Guuthulhu's GameSpot Friend's Reviews Guuthulhu's GameSpot Friend's Reviews Guuthulhu's GameSpot Friend's Reviews en-us Copyright (c)1995-2013 CBS Interactive. All rights reserved. http://www.gamespot.com 20 Tue, 18 Jun 2013 14:47:09 -0700 GameSpot Guuthulhu's GameSpot Friend's Reviews http://img.gamespot.com/gamespot/shared/promos/misc/gs_logo.gif http://www.gamespot.com 135 40 Mon, 03 Jun 2013 11:06:03 -0700 geoff-uk123 reviewed The Warriors for the PlayStation 2... http://www.gamespot.com/the-warriors/user-reviews/812009/platform/ps2/ ...and gave it a 9.0!

Many people are not familiar with the movie "The Warriors", a late 70s action thriller focusing on a NYC street gang who have to make it back to their turf in Coney Island after being framed for the shooting death of an influential rival gang leader. In recent times, the film has gained a huge cult following, so much that Rockstar Games and their Toronto-based studio adapted it into a action game in 2005. Like Rockstar's other action titles, The Warriors delivers a huge amount of gameplay and is a must-have for fans of the movie, beat-em-ups and Rockstar's other works in general.

Plot-wise, The Warriors game is identical to the original movie but also acts as a prequel and expands on the movie's timeline. While the movie simply focuses on the gang's attempt at survival, the game also focuses on how the gang started up and how they became what they are. The game does start off exactly like the movie but with an in-game engine recreation of the movie's iconic open titles. Up until the very moment where Cyrus is shot, the game goes back in time to when The Warriors were still attempting to conquer the city by taking out other gangs and recruiting new members. As you progress through the main story, "flashback" missions are unlocked that depict how certain members joined/started the gang.

As said, the game is mainly a beat-em-up so expect to be doing alot of fighting in this game. The fighting system is well-configured and alot of fun to play around with. You have a series of basic moves such as punches, kicks and grapples, though there are several other ways to inflict pain as well such as smashing your opponent's head against a brick wall or letting one of your comrades smash him in the face as you hold him by his arms. You also have a handful of weapons to use such as bats, glass bottles, knifes, planks and more. The more you mix your moves together, the more your "rage meter" increases which allows you to do double damage and finish off your opponent with a bone-crunching special move.

Fighting is not all you'll be doing though. Each level has a high-score meter so you'll also have to increase this by looting stores, stealing car radios, spray tagging over the turf of rival gangs and mugging bypassers. Some of these are in the form of "bonus objectives" that although are simply optional, still need to be done to complete the game 100%. In some missions you'll also have to evade rival gang members and police by hiding in shadows, giving you the chance to sneak up and dispatch them quickly (an obvious recycled mechanic from Rockstar's Manhunt). While the story is again identical to the movie, some events (notably those that take place in the movie) have been tweaked to make the game feel more "video-game" like.

Many of the Warriors you play as are those you are already familiar with in the movie such as Cleon, Swan, Ajax, Vermin and Rembrandt among others. Each one has varying moves which make them all different from each other. At some point, you unlock the Warriors hangout that when not on a mission, you can roam a tiny open-world portion of Coney Island doing jobs for the local residents, defending turf against rivals or just general robbing or mugging. Many of the environments in the story missions are very open and perfect for brawling with gangs. When you are leading a group of Warriors, you can give them different commands such as waiting, following, trashing up an area, taking out enemies or splitting up.

Graphical wise, The Warriors is not the best looking game. There are some blurry textures throughout and character models (especially those based on original characters from the movie) look rather bizarre in an "uncanny valley" like fashion. However, the game recreates the gritty feel of the movie perfectly. The open environments look very dark, run-down and stylish just the way it should be. The soundtrack is also a high factor. A dark-sounding electronic/synth based score is used which is very resemblant of that from the original movie. Some licensed songs are used which mainly consist of late 70s rock and disco.

The dialogue is a mixed bag for me. One thing I thought was brilliant is that most of the characters are voiced by those who portrayed them in the original movie. Any dialogue from the movie has been re-recorded. Despite some actors of characters like Fox and Luther sounding different to how they did in the original movie (possibly due to aging), I still think it was great how Rockstar tracked down every actor and convinced them to reprise their roles. In-game, the dialogue can be a bit irritating. Each NPC seems to only have a few lines of dialogue so you'll often hear them repeat the same thing over and over. This is especially true for the cops who will yell the same phrases at you when they chase you.

There are some bonus modes to be had. One of the most noteworthy is the "Armies of the Night" minigame that you unlock after completing every story mission. It plays out like a side-scrolling beat-em-up (similar to Streets of Rage or Tekken Force) where you pass through NYC environments beating up rival gang members with the main game's fighting engine. It is a hard game to complete so much patience and experience is needed. Another is Rumble Mode in which you can pit different gang members against one another in a certain arena. Every mode in the game allows the use of 2-players for some co-op action.

Overall, The Warriors is definitely one of the best games based on a movie I've played (next to Goldeneye 64 and Spider-Man 2). For a game based on a rather obscure cult movie, it is packed with hours of gameplay and variety. Even after you complete the story, you'll still spend hours completing side-missions and replaying story missions to complete unfinished objectives. Although a rather old game, it as recently become available for download on PlayStation Network and I'd say that is definitely worth the look. If you're both a fan of The Warriors movie and Rockstar's other titles, this is the perfect game for you. While pretty old and dated by today, I'd say for the record it is very much worth playing.

9/10

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"geoff-uk123 reviewed The Warriors for the PlayStation 2..." was posted by geoff-uk123 on Mon, 03 Jun 2013 11:06:03 -0700
]]> http://www.gamespot.com/the-warriors/user-reviews/812009/platform/ps2/ Tue, 23 Apr 2013 21:51:55 -0700 geoff-uk123 reviewed Manhunt 2 for the PlayStation 2... http://www.gamespot.com/manhunt-2/user-reviews/810610/platform/ps2/ ...and gave it a 8.5.

The first Manhunt was controversial enough, but the second Manhunt developed by Rockstar London (and Vienna before they shut down), caused even more uproar, even before it's release. Not only did the game have to be heavily censored in order to be downgraded from an AO to an M rating in the US, it was the first video game to be completely banned in the UK (until a cut version was accepted), and of course getting banned in several countries worldwide. Despite this, Manhunt 2 has often been considered inferior to the original. I for one agree, but I still find it to be a great game with plenty of stealth, atmosphere and gunplay.

Despite the title, Manhunt 2 storywise has absolutely nothing to do with the original. While the core gameplay remains unchanged with some improvements to the mechanics, the overall snuff movie theme has been ditched in favor of a more psychological horror/mental patient approach. No characters from the first Manhunt appear in this (unless the White Rabbit's corpse as an easter egg counts).

The plot is more complex in this installment, we instead focus on mental patient Daniel Lamb, a former scientist of the "Pickman Project" who can't remember how or why he got where he is. When the security system malfunctions at the asylum, Daniel escapes along with fellow inmate Leo Kasper, who accompanies you throughout most of the game. You even play as Leo in some flashback levels. As you escape from the asylum and enter the streets of Cottonmouth, you are hunted down by gangs and bounty hunters hired by the Project to silence the truth from coming out, much like in the original game. Hiding in shadows doesn't completely obscure your location as enemies can now search harder, which requires to enter in a button combination to avoid detection.

While you'll still be sneaking up behind and executing enemies while hiding in shadows, there have been some changes to the overall gameplay mechanics. The gunplay is pretty much the same only it feels more wobbly than before, and a bit more realistic aside from the fact you can use the smallest of handguns to blow enemies's heads to pieces. You can also climb onto obstacles and crawl under tight spaces, a feature the first game was severely lacking. The melee system seems to be an improvement slightly so you may find yourself being able to take on at least a couple of enemies considering you have a powerful weapon. One annoying thing is the third-person camera, that feels WAY too close compared to Manhunt 1. You do get used to it however.

Some of the execution methods have expanded greatly. While you can still use weapons to execute your victims in three increasingly violent ways, you are now able to use parts of the environment to unleash death upon them such as fire extinguishers, manholes, toilets, fuse boxes and more. In conjunction with the climbing feature, you can jump from a surface and execute your victim while in mid-air. You are also able to use firearms to perform executions on enemies. There are no separate levels for these types of executions unlike the traditional manner, though it is still satisfying nevertheless. Most of the weapons from the first game return along with many new additions like syringes, fountain pens, shovels, hedge clippers and saws.

Many would consider these features let down by the blurry filter that is shown whenever you perform executions. Like I said earlier, this game was considered too violent to pass for an M/18 rating, so it had be censored with a red and white blurry filter that appears whenever you perform an execution. Although you still get a good idea of what is happening and see some blood, this will not satisfy people's bloodlust as much as the first one did. The scoring system from the original has also been completely removed which makes attempted speedruns and your high level of brutality very unrewarding.

If you're lucky enough to have a cheat disc like me, you can put in a code that removes the filter altogether. Even then though, the game doesn't feel that much more gory than the original though the level of sadism does seem somewhat higher. I own the PS2 version, though it does seem as the graphically superior Wii and PC versions have higher detail of gore, making those versions somewhat AO worthy. Decapitations during executions seem to have been completely removed as well. The whole game regardless of version is still very brutal and still satisfy someone's bloodlust fairly enough.

