Robert7900's GameSpot Friend's Reviews Robert7900's GameSpot Friend's Reviews Robert7900's GameSpot Friend's Reviews en-us Copyright (c)1995-2013 CBS Interactive. All rights reserved. http://www.gamespot.com 20 Wed, 19 Jun 2013 12:44:41 -0700 GameSpot Robert7900's GameSpot Friend's Reviews http://img.gamespot.com/gamespot/shared/promos/misc/gs_logo.gif http://www.gamespot.com 135 40 Sun, 09 Dec 2012 22:14:09 -0800 roleplayer2004 reviewed Dragon's Dogma for the PlayStation 3... http://www.gamespot.com/dragons-dogma/user-reviews/804488/platform/ps3/ ...and gave it a 8.5.

The surprise packet for 2012 would without a shadow of a doubt be Dragons Dogma. This is a game I kept my eye on for quite a while and since my Skyrim fix was out of my system I was looking for the next best thing, and you know what? Dragons Dogma is one of the finest RPG's to come out over the last decade. Leaving expectations sky high for the next installment which might break down the roof.

First of all the combat in Dragons Dogma is highly addictive. I remember back in July just playing this game for 12 hours a day for 2 weeks non-stop. Dragons Dogma is one of those games that can get you through a very long and cold winter but can also spice up your summer.

My biggest problem with Dragons Dogma was the graphics. I know it's a new franchise and all but I couldn't help but feel there could've been so much more polish and fine tuning to smooth over the rough edges but then again that's what makes Dragons Dogma so unique.

The music is captivating and quite serene. You truly feel like your roaming in a different world and the the soundtrack fits the mood of the game perfectly.

Dragons Dogma is a massive game that's hard to wrap your head around. You could easily spend over a hundred hours exploring, looking for secrets, new areas, dragons and more formidable foes.

Dragons Dogma for me is GOTY for 2012 which leaves me salivating for the next installment, which should drop around 2014. If Dragons Dogma 2 is anything like the original with a thick coat of polish we might be onto something very special.

Get the full article at GameSpot

"roleplayer2004 reviewed Dragon's Dogma for the PlayStation 3..." was posted by roleplayer2004 on Sun, 09 Dec 2012 22:14:09 -0800
]]> http://www.gamespot.com/dragons-dogma/user-reviews/804488/platform/ps3/ Sun, 09 Dec 2012 21:49:19 -0800 roleplayer2004 reviewed Dishonored for the Xbox 360... http://www.gamespot.com/dishonored/user-reviews/804487/platform/xbox360/ ...and gave it a 6.0.

You wouldn't believe how excited I was when I heard a new game from Bethesda studios was coming out. I almost thought for a second there I had stumbled across a new liscense similiar to the Assassin Creed franchise but with a lot darker and sinister taste. Instead I found a cheap peice or C$@# in a shiny box. What a total letdown. Dishonored is closer to a B grade horror film then a new psychopathic hybrid Fallout 3 game.

For starters the storys a joke and at times quite unbelievable, the only saving grace about the plot is saving and interacting with your cute yet adorable child. It was the only real emotional connection I had towards the characters in Dishonored but not even that was enough to keep my interest past the 10 hour mark. The stealth kills at first are fun but after an hour of doing the same stab in the back routines, combat gets old really quickly and leaves you feeling more like a brain-dead zombie then a hardcore lunatic.

The Graphics for dishonored are muddy and blurring and the lighting effects make Duke Nukem Forever look like a Steven Spielberg movie. Dishonored is such a horribly outdated looking game it should have been released last gen.

The sound effects are done very well and the soundtrack to dishonored is decent but could have been so much more if the developers spent more time and care investing in the atmosphere rather then the over ambitious plot.

With Dishonored you will get around 10 hours of gameplay on your first play through. This is quite sad from a game with so much hype, so if you are a wise gamer, wait until this game hits the bargain bin before buying a copy or get this game for the weekend as Dishonored is the perfect rental.

Get the full article at GameSpot

"roleplayer2004 reviewed Dishonored for the Xbox 360..." was posted by roleplayer2004 on Sun, 09 Dec 2012 21:49:19 -0800
]]> http://www.gamespot.com/dishonored/user-reviews/804487/platform/xbox360/ Fri, 19 Oct 2012 14:33:14 -0700 roleplayer2004 reviewed AFL Live for the Xbox 360... http://www.gamespot.com/afl-live/user-reviews/801700/platform/xbox360/ ...and gave it a 4.0.

For the $90 price tag I payed to play, I am very dissapointed with AFL Live. The gameplay is too frantic, every time I get the ball I have 0.1 second to make a disposal. The controls are flimsey need a lot of tweaking.The commentry is rushed and uninspired. Dennis Cometti's broken one liners such as "it's like giving Mr. Bean a Bazooka" are tired and old. That's not even the icing on the cake. Brian Taylors cheesy remarks make AFL live a bargain bin game.

A big company like EA need to take AFL Live to the plateau it deserves so that this wonderful game gets the credit it deserves and that's been long overdue. And for Gods sake it's not 2001, so don't make The Hunters and Collectors "Holy Grail" the main theme song of the AFL. "Shoot to Thrill" is the way to go.

Get the full article at GameSpot

"roleplayer2004 reviewed AFL Live for the Xbox 360..." was posted by roleplayer2004 on Fri, 19 Oct 2012 14:33:14 -0700
]]> http://www.gamespot.com/afl-live/user-reviews/801700/platform/xbox360/ Thu, 31 May 2012 01:10:54 -0700 roleplayer2004 reviewed Dark Souls for the PlayStation 3... http://www.gamespot.com/dark-souls/user-reviews/795075/platform/ps3/ ...and gave it a 8.5.

The sequel to the 2009 cult classic Demon Souls is here Dark Souls, and I must say it lives up to all the hype. Dark Souls is a twisted and frightening world that you won't be able to leave. The easiest way to put it is fatal attraction. Dark Souls is far bigger than you could ever imagine and the bosses are exhilarating. Once you start you can't stop.

The story for Dark Souls is a bit disappointing. It's very similar to Demon Souls, you start off in an unknown, cursed land full of mystery and it's up to you to save the world from the evil that plagues the land. But that's not the reason why you will want to play Dark Souls. The big draw card is the unforgiving, but extremely satisfying game play that will keep you coming back for more. There is no other RPG on the market that is as rewarding or challenging than Dark Souls.

The attention to detail that goes into Dark Souls character models is outstanding. The worlds are rich in detail and are at times tangible. My only criticism is some of the textures are blurry such as the vegetation.

A big improvement in Dark Souls is the voice acting. Demon Souls has a reputation for butchering the english language with foreign voice acting. You won't find this problem in Dark Souls as the voice overs are in a native tone and don't stick out like a sore thumb in Demon Souls. The sound effects are very crisp and makes Dark Souls more immersive.

Just like Demon Souls, Dark Souls will make you want to come back for more. You could easily spend over 200 hours playing a single file and if you want to look for all the easter eggs you could easily spend close to a 1000 hours on a single run through.

If you're looking for an old skool RPG with a modern face lift, this is the game for you. Dark Souls might be brutal, but if you have the patience and skill to persevere through this haunted world, this is an experience you will never forget.

Get the full article at GameSpot

"roleplayer2004 reviewed Dark Souls for the PlayStation 3..." was posted by roleplayer2004 on Thu, 31 May 2012 01:10:54 -0700
]]> http://www.gamespot.com/dark-souls/user-reviews/795075/platform/ps3/ Mon, 28 May 2012 14:37:18 -0700 roleplayer2004 reviewed The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings for the Xbox 360... http://www.gamespot.com/the-witcher-2-assassins-of-kings/user-reviews/794894/platform/xbox360/ ...and gave it a 7.0.

The Witcher 2 is a politically charged RPG that has a bit of ass on the side. It's not a particularly interesting game but is thoroughly entertaining. The story of the Witcher 2 is about a supernatural being by the name of Gartel that wants to clear his name for being accussed of killing the king. Not a particularly intesting plot but Triss comes in to spice things up.

One of the first things you'll notice when you start playing The Witcher 2 is that the menu's are all over the place and combat is very chunky. The tutorial system is also very time consuming and confusing. This will surely scare off the casual gamer, which is a huge shame as The Witcher 2 is the kind of game looking for a main stream audience, but ends up being a highly polished old skool RPG. The combat is a lot of fun and is quite complicated but once you get the hang of it the hours will fly by.

The Graphics in The Witcher 2 are very good for the XBOX 360, but don't expect to have your jaw drop or to be blown away. The attention to detail on each character is quite impressive and shows a lot of time and effort went into character developement.

The voice acting is also very good even though every once in a while you'll notice technical problems with the audio. The script for The Witcher 2 is second to none and at times it's hard to tell if the characters voices are fictional as the conversations flow beautifully and are very convincing.

With real world choices that effect the different paths and relationships you will have with other characters in the game, there's a lot of reasons to come back for more once you've completed the story in The Witcher 2. Unfortunately for a large majority of the game you are on a rail, which harms the experience especially when there are games like Skyrim on the market, that let you do what you want when you want.

The Witcher 2 is more for the hardcore RPG gamer and not very friendly towards the casual gamer. If you have a lot of patience and a dark twisted sense of humor, The Witcher 2 is the game for you.

Get the full article at GameSpot

]]> http://www.gamespot.com/the-witcher-2-assassins-of-kings/user-reviews/794894/platform/xbox360/ Sat, 12 May 2012 03:53:25 -0700 Darthpathfinder reviewed WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2009 for the Xbox 360... http://www.gamespot.com/wwe-smackdown-vs-raw-2009/user-reviews/793498/platform/xbox360/ ...and gave it a 8.0.

WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2009 is a professional wrestling game in which you take control of a little and unknown professional wrestling promotion called the WWE. In said wrestling promotion there are two brands one is Raw the other is Smackdown. You can pick to make a home in either or you can bonce around from place to place being the guy in charge. This game introduced a few key new features including the Inferno match, a revamped tag team match, and four new game modes: Create-a-Finisher, Road to WrestleMania, Career and multiplayer season. but before i get into them i want to look at the core gameplay of WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2009 first.

One of the game's most prominent features is the enhanced tag team match. Additions in the match include new ways of tagging the player's tag team partner such as the hot tag, which can help save the player in the match if they are in trouble, and the forced blind tag, where the illegal partner can tag his or herself into the ring. The legal player's tag team partner has more of a part to play in this match and will aid the player by holding an opponent on the ropes while on the apron, and pulling down the ropes for an opponent who is dashing towards them, sending them out of the ring. Teams will now share their own momentum meter, attributes and double team finishers. This is the first SmackDown vs. Raw game to include the Inferno match, a match where the player has to set their opponent on fire. It is similar the real life match which takes place with the ring surrounded by fire coming from gas fed pipes. To win the player must increase the temperature of the ring by performing more devastating moves. As soon as the temperature reaches 500°F, the player can then begin to set their opponent on fire. To set a person on fire, you raise the temperature to max temp. and drag the person towards the ropes provided that the opponent is badly injured. so as you can see so far this game is very child friendly....

