W8I8Z's GameSpot Friend's Reviews W8I8Z's GameSpot Friend's Reviews W8I8Z's GameSpot Friend's Reviews en-us Copyright (c)1995-2013 CBS Interactive. All rights reserved. http://www.gamespot.com 20 Tue, 21 May 2013 17:17:37 -0700 GameSpot W8I8Z's GameSpot Friend's Reviews http://img.gamespot.com/gamespot/shared/promos/misc/gs_logo.gif http://www.gamespot.com 135 40 Thu, 31 Jan 2013 18:13:32 -0800 mfouad reviewed Far Cry 3 for the PC... http://www.gamespot.com/far-cry-3/user-reviews/806969/platform/pc/ ...and gave it a 9.0!

On first note, far cry is a series always open in a jungle where almost all type of humans and creatures waiting for us. First two parts are very awesome and colorful with the environment and creatures. But this time making entries of animal in the game and make them useful in the game by hunting them and get updated with their skins, is very awesome thing introduced in this game. A free world where u can go anywhere and do anything u want, is the best part of the game because now user want to do new things besides completing the game and far cry 3 gave everything to the users to make them busy and sucked in their awesome world. For me, all FPS games look same but having something different is the key thing for the FPS games and far cry 3 gave that thing properly. The best part of the game for me is the night and I hanged myself in the beaches where sea animals and alligators suddenly attacks and makes u wildly insane. Its a must play game and the best thing of this game which gave u lessons and taught me that what is jungle and how it will be when u are on ur own.

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"mfouad reviewed Far Cry 3 for the PC..." was posted by mfouad on Thu, 31 Jan 2013 18:13:32 -0800
]]> http://www.gamespot.com/far-cry-3/user-reviews/806969/platform/pc/ Tue, 15 Jan 2013 11:27:38 -0800 fluent2332 reviewed Sacred 2: Fallen Angel for the Xbox 360... http://www.gamespot.com/sacred-2-fallen-angel/user-reviews/806292/platform/xbox360/ ...and gave it a 10.0!!!

Sacred 2 is all about content. Large amounts of content. With a huge open-world, over six hundred quests, six unique races to choose from, five difficulty levels, a ton of skills and combat abilities and thousands upon thousands of beasts to slay, Sacred 2 is a game that can fulfill your RPG gaming needs for hundreds, if not one thousand hours with its sheer amount of content.

Surprisingly, the content is of very good quality as well. Indeed, all of the quests you find will be interesting in some way, from simple fetch tasks to "kill x amount of monsters" and everything in between, the game just stays fun while you're questing. Quests that are not part of the main story are text-only however, so you'll have to do some reading to know what to do. Not only are there six hundred quests, there is also a "Light" campaign and a "Shadow" campaign. Those who want to be the "good guy" will pick the Light campaign, and those looking to bring destruction upon the world of Ancaria will choose the Shadow campaign. Your choice of campaign will mean the game will change which quests and story are available to you, making each campaign worth checking out at least once in your journey through Sacred 2.

Besides questing, a large chunk of your game time will be spent killing things. Lots and lots of killing. Every few steps you will encounter waves of enemies in a true Diablo-style fashion. If you haven't played Diablo, you can expect wave after wave of enemies all ganging up on you as you smash them to pieces. You will kill all sorts of various nasties and use your Combat Arts to take them down. Of the six races present in the game, each has their own unique Combat Arts that you choose for them. It's great fun leveling up these Combat Arts so that your killing becomes more and more efficient and fun.

I mentioned the game being similar to Diablo, but it's not an exact carbon copy and there are differences. For one, most of the killing and looting takes place above ground. While the game does have dungeons and caves and various holes in the wall to explore, the majority of time is spent under the open sky. There are various biomes to explore, such as a desert region, a jungle region, beaches, mountains, human and elven realms, etc. The landscape differs enough from area to area that you never get bored exploring. There always seems to be something tucked away in the far reaches of the map, be it a quest, or a treasure chest, or a random boss creature waiting to beat you down.

As you kill various enemies, you will watch as their corpses explode with shiny new loot for you to pick up and equip. The loot is a game in itself. There is so much loot to equip here, it's mind-boggling. Swords and pauldrons and longbows and guns (yes, guns are in the game) and on and on. Each character can equip quite a large selection of the various treasures you find, and it's extremely satisfying finding that next piece of armor that completes your set or that legendary sword of epic proportions. The loot makes this game extremely addicting and fun and there are just massive amounts of it. Awesome.

The story is pretty decent too. It leads you along the path well with interesting twists that lead you further into the unexplored lands of Ancaria. And did I mention the size of the map? It's approximately 22 square miles. It's enormous. Not only is it huge, but the amount of little nooks and crannies to get lost in is staggering. You will even find areas of the map that look inaccessible, but once up close you will find hidden paths that lead you into new areas to loot and plunder. The exploration in this game is phenomenal, and goes a long way to keeping the game fresh for countless hours.

