Sargus' GameSpot Friend's Reviews Sargus' GameSpot Friend's Reviews Sargus' GameSpot Friend's Reviews en-us Copyright (c)1995-2013 CBS Interactive. All rights reserved. http://www.gamespot.com 20 Fri, 24 May 2013 11:43:48 -0700 GameSpot Sargus' GameSpot Friend's Reviews http://img.gamespot.com/gamespot/shared/promos/misc/gs_logo.gif http://www.gamespot.com 135 40 Wed, 01 Aug 2012 14:43:46 -0700 Bozanimal reviewed Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet for the PC... http://www.gamespot.com/insanely-twisted-shadow-planet/user-reviews/798092/platform/pc/ ...and gave it a 8.5.

Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet (ITSP) opens with a full orchestral score, your flying saucer (and your planet, for that matter) under attack by an unknown alien organism that has infected a nearby star- and that infection is spreading. Naturally it falls to you to do what you can to save the planet. Starting with but a radar and the ship's hull to protect you, you take your personal space craft out into the wilds to save your planet.

Along the way you upgrade your vessel, solve puzzles, avoid and combat a variety of foes, and uncover secrets that include bonus video footage and concept art. Games for Windows LIVE is required for ITSP, so you will need an internet connection to play the game, including the single-player campaign.

For the most part ITSP is a very smooth game with modest system requirements. You interact with the game as you might any two-dimensional, side-scrolling platformer, minus the platforms. Your ship moves easily in 360 degrees, with accurate controls that have a great tactile feel. You aim your selected equipment with the mouse, be it scanner, blaster, missiles, or any of the nine different pieces of equipment you will come to unlock.

You'll need to explore the game to find them, though, and ITSP gives you a large world to investigate. The environments border on indescribable, taking you underwater, through giant machines, down corridors covered in tentacles and unidentifiable fleshy masses, and through icy caverns.

The 2D artwork is stunning, fully-rendered in the popular chunky animation that has become typical of shows like Samurai Jack, Clone Wars, and My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, only much, much darker. If you took all those shows and dumped in a pot of Cthulu with a sprinkling of H.R. Giger, you'd get a pretty good idea of how you could take modern animation and twist it into something dark and foreboding.

And dark it is. While explicitly rendered in deep, solid colors, most of the world is rendered in multiple planes of silhouettes. So the foreground might be shadowy outline of grinding gears, the mid-ground where you reside comprising yourself and your enemies, and the background various animations following the theme of the section of the planet you are exploring, such as large machinery at work, only blurred slightly to give a sense of depth.

The music and sound effects are consistently perfect, punctuating every shot fired and accenting your ship when damaged with a sound not unlike a car that's just not running quite right. The Prague Philharmonic provides a full orchestral score and is absolutely wonderful, making the journey feel truly epic in scope ever step - or antigravity pulse, rather - of the way.

And when you hit a boss you know it. The bosses are big, scary, and a bit mysterious. Each has its own pattern of attack that is both fun to discover and that, once deciphered, makes the encounter an enjoyable exercise in skill. After each boss you feel a bit like David toppling Goliath.

All that said, ITSP is not without its faults. The game uses automatic checkpoints for saving progress at key points. The problem here is that it makes many problems and encounters trivial, since when your ship is destroyed you appear a short distance away at full health, any encounter in progress reset. This trivializes a lot of encounters, removing what might otherwise be tense moments were you to run out of lives or lose power-ups.

Further, I observed a bug during the final encounter where damage to the boss failed to register. This was remedied by a quick restart from the most recently saved game, but did momentarily stall the momentum of the game and suspension of disbelief.

Lastly, the game will sometimes challenge your patience with its controls. The "control arm" does not always grab items in the way that you would think, and running the remote-controlled missiles through a narrow gauntlet often tries your patience more than your skills. Still, when you do complete these mini-tasks there is a certain satisfaction to be had known you overcame these design quirks.

Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet is fairly easy with only one difficulty setting, and should take about seven to eight hours to complete if you hunt after every power-up and backtrack for extras like semi-hidden Concept Art collectibles. There are two multiplayer modes, but the single-player campaign is the real draw here, and is a wonderful experience for anyone that enjoys exploring, collecting powerful weapons, and epic boss battles.

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"Bozanimal reviewed Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet for the PC..." was posted by Bozanimal on Wed, 01 Aug 2012 14:43:46 -0700
]]> http://www.gamespot.com/insanely-twisted-shadow-planet/user-reviews/798092/platform/pc/ Mon, 11 Jun 2012 13:27:22 -0700 Bozanimal reviewed Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP for the PC... http://www.gamespot.com/superbrothers-sword-and-sworcery-ep/user-reviews/795671/platform/pc/ ...and gave it a 4.0.

Superbrothers: Swords & Sworcery EP (S:S&SEP) is a unique take on the adventure genre. Your avatar is the Scythian, a Monk sent to complete "a woeful errand." At its core, you must steal and destroy a powerful, evil artifact. Along the way you are given three identical sub-quests that comprise the bulk of S:S&SEP: Uncovering and mastering the "trigons" of power, a clear tongue-in-cheek reference to the Triforce (of Zelda fame).

As it happens, everything about the game is tongue-in-cheek, and S:S&SEP often gets lost in its own witticisms. Like someone that laughs at their own jokes, it finds itself so clever that the developer felt it necessary to integrate Twitter functionality so that you might Tweet its script at any time. You will either find this whimsical and cute or insufferably pretentious.

This is not to say that the narrative is lost or the game unplayable. You are compelled to move forward due to the pressing nature of your quest. Your woeful errand takes you through ancient ruins, dark forests, across a vast ocean, to the top of a mountain, and even into the heart of a gigantic tree. You will feel as though you are on an adventure in a strange land, with rolling waterfalls, arcing rainbows, thundering storms, and woodland creatures grazing in the forest that scamper away at your approach. Then - without warning - an evil spirit appears and threatens to cut-short your adventure. It gives the game an edge and presses the player onward. Capybara Games does an excellent job of creating an alternate world. If only it all weren't so blurry.

The feeling is akin to looking through a lens out-of-focus. It's pixelart, meant to evoke nostalgia for the Atari and 8-bit eras, but the Scythian's hands look like potatoes. It's often hard to tell what is happening at all.When she performs her "Sworcery" is she holding two candles? Are those her fingers? Who knows; the chunky, pixelated art is a deliberate design choice and something gamers will ultimately think wonderful or annoying.

The score is just the opposite of S:S&SEP's visual art direction: Focused and clear, compelling and moving, atmospheric and haunting. Every chase scene, dream sequence, and boss battle are given weight and tension by Musician Jim Guthrie's score. Guthrie plays a supporting role in-game as well, both figuratively and literally, which is difficult to describe without spoiling later sections of the game. Suffice to say, you will either smile to yourself at its randomness, or roll your eyes at its "look, I'm so clever!" quirkiness.

While many of the aesthetic decisions are something loved or hated, the PC controls are decidedly annoying. S:S&SEP is point-and-click, and not in a quaint, Sierra Quest adventure game way, but in a adapted from a tablet way. You click, double-click, or click and hold to do everything in the game. If you need to move somewhere you click twice, or hold down the left-mouse button and the Scythian follows your cursor. You click on object environmentals to interact with them. Clicking a bush or tree causes leaves to rustle, the water in the lake to splash, or a sheep to look up from its grazing.

It's impossible to miss that S:S&SEP is ported from a touch-screen device, as a result. Many puzzles require that you "rub" and "touch." Combat involves clicking on one of two buttons that would be much more intuitive on a tablet, or if commands had been mapped to actual keyboard buttons. In fact, S:S&SEP might be the first game where you lament the lack of a touch-screen because it would be so much more intuitive.

Despite some annoying control decisions, the puzzles are all relatively easy to solve. If you stumble, have difficulty determining which way to go, or fail at a particular combat juncture, the game provides a narrative to guide the player. There are, however, times when the game provides zero guidance at certain critical junctures, or where its too clever for itself and the clue is lost in the game's own humor.

There are other times S:S&SEP's wit not only feels forced, but interferes with progression. The game is impossible to complete in a single sitting because it is artificially gated by the phases of the moon in the real world. In order to progress the player must wait until either the moon is in the proper phase or manually adjust their computer's clock, in which case the game becomes impossible to "complete," meaning a 100% completion rate as measure by the game itself.

If every annoyance and complaint were instead a more subtle accent to its narrative, S:S&SEP would indeed be mirthful. Instead, its overbearing quirkiness becomes more forced than a Zooey Deschanel sitcom. A giant record looms in the sky for no particular reason. An unidentifiable creature is dancing naked in the woods. A dog gives you directions.

Further, you have to backtrack frequently because, though the narrative is straightforward if you knew where you had to go next, it is not often clear to where you are supposed to be headed. The game provides hints, but the hints are often designed to be clever- but not necessarily clever to the gamer so much as the creator. This might not be so bad if your character could instantly move or even run from screen entrance to exit, but you are forced to watch the Scythian powerwalk from one side of the screen to another, even though you might need to be several screens away to progress. There will often be no change in scenery or combat to break up the extended stroll, either.

All of this compounds to make S:S&SEP an ugly, pretentious, "I'm so funny and clever," exercise in poorly adapted controls and muddy graphics for the sake of art and silliness. The adventure has whimsy, certainly, but it is difficult to forgive all its shortcomings in order to enjoy yourself.

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"Bozanimal reviewed Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP for the PC..." was posted by Bozanimal on Mon, 11 Jun 2012 13:27:22 -0700
]]> http://www.gamespot.com/superbrothers-sword-and-sworcery-ep/user-reviews/795671/platform/pc/ Wed, 21 Mar 2012 11:30:06 -0700 Bozanimal reviewed Angry Birds for the iPhone/iPod... http://www.gamespot.com/angry-birds/user-reviews/790398/platform/iphone/ ...and gave it a 6.5.

Angry Birds is a two-dimensional, turn-based slingshot game with some puzzle elements. In essence, you fling birds - which are indeed quite upset - at pigs that have stolen their eggs. You win if you kill all the pigs before you run out of birds. The more birds you have left, the better your score.

Developer of Angry Birds Rovio was first established under another name in 2003 by a group of Finnish students for the purpose of developing games for mobile platforms. The firm muddled along until 2009 when it released Angry Birds, which has since become something of a modern-day fad. Angry Birds has sold about 12 million copies, and has reportedly been downloaded over 500 million times, and counting. By comparison, Super Mario Brothers 3 sold 18 million copies, The Sims 16 million, and the original Halo sold eight million copies.