There is also backstage brawl, where players can battle in either the locker room or the backstage Gorilla position with a variety of weapons at their disposal, returned and replaced the parking lot brawl match featured in the last game. The Gauntlet match also is a newly featured match selection in the Smackdown vs. Raw 2009 series where one superstar takes on three others one immediately after the other. New to the game is the inclusion of signature moves, moves secondary in importance next to their finishing moves. When in full momentum, the players can choose to store a signature move instead of performing a finishing move which they can perform later. A new semi-auto targeting system was implemented into the game, which will generally automatically target a particular wrestler the player wants to attack but can also be controlled in-game by the player.

Now onto the gamemodes themself, first up in Smackdown vs. Raw 2009 we have Road To Wrestlemania. In this you will choose from five superstars to play as in single-player storylines: Triple H, CM Punk, The Undertaker, John Cena, or Chris Jericho. The storylines featured in the mode are tailor made to fit the chosen wrestler's character with each cutscene made exclusively for the wrestler. As part of the game's new emphasis on tag teams, a co-operative storyline was also included in the mode, in which players can take the parts of Rey Mysterio or Dave Batista.

The next mode to look at is Career Mode, in this all all superstars and divas featured in the game are eligible to play including wrestlers created by the player in Create-A-Superstar mode. The main aim of this mode is for the player to fight their way up the rankings for a particular title of their choice, in match types that they can also choose. After each match, the player's character is awarded attribute points based on the style of wrestling the player used.

Speaking of Create-A-Superstar mode that is the next mode and in this you do as it say make a superstar but not only that it now features physics-based clothing items that will sway around realistically such as loose clothing and necklaces. A roster editor has also been introduced to change the wrestler's brand, face/heel disposition and titles for exhibition matches. The game's Create-A-Stable mode has also been incorporated into the editor under the Team Management name. Not only is there a CAS mode but there is also a Create-A-Finisher as well. In this you have ability to chain a selection of up to 10 out of over 500 animations to make unique finishing moves along with the choice to speed up or slow down the animations. Created finishers are limited to moves starting with both wrestlers standing face-to-face. Also new to Smackdown vs. Raw is the Highlight Reel, where players can record the last 30 seconds of an ongoing match, and edit the clips together afterwards with custom camera angles and added visual and sound effects. Ontop of all there there is also a Create-An-Entrance mode which has been extended to feature created entrances for tag teams. So while it feels differant from past games it also feels the same. They change things up just enough while not ripping it apart to much.

WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2009 came out for the PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Portable, Wii, Nintendo DS, Xbox 360 and Mobile in north america, europe and austraila in November 2008.

Is this the perfect WWE game...Well some say it is and others say it is not me myself find it to be a fun game and well worth the look if your into this kind of game. It may not be everyones cup of tea however.

Get the full article at GameSpot

]]> http://www.gamespot.com/wwe-smackdown-vs-raw-2009/user-reviews/793498/platform/xbox360/ Sat, 05 May 2012 03:56:17 -0700 Darthpathfinder reviewed Total War: Shogun 2 for the PC... http://www.gamespot.com/total-war-shogun-2/user-reviews/793131/platform/pc/ ...and gave it a 9.5!

Total War: Shogun 2 is what i would call a mixer game, why do i call it that well it takes a few differant ways to play a game and then mixes them up into one game form. Each form or gametype within the game works well on its on but when they are used to effect each other and have impact on each other that is what makes the differance. You see this game is a Real Time Based game as well as a Turn Based Game. Both set you up to do what you need to do and it is down to you to master both to rule japan.

Before i go more into the gameplay of Total War: Shogun 2 i want to take a look at its setting. This game is set in 16th-century feudal Japan, in the aftermath of the Ōnin War. The country is fractured into rival clans led by local warlords, each fighting for control. The player takes on the management of one of these clans, with the goal of dominating other factions and claiming his rule over Japan. The standard edition of the game features a total of eight factions plus a ninth faction for the tutorial, each with a unique starting position and different political and military strengths. The limited edition includes an exclusive ninja clan, the Hattori, and a DLC unlocks a tenth clan, the Ikko-Ikki. Shogun 2 moves away from the European setting of previous Total War games and returns to the first setting in the Total War series, but making significant changes to core gameplay elements of Shogun 2. For example, to reflect the characteristics of East Asian warfare, the game's AI is designed on the principles of Sun Tzu's The Art of War. Also, compared to Empire which spanned almost the entire globe, the new installment focuses only on the islands of Japan excluding Hokkaido and on a reduced number of unit types. For those who have been lucky enough to have played every Total war game you know the changes that are talked about.

Moving onto the gameplay side of Shogun 2 is a combination of turn-based strategy and real-time tactics which is a staple of the Total War series. The player plays the role of both the clan leader and general, alternating between the campaign, where the player manages his land and armies turn by turn, and the battles, where the player takes control of the army on the battlefield in real-time. So if you mess up on one it will lead to an impact on the other. In the campaign, the player needs to oversee the development of settlements, military production, economic growth, and technological advancement. The armies and units are organized and moved around the stylised campaign map by the player to carry out battles with other factions. In addition to fighting, the player is able to engage in diplomacy, political maneuvering, and special agents to gain the upper hand. Ninja and geisha are also present in the game as assassins and spies. While religion isn't as relevant as it was in Medieval II, it can't be neglected by the player. Greater interaction with the European foreigners Nanban traders, for example, to enhance trade and acquire firearms, exposes the clan to Christianity, which will seriously increase religious unrest in the provinces. Religious agents, such as monks and priests can be used to convert the enemy population.

With some of the gamplay coverd it is time to look at the clans of the game. These clans are:

The Chosokabe clan inhabit Tosa province and can recruit superior bow infantry and generate more income from farming.
The Date clan control Iwate and can recruit superior no-dachi samurai, all their units also gets a bonus when charging.
The Hojo clan are great builders and siege specialists who inhabit Izu and Sagami.
The Mori clan inhabit Aki and have a long history of naval mastery.
The Oda clan are efficient commanders of ashigaru and are settled in Owari.
The Shimazu clan inhabit Satsuma and can recruit superior katana-armed samurai, their generals are also more loyal to their clan.
The Takeda clan warlords preside over Kai and recruit superior cavalry.
The Tokugawa clan inhabit Mikawa province and rely on diplomatic relations and the recruitment of better warrior ninjas and metsuke.
The Uesugi clan control Echigo and specialise in Buddhism, allowing them to recruit better monks and warrior monks as well as generating more income from trading.
The Hattori are the leading family in Iga and recruit specialised ninjas and warrior ninjas with more expertise.
The Ikko-Ikki clan are a "family" of religious rebels that control Echizen and Kaga and recruit Ronin and superior warrior monks.

Not only is there change in the air when it comes to the factions but that way that your clan as a whole works has changed as well. In the game leaders and generals are given personality and depth in gameplay, with emphasis on role-playing. Generals and agents are portrayed as "larger-than-life" heroes with unique characteristics and powerful abilities. The player is able to improve and unlock traits and special abilities for the characters as they gain experience. This is differant to past total war games in which the generals and agents of you faction would only get traits and the player would have no choice over the matter. However, the player may also be inclined to engage in family politics within the clan to keep its members loyal.

The battles of Shogun 2 involve large-scale engagements between armies that meet on the campaign map and can take place on land or on water. The developers proclaim they are paying particular attention to re-designing the naval and siege battles appropriate to the new setting. In contrast to European castles and forts, the castles in feudal Japan had multiple tiers, and thus the siege battles in the game will put less focus on wall defences but more on courtyard brawls and tactical manoeuvring. Also, the players will fight naval battles with unique Japanese ships resembling floating castles, and take into consideration melees on ships, arrow fire, coastal terrain, and other factors. Like the recent installments, Empire and Napoleon, the weather and climatic conditions have effect on battles. For example, fog greatly reduces visibility, while heavy rain diminishes the effectiveness of missile troops, such as archers or gunners, thus requiring the players to adapt their strategies. Also, as in Napoleon Total War, armies standing on enemy provinces during winter season or fleets far from the coast suffer atrittion. Which means you have to plan when you launch your attacks in hopes of winning the battle/war before you get hit hard by the weather.

Shogun 2 features multiplayer battles with up to 8 players as well as multiplayer campaigns involving competitive or cooperative play with 2 players. In a multiplayer campaign, players can be grouped into different clans, so that for each clan, one player assumes the role of clan leader and others take command of armies. The clan leader has the ability to direct other players and assign rewards based on loyalty and performance, introducing clan politics into multiplayer. As a player's army invades an enemy territory or is attacked by enemy armies, the online matchmaker finds a suitable opponent and initiates a multiplayer battle. When a player defeats enemy armies and conquers territories, the player will gain points and other bonuses for the clan. In addition, an achievement system is designed to provide adhering players with unique abilities and cosmetic upgrades.

Total War: Shogun 2 came out for the PC on the 15 March 2011.

The System requirements for the game are:

Minimum Specs:
2 GHz Intel Dual Core processor / 2.6 GHz Intel Single Core processor , or AMD equivalent (with SSE2).
1GB RAM (XP), 2GB RAM (Vista / Windows7).
256 MB DirectX 9.0c compatible graphics card (Shader model 3); 256 MB DirectX 10/10.1/11 compatible graphics card (shader modesl 4, 4.1, 5).
1024°768 minimum screen resolution.
20GB free hard disk space.

Recommended Specs.
Intel Core i5 processor (i5 680) (or greater), or AMD equivalent.
2GB RAM (XP), 4GB RAM (Vista / Windows7).
AMD Radeon HD 5000 and 6000 or Nvidia GT 240 series graphics cards or equivalent DirectX 11 compatible graphics card.
1280°1024 minimum screen resolution.
20GB free hard disk space.

While i have to agree this game is not going to be everyones cup of tea i do have to say this. Give this game a fair chance it may well be hard to get into and work to get use to but in the end once you do get the hang of a total war game there are many many eras that are coverd and to be fair for me the total war games offer the best when it comes to making war.

Get the full article at GameSpot

"Darthpathfinder reviewed Total War: Shogun 2 for the PC..." was posted by Darthpathfinder on Sat, 05 May 2012 03:56:17 -0700
]]> http://www.gamespot.com/total-war-shogun-2/user-reviews/793131/platform/pc/ Sat, 28 Apr 2012 03:35:35 -0700 Darthpathfinder reviewed Sonic the Hedgehog for the Sega Master System... http://www.gamespot.com/sonic-the-hedgehog/user-reviews/792694/platform/sms/ ...and gave it a 9.0!

Sonic the Hedgehog is a name that if you throw it about in this day and age you will get strange looks because lets be honest here, Sonic the Hedgehog has not realy had any great games over the past few years and realy to get any sort of greatness you have to go oldschool and have to hit the retro mines and dig into the past. Now i am not saying that there have been no good Sonic the Hedgehog games these past 5-10 years but if we look beyond thant timeline we see that then was the time that he and his pals where fighting for the top spot.

Now i bet your sitting there and saying to yourself when is he going to get the the review and indeed which Sonic the Hedgehog game is he reviewing. As lets be honest the tittle does not realy give it away as there are a few who have this name for there games...But this Sonic the Hedgehog game review is for the very first one on a console called the Sega Master System and it is that game i am looking at in this review.

