Garrison_Ford's GameSpot Friend's Reviews Garrison_Ford's GameSpot Friend's Reviews Garrison_Ford's GameSpot Friend's Reviews en-us Copyright (c)1995-2013 CBS Interactive. All rights reserved. http://www.gamespot.com 20 Wed, 22 May 2013 04:22:26 -0700 GameSpot Garrison_Ford's GameSpot Friend's Reviews http://img.gamespot.com/gamespot/shared/promos/misc/gs_logo.gif http://www.gamespot.com 135 40 Mon, 20 May 2013 15:11:47 -0700 benleslie5 reviewed BioShock Infinite for the PlayStation 3... http://www.gamespot.com/bioshock-infinite/user-reviews/811535/platform/ps3/ ...and gave it a 10.0!!!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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"benleslie5 reviewed BioShock Infinite for the PlayStation 3..." was posted by benleslie5 on Mon, 20 May 2013 15:11:47 -0700
]]> http://www.gamespot.com/bioshock-infinite/user-reviews/811535/platform/ps3/ Sun, 19 May 2013 22:57:25 -0700 ZanarkandTidus reviewed Shadow Hearts: Covenant for the PlayStation 2... http://www.gamespot.com/shadow-hearts-covenant/user-reviews/811512/platform/ps2/ ...and gave it a 9.5!




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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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]]> http://www.gamespot.com/shadow-hearts-covenant/user-reviews/811512/platform/ps2/ Fri, 17 May 2013 08:27:42 -0700 pigfish2 reviewed Tomb Raider for the PlayStation 3... http://www.gamespot.com/tomb-raider/user-reviews/811411/platform/ps3/ ...and gave it a 9.0!

It is easy to say that hitting the reboot button is the easy option with a franchise as it enables the developers to start from scratch once more. However in reality it is a difficult task to pull off. Make it too similar to previous iterations and people will wonder why you bothered but make it too different and existing fans will be up in arms. Thankfully with Tomb Raider, Crystal Dynamics has for the most part got the balance right, albeit opting for more that's different than the same.

Being a reboot, the game casts you as a young Lara Croft setting out on her first adventure. Lara and the entire crew of the ship The Endurance are shipwrecked on the island of Yamatai and as Lara you must uncover the islands mysteries, defeat a crazed cult and find a way to escape. All in all the plot and characters are pretty generic with some clichéd dialogue at times but it is the strength of characterisation put into Lara that stands out. She begins as a naive and frightened girl but over the course of the game develops into a strong and confident woman willing to do whatever it takes to survive. Her character development is handled well and is the stand out feature of the game. Most games allow you to advance in terms of abilities and weapons but it is rare for a developer to attempt such a degree of character development. Crystal Dynamics have pulled it off though. This is helped by capable voice performance by Camilla Luddington as Lara. Of course Lara also advances in terms of abilities which are earn using skill points and weapons which can be upgraded using salvage. Just like with the development of Lara's character these are satisfying. They also enable more tasks to be completed and improved combat capability but crucially without making the game too easy as you progress.

Gameplay can be split into three main types. Firstly there is combat. Whilst not groundbreaking the cover system is well implemented and useful in what are some pretty intense firefights at times. The enemy AI is competent too with foes hiding behind cover and making themselves difficult to take down. The combat is very much like that of the Uncharted series, which Crystal Dynamics have clearly taken a number of cues from for this reboot. This can be seen in the second type of gameplay, the exploration and platforming. Lara is just as acrobatic as Nathan Drake and makes use of whatever she can to climb and explore. Jumps and climbs are easy to perform and satisfying to pull off. In another cue taken from the Uncharted series, the scenery will often collapse as Lara climbs it, leading to a scramble to hang on and grab something else. This forms part of the game's edge of your seat tone. Set pieces abound and the game maintains a fast pace as Lara rushes to escape collapsing buildings, is swept down rushing rivers and much more. This lends the game a strong cinematic feel with Lara as the heroine of the piece. The fast pace works well due to the strength of its execution but at times it could do with slowing down. This pace is occasionally broken up the third gameplay type; puzzles. I was disappointed by the lack of puzzles in the early stages of the game and whilst they do increase in number as it progresses, I still would have welcomed more to slow the game's breakneck pace at times. The puzzles that do exist require some thought but none are likely to leave you stumped for long. Overall I feel the gameplay balance is about right though and the difficulty is appropriate too. An omission that fans of the franchise might find hard to take is the lack of tombs. There are seven, short optional tombs, hidden away to find but none that are compulsory for completion. This doesn't detract from the game's quality but existing fans could be left disappointed. It is worth noting though that despite its fast pace and lack of tombs the game is surprisingly lengthy, clocking in at over ten hours.

Graphically, Tomb Raider is not spectacular but it is a good effort. The dark colours and foreboding locales instantly set the island out as a place to be feared and lighting is effectively used to enhance the sense of unease. The music is well chosen and complements the graphical choices in making you truly believe that this is a scary place that Lara is desperate to escape from. In addition to the use of sights and sounds to create a dangerous atmosphere, the game includes a large number of collectibles that flesh out the islands backstory. These are genuinely compelling to discover and extend the games already generous run time. Relics reveal the islands physical history whilst documents are used to portray the experiences of individuals who have previously had the misfortune of ending up on Yamatai. I often find collectibles to be in a game simply for the sake of making it seem to have more value but the Documents and Relics as well as GPS caches (which reveal two secret documents if you find them all) actually complement and enhance the story of the game. Tomb Raider also features online multiplayer in an attempt to further enhance the experience. It is a woefully lacklustre though. Lag is commonplace and it is quite simply boring. As an additional feature that is entirely separate of the main game it can gratefully be ignored though and does not detract from what is a top draw adventure.

Multiplayer aside, Crystal Dynamics' reboot of the Tomb Raider franchise has done what it set out to. It successfully reinvents Lara Croft with a strong level of character development and a fast paced adventure full of memorable moments. Tom Raider has been brought up to date and whilst it may take many cues from the Uncharted series it stands out as a fantastic game in its own right and re-establishes Lara Croft at gaming's top table.

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"pigfish2 reviewed Tomb Raider for the PlayStation 3..." was posted by pigfish2 on Fri, 17 May 2013 08:27:42 -0700
]]> http://www.gamespot.com/tomb-raider/user-reviews/811411/platform/ps3/ Thu, 16 May 2013 16:21:14 -0700 Azghouls reviewed Assassin's Creed: Bloodlines for the PSP... http://www.gamespot.com/assassins-creed-ii/user-reviews/811392/platform/psp/ ...and gave it a 7.0.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Get the full article at GameSpot

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

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

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

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

Get the full article at GameSpot

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

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

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

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

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

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

Get the full article at GameSpot

"pokecharm reviewed Bulletstorm for the Xbox 360..." was posted by pokecharm on Wed, 15 May 2013 07:45:17 -0700
]]> http://www.gamespot.com/bulletstorm/user-reviews/811333/platform/xbox360/ Sat, 11 May 2013 17:10:37 -0700 SemiMaster reviewed Candy Crush Saga for the iPhone/iPod... http://www.gamespot.com/candy-crush-saga--2012-/user-reviews/811209/platform/iphone/ ...and gave it a 9.0!

So, Candy Crush Saga is a "freemium" game for iOS that's basically an enhanced version of Bejweled.

It has the standard match 3 of the gems, except they are in the shape of candy pieces. But depending on the combination of how many shapes you make, for instance 4 in a row, or an L shape can create special explosive candies or ones that wipe out whole rows or target all the candy of a certain color and make them go poof (I'm pretty sure the little girl in pink eats them all).

The further you go along in the game, the more objectives you have to complete, ranging from scores, to dropping ingredients to the bottom of the screen to clearing jelly coatings (match candy in that section of the screen to make them dissappear). I'm actually only in the second stage at this moment, and there appears to be, well a ton of levels (I never actually scrolled all the way to the top to check it out because it took so long).

The music is somehow pretty awesome. I can't put my finger on why, but it is hauntingly familiar to Star Ocean 2 somehow. And to me that's a good thing.The graphics are standard fare in game, but the adorable little girl and her face full of candy is endearing, and I feel bad for her when she doesn't get her candy due to your failure. Yea, I'm spoiling her, what a good virtual parent.

Overall the game gets pretty hard as you go along, and the game doesn't force you to, but really leans towards buying powerups for real cash (which I haven't done yet and nor do I plan to).

The only real drawback to the game I have found is that it takes a while to play any more if you keep losing the rounds (you can get a maximum of 5 lives, which take anywhere from 15 to 30 minutes to replenish 1 life). I want to keep playing even when losing, but I have to wait. The curse of freemium games strikes again.

But the benefit of signing into facebook and playing with friends is that they can send you lives and bonuses to keep playing, which is now standard fare for any social media related game.

That being said, I really enjoy this game and have killed my battery many times playing it either sitting on the couch or in the car and elsewhere.

It's a guilty pleasure and I recommend it for anyone, casual to hardcore.

Get the full article at GameSpot

"SemiMaster reviewed Candy Crush Saga for the iPhone/iPod..." was posted by SemiMaster on Sat, 11 May 2013 17:10:37 -0700
]]> http://www.gamespot.com/candy-crush-saga--2012-/user-reviews/811209/platform/iphone/ Sat, 11 May 2013 00:09:48 -0700 SR71halo reviewed BioShock Infinite for the Xbox 360... http://www.gamespot.com/bioshock-infinite/user-reviews/811196/platform/xbox360/ ...and gave it a 9.0!