Daniel is a very different and somewhat more interesting character than Cash. Although his killing methods are more sadistic, he'll feel remorse for his victims at first (throwing up being a sign of this) but later seems to get used to it. Leo on the other hand is a fairly deranged individual who has no problem with relentless killing as long as it destroys the Project once and for all. What seems weird is he is able to speak to Daniel (much like Starkweather did with Cash) without alerting any nearby hunters.

The atmosphere is still pretty good this time around. Although Cottonmouth (name not mentioned in-game) appears to be a cleaner city than Carcer, there are still some dark unsettling environments such as an insane asylum, a nightclub, a torture chamber, a sleazy porn theater (along with a short softcore flick playing on repeat) and a TV studio with massacred crew members. Craig Conner provides the soundtrack once again and although the synthesized John Carpenter influence is still there somewhat, it's not heard nearly as much in Manhunt 2 as it was in Manhunt 1 which is quite disappointing. The graphics are fairly detailed for a PS2 games though some character models can be a bit of an eyesore. One huge problem is the framerate which doesn't feel as smooth and will often drop depending on the amount of enemies on-screen.

With the exception of one or two levels, Manhunt 2 is noticeably easier than it's predecessor, a little too much for me. Although I found Manhunt's difficulty rather frustrating at times, I feel as though it's sequel's difficulty does not do it justice. I only recall dying about 5 times throughout my entire run. There seems to be very little challenge compared to Manhunt 1. You seem to have almost twice as much health this time making you almost feel invincible in some instances, or maybe it's the fact that enemies are bad at shooting. In some levels, you can just run through gunning down any enemies that get in your way despite the flawed shooting mechanic.

There are once again two difficulty levels (Sane and Insane), where the harder one removes the radar. Even then though, it still feels quite easy compared to the original. Despite the more disturbing theme, you don't feel as threatened by enemies as you did previously, hence the lack of suspenseful music. Like Leo says, "You shouldn't be scared of the Project, they should be scared of YOU!". This is even more apparent when you look at the fact that Danny is killing to try and find an answer to his past, whereas Cash in the original was forced to kill to escape an incredibly brutal situation.

In conclusion, although Manhunt 2 doesn't feel as good as it's predecessor, it is still a pretty solid sequel that is worth checking out for those who can't get enough of the original, despite the various censoring and less challenging difficulty. While these points bring the game down alot, there has been plenty of improvement made here and there such as the new features, gameplay improvements and new execution methods. The only uncensored version I know of is a PC version that isn't available legally right now unfortunately. Whichever system you feel most used to, I do recommend giving this game a try if you liked the first.

Whenever a Manhunt 3 will be made at this point is questionable, though it seems unlikely considering both games are probably the most controversial of all-time. We'll have to see what happens I suppose...

8.5/10

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"geoff-uk123 reviewed Manhunt 2 for the PlayStation 2..." was posted by geoff-uk123 on Tue, 23 Apr 2013 21:51:55 -0700
]]> http://www.gamespot.com/manhunt-2/user-reviews/810610/platform/ps2/ Tue, 23 Apr 2013 18:43:53 -0700 geoff-uk123 reviewed Manhunt for the PlayStation 2... http://www.gamespot.com/manhunt/user-reviews/810602/platform/ps2/ ...and gave it a 9.5!

Rockstar Games have not avoided their fair share of controversy over the years with games such as Grand Theft Auto and Bully. Released in 2003, Manhunt proves to be one of their most controversial titles of all-time. It was especially controversial over here in the UK when it was thought to have been linked to a tragic murder case, while at the same time also being banned in countries like Germany, Australia and New Zealand. With all that aside though, Manhunt is a very solid stealth/horror-survival game with challenging gameplay and brilliant atmosphere. However, easily grossed-out people and children of course should definitely steer clear of this one.

The story is pretty straightforward. You play as James Earl Cash, a death-row inmate who has supposedly been executed by injection. However, he later wakes up to hear the voice of a man (later identified as Lionel Starkweather) who claims to have given Cash a second chance at life. After putting on an earpiece, Cash makes his way onto the violent streets of Carcer City and is ordered to kill the violent gang members and murderous thugs that roam the street, all for the sick purpose of the deranged Starkweather capturing footage of the brutality through security cameras and using it for a snuff film.

Manhunt's subject matter does not shy away from brutal violence. As said, you are forced to dispatch numerous enemies using an array of weapons such as plastic bags, glass shards, claw hammers, machetes and more. Hiding in the shadows prevents you from being seen by enemies, also giving you a chance to sneak up behind them and brutally execute them. The longer you hold, the more violent the execution is likely to be. Although the blood and gore effects are quite tame compared to many games today, they'll still likely be a shock to gamers who aren't used to this kind of stuff, especially with manner that blood splatters onto the screen. What makes the executions (as well as cutscenes) really stylish is the use of a grainy VHS filter to give the look of a trashy snuff movie. To put it simply, Manhunt is the video-game equivalent of a video-nasty.

The game is not just about stealth though. Sometimes you may find yourself in a melee brawl with either your fists or a weapon such as a baseball bat. Melee combat is not very easy, it's a total button mashing fest in fact. Fighting two enemies at once is not the best of ideas and likely to result in your death. The game later turns into somewhat of a third-person shooter when you'll have to use firearms to unleash your brutality against the relentless enemies. You'll be taking cover and blowing heads off with shotguns mainly. Although the shooting mechanic is somewhat flawed, it does make a great change as the stealth mechanic can get somewhat boring and repetitive after a while. Stealth seems to become less and less common as the game progresses.

Not only are you forced to kill in this game, but it also rewards you depending on how fast you complete and how brutal your executions are. Manhunt is not an easy game. Although there are useful checkpoints throughout levels, it is in fact quite hard to complete a level without at least dying once, especially in the shooting levels. You'll have a limited amount of health throughout and will often find yourself searching for painkillers in order to replenish it. The game is even more difficult on the Hardcore difficulty as you have no radar that indicates when enemies are nearby. It's not completely impossible, though it will require quite alot of patience and experience to complete. It may be one of the most challenging (and somewhat frustrating) games I've played.

Graphical wise, Manhunt obviously does look dated in today's age, but really good for the time. The atmosphere is very believable and well done. The various run-down locations of Carcer City have obviously been inspired by places such as Detroit, Michigan or Camden, New Jersey. You will roam around streets with dilapidated buildings, seedy abandoned zoos, malls, junkyards, subway tunnels and more. These various levels are accompanied by a very eerie synth-based soundtrack by Craig Conner that is resemblant of that heard in the 70s cult film The Warriors and 70s/80s John Carpenter flicks. The music goes with the environment perfectly, and reinforces the game's dark, gritty nature. I also really like how the music gets more intense with the more danger you are in.

When compared to Rockstar North's other games like GTA, Manhunt is extremely different in terms of gameplay. Although some mechanics feel similar, the game is exclusively linear and is played through "scenes" rather than missions you can choose to complete at any time you like. There are some references and reused models/textures from GTA games. You'll see some of the fictional brands, car models and even hear some sound effects. This all seems to imply that Manhunt is part of the GTA universe interestingly enough (or the 3D Era at least).

The characters in Manhunt aren't the game's highest point. Cash is not the most interesting protagonist as he is emotionless throughout most of the game and has very few speaking lines (similar to Claude from GTA III). However, he does seem to have a ruthless nature about him that does make him fun to play as. Starkweather (voiced by Brian Cox) is a very interesting villain that despite not being seen in person until the final mission, has a very sick, disturbed personality and evil tone of voice that make him a memorable antagonist.

Then we have Piggsy, one of the final bosses in the game who appears to be a very psychopathic fat guy who wears a pig's head as a mask and slaughters people with a chainsaw. He almost seems to be taken right out of a classic horror movie. The final level in which you battle him is extremely intense and heart-pounding, especially when he is chasing you down corridors while making squealing like a pig. You'll encounter other strange characters, such as a guy in a White Rabbit costume who tries to lure to your death and Starkweather's military right-hand man Ramirez.

As for the gang members you encounter, they have unique personalities and often spout funny comments while trying to search for you. These gangs are not very realistic and often exaggerated or horror movie versions of real-life street gangs. You have a gang of off-duty cops who also take part as thugs, a gang of neo-nazi skinheads who wear hockey masks, a gang of gun-touting war veterans (led by Ramirez), a gang of Latino gangbangers and satanists, and a gang that consist of murderers and serial killers who mostly wear smiley face masks.

Overall, Manhunt may be one of Rockstar's best PS2 games and is a must-play for fans of their other work or stealth games. It may be a bit hard to find a copy of in today's age due to the controversy and the game will likely turn off people who are disturbed by violent themes within games, though that is quite understandable. I also wouldn't recommend younger gamers to play unless they feel they are mature enough to handle this type of content. If you are used to it though and are a fan of Rockstar's other work then I definitely recommend you try it out.