Sonic the Hedgehog is a an 8-bit 1991 platform handheld video game in the Sonic the Hedgehog series. In addition to its original release as a cartridge, the game was later built into some versions of the Sega Master System II in Europe. If i remember rightly one of my other games reviews had a game that was like this as well. The gameplay and the story are so cloes that to tell you one is like telling you the other so i am going to hit you with both at the same time.

Sonic the Hedgehog sees players playing as none other than Sonic the Hedgehog himself as he travels across South Island to liberate it from the evil Dr. Ivo Robotnik. Sonic is able to attack enemies by performing a Spin Attack, either by jumping into the air or rolling on the ground, the latter of which can also send Sonic off ramps. By collecting rings, Sonic can protect himself from damage from enemies and obstacles. Sonic will lose a life if he is hit without carrying any rings, or if he drowns or falls into a bottomless pit. Items found throughout the game include extra lives, speed shoes, invincibility, shields and checkpoints. Throughout the game, Sonic travels through six zones, each consisting of two main acts and a boss battle stage, where Sonic must fight Robotnik without any rings to protect him. At the end of each main act, the player hits a Goalpost which can award bonuses depending on how many rings Sonic is carrying. If the player has over 50 rings, they can access a bonus stage where more rings and continues can be collected. In each zone, there is a Chaos Emerald hidden somewhere in one of the acts, with a good ending awarded if the player finds all of them and completes the game.

Sonic the Hedgehog came out on the Master System in europe and north america on October 25, 1991. Then it came out on the Game Gear in japan, north america and in europe on December 1991. It has also come out on the Virtual Console in north america, japan and europe in 2008.

Sonic the Hedgehog is one of those games that if you old enough to have played it the first time around you will enjoy even more as lot of the stuff in it you might not remember but then alot of the stuff like the music for alot of the zones or a boss fight...Even if you have never played this game before you realy should give it a go at some point in time.

Get the full article at GameSpot

]]> http://www.gamespot.com/sonic-the-hedgehog/user-reviews/792694/platform/sms/ Sat, 21 Apr 2012 03:25:49 -0700 Darthpathfinder reviewed Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box for the DS... http://www.gamespot.com/professor-layton-and-the-diabolical-box/user-reviews/792344/platform/ds/ ...and gave it a 9.5!

Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box is a adventure/puzzle game. That is all that should be needed to be said...you should stop reading this head on off to your local gaming shop and buy a copy of this game...Go on i am not going to do anymore of this review untill you come back here with atleast ten completed puzzles under your hat...Go on...Yes i am talking to you...The one who thinks i can not see you...But be safe and know that i have an all seeing eye so you had better get a move on...I will wait here...

Good your all back and it seems many of you have done as you are told which means i can get on with the review. In Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box the player controls the movements of the eponymous Professor Layton and his young assistant Luke through several locations, unlike in the previous game which is confined to just one town. Along with completing many different types of puzzles, players must explore different areas, solve mysteries, and aid the Professor on his quest. The puzzle menus for this game are very similar to those in Curious Village. Puzzles include brain teasers, sliding puzzles, logic puzzles and others. The player is presented with each puzzle and its value in picarats, and is given unlimited time to solve it. Each puzzle has three hints available for it, but the player must spend one hint coin to see each hint. Hint coins are limited; the player starts with ten, and more can be found by searching the game's locales.

Once the player feels he has the answer, he enters it, either by selecting an answer, drawing a circle around a specific part, or entering the answer through character recognition on the Nintendo DS's touchscreen. If the player is correct, the picarats are added to his total score, and he is sometimes rewarded with an item. If the player is incorrect, they can retry the puzzle indefinitely, though the first two times they are wrong, the value of the puzzle will decrease by approximately ten percent each time. Optionally, a player can quit a puzzle at no cost and try another, though certain puzzles are mandatory to progress. Once a puzzle is completed, the player may retry it at any time via the game's menus. As a reward for completing a puzzle, the player may earn one of three rewards. Hamster toys are collected to help Luke give a morbidly obese hamster a workout. Pieces of a shattered camera that Sammy accidentally dropped can be assembled to repair it. Also, players can earn tea ingredients to brew new recipes and serve cups of tea to Luke, Layton and people they meet. By completing all 138 puzzles in the main game and each of these additional puzzles, the player can access 15 bonus puzzles for a grand total of 153 puzzles.

Now with the gameplay of Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box out of the way it is now time to take a little look at its plot. Dr. Schrader, Professor Layton's mentor, reportedly has come across the mysterious Elysian Box, fabled to kill anyone that opens it. When Layton and Luke go to visit Schrader, they find him unresponsive on the floor and no sign of the box. A train ticket to the Molentary Express is the only clue of the box's theft, and the two prepare to follow on the next train out to head towards the town of Folsense, listed in Schrader's diary as the origin of the Elysian Box. They are followed by Inspector Chelmey, tracking down the crime, and Flora, who sneaks aboard the train but is eventually discovered by the pair. The train makes a stop in Dropstone, a town celebrating the fiftieth anniversary of its founding. As they enjoy the celebration, Layton and Luke learn that the town's founder, Sophia, also had an interest in the Elysium Box through her death the year before, and her granddaughter Katia continues to seek it out. Don Paulo, Layton's arch-rival, kidnaps Flora and disguises himself as her, leaving her behind in Dropstone as the train departs. En route to Folsense, Layton, Luke, and Don Paulo are knocked out with sleeping gas by the train's conductor. They awake to find their train car separated from the rest of the engine at the Folsense station. As they enter the town, they are struck by a brief wave of nausea, and Don Paulo, as Flora, feigns illness to stay at the hotel. Layton and Luke explore the town, and learn it was founded on top of rich mine deposits by Duke Herzen and his sons Anton and Fredrich. Some fifty years ago, upon discovery of a new vein of gold, strange incidents began to occur around town, and many of its citizens left. Fredrich left with his part of the family fortune and founding the Molentary Express, changing his name to hide his identity. They also learn that Dropstone's founder Sophia was also a former resident, evacuating with several of the citizens to form the nearby village. The remaining citizens point to the central castle over the mines, where they claim Anton remains to this day as a vampire.

On returning to the hotel, Layton and Luke find that the remainder of the train's contingent has arrived, and Chemley has arrested one of the conductors as a suspect in the theft of the box. Layton proves him wrong, revealing Don Paulo after long ago seeing through his disguise. Don Paulo escapes but leaves behind the Elysium Box. Layton and Luke figure out the mechanism to open it, but find the box is completely empty. Layton suggests visiting Anton to solve the mystery... This is the point in which i will leave the story so you the player can dive in yourself and see how it all ends.

Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box came out on the Nintendo DS in japan on November 29, 2007 in north america on August 24, 2009 in austrailia on September 24, 2009 and in europe on September 25, 2009.

Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box is on many levels a fun game. Yes its not action packed but it still makes you stop and think and at times that is all a person needs to relax and have fun.

Get the full article at GameSpot

]]> http://www.gamespot.com/professor-layton-and-the-diabolical-box/user-reviews/792344/platform/ds/ Sat, 14 Apr 2012 03:53:39 -0700 Darthpathfinder reviewed Need for Speed Carbon for the PlayStation 2... http://www.gamespot.com/need-for-speed-carbon/user-reviews/791955/platform/ps2/ ...and gave it a 7.0.

Need for Speed Carbon is as you might be able to tell from its name a racing game. As you might know about me already i am not a huge fan of racing games and i do not go out of my way to buy racing games but at the same time if someone is getting me one as a gift i will not throw it back in there face....After all i am still a gamer. With that out of the way lets get back to the review at hand.

I feel like changing things up so i am just going to jump right into the plot and then go from there. Having escaped from the police in Rockport, the player is shown driving to Palmont City. A flashback of a race against Kenji, Angie, and Wolf comes to the player's mind. Near the end of the race, the player was winning, but the police suddenly appeared and brought the race to a close. Darius allows the player to borrow his car and thus escape. As the flashback concludes, former police sergeant now turned bounty hunter Cross shows up in his Chevrolet Corvette. Cross pursues the player, which leads to the player's BMW M3 GTR that he reclaimed from Razor in Need for Speed: Most Wanted becoming wrecked. Before Cross can arrest the player, Darius and his crew arrive. Darius orders his assistant to pay Cross and the player then is teamed up with Nikki, who is now Darius' girlfriend, on bad terms. Darius tells the player to regain control of the different territories in Palmont. Winning races one by one, the player acquires territories and ultimately districts from Kenji Downtown Bushido, Angie Kempton 21st Street, and Wolf Fortuna TFK. After beating each racer, the player meets up with a former member of that racer's crew, who want to join the player's crew and reveal their observations regarding the night the player took off from Palmont.

After gaining control of all three districts, Darius asks the player to meet up with him. Darius reveals that he was just using the player all along to get more territory, and that he has brought Cross along to arrest the player. Darius leaves the player at the mercy of Cross, but the player is saved by the arrival of Nikki, who tells him that she now realizes everything that happened months ago after piecing together her view of the night and the viewpoints of the other racers. This is where i leave off with the plot and let you the player find out more once you start playing it.

Now that the plot has been look at it is time to look at the gameplay of Need for Speed Carbon. The gameplay is based upon rival street racing crews. Players run a crew and can hire specific street racers to be in their crew and the active friendly racer is known as a wingman. Each hirable street racer has two skills, one which is a racing skill scout, blocker, and drafter and a non-race skill fixer, mechanic, and fabricator. Each skill has different properties from finding hidden alleys/back streets shortcuts to reducing police attention. Cars driven by the wingmen are also different; blockers drive muscles, drafters drive exotics and scouts drive tuners although the first two unlockable wingmen Neville and Sal drive cars according to the player's chosen car class at the start of the game. In career mode, players have to race tracks and win to conquer territories and face off against bosses to conquer districts. Unlike Need for Speed: Most Wanted and Underground, Carbon had no drag racing. However, Carbon features the return of drift racing, a mode that had been included in two previous installments Need For Speed: Underground and Underground 2, but omitted from Carbon's predecessor, Most Wanted; and new style of event, Canyon Event, based on Japanese Touge races. There are four types of Canyon Events: Canyon Duel, Canyon Sprint, Canyon Checkpoint and Canyon Drift. A special point to note is that Lap Knockout race events are omitted, compared to previous installments.

Need for Speed Carbon came out for Windows, Mac OS X, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Wii, PlayStation 2, Xbox, GameCube, Game Boy Advance, Nintendo DS, PlayStation Portable, Mobile phone, Zeebo on or around October 31, 2006.

The System requirements for Need for Speed Carbon are:

Microsoft Windows:
Windows XP or better.
1.7GHz CPU.
512MB RAM.
iPod.
iPhone.
iPad.
5.3GB hard disk drive space.
DirectX 9.0c compatible 64MB video card with one of these chipsets: Radeon 8500; GeForce 4 Ti.
DirectX 9.0c compatible sound card.
8x DVD drive (DVD edition) / CD drive (CD edition).

Mac:
Mac OS X 10.4.9 or better.
1.83 GHz CPU Intel Core Duo.
512 MB RAM.
6 GB hard disk space.
Radeon X1600; GeForce 7300 GT.
DVD-ROM drive.