It is easy to see why Angry Birds is so popular: With one finger you control trajectory and velocity of the bird, activate special abilities, and rain avian death on the villainous swine. Though the birds are ill-tempered, the artwork is bright and cheerful, and the sound cues are great: Birds mutter angrily, pigs snort, and it's all very cute. The game has no language barrier, no learning curve, and is immediately engaging. You can pick it up and bang out one or one-hundred levels and feel satisfied. Anyone of any age can play: Even my three-year olds (granted, they can also play a mean Mario Kart Wii).

The difficulty is just right, as well. A stage might confound you for a dozen attempts until you get the trajectory and timing just right, and nail it. The difficulty also ramps up with progression, as you gain access to birds with additional abilities, and the obstacles placed between you and your bird-friends become more complex.

Despite its endearing qualities, Angry Birds is still fairly shallow. Older gamers might remember the multiplayer "Tank Wars," a turn-based artillery game from the early 1990's. Angry Birds is almost the same game, except it is single-player-only with a new coat of paint. Or you might consider Worms, the popular turn-based, projectile trajectory title that was and continues to be quite popular. Only Worms has more variety in its maps, arsenal, and multiplayer capabilities. As a result, it is surprising that Angry Birds has no multiplayer component given its basic premise and multiple existing templates on which to model, especially considering it was initially designed for connected, mobile devices.

Further, while you do gain access to additional bird types that emulate remote-detonated bombs, cluster bombs, and bunker busters, it is still very limited even once you've unlocked most of the stages compared to other titles in its genre.

Angry Birds has a lot going for it, and there is no denying both its charms and subsequent popularity, but considering the story is nonexistent, there is no multiplayer gameplay, the existing gameplay is repetitive, and its lack of originality, it's difficult to understand why it became as popular as it did for what is, at the end of the day, a fun - if average - game.

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"Bozanimal reviewed Angry Birds for the iPhone/iPod..." was posted by Bozanimal on Wed, 21 Mar 2012 11:30:06 -0700
]]> http://www.gamespot.com/angry-birds/user-reviews/790398/platform/iphone/ Thu, 09 Feb 2012 11:38:39 -0800 Bozanimal reviewed DragonVale for the iPhone/iPod... http://www.gamespot.com/dragonvale/user-reviews/787417/platform/iphone/ ...and gave it a 7.0.

Dragonvale is one of the highest-grossing, most popular gaming apps on the iOS platform (which includes iPads, iPhones, etc.) as of February 2012, and it's easy to see why. The game is free, but you can pay real money for most any in-game item, including items that would otherwise be extremely rare. The game occurs in real-time, so certain events you would have to wait for can be accelerated by using "gems," most easily acquired with real money. Further, it can all be tied in to your Gamecenter and Facebook network, if you so choose, and there are tangible benefits to doing so, including the aforementioned gems.

You play the part of Dragon zookeeper. You maintain the park, construct buildings, feed dragons, monitor dragon eggs, breed the dragons, decorate the park, and keep the place clean. There is a huge variety of dragons and decorations to be had, though a fair bit of chance comes into play when breeding dragons, meaning what you get when you put a plant dragon with an earth dragon varies.

The game takes place in a 3/4 view of a flat, semi-circular, floating island that allows you sufficient space to build your first few habitats and buildings. A portal - through which visitors will come and go from your park - is already in place, but can be moved around. Dragonvale gives you a few "starter gems" to accelerate the construction of buildings and rapidly hatch dragon eggs at the outset. It is worth noting here that there are three types of currencies, each with different functions and all of which can be purchased with real money in large quantities. You will place and construct those initial buildings, and the dragons will begin to attract visitors. Each dragon draws a certain amount of gold per minute. Gold can be used to build additional structures, habitats, dragon eggs, and decorations. Different dragons earn gold at different rates, and each habitat has a "cap" on the maximum amount of gold it can hold at any time. Because all of this is done in real time there is a direct benefit to popping into the game frequently to clear out cash that has accumulated in each habitat, since it will not award additional cash beyond the cap.

Much like SimCity, Dragonvale is a sandbox game. It does not have a final goal, and you cannot "beat" the game. They joy is in acquiring new dragons and decorations, and using them to populate the landscape. There is great satisfaction to be had due to the time required to clear the landscape of obstacles and construct your world, as well as the wide variety of dragons and decorations with which you are rewarded as you gain experience, breed dragons, and acquire money.

You are given complete freedom to build meandering pathways lined with flowers and trees, and populate your exhibits with dragons that match thematically, such as earth and plant dragons. Or you can create highly efficient parks with wall-to-wall habitats. Or you can eschew taste for outlandish, contrasting decorations with volcanoes next to frozen mountains. The fun is in generating a unique park to call your own.

You can also visit parks of a friend or random players, if you so choose, and gift gems - for free - to other players. In this way it encourages players to recommend the game to friends, and to participate in the gem-giving activity since it generates additional gems. Gems are extremely valuable because they are the only way to acquire certain items and upgrade key buildings.

The artwork is also a wonderful, bright and cartoonish 2D imagining that feels somewhere between Disney and Six Flags. The dragons all have their own unique flavor, breathing fire or snow depending on their breed. You can zoom in to view park-goers, which include princesses and wandering wizards porting in and out to wander the park.

There are some misses, though. The game is unusually shallow. The game encourages player to explore the wide variety of dragon breeds and decorations in order to attract park visitors, but additional visitors have zero effect on the player. Whether every aspect of the park is piled atop one another without a road in site does not impact the amount of currency being earned. Park visitors neither benefit nor detract from the gaming experience, though they can look pretty near wandering around the landscape.

The player can place one dragon every 24 hours in a Colosseum match, with the potential reward of gems if the dragon does well - the only way to win gems exclusively inside the game. However, the outcome of the Colosseum matches are almost entirely random. A Fire Dragon might win a Cold event, or a Fire event. Higher level dragons might do better, but the results seem almost entirely random. For an event that has such a highly desirable currency this randomness, combined with a 24 hour restriction that also monopolizes the dragon (dragons in the Colosseum are not earning money since they are not on exhibit), makes the Colosseum a bit frustrating.

The music and sound effects are also repetitive and limited. A light-hearted medievel diddy plays in the background on eternal repeat, and little noises from the dragons are sparse relative to the sounds of gold clinking as you clean out the habitats (ka-ching!).

It is also almost too-easy to plunk down real-money accidentally, since the game ties into your account. Once you learn your way around the interface it's not a problem, but in the initial stages of learning your way around as a player it might seem as if almost every link points to a purchase.

That said the game is a great distraction and offers a cutesy, pleasant gaming experience for time-strapped gamers and bored travelers. You can pop-in and move a few exhibits around, collect your gold, and even build a couple decorations in the span of five minutes. Those actions can also yield tangible long-term benefits, making Dragonvale a rewarding game over the long term.

Get the full article at GameSpot

"Bozanimal reviewed DragonVale for the iPhone/iPod..." was posted by Bozanimal on Thu, 09 Feb 2012 11:38:39 -0800
]]> http://www.gamespot.com/dragonvale/user-reviews/787417/platform/iphone/ Thu, 09 Jun 2011 11:36:58 -0700 Bozanimal reviewed Super Mario Galaxy for the Wii... http://www.gamespot.com/super-mario-galaxy/user-reviews/766947/platform/wii/ ...and gave it a 9.0!

Super Mario Galaxy is almost perfect for anyone interested in a solid, well-designed platformer laden with nostalgia. It is well-paced, intuitive, instructional, introduces new concepts constantly to challenge and engage the player, and feels rewarding throughout its entirety. It is marred only by some clunky camera work resulting in awkward controls and some relatively forced areas that feel like Wii technology demonstrations more than part of the game.

Super Mario Galaxy opens much as you would expect: Bowser enters, kidnaps the Princess, and flies off (this time into space), leaving Mario in his wake. Adrift in space, Mario is picked up by a mysterious character named "Rosalina," who implores Mario to help find stars to power her Observatory and - hopefully - find his Princess in the process. The entire sequence is hammy, slightly awkward, and wonderful both for and despite its foibles. Small sentient stars called Lumas populate the Observatory, which is initially largely inaccessible and dark due to lack of power, and provide guidance to Mario as he acquires Power Stars, which provide energy to the Observatory and all its platforms. As you obtain more stars power is restored and more of the Observatory opens up.

The controls are immediately familiar to anyone having played a Mario or Zelda title since the Nintendo 64, and should be easily accessible to novice gamers with movement controlled by the analog stick and actions by the trigger buttons. Along with certain motions explained early in the game, combinations of buttons and actions allow for larger jumps, long jumps, spinning moves, and an assortment of acrobatics that would embarrass Mary Lou Retton. Each action is accompanied by key sounds that let you know you are executing the move properly, be it a grunt from Mario or sound effect, and it makes excellent use of the controller-based speaker. More advanced controls particular to certain power-up suits, swimming, flying, etc. are explained on-the-fly in their respective galaxies but, like all platform titles, timing and practice make perfect.

You'll need all those fancy moves. Each galaxy has its own unique challenges in navigating their respective hostile environments and residents. Whether it's navigating moving, free-floating platforms, spin-punching plants, or performing a traditional jump-stomp combination, each enemy has its own counter-move, and sometimes two. Stomping a Pirahna Plant yields a gold coin, which replenishes Mario's life bar (three bars, by default, temporarily expanded to six in certain galaxies). Spin-punching a plant gives "Star Bits," which can be used for stunning enemies, feeding hungry lumas, and unlocking power-ups. Mario can lose a life by falling to zero health of succumbing to certain pitfalls, such as black holes inside planets or endless drops into a bottomless chasm. More lives are gained via power-ups, every 50 star bits, and key in-game events.

Each galaxy is breathtakingly themed in a wide array of styIes. One galaxy will be filled with resident bees buzzing about their daily business, another cold and filled with space junk, and another a tropical paradise. You'll have a ton of fun simply exploring new areas and figuring out what wild location you're off to next. Most galaxies will reuse the same maps in a novel way. In one instance you might take Path A, while in the following Power Star mission you take Path B. The planet models are the same, but the challenges, characters populating the environment, and power-ups might shift. Galaxies typically run from three to four missions each, which gives you ample opportunity to explore without rehashing a concept ad-nauseum. The pacing, in this regard, is perfect.