Creating a follow up to a game as immerse and sophisticated as the original Bioshock is no easy task. How could you recreate that atmosphere and gameplay that stunned millions almost 6 years ago? Well, when the third game in the series, Bioshock Infinite, was announced, we were in just as much awe as we were when the first game was introduced. Unfortunately, the game was delayed several times and gamers were left waiting for this highly anticipated sequel. Now that it's out, does Bioshock Infinite live up to the high standards of the original? Short answer: yes. Long answer: eh, let's take a look anyway...

Taking place in the year 1912, you play as Booker Dewitt; a private investigator with a mysterious past and one mission; "get the girl and wipe away the debt". However, the girl and this "debt" remain a mystery at the beginning. You start the game at a mysterious lighthouse in the middle of the ocean. Upon entering this lighthouse, you find a chair at the top, which you are then strapped to and sent sky high (literally) to Columbia, a flying city. This fine city was founded by Comstock, whom everyone here seems to refer to as "The Prophet", and it seems like a friendly city at first, but you will find that it holds many dark secrets as you progress.

I hate to stop talking about the story there, but that's because the best part about Infinite is its remarkable story telling. It lures you in with its mysterious characters and setting and everything plays out perfectly at the end. It's just one of those plots that keeps you guessing throughout the whole game which instantly peaks your curiosity of what happens next. Of course, if you played the original, you know how well Irrational can pull off that "WTF" moment very well, and that moment here is no different. In fact, the twist is made even less obvious here. The ending will also leave an impression on you and will keep you thinking long after the credits role, that to me is a sign of good storytelling. Bioshock Infinite's story is absolutely fascinating, to the point where it deserves to be called one of the best told stories in video game history. The atmosphere, characters, and setting all compliment one another to give you one though provoking story that you will never forget.

The story is also accompanied by its brilliant presentation in both the art style and the environment around you. The city of Columbia looks so breathtaking, you'll want to explore and soak it all in. What makes it more interesting is that the city actually changes as you progress the story. It starts off all beautiful and innocent but then that beauty fades and you're left with a darker, war torn city in the sky, just to keep your excitement and curiosity high. The first Bioshock set the bar high with its tremendous atmosphere and visuals, it's nice to know that Infinite looks and feels just as good.

The gameplay remains true to the original Bioshock's formula. It has no set pieces like most military shooters, but that doesn't mean it's lacking on the action. Of course, being an FPS, the gameplay naturally involves pointing your gun and shooting. Of course you get a selection of weaponry like the machine gun, pistol, sniper rifle, rocket launcher, carbine, shotgun, grenade launcher, etc. The shooting is intense at times though it plays out like most FPS'. However, like the first game, you also have vigors to help you out (known in the first game as "plasmids"). Each vigor has different advantages like one that possesses enemies to fight in your favor or the one that sends crows at your enemies and distracts them. As you progress, you can use the money you find to upgrade your vigors (or weapons for that matter) so that they can do secondary attacks like using them to set traps. The vigors are fun to play around with but using them will eat up your vigor pool, which can be replenished by finding salts. This means that if you run out in the middle of battle, you'll have to resort on your gunplay more.

The gameplay is as fun as always but for the most part, there isn't much new when regarding gunplay. However, there are two gameplay elements that really help mix things up a bit. The first is the addition of the sky lines all throughout Columbia. Upon jumping on one, you're in for one hell of a roller coaster ride. You can attach and ride these rails to either travel from one spot to another or use it to your advantage during combat; either by making you a more difficult target (while firing at them from above at the same time) or using them to reach vantage points. Riding on these rails is always a thrill, whether you're traveling or just messing around.

The second element that really makes this game feel unique is your new trusted companion; Elizabeth ("the girl" I mentioned earlier). Storywise, Elizabeth is a well rounded and interesting character who holds a dark secret. Gameplay wise, she's the biggest advantage you got. She can't wield a gun and give you covering fire but what she can do is throw you ammo or salts if you're running low, or even health should you really need it. That's not all though, for she also has this mysterious ability to "tear" which involves opening doorways or portals. These tears can open up many elements that can give you the upper hand, from cover and rocket sentries to hooks to jump on for vantage points or even crates of ammo. The best part is Elizabeth never feels like she's holding you back or that you have to constantly babysit or protect her on a regular basis. She stays out of enemy fire just fine and can look after herself while you're busy trying to save your own hide. Outside of battle, she's also helpful for picking locks and finding you loot. Luckily, the AI has no trouble following close behind you and never gets stuck. Having this competent partner with you really adds to the gameplay and she can even be the deciding factor in every combat situation she's in.

However, as excellent as this game is, it isn't without a few flaws. First of all, there is only a two weapon limit this time. This isn't such a big issue in games like Halo where having two weapons works with split up levels and adds strategy to the multiplayer. For Infinite, none of that matters (open ended and no multiplayer) and having only two weapons when the first game let you carry many is a drag. Not to mention the game is a bit on the easy side. There is a little more punishment for dying by losing your money, unlike the first game which hardly gave you any punishment, but I highly recommend playing this game on hard if you have experience with FPS games before. Normal is too easy.

In 2007, Irrational set the bar with a well told story, unique visuals and fun gameplay with the original Bioshock. In 2013, they may have just reached that bar once again and showed other FPS devs how it's done. The gunplay may not seem spectacular but the extra elements it adds to the combat, like sky lines and Elizabeth, do. If there's one thing the developers did outdo themselves in, it would be the amazing story of Booker Dewitt and Elizabeth with a jaw dropping ending that will keep you thinking long after you're done, and you will want to play through it again. Bioshock Infinite is more than an impressive game, it's an experience that you should never miss.

Get the full article at GameSpot

"SR71halo reviewed BioShock Infinite for the Xbox 360..." was posted by SR71halo on Sat, 11 May 2013 00:09:48 -0700
]]> http://www.gamespot.com/bioshock-infinite/user-reviews/811196/platform/xbox360/ Sun, 05 May 2013 16:44:24 -0700 pokecharm reviewed Resident Evil: Revelations for the 3DS... http://www.gamespot.com/resident-evil-revelations/user-reviews/811037/platform/3ds/ ...and gave it a 7.0.

Resident Evil Revelations was the first game that drew my attention to the 3DS. The story is just as derivative as you would expect with a series that has such a lengthy history, at points you're not sure which was is up, and I strongly encourage you watch through the credits for any hidden pieces.

The story follows various different characters, two familiar to long-time fans, Chris Redfeild and Jill Valentine. With those two, you also pick up a bevy of new characters who are both memorable and forgettable. My favourite is the kid paired with Qunit who's name escapes me. The story is set between Resident Evil 4 and 5, placing this after Leon's adventure and by far my favourite of all the RE games. Jill and Chris are separated for the beginning of the game, introducing two new characters, Parker and Jessica. Neither are all that memorable, but at the same time, I did feel like they were very dynamic characters, their motivations and dialogue leading you to believe they were real people and not flat characters as you would see in a Gears of War like game.

The story gets dizzying at times, but what stood out for me the most was the variety of weapons. You start off with a pair of standard weapons and one melee weapon. As you move through the game and go into different areas, as you get more items, you get more and more powerful weapons. Upgrades are found that can be swapped in and out of each weapon. Much like the recent change to Dead Space, you can apply an addition to each weapon, if you don't like how it works, you can swap it to another with no penalty. I ended up sticking with the shotgun and machine gun as my most favourite weapons, putting the most powerful upgrades in each.

The game is featured on a smaller console, and while I could tell the difference in the 3D, once again, I can't say I was overly impressed by the 3DS display. The cut scenes were decently rendered, but the actual game play graphics are limited by the tiny 3DS screen and the passable 3D graphics. I do wonder how they will upconvert the graphics with the console cousin coming out soon.

The controls and game play were easy to pick up and understand. During some of the boss battles, things would seem get frustrating, forcing you to press a certain button repeatedly to get up or force you to press the reload button when your character should auto-reload when you ran out of ammo. There was very little dodge to the dodge button, which also made some sequences tough. At varying points, you couldn't avoid hits from the enemies, making boss battles especially challenging.

The length of the game was appropriate given that it is a mobile game. I finished the game over the weekend, putting in less than 10 hours. While this isn't the best RE game I've ever played, it is the best one I've played in recent memory. The game does feel a lot like RE4 in both controls and story. It is well worth playing, though perhaps not for the full $40 I paid when it was released.

Get the full article at GameSpot

"pokecharm reviewed Resident Evil: Revelations for the 3DS..." was posted by pokecharm on Sun, 05 May 2013 16:44:24 -0700
]]> http://www.gamespot.com/resident-evil-revelations/user-reviews/811037/platform/3ds/ Sun, 05 May 2013 14:26:03 -0700 Azghouls reviewed Fallout 3: Point Lookout for the PC... http://www.gamespot.com/fallout-3-point-lookout/user-reviews/811034/platform/pc/ ...and gave it a 8.0.

After all the DLCs I have played for Fallout 3, one of my major criticisms was that even though there's plenty to see, the locals felt empty in some way. Running on that thought when booting up Point Lookout, I was pleasantly surprised that this was not the case. It actually felt like a worthy addition to the Fallout series as not only they opened up a new area, there are quests galore to complete.

