CaseyWegner's GameSpot Friend's Reviews CaseyWegner's GameSpot Friend's Reviews CaseyWegner's GameSpot Friend's Reviews en-us Copyright (c)1995-2013 CBS Interactive. All rights reserved. http://www.gamespot.com 20 Fri, 24 May 2013 06:09:53 -0700 GameSpot CaseyWegner's GameSpot Friend's Reviews http://img.gamespot.com/gamespot/shared/promos/misc/gs_logo.gif http://www.gamespot.com 135 40 Thu, 09 Feb 2012 02:16:34 -0800 Assassin_87 reviewed Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots for the PlayStation 3... http://www.gamespot.com/metal-gear-solid-4-guns-of-the-patriots/user-reviews/787385/platform/ps3/ ...and gave it a 9.0!

I would be lying if I said I haven't always been a fan of the Metal Gear Solid series. From the moment I laid eyes on the first installment all the way back in the days of the first Playstation I knew, like a lot of gamers, that what Kojima and co. had cooked up was something special. The MGS games have seen their ups and downs, with a lot of flack being directed at the Raiden debacle in MGS2. However, that unexpected (and, arguably, unwanted) curve ball aside, Metal Gear Solid has represented the pinnacle of tactical espionage in gaming for more than a decade now.

That trend does not stop here, thankfully. Metal Gear Solid 4 is the culmination of years of fine tuning gameplay elements, cinematics, and overall presentation on the part of Kojima's development team. To say that the game is perfect is a bit of a stretch, but all told it's as close to perfect as any of the best games I've had the pleasure of experiencing.

From a visual standpoint, MGS4 set a high standard for Playstation 3 games on it's release in 2008. Looking at it now, it's hard to see why it was so impressive now that the generation is almost at a close and we have so many fantastic looking games in our collective rearview, but for it's time the visuals were a revelation. In comparison to it's contemporaries (LBP, Haze, UT3) MGS4 had a certain level of graphical consistency and quality that was unmatched. Characters are rendered with an impressive amount of detail, and environments, while not mind blowing, do serve the purpose and set the stage for the proceedings.

Gameplay is where the game truly stands out. Poorly aging and clunky gunplay mechanics aside, Metal Gear Solid 4 still handles like a champ. CQC is expanded on even further, and the wealth of maneuvers that Snake is capable of in-game is staggering. To elaborate would be superfluous, but suffice it to say that the people over at Konami did a great job of making the player feel like a deadly (if rapidly aging) mercenary amongst witless amateurs.

Strangely, this brings me to my only major complaint about MGS4, and it's a complaint that can be leveled at the entire series: the A.I. is still, for lack of a more appropriate term, silly. That they forget you much too quickly after being beaten nearly to death and then calling in reinforcements, all because you hid under a barrel right next to the lot of them, is jarringly inauthentic. However, I'm not saying the game would necessarily benefit from incredibly accurate enemy A.I., but one begins to question whether or not the series may need to rethink the way it handles interaction with the adversary.

Music, as is typical of this series, is serviceable. You won't have any of the tunes stuck in your head, but it fits the mood set here, and bumps up in intensity when appropriate for the situation. Sound effects are a little more impressive, with battlefields sounding adequately dangerous thanks to the enemies' calls to each other and radio communications, as well as the sound of bullets whizzing close by when the action ramps up.

Overall, Metal Gear Solid 4 is one of the better games on the PS3. I haven't even touched on the multiplayer, which is just icing on the cake. It has a bit of a steep learning curve, and nowadays it may be more or less dead aside from a small community of devotees, but it is a unique online experience without a doubt. There's not much left to say, except that any PS3 owner owes it to his/herself to experience this game. With it's convoluted, but entertaining story, and tried and true Metal Gear Solid gameplay refined to near-perfection, this is definitely a game that should not be missed.

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]]> http://www.gamespot.com/metal-gear-solid-4-guns-of-the-patriots/user-reviews/787385/platform/ps3/ Mon, 06 Feb 2012 11:55:12 -0800 cosmostein77 reviewed The Simpsons Arcade Game for the Xbox 360... http://www.gamespot.com/the-simpsons-arcade-game/user-reviews/787189/platform/xbox360/ ...and gave it a 7.0.

For starters; lets keep in mind this game is a port of an Arcade game released in 1991.

There is nothing I hate more about ports brought over into modern game then developers deciding to go "Picasso" and make it into something it was never intended on being.

The Simpsons is for the most part a slightly cleaner looking version of the same Arcade games you pumped quarters into during the early 1990's.

The colors in HD look pretty impressive when you consider this game is more then 20 years old, but aside from that its pretty well the same beat em up format that was so trendy back then, the co-op option is blast

The game itself is short, you should easily be done in under an hour especially if you are playing with a friend but its still a simply pleasure which I still find myself playing when I have a few spare moments between non-Arcade games.

Considering that its currently 800 MSP, its hard for me to argue with the value of the game as there are several full price titles that I ended up playing less.

If you enjoyed the Arcade version this is a nice road down memory lane and a truly loyal port of the original, if you Birthday is beyond 1995 chances are you will hate it.

This isn't a game to attract new fans, however its a very nice homage to us older gamers.

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"cosmostein77 reviewed The Simpsons Arcade Game for the Xbox 360..." was posted by cosmostein77 on Mon, 06 Feb 2012 11:55:12 -0800
]]> http://www.gamespot.com/the-simpsons-arcade-game/user-reviews/787189/platform/xbox360/ Mon, 24 Oct 2011 09:39:44 -0700 cosmostein77 reviewed The History Channel: Great Battles - Medieval for the Xbox 360... http://www.gamespot.com/the-history-channel-great-battles-medieval/user-reviews/777725/platform/xbox360/ ...and gave it a 7.0.

For starters;
This is not for everyone.

It seems that the folks at Maximum decided to revisit a very old genre that wasn't all that popular to start, but certainly provided hours of enjoyment to those of us who actually did play games within in.

Great Battles is basically a point, click, and let your army loose strategy game which revisits a select few battles between the English and the French.

The game is graphically plain and very dated, the sound is nothing short of terrible, and the learning curve is very very very steep.

Did I mention the learning curve is steep?

This may be one of the hardest games that I played this year simply because I realize how dumbed down AI has become over the years in various genres.

If you play this game on the harder levels of difficulty it almost appears that the AI takes pleasure in taunting you.

However, that is the aspect that seemed to have me keep coming back. Its punishing, yet its very rewarding when you actually win.

You are normally handed a handful of units, and then you can purchase secondary units which you will be able to supplement your army with.

Its pretty straightforward; if you sent an archer army to rush into battle against an armoured axe infantry they will get slaughtered, however if you park your archers behind one of your own units and they can direct their attack at a lightly armoured swordsman unit then they will do well.

You would think that matching these strength/weakness type units would be simple after you get slaughtered a few times, however the AI quickly adjusts to whatever new tact you take which requires you to keep an eye on your units at all times during the battle.

You have the means to pause a battle and reassign units to move to different locations and then resume the battle, the thing is that your opponent normally has a trick up its sleeve to deal with that.

There are far to many games that simply allow you to win due to brute strength, and all out charge normally results in the dust clearing and you making it to the next level.

In this game, you will last five minutes and get smoked.

While its rather dated, it certainly has some value to folks looking for a classic strategy game that will give you a pretty solid challenge.