From the time i had spent with this game when i first got it to now i have to say it has been a fun game. Not the best game in the world mind but to fill up some spare time while waiting for a new game to come it does the job and then some...

Get the full article at GameSpot

]]> http://www.gamespot.com/need-for-speed-carbon/user-reviews/791955/platform/ps2/ Sat, 07 Apr 2012 03:45:08 -0700 Darthpathfinder reviewed Mario Party 8 for the Wii... http://www.gamespot.com/mario-party-8/user-reviews/791535/platform/wii/ ...and gave it a 7.0.

Mario Party 8 is a party video game which as you should be able to tell from the number that comes after the name of this game is the eighth installment in the Mario Party series. Now i know what your saying...a party game...What kind of party game..And to be fair you would be right to ask that if your new to these games...if your not new then what game where you playing....?

Anyway lets look at the gameplay and how it all works. During the standard game, four different characters compete on one of six themed boards. When playing with fewer than four people, players select which characters the computer will control, as well as their difficulty level and handicap. Players can also select from five different areas to play on from the Play Choices screen by selecting the Select File screen in the beginning. Here, the player is given the choices of five different areas to play on: Party Tent, Star Battle Arena, Minigame Tent, Extras Zone, and the Fun Bazaar. The Party Tent allows for characters to compete on boards in three kinds of battles: Battle Royale four-player competition; one to four players, Tag Battle two-vs. two; one to four players, or Duel Battle one-on-one; one to two players. In the Star Battle Arena mode, one player faces off against one opponent on each board in which when you get to the last board, Bowser will take the star from the player and he/she will face against Hammer Bro or Blooper which once defeated are included as playable characters in Bowser's Warped Orbit, then once he/she defeat the character, Bowser will give you back the Star Rod and you will face in a final mini-game called Superstar Showdown. When you win the battle the player wins the game.

In the Minigame Tent, players can play several non-board challenges from the minigames. The extras zone has the eight extra minigames that do not appear in board-play with your Miis. Finally, the Fun Bazaar has the player use their carnival cards to unlock minigames and other surprises. In the Fun Bazaar, there is a place where if you buy it with your carnival cards, the player may listen to music and character voices. Minigame records can also be viewed here. For general board-play modes, players take turns, these can range from 10 to 50 turns rolling a dice block and moving across the game board, with the goal being to getting as many stars as possible within the alloted turn limit. Toward the end of the game, during the last five turns, gameplay is altered slightly. This can include events such as candy or coins being awarded to the player in last place, as well as additional coins being placed on each space. After the game has ended, three Bonus Stars may be awarded to players for various feats during play. Finally, the player with the most stars is declared the winner, with the number of coins possessed used as a tiebreaker.

Some of the boards in Mario Party 8 are classic Mario Party in nature, with players attempting to reach locations where they can buy a star for 20 coins 10 coins in King Boo's board and in Capt. Goomba's board stars are free because of all the spaces you need to travel to get a star, others are more varied. For example, "Koopa's Tycoon Town" involves players investing coins into hotels just like you would do in Monopoly in order to earn stars, with each hotel only providing stars to the player with the highest current investment. As always, all boards include a number of elements which can greatly influence the course of the game. Notable for this is "Shy Guy's Perplex Express", where the train cars which make up the game board can be re-ordered as the result of landing on a certain space, potentially changing the relative positions of all players.

But at the heart of Mario Party 8 are the minigames, with one taking place at least once per turn. A number of the minigames rely on the unique capabilities of the Wii Remote, while others instead require players to hold the controller sideways and use only the buttons. There are over 80 minigames in Mario Party 8. Not only that but there are 14 playable characters, including Mario, Luigi, Toad, Princess Daisy, Yoshi, Birdo, Princess Peach, Toadette, Wario, Waluigi, Boo, Dry Bones, Blooper and Hammer Bro. You can also use Mii characters as well.

Mario Party 8 came out for the Wii in north america on May 29, 2007 in europe on June 22, 2007 in the UK on July 13, 2007 in austraila on July 19, 2007 and in japan on July 26, 2007.

This is what i would call a mixed bag of a game...or a game in which you would play when you have younger family memebers around who do not realy care for the super so called "hardcore" games...And realy it is fun to just have some crazy fun at times.

Get the full article at GameSpot

"Darthpathfinder reviewed Mario Party 8 for the Wii..." was posted by Darthpathfinder on Sat, 07 Apr 2012 03:45:08 -0700
]]> http://www.gamespot.com/mario-party-8/user-reviews/791535/platform/wii/ Sat, 31 Mar 2012 03:53:56 -0700 Darthpathfinder reviewed Gratuitous Space Battles for the PC... http://www.gamespot.com/gratuitous-space-battles/user-reviews/791104/platform/pc/ ...and gave it a 8.0.

Gratuitous Space Battles is sort of like a cross between a real-time strategy game and a tower defense game. Why do i say that well you will soon see in the review once i get it under way but first. I want to ask you all what do you like out of a game that is going to have Space Battles in it? Is it the explosions? Is it the huge ships trading shots with each other? is it the fighters weaving around all of that trying to do damage while they themselfs can be taken out in a single shot? Or is it all before the battle even starts? Do you enjoy the set up...the build up? The picking the right hull set and then fitting it out to do a role in your fleet? Which is your fav part?

Now with that out of the way lets get back to the review. In this game it challenges players with defeating opposing space fleets through careful pre-battle planning. For each skirmish or engagement, the player has a fixed budget and a maximum number of pilots. This means if you have a small amount to spend you can put it all into a single huge ship or two and hope they have the firepower to deal with what is thrown at you or you could got with more smaller ships..The choice is yours. There are various other limitations or rules which influence the outcome of the battle. For example, a given environment may reduce the effectiveness of ship shields, or may reduce weapon ranges. Players must take this information into account when selecting and positioning the ships that form their own fleet. Once players have selected their ships and issued orders to the ships concerning how to engage the enemy fleet, the battle begins. The battle itself proceeds completely without human interaction, with the outcome being determined entirely based on the data, rather than on player reflexes or mid-battle decisions. So you have to be very very carefull with your tactics and your choices because brute force dose not always rule the day.

Also in Gratuitous Space Battles the game encourages players to win battles using as few resources as possible by awarding honor for any unspent funds. That is, for each point of budgetary allocation which a player could have spent but did not, a point of honor is awarded upon victory. The game tracks the maximum honor previously awarded per battle at each difficulty level, so players can continue to earn more only by beating their previous best. After amassing a sufficient quantity of honor, it can then be traded to unlock new ship modules, new ship hull configurations, and new playable alien races. Which again another choice has to be made...do you go all out to ensure a win or do you hold back in hopes of getting enough points to unlock a new weapon or ship hull?

Seeing as Gratuitous Space Battles consists solely of combat in space it gives players a great deal of flexibility in how ships are designed. For a given playable race, players have a number of hull configurations from which to choose, made up of three different sizes of ships fighters, frigates, and cruisers. Different ship hulls have different numbers of mounting points for modules and weapons, as well as having various inherent characteristics in the form of overall bonuses in specific areas. Players must balance ship cost, weight, speed, power, crew, and offense/defense capabilities in deciding what combat role a given spacecraft will fulfill. So again more choices have to be made...Do you outfitt your forces to be super protected so that no mater what the other fleet does it can never take you down or do you go all out and try a set up that will finish them off before they do to much damage to you...?

Gratuitous Space Battles came out for Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, Linux on November 17, 2009.

The System Requirements are:

For the PC:
OS: Windows XP or Vista.
Processor: 1.5 GHz processor.
Memory: 1GB.
Graphics: 3D Card with 128MB video memory.
DirectX°: 9.0c.
Hard Drive: 300 MB.

For the Mac:
OS: OS X version Leopard 10.5.8, Snow Leopard 10.6.3, or later.
Processor: Intel 1 Ghz.
Memory: 512 MB.
Graphics: 32MB video card.
Hard Drive: 75 MB.

Gratuitous Space Battles is a game that can take some time to get use to and you have to put a little time into working out what will work best and being ready to change things up when it is called for. But at the end of the day this is a game well worth its money and well worth the time to enjoy.

Get the full article at GameSpot

"Darthpathfinder reviewed Gratuitous Space Battles for the PC..." was posted by Darthpathfinder on Sat, 31 Mar 2012 03:53:56 -0700
]]> http://www.gamespot.com/gratuitous-space-battles/user-reviews/791104/platform/pc/ Sat, 24 Mar 2012 04:56:39 -0700 Darthpathfinder reviewed Freelancer for the PC... http://www.gamespot.com/freelancer/user-reviews/790612/platform/pc/ ...and gave it a 9.2!

Freelancer is a space trading and combat simulation game which if you take that for what it is sounds sort of boring but realy if you give this game a chance and i do mean a real chance then you will see that it is far from boring as i found out when i first got this game. Freelancer is a game that simulates combat in space and inter-planetary trading. Players take up the roles of pilots who fly single-seat spacecraft, trading with merchants on space stations and planets, and engaging in combat against other vessels. Starting with a small spacecraft in a star system, the player's character explores the region, opening up new systems for further adventures. Each system provides opportunities to increase the pilot's wealth; aside from taking on jobs to ferry goods and hunting for bounties, the player character can engage in trade. The player character's primary goal in the game is to accumulate money, so as to buy more advanced weaponry and equipment to upgrade his ship. Which in games like this is always a good goal to have...

The game is played primarily through pointing and clicking with the mouse and a few keyboard commands. This system is also used to control the spacecraft, a breakaway from the traditional use of joysticks for space flight simulators. With the view of the spacecraft from the rear, players fly their ships by moving the mouse in the direction they want the vessels to go. However a dash of realism is implemented by allowing the vessels to cut power to their engines and turn to face any direction while drifting along their original path. Which to be honest is a very cool way to fight if you pull it off right. Clicking the mouse button shoots the ship's weapons at the location of the cursor. The interface has no radar display; the location of objects not shown on the screen are indicated by pointers at the screen's edges. Targeting, communications, and navigation data are displayed in information boxes that can be minimized.

After the pilot docks with a space station or lands on a planet, the screen and its interface change to a rendition of the area he is visiting. The player moves the pilot to different locations and interacts with certain objects, such as reading a bulletin board and talking to other characters, by clicking on their graphical representations. Freelancer's economy comprises the buying and selling of spacecraft, their armaments and components, and commodities. Certain goods are considered contraband in some systems, and they have to be smuggled past police patrols to their buyers. Computer-controlled characters in certain locations on the planets or stations offer quests and jobs. Freelancer also features a multiplayer mode, allowing up to 128 players to play together in a game. Multiplayer games are hosted on game servers; personal computers that meet the requirements for the game can act as a server. Gameplay is similar to the single-player mode, but is absent of story-driven quests. Because the server keeps individual records of the players' progress, they can resume their game when they next log on to it. A persistent virtual galaxy is thus maintained for them.