9/10

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"geoff-uk123 reviewed Manhunt for the PlayStation 2..." was posted by geoff-uk123 on Tue, 23 Apr 2013 18:43:53 -0700
]]> http://www.gamespot.com/manhunt/user-reviews/810602/platform/ps2/ Mon, 12 Mar 2012 19:59:08 -0700 PerfectJones reviewed WarGames: Defcon 1 for the PlayStation... http://www.gamespot.com/wargames-defcon-1/user-reviews/789726/platform/ps/ ...and gave it a 8.5.

Wargames: Defcon 1 is a 3D action-strategy game based on a movie called "Wargames". I've only seen maybe half of that movie so I can't really say how close it compares. The game itself is part strategy and part blow-em up action. You get two forces two work with, which equals two 15 mission campaigns for a total of 30 missions. The forces are the human NORAD force composed of land, air, and sea vehicles that resemble modern warfare units (tanks, jets, bomber planes, helicopters, jeeps, destroyer boats, etc). The WOPR (computer-controlled units gone bad and set on world domination) are composed of futuristic mech-like walkers for land use, ufo-style air units, and some naval vessels. The WOPR also get some speed bike (similar to the bike in "Tron") that they use to designate targets for air strike but otherwise it's mostly walkers for land use.

In the game you complete missions ranging from destroying an enemy base, to infiltration, to rescue, and other objectives. Whatever your objective is you also have to keep an eye on the "Defcon" meter- this game's little twist- and keep it from getting to Defcon 1, in which case a bunch of warheads target your base and will eventually annihilate you wherever you are most likely, with a couple exceptions though towards the end (hint hint). The interface it uses is very stylish for a PS1 game and actually has this retro-fake email system in it as well (it came out back in the day when email was the newest craze and made for movies like "You've got mail"). You can "check email", cycle between mission intel and objectives and available unit information all while the game is loading the mission itself. Kudos to the game developers for being so creative instead of sticking the gamer with a generic "loading" screen.

The gameplay itself is quite action-oriented and more-or-less resembles Return Fire in its action elements. Unlike Return Fire though you can command multiple units at once by calling all or some units to follow you. This is nice for the most part but sometimes your units will get caught on some sort of piece of landscape and you will have to "hotswap" (i.e. cycle through control of your units) your way to that unit to get it unstuck. Also your units will follow your call signal until they get attacked or attack an enemy, in which case they will engage the enemy until either they or the enemy is dead or gone. So you basically can't always just order them to follow you and expect instant results. Still, if you handle the system right you can still organize coordinated assaults while commanding a unit yourself.

And in that is really this game's strength. At it's best moments of coordinated vehicular assault it could perhaps be seen as the PS1s version of Battlefield 1942. What makes it difficult though is putting your units in the hands of the AI in the game. It's not bad per se but it doesn't fight with any particular strategy or maneuvering. It basically just finds the enemy and uses the unit's generic attack to try to destroy it. Will the AI pull out when it is low on health? Nope. Fortunately you can hotswap to it or order it back to base (very nice) but sometimes in the fray it's just too much to handle and you will lose a unit due to the AI. I would find it frustrating when I had coordinated a multi-unit assault on an enemy base only to lose one of my strongest units to the AI's poor decision making.

There is also some nice multiplayer in Wargames that makes it stand out. You can play the entire game (either campaign) cooperatively which, I'm told and believe, makes up for some of the inadequacies of the AI. You can also duke it out in some versus modes. The only downside to split-screen play is how the game splits the screen, imho. It's a little more than just splitting the screen and reduces a the playing screens ratio down more than necessary. I know they are trying to be stylish by doing it differently but it just comes across to me as a bit of a hindrance.

That being said this game still deserves a 8.5/10 for being as ambitious as it is and succeeding where it does. To date, I still don't know of a game that plays quite the same as Wargames: Defcon 1 does. Its unique blend of action and strategy makes it a lot of fun. I highly recommended it for any old-school PS1 action or strategy game fan.

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"PerfectJones reviewed WarGames: Defcon 1 for the PlayStation..." was posted by PerfectJones on Mon, 12 Mar 2012 19:59:08 -0700
]]> http://www.gamespot.com/wargames-defcon-1/user-reviews/789726/platform/ps/ Thu, 28 Apr 2011 22:50:01 -0700 usagi704 reviewed Halo 2 for the Xbox... http://www.gamespot.com/halo-2/user-reviews/763472/platform/xbox/ ...and gave it a 8.5.

GRAPHICS & AUDIO
Halo 2's graphics, while fairly good, don't stand up all that well to a lot of other games of it's year of release, unlike the original Halo which blew all other console games out of the water in 2001. The visuals fair even worse when you consider all of the times you are subject to watching the details draw in, especially during cutscenes. This all amounts to a very uneven visual package that is downright ugly sometimes. One really great plus is that there aren't any ridiculous copy-and-paste areas this time around. The audio, on the other hand, is just as top notch this time as it was previously. Granted, most of the audio on offer is the same as the original Halo, but it still works well here and is accompanied by new weapons and their sound effects which blend in well with everything else that returned.

STORY
Now we come to the thing about Halo 2 that nobody likes and rightly so. Everyone talks about how it ends in a crappy cliffhanger that isn't even a proper ending and while true I would go so far as to say there isn't really a third act in this game at all. It all just falls off a cliff at the end of the second act and the game simply ends. None of this bothers me much because I have never felt Halo's story and characters were ever good to begin with.

WEAPONS
Halo 2's weaponry is a larger, more eclectic mix than that of the original game. My main complaint is that you end up mostly using Covenant weapons during the campaign with very little use of any of the Spartan weapons. I didn't really settle on any particular favorites this time around because you change up what you are using pretty frequently, but I used the plasma rifle the most. The energy sword was very handy in taking out any big enemies like the Brutes. The most disappointing returning weapon was the shotgun. In the first Halo it was my favorite weapon by far, but here it felt really underpowered so I'm glad I didn't need to use it much. The most improved returning weapon was the needler, well only when you were dual-wielding it. Speaking of dual-wielding, it was a fantastic addition to this game and big part of why I enjoyed Halo 2 more than the original Halo.

VEHICLES
This time around all of the vehicles control well, even the Warthog! I never once tipped over from a jump with it which is a far cry from what happened when I drove Halo 1's Warthog. My only complaint is that they stuck with the same control scheme which makes it so you cannot move in a different direction than you are firing. I find it to be a terrible way to control vehicles, but at least nothing about using vehicles made me rage like I did previously.

THE MISSIONS
Here's yet another area where Halo 2 trumps the original Halo. The missions in Halo 2 don't feel as if they drag on too long and there aren't any areas with endlessly spawning enemies. The only minor complaint was that some areas had fairly ridiculous odds against you which annoyed me some, but nothing that made me want to break my controller in half.

MULTIPLAYER
This is the part that was easily the biggest addition from Halo 1. In 2004 and earlier, consoles just didn't have much in the way of robust multiplayer packages and Halo 2 came along and offered the kind of fantastic multiplayer and options that you could only get on PCs before this. Halo 2 set the standard for how online multiplayer for shooters should be done on consoles similar to how the original Halo set the standard for how shooters on consoles should control.

Halo 2 is a great game that improved upon it's predecessor in a lot of small ways that added up to a much better experience overall and set a new standard in online console gaming.

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"usagi704 reviewed Halo 2 for the Xbox..." was posted by usagi704 on Thu, 28 Apr 2011 22:50:01 -0700
]]> http://www.gamespot.com/halo-2/user-reviews/763472/platform/xbox/ Tue, 08 Mar 2011 04:21:40 -0800 thrashmaster reviewed Monday Night Combat for the PC... http://www.gamespot.com/monday-night-combat/user-reviews/757654/platform/pc/ ...and gave it a 6.5.

To start off with Only 6v6? Really? REEEaaalllyyyy?? Now, moving on, the classes are currently broken with no sign of getting fixed. There is also something called Juice in the game which is what breaks the game even more, basically you become far more powerful in every way and can just kinda charge in and destroy everything for a short time. So when the enemy team gets a monopoly on the spot you can buy juice if the map has one then game over for you. Good concept though and I like the arena feel of the game like a gladiator in the arena. In short, if you have some friends and looking for a fun game to play this will keep you entertained for awhile, but don't expect it to be fair.

GRAPHICS: 7.5
Decent for the feel they were going for but still seem to outdated for how old the game is. There is also not very much variety in the graphics and you see them recycled over and over again since all the maps have the same basic textured used in them which should have been a good reason for them to spend some more time on the graphics of the game.

CONTROLS:8.7
Pretty simple for the most part but are a bit akward to start out with I felt. However once you get used to them they are easy to use and become fairly natural.

GAMEPLAY:3.0
I wouldn't say the gameplay is terrible but certainly not very good given the unbalanced classes to play. Very easy to land headshots while sniping and very easy to get stealthed and jump people from behind as and assassin. Support class is an unfortunate joke though. They can't defend themselves very well at all so leaving the base isn't the greatest idea, and the turret you can make gets destroyed far to easily. It is pretty cool that you can upgrade other turrets in your base however using one of your abilities.

SOUND: 6.5
Similar the the graphics in that they were decent for what they were going for, however they get annoying after just a few hours of play. Would have been nice to build some levels with their own themes and a decent variety of musics and sounds to go with them so things stay fresh. But every level is just the same cookie cut in a slightly different way from the other.

