Foolio1's GameSpot Friend's Reviews Foolio1's GameSpot Friend's Reviews Foolio1's GameSpot Friend's Reviews en-us Copyright (c)1995-2013 CBS Interactive. All rights reserved. http://www.gamespot.com 20 Sat, 18 May 2013 20:29:36 -0700 GameSpot Foolio1's GameSpot Friend's Reviews http://img.gamespot.com/gamespot/shared/promos/misc/gs_logo.gif http://www.gamespot.com 135 40 Wed, 19 Sep 2012 00:39:51 -0700 Mauro_Rosati reviewed Half-Life for the PC... http://www.gamespot.com/half-life/user-reviews/800189/platform/pc/ ...and gave it a 10.0!!!

I remember when reading about Half Life and the unknown (at the time) Valve Software. Having played Quake, Quake II and Doom I thought, I thought that it'd be impossible to equal the quality and the success of those titles, but I was wrong, very wrong. Half Life is one of the best FPS I've ever played in my life, I couldn't imagine that it'd be such great experience.

The way the story is unfold, the level design, the variety of situations to face, all this made this game so unbelievable. There aren't cutscenes or any other FMV which interrupt the action, you are in this immersive and dangerous world since you launch the game and you can't stop "living" it.

Sure, the engine maybe wasn't the most advanced (Unreal has been released about 6 months before Half Life's release) but thanks to the hard work and commitment they put in it made unbelievable it was the Quake engine running the game. Yeah, you're reading right. I've been convinced for year that it was the Quake II engine, but it isn't, it's the first Quake engine so heavily modified that it's called the Half Life engine, just figure.

This shows that skilled and passionate programmers can release a top title even without having the latest technology at their disposal. In conclusion, if you never played Half Life, just grab a copy now and let immerse yourself in the world of this great game. Hey....GO AND BUY IT NOW..Are you still there?

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"Mauro_Rosati reviewed Half-Life for the PC..." was posted by Mauro_Rosati on Wed, 19 Sep 2012 00:39:51 -0700
]]> http://www.gamespot.com/half-life/user-reviews/800189/platform/pc/ Fri, 13 Jan 2012 10:59:38 -0800 chicknfeet reviewed Dragon Age II for the Xbox 360... http://www.gamespot.com/dragon-age-ii/user-reviews/785660/platform/xbox360/ ...and gave it a 7.5.

I managed to finish Dragon Age 2 while doing as much of the side missions as possible, and as much as it pains me to admit, I had a good time with it. It definitely was watered down from the first one, but considering the direction Bioware has been going with their games, it was to be expected.

The overall story wasn't as enticing or exciting or grand as the first one and there were times I had no clue of the reasons for some of the missions. It seemed like the small details from Dragon Age: Origins was enough to warrant a full blow game with the whole bigotry issue being the main focus. For anybody that has played this game, maybe you will understand where I'm coming from. I didn't understand why killing a dragon would help the mages versus the templars. Also, exploring the deep roads to get rich seemed pointless since there was still work to do and gold to collect to buy items from the markets. Don't get me wrong. The missions were enjoyable enough to have me actually do them. There was never a time I felt I needed to step away from the game just to regather myself. I was always able to move forward in the story. There were just some missions I had a hard time tying their end result back into the main plot.

Another thing that caught my attention was the limited area you had to travel around in. I'm in no way saying it was less areas you had to explore versus the first game. The first game just made it look bigger by spreading points of interest out on a larger map. Granted it's only a trick that is strictly in my mind. However, seeing the same caves and markets and town over and over again just got a little tiresome. If nothing else, I was able to learn the landscape fairly quickly. Some more life in the town would have been a welcomed addition also, especially considering they limited their locations to one town and a handful of locations outside of said town.

Looking strictly at the art and graphics, it was definitely a step up from the first game. The character models were nicely designed and did a decent job showing their facial expressions. The art was cleaned up very well and the settings were sharp. There were a few instances where the frame rate would slow up a bit. Having a lot of enemies on screen seemed to tax the game's performance. The characters outside of your main group seemed to be very generic as well. Looking at faces from one person to another made the people around Kirkwall seem unimpressive. The faces on the elves were also a little odd to look at, especially after playing Dragon Age: Origins. It wasn't a deal breaker for playing this game, just something that was very noticeable.

My last qualm is really focused on the whole voice acting bit and the choices you were given. Granted, it is super difficult to come up with some believable dialogue trees that will make things flow seamlessly and i give these guys a lot of credit for doing what they were able to do. But I do take issue with being able to ride the fence on this major rivalry all throughout the game and at the very end be shoved into picking a side or following a decision path that you had previously opposed all before the end of the game. As geeky as it sounds, it just broke the whole fantasy of the game for me. It makes me wish that there was a better way to implement these types of things in games, especially if it's a technique a series of games relies upon so heavily.

When it comes down to it, I still prefer the first game over this game. Granted, I never felt like I was slowed down in this game and the missions were fun enough to keep me engaged from start to finish. If anybody were to say that this game were not fun, I would have to argue against that claim. However, the game seems to have had the role playing feel removed from this "role playing game" when being compared with its predecessor. Even when considering how much I hated the first game when I initially played it, there was just something more I was able to connect with from the first game that just seemed lacking in the second game. That, and the fact that they decided to water the rpg elements of the game down just left me with an indifferent feeling when the final credits started rolling.

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"chicknfeet reviewed Dragon Age II for the Xbox 360..." was posted by chicknfeet on Fri, 13 Jan 2012 10:59:38 -0800
]]> http://www.gamespot.com/dragon-age-ii/user-reviews/785660/platform/xbox360/ Sat, 24 Dec 2011 02:32:12 -0800 dj_pulserfan reviewed Gemini Rue for the PC... http://www.gamespot.com/gemini-rue/user-reviews/784099/platform/pc/ ...and gave it a 8.0.

Gemini Rue is brought to us from the indie studio Wadjet Eye Games best known for their series "Blackwell" and follows in their long standing tradition of PC-centric point and click adventure games.

The game follows the adventures of two characters, Azrael Odin and Delta-Six. While playing similarly are on two completely sides of the galaxy. Azrael, is on the search for his brother must go trough the seedy underworld for clues of his location. Delta-Six, a patient in a strange facility planning his escape.

Throughout the journey you discover trough a surprisingly well written Sci-Fi Noir. You discover backgrounds of both characters that will have you pushing trough to end to see what happens. It's a story driven game that manages to strike a rare perfectly balance of story-telling and gameplay. Neither is neglected for one another and you won't be at any point when is it time to get back to playing.

Accompanying all of this together is the games brilliant sound work. Everything from rain drops to voice acting and the minimal score are unique to both characters. Both sides have worlds and voice actors that are an exact fit for their chosen roles. The rain soaked world Barracus has an ambient jazz selection, fitting for the role of Azrael. While Delta-Six, also has an ambient selection but is centered around a more synth and drum heavy selection of tracks for his role in Colony 4. All of which are of high quality, rivaling even some of the best scores heard in gaming.