So Point Lookout is located along the coast of Maryland I believe. It's a swampy area that's wasn't directly hit by the bombs but the world has left behind. The only way to get to Point Lookout is by the ferry called the 'Duchess Gambit'. Once installing this DLC, you'll get a message titled 'The local Flavour' which triggers the starting point of this adventure. Note though it's best to take your best equipment as its one tough DLC to beat. And to make matters worse, the people who can repair your equipment are not so good.

I was pretty awed once arrived at Point Lookout as it looks reasonably eerie. Filled with fog, you see a lighthouse in the distance and close to that, a derelict looking mansion. In front of you seem to be an abandoned carnival located across the peer. And to add, a Ferris wheel stands motionless to your left é like a reminiscence of the Ferris wheel in Pripyat, Ukraine. A great backdrop to this setting as it does set that deathly, deserted silence long forgotten by humans.

The area of Point Lookout I think is around one sixth of the Capital Wastelands. Quite large considering and thankfully, there are a decent amount of quests to do; five main ones, five side quests and one unmarked. Completing the main quests will score you three achievements and locate all the sites scores you the 'bog walker' achievement. So Point Lookout not only rewards you for completing the missions but exploration as well. And it's definitely worth your time exploring as it got some interesting areas, even some reminds me of The Blair Witch Project.

With any good DLCs, there are new critters to dispatch and of course some old friends. Because of the swampy nature, don't be surprised that the area is infested with ghouls of all types. And if you haven't met the 'ghoul that ends all ghouls' (aka the reaver) well they are here in full force. You will notice them by their smoky appearance and able to throw radioactive guts that does damage equivalent to a grenade. Personally I hate them as they are tough as nails in both melee and range. There are other critters as well however I won't spoil it for you though.

Even though this area will be unlocked once you get out of Vault 101 however make no mistake, it's no walk in the park. Out of all the DLCs, I felt this one is the hardest and of course adding those reavers certainly bumps up the difficulty. Even those tribals wearing just rags are hard to dispatch. It's odd that I need to wear my full ranger's armour to protect the occasional onslaught of tribals. But considering I played it on hard, I cannot say about how the lower difficulty fairs. And to make matters worse, there are only two people who can repair your gear and their skills are extremely low.

The suggested completion time is around four to five hours. I'm not sure if the suggested time only refers to the main quest however, me being a completionist, completed it just over the ten hours mark. That's including knocking off all the quests, obtained all the achievements and explored the entire area. That said, out of all five DLCs, this is the DLC to play as it felt like a decent expansion with a new area to explore filled with activities (which was lacking in the previous DLCs yet Broken Steel boosts the level cap to 30).

Get the full article at GameSpot

"Azghouls reviewed Fallout 3: Point Lookout for the PC..." was posted by Azghouls on Sun, 05 May 2013 14:26:03 -0700
]]> http://www.gamespot.com/fallout-3-point-lookout/user-reviews/811034/platform/pc/ Sat, 04 May 2013 14:48:51 -0700 SR71halo reviewed Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon for the 3DS... http://www.gamespot.com/luigis-mansion-dark-moon/user-reviews/811009/platform/3ds/ ...and gave it a 8.5.

It must be rough being Luigi. Always following in his brother's foot steps, Luigi was usually portrayed as the cowardly sidekick who always relies on Mario to hog the spotlight and save the day. Well, he was finally given his own game.....on the NES, which stunk, but then he got a second chance in a ghost catching game on the Gamecube, which didn't. The first Luigi's Mansion was definitely an odd choice to throw this cowardly anxious sidekick into, but luckily it ended up being incredibly fun and a good example of what the system can do. It took only 12 years, but Nintendo finally decided to give us some more ghost catching goodness with a sequel; Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon for the Nintendo 3DS. Now the question is; was it truly worth the long wait for a second helping?

The game begins in a place called "Evershade Valley," where Professor E. Gadd lives in his laboratory and studies the friendly ghosts living in the area. One night, King Boo escaped from his prison and shatters an object called the "Dark Moon," which immediately causes the ghosts to become hostile. Retreating to his secret lair, E Gadd knows that only one man is right for the job (mainly because he's the only ghost hunter he knows about). Luigi, who was relaxing peacefully at home, is summoned by E Gadd to put on his Poltergust once more, recollect the 5 pieces of the Dark Moon, defeat King Boo and restore peace to Evershade Valley once more.

For a Mario game (or Luigi game), the story actually has a lot of personality to it. There's hardly any cut scenes out side of text boxes when you're back in E Gadd's lair, but it tells the humorous narrative very well. Luigi himself has plenty of expression to give. You feel bad for the poor guy when he shivers or freaks out at any ghost he comes across. I also like how the comedic timing was handled. Most of the humor in the game has to do with interacting with the environment around you; watching ghosts through a peep hole or Luigi being pulled into a closet. I thought it was especially funny when Luigi's hums to the background music.

The gameplay and controls are actually pretty straight forward, but it is engaging and fun. Your main tool that you'll be using is the Poltergust 5000 that is used for almost everything. You can press the R button to suck and the L button to blow, which can help either reveal secrets (like sucking up dust or rugs) or even catch ghosts that wander the mansion. Catching ghosts basically turns into a game of hide and seek. To actually find and catch them, you'll have to blind them with your attached strobe light and then engage in a long struggle with your vacuum. A timer will count down until you can officially suck the ghost up but when the above meter fills, you can press A to make the timer drop faster. It sounds easy at first but some ghosts are protected with armor or other ghosts may hit you while trying to catch another. This adds a bit of strategy to the gameplay as you may have to decide whether or not to sacrifice your catch in order to move out of the way is worth it.

The other tool you'll get on your poltergust is the light-dark device, which will be used to find invisible objects or enemies (like boos). When you find an invisible object, you'll need to suck up all the orbs that pop out of it in a limited time or it will remain invisible until you do. This and the strobe light seem pretty weak at first but luckily, you can find a lot of money within each mansion that you can collect to upgrade your gadgets, though they work more like experience. Upgrades include a stronger strobe light, a longer lasting dark light and a stronger poltergust (you can suck them up faster). All of these gadgets work well and they add to the great amount of exploration this game offers.

Speaking of which, this game gives you 5 mansions to explore, each with a different look and layout than the last. With the help of your tools, you must explore every nook and cranny in these mansions to find money or other collectables by blowing fans, pulling ropes or sucking up rugs or curtains. The game follows a mission based structure where E Gadd will give you objectives and tells you where you need to go, but don't this game is linear for that. In fact, exploration is greatly rewarded by giving you extra money or collectable gems should you go out of your way. The missions structure works surprisingly well and each mansion feels fresh and new from the last, giving you plenty of variety in its level design. The only problem you may come across is there's no checkpoints in this game, which means you have to do it all in one go. However, this game isn't particularly all that hard and I had few problems with dying.

The music and graphics also help the atmosphere and feel of the game. I already mentioned how expressive Luigi and the ghosts are, but the eerie music in the background and the graphical style help lay into this too. The visuals themselves are nice and crisp, possibly one of the better looking games on the 3DS. The 3D also adds plenty of depth to the visuals, but not a whole lot. The depth is nice but it doesn't add to the experience as much as you'd think.

The atmosphere in all of these mansions are brimming with personality, but the only thing that ruins this is, actually, E Gadd. At first, he calls you on the Dual Scream (hehe) more often than an overprotective mother at the beginning of the game, but luckily he calls you only when you beat an objective over time. The biggest problem I have is when you complete a mission. When you finish your last objective, instead of letting you explore the mansion a bit longer, you are immediately pixelated back to E Gadd's lair, which can break the immersion. I wish it was more open ended, letting you walk from mission to mission instead of pulling you back in between segments.

This game is full of surprises, and perhaps the biggest surprise is its multiplayer mode. Whether local or matchmaking, you and up to 3 other people enter the Scarescraper and are given one of three objectives. Players have a choice between Hunt (work together and catch every ghost on each floor), Polterpup (catch every Polterpup on each floor), or Race (find the exit on the floor). Once you and your teammates work together and complete the task on a floor, you move on to the next until you reach the top. If everyone dies or the timer runs out, the game is over. Even though this is a co-op mode, it feels very competitive when trying to get a higher score than your teammates. You'll also find yourself trying to catch ghosts or collect red coins for the bonus upgrade before everyone else. Surprisingly, the multiplayer works very well. This mode adds to the high replay value and each mode feels engaging, when you don't deal with people quitting all the time. It's also important to point out that coins collected in this mode get added to your total amount.

To answer my question before; yes, Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon was well worth the long wait. Next Level Games basically took the amount of fun and potential the first Luigi's Mansion created and added more content as well as fleshed out the gameplay and exploration aspects, making for a more engaging and entertaining experience while keeping what made the first game such a gem. Dark Moon has plenty of charm and personality to go around and it will make an excellent addition to your 3DS collection.

Get the full article at GameSpot

"SR71halo reviewed Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon for the 3DS..." was posted by SR71halo on Sat, 04 May 2013 14:48:51 -0700
]]> http://www.gamespot.com/luigis-mansion-dark-moon/user-reviews/811009/platform/3ds/ Thu, 02 May 2013 19:38:19 -0700 AK_the_Twilight reviewed BioShock Infinite for the Xbox 360... http://www.gamespot.com/bioshock-infinite/user-reviews/810945/platform/xbox360/ ...and gave it a 9.5!