STORY: N/A

MULTIPLAYER: 6.0
Meh is what I say to this. This game is basically all about the multiplayer but unbalanced classes, lack of game types, and the very small teams make for a pretty bad experience compared to what this game could have been. It was pretty obvious they simply wanted to get this game out to make some money off of it and move on the their next project.

OVERALL: 6.3

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"thrashmaster reviewed Monday Night Combat for the PC..." was posted by thrashmaster on Tue, 08 Mar 2011 04:21:40 -0800
]]> http://www.gamespot.com/monday-night-combat/user-reviews/757654/platform/pc/ Wed, 12 Jan 2011 18:33:33 -0800 ChristianKiss reviewed Hexxagon for the PC... http://www.gamespot.com/hexxagon/user-reviews/752323/platform/pc/ ...and gave it a 6.0.

1993... definitely a year to be remembered for the old-school PC gamers, especially due to the releases of id Software's DOOM and Westwood's Dune II. Meanwhile a very small group of developers made a quiet title called Hexxagon.

This is a board / turn-based game developed by Argo Games and published by Software Creations. I guess that the main objective on creating Hexxagon was to present a new Artificial Intelligence engine called Craniac (which is later featured in their second game, Hexxagon II), although the game allows player vs. player matches without including the computer as an opponent.

The game is rather simple: you play on a hexed board with a few precious gems, against a computer or a human player that also has its own gems. The objective is to fill up each single hex of the board with generated or captured gems. When it becomes impossible to move or summon more pieces, the game is over and the winner is the player with most gems on the board.

The pieces interact in the game in two ways: 1. On adjacent hexes, your gem can summon another gem; 2. One hex further an adjacent position will make your piece jump instead of creating another one. No matter what was your action -summoning or jumping-, the gem in the hex that just got occupied will convert for you any enemy adjacent gems around it.

So, in Hexxagon, you basically move and summon pieces to capture the ones of your adversary. This will slowly but surely filling up the entire board, until there're no more legal moves left. As I said before, at this point, you'll have to own the majority of the board's hexes to win.

The strategy behind Hexxagon is far from being complex, although a little attention and movement prediction comes handy. You have to imagine what your opponent can do if you move or summon a specific gem. When doing your moves, you have to think how to capture as most as possible enemy gems while preventing him to do the same in the next move.

Generally, jumping with pieces will let gaps in your gem structure and will allow the enemy to infiltrate there and capture several pieces at once. This doesn't mean that you'll always skip the jumping moves and only use your turns to summon more gems. Sometimes a jump will remove a gem from a useless position and capture a lot of enemy pieces simultaneously.

These strategies are almost everything that the game holds, except that you can change the difficulty level of the AI or play against a friend in a hot-seat match. Personally I defeated the hardest level three times and then I stopped playing Hexxagon. I didn't even try the board editor feature too much, which allows you to personalize the default board with different starting positions and obstacles.

As a shareware MS-DOS board game, I must admit that Hexxagon kept me interested for a few hours. Considering that you can download it for free and run under DOSBox emulator, there is nothing to lose on trying this game out.

Get the full article at GameSpot

"ChristianKiss reviewed Hexxagon for the PC..." was posted by ChristianKiss on Wed, 12 Jan 2011 18:33:33 -0800
]]> http://www.gamespot.com/hexxagon/user-reviews/752323/platform/pc/ Tue, 04 Jan 2011 15:54:13 -0800 usagi704 reviewed ICO for the PlayStation 2... http://www.gamespot.com/ico/user-reviews/751021/platform/ps2/ ...and gave it a 10.0!!!

GRAPHICS
For visuals of this vintage from a game released in 2001 they really standup and don't seem all that old. The art direction is absolutely fantastic and that definitely helps the game's look stand up to the test of time. I especially love the unique look of the shadow creatures and how they animate. Speaking of animation, everything animates so well from how Ico traverses the environment to how Ico and Yorda interact with each other, it's all done so great.

SOUND
The audio experience in ICO is largely made up of the ambiance of the environment around you. Water flows from waterfalls, wind swirls in courtyards and the rest of it is made up of the sound effects of Ico and Yorda making their way around trying to find a way to escape the castle. The only music in the game is during the demonstration, at save points, and during the ending/end credits and it's all great.

GAMEPLAY
The gameplay mostly consists of figuring out how to get Ico and Yorda through many different environment traversal puzzles. None of the puzzles are all that difficult, but some will make you think a little more than others. I never felt frustrated with any of them even if a few were slightly annoying, but even those didn't hinder my enjoyment. The other part of the gameplay is when you have to fight off shadow creatures that are trying to abduct Yorda. The combat is for this is very simple with use of only a single button and it works even though it's not the focus and it helps add tension when you are trying to protect Yorda from them.

CLOSING COMMENTS
This was my first time playing ICO nearly ten years after it was originally released and unlike a lot of other games that age poorly after that many years ICO stands tall as a game that has withstood the test of time with grace and style and is a game that is way more than the sum of it's parts. If you can get into it, ICO is definitely a game that will stick with you for a long time to come.

Get the full article at GameSpot

"usagi704 reviewed ICO for the PlayStation 2..." was posted by usagi704 on Tue, 04 Jan 2011 15:54:13 -0800
]]> http://www.gamespot.com/ico/user-reviews/751021/platform/ps2/ Wed, 01 Dec 2010 20:24:31 -0800 thrashmaster reviewed Fallout: New Vegas for the PC... http://www.gamespot.com/fallout-new-vegas/user-reviews/747153/platform/pc/ ...and gave it a 9.0!

This is definitely a huge improvement over Fallout 3, and despite the obvious bugs from the small to the quest breaking, it IS indeed better then Fallout 3. Many more quests to keep you interested, more interesting places to visit, and more interesting people to meet help make this better then Fallout 3 on so many levels. Vegas itself isn't as interesting or large as what I was hoping for, you will find yourself spending much less time then you expected there.

GRAPHICS: 7.5
The graphics are the same as what you saw in Fallout 3 which is both good and bad. They are good because, well, they are decent looking graphics, however this engine is showing its age, and the textures used certainly seem very recycled from F3. Also, New Vegas was not suppose to be directly hit by a bomb which is basically why Vegas is still standing, however it seems just a decayed and destroyed as the rest of the world, it would have been very nice if they made Vegas and the surrounding areas a little more "intact", and less decayed from what they were.

CONTROLS: 9.0
Very easy to understand and use controls, just with you could scroll through your weapons and use a stimpack in game other then being forced to open your pipboy.

GAMEPLAY:9.7 not including the bugs or 8.7 including the bugs.
I am making my overall score without including the bugs, however I will mention them here.
There are many bugs within the game that you will run across, and here are a few I personally encountered and remember: Person showing up and the minimap and name of person coming up without anybody there (happened only once). Sometimes people would be standing on top of tables or chairs after loading an area. Couldn't finish 3 quests because of bugs within the quests. People acting like my companion is right next to me when they are actually waiting for me across the map. All my stuff vanished after stashing a ton of items in a container.

Besides the bugs however this is a very good, free flowing game. It is difficult where you feel it should be difficult and easy in other areas of the game. There is always something the do or somewhere to explore. You never find yourself saying, "Jeeze, I have nothing to do" And you also never say "omfg I have too many quests". The companion wheel is a very nice edition so you don't have to start dialog with the people you are traveling with every time you want to interact with them, and the places that you can visit have a very real, and down-to-earth feeling to them. The number of different factions you can also do things for is fantastic, I only wish there were a bit more reward for helping or hurting a faction besides for the end story.

SOUND: 8.5
The sound overall was actually quite nice in the game, I do wish the guns had some better sounds but the thing that brought the score down the most was the horrible music they chose for this game. A lot of it was very slow and boring music, I swear I just wanted to rest my head on my desk and sleep after listening to, too much of it. F3 didn't have as much music as NV but it was good. I was screaming for Butcher Pete to come hack some people up after awhile, I eventually just turned on Pandora and listened to that most of the time.

STORY: 9.8
The main story is good and it is fun to go after the people that shot you and left you in a ditch to start off the game, but the real story of the game comes out within the world. From both your companions that have there own stories and information about the world, and from the several different factions in general with their own viewpoints that you can help out along with way. And it is very rewarding where at the end of the game you see how what you did and the different choices you made affected the wasteland for years to come. It really makes you want to replay the game and make different choices to see how the outcome will be for different people.

MULTIPLAYER: N/A

OVERALL: 8.9


Get the full article at GameSpot

"thrashmaster reviewed Fallout: New Vegas for the PC..." was posted by thrashmaster on Wed, 01 Dec 2010 20:24:31 -0800
]]> http://www.gamespot.com/fallout-new-vegas/user-reviews/747153/platform/pc/ Fri, 10 Sep 2010 17:09:51 -0700 usagi704 reviewed TimeShift for the PlayStation 3... http://www.gamespot.com/timeshift/user-reviews/736684/platform/ps3/ ...and gave it a 7.5.