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]]> http://www.gamespot.com/the-history-channel-great-battles-medieval/user-reviews/777725/platform/xbox360/ Thu, 20 Oct 2011 16:34:44 -0700 cosmostein77 reviewed Dead Island for the Xbox 360... http://www.gamespot.com/dead-island/user-reviews/777455/platform/xbox360/ ...and gave it a 9.0!

The term derivative gets thrown around as a negative far to often.

If you take parts of great games and make a great game in the process while it may not feel as new as some may like it doesn't change the fact that its still a great game.

Loading up Dead Island the first thing I thought was Borderlands; four different characters all with different skill-sets, a leveling process that looks very similar, and character specific "powers".

As I picked up my first weapon, I believe it was a pipe or an oar, I immediately thought of Dead Rising especially after I saw my first Zombie go splat

Then later on when I had a co-op partner appear in my game and help me through a very tricky quest I began to remember how fun Left 4 Dead was (well the first one anyway).

There is nearly no original element to this game; however that is what makes it so fun. I don't need to worry about learning some new engine with new glitches, I don't need to learn a super complicated leveling system, and the quests are short enough that I can have a buddy jump in and we can play for 10 - 15 minutes if need be.

Graphically; the game is nothing new. However that shouldn't be taken for bad, just nothing new.

For a game of its size I am pretty impressed at the varying levels, they really didn't cheat as most villas on the beach have their own look and even the vegetation changes as you move away from the resort

The town have a cool dark European look to it and varies greatly from the other areas of the game.

The sound isn't spectacular, however I assure that the song in the opening credits is something you will find yourself singing in the shower LOL.

The gameplay is nothing I can describe better then varied. There are several go to location X and get item Y to bring to person Z mission as there are in any game of this type;

However there are several missions that are so unique to this open sandbox type of game.

I had more fun fighting off Zombies as my partner was loading crates to juice into the back of a pick-up truck avoiding getting attacked then I did playing nearly any mission on the Borderland expansions.

The depth of the characters is well...shallow at times.
I found that I was more vested in the plight of secondary characters doing side-quests then I was to some of the main planks of the story.

The trouble is that you can only do the zombies / virus / outbreak angle so many times over so many games before it just reaches a point where there is no longer any way to apply a fresh take, however the designers gave me a little something new and that was a nice surprise.

I understand with COD, GoW, and Battlefield that this game will get the bums rush, but if you really are a fan of co-op games and zombies you will be hardpressed to find anything better on either major consoles library that is better then this.

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"cosmostein77 reviewed Dead Island for the Xbox 360..." was posted by cosmostein77 on Thu, 20 Oct 2011 16:34:44 -0700
]]> http://www.gamespot.com/dead-island/user-reviews/777455/platform/xbox360/ Sat, 22 Jan 2011 13:07:59 -0800 dunl12496 reviewed Game Dev Story for the Android... http://www.gamespot.com/game-dev-story/user-reviews/753326/platform/android/ ...and gave it a 9.5!

Game Dev Story puts you in the head of a game company. You make games in a VERY realistic way. You control people who are human, they mess up too. The graphics are for an older classic game. 8 bit era sort of thing. It is strangely addictive, making failures of games and then later on making great games. You get 15 years to play. :P Not really 15 years, each year takes about 20 minutes. Alot of gameplay. It's very worth buying but the replay value is sort of low. There is currently no retina display support and the updates I have never seen, that's pretty disappointing. Over all though, it's a great game and far worth buying. There is no real technical issues with this game. You can save at any time you want to. It also automatically saves for you. You can hire employees, and fire them. The fun part is awards, when they make real games fake ones and pit yours against them. You never get to play the games you make, but that was never really a problem for me at least.

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"dunl12496 reviewed Game Dev Story for the Android..." was posted by dunl12496 on Sat, 22 Jan 2011 13:07:59 -0800
]]> http://www.gamespot.com/game-dev-story/user-reviews/753326/platform/android/ Mon, 29 Nov 2010 21:26:48 -0800 Yama reviewed Disney Epic Mickey for the Wii... http://www.gamespot.com/disney-epic-mickey/user-reviews/746911/platform/wii/ ...and gave it a 8.5.

Disney's Epic Mickey is one of those titles that has been anticipated for so long, it inevitably can't surpass it's own expectations. However through eyes willing to accept it for what it is, there is a fairly long and unique journey ahead.

First off, the game's appeal. Classic Mickey Mouse (1920's+) and a modern, dark atmosphere. The direction is as unique as it sounds and is a mesh of wonderful ideas. Epic Mickey is one of those cases where the conceptual artwork alone gathers immense amounts of interest. Mixing such wonderful visuals with both interesting gameplay and a consistent atmosphere is what brings a title like this to life. Epic Mickey is spot on in most areas, yet misses the boat in others.

We'll start with the story. Mickey Mouse finds himself in Yen Sid's workshop, a sorcerer who is creating a pen-and-paper world for 'things that have been forgotten.' When the sorcerer leaves his table, Mickey sneaks to take a look. He hears a noise and accidentally spills paint over the carefully crafted world and tries to resolve his problem by covering it up. In doing so he spills a jar of thinner, allowing a shadow blot to pass through who would later torture and destroy the inhabitants. This once lively world soon became a wasteland.

Later Mickey is dragged into the world he destroyed when a blot visits him through his magical mirror. In the wasteland Mickey meets with Oswald, a rabbit whom Mickey Mouse stole his fame from. Oswald was victim to the thinner disaster, along with his love and friends. His hatred for Mickey assisted him in coming up with the idea to capture Mickey's heart. It is up to the player to gain Oswald's trust and put the blot to rest, thus restoring the wasteland to it's former glory.

Players take control of Mickey Mouse, equipped with a brush, paint and thinner. Basic platforming controls and moves are in place, such as a double jump and spin attack. Aiming with the Wiimote, Mickey can paint or thin selected locations or enemies. Thinning an enemy will lay it to rest, while painting it creates a friendship. Based on how the player eliminates bigger enemies, the tube for either the paint or thinner will fill. Enemies can only be neutralized with paint, as spin attacking or jumping on their heads will only daze them. The only other option is knocking them off of an area, which is the most timely solution. Painting an area restores it, thus putting the town back together. It is good practice however to thin first, as there are a ton of sections both in walls and even underground. Once this practice becomes second nature, there is a lot of exploring to do. There are multiple paths and many hidden treasures in the form of collectible pins, artwork, movies, secret quest items and even power ups.

The gameplay at it's core is basic and even a hair outdated as far as platformer mechanics go, though the paint and thin options make for some interesting alternatives in battle and exploration. The camera however is not so interesting, considering there is no lock on button and it struggles to keep up. While annoying, it never prevented me from clearing an area or conquering a battle, so I'd mark it as more of an annoyance than game breaking.

Epic Mickey is unique in that it meshes many genres together. Overall it feels like a platforming adventure title with RPG elements thrown into the mix. It offers unique pacing and a ton of creative areas to explore. How players explore these areas is entirely up to their use of paint and thinner, which offers a unique outlook on something that is otherwise traditional. The game does suffer from an overly used "chore system" in which you are constantly doing minuscule tasks. Sometimes these become repetitive and override the focal point of exploring, thus making forward progression continue at a snails pace. Fixing and cleaning up a world that Mickey has ruined does make perfect sense, though the pacing could have been spread out better. Rarely the game can start to feel repetitive and even generic, but in continuing something much bigger and better always comes out prevalent. In the end the interesting aspects of the gameplay and design outshine the blemishes, though you wish such things didn't exist in an otherwise enjoyable package.