Playing through Bioshock Infinite, it's very easy to constantly recall that debut trailer years ago. That shattering of the Big Daddy figure, that breaking of the dark Rapture-esque view into the wide open sky of the floating cities; it was a pure feeling. It struck a contrast with its confusion; why kill Rapture? Because something bigger was coming. By leaving Rapture behind, Irrational Games have given themselves the opportunity to clean their slate and start again, and in the process, they've done something truly memorable with their newest project. Bioshock Infinite is Irrational Games' magnum opus, a game with such polish, reverence, and overall significance that it sets a ceiling-smashingly high standard for this generation, along with anything else released this year or beyond.

Bioshock Infinite begins with Booker Dewitt, an everyman investigator from New York who hopes to erase his current debt by delivering a mysterious girl to his bargainer. The trek starts with a rather ominous boat ride to a lighthouse, but within minutes, Booker is jettisoned into the sky and transported to the floating steampunk metropolis of Columbia. The dreamchild of its prophet ruler Zachary Comstock, Columbia is a city with early 20th century fundamentals, including racial disputes, industrialization and a steady mix of religious forwardness and patriotic gusto. Booker's mission brings him to the second main character, Elizabeth, the girl he is told to escort in exchange for a release from debt. After being held in a tower for years, Elizabeth is liberated by Booker and the two's goal to escape Comstock's city of dreams becomes a harrowing journey with many memorable moments throughout. In addition, the Vox Populi revolutionary group quickly becomes a key player in the story, but it isn't until the game's second half that you realize that there's much more to Bioshock Infinite's narrative. The story tackles so many potent and expandable subjects that you might initially think there's too much on its plate to digest, but the fact that these subjects are so integral to the world of the game completely erases that thought. The narrative is the epicenter of Bioshock Infinite, with the relationship between Booker and Elizabeth being the strongest essence you'll ever see this year. By the game's ending, every subtle clue will come together into something meaningful and genuinely original, something that will leave you lost for words, but begging to revisit.

The original Bioshock may have had some fine characters in Andrew Ryan, but it was its haunting underwater city of Rapture that made it so very memorable. Bioshock Infinite's Columbia, in contrast, isn't the star of the show in the same way Rapture was to the original. Instead, the characters of Booker and Elizabeth take control of the stage, and while this might bother some gamers who were blown away by Rapture, the sheer amount of importance that both characters have make continuing through the game an absolute joy. That's not to say that Columbia is a boring component. Rapture was a ruined dystopia were a majority of the life stood in psychopaths, struggling to stay sane in the crumbling sea kingdom. Columbia, on the other hand, is alive, and throughout the course of the game, you get to watch it die.

This unquestionably high importance in the storyline department doesn't imply that the gameplay is neglected. Irrational Games' progression and invention in game design are so apparent in Bioshock Infinite; so many elements are introduced throughout the course of the campaign, many of which are stunning steps forward for shooter design and game design in general. While the original Bioshock had this dark elegance to its design, one where a steady hand was more important than a fast one, Bioshock Infinite is a significant change of pace. This game is about fluidity, motion, and organic freedom. No better example of this is the Skyline mechanic, cable-based ziplines that stretch across the city landscapes. The Skylines can be boarded with simple context-sensitive taps of the A button, allowing for instant reverses in direction, shooting while in motion, and even a powerful dive-bomb attack to take out enemies. Many of the game's battlefields offer the Skylines to use, making the confrontations much more open-ended and varied.

The story itself demonstrates Elizabeth's significance, but her importance in the gameplay is just as omnipresent. Elizabeth's special ability to manifest items through "tears" allows for cover, ammo, supplies, allies, and more keeps even the ground firefights fresh. Elizabeth can revive Booker on the spot if he dies and can even toss Booker health, ammo, Salts (ability fuel), or even cash in some situations with the push of the X button. Elizabeth's AI is so well designed that you'll find her to be just as crucial to a victorious confrontation as your gun or your reflexes.

These ideas are not baby steps, but major catalysts in making the combat a healthy improvement over the original Bioshock's. As great as Bioshock was, the combat was clearly a significant afterthought for Irrational Games. That's not the case in Bioshock Infinite. There isn't a single moment where the combat feels dull or overdone. Steady enemy progression (both in number and skill), varied environment construction, and all of the weapon, equipment, and ability upgrades you'd expect contribute to the stellar combat in Bioshock Infinite. In a game where the story is the core focus of the immersion, it's stunning to see the combat so enriching and exciting to a point where the firefights are undeniably crucial.

Columbia's liveliness offers ample opportunity for immersion and exploration. The Bioshock elements of gathering cash for upgrades, finding hidden puzzles and trying out new special abilities (now in the form of Vigors) are still here and they don't lose a trace of luster in Columbia. These ideas give the player incentive to travel off the directed path and find some helpful rewards in the process. The Voxophone items are audio logs detailing the events of Columbia through the lenses of the different characters of the game, which offer creative insight to the narrative and are very rewarding for diligent players looking for more to chew on in terms of story. Upon completing the game, the difficult "1999 Mode" is unlocked, offering tougher enemies, less rewards, and more limitations on how you progress. It's stunning how valuable and resonant Bioshock Infinite is. The first thing that you'll do (once you're out of shock from the game's earthshatteringly exceptional conclusion) is dive right back into Columbia.

The ascendant sky city aesthetic may be a stark contrast to that of the remnants of an underwater empire gone wrong, but Columbia is a brilliant piece of anachronistic beauty that you can't help but be impressed. The initial offerings of a lively boardwalk or garden festival show the content and calm world of early 20th century America. It proves to be much more involving than Rapture was; while Rapture kept the doom and gloom on 100% all the time, Columbia means much more in that you get to watch the city fall from grace. This becomes very apparent upon the visit to Shantytown, the slum district where the rebellious Vox Populi organization gathers influence. The fact that you're watching Columbia fall offers agency; while Rapture had been dead on arrival in Bioshock, Columbia wasn't, and that vision gives a serious one-up to Bioshock Infinite. The open-ended combat situations and impressive sense of historical era authenticity complement the freedom of the game's vibe. Irrational Games want the player to be free, just as much as the player wants Booker and Elizabeth to be free.

Voice performances were something quite crucial to getting immersed in Bioshock's world. Bioshock Infinite follows that lead with some exceptional voice acting, all complemented by unparalleled writing. Veteran gaming voice actor Troy Baker leads the helm with his role as Booker, but the exchanges he performs with Elizabeth's voice actress Courtnee Draper bring the characters to life. The writing is natural, there's no way around it; Baker and Draper make even the simplest of discussions into something meaningful, building relations and character dynamics that no other game has come close to showing. The audio bursts with life even more not in gun sound effects or haunting scores (though they are also quite impressive), but in the downtime. The natural elements of a busy market district or local arcade calm the storm of the harrowing firefights; it's in these subtle moments that you see Bioshock Infinite as a presentation spectacle. No game has made a world like this.

While it would be untrue to call Bioshock Infinite a flawless experience (the fetch quest near the end of the story sticks out like a sore thumb during the sweaty-palm anticipation of the conclusion), it's something truly memorable when it becomes this hard to find a tangible flaw in a game. Bioshock Infinite is as fresh and vitalizing of an experience as Bioshock was back in 2007. Irrational Games' success with the first Bioshock didn't interfere with their ambitions to push forward and create a game design that truly feels progressive. The combat is levels above its predecessors'. The faster and smoother pacing, the masterful versatility in the weapons during encounters, it all unites into something fresh, but shockingly fundamental. But as great as the gameplay is, Bioshock Infinite's storyline is something that will be fondly referenced, discussed, and revered for decades. The fully realized relationship between Booker and Elizabeth transcends first impressions, diving deep into something so textured that any game storyline forward will be compared to it. Call it foolishly pre-emptive to say that Bioshock Infinite will be named the best game of 2013, but after exploring Columbia from humble start to unforgettable finish, that argument won't sound ridiculous at all.

Get the full article at GameSpot

"AK_the_Twilight reviewed BioShock Infinite for the Xbox 360..." was posted by AK_the_Twilight on Thu, 02 May 2013 19:38:19 -0700
]]> http://www.gamespot.com/bioshock-infinite/user-reviews/810945/platform/xbox360/ Thu, 02 May 2013 09:07:07 -0700 pokecharm reviewed Tomb Raider for the Xbox 360... http://www.gamespot.com/tomb-raider/user-reviews/810933/platform/xbox360/ ...and gave it a 8.5.

When it was announced that Tomb Raider would be re-released, I yawned. I had never played any of the previous games and hadn't thought to watch the Angelina Jolie movie either. I now consider myself thankful that I didn't besmirch this franchise when I get to have a fresh take that few gamers can boast, or perhaps be embarrassed about.

The game starts off with a tutorial, as most games do, introducing the gamer to the controls. The action genre doesn't get a great addition through the game play, but the controls are easy to understand and manipulate as the story charges forward. Simple button presses get you through QTE scenes, but there aren't so many that you get frustrated that you're hardly playing. The combination of melee and weapons worked well with the controls make combat quite fluid.

The sound quality was done well throughout. There are sections of the story where the voice acting felt forced, as the story seemed shaky in the middle. The notes that are found throughout the world were interesting, revealing more of the story, but now that I've seen that in so many games, it almost feels very done. The background noise for the game were accurate. If Lara forged through a forest, you could hear the grass. If she jumped into a body of water, you could hear the splashing. It felt very real and authentic.