- Graphics & Audio
The graphics in Timeshift are excellent for the year it was released. The rain effects are extremely good as are the character models, environments, weapons, etc. The only real disappointment with the technical aspects of the visuals are the ground textures especially if it is supposed to be a natural turf like grass. Artistically the graphics are the usual bland nondescript environments that don't stand out with their dull color palette of a bunch of greys, browns, and silvers. The audio is comprised of good sounding weapon effects and explosions. Voice acting is delivered in a flat, average way. It's not bad, but not terrible or memorable either. The music is also decent, but doesn't stand out in any way.

- Controls
The controls work well and about as you would expect for an first-person shooter. The main difference here is, of course, the time manipulation from whence the title of the game comes. You can slow down, stop, or reverse time with the push of the L1 button. Usually it is defaulted to slow down time, but if you want to select a specific one regardless of what the default currently is you have to hold L1 and press Square, Triangle, or Circle for slow down, stop, or reverse, respectively. You will definitely make a lot of use of your time manipulation powers in battles as well as for solving some fairly interesting puzzles which breaks up the potential monotony of the otherwise great shooting action.

- Story & Characters
Unfortunately the story and characters of Timeshift are just as nondescript and forgettable as the environments and you will quickly not care about any of it.

- Weapons
The weapons are all pretty fun to use and you will likely enjoy them all for different reasons. The first three weapons you use early on are standard stuff such as the KM-33 (pistol), KM 2103 Karbine (assault rifle), and ShatterGun (shotgun). All three are effective, but unassuming. Shortly after that you'll come across the long range weapons: Echo Rifle (sniper rifle) and ThunderBolt (scoped crossbow). My favorite of these was definitely the ThunderBolt and I used it to snipe for the rest of the game after I acquired it as it was extremely effective even at medium range. The last four weapons are used off and on depending on the situation usually: E.M.F. Cannon, Bloodhound (rocket launcher), Hell-Fire, and SurgeGun. The E.M.F. Cannon was a fun to use weapon best for medium range that fires "projectiles of magnesium" which usually gibbed the enemies you shot with it. The Bloodhound was really only used for taking down helicopters in a few spots in the game and the SurgeGun was only really useful for the final boss battle. My favorite weapon was the Hell-Fire because was super effective at killing quick with it's incendiary bullets and even also had a flamethrower as a secondary attack.

In the end Timeshift is a solid FPS that has it where it counts most: the shooting. It is a fun game that would stand out a lot more if we didn't live in an age where the FPS genre is super saturated with great games, but as it is we do and because of that a lot of people have overlooked this game. If you love FPSs then you'll likely enjoy this one too, but in this competitive genre it doesn't standout enough which is unfortunate.

Get the full article at GameSpot

"usagi704 reviewed TimeShift for the PlayStation 3..." was posted by usagi704 on Fri, 10 Sep 2010 17:09:51 -0700
]]> http://www.gamespot.com/timeshift/user-reviews/736684/platform/ps3/ Wed, 28 Jul 2010 09:06:15 -0700 usagi704 reviewed Mirror's Edge (2008) for the PlayStation 3... http://www.gamespot.com/mirrors-edge/user-reviews/730802/platform/ps3/ ...and gave it a 8.0.

- Graphics & Audio
The simple visuals in Mirror's Edge are striking with the use of white for most of it and small amount of a vibrant red. It makes the game stand out in the sea of grey that surrounds it in the gaming industry. Even almost two years later it is still a good looking game thanks to the simple, but inspired art design. If there's anything to complain about visually it would be the very eSurance looking animated cutscenes between the levels. They look cheap and really stupid. The music is quite good, especially the main theme "Still Alive," but I feel most of the music in the game isn't memorable enough besides the main theme. The sound effects are some of the best and it really does feel like you are inhabiting Faith's body.

- Story & Characters
Well, they tried to tell a story with interesting characters, but failed. I didn't get into the story, setting, or characters at all. Very bland. I'd say something more about it, but none of it was interesting.

- Platforming
This is where Mirror's Edge shines the brightest. While this is not the first game to do first-person platforming, think Jumping Flash! and its two sequels on the original PlayStation, it is definitely the most ambitious and succeeds on almost all fronts. Running through the environments in Mirror's Edge can be one of the best experiences had in a video game, but only when you are familiar with the levels enough to know where to go, what to do, and how to do it. That's the main catch: you need to know what you are doing for it to be a smooth experience. Most people's first time through will be stop-and-go with many frustrations because you simply don't know where to go and what to do. Mirror's Edge is one of those rare games where you need to play it multiple times in order to really get enjoyment out of it since the first time through will be rough going. The "hit detection" with environmental objects can be sketchy too, especially when you are asked to be really precise like making a big leap to grab a thin pipe on the side of a building.

- Combat
Much stink has been made about the combat with enemies in Mirror's Edge and detractors certainly have good points to back up what they are saying. Unlike most of them I don't think the combat should be removed from a sequel, but rather improved. Being that the game is played in a first-person perspective it can be hard to tell distance in order to successfully land a running blow to an enemy. The hits lack oomph and sound weak like you are hitting with a wet paper sack. The disarming of enemies can be very frustrating no matter how many times you play the game since each weapon inexplicably has different strict timing as to when you need to press the button which leads to many deaths as you sit in front of an enemy and keep failing to get it right. When you do disarm an enemy you can then use their weapon to take down other foes and the gunplay in Mirror's Edge is pretty average at best.

In the end, Mirror's Edge is definitely a unique experience that I feel anyone that is remotely interested in should have. It'll likely start out rocky, but if you stick with it and play it through more than once I think you'll find a lot of the problems you had the first time will be much less of a nuisance and Mirror's Edge will likely become a game that you'll grow to love despite its shortcomings.

Get the full article at GameSpot

"usagi704 reviewed Mirror's Edge (2008) for the PlayStation 3..." was posted by usagi704 on Wed, 28 Jul 2010 09:06:15 -0700
]]> http://www.gamespot.com/mirrors-edge/user-reviews/730802/platform/ps3/ Sat, 29 May 2010 15:34:33 -0700 captain_hitec reviewed Kane & Lynch: Dead Men for the PlayStation 3... http://www.gamespot.com/kane-and-lynch-dead-men/user-reviews/722493/platform/ps3/ ...and gave it a 6.0.

You totally must not buy this game.
Nice graphics and design, but I can't say more positive about it!
As I said in the review deck, I don't come further than the first level because I just keep on dying.
You even get shot by enemies you don't even see yourself because they're hidden behind trees! The problem is the handling, but also the enemies their reactions to the player. In a normal shooter the enemies shoot a decent amount of bullets a time. But in this game they just keep on firing. In a normal shooter you also need to be in a reasonable range of the enemy when he/it fires. But in this game, the enemies even shoot at you (again) if you don't even see them, so in real time they also wouldn't see you but in this game they DO!

I can't say more than: TOO MUCH BULLETS!
and I just keep on dying, a score of 6 just for the nice graphics and design.

Get the full article at GameSpot

]]> http://www.gamespot.com/kane-and-lynch-dead-men/user-reviews/722493/platform/ps3/ Sat, 29 May 2010 15:08:52 -0700 captain_hitec reviewed Battlefield: Bad Company for the PlayStation 3... http://www.gamespot.com/battlefield-bad-company/user-reviews/722491/platform/ps3/ ...and gave it a 8.5.

It's such a pitty for a good multiplayer game that it has such a short singleplayer campaign. Story also nothing special.
There are some glitches with the craters created by bombs, for example in the map Acto non Verba playing multiplayer. What happens is: there are people who call an airstrike on the gate, this creates craters around it. But there are also standing some crates as you know, and a fence left of them. Now what you then is some crates and a fence levitating because the airstike has created craters underneath it. This for me, destroys the gameplay experience.
Also the interface of the multiplayer function isn't the greatest thing of the game, If I select a favorite game it usually drops me in a game I totally don't like, so I can't really always enjoy the multiplayer.
But dispite the things I mentioned before, the multiplayer is great with also a new game type called Gold Rush.

I think it's an overall worth playing game with a good replay value.

Get the full article at GameSpot

]]> http://www.gamespot.com/battlefield-bad-company/user-reviews/722491/platform/ps3/ Tue, 25 May 2010 23:50:39 -0700 Bangcat reviewed Lost Planet 2 for the Xbox 360... http://www.gamespot.com/lost-planet-2/user-reviews/722005/platform/xbox360/ ...and gave it a 8.5.

Right, here it goes.

Two major things critics complain about. Allot of pit deaths, and aggravating stun times. Other than that, oh noez I don't understand map on bit train.

Two out of the three were old frustrations, but now happen all the more. Chances are these reviewers rely didn't play long with much others. There's just more pit deaths to suffer from in knock backs. But you have a bar that you can suffer multiple deaths with without getting game over this time, so not that bad honestly.

The stuns. Just because on game lets you still throw the nade while you're getting shot doesn't rely make it wrong for a game not to. Be thankful you don't drop it next to you, other wise not throwing could be counted as realistic when you're being riddled. As for the VS's getting stunned, well yeah. Plasma weapons are the one thing that rely lock them down so men can even the score against them. It's frustrating when you get plasma nade spammed, but welcome to video gaming. If not for the Plasma nades and energy gun that pop out pilots, VS's could rely be over powered in a skilled player's hands. Still they carry good threat.