And to underscore the pacing is the score, which reproduces many cIassic themes of prior Mario titles to great effect. Players will recognize the sounds that play while inside a pipe subzone, boss battle themes from Super Mario World, and the whimsical melodies from the forced-scrolling zones of Super Mario Brothers 3 in key galaxies. The soundtrack borrows most heavily from its 8-bit ancestors, though there is plenty of original music and sound effects as well. Much as you can recognize John Williams from Star Wars to Indiana Jones, you'll recognize the songs across the many Marios of the past.

It's worth noting that the underlying game physics for each galaxy are nothing short of amazing. Mario is his typical bouncy self, and he'll be springing all over various asteroids, planets large and small, latching onto "pull-stars," and getting sucked into black holes. Everything feels as if it has weight and substance, and it can often be dizzying to run to the edge of a small planet and appear on its underside, with appropriately "reversed" controls.

If this sounds nauseating, that's because sometimes, it is. The wild camera angles have defaults throughout each galaxy to generally point Mario in the right direction. Sometimes, however, you'll want to swivel the camera in a particular way and, frustratingly, it locks you into its required angle. This can be trying when you believe there is a power-up in a particular location and you might be able to reach it if you could figure out just the right place to angle Mario. It can get downright frustrating when a change in camera angle dictates the direction of Mario's travel. If you hold the analog stick right to run to the right on the inside of a 2D circle (planet interior), for example, as you approach the top of that circle the controls will reverse. In certain circumstances you can run to the other side of a planet and literally run in circles in place without changing the angle of the joystick at all.

The only other small issue is that certain galaxies have more the feel of a minigame than being part of the overall game. Surfing on Manta Rays, for example, can be an exercise in frustration when learning a new control scheme that may not be as responsive or intuitive as the player would like. These galaxies tend to be optional, however, so the point is minor.

Finally, worth noting is that there is an option for a second player to participate in the game, though it could hardly be called a two-player game. This is neither good nor bad, it just sort of "is." A second player can help collect star bits by pointing their Wiimote at the screen, can briefly stun enemies, and cause Mario to jump, though whether the latter of which will be of any help to the main player is questionable. Player B forcing Player A to perform action X is just asking for trouble (or hilarity, depending on your point of view). Still, if someone else happens to be watching it gives them something to do, but the functionality feels more like an afterthought in an otherwise polished title.

Minor quibbles aside, Super Mario Galaxy is a beautiful game with excellent pacing and challenging puzzles that makes for a rewarding, memorable gaming experience. Any gamer with even a remote interest in platformers should be sure to add it to their collection.

Get the full article at GameSpot

"Bozanimal reviewed Super Mario Galaxy for the Wii..." was posted by Bozanimal on Thu, 09 Jun 2011 11:36:58 -0700
]]> http://www.gamespot.com/super-mario-galaxy/user-reviews/766947/platform/wii/ Tue, 22 Feb 2011 12:24:52 -0800 Bozanimal reviewed World of Warcraft: Cataclysm for the PC... http://www.gamespot.com/world-of-warcraft-cataclysm/user-reviews/756317/platform/pc/ ...and gave it a 8.0.

Deathwing - a very large, very angry black dragon - has returned to Azeroth following his banishment to the earthen plane, Deepholm. His return collapsing the border between that realm and Azeroth, causing continents to shift, leveling cities, and resulting in untold deaths. Deathwing continues to bathe the world in flame, elementals ravage the lands, and his supporters work to sow chaos in his wake. All is not lost, however. The Lich King has been killed and the Scourge have been cast into disarray, with only scattered pockets of resistance in the southern continents. The Scarlet Crusade has been smashed, replaced by the benevolent Argent Crusade. Even as some regions were decimated by Deathwing's return, other once desolate areas have begun to recover from their own trials. New allies have been forged. Cities have been rebuilt. New regions have been discovered.

Cataclysm adds and replaces more content to World of Warcraft than any prior expansion, streamlining the level 1 - 58 zones by revamping and/or adding over 3,000 quests, increasing the level cap from 80 to 85, adding an additional secondary profession (Archaeology) while expanding on the roles of existing ones. It adds two new playable races: Goblin (Horde) and Worgen (Alliance), new race/class combinations such as Blood Elf Warriors and Dwarf Shaman, and for all intents and purposes more instances, more quests, more cities, more enemies, and more lore. Every class received an overhaul to varying degrees. For the first time ever players are able to fly anywhere in the Eastern Kingdoms and Kalimdor, and the user interface has been heavily modified. New users will find the interface more intuitive, and veterans will find advanced features such as raid frames and powerauras are built-in.

New players will benefit the most from the changes by far. Tooltips have been revamped, added, and updated everywhere. The starting zones are easier and more intuitive to pick up, the quests more interesting, and the rewards more appropriate. For example, quest rewards that once granted a mail chest piece with strength, for example, now typically yields agility, the preferred statistic of mail-wearers beyond Level 40. There is still an emphasis on the core text commands using slash commands that makes chatting awkward for the newest players, but otherwise everything is polished.

The most notable change upon login - after looking Deathwing in the eye - is the availability of two new races. After its invasion by The Forsaken, the Alliance gain the allegiance of Gilneas, a sub-faction of humans afflicted with a Werewolf-like curse that turns them into "Worgen." The Gilneans are essentially refugees that take shelter with the Night Elves in Darnassus, but are otherwise curiously absent after the first ten levels. By comparison, the Horde gained a faction of Goblins of the Bilgewater Cartel. Bound for slavery, the ship carrying the Goblins is sunk by an Alliance ship in an unfortunate meeting. The Horde rescues the shipwrecked survivors, who integrate themselves throughout low-level Horde areas. Both races have their own unique leveling zones for levels one through ten, whereupon the player is redirected to the respective faction's major home city (in this expansion, either Stormwind or Orgrimmar) for traditional leveling from 11 - 85. Each race has its own unique racial abilities that have a tangible, if minor, impact on gameplay.

The profession changes have been, for better or worse, what one might expect. Leveling professions has been made a bit easier to accommodate for the increased profession skill cap, but all the old recipes of basic swords and armor remain. New recipes follow the same formula for the most part, with the old +20 Agility gem formulas now upgraded to +40 Agility gem formulas. Similar scaling has been made in each profession. New cooking and fishing dailies in Stormwind and Orgrimmar, respectively. Professions are, for the most part, not much more exciting or interesting. The newest profession, Archaeology, is flat-out boring, using a sort of hot-cold minigame to locate dig sites and recover lost artifacts. The artifacts themselves are semi-interesting from a lore perspective and, occasionally, worth some gold at a vendor, but the process of finding them is akin to commuting to and from work.

The PvE (Player versus Environment) aspect of World of Warcraft is the smoothest it has ever been. The story is advanced in every part of Azeroth by questing, with the death of staid characters such as Old Blanchy in Westfall, the explanation of what is going on in the Emerald Dream in Feralas, and territorial "rebalancing" as the Horde gains new ground in a number of regions. The newest zones include the opening of several once unavailable regions, including Mount Hyjal (under siege by none-other than Ragnaros), Vash'jir (steeped in Naga lore), Deepholm (the former residence of Deathwing), Uldum (filled with Titan lore), and finally Twilight Highlands, from which the new expansion antagonists - the Twilight's Hammer Cult - mount their offensive.

Leveling from 80 to 85 takes awhile, but has some extremely interesting quests that give insight into the history of Azeroth, have you fighting a Kraken, saving the earthen plane from collapse, annihilating hundreds of gnomes in a Katamary Damacy-style minigame, among hundreds of other memorable events. Along the way you will accumulate gear and reputation with various factions sufficient to allow your character to enter Heroic dungeons, which drop appropriate gear for entering raids.

The dungeons and raids themselves are emphasizing crowd-control, and rely more heavily upon teamwork and communication than in prior expansions, even on normal difficulty. In some cases this puts more strain on certain group roles than others, and the dungeon finder - at least as of the 4.0.6 patch - can be exceptionally long if you are a damage-dealing class, or instant if you choose a tank or healer role. Depending on your reliance on the dungeon finder, this may be a particularly frustrating aspect of the game, or a non-event.

Due to significant rebalancing in class mechanics and abilities from patches 4.0.1 through the current patch, PvP (Player versus Player) gameplay has varied dramatically depending on what class you have chosen. There is little to say beyond, "You may or may not like what has happened to your class," as you continue to gain PvP gear through honor, which is gained by killing other players in battlegrounds, arenas, and the world (if you are on a PvP server). There is a second level of "points" similar to prior expansions called Conquest points that can be gained through rated combat in the Arena or Battlegrounds. These allow access to the best available PvP gear.

The game looks much as you expect World of Warcraft to look: The art direction is consistent and superb. The newest areas typically use higher polygon counts and more detailed texture mapping, but for the most part the look and feel of the game has been retained. The Naga fit the sunken Greek architecture of Vash'jir well, the elemental plane of Deepholm appears much as you would expect a mine: Filled with jewels and gems of all shapes, colors, and luster. Stormwind and Orgrimmar have both undergone a massive graphical overhaul, with Stormwind receiving an update in scope and texture, and Orgrimmar an update in architecture and design. Both cities now serve as the hubs of the expansion.

Blizzard recorded hundreds of hours of voice talent and music, and it shows as subtle themes add ambiance to the new spaces of Azeroth. Fantastic new NPCs sound their part in their various new places of employ, and the repertoire of many old faces has been expanded.

Even with all these great changes the game may suffer from its own girth: While there is a lot more content and it is more beautiful and streamlined than ever before, it is still more of the same. Players must slog about the lower zones leveling up to get to the "end game," where they will then slog about accumulating gear through a variety of means - be it farming the auction house, farming for materials for their professions, or farming the dungeons. In the end progression involves a lot of chores.

The increased difficulty of dungeons and poor communication tools may also frustrate players. While it may seem simple enough to mark targets and assign jobs, it's not always so simple in practice depending on latencies, player language, and flat-out patience. This may not be the fault of the designer, but it is the result, nonetheless.

One notable oversight is that, in all its changes, the Auction House is notably unchanged. Blizzard had an opportunity to revamp one of the most widely-used tools in the game to allow for better sorting and searching functionality, pricing, and other financial tools, but left it basically the same as it has been for several expansions.

All-in-all Cataclysm offers a ton of new content for both new and old gamers, and should offer a worthwhile gaming experience for every player despite some minor shortcomings.