The game-play is your typical point-and-click affair with a bit of an action oriented twist. If you've ever played a point and click adventure game Gemini-Rue doesn't do much deviate from this, if at all & it's hard to really fault it for doing it's job of giving you a simple way to interact with the environment to complete your objectives. There is also a gun aspect to Gemini-Rue. While it could have been executed better- while it doesn't hurt or harm your experience, it would have been nice to have better incorporated into mouse only controls and to not regulate yourself to the keyboard for the brief times they do happen.

In the end Gemini Rue won't do much to change the average persons idea of Adventure Games, but for those who are will find a fantastic experience worth remembering why they enjoy such titles in the first place. The musical score, atmosphere and fantastic writing combine to make everything that an adventure game should be. And it's hard to not recommend it to fans of the genre, and who knows, even to those who aren't.

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"dj_pulserfan reviewed Gemini Rue for the PC..." was posted by dj_pulserfan on Sat, 24 Dec 2011 02:32:12 -0800
]]> http://www.gamespot.com/gemini-rue/user-reviews/784099/platform/pc/ Fri, 23 Sep 2011 12:33:02 -0700 chicknfeet reviewed Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3 FES for the PlayStation 2... http://www.gamespot.com/shin-megami-tensei-persona-3-fes/user-reviews/775196/platform/ps2/ ...and gave it a 9.0!

Persona 3 is the story of 8 companions who attend high school during the day and battle a wide variety of monsters at night with their dark alter egos known as personae. For those that have never played a game such as this, check out the Gamespot review written by Kevin Van Ord. You play as a high school student who finds himself having a special power of being able to summon shadow beings within himself and experience a time during the middle of the night between midnight at 12:01 known as the dark hour. Along with your fellow classmates, an android and a very frisky dog, you spend every night during the dark hour exploring a tower known as Tartarus that appears in the place your high school sits, trying to figure out why the monsters of the dark hour are attacking people.

Going through the game, you notice that even though this game was released on the PS2, the developers really took the time to make this game look beautiful. The buildings in the town, the character models, the cut scenes, the monster battles and all of the personae...all very well done with such a rich array of colors and animations. Seeing a character cast a ice spell or slashing an enemy with a Hand of God is satisfying to watch. Even summoning a persona is exciting to watch albeit a little attention grabbing the first time you see it. Watching one of the characters pull out their evoker...which surprisingly resembles a hand gun...and shooting themselves in the head is as fun to watch the thousandth time as it is the first time.

The music in the game is a nice variety of Japanese pop and some slow instrumentals. There have been many times the music has found its way into my head while doing other things. Taking some extra time just to listen to the music playing in the background at the mall or switching to a specific BGM during your exploration of Tartarus will have you singing the songs to yourself when you aren't parked in front of the television.

The game play in the Journey portion is fun: plain and simple. You play the game in a morning, afternoon, evening and night time setting. Typically during the mornings and afternoons, you are in class and socializing with other classmates, teachers and potential girlfriends. You take periodic quizzes in class and attend after school clubs and organizations. Each school activity you perform and participate in will potentially put you in improved standings with your academics or social circles. During the evenings, you have the choice to spend time at the mall, visit a park or do a few other activities around town as well as stay in and study your school work. Night time is spent either getting rested for the next day or exploring Tartarus and having some monster-killing fun during the dark hour. Improving your social standings during the day helps to improve your potential to successfully explore Tartarus at night. Incorporating a good balance of life simulation and turn-based battling helps to keep things interesting.

A few things made the game a bit more complicated than needed such as managing your team and figuring out which skills your personae had. Trying to equip your characters while exploring Tartarus was an inconvenience at most, but still nothing that couldn't be worked through. Figuring out which of your persona to use during a battle based on their skills proved to be a little confusing at times as well, but again, nothing that couldn't be worked through.

The one major drawback to this game I have found is playing through the Answers mode. Though the story is compelling and does actually keep the same feel as the original game's fighting sequences, it tends to get tedious after a while. The Journey was good at mixing things up and not focusing so hard on one part of the formula. The Answers focuses strictly on fighting. Although it is still fun to watch these students call forth their personae and execute some very lavish actions, it just turns into a slow grind. Not to shed too much negativity on the additional content, there does seem to be a lot of answers provided to many questions you've probably never had.

Overall, the game is solid and the experience is nigh forgettable. You will find yourself cheering for your characters, singing the theme songs in your head, as well as sitting on the edge of your seat at times. If you are able to find a copy of this game at your local gaming distributor, pick up a copy since it is worth more than the value it is being sold for.

Get the full article at GameSpot

]]> http://www.gamespot.com/shin-megami-tensei-persona-3-fes/user-reviews/775196/platform/ps2/ Thu, 23 Sep 2010 22:13:45 -0700 dj_pulserfan reviewed Demon's Souls for the PlayStation 3... http://www.gamespot.com/demons-souls/user-reviews/738170/platform/ps3/ ...and gave it a 10.0!!!

If you're like me, you remember the times when video games couldn't save anytime and anywhere we wanted. When there was no regenerating health or boxes asking you to tone down the difficulty after you've died for the 3rd time in the same spot. When the risk was equal to the reward and you could proudly thump your chest in accomplishment. When every other step counted as a checkpoint and you had to start at the beginning of the level. This is what Demon's Souls brings to the table in a game that will be remembered for years to come.

The kingdom of Boletaria is in trouble, and it's up to you, a slayer of Demon's to put a stop to it. And with that, you are immediately thrown into the first level without detailed tutorial that overstays it's welcome. The story is barely there and the only thing that does to the game is help aide how "Old School" it can be. You may think "I can't get into a game without a story!" but trust me, this game doesn't need an overly dramatic score and cheesy voice acting to be great. Just visceral, unforgiving gameplay at every inch.

But that's not to say the game doesn't have a story. As you'll learn from the very small, but diverse number of NPC's the world of Boletaria has it's fair share of dark secrets which only add to the feeling of loneliness and fear the game throws at you.

From the moment you make your character to when you slay the final boss, every inch of Demon's Souls is detailed and bleeding with personality. Every level is unique and in it's own way, feels special. In World-1 you are fighting trough a castle that is crumbling from the war outside, holes in the castle walls and the faint screams of the village citizens really add that this kingdom is falling apart. In World-2, you fight trough a giant mountain which has secured itself as a mining facility run by Demons. Melted steel boiling, mallets clanking, moving conveyor belts, officials overseeing the peons in certain areas. All of these small things really help sell the very different levels in Demon's Souls and it's obvious From Software put their all into it.

The score has two parts, both of which are equal in quality. Every level is not scored by music. But takes a film approach and let's the environment around the player do it for you. Screams, weapons and shields clanking, footsteps, the sound of air breezing by your ears and the distinctive sounds of the ghouls and goblins unique to your level. Every boss has their own epic theme, fitting with the appropriateness of the present danger you're encountering. Those with a great sound system and lucky enough to be born with a pair of great ears will be happy to know the score and effects have great highs and lows and will aid in drawing you in the world of Boletaria, an accidental feature I feel sorry for those who can't experience it.

The gameplay in Demon's Souls is very multi-layered with an online component that changes the way you approach any challenge given to you. "Demon's Souls" as the game implies, is what the game is all about. They are your lifeblood, serving both as currency and experience. Dieing will result in an loss of all your souls, but as a challenge the game gives you one chance to prove yourself worthy. If you can make it back to your bloodpool, you will get every Demon Soul you've lost. A small element, yes, but it only aids in furthering the challenge presented to you. You don't want to die, but the game is designed to kill you and make you a better player.