Now that i have looked at the gameplay it is time for me to look at the plot/story of the game. This game takes place 800 years after the events of a game called Starlancer. The solar system was engulfed in a civil war, fought between the Alliance and the Coalition. Facing defeat, the Alliance placed its people in stasis and sent them to the Sirius system, where they settled and transformed the surrounding space the Sirius sector into a region of political intrigue and opportunity. The rule of the sector is mostly split among four houses, each named after the sleeper ship that brought them to the system. Each house exhibits the culture of its terrestrial ancestor: Liberty of 1920s United States, Bretonia of Victorian era United Kingdom, Kusari of Shogunate era Japan, and Rheinland of Second Industrial Revolution Germany. The fifth sleeper ship, Hispania, suffered a malfunction en-route and was abandoned in deep space. The descendants of its crew became pirates. Freelancer's planetary bodies and space stations lie on a single plane. There are 48 known star systems, and spacecraft can travel from one system to another by passing through jump gates. Within a system, spacecraft can travel in the trade lanes a series of gates that connect to form a space highway to quickly reach places of interests, such as planets, space stations, and mining operations. Asteroid and debris fields populate some of the systems, and secret hideouts and derelicts with valuable items exist in deep space. Merchant ships ply the trade lanes, carrying cargo from system to system and occasionally coming under attack by pirates. Patrolling the systems are police and large naval warships.

The games story starts up with the destruction of space station Freeport 7 by unknown forces, leaving Trent (you) without money or ship on the planet Manhattan. While waiting for his debtor, Lonnigan, to regain consciousness, Trent takes up employment with the LSF under Jun'ko Zane, who provides him with a small ship. Lonnigan refuses to pay Trent when he awakes and is mysteriously taken away by the LSF. His death is later announced, and Trent is contacted by a thief who reveals that a mystery party destroyed Freeport 7 to get an artifact in the thief's possession. An LSF officer kills the thief, and he is shot by Zane in self-defense as she arrives at the scene. Zane and Trent flee Liberty space, traveling across approximately half of the Freelancer world in their flight. Trent locates Dr Quintaine to learn more about the artifact. While finding additional materials for their research, they discover the existence of the Nomad alien race, who are the caretakers of an empire that belonged to the previous inhabitants of the Sirius sector, the Dom'Kavosh. The Nomads can possess humans and have slowly infiltrated the four Houses in this manner, planning to ignite a civil war to weaken the humans for elimination...

As always i will not cover all of the story just incase any of you have not had a chance to play this game.

Freelancer came out for Microsoft Windows on March 4, 2003 the System requirements are:

600 MHz CPU.
128 MB RAM.
900 MB hard disk space.
16 MB video card.

While this game is almost ten years old it is well worth tracking down and playing...Even if it is just for the single player mode and the online part is even more fun as well.

Get the full article at GameSpot

"Darthpathfinder reviewed Freelancer for the PC..." was posted by Darthpathfinder on Sat, 24 Mar 2012 04:56:39 -0700
]]> http://www.gamespot.com/freelancer/user-reviews/790612/platform/pc/ Sat, 17 Mar 2012 05:12:12 -0700 Darthpathfinder reviewed Dragon Age II for the PC... http://www.gamespot.com/dragon-age-ii/user-reviews/790058/platform/pc/ ...and gave it a 7.5.

Dragon Age II is a fantasy role-playing game. In which you play the role of a hero. This heros name is Hawke. The game starts with Hawke and his family escaping Ferelden with a Darkspawn undead army in pursuit. Soon however, they are forced to fight the overwhelming Darkspawn alongside Templar Wesley and his wife, Aveline. Although Wesley and one of the Hawke's siblings either Bethany or Carver are killed, the skirmish ends with the intervention of Flemeth, a witch who can assume the form of a huge dragon. With the help of Flemeth, the party escapes to Kirkwall, a city across the sea where they hope to find refuge. Upon arriving in Kirkwall however, the party finds itself outside the gates of a city that is overwhelmed by Ferelden refugees and refuses to accept any more. Therefore, Hawke sees no choice but to enter the service of either a mercenary or a smuggler group. With the promise of a year of service, Hawke and his family finally manage to bribe their way into the city to live in a small dilapidated house in Lowtown.

After year of service for one of the two groups, an opportunity of prosperity presents itself: The dwarf brothers Bartrand and Varric are planning a treasure hunt expedition into the perilous region of The Deep Roads. The expedition is expected to be extremely risky but very rewarding. Although Bartrand is stubbornly unwilling to take any partners, Varric acknowledges the fact that they lack enough funding, experienced combat personnel and the knowledge of the region. Therefore, he approaches Hawke and proposes a partnership in exchange for the fulfillment of the three requirements. As such, Hawke embarks on an adventurous quest to earn the needed capital and enlist the aid of Anders, a rogue mage and a former Grey Warden who possesses the precious knowledge about The Deep Roads.

The Deep Roads expedition proves both a financial success and a tragedy...

Now i am going to leave the story there for people who have not yet played the game and i am going to take a little look at the gamplay of Dragon Age II. The player starts the game by creating a character whose family name is Hawke. The player decides the given name, gender, appearance and combat specialty role of Hawke. Hawke can be either a warrior who wields sword, axe, mace and shield, a rogue who wields dagger or bow and arrow or a mage who wields a magical staff and uses magic. The player is not only in control of Hawke. From the very start of the game, the player gains access to several companions who accompany Hawke in and out of the battle. The player may choose up to three companions to bring along. Hawke's companion characters are Bethany, Carver, Aveline, Varric, Fenris, Merrill, Isabela and Anders. The Exiled Prince expansion pack adds Sebastian Vael. These characters have their own dedicated background and plot.

In a battle, the player can switch between party members and order each member individually. The player may pause the game in order to better manage what each party member does, allowing the player to coordinate the characters to maximize combat efficiency. For instance, the player may have the party's mage freeze an enemy while a party warrior shatters the frozen enemy to pieces. After a battle, the player may loot the enemy for money and equipment. The spoils of war may be used to better outfit the party members. Battle also yields experience which can be used to unlock new combat abilities for each character. Like with most RPGs in Dragon Age II its not all about the fighting there is talking to do as well.

One of the concerns of the player is Hawke's affinity with the rest of his companions. Each companion has a graphical approval bar which indicates how that person likes Hawke. Almost everything that Hawke says or does has the potential to change a character's opinion of Hawke. This bar works in two opposite directions: Friendship and rivalry. A companion with high friendship considers Hawke a friend, while high rivalry indicates the companion respects Hawke but disagrees with the PC's views. Therefore, the player must carefully choose which character to bring along in each quest. Once the approval bar reaches 100% friendship or rivalry, it is locked in place, and additional dialogues are unlocked. Full friendship or full rivalry both have combat bonuses: Friendship bonuses generally benefit Hawke or the whole party, while rivalry bonuses boost the companion's ability in combat, because of the competition to outdo Hawke. Full friendship or full rivalry also enable opportunities for romance. The characters with full friendship accompany Hawke into the final battle unconditionally, even if they consider Hawke's decision a mistake.

Dragon Age II came out on march 2011 for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X.

The System requirements are:

Minimum:
Operating system:
Windows XP 32-bit with SP3, Windows Vista 32-bit with SP2, Windows 7 64-bit.
CPU:
Intel Core 2 Duo (or equivalent) running at 1.8 GHz or greater, AMD Athlon 64 X2 (or equivalent) running at 1.8 GHz or greater.
Memory:
1 GB (1.5 GB Vista and Windows 7).
Hard drive space:
7 GB of free space.
Graphics hardware:
Radeon HD 2600 Pro 256 MB, Nvidia GeForce 7900 GS 256 MB cards.
Sound hardware:
Direct X 9.0c Compatible Sound Card Windows.

Recommended:
Operating system:
Windows XP 32-bit with SP3, Windows Vista 32-bit with SP2, Windows 7 64-bit.
CPU:
Intel Core 2 Quad 2.4 GHz Processor or equivalent, AMD Phenom II X3 Triple core 2.8 GHz or equivalent.
Memory:
2 GB (4 GB Vista and Windows 7).
Hard drive space:
7 GB of free space.
Graphics hardware:
ATI 3850 512 MB or greater (To run Direct X 11 - ATI 5850 or greater), Nvidia 8800GTS 512 MB or greater (To run Direct X 11 - Nvidia 460 or greater).
Sound hardware:
Direct X 9.0c Compatible Sound Card Windows.

Is Dragon Age II a flawed game...to be honest yes it is. But then again that does not mean it is not a fun game. Is it differant from the first game..well yes and no because it is set around about the same time as the first and events from time to time...Do mix. But realy if you have played the first one you realy should give this one a go.

Get the full article at GameSpot

"Darthpathfinder reviewed Dragon Age II for the PC..." was posted by Darthpathfinder on Sat, 17 Mar 2012 05:12:12 -0700
]]> http://www.gamespot.com/dragon-age-ii/user-reviews/790058/platform/pc/ Sat, 10 Mar 2012 03:51:29 -0800 Darthpathfinder reviewed Contra (1987) for the NES... http://www.gamespot.com/contra-1987/user-reviews/789505/platform/nes/ ...and gave it a 8.5.

Contra is a run and gun action game. It first seen the light of day as a coin-operated arcade game, in as many of you know by now is a dying if not dead breed of a way to play games. But thanks to people this game like many others got proted over to home consoles and thus you could play the games at home and not have to worry about getting there in time to be first on...Well unless you have alot of brothers and sisters that is....

As with all my reviews that i do i will take a little look at the plot. The the player controls one of two armed military commandos named Bill "Mad Dog" Rizer and Lance "Scorpion" Bean, who are sent on a mission to neutralize a terrorist group called the Red Falcon Organization that is planning to take over the Earth. Now depending on where you are from and which version of the game you have the story and its setting are a little differant. The Japanese versions sets the game in a fictional Galuga archipelago near New Zealand in the futuristic year of 2633. While the manual for the American NES version sets the game during the present in an unnamed South American island. The American storyline also changes the identity of "Red Falcon" from being the name of a terrorist organization to the name of an alien entity. so realy the story is all over the place and realy your just going to have to play your version out to get more info.

With that out of the way its time to look at the gameplay of Contra. You start the game off with a rifle with an unlimited amount of ammunition. The player can also jump, move and fire in eight directions, as well as move or jump simultaneously while firing. A single hit from any enemy, bullet, or other hazard will instantly kill the player character and discard the current weapon. In Contra there are a total of over 10 areas. There are two types of stages in Contra. In addition to the standard side view stages, Contra also features stages in which the player character is seen from behind and must move towards the background in order to proceed. Each of these "3D maze" stages are set inside the corridor of an enemy base in which the player must fight through the base's defenses in order to reach the core of the base. During the 3D maze stages, the upper screen will display a map of the base along with a time limit. Each maze stage is followed by a "3D fixed" stage set at the core of the base, in which the player must destroy a series of flashing sensors to expose an even larger sensor and destroy it.

Contra also features a two-player cooperative mode. Both players occupy the same screen and must coordinate their actions. One player lagging behind can cause problems for his partner, as the screen will not scroll onward, and a slow player can be fatal to his partner.

Now we take a look at the upgrades that are on offer to help you in the fight. There are a total of four weapons the player can retrieve from flying weapon capsules, pill-box sensors, or red guards during 3D mazes. All the power-ups in the arcade version are represented by Eagle-shaped letter icons with the exception of the Machine Gun and Laser. In the arcade version, the flying weapon capsules only appear if the player is not wielding any special weapons. The upgrades are:

Machine gun.
Laser gun.
Spread gun.
Fire gun.
Rapid fire - increase firing speed.
Barrier - temporary invincibility.