The graphics and sounds are nice. I liked the voice acting of the children in the game. "Mother says I shouldn't talk to strangers, but I do anyway". The game has a lot of little quirky moments in the sound design, and I mean that in a good way. For example, your warrior will shout various things at the enemies as you destroy them, and hearing these phrases is often hilarious. Hearing the Shadow Warrior yell, "Die with dignity, you coward!" as he slays a wild boar never gets old. The voice acting in these parts is excellent and a welcome addition.

The graphics are pretty solid, and the camera offers you a good selection of close-up zoom or far away, top-down style. I wasn't blown away by the graphics, but I did like them. I'm more of a gameplay-over-graphics kind of guy, so I don't have much to say about how the game looks really. I did like how various weapons with different enchantments on them glow in different colors. It was a nice touch. Also, the art design of the various gear you find is outstanding. You are constantly equipping new gear that not only gives you great attribute bonuses, but it looks cool as heck. They really nailed the art design in this game.

When you are finally "finished" with the game, you realize that you are just starting. As mentioned, the game has five difficulty levels and each level offers you better and better loot and more challenge. The default Bronze and Silver difficulties are pretty easy, but it gets more treacherous on the higher difficulties, and your character builds and skills become much more important. After you finish a campaign on the lower difficulties, your character is maintained to be used on the higher difficulty levels. That means that you don't lose any progress, loot or abilities you gained during your first play-through. Also, you can level your character to level 200. I have never seen such a high level-cap in a game like this, so 200 levels of loot and plundering is very welcome in this game.

So there you have it. All in all, if you want hours upon hours of RPG entertainment, you can't go wrong with Sacred 2. If you fancy playing an action RPG on various difficulties and probably spending at least 100 hours, if not several hundred hours looting and pillaging and slaying hordes of monsters, then look no further than Sacred 2. Dare I say, this game epitomizes the loot-fest action-RPG genre. It is like a complete culmination of many great ideas in this genre, and if you love this genre as I do, you will find many things to love with Sacred 2.

Final score - 10/10

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"fluent2332 reviewed Sacred 2: Fallen Angel for the Xbox 360..." was posted by fluent2332 on Tue, 15 Jan 2013 11:27:38 -0800
]]> http://www.gamespot.com/sacred-2-fallen-angel/user-reviews/806292/platform/xbox360/ Wed, 09 Jan 2013 20:07:33 -0800 optic0n reviewed Dead Space 2 for the PlayStation 3... http://www.gamespot.com/dead-space-2/user-reviews/806077/platform/ps3/ ...and gave it a 9.0!

I am a sucker for Horror survival games and I thought this squeal to the Dead Space was great. Isaac had a voice and it was decent voice acting. I actually pre-ordered this game when I worked at Blockbuster because I was so pumped up for this. The game still had that creepy feeling since all hell broke loose at this new place. The story was decent as I enjoyed playing through it getting some jumps from time to time cause of the cool ambiance and noises. I give DS2 a plus for having 4 different way points for where the Bench is, the closest Store and Save point and the Objective of course. What I wanted more is a couple more boss battles with huge creatures. I tried to give the multiplayer a go but I never got hooked. Im not too fond of lots of games these days trying to imply online Multiplayer when they should of just stayed as single player games.

I am excited for Dead Space 3 when I saw the trailer and game play from the 2012 E3. Its coming out soon and will probably pick that up. I am interested of the new planet and the Co-op single player with it? Seems interesting.

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"optic0n reviewed Dead Space 2 for the PlayStation 3..." was posted by optic0n on Wed, 09 Jan 2013 20:07:33 -0800
]]> http://www.gamespot.com/dead-space-2/user-reviews/806077/platform/ps3/ Tue, 08 Jan 2013 04:39:58 -0800 fluent2332 reviewed Cursed Loot for the Xbox 360... http://www.gamespot.com/cursed-loot/user-reviews/805963/platform/xbox360/ ...and gave it a 10.0!!!

Fantastic game. If you like dungeon crawling action-RPGs like Diablo, you will adore this game. It's a lot of addictive fun and guess what? It costs a whopping 80 MS points. One dollar. ONE dollar!

For one dollar you get incredible bang for your buck. As I've said, the game is an action-RPG like Diablo where you crawl through a dungeon in search of the best loot while slaying hordes of enemies along the way. There are occasionally little "quests" that you find that can reward you with a unique encounter or some loot, but mainly you're slaying enemies and looting everything in sight.

You choose your character from one of several different classes, each with a unique skill you can develop. You can also choose other skills along the way as you level up. I was quite surprised to see the leveling up and skill mechanics in this game because I wasn't expecting that kind of depth for 80 MS points, but this game delivers. The leveling up mechanics are simple and effective.

The loot is endless. Scrolls, potions, swords, hammers, armor, amulets; it's all there. It's quite rewarding to find a nice ring or some chain-mail that gives your defense a boost. They did a good job of balancing things out so you're pretty much always finding something you can use. The goblin shops you find in the game usually supply some goodies you can purchase if you have enough gold, and those shops come in very handy.