The world is average in size and filled with iconic areas, theme parks, movie references and designs. Though there are occasional uninspiring blot-filled areas, the sweeter of the bunch offer both motivation and satisfaction for continuing forward. Areas like Mickey Junk Mountain make the journey worth it. Picture climbing a mountain filled with forgotten Mickey Mouse memorabilia, such as classic lunch boxes, toys and appliances. There are also towns. Though not huge in size, they offer communities, shops and other areas to explore. There are four in total, all unique in their own way. Mean Street is a dark town with basic amenities. OsTown is a colorful neighborhood in which many of the games heroes live. Ventureland has a tropical vibe and a community made up of Pirates. Lastly Bog Easy stands before a haunted manor, inhabited by both frightened villagers and ghosts who love to prey on their fear. All of the towns have a good amount of NPC's, all ready to hand Mickey side quests in the fashion of a traditional RPG. E-Tickets, the games currency, can be spent in shops located across these areas.

To travel in-between towns and other areas, Mickey uses old film reels. These are some of the more interesting sections of the game, though are extremely short. The reels are made up of 2D side scrolling gameplay without paint or thinner mechanics. Each stage has an optional collectible film to obtain, along with a start and end point. The themes are from classic films such as Steam Boat Willy, Sleeping Beauty and Fantasia. Sadly these sections can not be accessed post game or at any other time, so players will need to play through the game in it's entirety to enjoy them again. Popular warp points, such as towns, reuse a single film every visit. Yet some of the more interesting films are only viewable once, such as the reels towards the end of the game. Overall they offer a nice change of pace and a break from the depressing, destroyed world of the wasteland.

The games visuals are solid and further backed up by a beautiful art direction. The cut scenes are presented in a movie-like manner and are re-watchable at any time via the extras menu. A mixture between classic Disney style and a new, dark art direction lead to some beautiful viewing material. The game isn't exactly consistent in delivering this style through out, though does a wonderful job most of the time. Remixed music and sound effects aid the movie reel stages faithfully, though the rest of the areas have a somewhat generic score.

Overall, Epic Mickey delivers where it counts and falls short only in areas that can easily be overlooked. Though the original conceptual design may have shown something bigger, the world came together with as much creativity and care one could anticipate. The mesh of classic Disney and a dark and dirty atmosphere makes for some of the most interesting set pieces in gaming history.

Get the full article at GameSpot

"Yama reviewed Disney Epic Mickey for the Wii..." was posted by Yama on Mon, 29 Nov 2010 21:26:48 -0800
]]> http://www.gamespot.com/disney-epic-mickey/user-reviews/746911/platform/wii/ Sat, 20 Nov 2010 12:15:48 -0800 johnmetcalf reviewed Zumba Fitness: Join the Party for the Xbox 360... http://www.gamespot.com/zumba-fitness/user-reviews/745721/platform/xbox360/ ...and gave it a 1.0.

Where to begin? First of all I have to say that this is the most dispicable travesty of a video game I have ever had the displeasure of playing. I bought this game for my wife as a gift because she absolutly loves zumba. We began to play and boy were surprised at this train wreck for a a so called game.

Never have i ever used a menu system so confusing. For example, you want to scroll left with you had so insted you have to move you hadn right. I knever know if I or my wife was loggid inoto game so as far as presentation goes thiere is nothing there.

Next was game its self I'm not even sure it was registering my movements. All you see is the structor on the screen and from what I can tell is her color turns green even if your remotely close to tdoing the steps right. You have no way of seeing what you are doing.

The game has not way of filtering out if someone walks into the area. My two year old son came into the room and the game paused thinking another player was going to join.

This game looks to me like it is a game put together to jump on the kinect bandwagon and nothing more. Steer clear of this title by any meants available.

Get the full article at GameSpot

"johnmetcalf reviewed Zumba Fitness: Join the Party for the Xbox 360..." was posted by johnmetcalf on Sat, 20 Nov 2010 12:15:48 -0800
]]> http://www.gamespot.com/zumba-fitness/user-reviews/745721/platform/xbox360/ Fri, 19 Nov 2010 14:26:11 -0800 dunl12496 reviewed Call of Duty: Black Ops for the Xbox 360... http://www.gamespot.com/call-of-duty-black-ops/user-reviews/745625/platform/xbox360/ ...and gave it a 9.5!

Where do I begin. Well I guess I give you what you want to know. Summary at bottom if you don't want to read my boring poo poo.

Bottom paragraph is how to unlock Dead Ops and zombie map "Five" where you hilariously play as Bill Clinton.

Ok in this game there are three different types of game to play. Each category has sub categories and I will explain them to you.


1: Single Player Campaign
Please note I have not finished it yet. Ok the single player campaign i'm not gonna tell you anything about. Why would I? Just know it's a good fun, but it seems not as high quality and expensive as Infinity Ward's Modern Warfare 2.
A: Difficulties
~Recruit: Easy but still not a cake walk
~Regular: Usually the most fun for me. Feels not too challenging while having to play against good AI
Hardened: Hard. Ouchy
Veteran: Just plain ridiculous. For me.
A1 (Steak Sauce): You can move down difficulties. So if you want to play on veteran, you can move down if it's too hard.


2: Multiplayer
Ahhh... multiplayer. What you will spend 200 hours on and waste you life playing. Well let me tell you it's a lot of fun. But sadly there are glitches and let us call them "D-baggeries" and "annoying children with a colorful vocabulary"

It's got annoyances, yes that's true. No patches have been released yet as far as I know so whatevs. Bullets lag and don't even hit sometimes when they should. (That or I suck.... which I kind of do). And also spawning is bad. Imagine spawning then dying again without a chance in under a second. Yeah pretty much. Also n00b- tubahs. Haven't seen too much here but you know eventually they probably will come out come christmas time. (11 year olds).

Bah humbug.

Ok yeah yeah its got glitchy but what you also get is a incredibly customizable, incredibly addictive multiplayer experience! Come on you can attach a flamethrower to a m16 or ak-47!! It's really something you have to play to enjoy to the fullest. It's great really. You'll be so sucked into the match you won't be too annoyed.

Ok wow. let's end the intro to multiplayer. :P

A: Xbox Live Matches
A1: Player Match
This is pretty much the best part. You go into the different categories. Big games, little games, objectives, all by yourself, hardcore, and many others. I mostly play ground war. More to kill. It's 9 vs 9 in domination and team death match. You get to customize your gun camo, attachments, guns, sidearms, perks, killstreaks, contracts, It's all amazingly fun. Just fantastic. Level up to 50 and you can "prestige" or start all over again. But you get an extra create a class.
A2: Wager Match
This is a collection of different game modes. I'll put them into MORE categories. :lol:
A2Sub1: One In the Chamber
You get a pistol. One bullet is one kill. Knife to kill and keep the one bullet and gain one. Lose all your bullets, and well that's when it gets interesting.
A2Sub2: Sticks and Stones
These will break your bones, and your skull. You get a crossbow with exploding arrows, Ballistic knife that shoots knives, and a throwing axe called a tomohawk. Highest score wins, pretty easy right? Not so fast. Tomohawk kills reset your entire score. Scared? Don't be. It's fun.
A2Sub3: Gun Game
Kill someone and your gun upgrades. First one to get the 20th gun kill wins. If you get knifed you go back one gun.