Contra first came out in the arcades on February 20, 1987 and has then been ported to the Famicom/NES, MSX2, ZX Spectrum, Amstrad CPC, Commodore 64, MS-DOS, PlayStation 2, Xbox 360 (XBLA), Nintendo DS, Virtual Console, Mobile Phone, PlayStation Network.

This is one of those games that just stick in your mind even after so much time since it first played out. Many people will remember it for differant reasons but alot will remember it for one.....

THE KONAMI CODE!!!!!

Get the full article at GameSpot

"Darthpathfinder reviewed Contra (1987) for the NES..." was posted by Darthpathfinder on Sat, 10 Mar 2012 03:51:29 -0800
]]> http://www.gamespot.com/contra-1987/user-reviews/789505/platform/nes/ Sat, 03 Mar 2012 03:49:26 -0800 Darthpathfinder reviewed Bejeweled 3 for the PC... http://www.gamespot.com/bejeweled-3/user-reviews/788983/platform/pc/ ...and gave it a 7.0.

Bejeweled 3 is a tile-matching puzzle video game or what you could call a game aimed at the casual gamer. Weather or not this is true is not the point of this review. I am here to do what i always do. I am here to review it as a game. Do you at the end of the day get your money out of it...is it worth its price...Some full price AAA games sometime to not live up to that and they cost more to make and cost more for the gamer to buy. To be fair to compare the two or even to split them up like this is realy unfair because weather we play for hours on end per day or we spend 20 mins on a game we are all still gamers.

In bejeweled 3 you are supposed to swap one gem with an adjacent one to form a chain of three or more gems of the same color. When this occurs the gems disappear and a new bunch of gems which are randomly generated drop from above to fill up the empty space. When falling gems automatically line-up a chain reaction known as a cascade is caused. In addition to high-definition graphics, new sound effects and the ability to match more than one set of gems at one time. Bejeweled 3 also has a badge system, with some of the badges reserved for the most elite gem matchers. There are 8 modes of gameplay are available in the game including 4 new modes as well as 4 traditional modes from Bejeweled 2. These are:

Classic:
The classic Bejeweled gameplay mode from previous installments of the game. All players have to do is continuously match a row containing of three or more gems by swapping one gem with its adjacent counterpart. The game ends when there are no more possible moves.

Zen:
One of the new additions is a special Zen Mode, where players can play the game without end, as calming music and positive affirmations play in the background. This mode is tailored to relax players with relaxing aural tones, ambient sounds and breath modulation. Players can continue playing this mode endlessly as the replacement gems in the game are randomly generated in a way such that there is always one more move for the player. There is also a special breath modulation mode which features a tracking line which moves back and forth, it produces several breathing patterns which players are encouraged to match the breathing pattern. The overall objective of this is to slow the breathing rate of the player so as to allow the player to calm down and de-stress.

Lightning:
This is essentially a time trial mode where players have to get as many points as possible within a 60 seconds timeframe. Players can increase their time limit by lining up special gems, or by creating chains at a fast pace to gain a Blazing Speed bonus.

Quest:
A series of 40 puzzles and 11 mini-games which include rescuing special butterfly gems, digging through diamond mines, battling ice storms as well as others. These are specially tailored puzzles which have an objective other than the standard Bejeweled gameplay.

Then there are the secret Modes which are not available untill the player has to earn some specific achievements to unlock them. These are:

Butterflies:
This mode features "butterflies" that move up one space every turn, and have to be matched with gems of their own color to be collected. The aim is to collect as many butterflies as possible before a butterfly reaches the top, where a spider is waiting. The game ends when a butterfly flies up above the game screen and is caught by the spider. Reaching level 5 in Zen mode will unlock this mode.

Diamond Mine:
This mode features mining for gold, treasures and crystals. The gameplay consists of a digging machine that moves 2 rows further down underground every time all dirt above the 6th row is cleared. Dirt is cleared when gems immediately adjacent to it when matched, or detonated. The game starts with 1 minute and 30 seconds, and 30 seconds is added to the clock every time the digging machine moves down or 90 seconds of the whole screen is cleared of dirt in one move, for instance, matching two hypercubes. The game ends when the time runs out. Finishing 4 minigames in Quest mode unlocks this mode.

Ice Storm:
This mode features rising columns of ice that extrude from the bottom of the screen upwards. The aim of this mode is to stop the ice columns from reaching the top of the board, which freezes the game board, ending the game. Making matches above or below ice columns decrease the height of them, and making a vertical match in the relevant column will shatter the ice completely. As matches are made, a meter fills up and increases the multiplier by x1 and pushes all ice columns down every time it is filled. Once an ice column has reached the top, a skull sign appears over it and a secondary ice column rises up. Once this hits the top, the board freezes and the game is ended. Earning 100,000 points in Lightning mode will unlock this mode.

Poker:
This mode features a poker-style game play. There is a pack of cards alongside a games board, and a score table. Every time a match is made, a card is turned over with its gem on it. After five moves, the resulting "hand" is evaluated and score is added to the table respectively. For example, five gems of the same color would be the best hand, a "flush." Making a match where two sets of gems on it will produce a card with a gem (the gem that was selected) and a smaller gem of the secondary match at its corner. This card can be use as both gems. Matching a flame gem or a star gem will increase the score for that hand, and matching a hypercube produces a wildcard that adjusts itself to produce the best possible outcome. Every so often, a skull appears on one of the outcomes starting with the outcome that yields the least score. If the player was to get this outcome, a coin is flipped with a 50% chance of ending the game. Players can remove skulls by filling up a meter that increases with each hands, better hands filling it up more. Reaching level 5 in Classic mode will unlock this mode.

With the game modes out of the way and what with this game having no story to speak of i will now move onto look at the gems as they are the star of the show so to speak:

Normal Gem:
A normal gem, which forms the basis of the game.

Flame Gem:
A Flame Gem, which appears to be a gem on fire, forms when a player matches four gems in a row. When matched, it explodes all gems adjacent horizontally, vertically, or diagonally.

Star Gem:
A Star Gem, a shining gem with a four-pointed star in the middle, forms when a player makes a "T", "+" or "L" shape. When matched, it explodes every gem in its row and column.

Hypercube:
A Hypercube is formed by matching five gems in a row. When swapped with another gem, it detonates every gem of that color. If it is swapped with another Hypercube, it detonates every gem on the board. Additionally, the 2 Hypercubes that were used to match will return after all the gems on the screen explode. If it is exploded, it detonates every gem that is the same color as the one that detonated it. It appears as a spinning box with mystic markings on the surface, with the various colors of gems swirling around on its surface.

Supernova Gem:
A Supernova gem forms when dropping gems produce a row of six gems; it appears as a flaming star gem. When matched, it detonates every gem in its row and column, and every adjacent gem in the rows and columns surrounding it.

Time Gem:
Time gems drop from above, and have electric sparkles. When matched, they add either 5 or 10 seconds to the next round of Lightning mode. If unmatched at the end of the round, a 5-second gem becomes a flame gem, while a 10-second gem becomes a star gem. You only get this gem in Lightning Mode.

Bomb Gem:
A bomb gem contains a regular gem framed in a sea-mine-like black ball with spikes protruding from it. In its center, a number shows how many seconds or turns remain until it explodes, ending the game; it must be matched before it reaches zero.

Butterfly:
A Butterfly gem has the appearance of a squashed gem sprite with wings. It acts like a normal gem, except that it flies up one square every turn, swapping with the gem above it. In modes where butterflies appear, a spider awaits at the top of the board. The game ends when a butterfly gem flies up to the top of the board and is captured by the spider.

Bejeweled 3 came out for Windows, Mac OS X, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Network, Xbox Live Arcade, Xbox 360, Nintendo DS, iOS on or around December 7, 2010.

On the whole this game has its flaws but the price you can be expected to pay for it and the hours of fun you can have with it more than make up for them. It may well not be everyones cup of tea but still to pass up on a game like this may well be a mistake if your a fan of games like this.

Get the full article at GameSpot

"Darthpathfinder reviewed Bejeweled 3 for the PC..." was posted by Darthpathfinder on Sat, 03 Mar 2012 03:49:26 -0800
]]> http://www.gamespot.com/bejeweled-3/user-reviews/788983/platform/pc/ Sat, 25 Feb 2012 04:09:21 -0800 Darthpathfinder reviewed Assassin's Creed for the Xbox 360... http://www.gamespot.com/assassins-creed/user-reviews/788525/platform/xbox360/ ...and gave it a 8.0.

Assassin's Creed is a action-adventure open world stealth assassin game. You play the role of creed who after a bad fight with an evil russian is sent back in time to a land before man. Creeds goal in ths game is to protect the future of mankind and put them in the right place so that they can make it out of an ice age....Helping him to do this is his robot friend called assassin...Who use to be an assassin bot but after a bump on the head lost all his programming and thus had no idea what his real mission was...After years and years of hard work Creed finaly saves the human race in the only way he knows how by beating the ice age in a boxing match and thus putting it down so we never have to face one again. Assassin on the other hand was not so lucky he had spent all his power building the ring for Creed and thus was left in a cave, untill.........

Wait wait wait....What on earth is going on here? How on earth? What are you doing to my review of Assassin's Creed? Apollo creed is not even in this robot and nIther is the ice age....And there is no time travel...What have i told you...Never try to do another one of my reviews again...Got that. Right on with the real review.

As it says at the start Assassin's Creed is indeed a action-adventure open world stealth assassin game. but first i will cover the story of the game and the people in it before i look into the gameplay. Desmond Miles, a bartender, is kidnapped by the Abstergo Corporation. There, Desmond is forced to interface with the Animus, a device that is able to replay the genetic memories of the user's ancestors. In Desmond's case, they seek information about his ancestor Alta°r ibn La-Ahad, an Assassin during the time of the Third Crusade. Within the Animus, Alta°r's memories reveal that he was attempting to stop Robert de Sabl° from taking an artifact from a temple, but broke all three of the Assassins' Brotherhood's tenets in the process. These arestay your blade from the flesh of an innocent. Always be discreet and do not comprimise the brotherhood. The Brotherhood leader, Al Mualim, demotes Alta°r to the rank of Novice, and assigns him the task of assassinating nine people to regain his former status.

As Alta°r completes the assassinations, he finds that each was a member of the Templars searching the area for Pieces of Eden, artifacts similar to the one de Sable attempted to steal. Altair finds and accuses de Sable in front of King Richard. King Richard makes the two fight and lets God decide who is telling the truth. Alta°r eventually faces de Sable in front of King Richard, and kills him. Richard says that since Altair killed de Sable God chose him and he was therefore telling the truth but Atair denies this by saying God had nothing to do with this and Altair was simply the better fighter, with his dying breath, de Sable reveals the existence of a tenth Templar: Al Mualim...As with my other reviews i am not going to tell you all of the story you are going to have to play the game to see how it ends...or should i say how it starts...