Combat is fairly simple, but deep. Everything matters and it obviously shows, not just mildly influenced as with many recent RPGs. Every single stat and level makes an obvious difference. You want a fast character? All that light armor won't matter once you decide to wield a sword you obviously aren't qualified for. From slowing down your movement, to swing speeds and even taking more damage from leaving yourself open. Swinging against a wall means it won't go trough it, but bounce off it.

Demon's Souls not only looks punishing, but it is punishing. The game wants you to get better but in the worst way possible, like the old piano teacher that slaps your knuckles with a ruler till you the chords right. It's not cheap at all, if you decided to fight the guy with a spear on a wooden plank 100 feet in the air. Be my guest, but don't call the game cheap because you decided to foolish.

The game also has a neat feature called "Tendency" that is applied to both your character and level your are in. Dying in human form and reverting to soul will slowly drop your World Tendency to black and make the levels harder. Killing NPC's and other players will drop your player tendency black and make the game harder, but the pay off for this is that you'll receive more Demon's Souls.

Meanwhile, doing the exact opposite by helping NPC's and not dying will raise it to white and make the game slightly easier, but result in less souls. So do you do the right thing and help the world for less souls? Or do you feed into your lust for souls and slowly doom Boletaria that you care so little for? As the world tendency grows darker, so does the levels environment becomes increasingly bleak. These small things only add to Demon's Souls, and I haven't even touched the online portion.

You also play as two different versions of yourself. Human & Soul. In human form, you have full health but your attack power is slightly diminished. In soul form, and depending on character tendency have your health reduced to 45% and increased attack power. Also adding another element of play is if you'd be willing to turn up your attack power in the name of diminished health.

While connected to the official Demon's Souls server, you will see ghost of players pass you by for a few seconds. Tackling other objects and enemies as they fade away. You will also come into contact with bloodstains showing you the last seconds of that players life. Both of these can aid you in your quest to finish a level, as you'll see someone fighting an enemy you can't see but will be sure keep you alert for what is around the corner.

There is also a co-op and versus element. They are both simple and a game changer for how dungeon crawler multiplayer is handled. You can summon up to two different players to continue trough the level with, simple yes? But let's continue with competitive side. Now, I'm not one for this kind of multiplayer, or multiplayer in general. But invading someones game or having yours invaded reinvents the game of cat and mouse.

By playing human and having your game invaded can end in 2 ways. One, with your death and reverting to soul form. Or defeating them and stealing an entire levels worth of souls. That's right, if they just spent 50,000 on leveling up their strength, it's yours and they're knocked down a level. Or if you're invading in soul form, it's the exact opposite of what I mentioned above, and then some. If you kill the player while invading, you're character and world tendency will move toward black. So is it worth the risk to kill them? Would you rather just fight your way toward the levels end boss? Strategy and skill matter when making these choices, two of which you'll be lucky if many games have these days.

There's a lot to discover, both me and game want you to find them. It gives everything you need to do so covered in one of the most rewarding experiences to grace gaming in years. It has everything; brutal, but not over the top combat that has you guessing your opponents every move. Online play that feels planned and thought out, not thrown in and there to actually enhance, not hinder your experience. Exploration that rewards you for finding that hidden passage. I dare not speak anything else, just buy it already!

Get the full article at GameSpot

"dj_pulserfan reviewed Demon's Souls for the PlayStation 3..." was posted by dj_pulserfan on Thu, 23 Sep 2010 22:13:45 -0700
]]> http://www.gamespot.com/demons-souls/user-reviews/738170/platform/ps3/ Tue, 21 Sep 2010 20:10:42 -0700 Cerrav reviewed Metroid: Other M for the Wii... http://www.gamespot.com/metroid-other-m/user-reviews/737954/platform/wii/ ...and gave it a 7.0.

I was really hoping for a back-to-basics Metroid experience. What we got was lots of talking...talking talking blah blah talking...

Don't get me wrong, I enjoy a great a story. However, if I heard the word BABY or the name ADAM one more time....just one more time...


Gameplay - In order to fire a missle you have to switch into FP by flipping the Wiimote towards the screen? No. Hate it. Moving a character in a 3D plane w/ the d-pad was a little awkward at first, but you get use to it. Can't help but wonder why the nun-chuck was not used.

Graphics - Great for a Wii game. I thought the character designs were a bit simple. A mutant hedgehog w/ razor blades on the back? Come on.

Sound - The sound effects were nice. I especially loved the sound of your canon hitting fully charged.

Difficulty - Honestly, just tapping the d-pad in random directions during an intense fight would get you out of sticky situations. There's a certain boss w/ an old friend that SEEMS intense, but once you realize that all you need to do is tap the d-pad over and over, shoot a few times, tap the d-pad...it's well... a bit more flash than strategy.

Samus, you're just not the bounty hunter b1tch I thought you were. Instead, you're whiny and possibly a bit mentally disturbed. Go bake some cookies.

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"Cerrav reviewed Metroid: Other M for the Wii..." was posted by Cerrav on Tue, 21 Sep 2010 20:10:42 -0700
]]> http://www.gamespot.com/metroid-other-m/user-reviews/737954/platform/wii/ Sun, 20 Jun 2010 12:52:03 -0700 GrandJury reviewed Battlefield: Bad Company 2 for the PlayStation 3... http://www.gamespot.com/battlefield-bad-company-2/user-reviews/725358/platform/ps3/ ...and gave it a 8.5.

The battlefield series has been around for a long time. Just two years ago they started to focus more on adding a cinematic storyline to the game.

Story

Unlike the first one, which had a very funny, witty and ridiculous story to it, BC2 decided to let the humor take a back seat. This is a really bad thing because what was a funny unique story has turned into the run of the mill USA vs Russia storyline. They mention nothing from the first one, we have no idea what happened to the gold or anything? Now the story is not completely dry, there are still funny moments, especially the cheap jokes towards the other competing games, such as Modern warfare 2. Overall the games story is decent, but not as memorable as the first.


Graphics
Probably one of the best parts about the game. Now this game does not have crysis esq graphics but it is no slouch either. The game looks beautiful and it is amazing that the frame rate can keep up with all of the action. If you don't go through the campaign for the story, do it for the different locations and set pieces. Jungles look lush, deserts look harsh etc etc.


Gameplay
Well thankfully the gameplay has improved over the first bad company. No longer do you feel awkward because you lack a scope or pistol. You have side arms, and you can customize your weapons. This works great in Multiplayer because it gives the player the chance to get creative with their loadout for their weapons. There is also a MASS variety of ways to take down your enemies. Whether it is by gun, tank, helicopter, boat, or hell even knock the building down they were in on top of them. All in all the gameplay is much improved and great.

Multiplayer.
Here we go. The real meat and potatoes of the game. This game offers some of the best multiplayer on any console...It is just to bad EA and Dice decided to make the game so stupid to play at times. You see the biggest problem with this game is how dated it feels. Other games let you form parties with your friends, you can't do this in BC2, hell you can't even talk to all of your team members. The game supports 24 players, 12v12 action. You can only talk to three people. The three people in your squad, you can by all means invite three of your friends but if you have a fourth he/she is out of luck. It is an incredibly dumb system that shouldn't even have been put in the game. I mean the game is all about team work yet you can even talk to a guy who is standing right next to you unless his is in your squad? That is pure garbage EA/Dice and you know it.