Get the full article at GameSpot

"Bozanimal reviewed World of Warcraft: Cataclysm for the PC..." was posted by Bozanimal on Tue, 22 Feb 2011 12:24:52 -0800
]]> http://www.gamespot.com/world-of-warcraft-cataclysm/user-reviews/756317/platform/pc/ Fri, 27 Nov 2009 07:38:12 -0800 Bozanimal reviewed World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King for the PC... http://www.gamespot.com/world-of-warcraft-wrath-of-the-lich-king/user-reviews/694881/platform/pc/ ...and gave it a 8.5.

Wrath of the Lich King adds more content to World of Warcraft, increases the level cap from 70 to 80, an additional profession, and a new playable class for all races: Death Knights. This expansion requires the original World of Warcraft and The Burning Crusade expansion, most easily acquired either online or through a Blizzard Battle Chest. The new content includes a new continent on Azeroth, more instances, more quests, more cities, more enemies, and more lore. The result is that Wrath of the Lich King is a requirement for anyone that enjoys World of Warcraft, but does little to change the basic mechanics of the game. So if you enjoyed the original, you can expect more of the same, and vice versa.

Most gamers will be able to make a decision on whether they are interested in picking up an expansion based on that first paragraph: Wrath of the Lich King is more of the same. Explorers have a new continent located at the top of the world map called Northrend, with most of its regions reflecting that title accurately. The vast majority of the map is filled with tundra, icy mountains, icecaps, and other respectfully chilly areas, with the exception of single lush jungle zone somehow preserved through magic or technology.

Death Knights, the newest playable class, are similar to the Forsaken in that they broke free of the will of the Lich King, and now they want revenge. The class is available to every race from Gnome to Tauren, and is designed to be able to perform the function of tanking of damage dealer (the third role being healing). Death Knights require that the player already have a character of at least level 55, as Death Knights start at level 55 in their own starting zone to the east of the Eastern Plaguelands. Through a series of quests, the player will go from employee of the Lich King to vengeful faction member in what is arguably one of the best starting experiences in the game. Even gamers not interested in playing the class are likely to enjoy the experience of the starting zone for the lore associated with the class alone.

Profession junkies will be happy to find hundreds of new craftable items as well as a new profession called "Inscription," which relies on magical symbols to enhance class abilities, as well as create magic cards and books. Existing professions have the additional items you might expect from an expansion to a new profession skill cap of 450 (up from 375 in The Burning Crusade).

Two additional battlegrounds have been introduced as well as new Arenas for games that enjoy Player-versus-Player content and rewards. The biggest addition, however, is the battle for Wintergrasp, a world PvP zone whose objective to an assault-style attack on a castle keep by the faction that is not already in control. The battle occurs every 2 hours and 30 minutes, and the controlling faction gains access to special vendors, items, and a dedicated instance.

The graphics also enjoy a significant boost in Northrend. Environment and mob models have been significantly upgraded, with vast forests caught aflame and detailed enemies and armor textures. Certain zones are "phases," meaning their content changes depending on where your character is in any given quest chain. Player models remain unchanged, as does most of the legacy items and extras from the core game, such as faction mounts and the original battlegrounds.

However, all the additional content is really just that: more stuff to do. Tank classes tank, damage dealing classes blow stuff up, and healers heal. Grouping continues to get easier with an improved Looking-For-Group tool, but the inherent problems of a surplus of damage-dealers and scarcity of healers can still make getting a pick-up-group (PUG) together tough. Items continue to scale, so as you max-out your character the "next level" becomes an exercise in dungeon-running to gear up for the most difficult instances and raid content.

Expect to be sucked into an all-new continent filled with activity - and bid adieu to your real-life - if you loved the original.

Get the full article at GameSpot

]]> http://www.gamespot.com/world-of-warcraft-wrath-of-the-lich-king/user-reviews/694881/platform/pc/ Fri, 02 Jan 2009 08:34:04 -0800 Bozanimal reviewed World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade for the PC... http://www.gamespot.com/world-of-warcraft-the-burning-crusade/user-reviews/636011/platform/pc/ ...and gave it a 8.5.

The Burning Crusade adds thousands of virtual acres of game space and troves of content for players of the original, and is a requirement for anyone that wants to continue to enjoy the original title. Much of the new content and races are only accessible with the expansion, and you will be unable to level beyond 60 without the expansion.

There are two major additions to the game: two new races and a new world: Draenor. In addition to the base races of the original title, gamers have the choice to play for either the Alliance or Horde faction: The Draenei and the Blood Elves. Each race comes with its own unique appearance, special abilities, and class selection. The Horde gains access to the Paladin class though the Blood Elves, while the Alliance gain the Shaman class with the Draenei. Each new race also has their own starting zones, smaller additions to the Azeroth landscape including two islands for the Draenei accessible by ship and two zones that combined make up a peninsula for the Blood Elves. Both areas offer unique mob (the term used for enemy units) models, quests, quest rewards, loot, and other benefits for the new races, as well as two new capital cities.

In addition to the aforementioned, gamers have access to a new profession, "Jewelcrafting," which allows players to create necklaces and rings that provide benefits to their character, as well as summonable trinket pets and gems to enhance their equipment. Players will even gain access to flying mounts as they reach sufficient level, and will need those mounts to reach certain areas.

In effect, WoW developer Blizzard Entertainment has added more of everything: more races, more world, more professions, more craftable items, more loot, more enemies, more dungeons, more world player-versus-player (PvP) objectives, and more story. Where the end-game focus of the original was on pushing back the undead Scourge in the Plaguelands of Azeroth and the ancient insect menace in Silithus, the new end-game focus is on fighting back against the Burning Legion, the army of demons and corrupted races that work to exterminate all life in the universe in order to return to its original state of pure energy and chaos.

The story is larger in scope, and it works to a degree from the moment the player steps through the Dark Portal of Azeroth to enter Draenor. Hundreds of NPCs square off in an epic battle at the very steps of the Portal, making the player feel as if he or she has stepped into something much bigger than him or herself.

From the moment the player steps through the gate they are going to find their Azeroth gear obsolete. The basic quests in Hellfire Peninsula, the first province gamers enter on Draenor, make Level 60 end-game raiding gear obsolete. In fact, most characters will find themselves completely decked out in new gear before they leave the province. Moving from level 60 to level 70 is a difference as dramatic as level 1 to level 60, with dramatic increases in the effectiveness of equipment and the items the player can use.

The Burning Crusade retains much of the feel of the original by using many of the originals models in addition to the new content. Players will recognize the trademark architecture of Alliance and Horde structures, particularly those of the human and orc settlements, while they are introduced to the new architecture of the Draenei and Blood Elves. The landscape is dramatically different, however. Draenor is a shattered world, and looks very much the part. Vast plots of land float in emptiness of space, and bands of energy curl in the sky above the player. Waterfalls and pools of fel-energy flow over the edges of the continent into nothingness. Each zone has its own distinct feel. For example, Hellfire Peninsula offers broken landscape of barren rock and fire, while Zangarmarsh offers a vast swamp teeming with life (mostly of the mushroom variety).

To complement the vastness that seems to be a trademark of the expansion, the soundtrack illustrates the larger-than-life action on-screen with a paced classical score that changes depending on the location and action. The score is to The Burning Crusade as John Williams helps define a Star Wars title, and it certainly enhances the on-screen action.

For all its additions there are the inevitable drawbacks. While the new races offer the Alliance and Horde access to classes they sorely needed to balance combat between the two, the Draenei do not necessarily fit with the fantasy theme of the game. The race is not affectionately referred to in-game as, "Blue Space Cows." The gripe continues with Draenor and even the loot. Draenor is very much another planet, a mix of magic and technology. Crashed interdimensional ships, ray guns, and giant rainbow axes are par for the course, which may detract from the medieval fantasy aspect of the original. The armor is also more colorful than in the original, leading to the term, "clown suits." Some players may forgive the science fiction feel of Draenor for the benefits, but others will miss the intimate medieval atmosphere of Azeroth.

There is also added complexity due to the inclusion of "sockets" for some items. Sockets allow players to customize certain weaponry and armor to increase certain statistics on top of the existing professional ability to enchant those items. In the end socketed items seem like additional complexity without purpose. Developers might just as easily have made items class-specific, increased the original drop, or added additional enchantments. Any of the aforementioned would have made an already complex game a little less complicated.

Finally, the game continues to try to be everything to everyone, and in some instances this can frustrate some gamers while making others feel gypped. Some changes are welcome; there are far fewer 40-man raids such as Ahn'Qiraj and Molten Core, which required a massive group of coordinated players and major investment in terms of time and gearing up your character appropriately. The Azeroth 40-man raids are made obsolete by the superior gear and access of new 10- and 5-man dungeons. This is also one of the casualties of the expansion, as getting groups to run old-world content becomes more challenging with more players on Draenor rather than Azeroth. Further, the gear that players gain access to in battlegrounds - PvP-specific arenas - is often equivalent if not superior to gear players may take days or weeks of raiding in world and dungeon drops to acquire.

Still, many of these drawbacks are not necessarily exclusive to The Burning Crusade, and Blizzard has done an amazing job creating a world with thousands of quests and its own distinct look and feel while retaining elements of the original. Without question anyone who enjoyed the original content will thrill to play The Burning Crusade, and enjoy all of the new places to visit, enemies to kill, and loot to acquire.

Get the full article at GameSpot

"Bozanimal reviewed World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade for the PC..." was posted by Bozanimal on Fri, 02 Jan 2009 08:34:04 -0800
]]> http://www.gamespot.com/world-of-warcraft-the-burning-crusade/user-reviews/636011/platform/pc/ Thu, 03 Jan 2008 14:23:32 -0800 Bozanimal reviewed Unreal Tournament III for the PC... http://www.gamespot.com/unreal-tournament-iii/user-reviews/537257/platform/pc/ ...and gave it a 8.0.

You are Reaper, a young man whose world was raped by an invasion years ago led by the Necris - a growing race of human beings modified by the substance known as "nanoblack" - high inquisitor, Akasha. You, your sister Jester, the religious zealot Bishop and friend Othello form the Ronin, a group of mercenaries seeking the right financial backer to exact for the families murdered by Akasha.

Getting to the Necris homeworld is expensive and difficult after all, requiring a ship, a jumpgate, and the intelligence to get in and locate Akasha. As it would happen, mercenary work is plentiful. The resources of the G.E.D. (Global Earth Defense) have been stretched thin over the years, and mega-corporations like the Izanagi, Axon, and Phayder Corporations are at ends to secure limited resources in critical locations by any means necessary.