Yeah, this game was meant to be played with others. Dur, no kidding. It only says; 'oh hai campaign mode, grab three guys to fill this screen' practically. Only people I met who were disjointed are those who won't play it with others, or those relying on reviews alone. In fact it feels like many of these reviews are mimicking what they heard sounded official and made a review of a review. :/

Pit deaths, yes, welcome to throw backs of the Contra days, but even a good death can be fun. Game is challenging, but train level being worst stage in shooter history? BS, I enjoyed the challenge and only game over ed on it twice. Sometimes you breeze through some levels and boss fights, sometimes you get that unlucky circumstance. I can live with that a bit. That's war and we get to enjoy the good of it without real holocaust. Some things will aggravate you, but again, welcome to video games.

It's called a challenge. Not every game needs to be so, but sometimes it feels good to get your ass kicked a little to know this isn't just a park walk with fire works. And when you learn to anchor shot onto akrid, VS's, Walls, and stop short the tow to get ahead or drop in without the hop after, or back flip off of any one of these, or hold on to gun someone, or behold you can actually use it to just hold on by holding the anchor shot button down turning a one passenger VS into something you can hang onto for the ride dis spite what it was made to carry, you feel the open possibilities. Dare to try them.

I ran off a floor to hang from a line, wheeled down and shot my friend in the face and reeled back up. He fount it hilarious and there's even an achievement for making enough kills in that situation. When picking up battle armor you get a 'Warhammer 40K' Space Marine kind of feel tromping in power armor and clearing rooms.

Content, tons of it. Uncheckable weapons that work in a weapon category kind of way. Get an energy riffle, it's your new machine gun pick up. Disc grenade III can be used whenever you pick up disc grenades, can choose to pick up a Plasma Gun II instead of the usual Sniper Riffle when you unlock these in the slot machine. In short you get to use what you want per weapons category that you pick up for, keeping the things you want to try just a category pick up on the field away. Not a shotgun man and would rather use that cool new revolver you unlocked? Good news, pick revolver in customization and it's your new close range shooter choice.

With that said, you're going to find yourself trying all sorts of load outs, and yet still keeping it simple enough to not fluster those of you who aren't hardcore piece customization fanatics like some Armored Core players. No hate to you fellow AC fans, and with the VS's on the field, not to mention an online multi player mode that caters to mech fans with nothing but VS on VS combat, where EVERYONE has a mech, is up the ally of many.

Besides, you'll still have plenty weapons versatility ont he field because VS weapons that you can pick up or yank from machines, or put them on VS's are still what they are regardless no matter your load out. Good balance further with things to try in that you have two slots to fill with special effects that take up one slot or two. Unlock a neat little special effect called VS Master II and you won't even need T Eng to run a machine and don't suffer from the same effects most VS's would from certain weapons, or use another perk that makes you extra potent against VS units. You never know when being reckless and jumping in front of a mech to plasma nade it now could get you in trouble.

The surprise element is very much here, as is moments skilled players can laugh off a humerus good sport death when they fall to such a situation where someone's special slot filler changed the stereotypical result and you instead rag doll drop crotch first on a railing and tip off to look like you got hit by an oncoming VS that just so happened to be flying by at the time. Heck when the game screwed me on that boss that poops you out the back end after you shoot it's innards and it crapped all of us into an instant death pit I nearly rolled out of my chair laughing.

Other content includes great mufti player maps, including vs catapult systems, underwater fun that you can actually jump swim in Mario style, provided you didn't fall into a bottomless section from being knocked out, and watch the weight of those VS weapons, you have avatar options galore. Unlock new avatars, swap all their parts and colors around. And though you'll unlock allot of titles you can wear above your head, many of them you won't want too, you're going to fall in love with at least a few.

Like mechs, heavy metal sci fi weapons, and some ziping around graphing hook action, witch in my opinion the first game probably got people speaking the words Bionic Commando again, to bad they flubbed it's franchise return, and the fun of friends and live players not just kicking your can, but learning to help together, and sharing info like how to use that train cannon, that's what online play and gaming community is for gentlemen, and several other fun things I could put in this run on sentence, yes.... The GAME IS FUN, full of goodies to unlock, and packed full of those moments you can laugh about with friends as that un expected surprise hits you.

Only want to play alone? Yeah, maybe rent it first. Those of you not sure even with friends, at LEAST borrow or rent it and try it online. It's that Left 4 Dead or Monster Hunter game that you get to play in a sci fi game with a mech count by far rivaling the first one, and good options without the dragging out quest portions. As for those hard to find data posts or other such things, yeah. It's a community pushing game. That's to be expected. Learn from others by actually being sociable and learn from fellow soldiers quick on their way to becoming seasoned.

And that's my rant on it. All those so called professional reviewers out there might try a re review, or stop basing their own bias perhaps on matching those of other popular critic's words. Feels like this time around little Billy copied someone else's test, and then others did it in turn, got all the answers wrong and are now even getting caught in the act.

Either that or that bit about Japan not quite bringing it like they use to in gaming, so they make butt hurt comment about only letting US developers have small supporting roles and hording some good potential tittles again, just for US gaming industry to retaliate in turn with even more snubbing of Japanese tittles. Yes, Japan ain't bringing it like they use too, lot of cookie cutter RPG's, dated game play, ect. But I'd say look again before urinating on some of the few games they did crank out that is actually a ball to play with others.

If there was ever a game that was crapped on by so called gamers that are professional journalists, that so called did all their own homework to so called great length, this is it. I haven't seen this much un ease in a poor label on a good game since Fighting Vipers got a bad review from good old Gamefan Magazine. And their staff rely was top notch, actually put love into their guides too. It's one thing to make a bad call, it's another to see what obviously seems to be other reviewers making bias based off of what other popular guys are saying.

Not saying this is the greatest game ever, but it's a damn good one, and should be tried with others. Won't ring with everyone, but as said; only those really not digging it are some loan players and those who didn't even really put hour one into it. Not all people will agree on things in the world, but this obvious review borrowing trend just got really obvious this time around. Little Billy needs to put his eyes back on his own paper and study longer for his test than just one or two hours when he's getting paid to do his job.

That's my ranting review, brand me and crucify me at will. But damn well play the game for a few hours and even skim some other reviews before you do. I bloody well dare ya.

Get the full article at GameSpot

"Bangcat reviewed Lost Planet 2 for the Xbox 360..." was posted by Bangcat on Tue, 25 May 2010 23:50:39 -0700
]]> http://www.gamespot.com/lost-planet-2/user-reviews/722005/platform/xbox360/ Mon, 17 May 2010 01:21:32 -0700 thrashmaster reviewed New Super Mario Bros. Wii for the Wii... http://www.gamespot.com/new-super-mario-bros-wii/user-reviews/720743/platform/wii/ ...and gave it a 9.0!

This is a good recreation that is true to the originals, however it takes a few worlds to find any sort of a challenge in the gameplay. Most of the challenge comes from the multiplayer aspect with up to 4 people trying to jump on the same platform which is a lot of fun, but single player feels to empty and to easy. The game seems to be focused for younger kids until the couple of worlds, then the older kids and adults will finally find a bit of a challenge in the game.

GRAPHICS: 8.7
It's a Mario title on the Wii, so naturally it isn't going to be anything that is realistic, but instead it is an improvement on the older side scrolling graphics from the NES. I also with that the different worlds were more fun and visually appealing, they were all pretty well unique and all but also still seemed a bit too similar and didn't really stand out from one another.

CONTROLS: 9.2
Controls just as simple as ever with the two buttons to press. If you are familiar with the originals then the only real difference is the ability to shake your controller to do a few things, like pick up items or a spin move. But sometimes this can be a little bit too sensitive and you will spin when you really don't want to.

GAMEPLAY: 8.5
Simple and fun, a little to easy and appealing to the younger crowd as I have stated, but it is an overall solid, and enjoyable experience.

SOUND: 8.6
The sound effects were pretty much what you would expect (and that is a good thing). But the music was fairly lacking and unmemorable.

STORY: N/A
You do what Mario always does, don't even worry about it.

MULTIPLAYER: 10
This is a definite party game that you can enjoy with friends and family, don't take it to seriously and just enjoy the times when you are the only one that made it on a platform while the rest fell in the lava and you can find yourself having a blast with minimal effort involved.