Ok wow. A last word on wager match. Remember your horrible vacation in vegas a couple years ago where you lost $3,000? It could repeat. You wager the money you win, but you could triple what you payed to get in!!
There are three modes. Ante Up don't worry about money, you pay 10 and can win 30. One kill in Team Deathmatch wins you 100 xp (not money) . But high roller... I heard but haven't played it yet, that you wager $10,000. Woah.

A3: Combat Training
Ok this mode is cool. You play against AI. It's fun for a while but I prefer multiplayer. Still a good relief when you are getting owned online. Level up seperately from regular multiplayer.

A4: Split Screen
Ok this is cool. Everything is already unlocked. You don't have to buy squat. Pretty awesome I'd say. Attachments, camo everything. Gold skin before prestige 14 here I come!

3: ZOMBIES!!!
OH MY GOSH ZOMBIES!! Hahaha. It's alot of fun trust me. There are three different types. You can play online or offline. 2 are first person. The third is a top down arcade style game that can be easily unlocked with a cheat. Which, I'll tell you at the end!


Well that's about it. So if you read all that, I didn't waste my time, if you didn't well, I already know you didn't. I just was bored. And got done with a Black Ops marathon!!


SUMMARY: Alright this game is fun. $60 gets you more than you payed for. Multiplayer is glitchy but it's so fun who cares. Plus there's lots of modes. Zombies are here too! And a killer single player.

Verdict: I don't care if you are perfectly fine with MW2. GET IT. Even people who hated Modern Warfare 2 liked it!!



CHEAT CODE: Ahh... you've been waiting for this haven't you? Or did you just scroll to the bottom?
Anyways, here's how to do it. This works for ps3 or xbox. Don't know about wii. Probably not DS.

Step 1: At the main menu look down at your hands on the chair. Press RT LT RB LB around a bit. (For the equally awesome ps3 press R1 R2 L1 L2) eventually you will break free, Be patient. In the back of the room is a computer.
Step 2: Enter this code in the computer. (Don't forget the space!) 3ARC Unlock.
Step 3: Go to zombies and have some gory fun!

Well that's it! Enjoy!

Get the full article at GameSpot

"dunl12496 reviewed Call of Duty: Black Ops for the Xbox 360..." was posted by dunl12496 on Fri, 19 Nov 2010 14:26:11 -0800
]]> http://www.gamespot.com/call-of-duty-black-ops/user-reviews/745625/platform/xbox360/ Wed, 08 Sep 2010 17:51:41 -0700 dunl12496 reviewed Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 for the PlayStation 3... http://www.gamespot.com/call-of-duty-modern-warfare-2/user-reviews/736459/platform/ps3/ ...and gave it a 9.5!

Hello my fellow homeboys. Today I review MW2 for ps3. First of all I've played this game 54 hours online last time I checked not including single player.

I'll start with campaign. Ok first I played it on easy like usual. I beat it and it was ok, over quick and all you know if you're reading this. But then I broke my ps3 and sent it in. Ok so it got back and multiplayer was still there. But campaign was gone. OH NOOOOO!!! It says 0% complete must complete again! So I cranked up the difficulty to regular. And It was ALOT more fun. The challenge completely took advantage of the awesome AI and made for a wonderful single player that engaged me more then a regular shooter.

So campaign was good right? Welllll.... you know what's next.

MULTIPLAYER:
To start off the multiplayer could be a lot better. Respawning SUCKS very badly. Sometimes I spawned right in front of someone and died before I could move. Alright yeah that part is bad. Especially in big ground war matches.

Well at first multiplayer was no big deal you know, it kept my attention and was a little annoying at times all the people who are REALLY good, or just bad with a care package. But as I moved up the ranks it got better, and better. I found myself addicted. I'm at level 68 online right now and that shiny ak-47 begs me to play more and more.

Get it. Get bad company 2 as well. Wait for black ops though and see if it's as good.


Summary: For you ADHD folks here who are so present.
While broken it's ALOT of fun.

Get the full article at GameSpot

]]> http://www.gamespot.com/call-of-duty-modern-warfare-2/user-reviews/736459/platform/ps3/ Sun, 16 May 2010 16:50:12 -0700 dunl12496 reviewed MAG for the PlayStation 3... http://www.gamespot.com/mag/user-reviews/720711/platform/ps3/ ...and gave it a 7.0.

All the great multiplayer games out there. Modern warfare 2, bad company 2, battlefield 1943, and many others. All better than this. This is a good game but it just doesn't stand up to it's competition. The fact that 256 players can play at once is outstanding. But the fun isn't. Technically there is no lag. But it is pretty much the graphics of a top notch wii game. And that's NOT a good thing. If you have mw2 or bc2 there's no reason to get this game. If you don't, there's no reason to get this game. I don't find it very fun actually. I sold it already. I played it for maybe 5 hours and didn't like it. Maybe a MAG 2 would be nice if they fix it up a bit. But right now. It's not a good purchase. The game really had potential. But it failed to become a fun game. I love a bunch of people on a match. I feel there is a lack of players on games now. I remember having free for all on rust in mixed bag with 12 players. That's what I'm looking for. It feels like there is no one in the match when there is because of the map size. It's a achievement but it's not a fun one. 7/10.

Get the full article at GameSpot

"dunl12496 reviewed MAG for the PlayStation 3..." was posted by dunl12496 on Sun, 16 May 2010 16:50:12 -0700
]]> http://www.gamespot.com/mag/user-reviews/720711/platform/ps3/ Tue, 30 Mar 2010 06:28:49 -0700 Soulreavercross reviewed Final Fantasy XIII for the Xbox 360... http://www.gamespot.com/final-fantasy-xiii/user-reviews/714865/platform/xbox360/ ...and gave it a 6.0.

Pros: Superb visuals, Excellent voice acting, great cast of characters, excellent save/checkpoint system

Cons: Extremely linear gameplay, combat can get repetitive, some dungeons go on for too long, poor and confusing main story, no towns or villages, lack of proper RPG sidequests/elements.

The Final Fantasy series have always held a special place in my heart and my gaming library but recently Square-Enix have been releasing disappointments after disappointments when it comes to the series. It's been a while since I played an RPG on the same level as Final Fantasy X and it seems I will have to wait longer.

The first thing you'll notice about Final Fantasy XIII on the Xbox 360 is the stunning and superb visuals. The character/creature models are almost flawless in cutscenes, FMVs and actually gameplay. The environments are very detailed, sharp and extremely pleasing to the eyes. There's little to no inconstancy in visual quality. Some of the environments will take your breath away with the visual quality, especially the forested areas. The game's visual style is more inorganic machine-like. Most of the enemies and bosses you encounter will have a unique machine-like style visual, even the summons all look like robots.

The game's soundtrack is good. It doesn't retain any of the original Final Fantasy music such as the battle themes, but the change was good and it went along well with everything else. The voice acting was superb, just what you'd expect from a high budget game. Some of the voices during battle can get a little annoying and repetitive like hearing certain characters moan or recite the same thing everything they do the same move, but this was a minor flaw.