Now thanks to some patches the game lags a lot and EA does not seem fit with fixing it any time soon. Besides these problems BC2 is a great MP game experience. There is plenty to unlock in terms of weapons, gear, pins and insignias. The weapons for the most part feel balanced but thanks to the patch and lag it is very hard to tell sometimes. Sometimes bigger BS happens in this game rather than the call of duty series. The leveling system will keep you busy for quite awhile which is great. Unlike the first game which had a quick 25 levels to reach and rank up, BC2 has a cool 50, and trust me it will take you awhile to get there. There are a vast variety of weapons for you to use with each class. So depending on which you choose you will have a good amount of tools to dish out your damage. The game does do a great job at making each class feel useful. The assaults are in the front lines and give ammo, the medics revive dead team members and throws out health packs, engineers fix and destroy vehicles, and recons snipe and call in mortar strikes. Each class has their job, this is why it sucks so much that you can't communicate with your whole team.

Overall
Overall bad company 2 is a great FPS, and it offers a decent singleplayer and some amazing Multiplayer, but don't feel bad if you get the game and wondered if it could have been more with some common sense thinking over at EA/Dice.

Get the full article at GameSpot

"GrandJury reviewed Battlefield: Bad Company 2 for the PlayStation 3..." was posted by GrandJury on Sun, 20 Jun 2010 12:52:03 -0700
]]> http://www.gamespot.com/battlefield-bad-company-2/user-reviews/725358/platform/ps3/ Mon, 07 Jun 2010 11:07:45 -0700 froekidd reviewed Super Street Fighter IV for the PlayStation 3... http://www.gamespot.com/super-street-fighter-iv/user-reviews/723711/platform/ps3/ ...and gave it a 10.0!!!

i love this game better than the first one that came out last year same basically but the new combos and characters and bringing back the bonus stages is sick. i like the new layout and the trials layout is sick too and have the choice to skip some of the trials is great for people who get angry then quitting cuz the trials are hard to pull off. i'll just skip to the next one and come back to the other one later. and giving all the characters from the jump is good to cuz i sometimes bring my game to my friends house in the previous one and i can't choose the person i want cuz i didn't unlock them in my friends system that was a plus. and the new online modes are great as well the team battles is great and the having the replay mode i love watching my old fights seeing how i lost and stuff like that watching other players old fights is great you can learn from them as well the only problem i had with the game was nothing at all

Get the full article at GameSpot

"froekidd reviewed Super Street Fighter IV for the PlayStation 3..." was posted by froekidd on Mon, 07 Jun 2010 11:07:45 -0700
]]> http://www.gamespot.com/super-street-fighter-iv/user-reviews/723711/platform/ps3/ Sat, 08 May 2010 16:42:16 -0700 billychanxtr33m reviewed Auto Modellista for the Xbox... http://www.gamespot.com/auto-modellista/user-reviews/719765/platform/xbox/ ...and gave it a 7.0.

Who knew Capcom would make a Gran Turismo clone?

Auto Modellista combines the tuning and car collecting of Gran Turismo with cell shaded graphics and very non-sim car physics. It doesn't quite work, but you could still have fun with the game.

First and foremost, the car physics are super "drifty." How drifty? Drifty to the point where it is hard to drive in a straight line. Even in a car with all-wheel drive, and your tuning set to max stability, its touchy. This game is so drifty that even the AI (on normal anyways) spins out frequently, I'm not kidding!

That is the big game breaker, and it takes some getting used to.

Otherwise, this is standard real world car collecting, tuning, and racing. The main single player mode is buried in the "my garage" section and could be missed if you weren't looking for it. Once you find it though, there are 7 different series for you to race, each with several different race types. Instead of getting cash for racing, you simply unlock upgrades and cars which you can use freely once you have them. This is a bit different, but the single player game is short enough that it works. Eventually you will unlock the ability to transplant engines between different models of cars, making this sort of like a super stylish Forza.

The jazzy music+announcer combo that Capcom uses in stuff like Marvel Vs. Capcom 2 is here too, and it doesn't really work well. There is a bit more variety in the music outside of the menus and on the track, but most of it is forgettable.

There are only about 10 racing tracks, but all can be raced backwards and some have "rainy" versions. The single player game is pretty short too, and there are only about 30 cars in the game, so is it really worth your time?

I think the main draw of this game is the very intuitive car dress-up function in your garage. You can paint, add custom decals, change up the body kit, personalize your license plate..... pretty much every kind of personalization you can think of. I guess I found it quick and easy to get my car looking just the way I wanted it to. After you've dressed up and named your car, you tend to get pretty attached to it. I was compelled to play through the game because of this. After a while, I got used to the handling too.

Now Auto Modellista isn't for everyone; but if you like super drifty racers, cell shaded graphics, or just want to spice up a bland XBOX library, there is some fun to be had here. If you can pick this one up on the cheap, give it a chance.

Get the full article at GameSpot

"billychanxtr33m reviewed Auto Modellista for the Xbox..." was posted by billychanxtr33m on Sat, 08 May 2010 16:42:16 -0700
]]> http://www.gamespot.com/auto-modellista/user-reviews/719765/platform/xbox/ Sat, 23 Jan 2010 21:39:51 -0800 Cerrav reviewed The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks for the DS... http://www.gamespot.com/the-legend-of-zelda-spirit-tracks/user-reviews/703838/platform/ds/ ...and gave it a 9.0!

GAMEPLAY – If you played Phantom Hourglass, you'll certainly be right at home w/ the control mechanics. This time around, I swear I had more issues w/ responsiveness - but then again, it could be the fact that I've played my DS to death! In my opinion, the train seemed a bit limiting, but it did the job. You really can only shoot so many rocks, right?

GRAPHICS - You can tell they tried to go a bigger this time around, and it shows w/ what appeared to be much more pixilation.

SOUND - Great music. My favorite being the music you hear the first time you encounter Cole & Bryne. Sound effects are on par w/ Phantom Hourglass.

VALUE – Didn't want the game to end! Lots of sidequests. Still need to go back into the game and complete the rabbit hunting and collect a few heart containers. Believe I played 30+ hours.

Awesome game. I hope to see another Wii game in this Zelda timeline.

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"Cerrav reviewed The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks for the DS..." was posted by Cerrav on Sat, 23 Jan 2010 21:39:51 -0800
]]> http://www.gamespot.com/the-legend-of-zelda-spirit-tracks/user-reviews/703838/platform/ds/ Sat, 19 Dec 2009 09:10:51 -0800 firebirdboi06 reviewed Luigi's Mansion for the GameCube... http://www.gamespot.com/luigis-mansion/user-reviews/698129/platform/gamecube/ ...and gave it a 7.0.

Luigi's Mansion is... a launch title in every negative aspect. It's certainly no Halo or Super Mario 64, it just gets a resounding "Meh" from me.