The Izanagi hire you and the rest of the Ronin to take on odd jobs under the direction of Malcolm, a former Tournament champion. You will lead the Ronin in securing existing locations under attack by competing corporations, to take additional facilities which present a tactical advantage, and to fight back against incursion by the inevitable Necris invasion. The jobs will take you across continents, into forests, across archipelagos, into the desert, across snowy canyons, and onto distant planets.

Every location is beautifully rendered by Epic Games' Unreal Engine 3. The team has done a wonderful job creating an atmosphere unique to each location. Trees sway, mists rise, water ripples, and it becomes obvious why so many developers have been keen to snap up the technology for blockbuster titles like Bioshock and Mass Effect. Not only is it possible to sit back and take in the exquisitely modeling arenas, but to look closely at the character models, as well. Even face-to-face with another character, which is unlikely given the pace of the game, every facial pore and dent in the armor leaps out of the screen in vivid detail. With the possible exception of Crysis, Unreal Tournament 3 was probably the best looking game at the time of its release.

Of course, it can be difficult to take in its beauty when the average lifespan of the player is under thirty seconds. Like its predecessors, Unreal Tournament 3 is an incredibly fast-paced game. Gamers familiar with a first-person shooter interface will be quick to learn the basic functions of UT3, which uses a fairly standard WASD keyboard setup for movement and mouselook function for aiming. Mastering the nuances of movement, however, will take some time. Gone is the dodge-jump system from its predecessor. So, too, is the shield gun. Instead, the player must rely on rapid short hops and accurate aiming to ensure their own survival in UT3, and there are plenty of weapons to aim.

Every weapon in Unreal Tournament has two types of firing with the primary and secondary mouse buttons by default. The Biorifle, for example, primarily rapidly fires small globs of hazardous green globs that damage the opponent. The secondary fire will, when held down, form a mass of hazardous goo that can be released on one massive shot over an arc. Sometimes it can change the way the weapon is used. The shock rife, a particle weapon, fires an instant, infinitely long shot with the primary fire and slow-moving balls of destructive energy with the secondary fire. When the energy ball is shot with the beam, it explodes in a massively damaging sphere, typically destroying anything in a fairly large radius.

As if the large arsenal were not enough, there are a number of new vehicles and redesigns. Some are upgrades, such as the single-player Scorpion, which now fully encloses the player and has a turbo-boost feature. Some are downgrades, such as the Hellbender, whose rear cannon has lost much of its oomph and whose steering is awkward. But a number of interesting Necris vehicles with beam weapons, tentacles, and traps keep the vehicle lineup interesting.

Included game variations include Deathmatch, Team Deathmatch, Capture the Flag, Vehicle Capture the Flag, and Warfare. Deathmatch and Team Deathmatch are standard enemy elimination rounds where you need to kill your opponent before they kill you. The one with the most kills, or frags, is the victor. Capture the flag is just that, run to the flag of the other team, take their flag by walking over it, and return it to your own without getting fragged, which drops the flag. Vehicle CTF is the same only with tanks, hovercraft, and the rest of the assorted UT3 mobile armament. Warfare is a variation of Onslaught, a game mode introduced in UT2004 that opened up huge maps with nodes that needed to be controlled to allow access to new vehicles, player spawn points, weapons, and the ability to take out the enemy core, the ultimate goal.

Gone are Assault, Bombing Run, Domination, and Double Domination game variations. Of the four, the loss of Assault is particularly disappointing, as its goal-oriented gameplay would have fit seamlessly with the single-player campaign.

As it stands, the single-player campaign is a bit thin. One might recall a generic action movie, where the characters are one-dimensional and plot contrived. As Reaper, you pick some assignments handed down from your employer, the Izanagi Corporation, while others are optional. Completing one mission over another has little bearing on the main plotline of securing Izanagi resources from competitors while Reaper tangentially seeks revenge on the Necris. Certain missions reward the player with "cards" that can be used for upcoming levels. The cards allow the gamer to add additional squad members beyond the default or upgrade vehicles. Unfortunately, the cards merely fill a gap in the game, since the missions are often heavily weighted against the player. For example, a Warfare mission might have you begin with one less teammate than the opponent, or a core that is already vulnerable to attack. Without the cards to compensate, the difficulty can border on frustration.

Still, the single-player campaign is lengthy and the NPCs non-player characters) are generally intelligently designed, offering some depth for gamers looking to play alone. Though giving orders does not often seem to matter, they do work well in teams and will support the player in a pinch. Your opponents and comrades alike degrade and gloat in an entertaining manner; though it has no tangible bearing on the gameplay, it certainly provides atmosphere. All in all, it is entirely possible to thoroughly enjoy UT3 without ever going online.

Online, however, is where Unreal Tournament has and continues to shine its brightest. Online is a sizable community of dedicated and casual players that range from the hardcore to the newbie. Maps that single players believe they have mastered take on new dimensions as human beings find nooks and crannies to exploit that would go unfound in single-player. Human beings require a change in tactics, faster thinking, and thicker skin. The taunts are somewhat more real when they are generated by actual people that have humiliated the player.

Finally, there is the bevy of content created by the users themselves. Epic Games provides players with a development kit with every game so that players can create modifications, such as new maps and character models. This adds significant replayability, even with the fairly sizable library of included maps.

The downside is that some of the content that made its predecessor stand out has been lost. Gone is the player-favorite Assault, the ability to quick dodge and jump, and the continued absense of the "Ripper" weapon. Further, the additional gadgets are so much fluff on a game that offers little play variety. Several levels are reimaginings of popular historical maps, beautiful as they are. The single-player campaign also feels tacked on, despite significant hype leading to its release.

Despite its faults, Unreal Tournament 3 is a great game that executes on a mature gaming format. Fans of the genre will generally be pleased at the improvements in visuals and balanced gameplay. Newcomers will enjoy the game for what it is: a solid first-person, science fiction shooter that does not tinker with its original formula.

Get the full article at GameSpot

"Bozanimal reviewed Unreal Tournament III for the PC..." was posted by Bozanimal on Thu, 03 Jan 2008 14:23:32 -0800
]]> http://www.gamespot.com/unreal-tournament-iii/user-reviews/537257/platform/pc/ Wed, 19 Dec 2007 11:01:28 -0800 Bozanimal reviewed World of Warcraft for the PC... http://www.gamespot.com/world-of-warcraft/user-reviews/532142/platform/pc/ ...and gave it a 9.0!

Azeroth has been shattered by ages of war between the many races of the world. The lands overflow with the ruins of past glories and lost empires. Power has splintered into two camps called the Alliance and the Horde that have become locked into seemingly perpetual conflict. Neutral cities and factions exist, but are few and far between given the scale of the ongoing conflict. Evidence of centuries of war are everywhere. Shattered ballistas and trebuchets litter the wilderness and suburban areas alike. Cities catalog the rich history of the world, which stretches back so far as to become myth and legend.

Great bastions of power still exist in the fortress metropolises of some races, such as Ironforge. The city is hollowed out of a mountain, its core a massive, everflowing forge of liquid-hot magma. It overlooks the Dwarven lands of Dun Morough, Loch Modan, with views as far as Blackrock Spire of the distant land of Burning Steppes. Thousands of dwarves and gnomes inhabit the mountain fortress, selling weapons, spells, educating travelers in their trades, offering brew and a place to rest, and even selling pies in the streets. As if Ironforge were not large enough to explore itself, a tram built and maintained by the technologically-savvy gnomes is available for free at anytime for travelers and residents to take to and from the allied city of Stormwind to the south, the last stronghold of humanity.

You begin as a young, promising member of your race in either faction, selected from Dwarves, Gnomes, Humans, Night Elves, and Draenei for the Alliance and Orcs, Tauren, Trolls, Undead and Blood Elves for the Horde. Selecting faction - and server, for that matter - is crucial because you can only speak and interact with other players of the same faction and on the same server. If you have friends that you would like to either speak with, play with, or both, be sure to select appropriately. In fact, the race you select will also have a profound effect on your gameplay experience, because someone starting out as a Night Elf will not be able to meet up with a Dwarven friend until they have traveled and "leveled-up" quite extensively. For example, Dwarves and Gnomes begin in the same protected new player area of Coldridge Valley in Dun Morough, while humans begin far to the south in Goldshire and Night Elves in Teldrassil, which is on another continent entirely. It takes time for players to reach a level where they can safely travel through those areas necessary to get to each other.

Once players have logged in, selected their race and server, and chosen a name for their avatar, they need to select a character class; Druid, Hunter, Mage, Paladin, Priest, Rogue, Shaman, Warlock, or Warrior. Each class has its own specialty, such as Priests are great at healing but can only wear cloth armor, while Warriors are effective melee fighters but cannot heal or fight well at a distance. Further, certain races are restricted to certain classes, and are better at specializing in particular classes over others. Only Night Elves (Alliance) and Tauren (Horde) can be Druids, for example, a class that allows the player to shapeshift into animals. Users looking to change into animal form are restricted to those races, as a result.

Once the player has selected their race, server, character class, whether they wish to be male or female, and modified their appearance, they begin in their designated starting area. The interface is detailed, but intuitive. By default a minimap appears on the top-right showing nearby landscape and character positions, a health and mana (used for magic) are shown by default for most races on the top-left, and a bar on the bottom allows for the selection of talents, abilities, professional constructions, spellcasting, and other actions. The majority of the display is the three-dimensional world in which the character travels and interacts. By default, the avatar is moved via the WASD keys, as well as being able to strafe, jump, swim, etc. Everything, however, is customizable, from movement to display and chatting options (which appear at the bottom left). Other actions in-game can be made via the command line. Typing the forward slash key, "/," brings up options for speaking to other characters, those around you, and various "emotes" that allow the character to dance, growl, slap, fart, and pretty much do anything else that people do once you have learned the proper commands.

Within viewing distance after characters first log-on should be several quest-givers, NPCs with exclamation marks over their heads. The majority of time in-game is spent completing quests, such as thinning out the wolf population or bringing back sufficient boar entrails for a recipe. Other quests are more involved, taking out a gang leader threatening the area, retrieving a sentimental item for an NPC that lies in a protected area, or even vanquishing a dastardly princess. Completing quests gives characters three things: Experience, rewards, and reputation. The first helps players gain levels, improving characteristics such as strength, agility, and intelligence to make combat easier and opening up new armor and weapons for use. Rewards are just that: items or money that can be used for whatever the player desires. Lastly, reputation bonuses affect their perception with various races and groups, which can lead to bonuses. For example, a dwarf completes a quest on behalf of an NPC or Stormwind, thereby increasing their reputation with the human race. Enough reputation and goods from human retailers become less expensive.