Final Fantasy XIII is THE most linear game I've ever played. From the start to the end, all you do is follow a single path and push forward. There is very little deviation to this pattern. By the time you entered the third disc, the game opens out a little giving you some options to explore some optional areas, but they are no different from the main storyline path and still extremely linear. There are no towns to explore in and no people to really speak too. The one or two town/city in the game is designed just like every other part of the game, in a linear fashion and you just pass through.

The game's combat is turn based, but it's in real time. It's very easy to pick up and play. You select a leader or use the one given to you and you can manually select the commands or use the auto select where the game selects the best options for you depending on your current situation. This auto select function can make combat repetitive, especially when fighting weaker enemies. Each character has 3 main fighting styles and 3 other styles minor styles. The fighting styles and how much you can power up each character style are unlocked further as you progress in the storyline. This was probably to prevent overpowering of characters and to keep a certain amount of challenge with enemies and bosses. Sometimes, however, battles get boring when you are thrown into a long dungeon with little team variety in the first two discs.

You will be spending most of the first half of the game switching among the various characters because your team will be split and they all will not join up until very late in the second disc and you will not able to change your team leader until the third. I actually liked how they did this even though it can get challenging at times with just 2 characters, but this provided some variety with the combat (as long as you don't spend too long with with one team in a single dungeon) and it highlights all the characters strengths and weaknesses so when you do get all characters, you will have your favorites.

You can see enemies onscreen in the game and sometimes you can avoid them, but most of the times because of the linear style of the game; you will have to engage in combat. Final Fantasy XIII has a superb checkpoint/save system and days of spending hours playing only to be wiped out by a powerful enemy are over in this game. If you die, you can just retry and you restart on the map right before the encounter or if you choose and the battle is not going too well, you can manually restart the battle yourself. This feature will save you hours of replaying if it wasn't there. Your team is also fully healed after each battle, another great addition to the series. I guess they learned something from Last Remnant.

Final Fantasy XIII's storyline was a disappointment for me. Sure it was great, but it was confusing and it lacked purpose. The storyline was top notch for the character development and no other game developer can get it done like Square-Enix. The main storyline however was disjointed, lacked meaning and was extremely confusing. The villains were also poorly done and they lack the kind of love/hatred relationship compared to other Final Fantasy villains like Sephiroth, Seymour or Seifer.

Overall you will probably complete the first disc in about 10 hours and the second by the time you get to around 25 hours. If you stick to the storyline and don't do much stat grinding, you can probably complete the game in about 40 hours. You cannot backtrack to any locations in previous discs so once you get to the third and final disc, you'll be stuck with the locations there, but it's not really a bad thing since the game was linear in the first place and the few interesting locations and optional boss battles are all in the third disc.

I did have fun with this game in the early parts but the more I progressed the more I started to dislike it. Final Fantasy XIII feels like a stripped and incomplete game because it's missing vital RPG elements that fans of the series have come to know and love. It's a step back for the series. This game was a major disappointment and the only reason why it may sell is because it carries the "Final Fantasy," name but it doesn't deserve it.

Get the full article at GameSpot

"Soulreavercross reviewed Final Fantasy XIII for the Xbox 360..." was posted by Soulreavercross on Tue, 30 Mar 2010 06:28:49 -0700
]]> http://www.gamespot.com/final-fantasy-xiii/user-reviews/714865/platform/xbox360/ Wed, 10 Feb 2010 09:59:05 -0800 cosmostein77 reviewed BioShock 2 for the Xbox 360... http://www.gamespot.com/bioshock-2/user-reviews/706544/platform/xbox360/ ...and gave it a 9.0!

Upon entering Rapture for the second time, I found myself as a gamer not quite as taken back by the utter beauty of the surroundings that I found myself in, as I did the first time I visited Rapture.

The original Bioshock in a way was like a museum. I found myself taking full advantage of the control sticks so I could soak in all of the detail in the surroundings, like being transported back into the early 20th century the feel of the game was so unique, so different, and fresh for the genre.

If this is your second visit to Rapture, don't expect the goosebumps.

However, whereas Bioshock one was a game that can be best defined as a refine gaming experience much like the primary villain Andrew Ryan, Bioshock 2 is more rugged with more attention on the task, and less attention on the story.

While that may sound like a bad thing, Bioshock 2 is a game that happens to take place in Rapture rather then a game where Rapture served as almost a pseudo character that was pivotal to the storyline.

The gameplay remains largely similar; although as a Big Daddy you are much more of a brute then you were in the original. The game itself still revolves around your ability to upgrade your Plasmids and a heavy importance on acquiring and using ADAM (Basically what steroids are to home run hitters ADAM is to you).

One of the more common complaints is that there is not a tremendous amount of effort put into learning about the main character, you are told things that you must do but at the same time there really is not an underlining reason as to why they must be done other then ya gotta.

However, I would humbly argue that the original Bioshock did not make great strides to explain much about the main characters save for the twist that occurred ¾ into the game, which was cool but really aside from that there was a minimal back story for him, and this time around you shouldn't expect much difference.

This game is about the journey, and not the one taking the journey.

Sofia Lamb (who is the new queen baddy in town) takes over the role of Andrew Ryan as the games primary enemy, per say.

Whereas Andrew Ryan offered almost a sheik 50's cool about him whereas he came off as a man with a plan thinking five steps ahead, Lamb is almost the anti-Ryan in that regard. She for no use of a better term is a zealot, and an angry one at that.

Your quest will revolve around your trying to track down the little sister that has been bonded to you (who happens to be Lambs daughter) and while some cool quests come out between point A and point B that is your general objective within the game.

That may sound sort of lame, but let's keep in mind in the original Bioshock at the start of the game you were just some dude who swam in out of the water and ended up in Rapture and wanted to figure out what was up.

It may sound like story is a weaker element I can assure you there are lots of twists and turns along the way.

The single player experience even if you take your time will not last beyond 14 hours, however this is made up for by the multiplayer aspect of the game which is neat but by no means the games biggest strength.

Nor is it a contender to drain the MW2 gaming queues of online FPS enthusiasts.

It's a nice feature, but it does not have the staying power of the single player mode and I fear its one of those games that people will play during the first few months when its new and then the online servers will be filled with either the uper elite, or their victims.

Graphically; what can I say aside from sheer brilliance again. While it may not offer the same sort of experience where you are taken back the first time you see it, I find the lines are a lot cleaner and the detail is a lot better.

Rapture is perhaps the most unique and beautiful setting in gaming history and Bioshock 2 does nothing to change my opinion of that fact.

The levels and areas are excellent; there is no need to go beyond that.

The creatures that dwell within Rapture are a mix of new and old friends. The classic splicer's are back, however they have taken the term deranged to a whole new level and the addition of some heavy hitting splicer's certainly makes matters a lot more interesting. Other Big Daddy's are no longer your only brutish equals.

The level of detail that goes into the various creature you will meet in the depths of Rapture has been taken to another level, while at times you may still feel you have fought 50 of the same thing in a row that feeling is more spaced then it was in the original as the diversity of creatures in many of the combat experiences is more varied and in some cases may require more then mindless shooting which could get your thought many areas in the past.

One area that I will admit has become a little dated is the use of sound and soundtrack as a tool to create atmosphere. The Original Bioshock set the bar at a new level that every game developer needed to strive for,

However; games like Dead Space & Fallout 3 reached for the bar and exceeded it, and in my mind I had an expectation that this would once again be used as a tool to expand on building the atmosphere of the game.