The graphics were amazing, for the most part. I did suffer from occasional glitches, AI and Lara going through solid objects, most notably when I was falling off of great heights. The cut scenes were really well done. The people looked very real, hair still seemed slightly off. The weapons looked realistic to a degree. The modifications that Lara was able to make were not nearly as detailed.

Speaking of weapons, I have to say, though there were basically only four types of weapons, I loved the variety they managed to work into those four weapons. It was fun adding new things, the only disadvantage being once you added something. You'd spend the salvage points and couldn't try something else if that didn't work. That was one area where I would give Dead Space some credit. If something didn't work, you could remove it from the weapon and try it somewhere else.

The game was very linear, and while there were a lot of things you could pick up and find, it didn't really add a great deal to the story. Lara grows up in this game, and it is great to play. The trouble is that 'the coming of age' story isn't anything new, certainly not for gamers. The fresh take on the series is well done by Square Enix. I realise I've never played Lara Croft game, but this one sucked me in from the beginning and while I can't say it blew me away, I kept wanting to come back, I kept wanting to play more, to see how the story would end. And that, that my friends, is what makes a good game. Though we can argue about this to the end of time, the newest Lara Croft game is a good game. It keeps the gamer engaged from beginning to end and adds variety in every few chapters to allow you, and Lara, to grow and learn something new. Though Square Enix didn't consider this game a success, I really enjoyed it.

Get the full article at GameSpot

"pokecharm reviewed Tomb Raider for the Xbox 360..." was posted by pokecharm on Thu, 02 May 2013 09:07:07 -0700
]]> http://www.gamespot.com/tomb-raider/user-reviews/810933/platform/xbox360/ Thu, 02 May 2013 00:09:14 -0700 SR71halo reviewed Sonic Generations for the 3DS... http://www.gamespot.com/sonic-generations/user-reviews/810926/platform/3ds/ ...and gave it a 6.5.

It's funny. For the last decade, Sonic was struggling to find himself on the console versions. Every major 3D Sonic release got panned and fans declared that Sega couldn't do anything right. Meanwhile, at the same time, Dimps kept making hits with the handheld titles such as the Advance trilogy and Rush duo. Years later, the roles have switched. Both versions of Sonic Colors were BOTH received well and now, Generations on the 360, PS3 and PC managed to finally give us a solid 3D Sonic title. However, while Generations HD is a step forward, the 3DS version, once again created by Dimps, is a step backwards.

The story hasn't changed at all from the console game, but the only major differences are 1) Sonic friends are all absent this time except for Tails and 2) there are no cutscenes, just text boxes. Basically, Sonic and Tails are getting ready for his birthday party when suddenly, a mysterious creature called the Time Eater captures Tails and swallows the world around him. Sonic wakes up in a white void and now, with the help of his past self, he must run through these familiar levels and restore time back to normal. If you played the console version, you might just skip most of the story since it's the exact same thing but toned down.

Much like its older brother, you are given two different Sonics to play with, each with their own unique gameplay style. First up is Classic Sonic, who represents the old Sonic games on the Genesis in both gameplay and design. I must admit, he does play more like classic Sonic than the 360 version. The physics are much closer to the real thing and both the jumping and rolling feel better. We finally have a replica of the classic games......until they gave him the homing attack. I'm not usually one to rage at small things like this but giving classic Sonic homing attack is just unnecessary, and it isn't needed here either. Other than that, Classic Sonic actually plays decently.

The other gameplay this game offers is Modern Sonic. Seeing as how this is the hand held version, it would be more appropriate that he plays more like the Rush games, of course (as opposed to Unleashed/Colors gameplay on the console). Much like the Rush games (and Colors DS), you can use the boost to blast your way through the stage as well as homing attack and stomp. There isn't really a whole lore more to say, it's just Sonic Rush again without anything new added, and inferior level design.

Besides the two gameplay styles that define Sonic the Hedgehog for the past 20 years, the levels also consist of stages from past Sonic games. The 3DS follows this same trend. In fact, the one reason to buy this one is because the level selection is actually different from the console counterpart. Both versions include Green Hill Zone but this time you get Casino Night (Sonic 2), Mushroom Hill (Sonic & Knuckles), Emerald Coast (Sonic Adventure), Radical Highway (Adventure 2), Water Palace (Rush) and Tropical Resort (Colors) instead. While none of these stages are bad by any means, there are a few problems. First off, if you noticed, there are less stages than the other version (which had 9). This version could have handled more than that, and the game feels shorter overall (and Green Hill can be beaten within a minute each). Why not include levels from the Advance trilogy or Rush Adventure? My other problem is the amount of copy/paste level design. What made the level design good on the 360/PS3 version is that each stage felt like a reimagined version of an existing level. On the 3DS version, the classic stages for classic Sonic are all practically the same exact levels from their respective games. Likewise, Water Palace and Tropical Resort feel very similar to the Rush and Colors counterparts. The rest of the levels are a little more original but nothing truly that noteworthy. Just decent levels to kill some time in on the go.

Completing both acts of each stage will unlock a special stage, which is a throwback to the special stages in Sonic Heroes.....only with better controls and no teammates following you. The goal is to run down a long pipe and chase after an emerald as fast as you can while dodging obstacles like bombs. You can also run into these bubble.....things and refill your boost meter. Like I said, thanks to better controls, these stages play much better than what Heroes had. Not to mention getting to them isn't as much of a hassle.

The bosses on the other hand are better than the console version. The problem with the bosses before were they were over too quickly and didn't quite take as much imagination. The bosses in this game, on the other hand, are much more fun and they actually take more than 4 hits. Not to mention, the Time Eater fight in this game is actually fun (unlike that terrible fight in the other version). I think the one that took the least amount of creativity is the Biolizard, which is almost exactly like the one in Adventure 2 but with a better camera angle. He's still decent though, as are the Big Arm robot (Sonic 3) and the Egg Emperor (Sonic Heroes). Dimps have always been good at boss fights so it's no surprise that they did a good job here...........

As long as we're not talking about the rival fights, which unfortunately aren't good. The rivals are the same three that you fought before (Metal Sonic, Shadow and Silver) but they share one major flaw; they are all exactly the same. They basically play like Sonic Rivals only less fun. The goal in all 3 is to beat them to the end while dodging their attacks, like Metal Sonic's static, Shadow's chaos spear and cheating Silver's teleportation. The console had decent rival fights but here, it seems as though there was no effort, at least not as much as the boss fights.

As for other modes, there are missions to accomplish just like the 360/PS3 version. However, these also show a lack of effort. They're basically the typical missions like finishing the stage in a given amount of time, destroying a number of enemies, etc. Needless to say the mission variety is lacking compared to every other copy. Unlike the others though, the 3DS has a multiplayer mode that is.....ok. How it works is you enter a matchmaking playlist with one other player. Both of you pick either classic or modern Sonic and a stage. The game randomly picks one of the two selected Sonics and stages, assuming you both chose different things, and you pretty much just have to beat your opponent to the finish line. Wifi multiplayer is nice addition and the multiplayer can occasionally be fun...except for the speed traps. If you get caught in one of these, it traps you until you tap a button repeatably to get out. Multiplayer is ok overall though, and it isn't too difficult to find people.....for now.

Sonic Generations on the 360 and PS3 was a surprise and was good enough to be considered one of the best. It's a shame to see that Dimps didn't put as much love into the 3DS version like the other one, or the Rush games for that matter. While not a bad game by any means, the 3DS version just feels bare bones, whether you compare it to the HD one or not. I will say that for a game that was rushed, it does have its share of fun every now and again, but there isn't enough here to warrant a full price when you have better options for Sonic games and platformers on the system. I would recommend it to the hardcore Sonic fan that wants to play every stage in both Generations games. However, if you have access to a 360, PS3, or a decent gaming quality PC, you might be happier with that version instead.

Get the full article at GameSpot

"SR71halo reviewed Sonic Generations for the 3DS..." was posted by SR71halo on Thu, 02 May 2013 00:09:14 -0700
]]> http://www.gamespot.com/sonic-generations/user-reviews/810926/platform/3ds/ Wed, 01 May 2013 21:38:19 -0700 Azghouls reviewed Assassin's Creed II: Bonfire of the Vanities for the Xbox 360... http://www.gamespot.com/assassins-creed-ii-bonfire-of-the-vanities/user-reviews/810923/platform/xbox360/ ...and gave it a 6.0.

After a disappointing first DLC the Battle of Forli, naturally I was a bit dubious about Assassin's Creed 2 second DLC Bonfire of the Vanities. Yet I'm not saying that Battle of Forli was a boring DLC as actually it was quite enjoyable, however treating it as a DLC was a kick in the pants as I was expecting more, like at least a new weapon, but alias that didn't happen. How the second DLC faired was it was a marked improvement from the first as it opened up an entirely new area in Florence (Oltrarno District) however, all in all, it simply felt empty.

So the Bonfire of the Vanities fills in the gaps of Ezio's memory sequence number 13. The events took place right after sequence 12 (another part of Ezio's corrupted memory sequence é aka DLC 1) as now Florence is under the rule of the monk Girolamo Savonarola é the chap who stole the Apple of Eden from Ezio. Naturally he uses the apple to subjugate the populous and ruled the city with nine lieutenants. So you being the assassin is to get rid of this evil and bring Florence back into order.