FINAL: 9.0

Get the full article at GameSpot

"thrashmaster reviewed New Super Mario Bros. Wii for the Wii..." was posted by thrashmaster on Mon, 17 May 2010 01:21:32 -0700
]]> http://www.gamespot.com/new-super-mario-bros-wii/user-reviews/720743/platform/wii/ Sun, 16 May 2010 00:36:52 -0700 stevenscott14 reviewed Painkiller for the PC... http://www.gamespot.com/painkiller/user-reviews/720617/platform/pc/ ...and gave it a 8.5.

as a self-professed, moderately oldschool pc gamer faced with a world filled with increasingly convoluted first person shooters, it's easy for me to feel rather alienated sometimes. given that i grew up on such primitive, unsophisticated online shooters such as unreal tournament and quake, sometimes it seems that clunky mechanics such as ranking systems, unlocks, experience points, achievements, co-op, etc. just seem like pointless, trivial interferences. to be brutally frank, i don't think i could care any less about the introduction of bastardized rpg elements into games that i traditionally buy for the express purpose of removing other player's heads from their bodies. for sheer childish thrills it often seems like there's nothing quite like a solo romp through seemingly nonsensical environments, traversing terrain primarily with the use of W and the trusty spacebar, and pointing a ridiculously oversized gun at anything that moves. besides yourself, naturally.

and that's exactly what painkiller offers: a throwback to the glorious nostalgia of id-popularized shooters and their myriad imitators. and while such shameless derivation pretty much splits painkiller wide open for knee-jerk criticisms such as "well that's not very original", or "that's been done a million times before", it's hard for me to care when i have my index finger working overtime and a freak case of arthritis developing in my left hand.

let's begin with some building blocks. for one thing, painkiller is chock full of charm. for me it gave the distinct impression that the developers actually knew, instinctively, that nobody was ever going to pay any attention to the storyline, preferring instead to impatiently hammer the escape key during any moment with even the slightest hint of narrative advancement. consequently, they made the story as laughably flimsy as possible, and then compensated for its rather horrific premise with a few flashy extended cut-scenes. honestly i belong in the aforementioned audience demographic; i was so eager to play painkiller that i can only conjure vague plot details, admittedly. as far as i can remember, it's about a dude (i don't even know his name, but he DOES have one) who has to fight through never-ending waves of identical hellspawn in order to meet his dead wife in the afterlife.

which is fine by me, of course. i'm not of a particularly curious disposition, and therefore i'm not about to inquire "why are the enemies here?" or "what do they want with my character?" or "what is my character doing again?" or "why do all the enemies look the exact same?" surely it's far easier - and infinitely more satisfying - to jolt them in the face with a well-placed bolt or take out legions of them at once with an equally spot-on lob of a grenade. and so yeah, to me painkiller's merry selections of cannon fodder made absolutely no logical sense, and its environments are similarly random, making the game's sprites and textures as inconsequential as the equivalently thin storyline.

what we're left with, then, is a highly streamlined and linear trek through some seriously heterogeneous territories in which the only objective is to destroy absolutely everything the game throws at you. it sounds eerily similar to the oft-namedropped quakes and dooms of yesteryear, and that's namely because at heart painkiller aims to replicate that exact same brand of back-to-basics high-octane gunslinging in a more modern light. for the most part, it succeeds. it does many, many things correctly: it lacks a reload function, all weapons have alt-fire capabilities, it's easy to bunny-hop your way through the entire game, and there's no cowardly way of getting things done, like the ever-popular display of cowardice known as hiding with a sniper rifle. (this would later be rectified in the expansion pack, but that's besides the point)

one thing that sets painkiller apart from its predecessors, however, is its noticeable emphasis on set-piece gameplay. whereas quake and doom would lead you down sets of mostly unchanging corridors, spewing enemies at random, painkiller chooses to offer brief reprieves in between larger skirmishes. each of the game's levels is highly structured; you'll enter a large room, foes will teleport in, and you're trapped in the room until one faction emerges victorious over the other. when that happens, the game's tongue-in-cheek nu-metal soundtrack will pause momentarily and you'll be guided to the next checkpoint. upon touching said checkpoint and advancing into the next chamber, the macho guitars will resume anew, yet more assailants will flood in, and you'll again be expected to paint the walls with arterial fluids. it's a somewhat refreshing framework and it does eliminate the tedious practice of quick saving in the right place, since the game autosaves before virtually every major battle.

in terms of the combat itself, painkiller manages to remain consistently meaty and endlessly entertaining throughout all five of its chapters. considering the highly repetitious nature of games such as this, that's a feat in itself. most of this extended enjoyment is attributed to painkiller's brilliant selection of weapons; there's a shotgun that boasts a freeze function, a crossbow-esque weapon that doubles as a grenade launcher, and perhaps best of all, a minigun/rocket launcher combo - arguably one of the most versatile weapons in the entire genre. to maximize the twisted, sadistic pleasures offered by this motley arsenal, the physics engine is seriously satisfying and there's a liberal amount of gore accompanying almost every death in the game. and there's a lot of death.

assuredly there's not much else to say about a game as unashamedly archaic as painkiller. it's safe to say that if you find yourself swayed by a bizarre, all-encompassing urge to play a video game that requires absolutely no brains whatsoever, this is a worthy choice. even if you're a die-hard loyalist who would ordinarily claim that painkiller could never quite eclipse the classics, you can't deny that it's got a one-up over quake ii, etc. simply for the fact that you probably haven't beat this game seven million times on every difficulty setting.

in all, painkiller offers the same characteristic over-the-top qualities and the same blissfully uncomplicated shoot-everything antics as almost any shooter from your youth. on top of that, it's got great level design, fantastic weaponry, and truly immense replay value, if only for the brisk and breezy pacing and the pick-up-and-play factor. obviously there's absolutely no legitimate touches of originality here, but when it comes down to it, you can't go wrong with formulae that have held strong for over a decade. if anything, painkiller proves that so-called 'innovation' is becoming arguably too much of a focus in today's gaming climate, and that sometimes even the most antiquated of gaming blueprints can provide hours of effortless amusement.

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"stevenscott14 reviewed Painkiller for the PC..." was posted by stevenscott14 on Sun, 16 May 2010 00:36:52 -0700
]]> http://www.gamespot.com/painkiller/user-reviews/720617/platform/pc/ Sat, 24 Apr 2010 15:51:24 -0700 geoff-uk123 reviewed WWE SmackDown! Here Comes the Pain for the PlayStation 2... http://www.gamespot.com/wwe-smackdown-here-comes-the-pain/user-reviews/718264/platform/ps2/ ...and gave it a 9.5!

To be frank, I am no real wrestling fan. I don't watch the WWE or anything else like that. One thing I like however, is WWE games, especially the Smackdown series. Out of all the installments in the series, this personally what I'd consider to be not only the best Smackdown game, but the best wrestling game.

This was probably the last superb Smackdown game before RAW came along and spoiled the fun by butchering some cool features (Not saying the SvR games are bad, just not as good as Smackdown). So like other games, you have your typical match types. Hardcore, Hell in a Cell, Royal Rumble, Cage and Ladder, along with some new match types like Bra and Panties, Elimination Chamber and First Blood. Many of these match types are a blast to play.

The season mode is another good aspect of the game and in my opinion, the best season mode out of all the games. Many of the storylines are exciting and the roster is fully customizable. Unlike Shut your Mouth and Just Bring It, you can no longer walk around the arena before matches, but the storylines, funny wrestler encounters and lack of having to walk around everywhere make up for this.

Create-a-Superstar is what you'd expect in other Smackdown games. There is alot of customization allowing you to almost create anyone you want. It is also good as you can remove most of the real superstars from the season mode roster and add all of your created superstars in. As you'd expect, the graphics look outdated for today but even for a game released in 2003, they're not bad. Arenas and wrestler models are well detailed and accruate to their real life counterparts.

One reason why this game is so good is the freedom it gives you. Thanks to the backstages, create-a-superstar mode and great match types, you are able to create the most over-the-top matches. You could have 6 of your created wrestlers battling it out in the streets of Times Square.

Overall, WWE Smackdown! Here Comes the Pain is a brilliant wrestling game which I'd highly recommend. No matter how less of a fan of WWE you may think you are, its a blast to play. The unforgettable season mode, advanced create-wrestler mode, over-the-top features and fun to play match types all combine to make what is probably the most fun wrestling game ever. I recommend it.

Get the full article at GameSpot

]]> http://www.gamespot.com/wwe-smackdown-here-comes-the-pain/user-reviews/718264/platform/ps2/ Fri, 26 Mar 2010 11:12:14 -0700 ChristianKiss reviewed The King of Dragons for the Arcade Games... http://www.gamespot.com/the-king-of-dragons/user-reviews/714297/platform/arcade/ ...and gave it a 8.5.

The Beat-'Em-Up genre was so popular in the 90s that a lot of similar games were released for the arcade machines. Most of them have so much in common that you'll keep asking to yourself if the developers didn't have creativeness to create something different. However, back then, if you were lucky enough to find a machine running The King of Dragons (1991, Capcom), you probably enjoyed a game that looks exactly like any other of the genre, but with a peculiar feel that makes it unique among the masses.

Capcom probably was inspired in the Dungeons 'n Dragons series when they idealized The King of Dragons, because the setting is pretty much the same. You can choose between five characters to venture in a medieval/fantasy world: Elf, Wizard, Fighter, Cleric and Dwarf. They all have their pros and cons; although I suspect that the Wizard is the best one to pick up. The melee classes can count with a shield to block incoming attacks, but the Fighter and the Dwarf blocks have a huge delay and it's hard to master the tempo. The Cleric blocks much faster but his ability to jump so low and to swing slow attacks are his main drawbacks. The Elf is a ranged character that doesn't have the possibility to defend incoming attacks, but his arrows almost traverse the edge of the screen so it's relatively easy to overcome his lack of defense capabilities by keeping the enemies far away. Lastly, the Wizard is the weakest character when taking damage, and he also can't block opponent's attacks, however his powerful staff can take down bosses and tough enemies quite fast when at close range. If you get used with the timing to dodge incoming attacks, the Wizard is probably the best choice due to the huge amount of damage he deals.