In this game, Luigi discovers he's won a mansion in a contest he didn't enter. Before long we discover ghosts have shown up at this mansion and Mario was seen heading into the mansion alone. It's a very paper thin plot (but then, don't all Mario games have this issue?)

Gameplay is very much a arcade style of Ghostbusters, with no worry of crossing the streams. Using the Poltergust 3000, you will suck up ghosts using the R button, and tilting the control stick in the opposite direction. But first, in order to catch them you have to hit them with your flashlight and start sucking before they disappear. It later segments of the game, you can shoot out fire, ice, and water from the Poltergust 3000. These are used against ghosts, but also to solve some environmental puzzles. It all works, sure, and makes for some entertaining fights, but they never get very challenging. I found myself on the final level and feeling underwhelmed with my success.

That's actually one of my biggest gripes about Luigi's Mansion. The game never gets a real sense of difficulty. Sure, you can collect more money, you can collect all 50 of a certain ghost, but it's not required at all. In my mind, it

One thing the game gets down very well is graphics. It's not a technical wow like another GameCube launch title, Rogue Squadron II, but animations look very fluid and there are plenty of effects throughout the game to give it pizzazz.

As is typical for a Nintendo game, don't expect orchestral music in the game or much voiceover work. There's only a little done here and there, and the music is all the MIDI tones Nintendo has a love affair with.

Replayability is also a downside, as once you complete the game, you do have the option of playing through again with the mansion rearranged, and to get a better end "grade", but beyond that there's not much incentive to go back in.

It's certainly a fresh idea, and one I wouldn't mind Nintendo revisiting in a true Wii sequel. But in the end, this GameCube launch title failed to impress me on anything more than an ideology level.

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"firebirdboi06 reviewed Luigi's Mansion for the GameCube..." was posted by firebirdboi06 on Sat, 19 Dec 2009 09:10:51 -0800
]]> http://www.gamespot.com/luigis-mansion/user-reviews/698129/platform/gamecube/ Tue, 27 Oct 2009 17:08:38 -0700 firebirdboi06 reviewed DJ Hero for the PlayStation 3... http://www.gamespot.com/dj-hero/user-reviews/688980/platform/ps3/ ...and gave it a 9.0!

DJ Hero is an interesting little beast.

With the regular edition selling at around $120, and the Renegade Edition selling at around $200, you'd be surprised to find that if you enjoy any of the music inside (anything from the Jackson 5, to the Killers, to Queen, to MC Hammer and Daft Punk) chances are you'll get a kick out of DJ Hero.

In gameplay your basics are to hit the notes as they come down on the three buttons, press and hold a button and move the "record" back and forth to scratch, use the Crossfade switch when designated (in gameplay vids, this is when you see the green or blue track dart to the left or right), utilize euphoria (for Guitar Hero vets, this is the equivalent of Star Power), use an effects knob (similar to the function of the whammy bar), and if you are good, rewind.

Seem like a lot? Good, because it is, but DJ Hero takes you through with a well-constructed tutorial, and a slight difficulty curve that grows as you unlock more tracks. You unlock tracks, costumes, arenas and such by your ratings on songs. Get a 5 star rating on this entire setlist? That's 15-25 stars right there!

What I haven't looked at is multiplayer however. There's three forms of multiplayer: local table & table, local table & guitar, and online table & table. You may notice the lack of a few things, mainly a "vs.". The modes only allow you to play cooperatively.

Graphically speaking, the game (mostly) looks fantastic, but I did notice in some shots, the crowd would get in the way of the primary focus of the camera and appear very jagged.

I imagine most are wondering what the big differences are between the two retail versions, so here goes. In the normal version, you get the game, and a simple black matte finished table with... I'll call it "silver" accents. Sorry, it's not the one I've seen in person. The renegade version comes with the game, a black glossy table with gold accents, a suitcase/stand for your table and game, plus a 2-cd set of music by Eminem and Jay-Z.

No matter which version you get, the music and gameplay in DJ Hero is a breath of fresh air that the music game genre really needed, and for better or worse, maybe we'll see more new ideas come from this.

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"firebirdboi06 reviewed DJ Hero for the PlayStation 3..." was posted by firebirdboi06 on Tue, 27 Oct 2009 17:08:38 -0700
]]> http://www.gamespot.com/dj-hero/user-reviews/688980/platform/ps3/ Sun, 04 Jan 2009 23:28:01 -0800 dj_pulserfan reviewed Fallout 3 for the Xbox 360... http://www.gamespot.com/fallout-3/user-reviews/636891/platform/xbox360/ ...and gave it a 8.5.

I'll admit it. I was skeptical when I heard Bethesda came into control of the Fallout license not too long after Oblivion was released. I was afraid of them turning it into what many referred to as "Oblivion with guns" and basically making an open world First Person Shooter. I can safely say that if your a previous fan of the series you'll be highly satisfied at everything this game has too offer you, whether a veteran or a newcomer Fallout 3 has something for everyone.

The game starts out with a narration done by Ron Pearlman (You've seen him in Hellboy or at least it's commercials.) telling you about your character and the choices that will govern the future of mankind. It's nothing too get excited about, but does set the game up for cutscene of your characters birth. And this is where you customize your character you can customize it much like Oblivion, albeit with less attention and countless beard & make up options. But there is a problem with this, as there is a weird bug that keeps you from zooming in & out so you can see what your doing with the customization nothing gamebreaking but it's a bit aggravating if your trying too make a character that resembles you. But choose wisely, as what your character looks like makes the game generate a Father that resembles your character.

Afterwards you start flashing forward trough time toddler, child, teenager, adult. Learning and experiencing new things at every stage it's really interesting cause not only do you age, the characters in the vault do as-well, nothing major but it's nice too see that they paid attention too small details developers overlook. When you reach adulthood you wake up a childhood friend and an alarm system only too find out that your Father has left the vault and you follow in his footsteps.

The first moment you leave the vault you'll see a grand vista of post apocalyptic greatness. Broken bridges, caters, boulders, cars, destroyed highways, shriveled up trees, hills, mountains, crumbling buildings ranging from houses villages you name it, you'll a nuclear war version of it. And unlike Oblivion Fallout 3 delivers the balance Bethesda is just now achieving with Oblivion of great looks (Fallout 3 looks better) and fantastic frame rates. No matter what was going on, in the 45 hours of gameplay (only one sideqest remains unfinished and not including how many times I died) I've only come across 2 bouts of slowdown, and they aren't that bad either you might not even notice it, but you will notice the occasional lock up last for about 2 seconds at most but when your fighting and everything freezes it really breaks up the pace.

The game is smaller than Oblivion, but makes up for it with the amount of locations (above & below ground). You can get around by walking or quick traveling too discovered locations. Now if may seem like a pain when someone gives you a quest and next thing you know it's on a part of the map with no quick travel destinations close too it, but don't worry unlike Oblivion the smaller size works out in your favor and you'll come across so many new locations and interesting people that the walk is nowhere near as long as the map makes it out too be.