Because you need to assassinate every folk, it brings back to the roots of Assassin Creed 1 (Altair assassinating nine high level Templers). A coincidence I'm not sure however the game ensures that you cannot simply barge in and kill everyone on sight. That's a good thing in my eyes as I tend to do this and frankly, it does make things easier...well for me as I love that counter attack move.

So there are different variations to assassinate your targets é some do require to barge in, similar to I guess like 'Hulk Smash' however some do require blending thus assassinate whilst not being detected. Some are quite easy however some are challenging indeed; especially the one on the boat where he's surrounded by guards of all types. This places variations to your approach and it kind of reminds me of doing those mini assassination quests é the ones you get from the pigeon in the cage.

Beyond that, this DLC also added three templar lairs where it plays very similar to navigating those assassin's tombs (the ones where you need to locate the seals). Besides traversing these tombs reminds me so much like Tomb Raider (but that's another story), knocking off those templar tombs plays just that however the end result is earning a bucket load of florins. Yet by that stage you really didn't need any more (well one hope so) however still entertaining enough to take advantage of that 'free running' experience.

Considering the main drawcard was an opening of an entire new area, sadly there are no treasures to be found (as I was hoping to buy a map from the merchant and alias there wasn't any). I really don't give a rats about earning more florins however it was fun locating them. Of course there's also no codex to discover and no mini assassination quests. So the entire area is pretty much void of side quests, which is a total shame. It looks like they wanted this area to be in the main game however for some reason didn't; so no side quests for you.

I'm not sure of the expected completion time however I knocked it off around the four to five hours mark as practically there's nothing really to do other than assassinate. This is not a bad thing however I did expect to have some additional side quests or even additional treasures to find; yet the three templar tombs, even though they all felt like traversing the assassin's tombs, beyond that there's nothing much else to go for. So if you are a completionist (like me) then go for it however, and thankfully so, it's now included in the deluxe edition, otherwise it would feel like a rip off if I have to fork extra cash for it.

Get the full article at GameSpot

]]> http://www.gamespot.com/assassins-creed-ii-bonfire-of-the-vanities/user-reviews/810923/platform/xbox360/ Mon, 29 Apr 2013 19:14:27 -0700 SR71halo reviewed Super Smash Bros. Brawl for the Wii... http://www.gamespot.com/super-smash-bros-brawl/user-reviews/810845/platform/wii/ ...and gave it a 9.5!

When it comes to fan service, very few games have even come close to the amount of fun and chaos that is the Super Smash Bros. series. An instant success on the Nintendo 64, this game was a dream come true to those who grew up with Nintendo; the most iconic and beloved characters gathered together for one game and fighting one another. Luckily, it turned out to be great fun and with each game came even more favorites for you to play with. Now, two games later, comes Super Smash Bros. Brawl for the Nintendo Wii. Building off what it did well in previous games plus adding a bigger roster, bigger brawls and bigger thrills, Super Smash Bros. has never been better.

For those who are new to this series, Super Smash Bros. is a party fighting game that lets you choose from a wide variety of Nintendo characters and pits you against up to 3 other players (or AI) from a 2D perspective. The goal is to knock the other players off the map; whether that means send them flying above you, knock them off the side of the screen or knock them off the cliff to their doom below. Each player has a percentage meter that rises every time you get hit. As it gets bigger, the player becomes easier to knock off the map. You are also assisted by random items and special moves that drop on the map. This fast paced gameplay is chaotic and fun, and no other game does it better than Brawl. Playing against an AI is fun enough, but it's even more fun when you have friends to play with.

The gameplay is complimented by how accessible it is. There are only two real attack buttons and a block button but depending on which way you tilt your stick, you can perform a variety of attacks without having to memorize 20 different combos. And then there is the character roster, which is bigger than ever before with a grand total of 35 playable fighters at your disposal. Not only do you get the returning favorites like Mario, Link, Pikachu, Fox, Kirby, etc., but we are also introduced to many newcomers like Wario, Meta Knight from Kirby, Lucario from Pokemon, Olimar from Pikmin and many more. As a bonus, Brawl is also the first game in the series to introduce two third party characters into the action; Solid Snake from the Metal Gear series and Sonic the Hedgehog. With their own signature moves and abilities, Brawl offers a nice variety for you to choose from.

Luckily, this time around you're not limited to playing offline if you want to play with others. This is the first game in the series to offer online play. How this works is you get the choice between free for all and teams, and the game will try to find a match for you. After picking your character, you will be taken to a practice room to warm up before fighting. In spite of fighting other people being as fun as fighting people offline, matchmaking is so-so. Sometimes I can connect with little issues, other times I suffered from some serious lag. Not to mention if you want to play with friends online, you'll have to exchange friend codes which is always a hassle. Online is ok, but the matchmaking could have used some tweaking.

Even though there are a lot of fun stages to choose from, you also have the option to create your own stage. Using a simple interface, you can specify a size, background picture, and theme song to go along with your work. Then it's just a matter of selecting which of the premade terrain parts and platforms you want to lay out. This tool works surprisingly well, and you can make some pretty interesting levels. It's just too bad you can't play them online, not even with friends.

There is plenty more for single players too. There is the traditional Classic mode, of course, where you must fight in a number of rounds, two bonus rounds and eventually, defeat the master hand, a mysterious giant hand that is the main enemy in every SSB game. The best part about classic in this version is the fighters you take on change every time you play, so you will never take on the same fighters twice. Next is event mode which is a series of fights where you must complete a specific objective to complete.

The main event in the single player mode is the story mode, otherwise known as the Subspace Emissary. The story is pretty simple, all of the Nintendo characters (and Snake) band together to take on a mysterious enemy that's freezing everyone into statues. It usually starts off with two or more characters teaming up against this oncoming threat, but eventually, all stories slowly weave together. There isn't a whole lot more to say about the story, but it is cool to see characters like Link and Mario interacting with each other, or just to see what happens when Samus teams up with Pikachu.

As for the game itself, Subspace Emissary is controlled from a side scrolling perspective and plays like a beat em up, only with platforming. The percentage rule in the main game still applies here only this time, you have a life system, only dying may switch you to another character if you have the option. For the most part, this mode has it's moments and it can be a blast to play. However, there are moments tat drag it down like sections where the level scrolls or other annoying platforming sections. Not to mention some characters fair better in a platforming style game than others. Other than that, it's an interesting new experience for fans and newcomers alike, and you can play it in co-op if you like.

What started out as fan service on the Nintendo 64 is now one of, if not the, best party/fighting games on the Nintendo Wii. With bigger brawls, a bigger cast, and an improvement on that crazy chaotic gameplay we all know and love, Super Smash Bros. Brawl is simply one of the best game to grace the system. Tht's also not to mention the amount of content, stages and unlockables available. I would go ahead and say this is a must own to all Wii owners but let's be honest, if you own a Wii, chances are you already have it.

Get the full article at GameSpot

"SR71halo reviewed Super Smash Bros. Brawl for the Wii..." was posted by SR71halo on Mon, 29 Apr 2013 19:14:27 -0700
]]> http://www.gamespot.com/super-smash-bros-brawl/user-reviews/810845/platform/wii/ Sun, 28 Apr 2013 03:20:10 -0700 pigfish2 reviewed LEGO City Undercover for the Wii U... http://www.gamespot.com/lego-city-undercover/user-reviews/810781/platform/wii-u/ ...and gave it a 8.0.

Lego City Undercover marks the first entirely original game in Travellers Tales series of Lego games that began with Lego Star Wars back in 2005 and for the most part its better for this. Much of the charm of the Lego games is the way they poke fun at characters you know but free of the constraints of a familiar franchise the developers have kept the series' trademark humour intact with their own cast of likeable and funny characters. The story goes that as legendary cop Chase McCain you have returned to Lego City after two years away to help return the notorious criminal Rex Fury to prison. Undercover is still heavily indebted to films though with countless nods to and parodies of classic movies throughout. One of the best is a construction worker who is clearly a parody of Arnold Schwarzenegger. The game is light-hearted in tone as you expect from a Lego game and genuinely amusing throughout with full voice acting for all the major characters. Said characters are for the most part well characterised but sadly Rex Fury is criminally underused with little explanation of his motives. All in all it is very much what you expect from a Lego game on the exterior but delve deeper and there is some noticeable tinkering and additions.

Lego City is fully open world and you can make your way throughout the entire city with no loading screens. This sense of exploration fits well with Lego and is improved further by the ability to take control of any of the over 100 types of vehicles dotted throughout the city. Impressively each vehicle has its own unique handling, which is an extra level of sheen than you would expect. The 15-20 hour story involves both exploration and completing goals in the city and 15 special assignments set in self contained levels. This works well and introduces variety to proceedings. The chief gameplay mechanic is the ability for Chase to switch between a number of disguises ranging from burglar to fireman. Each disguise once unlocked provides its own unique abilities for solving different puzzles. This is a good way of keeping the Lego games character swapping intact whilst casting you as a single character. One free play mode is unlocked you can use any of the games 290 disguises that there are to collect. These disguises include all of the games major and minor characters and beyond and fit into categories based on the disguises Chase can use in the story. Gameplay involves a mix of fighting, platforming and puzzle solving and whilst for the most part these are all simplistic they are nevertheless fun. In terms of gameplay there is little change from what you expect from the tried and tested Lego formula. The game is rarely challenging, but that has never been the point with the Lego games, instead it offers relatively easy childlike enjoyment.