The maps and enemies in The King of the Dragons are stereotypes from the Forgotten Realms' world. You'll be killing lizard warriors, skeletons, orcs, minotaurs, sorcerers and, of course, dragons in medieval environments such as castles, open fields and catacombs. The graphics are okay considering the year of release, and the enemies are smart enough to give you trouble until you understand their behavior. Like in any Beat-'Em-Up game, after lots of retries you'll get the correct timing to dodge, block and attack your enemies without being hit. The bosses work in a similar fashion: they all have their predictable twitches, although sometimes you must be extremely fast to avoid their cheating attacks. Even worse, some bosses can go off the visible area of the screen, so it's impossible to tell their next move.

In general, I found killing bosses with the Cleric quite easier than with any other character, because of his fast recovery after blocking attacks. The Wizard, on the other hand, may take down the bad***** amazingly fast if you manage to avoid their attacks properly. The Fighter is okay as well because his sword swings very fast, so it's relatively easy to attack and block at the same time when fighting against nimble bosses.

Since we're talking about a Beat-'Em-Up game inspired in a paper-and-pen RPG, you can bet that The King of Dragons has a leveling system to give you the sense of character progression. And it's indeed effective because, in certain points of the campaign, you'll find upgrades for your defense and attacking abilities. For instance, the Cleric will upgrade his tiny mace to a huge hammer and, instead of using a buckler he will get a huge tower shield that is amazing when fighting against the crowds of monsters. Not only this, your characters also level up their personal stats, which consists in a crucial boost in their maximum health to endure the cruel battles towards the end.

The gameplay in this game is simple: attack enemies as fast as possible while taking care to not get hit meanwhile. But that's just the basic principle to reach the end of the campaign. Like in Knights of the Round (1992, Capcom), a bit of strategy comes handy. For instance, blocking attacks makes a huge difference when playing with the melee classes; and no one can say it's easy to use this feature. You have to push your controller moments before an incoming attack, so you have literally to predict the correct time of your enemy's attacks. When you're playing with a ranged character, since blocking isn't possible, you must use the desperation moves to avoid getting hit. This ability is available to all characters, but it's essential for the ranged ones. This special move drops your health a little and makes your hero invincible for a few seconds, and it also casts a powerful spell that damages multiple monsters in the screen.

The soundtrack in The King of Dragons is fine, and effective enough to give a good dose of adrenaline to the player when battling against the bosses. The music is especially captivating in the final encounter if you're playing the U.S. version. Indeed, oddly enough, there're some noticeable differences between the European and North-American version of The King of Dragons. The game flows faster in the U.S. release, and there're more enemies which increases slightly the difficulty in the game. The first time I played was the Euro version, but you'll never want to play it again after trying the North-American one.

No matter the version in question, The King of Dragons is definitely a game that you'll want to try with some friends. You can play with two buddies at your side, and it is fun to combine, for example, the powerful attack of the Wizard with the amazing blocking ability of the Cleric. On the other hand you may try mixing the Dwarf, the Fighter and the Elf to keep the opponents distant while the melee brutes protect the fragile archer from getting hit. However, even with strong combinations like these you can't avoid the cheap deaths in this game. Sadly, there're some unfair circumstances in The King of Dragons that will let your nervous system uncontrollable. You'll want to hit the arcade stick (or keyboard, as the case may be) repeatedly when someone attacks you from the outside of the screen. It's definitely a dishonest game sometimes, especially at the hardest setting, but the sweet taste of victory will certainly make you waiting for more.

It is quite unfortunate the fact that you can't find any arcade machines around running this game, so you'll have to rely on emulators and roms that are hard to get a license on-line. If you manage to get one, though, you'll enjoy one of the best Beat-'Em-Up games ever released by Capcom.

Get the full article at GameSpot

"ChristianKiss reviewed The King of Dragons for the Arcade Games..." was posted by ChristianKiss on Fri, 26 Mar 2010 11:12:14 -0700
]]> http://www.gamespot.com/the-king-of-dragons/user-reviews/714297/platform/arcade/ Thu, 18 Mar 2010 03:24:23 -0700 thrashmaster reviewed God of War III for the PlayStation 3... http://www.gamespot.com/god-of-war-iii/user-reviews/712819/platform/ps3/ ...and gave it a 10.0!!!

Epic, that is the best word I can use to describe this game. I had very high expectations for the game going into it and the game delivered even better than I could have hoped. The scale of this game compared to the others are amazing, and it takes the best things about GoW 1 and 2 and delivers amazingly well in this third installment with a epic and fitting story as well has unbelievably smooth and enjoyable gameplay.

GRAPHICS: 10
Extremely detailed, textured, and polished. The in game camera is almost as good as the cinematic and it really shows that they had very talented people spending a ton of time making this game look as beautiful as it does.

CONTROLS: 9.7
The best in the series yet, switching weapons and using them interchangeably is a breeze and something you will want to do quite often. The only negative I can think of is when you are jumping to a ledge or swinging from place to place with your blades, sometimes it can be easy to miss where you are trying to land, and that really slows down the game a bit because you are forced to load, and try it again. And since this is such a fast paced game those little moments that happen now and then throughout the game become pretty noticeable.

GAMEPLAY: 9.8
Fantastic and fitting throughout almost the entire game. Some of the creatures are new and other creatures are sort of redone in a way that was fitting for this installment of the game. The pace is fast and the gore is high. Kratos is a living, breathing, wrecking machine and will just destroy anything that gets in his way and the game is paced for it. Very rarely does anything you have to do feel out of place and sometimes the story behind what you are doing or why is not clearly enough explained but not enough to where you feel like you have no real direction.

SOUND: 10
Spot on sound from start to finish, whether you are walking around or battling a god the sound in the game feels very fluid and natural. The music in the game really gets you pumped and helps focus you in on whatever battle you are apart of. But the voice acting is just about as well done as the music, Kratos and all of the other characters voices sound wonderful and very fitting to their personality.

STORY: 9.4
Very good, the story picks up where GoW 2 left off which was an epic cliffhanger and the story concludes in a very fitting way. What and why could been answered a little better as you are playing the game but overall pretty easy to follow.

MULTIPLAYER: N/A

FINAL: 9.78







Get the full article at GameSpot

"thrashmaster reviewed God of War III for the PlayStation 3..." was posted by thrashmaster on Thu, 18 Mar 2010 03:24:23 -0700
]]> http://www.gamespot.com/god-of-war-iii/user-reviews/712819/platform/ps3/ Fri, 05 Mar 2010 18:49:54 -0800 thrashmaster reviewed MAG for the PlayStation 3... http://www.gamespot.com/mag/user-reviews/710667/platform/ps3/ ...and gave it a 9.0!

Overall MAG is a very fun game but doesn't quite feel finished yet. It seems that there needs to be a bit more player modification, some more gametypes, and some more maps. I know they are planning on releasing DLC for this game but when and what have not been mentioned yet. Also, when you reach the top level there is really nothing it can offer you besides switching factions and going again. What this game currently has to offer is enough for me though because I got exactly what I would looking for which was being able to be apart of a squad in a 256 player battle.

GRAPHICS: 9.8
Clean, polished, and interesting. Each of the 3 factions have there own maps and each of the factions maps, weapons, and uniforms have there own "feel" to them which really helps bring the game to life. The overall environment is fun to look at and I haven't noticed any "bad" looking graphics in the game to date.

CONTROLS: 9.2
This game does what every game should when it comes to the controls, it allows you to do many things, very simply. Even when you first start the game out the controls are simple to understand and easy to use. Sometimes I will accidentally heal myself when I meant to revive a fallen comrade which can happen fairly easily, and driving can at times be a bit annoying.

GAMEPLAY: 8.0
The 3 different game modes each offer something different and fun for the player to enjoy but over time you are wishing there were more. The maps, although wonderfully designed eventually leave you wishing there were more to play on.

SOUND: 8.5
Pretty average for the most part, nothing to epic about the guns being fired, or the music playing. Nice sounds, but just nothing overly special. One nice addition they have though is when you start to do really good, like plow down 3 or 4 guys in a row or something equivalent some nice faster paced music picks up which helps you feel like you are kicking some butt and keeps you into the action.

STORY: N/A (not often I get to N/A a story)

MULTIPLAYER: 8.5
It is difficult to score the multiplayer aspect of the game because if you don't have a mic, don't want to work with people, and want to just go around on your own, then the game starts to get old much faster than what it should. But if are willing to talk to some people online and make a few friends while working together for your goals then you will get some unforgettable experiences and enjoy this game so much more. Not that I mic is required, as people will still notice you are working together and group with you if you don't but a mic obviously makes this easier.
Prolly a 7.0 if your a loner
9.3 if you aren't
And since your friends won't always be online I gave it a more of a medium 8.5

FINAL: 8.8

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"thrashmaster reviewed MAG for the PlayStation 3..." was posted by thrashmaster on Fri, 05 Mar 2010 18:49:54 -0800
]]> http://www.gamespot.com/mag/user-reviews/710667/platform/ps3/