Often I found myself distracted by hidden location I found that I'd spend more time trying too learn about it then what I'm actually suppose too be doing. That small town might hold a major sidequest, a great weapon or item that will come in handy, or maybe a deep secret you'll uncover if you pook around the right places or ask the right questions. Never be afraid to talk to or bribe a denizen of the wasteland, you never know where it could go. It's less Bethesda like and more of a Bioware game when it comes too branching dialog paths which makes for interesting conversations that range from deep & intelligent too depressing & moody. No two conversations are alike, which is the first time I can say that about these type of games. You'll even hear a few voices from Oblivion in here.

The stat, perk & skill system are amazing. There's a perk that fits the character you wanna play at almost every level up, there are a few weird ones that come up but nothing that ruins the experience for you. Stats are there for anything you can think of in the wasteland, they can make sure you can get lower prices from merchants to nailing headshots with a pistol. What's different about Fallout 3's system from the classic system it uses is that you'll see noticeable differences at every level. You can even use perks too upgrade skills should you feel the need to upgrade after you've picked them early on.

When it comes too combat the game doesn't disappoint. Think of it as Oblivion, meets Morrowind with guns. Let me explain Oblivion's character movement, Morrowind's stat system (albeit less, less punishing too early levelers) but all swords are replaced with guns. If you come into the mindset of clocking headshots faster than a multiplayer Halo match time too shatter dreams. Fallout 3 is a rpg wrapped in a FPS, don't expect to nail headshots and expect someone too drop in a single hit. You may do more damage, but you aren't taking their head off at first until you level up your gun skills and unlock the bloody mess perk. And their isn't ammo flooding the streets you'll be playing a game of resource management when it comes too guns and melee weapons.

The Pip-Boy & V.A.T.S. system are great and they work together in the form of inventory management and a HUD. V.A.T.S. is a way for you too handle firefights in a D&D style way, letting you pick an area of the enemies body and having a chance of hitting them. It's extremely gratifying too land a hit and watch it all play out in a slow-motion, despite what it looks like it never gets old. Though I won't lie, ultraviolent deaths in slow motion won't be as cool as they first we're and you'll be using V.A.T.S. as a way too fight strategically than just too see someone get blown to Valhalla and back again.

Though a weird glitch that hasn't been patched yet is sometimes while your in V.A.T.S. you'll end up getting stuck permanently and can't cancel it out meaning you have too restart your Xbox when it happens. It's rare, but when it happens it's a pain to have to turn it off, turn it on, start the game and watch the openings and load your game all over again.

The pip-boy is a multi-purpose all in one device. It handles character condition, stat tracking, weapons, minor game options & the map. It's a great system and fits with the future in the past setting greatly. Though as you level up and acquire more items it becomes less organized and becomes cumbersome, you'll get use too it but it's still a minor annoyance.

The games also has a weird sense of choice making & karma. It's more like Fable 2 in a sense. Sure you could blow up a city, but for what purpose? You can give a bum water, but he doesn't do anything but ask for more. They don't really affect the story at all cause it will still expect you too do what's expected of you. It's interesting too see where those choices can lead too no doubt but most the time there is no lasting effects other than some new dialog in the ending.

Overall everything comes together in Fallout 3 the setting nails post-apocalyptia perfectly, has fantastic gameplay & has fantastic dialog & interesting choices you can make. But a few bugs & weak choice making keep it from reaching all it could've been.

Get the full article at GameSpot

"dj_pulserfan reviewed Fallout 3 for the Xbox 360..." was posted by dj_pulserfan on Sun, 04 Jan 2009 23:28:01 -0800
]]> http://www.gamespot.com/fallout-3/user-reviews/636891/platform/xbox360/ Sat, 27 Dec 2008 22:30:07 -0800 firebirdboi06 reviewed Spider-Man 3 for the PlayStation 2... http://www.gamespot.com/spider-man-3/user-reviews/634459/platform/ps2/ ...and gave it a 3.0.

Spider-Man 2 will be marked as the first game that generally showed us what being Spider-Man is all about and what an experience it can be. Combat may not have been up to snuff, but it was the first Spider-Man game to have you going anywhere in New York. So with that game on the belt of many designers from Activision, you'd think they'd improve the combat system and try to chug more graphic power out of the various systems. On the PS2, this is not the case. Not. One. Bit.

Spider-Man 3 focuses on the story of your favorite neighborhood Spider-Man's third theatrical outing, which is no easy task. Alongside Venom, the Sandman and a brief fight with the New Goblin, you also fight Morbius, a scientist-turned vampire, his wife, the Lizard, Dr. Connors turned... well, reptile, and Kraven the Hunter. While you deal with those supervillains there's also a turf war going on between the police and 4 rival gangs. If you remember the pedestrian events from Spider-Man 2, they end up like those, but it's a string of them together.

Despite all of this fun thats bound to happen, the story feels about as jumbled up as the movie's, and not in a good way. They try to connect things together, but very few ideas actually work well, and few members of the voice acting crew seem into the gig. Namely, J.K. Simmons is the sole individual that turns in a performance that you can hear it and say "Yep, that's Jonah!" Also, Bruce Campbell returns but aside from the tutorial and upgrades he's not here. That's right, gone are the tidbits of information that would spew from his question marks and along with it a lot of humor.

Gameplay is... dull. Swing around from place to place, do this do that, beat up bad guys, rinse wash repeat, you get the idea. But unlike Spider-Man 2's combat system where dodging was encouraged and you felt like you had a Spider Sense, all you can do here is beat your opponet's senselessly. In fact, from the mild street urchin to Venom, most of the villains are defeated by brute strength, not the cunning thinking Parker is known for.

The graphics of Spider-Man 3 are not to be taken well either. In most cases, everything looks worse then it did in Spider-Man 2. From the buildings, to people, even Central Park looks like someone took a giant tub of bleach and poured it all over. Also, as is heavily publicized, if you get far enough away from anything with a texture, you will see it lose the texture and become a block.

Spider-Man 3 is in my book the worst superhero game since Superman 64. At least Spider-Man 3 keeps the feel of swinging intact, even if it is drastically changed.

Get the full article at GameSpot

"firebirdboi06 reviewed Spider-Man 3 for the PlayStation 2..." was posted by firebirdboi06 on Sat, 27 Dec 2008 22:30:07 -0800
]]> http://www.gamespot.com/spider-man-3/user-reviews/634459/platform/ps2/ Sat, 13 Dec 2008 22:43:02 -0800 billychanxtr33m reviewed F-Zero GX for the GameCube... http://www.gamespot.com/f-zero-gx/user-reviews/631197/platform/gamecube/ ...and gave it a 9.0!

F-Zero GX is by far the most intense game I have ever played. If you enjoy incredibly fast racing games or a very steep challenge, this is the game for you.