Game developer Blizzard has truly created a world for its Warcraft franchise. The wilds and settlements of World of Warcraft are large, rich, detailed, and require significant time for exploration. Although the game is an online, multiplayer role-playing game, players need not enjoy the game only with other human beings. The environment is overflowing with sentient and wild characters and creatures. Taking away the other players populating a city such as Ironforge, for example, leaves hundreds of NPCs (non-player characters) to talk to, trade with, and learn from.

However, taking away the other players would remove half the experience. Certainly, World of Warcraft offers an amazingly deep single-player experience, with thousands of quests for adventurers to undertake that span both continents of Azeroth. The player can grow their avatar via leveling-up with battle and quest experience, as well as through practice such as fishing and skinning to learn trades. However, without the help of other intrepid explorers the player will be unable to brave particular dungeons and strongholds, and is typically restricted from the best armor and weapons as a result.

In World of Warcraft you can speak with other players verbally and nonverbally, through the gestures your character makes and the actions you have him or her perform, such as helping another player that is overwhelmed or, conversely, stealing their loot. Gamers can join up into temporary parties with others to accomplish quests or other goals, or even join up more permanently inside guilds, which are semi-permanent registries of groups that play together.

There are benefits to the multiplayer aspect. Gamers meet new friends online, are able to level-up their characters at a more rapid pace (by taking on more difficult enemies and completing their quests more expeditiously), and have more options available to them. For example, users that opt to join a guild then have access to the guild bank, which shares items between players. Of course, comrades and combatants alike have the option of using the auction house, an in-game trade system that works like a medieval eBay. Post a good at the auction house for sale for a specified period of time and at a small fee, and either earn a quick gold piece or get the item back - sans fee - in the in-game mail system. Players can also dual one another, which is like a virtual sparring match where neither character dies, but where honor among peers is the spoils.

Want an undisturbed gaming experience without encountering random users? World of Warcraft offers events called "instances," that allow gamers to enter a prefabricated dungeons - be they above or below ground - without enemies respawning or other players entering besides the party. A group of three friends might enter an instance for a two-hour play session uninterrupted. Instances also typically offer the best rewards in equipment and experience, as well.

If it sounds like World of Warcraft is a complicated, layered game with limitless combinations and aspects available for exploration, it does. Besides the huge world, rich, detailed history, collaboration and challenge system, multitude of items, and stunning landscapes, World of Warcraft offers pets, conversation, and relaxation. A player is as likely to find a group of high-level characters camped out around a fire at the Lion's Head Inn as they are to see a group adventuring in the field.

Despite all of its assets, World of Warcraft is sometimes hampered by its own design. Twelve hours into playing one might reflect back on the six hours they spent running from Loch Modan to Westfall. This is mitigates somewhat by the griffin taxi system, but they can sometimes be few and far between. Gamers get access to a mount when they reach a certain level, but until then they have to hoof it, and running can feel interminably slow at times.

There is no saving system. This can be a boon and a bane at the same time. On one hand, it makes the player consider twice certain decisions. Selling that magical axe will mean that the player will never be able to recover it, and taking on a villain at a higher level cannot be retried by reloading at the last save point. The death system is still fairly generous. When a player dies they respawn at a nearby - being a relative term - graveyard. They then need to run back to their body, otherwise they can immediately respawn with a damage penalty to all of their equipment, whose repair can be expensive. Running back to the body can be just as bad, as the player often died in an area where they were overwhelmed, meaning they may just die again once they are resurrected.

The quests that make up a majority of the game prior to "maxing-out" a character can feel pointless. In order for the game to function, enemies respawn to allow other players to complete the same quests for themselves. This means that if a player were to stand in one location too long, the enemies they thought were previously eliminated will spring back into existence. This can break the role-playing atmosphere particularly when it was a key opponent, such as a rogue that has been plaguing the village. "Thank you for saving our village," feels hollow when you know that rogue is right back where you left him, despite having dispatched him or her yourself.

Finally, as with any multiplayer game, there are the other users themselves. Vulgarity is not much of an issue, as it is likely to get users banned. However, it is not unusual for lower-level players to be spammed with in-game messages from other users to visit web sites to download game plug-ins. It is also not unusual to be exploring the corner of a tower and find two characters engaged in biblical and non-biblical relations. Gamers have become disturbingly adept at getting their avatars into key positions of adult activity.

Despite some minor flaws, World of Warcraft is an immense, challenging, and entertaining gaming experience. Growing your character, dressing them, teaching them new skills, and pouring all the energy necessary into a game of its depth feels validated by the impressive community of users. A new flaming sword is likely to elicit gawking from peers. A revealing holiday outfit (seasonal) will do the same. Many gamers are likely to be just as content to travel the visually inspired world of ice-capped mountains and evergreen trees, rocky tundra and sandy deserts of Azeroth. Still other will enjoy fishing, cooking, and learning the multitude of skills that World of Warcraft offers. For everyone there is something new to learn and discover that will keep them coming back to learn, grow, and adventure. World of Warcraft is an impressive title, even three years after its initial release.

Disclosures
The reviewer played the two-week trial as a Dwarf Hunter. In that time, he leveled-up to 18, acquired and trained two pets, learned engineering, mining, fishing, cooking, and first-aid, as well as explored several higher-level areas by means of Level 70 friendlies.

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"Bozanimal reviewed World of Warcraft for the PC..." was posted by Bozanimal on Wed, 19 Dec 2007 11:01:28 -0800
]]> http://www.gamespot.com/world-of-warcraft/user-reviews/532142/platform/pc/ Tue, 06 Nov 2007 05:21:38 -0800 Bozanimal reviewed Missile Command for the Atari 8-bit... http://www.gamespot.com/missile-command-original/user-reviews/513383/platform/atari8bit/ ...and gave it a 7.5.

The combination of flashing sirens, dark hallways, and flashing red lights made it difficult for the young lieutenant to find his way to the general he sought at the other side of the compound. Her shirt was soaked with sweat from stress and fatigue. She paused a moment and stepped to one side to let two privates rocket past her on a mission of one sort or another, but certainly an important one.

They were under attack.

Her assigned post was one of three major Missile Command installations in the country charged with protecting every city in the nation. She smirked to herself as she popped off her pumps and jogged along the corridor, recollecting the opposition the politicians had towards a national missile shield. That same shield would be used today to save those very politician's lives.

She rounded the corner and took nary a step before falling backward onto her rump, her high heels spilling across the cement floors. She had just bounced backward off the General's portly form at a half-gallop.

"Lieutenant!" shouted the General, "What are you doing on the floor? Don't you realize we're being fired upon?" His medals and chevrons were absent, lost in the rush to duty. In their place was a red and black flannel shirt and jeans, the uniform of a hunter. He exuded an aroma of evergreen trees and gunpowder. A bit overweight and under-dressed, his face was still clean-shaven and hair combed. His shirt was pressed and tucked neatly. His casual outerwear appearance belied a strict adherence to procedure. Two subordinates followed in his wake.

"Sir!" she fumbled, saluting as she picked herself up off the floor, "I apologize, I was trying to find you, sir." She adjusted her blouse and balanced herself on one foot to put on each of her heels, supporting herself on one of the clammy pipes that ran along the hallway.

"Well, what do you have for me, lieutenant?" he demanded gruffly. She walked alongside him as she talked, a common destination drawing inevitably closer.

"Sir, we have three Missile Command posts at our disposal, protecting six cities. We have to time our missile launches so that their explosion intercepts incoming bogeys. We have never done this before outside of training simulations, so we are a bit concerned that everything will work as planned, sir."

"We're just going to have to trust the engineers on this one, lieutenant." The General walked briskly in a robotic, purposeful manner.

"Sir, you know the system, we can only launch so many missiles at any given time, so we need to time our responses precisely, and be careful with our limited ammunition-"

The General stopped for a moment and turned to look the lieutenant hard in the eyes with black eyes like daggers, "You treat the ammunition carefully, lieutenant. All we need is to run out of countermeasures under continued incoming fire and lose a city due to poor ammunition management. The mobs that follow that kind of devastation - if anyone is left alive - will look to point fingers, and those fingers will point at us. Make sure every shot meets an incoming volley, do you understand?"

"Sir, yes, sir. But, um-" the young lieutenant stammered.

The General resumed his pace, casually brushing aside the door to the deepest bunker in the complex. It was from here that the defense network was managed. "What is it lieutenant?" He asked as he took to the monitor of intercontinental ballistic missiles, crawling across the screen as if in slow motion.

She swallowed. "Sir, we should prioritize the survival of the command posts, sir."

"What was that lieutenant? What did I just say about our accountability? Our duty is to protect our civilian population, at our own expense if necessary. This is no game, you don't get bonuses for cities still standing. You get children without mothers and generations of radiation sickness." He turned his full attention to the suddenly tiny figure in front of him. The Missile Command went quiet as the scene unfolded, and the young lieutenant looked up to address her superior.

"Sir, I understand our- my duty. But if any of the three Missile Command posts are eliminated, it will cripple our ability to respond to current and future ICBMs. We need to preserve the defense network to maximize survivability over the long-term, sir." A rivulet of sweat arched across her brow and down her nose. She wondered if the General would notice.

The General looked at her, squinting slightly. His heavy breathing seems to fill the room, causing its walls to bow in and out with his lungs. "Lieutenant," he began slowly, "do what you believe is necessary to protect this country. I have seen your simulation scores. I've read your test results. If you believe this is the best course of action, I will back you up if and when it comes to trial. But remember, we need to survive to make it to that day." He clapped her shoulder.

"Sir, yes, sir." replied the lieutenant, half relieved and yet twice as worried.

She sat down at her post about twenty feet away, the shouting and frantic discussions around her becoming a dull, droning monotone. The fluorescent lights above cast an eerie green glow on the beige and cement room. As she looked down her screen flickered to life, with three crude icons at its base representing the Missile Commands and six icons representing the civilian cities. At the top of her screen she could see the first flickering light of an ICBM and its contrail.

Her clammy hands gripped the rubber of the controls. She breathed out a sigh slowly as her mind formed the words, "Here we go."

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"Bozanimal reviewed Missile Command for the Atari 8-bit..." was posted by Bozanimal on Tue, 06 Nov 2007 05:21:38 -0800
]]> http://www.gamespot.com/missile-command-original/user-reviews/513383/platform/atari8bit/ Tue, 30 Oct 2007 08:34:25 -0700 Bozanimal reviewed Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!! for the NES... http://www.gamespot.com/mike-tysons-punch-out/user-reviews/510932/platform/nes/ ...and gave it a 9.0!

