glow. Of all the moments to try and fish pieces of cake out of a trashcan, this may be the least opportune, but Infinite's structure, which evidently values narrative over gameplay in terms of pacing and logic, continues to tempt you astray regardless. This might all seem a bit nitpicky, but considering the fact that Infinite is so intent on being treated as a significant work of art, these small annoyances can't be ignored, as they gradually undermine the meaning the game tries so hard to construct for itself.

BioShock Infinite is a game worth any mature player's while, but it has come at an unfortunate time. Within the past year alone, the industry has been treated to games like Spec Ops: The Line, The Walking Dead, and Hotline Miami, just a few titles that are capable of eloquently and expertly exploring dark themes while being cognizant of their respective mechanics' impact on the narratives they try to weave, making a game like Infinite - one that never fully accounts for the ways in which its gameplay influences the meaning and effectiveness of its story - seem a bit clumsy by comparison. David Jaffe, the brilliant designer behind games like God of War and Twisted Metal once deemed the relationship between gameplay and narrative as being like the combination of "chocolate and tunafish." I would argue that this claim isn't necessarily true, and games like Spec Ops are perfect demonstrations as to why that is. In the case of Infinite, however, Jaffe's argument has a haunting validity. But take heart, the chocolate that is BioShock Infinite's gameplay and the tunafish that is its story are pretty much premium grade when enjoyed separately. Just accept the fact that the combination is to taste a little odd and find something to savor within it.

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"WTA2k5 reviewed BioShock Infinite for the PlayStation 3..." was posted by WTA2k5 on Tue, 07 May 2013 13:42:46 -0700
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