While it's done well, it's no longer groundbreaking it's simply just the norm.
Perhaps that is harsh, its better then the norm but not among the elite anymore and that is tragic because of the steps forward the original took in that regard.

Much like the original Bioshock 2 has become a game that on rainy Wednesday in the future I will reach for and play through again as it is without a doubt one of the more interesting stories told in gaming.

But the real question you need to ask yourself is if the experience of 14 hours of the single player followed by perhaps another dozen hours stomping around the multiplayer realm is worth the price of admission to you.

For me,
There is no question.

Bioshock 2 while it may have not taken the premises to a new level is still perhaps the deepest story driven FPS on the market today, and an elite title among the 2010 gaming library.

Get the full article at GameSpot

"cosmostein77 reviewed BioShock 2 for the Xbox 360..." was posted by cosmostein77 on Wed, 10 Feb 2010 09:59:05 -0800
]]> http://www.gamespot.com/bioshock-2/user-reviews/706544/platform/xbox360/ Tue, 02 Feb 2010 18:09:40 -0800 dunl12496 reviewed Sonic the Hedgehog Spinball for the Genesis... http://www.gamespot.com/sonic-the-hedgehog-spinball/user-reviews/705409/platform/genesis/ ...and gave it a 8.5.

To start off I have to say that I DID NOT play this on the system gamespot says. I used one of those plug and play things. It's very addicting and if you can beat it you got skill. I think the most I got to was level three. But the first level over and over is still fun and this is a game I would like to see on the DS or some other handheld. It's fun for a long time and if you can find it for cheap get it! It's fun addicting and yes, hard. I hate hard games but I loved this one! The background is borderline but you don't really need to focus on it that much. The pount of the game is to get jems by opening containers in a assortment of different ways. I'll say it again, nintendo put this as a handheld game! Once you fall between those two paddle stick thingings (Or TTPSTs) you still can live! Yay for life! The first one is a robotic dragon that can swallow you. If you can find it you should get it!

Get the full article at GameSpot

"dunl12496 reviewed Sonic the Hedgehog Spinball for the Genesis..." was posted by dunl12496 on Tue, 02 Feb 2010 18:09:40 -0800
]]> http://www.gamespot.com/sonic-the-hedgehog-spinball/user-reviews/705409/platform/genesis/ Tue, 26 Jan 2010 14:00:43 -0800 cosmostein77 reviewed Mass Effect 2 for the Xbox 360... http://www.gamespot.com/mass-effect-2/user-reviews/704306/platform/xbox360/ ...and gave it a 9.5!

I don't like to gush over games,
but even I will admit that after the original Mass Effect added new spin on the engine that Bioware had so successfully integrated into KOTOR and KOTOR:2, it became a series that I looked forward to.

The first Mass Effect introduced the gamer into a unique galaxy that truly sucked you in with the level of detail and the amount of depth that was integrated into nearly every location you visited and every race that you came across.

However, at times the game felt like a beautiful painting that lacked the interaction with this depth that was laid out by Bioware.

This issue is corrected in Mass Effect 2.

The amount of varied missions that are available to you are numerous, and unlike other RPG's that tack on non-story sidequests the rewards for completing some of these off the beaten path missions are truly that; rewards.

Unlike the first Mass Effect; the main story is much more meaty not relying on the gamer to fly around the universe in order to falsely extend the total amount of gameplay.

The missions are they are related to the main story are lengthy, and numerous. Each of which has a very unique feel and environment.

Even if you put aside the loyalty missions, side quests, and helpful off the beaten path events this is easily a game that can be rushed through in 30-40 hours.

But you won't want to, you will savior the experience and you will enjoy it.

Graphically;
Bioware has polished what was already a pretty looking game within a genre that is normally lackluster in this department.

Regardless of if you find yourself in a city bustling with life, or an abandon alien space ship the variety and level of detail that has gone into each locale is unprecedented for this genre.

The character models have come a long way from the original, even the most simplistic of NPC's has a varied look and you will no longer see a situation where someone on Citadel will be either Krogan Model A & B. Great lengths have been reached to make even the insignificant characters you interact with look varied and interesting.

As for your squad; its certainly interesting.
More detail, better lines, and a more finished look (Have a look at the detail on Jack's tattoos to see what I mean)

Firefights however become the exception to the rule.
While it does not take away from the experience and there are a varied amount of enemies in the game, if you are right robo-solider X you are going to be fight many similar looking robo-soldier X's.

I understand that in theory that robo-soldiers would all be built to look the same anyway, but if I have to find a fault with the game I would say that a corner was cut in the variety of the same type of enemy fought.

Its not a big deal, but worth noting.

The gameplay experience is truly first rate.
The story grabs you right out of the gate in the opening sequence and takes you for one heck of a ride.

Even the characters within your squad are much deeper then they were in the past, and gaining loyalties is no longer as simple as having the right conversation based on the options within your conversation tree, you need to work for it but its a rewarding and meaty experience.

The battle system has remained very similar, however I will note that ammo is not as easy to come across as the first game, so make sure that you at least dedicate some degree of skill points to biotics or you are going to be taking down droves of husks with your puny pistol or hiding as your squadmates fight your battles for you.

The missions are actually a respectable length, not too long (see Too Human) or too short (KOTOR 2) but a nice balance that requires you to fight a few waves of baddies but mixes up the environment enough that its actually fun and not something that you are killing time doing between advancing the storyline.

The addition of tossing in the shoulder buttons during cut scenes to do either a Paragon or Renegade action is a pretty neat addition and will keep you on your toes while the story is being moved forward.

One item that must be noted is the very generous autosave feature, if you die you will not be replying ten minutes of the game. Very well done and thought out and save me countless hours of needless frustration.

If I had to find a few areas I have taken issue with it would be as follows:

1) Only being able to change your armor within your cabin on the Normandy. There are times where some of the boosts I left on the ship would have come in super handy and I did not have access to them. The same can be said for weapons, whereas I can only change them during the start of missions or if I come across a weapons locker.

Bioware over simplified the RPG aspect of the game in this regard, but it is forgivable

2) Downloadable Missions Thus Far Stink. I spent 45 minutes looking for dog tags on an otherwise empty planet,

The fact that Bioware has such awesome in game missions to taint the game by making the first downloadable mission so substandard is just tragic.

So far it was the only mission I found myself looking at my watch while playing.

The soundtrack for this game is epic.

Its a cool fusion of electronic and cool classic beats. There are a few moments when I feel like they development team was paying tribute to some of the great 16 bit soundtracks by cleaning up stuff you would have heard in Utopia for SNES (Which was a great soundtrack for the time)

The voice acting is top notch, even the character interaction when you are on missions is wonderful.

My suggestion is to take Garrus everywhere that you go, he is very entertaining and a pretty darn functional warrior.

Overall,
You owe it to yourself to play this game.
Thus far Fallout 3 has been sitting atop the mountain in terms of game with the best and more interesting story for well over a year waiting for someone to take that title.

Mass Effect 2 has done just that;
and will not doubt receive some game of the year consideration for 2010.