In Mike Tyson's Punch-Out! you play Little Mac, a spry, 17 year-old, 107lb boxer from the New York Bronx. Your goal is to fight your way through the ranks to a Dream Round against Mike Tyson himself. Little Mac must box his way through ten fighters - twice in a few cases - to get through to Tyson.

You follow Little Mac in a behind-the-shoulder view of the ring. Light bulbs flash and the crowd cheers as Little Mac approaches each of his opponents, who effectively tower over the little protagonist. Little Mac, however, is a quick little guy with a variety of moves in his repertoire, despite the relatively limited NES controller.

Little Mac can dodge, block, and perform body and uppercut punches to his opponent. Left and right punches are thrown with the B and A buttons respectively, while a "Super Punch" can be thrown with the start button once a star is earned. To earn stars Little Mac needs to land a series of punches successfully.

In addition to the normal health meter, he also has a heart meter. The heart meter decreases whenever Little Mac is struck by an opponent or blocks. When it reaches zero, he turns pink and is unable to attack until he successfully dodges an opponent's attack. Dodging is accomplished by pushing the D-pad twice left, right, or downward, thereby dodging in the respective direction.

Punch-Out! is a game of hand-eye coordination where timing and pattern analysis are critical. Some boxers such as King Hippo have a trick to knocking them down, where a single punch or series of punches allow Little Mac to own the match. Other boxers appear to be more random, particularly in the final "World Circuit," greatly increasing the difficulty.

Punch-Out! uses a password system allowing the player to skip ahead to the last circuit in which Little Mac fought. The player needs to box from the bottom of the circuit up, but at least they need not start in the Minor Circuit.

The opponents are colorful and unique, if stereotyped. Racial profiles aside, characters such as Don Flamenco from Spain spout quips such as, "People like my hair. Don't mess my hair!" that keeps the game light. Mario referees the match, and trainer Doc Louis gives Little Mac a workout jogging along what appears to be Liberty State Park between circuits.

If it sounds like Punch-Out! is more complicated than it first appears, it is. Punch-Out! goes beyond a simple one-two punch system and challenges Little Mac to use his resources effectively. Save that star and use it after an opponent is stunned or take a chance and maybe knock them out in one blow?

Gamers will find themselves returning to Punch-Out! again and again for its progressive challenge, endearing characters, and entertaining gameplay.

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"Bozanimal reviewed Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!! for the NES..." was posted by Bozanimal on Tue, 30 Oct 2007 08:34:25 -0700
]]> http://www.gamespot.com/mike-tysons-punch-out/user-reviews/510932/platform/nes/ Mon, 22 Oct 2007 10:39:16 -0700 Bozanimal reviewed River Raid for the Atari 8-bit... http://www.gamespot.com/river-raid/user-reviews/508381/platform/atari8bit/ ...and gave it a 7.5.

The year was 1982, and budding developer Activision was hot coming off multi-million copy sales of titles Kaboom! and Pitfall! for the Atari. One of the first female video game designers Carol Shaw dreamed up River Raid, and a classic game was produced.

River Raid has no storyline or characters. The player guides a monocolored plane along a river from a top-down perspective, shooting enemies and avoiding obstacles. Smashing into a wall, vehicle, or being shot destroys the plane. The player has the ability to move left or right, speed up or slow down, and fire. In addition to avoiding obstacles such as helicopters, balloons, ships, and the river wall, the player also needs to worry about fuel. As might be expected in real life, running out of fuel causes the player to crash. Unlike real life, there are refueling stations every so often along the river the player need only fly over to refuel. Flying more slowly over the refueling station allows the player to fill the tank, fly too quickly and not much fuel is added.

Due to the large number of tasks the player is beset with fulfilling, gameplay is surgically stressful. It is all too easy to crash when nicking the side of the river is all it takes to lose a plane, particularly when the river itself narrows to but a stream. Combine this with enemy copters and other objects flitting about the river itself, and fuel often becoming dangerously low in certain stretches, and you have an incredibly challenging game.

River Raid offers incredibly difficult but rewarding gameplay with an easily accessible control scheme. Anyone looking for a quick distraction that becomes more addictive the more you practice would be rewarded by finding an aging copy or emulator.

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"Bozanimal reviewed River Raid for the Atari 8-bit..." was posted by Bozanimal on Mon, 22 Oct 2007 10:39:16 -0700
]]> http://www.gamespot.com/river-raid/user-reviews/508381/platform/atari8bit/ Thu, 11 Oct 2007 10:11:19 -0700 Bozanimal reviewed Dungeon Siege for the PC... http://www.gamespot.com/dungeon-siege/user-reviews/505085/platform/pc/ ...and gave it a 7.7.

The Krug, lopish, human-like creatures with think-wits and strong arms, ravaged your village in the Kingdom of Ehb. The Krug have been increasingly aggressive in recent memory, stoked by some unknown and unseen evil. No longer can you work the farm without fear of reprisal from the beasts. Your trowel in hand, you lock the door of your meager home and step forward to stop the Krug in whatever way might be necessary.

Dungeon Siege is an action role-playing game, meaning you will be able to level-up, hack-and-slash, equip new weapons and/or learn spells, and take a long journey of discovery to ward evil. Dungeon Siege does not pretend to be original or unique. You follow your character in a three-dimensional, three-quarter adjustable overhead view through the Kingdom of Ehb. Your character can learn magic, archery, or melee combat, which will determine their ability to equip certain weapons and armor, gain health, and the like.

Along the way your young farmer avatar will meet many residents of Ehb. Some will agree to come along on your journey for reasons of revenge or justice, while others will come along for a small fee. Deciding who to add and who to let go when your party becomes full will be often be a difficult decision balancing character strengths and weaknesses. Each party member is capable of carrying a certain amount of goods, and typically specializes in one of the areas your own character specializes in, such as nature magic or fighting.

Dungeon Siege is about journeying through the land of Ehb and immersing yourself in its environment, which is easily as diverse as the mythical land of Middle-Earth. You will travel from lush forests through beautiful snowy mountains and canyons to beaches and underground mines. Indeed, some of the regions of Ehb rival those of Rohan, Moria, or the Shire. Your journey is extremely linear, you cannot get lost, and exploration would equate to about a city block from your path at any given time. But do not mistake the narrow trails for a lack of content, as the visuals are impressive even five years on, with snow falling daintily and water bubbling along in quiet brooks.

Gas Powered Games overlooked no detail; characters and creatures are highly detailed even at the closest visual setting. Equipped armor and weapons appear on your characters, magical staffs crackle with power and crossbows load bolts before firing. Enemies are suitably impressive as well, wielding their own weapons or intrinsic magics. Indeed, Dungeon Siege is a video game monstrous compendium covering everything from Beholders to Goblins and the Undead. Battles between the party and creatures of Ehb will take many forms, including being overwhelmed by numbers and encountering enormous bosses.

The frenetic pace of battle, casting spells, and tromping through swamps and badlands is impressively scored with a heroic and sometimes foreboding classical score, setting the mood. Swords clang, footsteps echo in dark hallways, evil creatures cry out, and magical fire rings through the forests. Non-player characters are also voiced with intensity, with greedy merchants sounding just as you would expect them, and murderous bandits emitting jaded notes of disgust.

The party itself is easy and intuitive to control right down to camera movements and aiming. For the most part, a few simple clicks will have the party moving in the right direction or concentrating fire on the appropriate enemy. Managing treasure and equipment is straightforward, though there is so much plunder to be had that the player might add a mule to the party to carry it all. The mule cannot attack - at least not well - but it holds twice the booty of any character, allowing for some rewarding trips through the lands of Ehb.

Dungeon Siege is not a challenging game; players need only equip the latest weapons and armor and set the party to heal appropriately to win most battles. Micromanaging is certainly not essential to victory. However, somewhere along the way the player will likely find themselves feeling as if they, too, have traveled through a kingdom rich in detail and long in history. What the game lacks in originality it makes up for in simple execution and brilliant style.

--------------------
This review does not cover the multiplayer aspect of Dungeon Siege

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"Bozanimal reviewed Dungeon Siege for the PC..." was posted by Bozanimal on Thu, 11 Oct 2007 10:11:19 -0700
]]> http://www.gamespot.com/dungeon-siege/user-reviews/505085/platform/pc/ Tue, 09 Oct 2007 10:29:47 -0700 Bozanimal reviewed Excitebike for the NES... http://www.gamespot.com/excitebike/user-reviews/504429/platform/nes/ ...and gave it a 2.5.

Excitebike was one of the first games released for the NES in 1984 and was designed by gaming legend Shigeru Miyamoto, the creator of the Mario, Donkey Kong, and The Legend of Zelda to name a few. The game is a two-dimensional motocross simulation in profile view.

The player can move between four lanes of a track, pressing the "A" button to accelerate and "B" for turbo, which may cause the bike to overheat if pressed long enough. The goal is to get a qualifying time for the Excitebike race, a championship run. Excitebike offers solo play, play against the computer intelligence, and play against another player.

Excitebike offered simple fun for a young mind, and still offers great competitive play today. Unfortunately it lacks the depth necessary to keep the attention of a modern gamer for reasons other than nostalgia. The images are flat and boring; half the screen is green and the remainder brown. There are no notable characters, a single bike to ride, and little variety in track other than where to place a particular jump, puddle, or other obstacle.

Even against competing games for the NES system Excitebike is unable to hold its own with the graphically superior R.C. Pro Am and California Games being released shortly afterward, both of which offered improved racing against friends and solo, respectively.

Excitebike was entertaining during a time when home gaming was still a relatively new concept, and the NES was gaining widespread appeal. Unfortunately the game is unlikely to hold the attention - or to even challenge - a modern gamer.

-----------------
This reviewer owned and played Excitebike on an original NES in the 1980's.

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"Bozanimal reviewed Excitebike for the NES..." was posted by Bozanimal on Tue, 09 Oct 2007 10:29:47 -0700
]]> http://www.gamespot.com/excitebike/user-reviews/504429/platform/nes/ Thu, 04 Oct 2007 09:08:30 -0700 Bozanimal reviewed Max Payne for the PC... http://www.gamespot.com/max-payne/user-reviews/502756/platform/pc/ ...and gave it a 9.0!