Gameplay- The core gameplay for GX is fast, weaponless racing. You have a gas button, a boost button, and a brake button (which should NEVER be used) as well as use of the shoulder buttons. Pressing one shoulder button will make your ship "strafe" in that direction and pressing and holding down both will allow you to drift. You can also do a side swipe attack and a spin attack which can destroy enemy ships with rather effectively if you are given the chance. In the typical 3 lap race you will have your boost unlocked at the beginning of the second lap. Your boosts are tied to the same energy gauge as your shield though, so boosting to your limit will put you in danger. This means that at higher difficulties the tension will be very high as you race around the track as fast as possible knowing one good bump will mean your death. The two main game modes are "Grand Prix" and "Story Mode." There are 5 cups with 5 different tracks each in the Grand Prix mode, though only three cups are available at the beginning. It is made obvious pretty quickly that there are A LOT of unlockables when you go to the character select screen for the first time and see only a few characters selectable and tons of empty space for more racers. Though the Grand Prix mode can be hard even before you start playing on the higher difficulties (which you will need to do to unlock more Grand Prix cups, among other things) the story mode poses a serious challenge even on the lowest difficulty setting. There are only 9 story mode missions and each mission you beat will simply unlock the next mission to be bought in the game shop and give you the next difficulty setting for that stage. The rewards are great for the story missions though, as each one has an opening and ending cutscene and beating the harder difficulties will unlock new parts for the ship creator and AX racers from the arcade counterpart to GX. The ship creator allows for up to 4 custom machines made up of 3 separate parts. There are about 60 parts in all once you have them all unlocked, and a custom emblem creator allows for a very powerful ship creation feature. Though the difficulty can skyrocket on you quickly, the smooth controls, tons of unlockables, and unmatched sense of speed make give GX some of the best gameplay around.

Graphics- Though the graphics in and of themselves are not very impressive, when seeing this game running completely smoothly with 30 racers involved you can understand why sacrifices were made. The tracks are all well designed and pretty to look at. If you look closely at the courses you will see that individual elements are not overly complicated, but again, the performance and smoothness is what is really on showcase. The character models of each driver can also be seen inside the cockpit of their racer, though this does mean they look a bit blocky and bland outside of their machine.

Sound- The soundtrack of GX is different from the typical fare for this kind of game, which could be a good thing or a bad thing depending on the listener. I personally thought the "electrorocknjazz" worked well in context of the game but some people may not like it. Each of the over 30 racers is voice acted which is quite impressive, though the performances are campy. The campiness is in especially full force with story mode. Again, I loved the cheese, but it may turn some players off so consider yourself warned.

Overall- The smooth controls coupled with the unforgiving difficulty make for quite the combination. If playing the same story mission over and over again for hours trying to beat it and win a coveted unlock doesn't sound like a good time, than F-Zero GX is not the game for you. But if you love a challenge or lightning fast racers this game is a must play.

Final Notes- The game gets docked some points down to a 9.0 because of very bare-bones menus and the use of difficulty to pad somewhat limited gameplay content. On a different note, one thing I loved was how small bumps and abrupt turns could make your machine "get loose" or lose traction. This random slipping on ice feeling can make you feel like you are really flying out of control in the most dangerous sport in the galaxy. And as I said at the beginning of this review, this is the most intense game I have ever played.

Get the full article at GameSpot

"billychanxtr33m reviewed F-Zero GX for the GameCube..." was posted by billychanxtr33m on Sat, 13 Dec 2008 22:43:02 -0800
]]> http://www.gamespot.com/f-zero-gx/user-reviews/631197/platform/gamecube/ Tue, 14 Oct 2008 14:58:40 -0700 Teenaged reviewed Crash of the Titans for the PlayStation 2... http://www.gamespot.com/crash-of-the-titans/user-reviews/614455/platform/ps2/ ...and gave it a 6.5.

I remember I wanted to buy this game to luckily restore my faith in Crash Bandicoot games (or better the direction the new developers have taken) after the shockingly –for me- disastrous games like Nitro Kart, The Wrath of Cortex etc. Those games were either too childish or bad imitations.
The story is so typical of Crash Bandicoot franchises. Cortex has come with another plan to rule the world (or just the wumpa islands, I don't remember). He will use a substance called "mojo" to mutate all animals into horrific monsters that will make up his new army of assassins. Cortex rushes to announce this plan to Crash and his company of friends and relatives, bragging as always. Then he tries to trap them all so that they pose no threat, but Crash gets away and sets off along with Aku Aku to save Coco and stop Cortex (once more).
In this game, Crash of the Titans, it seems the developers tried to freshen up Crash a bit. A bit? Well, actually Crash underwent tremendous changes both in gameplay and appearance.
Crash no longer spins like he used to, and to me that was his trademark, thus I was disappointed. Now, he punches, kicks and at some point he actually can spin (looking really awkward, though). In the punching and kicking Crash looks like he is tripping as though he were drunk. Still the new moves work fine most of the times. Also there are no wumpa fruit to collect but instead mojo.
Off course, the main feature of the game is the ability Crash has, aided by Aku Aku, to control larger creatures by punching them to exhaustion and then taking over them completely. Most, but not all of those creatures (there are not too many, anyway), have impressive attacks but they are not as dynamic or fast and the game gets slowed down at times when the only purpose is to knock down all the monsters in an area. Not very inventive.
Although the game is supposed to be an action, free roaming game, it actually provides the option of the "path" so familiar in the first Crash Bandicoot games. It's not bad, to tell you the truth, but combined with the uncontrollable camera, which tends to show you from uncomfortable angles makes the experience rather annoying.
The very positive about this game is the lush environments and the various landscapes: jungles, mountains, falls, rivers etc. The colours are very vibrant too, so the artistic aspect of the games is above average.
This game, along with the rest of the games after Crash Bash, proves that Naughty Dog "owns" Crash Bandicoot. People who loved "Crash Bandicoot", "Crash Bandicoot: Cortex strikes back" and "Crash Bandicoot: Warped" will feel disappointed. Still, Crash of the Titans, as a stand-alone game is not too bad but way deviated from the style we were so familiar with, doing no justice to Crash Bandicoot's character.

Get the full article at GameSpot

"Teenaged reviewed Crash of the Titans for the PlayStation 2..." was posted by Teenaged on Tue, 14 Oct 2008 14:58:40 -0700
]]> http://www.gamespot.com/crash-of-the-titans/user-reviews/614455/platform/ps2/ Sun, 21 Sep 2008 11:56:49 -0700 firebirdboi06 reviewed Star Wars: The Force Unleashed for the PlayStation 3... http://www.gamespot.com/star-wars-the-force-unleashed/user-reviews/608887/platform/ps3/ ...and gave it a 8.0.

Star Wars: The Force Unleashed is a game I've been watching since the tech demo videos first hit the web. Having seen those, I could only imagine the kind of things we were going to be in store for. The two technologies that were shown, DMM and Euphoria, do show up in the complete game in every way I hoped, just not as often.

See, while large metal doors bend to the force like you might expect, and trees splinter when struck, not everything reacts in such a way that seems plausible. Also, enemies disappearing, while understandable, is not what i was hoping for. When you take a stormtrooper down, I for one would like to use that body to mow down other troopers. In the end, the technology is there, but it doesn't seem fleshed out enough.

The actual game's biggest highlight is the official canon storyline. Without giving anything away, it centers around the tale of Darth Vader's Secret Apprentice inbetween episodes III and IV. Vader tasks you with hunting down remaining Jedi in order to reach an ultimate goal.

Aside from the story, the gameplay is pretty sound. The four shape buttons control saber attacks and three of your force powers: Lightning, Jump, and Push. The Shoulder buttons control your Grip, Advanced Powers, Lock On, and Dash abilities.