With the story out of the way its time to take a little look at the people in it. These are people you will meet and talk to and maybe even kill along the way:

Lucy Stillman, an aide and research assistant at Abstergo Industries.
Alta°r Ibn-La'Ahad, the shining star of the Syrian sect of the Assassin Brotherhood.
Desmond Miles, a bartender and Alta°r's descendant.
Warren Vidic, a disgraced scientist and former Ivy League professor of ill repute.
Al Mualim, the Mentor of the Syrian Assassin Brotherhood.
Malik Al-Sayf the one-armed bureau leader and dai in the rich district of Jerusalem.
Jabal, the bureau leader and rafiq in the poor district of Acre.
bureau leader and rafiq in the poor district of Damascus.
Robert de Sable, a French Crusader and the eleventh Grand Master of the Knights Templar.
Tamir, a Saracen black market merchant in Damascus.
Garnier de Naplouse, the tenth Grand Master of the Knights Hospitalier in Acre.
Talal, a Saracen slave trader in Jerusalem.
William of Montferrat an Italian Crusader and Richard the Lionheart's regent in Acre.
Jubair al Hakim, Damascus' Saracen chief scholar and leader of "The Illuminated".
Majd Addin, Saladin's regent in Jerusalem.
Sibrand, a German Crusader and the first Grand Master of the Knights Teutonic in Acre.
Maria Thorpe, Robert de Sable's steward.
Richard I, a.k.a. Richard the Lionheart, England's French "absent king".

The gameplay for Assassin's Creed has the player assumes the role of Alta°r, as experienced by protagonist Desmond Miles. The primary goal of the game is to carry out a series of assassinations ordered by Al Mualim, the leader of the Assassins. To achieve this goal, the player must travel from the Brotherhood's headquarters in Masyaf, across the terrain of the Holy Land known as the Kingdom to one of three cities Jerusalem, Acre, or Damascus to find the Brotherhood agent in that city. There, the agent, in addition to providing a safe house, gives the player minimal knowledge about the target, and requires them to perform additional recon missions before attempting the assassination. These missions include: eavesdropping, interrogation, pickpocketing and completing tasks for informers and fellow assassins. Additionally, the player may take part in any number of side objectives in these open world environments, including climbing tall towers to map out the city, and saving citizens who are being threatened or harassed by the city guards. There are also various side quests that do not advance the plot such as hunting down and killing Templars and flag collecting. After completing each set of assassinations, the player is returned back to the Brotherhood and rewarded with a better weapon and then given another set of targets.

Also in Assassin's Creed the player is made aware of how noticeable Alta°r is to enemy guards as well as the current state of alert in the local area. To perform many of the assassinations and other tasks, the player must consider the use of commands distinguished by its type of profile. Low-profile commands allow Alta°r to: blend into nearby crowds, pass by other citizens, or other non-threatening tasks that can be used to hide and reduce the alertness level; the player can also use Alta°r's retractable blade to attempt low-profile assassinations. High-profile commands are more noticeable, and include: running, scaling the sides of buildings to climb to higher vantage points, and attacking foes; performing these actions at certain times may raise the local area's awareness level. Once the area is at high alert, the crowds run and scatter while guards attempt to chase and bring down Alta°r. To reduce the alert level Alta°r has to break the guards' line of sight and then find a hiding space, such as a haystack or rooftop garden; or blend in with the citizens sitting on benches or wandering scholars. Should the player be unable to escape the guards, they can fight back using swordplay maneuvers.

As for the players health this is shown as the level of "Synchronization" between Desmond and Alta°r's memories; should Alta°r suffer injury, it is represented as deviation from the actual events of the memory, rather than physical damage. If all synchronization is lost, the current memory that Desmond is experiencing will be restarted at the last checkpoint. When the synchronization bar is full, the player has the additional option to use "Eagle Vision", which allows the computer-rendered memory to highlight all visible characters in colors corresponding to whether they are ally which is blue, foe which is red or even the target of their assassination which is gold. Due to Alta°r's memories being rendered by the computer of the Animus project, the player may experience "glitches" in the rendering of the historical world, which may help the player to identify targets, or can be used to alter the viewpoint during in-game scripted scenes should the player react fast enough when they appear.

Assassin's Creed came out for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 in north america, europe, australia and japan in November 2007. It also came out for the PC in north america and australia in Apirl 2008.

The System requirements are:

Minimum:
Operating system:
Windows XP with Service Pack 2 or Windows Vista.
CPU:
Intel Pentium D 2.4 GHz or AMD Athlon 64 X2 3800+ (Dual Core) processor.
Memory:
512 MB (XP), 1 GB (Vista).
Hard drive space:
9.0 GB.
Graphics hardware:
256 MB DirectX 9.0c Graphics Card with Shader Model 3.0 or higher.
Sound hardware:
DirectX 9.0 or 10.0°compliant.

Recommended:
Operating system:
Windows XP with Service Pack 2 or Windows Vista.
CPU:
Intel Core 2 Duo 2.2 GHz or better/AMD Athlon 64 X2 4200+ or 4400+.
Memory:
2 GB.
Hard drive space:
9.0 GB.
Graphics hardware:
512 MB DirectX 10.0°compliant video card.
Sound hardware:
5.1 channel surround.

It is true that Assassin's Creed ius not a perfect game and it is also true that it is not the best one out of the lot but it does have somethring the others do not. Without this game there would not have been any other Assassin's Creed games. So if you enjoy them or you want to get started on these games then you might as well start here with this game.

Get the full article at GameSpot

"Darthpathfinder reviewed Assassin's Creed for the Xbox 360..." was posted by Darthpathfinder on Sat, 25 Feb 2012 04:09:21 -0800
]]> http://www.gamespot.com/assassins-creed/user-reviews/788525/platform/xbox360/ Sun, 19 Feb 2012 03:58:51 -0800 roleplayer2004 reviewed The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim for the PlayStation 3... http://www.gamespot.com/the-elder-scrolls-v-skyrim/user-reviews/788090/platform/ps3/ ...and gave it a 8.0.

It's been a long five years but it is finally here, The Elder Scrolls V Skyrim. Vampires are out and Dragons are in. But was it worth the wait? At first it is a resounding yes but the more you dig beneath the surface the more you'll find Skyrim is a pretty face with not much substance. Harsh but true, so to all those veteran RPG's, you might want to skip this one.

The land of Skyrim is a harsh and unforgiving land compared to the lush and serene Oblivion. Which I found to be quite extreme considering Bethesda had a completely different approach to this Elder Scrolls game which is a huge risk but also a high reward considering the game has already shifted 10 million units in a few months. That doesn't necessarily mean it's a better game than the previous Elder Scrolls games, just more maketable which is evident in the games presentation but lack of depth.

In Skyrim you start off as a captive that's committed a crime and you are being lead by horse carrage to your execution. The story doesn't have any real direction or logic behind it but that's exactly the point of Skyrim. You make your own decisions and choices and it doesn't really matter what you choose to do. This may appeal to a lot of gamers but I feel the game lacks direction or a sense of purpose as the whole point of Skyrim is to look, find, kill, loot. It seems great at first but once you have 500,000 gold and have over a hundred gold ingots and necklaces. There isn't anything to spend your money on or find so you feel like a hamster on a wheel.
The combat in Skyrim is also a real problem as it lacks challenge and gets very repetitive as you are killing the same creatures over and over but getting no real reward. The most immersive experience I found was when I first entered Bloated Mans Grotto. You are going through a cave with such beautiful vegetation and landscape it fees like a dream, but this dream comes to a shattering end when you realise such lush locations are few and far between. Which makes Skyrim feel like a frozen wasteland instead of a beautiful land full of life.

Technically Skyrim has a lot of flaws which is staggering for a game that took nearly 5 years to make. The graphics look amazing and you can tell a lot of time and effort went into the presentation which is a blessing but also a curse as it tries to hide its flaws. There are huge frame rate problems once your character gets over level 20 , lighting effects play up with textures and every once in a while the game will randomly crash which is disgraceful for a game that will gross close a billion dollars.

The soundtrack in skyrim is very good and fits the mood of the game perfectly. It's not as impressive as Oblivions phenominal soundtrack but still respectable none the less. The voice acting has been dramtically improved, conversations are more fluent and believable but its a shame you can't mute the kids.

When it comes to replayability skyrim takes the cake. It will take you 100's of hours to discover every location and examine every blade of grass in the game. There are lots of puzzles, easter eggs you name it Skyrim's got it. Unfortunately you can't levitate like in Morrowind or fly. I would love to see flying boots in TESVI or even a flying carpet to make travelling more fun than labored.

When it boils down to it Skyrim isn't a bad game by any stretch of the imagination but it could have been so much more. I just hope Bethesda spend a lot more time on TESVI, so they can fix all their problems and give gamers a product without unwanted surprises.


Get the full article at GameSpot

]]> http://www.gamespot.com/the-elder-scrolls-v-skyrim/user-reviews/788090/platform/ps3/ Sat, 18 Feb 2012 04:02:48 -0800 Darthpathfinder reviewed Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War for the PC... http://www.gamespot.com/warhammer-40-000-dawn-of-war/user-reviews/788007/platform/pc/ ...and gave it a 9.5!

Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War is a real-time strategy game based around the table top game called Warhammer 40,000. In said table top game you would get two or more players who would take there time to buy/build/paint there models...they would then set a point limit for the game and then set there army out to that limit...These can range from small battles which would be 500-1000 points per side to huge point limits that can range up to 10,000...But as all things in realy life a hobby like this takes a huge amount of time and there is the cost as well buying the models for your army could set you back a good °100-°150 or maybe more depending on what you buy...either way it is a fun past time but what if you do not have the cash or the time to put into a hobby like this. What if you still want to atleast get an idea of what it would be like to control your own army...Well that is where Dawn of War can step in. It is very very true that this game is not realy like the table top version but in its own light and its own way it make for a great and differant game and in alot of ways could be a way for people to see Warhammer 40,000 and what it is about.

Now with that out of the way i will move onto the game itself and its review. Gameplay for Dawn of War is initially focused on capturing and holding strategic locations on the battlefield. These control points are captured by infantry squads and provide resources to construct additional units and buildings or unlock certain units in an army's tech tree. Battles are won either by holding a certain number of control points for a period of time or by destroying all of the opposing armies' HQ structures. The control points sort of work like the take and hold battles players do with the table top game. That would more than likly have two sides trying to get to the points and having control of them at the end of the turns. In Dawn of War there are no turns as all this happens in real time.

In Dawn of War there are two primary resources, these are requisition and power. These resources are not harvested or otherwise gathered by the player's units. Instead, requisition is generated constantly by the army headquarters. The player can increase the rate at which requisition is acquired by using infantry squads to capture and control Strategic Points, Critical Locations and Relics on the battlefield. These points, with the exception of the Critical Location, can be reinforced with defensive structures called Listening Posts that also increase the rate of requisition accumulation. Though resources are unlimited, all sources of requisition will eventually decay, dramatically decreasing their supply rate. Power is gathered by building generators with each headquarters supporting up to six generators. But like requisition sources, generators will decay over time and consequentially produce less power. Additionally, some maps have slag deposits, upon which more powerful generators can be constructed to produce power faster. As the player progresses up the tech tree, reliance on power increases. In addition to these primary resources, the Orks also have Ork resource. Ork resource is generated continuously by Waaagh! banners and is used up when creating Ork troops and vehicles. The number of banners and the size of the Ork population determines the Ork's Waaagh! level which in turn determines the technology level the player has access to.