Get the full article at GameSpot

"cosmostein77 reviewed Mass Effect 2 for the Xbox 360..." was posted by cosmostein77 on Tue, 26 Jan 2010 14:00:43 -0800
]]> http://www.gamespot.com/mass-effect-2/user-reviews/704306/platform/xbox360/ Tue, 19 Jan 2010 16:06:30 -0800 dunl12496 reviewed LittleBigPlanet for the PSP... http://www.gamespot.com/littlebigplanet/user-reviews/703267/platform/psp/ ...and gave it a 9.5!

I'll use my favorite gamespot review technique:

The good: Fun levels that are challenging without being frusrating; Level design and sharing will give you a long time of playing after of before you finish the short main levels; fun character design so you never feel like you're playing as the same person;

The Bad: Main game is short; long time to make a level; takes a little while to learn how to make a really cool level; not simple level design that kids will be able to do without help

First of all this is the best PSP game i've played. There is no glitches except for one that I found that is short and just in one part. The level sharing and making is alot of fun and someone even made a pinball game! It's worth the $40 and the price probably won't go down for a while. I'm going to get lbp ps3 soon! The main levels are fun and challenging without being frustrating. They might be easy to you though since I suck at video games. The main story isn't really a story but it's entertaining enough. Funny character voices and great level design make it a blast. There isn't much of the main game but you've got literally years of the game from online level sharing. The game really doesn't deserve a ten but it's close and here's why. The shortness and it takes hours to make a level. But it's fun and you can make text for your characters to say. So you can make your own story along with the level (I'm working on my third level). I don't reccomend it for kids under 10 because it takes some thinking to truely enjoy it. Bottom line is you should get it. Period.

Over all 9.8/10

Get the full article at GameSpot

"dunl12496 reviewed LittleBigPlanet for the PSP..." was posted by dunl12496 on Tue, 19 Jan 2010 16:06:30 -0800
]]> http://www.gamespot.com/littlebigplanet/user-reviews/703267/platform/psp/ Tue, 29 Dec 2009 08:39:09 -0800 cosmostein77 reviewed The King of Fighters XII for the PlayStation 3... http://www.gamespot.com/the-king-of-fighters-xii/user-reviews/699779/platform/ps3/ ...and gave it a 8.0.

Let me be clear,
If you are a die hard KOF fan, chances are you are going to hate this game for all the reason that every other review above and below mine will state, but I am a bit of an oddity in the sense that aside from a few that I played back on AES or SNES I have generally paid no mine to this series for a while.

As a general rule, I love the fighting game genre and I especially enjoy some of the franchises that are not quite as known or played as Street Fighter so that anyone can sit down and enjoy the game without being Dragon Punched to death in 15 seconds by a veteran of the series.

I don't seek out a fighting game for the depth of the single player mode, and if you do this is not the game for you. I was able to clear it first time through in the Arcade mode in about ten minutes, and was able to improve that to about eight the second time through.

The aspect of this game that I consider to be the hook was the multiplayer, both offline and online.

The game allows you to pick teams of three characters (out of the 22 that are available) and go head to head with another team of three that your opponent has selected.

That is where this game shines for me, because its different and it requires me to adjust on the fly when character X is KOed and I need to deal with character Y right away.

The multiplayer aspect, coupled with the teams of three gives me something that I have lacked in a fighting games since the old Marvel Vs. Capcom series in the sense that it adds another dimension of strategy to the game.

Picking your team, and other order of the team can make a world of difference depending on who your opponent opts for and that aspect on its own has led to some epic battles among real friends and online friends alike.

Let me make this as simple as possible,
The game looks amazing, better then Tekken 6 and certainly on par with Street Fighter 4.

The game plays very well, in that the controls are responsive and that many of the different characters have a wealth of their own moves in which you can master and offers you a reason to work your way through the Arcade mode a few times.

Apparently the online LAG issue has been resolved via a patch, because my experience was excellent as crisp and quick as if my opponent was sitting beside me.

Aside from a classic like Street Fighter 4, this may be the fighter from 2009 that ends up getting the most play and because of the very cool three on three format it may end up surpassing it.

While I can understand why KOF fans are unhappy with this version of the game, the fact that en mass it has scored lower then Tekken 6 is beyond me.

Get the full article at GameSpot

]]> http://www.gamespot.com/the-king-of-fighters-xii/user-reviews/699779/platform/ps3/ Thu, 10 Dec 2009 13:04:43 -0800 cosmostein77 reviewed Dragon Age: Origins for the Xbox 360... http://www.gamespot.com/dragon-age-origins/user-reviews/696880/platform/xbox360/ ...and gave it a 8.0.

Bored?
A Little Down Because you just finished Mothership Zeta on Fallout 3, and there isn't anything by way of RPG's coming for a few months?

Well...At least there is Dragon Age.

Let me be clear when I say that Dragon Age is not a Bad Game, Its actually quite good the problem with it however is that its basically a mishmash of good concepts you have seen elsewhere without much polish or refinement.

Don't get me wrong, I am of the school of thought that if it ain't broke don't fix it (Which is why I keep buying Dynasty Warriors I guess?) and this title ain't broke.

Graphically as a whole, this game is pretty. There are massive areas in which you need to explore and the level of detail even in the smallest and most insignificant areas is present and that has to be acknowledged.

The character models overall are good, but you will see the odd glitch here or there and normally in games of that size its pretty expected, but still distracting.

The various areas of the world do vary in terms of their general look, however the creatures that you will battle don't vary quite as much as the landscape which can be a little frustrating at times. (How many Genlocks do I need to kill?)

The overall control and feel of the game is pretty fluid,
but you will need to customize your hotkeys to your liking early otherwise you are going to die a lot in combat.

The interaction with your party is nearly a carbon copy of Mass Effect, and the characters as a whole are not as deep or interesting. Some add some flavor, but generally speaking there are not "must have" characters in terms of witty dialogue in your party.

The three character classes are very basic at first, your option of the Warrior, Rouge, and Mage is something so simplistic I thought I was playing Ultima 2.

But the various options, skills, and item enhancements actually does broaden out the characters so in a sense you can have three warriors in your parties and they can all be vastly different from one another.

Character management is a snap,
One of the best options about the game is that if you have a character that you don't use often, he or she will level up along the same lines as your main character so you are not faced with a situation where you need to deal with a party of level 20 trying to build up a level 7 mage.

Armour, Weapons, Rings, Belts and all that fun stuff are quite varied which leads to some hard choices as to what you should equip your party with,

That was perhaps one of the most enjoyable aspects of the game for me.

The game itself is as a whole an enjoyable package, however my biggest issues are quite simple

1) There is little reward for doing many of the games side quests aside from gold, which is nice early on but later in the game its hardly even a consideration and for the amount of leg work you need to do it tends to be a total and utter waste

2) Some of the dungeons seem long...Like Too Human Long...
I like a good series of battles as much as the next guy, but when I getting from Point A to the boss at Point B can be measured in hours you can really get discouraged in a hurry.

The game itself is a 50 hour game at a minimum,
I am sure you could speed through it, and I am sure you could do it faster but to get the core game play under your belt and a few side quests under your belt you will easily tip the 50 hour mark.

If you opt to play through the very unique origin stories for every race and class variant you should be able to add another 10-15 hours to your game as well.

Be warned, you can miss A LOT of party members in this game.
I killed Wynn the first time through, and could have easily missed Sten.

To sum this game out in a paragraph:

Its been a bad year for RPG's, this has not been a great generation for the genre in general, and while a game like this doesn't add to the genre in anyway, its something to be played. If you are an RPG fan, you will like this game.