The majority of the time, when you marry the controls with the physics work, it's a sweet thing to watch troopers become mere tools for your destructive amusement, but as you get deeper into the game it becomes clear that Lucasarts rounded some corners in development. In no fewer than three places I had bugs which resulted in death of my character or freezing of my Playstation 3.

Also, while the cinematics are gorgeous to look at, going into them there's not really a transition. You simply trip upon the script and must go on from there.

As much as I enjoyed the gameplay and the story of Force Unleashed, the bugs I experienced and the disappointment with DMM and Euphoria I can't overlook the feeling that the game needed more polish. Nonetheless, in my book this is the best action game featuring a lightsaber since Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast.

Get the full article at GameSpot

]]> http://www.gamespot.com/star-wars-the-force-unleashed/user-reviews/608887/platform/ps3/ Thu, 04 Sep 2008 00:29:53 -0700 kewoods reviewed Alone in the Dark for the PlayStation 2... http://www.gamespot.com/alone-in-the-dark-2008/user-reviews/604592/platform/ps2/ ...and gave it a 3.0.

This is the first time I have reviewed a game on GS. I felt compelled to do so in the hopes I can save other people the misery of spending money on this complete disaster of a title.

The last game I played from this series was AitD; The New Nightmare, which I thoroughly enjoyed. I was hoping for the same creepy tension and action with this title. It's hard to say where the fault lies for this entry, other than to say everybody deserves some of the blame.

There are slight glitches which honestly amount to little more than quality control, but in this day and age you expect a little more out of a developer. Getting to close to a wall often turns you into a gray foggy shadow, blood pools from your injuries can occasionally be seen directly over your head following you around etc. Minor but sloppy.

The graphics themselves are, in a word, unimpressive. It looks more like a late entry PSX game than a PS2 title. Lots of blockiness, straight lines and sharp edges that did not show up on even the earliest of PS2 titles. It bounces between the qualities of cheap and lazy.

The controls are beyond atrocious, with item usage being controlled primarily by the R1&2/L1&2 buttons. It becomes confusing, not to mention irritating, to fumble around with your trigger fingers trying to get the right items into action. The camera is apparently designed to be as detrimental as possible, providing just enough of a view that often it's only by divine providence you realize where you are and where you need to go.

The voice talent will make you wish you had gone deaf at an early age. They're straight out of Central Casting, but in their defense they have an awful script to work with. I envision a chimpanzee banging on a keyboard with a soup spoon, and everyone screaming "brilliant!".

I gave the game a score of three because the game does have a potential that could have been realized by more careful work. I can understand how some folks would find this game worth playing, but they obviously have far more patience or are far more forgiving than I am.

I suppose you have a fair idea of how much I disliked this game. Had I not had such high hopes for it, I may have been a little more understanding. At this point in the AitD series however, there is no excuse for publishing this kind of worthless garbage.

Get the full article at GameSpot

"kewoods reviewed Alone in the Dark for the PlayStation 2..." was posted by kewoods on Thu, 04 Sep 2008 00:29:53 -0700
]]> http://www.gamespot.com/alone-in-the-dark-2008/user-reviews/604592/platform/ps2/ Thu, 28 Aug 2008 09:15:58 -0700 firebirdboi06 reviewed Uncharted: Drake's Fortune for the PlayStation 3... http://www.gamespot.com/uncharted-drakes-fortune/user-reviews/603059/platform/ps3/ ...and gave it a 9.0!

Uncharted is an interesting game. Many times it feels like you're playing a new version of Tomb Raider or the latest Indy movie. Let's face it, the plot isn't exactly new. However, while playing there is so much eye candy to gawk at, and the gameplay has enough difficulty at the "Normal" setting for it to be a challenge.

In Uncharted you play as Nathan Drake, a descendant of Sir Francis Drake who is out to find his ancestor's treasure. Along the way they discover the treasure is that of El Dorado. But not everything is as easy as it should be (but then hen is it?) as pirates show up wanting to get to the treasure first and being very much willing to take your life to get it.

Gameplay is divided primarily into two segments, combat and platforming. Platforming is just grabbing ledges, jumping from there to here and solving various environmental puzzles to proceed. For the most part these portions of the game are very simple, but the background fooled me a few times into thinking I could grab a certain ledge.

Combat is very fun, and the cover system has been refined to near perfection. You can choose to aim or not with L1, and Fire with R1. Cover can be anything, a pillar, a makeshift wall, or just a doorway, but it all can be leaned against with O, and you can peek with L1, or choose to fire blindly with R1. Usually it takes 4 shots with a 9mm pistol to take out a person, but headshots can lower the amount to 1.

In fact, the game pushes you to get headshots. 100 of them will unlock two bronze medals and a silver medal, as well as the corresponding trophy. Doing so will let you unlock bonus materials, like different skins for Drake, different graphic filters, and behind the scenes videos. The majority of these videos is a nice look into designing a game for the PS3, so if you have any intrest in it, watch them!

Sound in Uncharted is worth of a movie theater. With full Pro Logic support, your sound system will be able to have a nice workout with the various explosions, environmental effects, and gunfire.

Uncharted: Drake's Fortune's plot may not be original, but the gameplay and graphics are great showcases for game design done right. It's clear that Naughty Dog (known for the Jak and Daxter series) saw what the PS3 was capable of, and strived to make a better game for it.

Get the full article at GameSpot

]]> http://www.gamespot.com/uncharted-drakes-fortune/user-reviews/603059/platform/ps3/ Mon, 04 Aug 2008 19:10:47 -0700 firebirdboi06 reviewed Chibi-Robo: Park Patrol for the DS... http://www.gamespot.com/chibi-robo-park-patrol/user-reviews/596629/platform/ds/ ...and gave it a 8.5.

Chibi-Robo Park patrol is a game that I had very low expectations for. I hadn't heard too much about the Gamecube game, and the fact that it was a Wal-Mart exclusive made me wonder if it was a bad egg from the house of Mario.

In park patrol, you play as Chibi-Robo, a world famous 4-inch tall piece of machinery that is designed to revive parks into the former green gardens they used to be. You'll have many tools and friends at your disposal, but you must also defend the flowers you bloom from Smoglings, Smogglobs, as well as Genreral Smogglor and Miasmo.

Aside from the primary game, there are many touch sensitive mini-games and side-quests to complete, adding great legs to the game. I was able to play the mains tory for 34 in-game days, so in my mind, it's easily possible to stretch your game out.

Even once your finished with the storyline, the game insists that you continue your green quest to renew the park.

Combine this with a family-friendly sense of humor, simple controls, and gameplay you didn't know could be addictive, I'm left wondering how Chibi didn't get more fan fare when he first landed on the Gamecube.

Admittedly, the game isn't perfect, few are, but in my mind the biggest missed opportunity is not making some of the mini-games multiplayer over Ad-Hoc. Some games like bowling would be so much more fun with another Robo there.

Also, graphically the game is above average, and looks as if the development team wasn't wanting to risk any dips in frame rate, and handicapped themselves doing so.

Otherwise, all in all, this is one of my hidden gems of 2007 and should be a nice departure for gamers looking for something with a lightness to it.

Get the full article at GameSpot

"firebirdboi06 reviewed Chibi-Robo: Park Patrol for the DS..." was posted by firebirdboi06 on Mon, 04 Aug 2008 19:10:47 -0700
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