Graphically the game is not groundbreaking but holds up well with minor blemishes only noticeable when the camera moves in close. The voice work for the game is well recorded and the sound work in general is good. The music whilst decent quickly becomes irritating though as the game only has a few tracks that constantly repeat. One area where the game falls down is in technical details. The loading times when starting or finishing levels, and entering the police station are horribly long and clock in at a minimum 40 seconds each. This can be in part understood by the huge open world nature of the city but nevertheless it is an irritating waste of times. More worryingly the game at times suffers from freezing and other minor technical problems but these are rare. Lack of multiplayer in such a family orientated game is another drawback. The gamepad is well implemented if hardly original, with it serving as a communicator, scanner and map.

Undercover is a fun, if hardly exceptional game that offers plenty of hours of enjoyment. The story can be finished in 15-20 hours but with loads to collect and unlock beyond that and a huge city to explore there is plenty of value to be had. It is one of the best games in the Lego series that benefits from being unchained by the absence of a license and whilst it may not be a classic, it is a welcome addition to the Wii U's library.

Get the full article at GameSpot

"pigfish2 reviewed LEGO City Undercover for the Wii U..." was posted by pigfish2 on Sun, 28 Apr 2013 03:20:10 -0700
]]> http://www.gamespot.com/lego-city-undercover/user-reviews/810781/platform/wii-u/ Sun, 28 Apr 2013 00:22:13 -0700 ShadowsDemon reviewed Sleeping Dogs for the Xbox 360... http://www.gamespot.com/sleeping-dogs/user-reviews/810774/platform/xbox360/ ...and gave it a 8.0.

You play as Wei Shen, an undercover cop in the Triads. This open-world game set in the crime-ridden city of Hong Kong lets you experience the best of both worlds and how Wei struggles within both sides.
Single-player:
Let's get one thing straight before we even begin guys. Not only is Sleeping Dogs is everything that Grand Theft Auto should have been, it excels and dwarves almost every single open world game out there (excluding RPGs of course). It's one of those games that you'll be able to play endlessly, and never failing to be amazed at its stunning and brutal world.
So, what's the whole background of Sleeping Dogs? Well you play as Wei Shen, an American-Asian police officer who has been assigned with infiltrating the Triads of Hong Kong, called Sun On Yee and take them down. The plot sounds simple, but in reality it is anything but. Wei becomes engaged in brutal war that involves multiple gangs within the Triads such as the Water Street Gang, the Jade gang, racers, drug dealers, the police and more. It's a complex tale that has you question your original assumptions of good and bad once you realise that they aren't really so clear-cut as you believed them to be. As you continue through the story, and grow found of characters such as Winston Chu and his crazy mother, Jackie Ma, Uncle Po, your multiple girlfriends such as Amanda Cartwright (voiced by The Amazing Spiderman's Emma Stone) you'll discover their secrets, passions and goals, and you'll see that they aren't all the typical gangsters you'd automatically perceive them as. It's sobering to know that these people are regarded as evil when subjects as such family and honour mean so much to them.
The story interweaves between multiple objectives set you to by friends, the triads, police and alike. Even though most of the missions are similar, they have a distinct feel to them, and allow you to delve a little deeper into the world of Hong Kong's Sun On Yee and its complex members within.
The best thing about this game is the atmosphere. It's delicious and steamy layout does the inside of Hong Kong justice, and as a person who has visited the island, I can vouch for its authenticity. You can wonder into the night market, and rub shoulders with the locals as you hear their broken English and fluent Mandarin as the shopkeepers cry out and beg you to shop at their stall, which they insist is 'da best place you can buy, sir, I show you, yes', despite pretty much all the shops selling the same clothes. You can pick up a new mattress for your apartment, some pets and more. You can stop by the many food-stalls and buy delicious Asian food such as Pork buns and fish curry balls. Feeling tired? Go for a massage. In the mood to win some cash? Gamble your money on cock-fights. Now before you all buy the game, it's cocks as in chickens, thus chicken-fights.
All this adds up to make one of the most atmospheric games in recent memory. The rich neon lights that hang over you as you explore every inch of this city is a blast. There's also sightseeing to do, the malls to visit, and karaoke to sing. If you're feeling religious, you can even pray at the many shrines around the city, which will also increase your health. Even when bumping into people on the street, their irritated cries and curses in broken English assist in making Sleeping Dogs a genuinely immersive game that you can easily get lost in. It's stunning production values and variety of quests, missions and objectives keep the game from going stale. Unlike so many other games like it, Sleeping Dogs goes into great detail with everything, from the smallest rooms to the city view at night. You can tell that the developers made a real effort to make their game as tangible as possible, and that's something you cannot possibly deny.
The world of Sleeping Dogs is brutal, violent and complex, but in despite of that it manages to create a compelling narrative in an immersive world. This is everything that Grand Theft Auto should have been, and thus is one of the best single-player campaigns you'll come across this year.
Gameplay:
The gameplay in Sleeping Dogs allows to do anything at any given time, each other crazier than before. Are you in a high-speed chase? You can jump from one car to another as you speed along the highway. Are you getting pursed, by either the triads or the cops? You can shoot out their wheels, and then observe the carnage in slow-motion. You can do the same when in a gunfight, the slow-motion battle feeling as awesome as it is brutal. If you've played Vanquish, you'll feel right at home here.
But the best part of Sleeping Dogs where gameplay is concerned is the combat. Very much like Batman: Arkham City, you'll face off in some cases over a dozen thugs with brutal moves and techniques. However, unlike Arkham City, you can actually kill your opponents, and sometimes with the aid of the environment. One of the best (and most gut-wrenching) environmental kills comes from forcing the heads of your enemies over a burning furnace, and then watching as they burn to a crisp. Other options, such as throwing them in garbage bins, smashing them against walls and fans, not only look awesome, but earn you face points as well, which can then be used to deal extra damage to your opponents, and force them to cower in fear.
You have a number of unique moves at your disposal, increasing as you complete a particular side quest. The unparallel violence is enhanced through the slow motion kill cams, as the blood sprays, bones break and the screams of pain are heard. Even better, you can equip a weapon such as a tire-iron or kitchen knife é which can be dropped by your opponents é and use them to your advantage.
But that's not all you can do, however. In the game's many thrilling car chases you can hijack the cars, meaning you can jump from one to the other within seconds, and take control of the cars. It's the sort of work that gets your blood pumping and has you craving for more. The game of course has guns, and has been tweaked to feel surprisingly meaty and effective, unlike so many other third person shooters. It's not that all realistic, considering you can simply pick up a shotgun and let it rip, but the way in which the game allows you to shoot, especially when in slow-motion, gives a sense of gory satisfaction and weight. I will, however say that in the midst of these gunfights, the controls become clunky and unresponsive, especially when trying to duck for cover or run away. You end up feeling like an idiot as the enemies puncture you with bullets.
The AI aren't exactly smart enough to all gang up on you, such as in the game like The Witcher 2, but they know when to strike, and when your back is turned in combat. They even position themselves in such a way that makes your escape even more difficult, and they will pull you out of cars if you é like me é decided that running them over instead of fighting them would be an easier solution. They become even smarter in gunfights. They only fire when it's possible to hit you, and they won't spray either. They'll duck for cover and then only peek out to fire a couple of rounds é all together, might I add.
The gameplay in Sleeping Dogs is brutal, weighty, and satisfying. It's got everything you could want from an open world game, from brawls to car and police chases to minigames like karaoke and gambling, and everything the game does do it does smoothly. The gun fights leave a lot to be desired, but the game fulfils your expectations from the first moment to its last.

Presentation:
The virtual version of Kong Kong is utterly drenched in detail and brilliant design. The city and markets come to life with huge neon signs and lit up buildings. The many shops have aisles and stacks of products with writing you can read. The fluent Mandarin spoken by the locals is often hilarious and thoughtful, especially when you bump into them. The visuals shine both technically and artistically, though a little weaker on the artistic side. Regardless, this is one of the best open world games you'll be coming across, and it damn sure looks sweet.
The voice acting is solid, with hundreds of hours of genuine Mandarin script and voices with use great gusto such as Mrs. Chu, Wei Shen and Winston. Sleeping Dogs does everything it can to make this world feel real, and it does so to its best extent.
Another praiseworthy aspect is due with the radio stations. Many real bands such as Queen appear on the radio, along with advertisements and radio shows, both in English and Mandarin, adding yet another layer of complexity to the game.
Trophies:
The Sleeping Dogs isn't that hard, it's merely time-consuming, but in a good way. You'll need to win a certain amount of cash at gambling, kill any enemy with each type of gun, among other things. Regardless, Sleeping Dogs provides an enjoyable, albeit long, journey to its platinum trophy.
Conclusion:
Sleeping Dogs provides you with a complex story, a dark world in which two sides blend into one, brutal combat and gunplay, brilliant design and fantastic replay value. It'll take ages to complete and find everything, and you'll enjoy every moment of it. Sleeping Dogs is not only one of the best games of the year; it's one of the best open world games of all time. It's everything that GTA should be and more. This is one adventure you don't want to miss out on.