Infantry units in Dawn of War are not given orders as individuals; they move and attack as squads. Most fully reinforced squads consist of about 10 individuals, although when they are first requisitioned, they usually have less. They can usually be equipped with special weapons and a specific leader, depending on the squad type. Squads can produce and replace their own units and weaponry anywhere in the field, but the player must wait a short period of time before new individuals, weapons, and leaders appear in the squad. Additionally, all races have commander units, which are general leaders or other units that can be attached to most squads, but are produced separately. Infantry units can fight in both ranged and hand-to-hand combat, and many units will have weapons for both types of combat, and if attacked in close combat will have to respond accordingly. Hand-to-hand combat is played out as a series of synchronized attack animations between combatants. When one combatant defeats the other, a Finishing move known in Dawn of War as Sync Kill plays out as the victorious fighter finishes his opponent off in a dramatic and violent manner. More powerful units, such as Heroes, Walkers, and monstrous Super Units, may have personalized Sync Kills against each other. Which to be honest is alot of fun to see.

Vehicles are highly resistant to most standard infantry weaponry, so they must be targeted with specific heavy weapons such as anti-tank rockets to be destroyed. Vehicles can also be upgraded with multiple weapon systems, usually forcing a choice between either anti-infantry or anti-vehicle armaments. Walkers are a type of vehicle often armed with powerful heavy melee weapons, causing devastating damage in close combat. In addition to a typical hitpoint system, infantry units also have morale. When in combat, squads take morale damage as well as health damage. However, morale applies to a squad as a whole. In addition to health, the morale of a squad heavily influences its combat ability. When morale drops to zero, the squad "breaks", which significantly reduces the squad's ranged accuracy, damage dealt in m°l°e, and defensive capability. The squad's movement speed, however, is slightly increased to allow it to retreat. That said, the unit must still be ordered away from the combat for it to escape. The squad's morale will regenerate on its own while the squad is not in combat, and the squad will regroup and regain combat effectiveness once it reaches a certain threshold.

The plot for Dawn of War runs something like this. Set on the planet Tartarus, an Imperial planet that is currently being besieged by a large Ork invasion force. The campaign begins with Colonel Brom and his 37th Tartarus Planetary Defense Force Regiment under attack by a large group of Orks. The Blood Ravens 3rd company, led by Captain Gabriel Angelos makes the planet fall and saves Brom and his remaining men, who then proceed to exterminate the remaining Orks in the vicinity. In the aftermath of the battle, Gabriel is joined by the Librarian Isador Akios. Brom asks Isador about the recent sterilization of the planet Cyrene; however Isador makes it clear he is not to bring it up again, particularly not in Angelos's presence. The Blood Ravens then prepare to attack the Orks surrounding the port, in order to protect the evacuation craft. Isador, sensing that the Captain's mind is troubled, realises why, and tells him that there was nothing he could have done to save his home planet of Cyrene. However, Gabriel tells him not to mention it again, stating that his homeworld was his responsibility. After the extermination of the Orks, scouts reveal to Gabriel that Chaos forces are operating on the planet. Soon after this they are joined by an Inquisitor, Mordecai Toth, who orders them to leave the planet, warning that a Warp Storm is approaching the planet and will consume the planet in 3 days time. Toth orders a complete evacuation of the planet, but Gabriel refuses, stating his desire to investigate the possible threat of Chaos. Toth then implies that Gabriel's actions on Cyrene have clouded his judgement, making him 'see Chaos where it doesn't exist'. On further investigation, it is revealed that the Eldar are also operating on the planet. The Blood Ravens find an altar dedicated to Chaos, confirming Gabriel's suspicions, and resolves to destroy the traitors, unknowing that Isador is already under the influence of Sindri Myr, the Chaos Sorcerer of the Alpha Legion.

The Blood Ravens pursue the Eldar to the abandoned city of Loovre Marr and engage them in a full-scale battle across the city. Upon the destruction of most of the remaining Eldar by Gabriel's forces, their leader, Farseer Macha pleads with Gabriel to heed her words; however during their moment of distraction, Sindri steals an artifact, which Macha reveals to be a key to "the undoing of this world". When Gabriel tries to inquire for more information, the Farseer shows surprise at his ignorance, commenting that the Inquisitor 'keeps them on a short leash'. Macha implies that Toth knows more than he is telling, and advises Gabriel and Isador to ask him, before telling the Blood Ravens where to find the entrenched Chaos forces, stating that thanks to the Space Marines, the Eldar are too weak to confront them....It is at this point i leave the story as people who have not played this yet will not want to know the end...

Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War for Microsoft Windows in north america on September 20, 2004 and in europe on September 24, 2004.

The System requirements are:

1 GHz Pentium III or equivalent AMD Athlon XP processor, 256 MB RAM, 1.8 GB free hard drive space, 4x CD-ROM, 32 MB DirectX(R) 9.0b compatible AGP video card with Hardware Transform and Lighting, DirectX 9.0b compatible 16-bit sound card.

Dawn of War is a game that is not only alot of fun but can also open your eyes to a differant type of gaming. For a first step its cheap and you get to know a little of the backstory and the history. Either way be it a fan of the table top or new to the fight this is a game for many many people.

Get the full article at GameSpot

]]> http://www.gamespot.com/warhammer-40-000-dawn-of-war/user-reviews/788007/platform/pc/ Sat, 11 Feb 2012 03:52:37 -0800 Darthpathfinder reviewed Tekken 6 for the Xbox 360... http://www.gamespot.com/tekken-6/user-reviews/787525/platform/xbox360/ ...and gave it a 7.5.

Tekken 6 is a fighting game...That is all you need to know about this game...That is it review done and over with...Wow this must be the shortest review i have made for a game ever....I mean even my early early reviews where longer than this one was....Wait you want to know more about Tekken 6 other than the fact that it is a fighting game...Do i have to? I mean is this review not packed enough as it is....? Ok ok i will fill it out a little more if you realy realy want me to....What are you guys like.

To start off i will talk about and look at the gameplay of Tekken 6. This game features bigger stages with more interactivity than its predecessors, such as walls or floors that can be broken to reveal new fighting areas. The character customization feature has been enhanced, and certain items have implications in some aspects of gameplay. A rage system has been added, giving characters more damage per hit when their vitality is below a certain point. Once activated, a reddish energy aura appears around the character, and their health bar starts to flicker in red. The rage aura can be customized with different colors and effects to appear like fire, electricity, ice, among others. Every character has several moves that, when used on an opponent that is currently midair in a juggle combo, will cause the opponent to be smashed hard into the ground, bouncing them off the floor in a stunned state and leaving them vulnerable to another combo or additional attack. This feature is called the bound system.

There is an extra mode that is not in the arcade version which is called Scenario Campaign. This mode bears similarities with the "Tekken Force" and "Devil Within" modes from previous installments. In this mode, the player can move freely in an environment similar to that of a third-person role-playing game. Players can also pick up weapons such as poles and gatling guns, along with lootable items, money, and power-ups which can be found inside crates that are scattered all throughout the playing environment. Players can move freely between fights, but when a group of enemies are encountered, the gameplay switches to the traditional, two-dimensional Tekken style. There is also an online mode for both the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 versions of the game for PlayStation Network and Xbox Live respectively. It includes Ranked Matches mode, where the player can promote their character to a higher ranking, and Player Matches mode, where the player's fights aren't ranked and they can invite friends to have matches with them.

Now with the gameplay out of the way i am going to look at the story...(yes there is one) and the Characters...Following his victory in the previous tournament, Jin Kazama, the King of Iron Fist, has taken charge of the Mishima Zaibatsu and now appears to possess tyrannical ambitions. Using his resources within the organization to become a global superpower, he severs the Mishima Zaibatsu's national ties and openly declares war against all nations. This action plunges the world into an extremely chaotic spiral, with a huge-scale civil war erupting around the globe and even amidst the space colonies orbiting the planet. His biological father, Kazuya Mishima, is aware of this and finds Jin's interference in his own plans for global domination to be a nuisance. Now in charge of the G Corporation, having usurped and taken over the company following its previous leaders' failure to use and then dispose of him, Kazuya is seen as the only force who could oppose Jin and places a bounty on Jin's head for anyone who can capture him. Jin's response is to announce The King of Iron Fist Tournament 6 in order to battle Kazuya and crush G Corporation.

Meanwhile, among the ranks of the Tekken Force, a young soldier named Lars Alexandersson has begun a rebellion to slowly dismantle the Mishima Zaibatsu and G Corporation in order to put an end to the war. During an operation, Lars stumbles across a young girl android identifying her as Alisa Bosconovitch. G Corporation forces soon attack, starting a fight and causing an explosion that kills almost everyone present at the scene and leaves Lars with amnesia. Lars escapes with Alisa and the two begin a journey to discover their origins, meeting and fighting several previous Tekken characters. Jin, along with his top subordinates, Nina and Eddy, learns this and issues a manhunt for Lars. During the journey, Lars reunites with his lieutenant, Tougou, and the two keep in touch. Gradually, Lars begins to recover from his amnesia and remembers that he is the illegitimate son of Heihachi Mishima, now living in solitude but still plotting to retake the Zaibatsu from Jin. Lars locates and confronts Heihachi, prepared to kill him, but relents at the last minute and leaves, turning down Heihachi's proposal that they work together to defeat Jin. Lars eventually comes into contact with Lee Chaolan, who serves as an aid and contact for Lars after Lars rescues Lee's friend, Julia Chang, from a G Corporation facility. At the same time, Kazuya hears of Lars's exploits and sends his men to kill him....To find out more of what happens in this game your just going to have to play it.

Now with the story out the way i am just going to take the time to list off a few of the Characters that are in Tekken 6:

Alisa Bosconovitch
Lars Alexandersson
Anna Williams
Armor King II
Asuka Kazama
Baek Doo San
Bruce Irvin
Bryan Fury
Christie Monteiro
Craig Marduk
Devil Jin
Eddy Gordo
°milie "Lili" de Rochefort
Feng Wei
Ganryu
Heihachi Mishima
Hwoarang
Jin Kazama
Julia Chang
Kazuya Mishima
King II
Kuma II
Lee Chaolan
Lei Wulong
Ling Xiaoyu
Marshall Law
Mokujin
Nina Williams
Panda
Paul Phoenix
Raven
Roger Jr.
Sergei Dragunov
Steve Fox
Wang Jinrei
Yoshimitsu

Tekken 6 came out for the Arcade in japan on November 26, 2007, for the PlayStation 3 and the Xbox 360 in north america on October 27, 2009 in japan on October 29, 2009 in europe on October 30, 2009 and in australia in November 5, 2009. It also came out for the PlayStation Portable in japan on January 14, 2010 in north america on November 24, 2009 in europe on December 11, 2009 and in australia onDecember 17, 2009.

Is Tekken 6 the perfect fighting game...well no its not but to be fair to it the game is alot of fun and if you have been a fan of the past games then realy its more of the stuff you already enjoy anyway.

Get the full article at GameSpot

"Darthpathfinder reviewed Tekken 6 for the Xbox 360..." was posted by Darthpathfinder on Sat, 11 Feb 2012 03:52:37 -0800
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