If you are not an RPG fan, and didn't like Mass Effect, there isn't much here that will turn you.


Get the full article at GameSpot

"cosmostein77 reviewed Dragon Age: Origins for the Xbox 360..." was posted by cosmostein77 on Thu, 10 Dec 2009 13:04:43 -0800
]]> http://www.gamespot.com/dragon-age-origins/user-reviews/696880/platform/xbox360/ Sat, 17 Oct 2009 20:18:14 -0700 dunl12496 reviewed Daxter for the PSP... http://www.gamespot.com/daxter/user-reviews/687295/platform/psp/ ...and gave it a 7.5.

This is over all a pretty good game, but it is a little bit too hard. No first let me tell I think the ESRB is wrong. There is more bug blood than Halo and there is suggestive themes that DO NOT need to be there. It is really fun at the beginning but later on you will want to throw it across the room. The hardness of it is very cheap and you will need a lot of redoes. The comedy is not really fun and at most you will get a slight chuckle to yourself. But you will quickly forgive once you beat the hard parts. It is not a free roaming because you go where there let you but you can explore small areas. There needs to be more freedom because once you get stuck on a part you have to do it. You can't skip it. So you will probably let it sit for a few weeks before you come back to it. But at the price of $3 used at Gamestop it is definitely worth it. Overall it's a game you will hate, and then forgive.

Get the full article at GameSpot

"dunl12496 reviewed Daxter for the PSP..." was posted by dunl12496 on Sat, 17 Oct 2009 20:18:14 -0700
]]> http://www.gamespot.com/daxter/user-reviews/687295/platform/psp/ Sat, 01 Aug 2009 14:16:34 -0700 zeldafan1234 reviewed Wii Sports Resort for the Wii... http://www.gamespot.com/wii-sports-resort/user-reviews/673875/platform/wii/ ...and gave it a 8.5.

So go out there wii owners and get this if you haven't already done so. Its not perfect but its close. The wii motion plus is amazing it sucks though it has to be calibrated every now and then but that's a minor gripe to be had. I haven't played all the 12 games, but I played the majority of them I have spent so much time with the basketball one and the sword fighting one they are my fav. The Frisbee golf would be my fav but I suck at it so ya its good too. If you are debating on getting the game or not I say you do and for a good reason. You get the wii motion plus you are going to need that for a large portion of games in the future like zelda. So your better off getting some games that are good and the thing for 50 bucks rather than getting it for 20 bucks by its self. I have tiger woods (which I recently sold and got 37 dollars for it) and for a game that is 50 bucks this is a full retail game and they basically give you the wii motion plus for free. Its games like these that makes it worth owning now because who knows the zelda game might not come with the motion plus. So get wii motion plus enough said.

Get the full article at GameSpot

"zeldafan1234 reviewed Wii Sports Resort for the Wii..." was posted by zeldafan1234 on Sat, 01 Aug 2009 14:16:34 -0700
]]> http://www.gamespot.com/wii-sports-resort/user-reviews/673875/platform/wii/ Tue, 28 Jul 2009 16:56:40 -0700 Soulreavercross reviewed The Last Remnant for the Xbox 360... http://www.gamespot.com/the-last-remnant/user-reviews/673171/platform/xbox360/ ...and gave it a 7.5.

Pros: Save anywhere, on screen enemies, great visuals, unique and engaging battle system, a lot of character choices, free dlc content, fully heal after every battle

Cons: Game texture loading during actual gameplay, stat grinding, average storyline, too many side quests that have little to nothing to do with the main plot, frequent lag during battles.


Last Remnant is a turn based RPG with a unique and very engaging battle system. There are some issues about the game, but overall it was a very enjoyable experience. While I cannot recommend this game to RPG noobs because of some steep difficult curves at a certain points in the game, RPG veterans will find this game very enjoyable and will feel right at home.

The visuals in this game are a double sided sword. The game uses the unreal engine and it's very clear that Square-Enix has little experience with the engine. The game does look really good and it is very beautiful and detailed however the game's textures don't load properly at all. In my 100 plus hours playing this game it never loaded properly. Cut-scenes will start to run, during which background and character details will still be loading. The characters or backgrounds appear plain will little details as the details slowly load into the game taking as long as 3 to 5 seconds. This problem also exists a lot during battles and roaming cities and dungeons. In other words no part of the game was immune to this issue. I should also mention I played this entire game while installed in my HDD and it supposed to cut down this problem and lag.

Last Remnant has something every RPG should have and that's the ability to save anywhere as long as you have access to the party menu. The enemies in the game appear on screen and most of the times they are very easy to evade because the main character Rush has the ability to temporarily slow down time so you can just run pass them. However this is also a double sided sword sometimes because enemies most of the times spot you and will chase you once they do. Luckily enemies in the game are different and have different behaviors and speed. However it's annoying when you're running from an enemy and it is right behind you only to bump into another group and get ambushed.

The game's battle system is unique and most of the times very engaging. You feel like you're actually part of battle. Each character (called unit) is an individual however you battle in groups called unions. Each union must have a leader followed by the other units. Each union comprises of a maximum of 5 units, including a leader. That union is what a standard RPG would consider a single 'character.' The units attack based commands that appear during battle. The commands differ a lot depending on your union's character make up, the enemies you're battling or the condition of your union(s) or units. Overall once you reach the events in the second disc, your battle teams should max out at 5 Unions and 18 Units. It's up to you how you decide to split up unions and units. The game contains a lot of recruitable units, including soldiers and leaders.

Battles itself are very satisfying however you will come across frequent lag. It shouldn't really be a surprised because at times there can be dozens of characters on screen at one time. The combat is not all watching once you select your battle commands, you have to pay attention, because very often you get a button prompt, depending on your character's weapon, to do extra damage, change battle order because of teamwork or counter an attack. Some battles are challenging in the game depending on the enemies you battle or their combination, some of them are even as powerful as some bosses. Thankfully after every battle, you units will all fully heal. This is extremely useful because it would have been a huge turnoff if you had to nurse your wounds after each battle.

Last Remnant has a lot of sidequests and I mean a lot. If you stuck to the storyline you could have completed the first disc in about 10 hours or less and the second in about 15 or so. However you will be forced to do the sidequests to get upgrades and stat because you will hit a wall with some of the very difficult boss battles. The sidequests make up the bulk of the game and most of them have nothing to do with the actual storyline. You do learn things about characters and the world, but that's about it.
The game's storyline revolves around Remnants and struggle to control and destroy them. The storyline was average and not what we'd expect from a Square-Enix title. There was little to no character development and the few emotional scenes in the game had no real weight because you didn't really care for the characters. The ending however was worthy of the Square-Enix seal of approval.

The game does have some free DLCs containing a challenging Dungeon with bosses as well as Challenge Packs with additional bosses scattered throughout the world. This adds some extra value and challenge to the game.

Last Remnant is a good game. I did lose sleep over this game and I'm sure anyone who loves RPG would do the same. This generation RPGs are a very lacking genre. Beggars cannot be choosers and this was a great stepping stone as we wait for Final Fantasy XIII

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"Soulreavercross reviewed The Last Remnant for the Xbox 360..." was posted by Soulreavercross on Tue, 28 Jul 2009 16:56:40 -0700
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