The overwhelming shadow of a city - rotting with disease - presses in around you. The neon lights and chittering rats mock you knowingly. The streets are lined with graffiti, trash, and needles. There are more dumpsters than trees. Your fellow denizens are not friends, at least not to you, and usually not even to each other. They're okay with you, though, it makes exterminating them easier on your conscious.

Some might not blame the junkies for what they do. The drug, Valkyr, takes control of their minds and bodies; getting a fix is more important than doing what is right or wrong. But at some point they made the choice. At some point they made the wrong choice. Coming into your home and murdering your family was a very, very wrong choice.

Three years later you have moved on to become an undercover operative for the DEA. The pay is crap, but you never really got in for the pay, did you? Working as a beat cop in Hell's Kitchen wasn't exactly paying the bills, anyway. Besides, a chance to get back at the mafioso that saturated the city with Valkyr is more important.

The irony of your own addiction to pain killers is furthest from your mind. Your DEA contact Alex was just killed, like everyone else you were ever close to. As your only link to the DEA and your other life, you are now the primary suspect.

You will need to do some detective work on your own. You've been undercover in the Punchinello family for awhile now anyway, might as well pay them a visit to find out what's going on.

Maybe you'll even find out what happened three years ago.

It's a safe bet they know you're coming. Too bad they don't know what you're capable of, and what you'll be packing.

You have pistols, uzis, shotguns, grenades, Molotov cocktails, a sniper rifle, and even a baseball bat at your disposal. Rambo didn't pack this much hardware, but then again, he didn't need it. In fact, the only thing holding you back from riddling the entire city with bullets is a lack thereof.

When the situation gets heated, and the bullets start flying, your heart starts pumping. You brain speeds up, and the world around you slows down. You can take your time, adjust your aim, and be sure that whatever scumbag you're on is taken down.

Of course, despite the hardware, despite your training and yes, even your anger, taking on a city of Valkyr junkies and the mob is not going to be easy. In fact, it will easily be the most difficult thing you will ever do. If you fail, though; if you fail your wife and daughter will have died for nothing.

Something wicked this way comes. You.

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"Bozanimal reviewed Max Payne for the PC..." was posted by Bozanimal on Thu, 04 Oct 2007 09:08:30 -0700
]]> http://www.gamespot.com/max-payne/user-reviews/502756/platform/pc/ Tue, 25 Sep 2007 10:04:45 -0700 Bozanimal reviewed Grand Theft Auto 2 for the PC... http://www.gamespot.com/grand-theft-auto-2/user-reviews/499728/platform/pc/ ...and gave it a 7.5.

If you played the original Grand Theft Auto, prepare to be surprised by the lack of surprises in its sequel. Grand Theft Auto II (GTA II) looks and plays identical to its predecessor.

In the original, you take phone calls from various gangs that control different boroughs of each city. The calls assign the player a task of delivering a bomb, killing a particular individual, or some other criminal act. Successfully completing an assignment earns the player points towards graduating to the next city, as well as increasing your favor with the respective gang.

The appeal of the Grand Theft Auto series is its lack of structure. Certainly the player can take on a mission from the gangs, but it is not required. The player can just as easily ignore the phones and rampage through the city, stealing and selling cars, murdering at will, and engaging in wanton destruction of property.

Doing so, however, will bring down the sudden and efficient wrath of the police. The law is significantly more difficult to avoid in this sequel, bringing in federal enforcement and even tanks when it becomes necessary to shut down the player.

Of course, the player's arsenal has also been upgraded. In addition to the pistol, machine gun, and rocket launcher or its predecessor, the avatar now has license to kill with silenced weapons as well as a particularly satisfying flamethrower.

Everything is still viewed from a top-down perspective, and the camera zooms in or out depending on the player's movement speed, affording a more grandiose view of the city when rocketing through the streets in a Lamborghini. The graphics have been improved, with better lighting and textures, but the same cartooned top-down characters that are so simplistic as to be worthy of an 8-bit gaming platform. The audio is a different story, with plenty of ambient effects to highlight GTA II's mastery of its 3D Audio support.

While a game sequel does not need to reinvent the wheel, one might expect GTA II to have had a little something more than what is here. A few extra weapons, a lighting effect or two, and the same types of missions make for a repetitive game play experience for veterans of Grand Theft Auto. However, players looking for a quick visceral thrill will certainly find one here, and for all intents and purposes it would be foolish to play the first game over the second with both available.

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"Bozanimal reviewed Grand Theft Auto 2 for the PC..." was posted by Bozanimal on Tue, 25 Sep 2007 10:04:45 -0700
]]> http://www.gamespot.com/grand-theft-auto-2/user-reviews/499728/platform/pc/ Tue, 18 Sep 2007 11:29:49 -0700 Bozanimal reviewed Gorf for the Atari 8-bit... http://www.gamespot.com/gorf-1982/user-reviews/497596/platform/atari8bit/ ...and gave it a 6.5.

Gorf can be described with no word other than weird. At the time of its release the Atari was growing in popularity, you could count the number of colors available in the gaming palette on your hands and toes, and straightforward obstacle-dodging games like Pitfall and Frogger or shooters like Missile Command and The Empire Strikes Back were top sellers. Then there was Gorf.

A round of Gorf encompassed five clones of games that had come before them. Across all five missions the player is a spaceship at the bottom of the screen, able to move left-to-right and within the bottom third of the screen itself. Gorf renamed the sequences, but the mechanics were essentially identical; "Astro Battles" was a clone of "Space Invaders" and "Galaxians" was a clone of "Galaxian," though the plural form of Galaxian was apparently sufficient for the publisher as a differentiator between the two. The player is given a a fixed number of ships to pass all five rounds.

Round 1 - Space Invaders - The difference was a force shield that protected the player, disappearing to allow the players shots to pass through and destroy incoming enemies. The shield was worn away by enemy fire.
Round 2 - Galaxian "special teams" - Squads of enemy ships dive bombed, shot at, and emitted lasers against the player in this mini-clone of Galaxian.
Round 3 - Galaxian - A duplicate of Galaxian with fewer enemies
Round 4 - Gyruss - Enemies come out of a wormhole and either shoot or collide with the player. The player can either shoot back or simply avoid enemies.
Round 5 - Boss - A large mothership fires on the player from behind its own force shield similar to the player's in Round 1. The player must wear away at least a section of the force shield, then fire through the shield to hit the core of the mothership.

Each round is fun, to be sure, and having a number of games similar to predecessors in one package was great. Gorf makes up for its repetitive individual round gameplay with its variety of games and simple interface; left, right, and fire are all that are needed to play the game.

Gamers looking for flashy graphics or in-depth storytelling can move along; but gamers seeking old-school nostalgia and a short and simple distraction would be pleased to give Gorf a try.

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"Bozanimal reviewed Gorf for the Atari 8-bit..." was posted by Bozanimal on Tue, 18 Sep 2007 11:29:49 -0700
]]> http://www.gamespot.com/gorf-1982/user-reviews/497596/platform/atari8bit/ Thu, 30 Aug 2007 07:05:16 -0700 Bozanimal reviewed Galaxian for the Atari 8-bit... http://www.gamespot.com/galaxian/user-reviews/490886/platform/atari8bit/ ...and gave it a 7.5.

Its predecessor Space Invaders is a truly classic video game as well. Born in 1978 from Taito Corporation, the player controlled a small, single-colored ship at the bottom of the screen from which he or she shot hordes of alien invaders that moved left and right at the top of the screen. When a wave of enemies was defeated, another horde of aliens appeared, faster and more aggressive than the last. The player dodged alien fire by moving the ship left or right across the bottom of the screen.

Developer Namco took the template for top-down space shooter originated by Space Invaders, added multi-colored graphics and the ability of the invading aliens to dive-bomb the player, and called it a day. Still, Galaxian is every bit as good as its muse, if not better. The action is faster-paced, the enemies more difficult, and its graphics are easier on the eyes. The modern gamer may grow tired after a short period of playing, but as a form of distraction and competitive play, it still holds credit.

Often overlooked was the social aspect of both Space Invaders and Namco. The goal of the game was to get the high score, not to win. You won when you crushed the existing high score, often from a classmate or friend. You initials on the machine showed all players and casual onlookers your skill and mastery was greater than any other (in your town).

But there were political aspects of Space Invaders and Galaxian as well. Sure, it might be viewed as a simple video game, but there is a lesson to be learned from the increasingly deadly hordes of aliens: should we make contact with a future alien race, killing them will only call in thousands of their more aggressive kin. We may save our species by avoiding battle entirely, and have Space Invaders to thank, if only someone would listen.

Of course, but that time our robot masters are sure to know what to do.

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"Bozanimal reviewed Galaxian for the Atari 8-bit..." was posted by Bozanimal on Thu, 30 Aug 2007 07:05:16 -0700
]]> http://www.gamespot.com/galaxian/user-reviews/490886/platform/atari8bit/ Thu, 12 Jul 2007 12:20:04 -0700 Bozanimal reviewed Lemmings for the PC... http://www.gamespot.com/lemmings/user-reviews/473845/platform/pc/ ...and gave it a 8.4.

Lemmings was a novel puzzle game introduced at the height of PC gaming in 1991, taking off like wildfire and inspiring dozens of sequels. The player must save a requisite number of the lemming population on each level. Lemmings are small creatures with green hair clad in only a blue moo-moo. They march steadily in whatever direction they are facing, occasionally wandering over cliffs and into various implements of death.

The player is tasked with providing the lemmings with the tools they need at the time they need them to save them from a mortal end. To do so, the player clicks on a particular tool, such as an umbrella, to save the lemming or lemmings. An lemming with an umbrella will automatically open it after walking off a cliff, comfortably drifting to safety at the base. There will also be occasions to dig, erect girders, and spontaneously combust. Each level has a quota of lemmings that must survive.

It can be challenging to discern what is happening on screen due to the tiny sizes of the lemmings (a dozen or so pixels, at most), but their successful escape at the end of each level emits a satisfying yelp of joy from the respective critter.

Lemmings is a relatively straightforward game made difficult by the challenging environment the player must navigate. There is little depth as far as story or characters, but the simple challenge of navigating the lemmings through their environment successfully is reward enough. Any puzzle fan should have a copy of lemmings or one of its sequels in their collection.

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"Bozanimal reviewed Lemmings for the PC..." was posted by Bozanimal on Thu, 12 Jul 2007 12:20:04 -0700
]]> http://www.gamespot.com/lemmings/user-reviews/473845/platform/pc/