Get the full article at GameSpot

"ShadowsDemon reviewed Sleeping Dogs for the Xbox 360..." was posted by ShadowsDemon on Sun, 28 Apr 2013 00:22:13 -0700
]]> http://www.gamespot.com/sleeping-dogs/user-reviews/810774/platform/xbox360/ Sun, 28 Apr 2013 00:21:08 -0700 ShadowsDemon reviewed Final Fantasy XIII-2 for the PlayStation 3... http://www.gamespot.com/final-fantasy-xiii-2/user-reviews/810773/platform/ps3/ ...and gave it a 7.5.


FF13-2 is one of those titles that's exactly the same as it's prequel in some areas and the complete opposite in others. The gameplay is somewhat similar, with the battle system containing 6 roles, ATB bars and micromanaging your own spells and abilities. This time around though you have the opinion to change your party leader, even in the midst of a major battle. You can also "tame" your former enemies, getting them to fight at your side in battle. There's nothing better than working with a chocobo to slain a monster 100 times bigger than you. The trouble with the game though lies within the story. There's a lot going on with time, paradoxes, seeing the future and in short what's happening around you. It's a well done tale with a lot of twists along the way, but you'll be confused for the most part for where exactly you want or need to go. You'll be given multiple time gates that allow you to travel back and forth é like using the ship in the old FFs in a way é and doing this over and over again gets confusing to say the least. Not to worry though, it's as fun as ever.
The technical side the game has dramatically suffered with Square deciding to squeeze the game onto a single disc for the 360 unlike for the last game. The graphics aren't quite as crisp as they were previously, and there's a lot less of those stunning CGI cut-scenes to gawk at. The soundtrack also suffers. A strange blend of metal, techno and party music does little to suit the atmosphere in some cases. Even small quirks like enemies becoming one with the battlefield and popping up randomly is a sign of a drop in quality. However, the gameplay is more enjoyable and complex in battle. You'll have a blast, and with the linear aspect completely gone FF13-2 has an extremely enjoyable, albeit a short, single player experience.
FF13-2 doesn't quite match up to FF13, even though the gameplay has improved and the linear aspect done away with. It's still a fantastic title however that is well worth your time.

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"ShadowsDemon reviewed Final Fantasy XIII-2 for the PlayStation 3..." was posted by ShadowsDemon on Sun, 28 Apr 2013 00:21:08 -0700
]]> http://www.gamespot.com/final-fantasy-xiii-2/user-reviews/810773/platform/ps3/ Sun, 28 Apr 2013 00:19:56 -0700 ShadowsDemon reviewed The ICO & Shadow of the Colossus Collection for the PlayStation 3... http://www.gamespot.com/the-ico-and-shadow-of-the-colossus-collection/user-reviews/810772/platform/ps3/ ...and gave it a 7.0.

Overview: It's been six years since we mustered up the courage to slay 16 shadowy monsters as big as mountains to save the life of a loved one back in 2005. Now we get the chance to re-experience the glory in HD. Will Shadow of the Colossus maintain its memorable gameplay and stunning presentation on the PS3, or will it just turn our nostalgia sour?

Gameplay:
If you ever want to set yourself a messy and difficult job, you could try to describe the gameplay of a game that's from the last generation and compare it to the video games seen in recent years. It's about as simple as nailing jelly to a tree. But I'll try to do my best.
Over the years video games have dramatically changed in terms of gameplay. The reactions are sharper and less clunky; there are less glitches and more flexibility. As these elements continue to improve we strive forward in the world of electronic games and achieving near flawless results as we enter the realm of a masterpiece. But then what if we look back and see just how far we've come?
When Shadow of the Colossus came out é it was like nothing that had come before it in terms of gameplay. With your bow and dagger you toppled beats as big as mountains. We were blown away back then, and it's something that will always be remembered. Then suddenly here comes the catch: with the gameplay seen today how well does SotC hold up?
One could say that it is near impossible to compare the two generations, and it is. But with the HD remake hitting the shelves the page is ready to be written on. SotC appears deceivably simple at first. You ride your horse around a deserted land (you might want to adjust the button configuration before heading off. Yes, it's been that long) and hunt down the colossus with your weapons.
The colossus's seem simple enough to kill to start, but then you'll find that you'll need to make use of the environment in order to topple them. In some cases you'll need to hide yourself and climb up its beard when it searches the cave for you. In other instances the only way to get the better of them is by waiting until they climb up on the wall of a building and then knocking them down. This added element of complexity increases with nearly every encounter. Part of the thrill of slaying these monsters is by discovering their weak point by means of a sophisticated way and then plunging your dagger into them.
Doing this is by no means easy. You are rarely given clues or hint how you can get the better of them, and even when you do the clunky controls will frustrate you more times than you'd like. We just have to remember how long ago it was in comparison to the games we get treated with today. However that won't be too likely as you fall of a colossus once again because you accidently let go. Climbing the colossus shouldn't be this much off a chore, and as you constantly fall off or press the wrong button your patience may give in too soon. Of course, everyone who played the game when it came out is expecting this. Newcomers might be disappointed and unpleasantly surprised at the game's harshness.
It's great to know that the using your weapons is spot on in terms of smoothness. As you plunge your dagger into the colossus's weak points and aim your bow there's a feeling of strength and accuracy. Riding your horse and aiming at the same time with your bow bonds the hunter and his horse a realistic and pleasant way.
You may find yourself getting continuously irritated at the dated, clunky controls, but you have to remember how excellent it was back in 2004. This HD remake will shock first timers until they slowly adjust to the game and appreciate it's art, whilst those who had played the game on the PS2 will be right at home.
Single Player:
At the start of the game you see Wander come into the Shrine of Worship and lay down a person wrapped in white sheets. Without spoiling too much, if you want to bring your loved one back to life then you must kill 16 giant colossus that roam free in the area, and destroy the 16 statues in the shrine. You then set off on your quest with nothing but a dagger and a bow to slay these beasts the size of mountains.
The story isn't memorable to start, and often you'll be wandering..sorry..wondering if this is all there is to it. The area of which the colossi roam free is completely devoid of other life sources apart from a few scattered lizards, birds, fish and your single trusty horse é Argos. It feels lonely and empty; somewhere you'd rather not be in as you seek to bring your loved one back. The story isn't a main factor in this game, and you'll wonder why it's even there to start with. By the time you reach the end the story takes you by surprise as you await the shocking ending that you probably knew was going to have to happen.
Other than hunting and toppling the colossi there's absolutely nothing else to do in this world. You can eat fruit off the trees and lizards to increase your stamina and health, but there is literally nothing else in the world of any interest for you. It increases the sense of isolation and exploring the unknown that some may find appealing. If you had to explore a magical kingdom populated with towns, castles and bustling people then this game wouldn't be the same. There's no inventory, no sense of progress or interaction. It's just a Wander, his horse and the massive colossus.
Looking at the glass half full there are no distractions or branching options that draw you away from your main quest, giving you the sense of little time left as you seek the next boss after the other. It's not something everyone is accustomed to, and will unquestionably leave a lot of people underwhelmed. Then again it's extremely effective in terms of creating a brilliant atmosphere and environment for you to explore.
It's a very different aspect to consider, and will leave a lot of people asking that age old question: "What were they thinking?" It also provides you with a mysterious story, an isolated and shadowy land and a unique environment. It's an acquired taste, and those who don't have the stomach for it will possibly be turned off until the spirit of emptiness summons them to return once again.

Technical:
This is where it becomes extremely difficult: how do we compare the graphical and technical presentation of the HD remake of a 2004 game? To say the least even with an expensive makeover the technical side hasn't fared well. Characters appear to be no more than cardboard cut-outs at times, and trees seem to be second-dimension at times. This is strangely the polar opposite of the artistic side of the game, despite the land sometimes being one gray corridor after another or shape lumps of rocks jutting out of nowhere. You really get a massive scope of the land and it's emptiness by gazing at its clever art design. It's excuse for running short on the technical side is of course that the game was originally on the PS2, and when it came out on the console at the time it blew everyone away. This is what we'll remember for years to come é when we gasped at the unbelievably visuals back in 2004. Strangely enough the visuals in with the HD remake look half baked at times é though this is often seen in open world games.
But what it disappoints in visuals in makes up in audio. The sound design is brilliant as is the soundtrack, sending chills of nostalgia tingling down our spines as we yet again get treated to one of the most astounding soundtracks in gaming history. It may be impossible to ever top SotC's mighty soundtrack, and if it's one thing we'll remember the game by it's from its audio and soundtrack. It's a shame the visuals don't match up to our expectations but the soundtrack will never let us down, and will be the benchmark for all future gaming soundtracks that many developers have strived to match.
Trophies:
The trophies in SotC aren't difficult, but merely time-consuming. Multiple playthroughs will keep your entertained as hunting for all the fruit and lizards will. Granted it's not a weekend platinum and will often frustrate you at times, but SotC contains a trophy set that is mildly challenging but takes a fair amount of time.
Closing Thoughts:
Shadow of the Colossus is an extremely difficult game to review, especially in comparison to how we viewed it on launch and how we view it today. Those would played the game back in good ol' 2004 will be right at home here and will love the game just as much as they previously did. Those who haven't will unquestionably be shocked by the clunky controls and tattered visuals until they get a grip and see the brilliant works behind this ancient masterpiece. It doesn't matter if you've been eagerly waiting for a shot of fresh nostalgia, waiting to get your teeth into the game once again, or a newcomer who wants to see what the hype is about, Shadow of the Colossus is a game that everyone should try for themselves and see what's behind the curtain. Some will be turned off by its dated and unusual gameplay and tale, but that's a judgment you'll come to make for yourself.

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