Also, the game is pretty challenging on Normal difficulty. You can also play on Easy and Hard modes. You only get one life so you have to be careful and keep a good stock of health potions. The difficulty on Normal is pretty much just right.

Bottom line is, this game is just plain fun. I really can't imagine playing a better game for a buck. In this price range the game is easily a 10/10. I would have payed more for this game.

Well done, Eyehook Games. Well done.

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"fluent2332 reviewed Cursed Loot for the Xbox 360..." was posted by fluent2332 on Tue, 08 Jan 2013 04:39:58 -0800
]]> http://www.gamespot.com/cursed-loot/user-reviews/805963/platform/xbox360/ Wed, 02 Jan 2013 13:13:00 -0800 dholmes19 reviewed Ghostbusters: The Video Game for the PlayStation 3... http://www.gamespot.com/ghostbusters-the-video-game/user-reviews/805660/platform/ps3/ ...and gave it a 8.0.

I am surprised by this game, it plays pretty well, plenty of upgrades to get for each type of "stream" and what not. I like it so far and follows the movies as well as a few extras thrown in there. Some parts are harder than others to figure out but nothing that requires throwing the controller at the TV. Graphics are excellent and the game play is smooth. I haven't had any issues playing other than if you die, it takes a little while to reload the scene instead of just respawning at last checkpoint. But other than that it is a fun game
You have to use your "Tobin Spirit Guide" to give you clues to what weapon works with each type of ghost if your having trouble. I like being able to access the Guide as well as all the items you have found/have in your inventory. All the items are well detailed with information Pretty easy to play and figure out once you start blasting ghosts and fun too! Its easy enough for the basic gamer and hard enough to keep the hardcore guys/girls occupied.
Overall I recommend this game to anyone, especially if you loved the movie! It will keep you busy for hours! I haven't beaten it yet but im sure im getting close. I usually play games through once before I read a walk through. Then I play it on the hardest setting and try to get all the Trophies. I haven't had a chance to play online so I can't review that at the moment.

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"dholmes19 reviewed Ghostbusters: The Video Game for the PlayStation 3..." was posted by dholmes19 on Wed, 02 Jan 2013 13:13:00 -0800
]]> http://www.gamespot.com/ghostbusters-the-video-game/user-reviews/805660/platform/ps3/ Mon, 31 Dec 2012 13:59:15 -0800 fluent2332 reviewed Dungeons & Dragons: Daggerdale for the Xbox 360... http://www.gamespot.com/dungeons-and-dragons-daggerdale/user-reviews/805548/platform/xbox360/ ...and gave it a 9.0!

If you like action RPGs like Diablo, where there is much experience to gain and loot to plunder, you MUST play this game. That's really about all there is to it.

Plus, it's co-op! Both online and local, meaning you and up to 4 friends can plop on your couch and all play on the same screen! Lots of fun to be had with co-op.

To go a little deeper, I'll talk about the various aspects of RPGs that I find important.

Let's start with the story. The story is nicely done. As any other RPG, quests propel you along the main path, and there are a few sidequests along the way as well to gain extra experience and loot. But the main story is told through quests and you will meet several important characters on your journey who can help you. The characters are cool and the story has good pacing so you are constantly wanting to play a little more to see what happens next.

The writing and dialog is quality. I enjoyed it because it mostly is simple and straight to the point. There isn't a lot of BS to read through (yes, you do read the text in this game, there is no voice acting, only during cutscenes), every bit of dialog is simple and to the point. "Go do this for me because this happened, and I'll do this for you." End of transaction. There's something to be said about being "elegant" and simple and this game pulls that off pretty well.

Next, the gameplay itself. Gameplay is standard hack n' slash fare. You mash the attack button to kill off hordes of enemies, occasionally pressing a button on your controller that activates a special ability that helps you kill more efficiently. Occasionally you can dodge or block an attack, but it's mostly button mashing. It's simple and fun. If you like Diablo's gameplay, you will like Daggerdale's gameplay.

There is a general theme that is carried out in this game, and that is of elegance and simplicity. Everything in the game is simple to pull off. From attacking enemies, to using your skills, to comparing loot, it's all done very well. When you want to buy a fancy new item from a merchant, you simply look at it and you can easily compare it to what you're using. Simple. Elegant. That type of simplicity is present in the entire game. Everything in the game is easy to do.

But that's not to say the game isn't challenging, either. You will most definitely be consuming many health potions as you try to fend off waves of enemies. Get surrounded and you could be in trouble, unless you're a tank, of course. The game has a reasonable amount of challenge, though I would prefer a few higher difficulty levels to choose from, or a harder initial difficulty. It's not the hardest game, but it's not a complete push-over, either. It's somewhere in the middle leaning towards the easier side.

It should also be said that the game has a wonderful "flow" to it. You are constantly progressing the story, unlocking new areas to explore, new quests, and in general it does a great job of pacing you through everything. It never got bland or boring in the 12 or so hours I spent with it. It even introduces new elements and new little twists that you wouldn't expect to happen in a game like this. You can tell that pacing was very important to Bedlam Games when they made this game.

Anyway, back to the categories. Graphics and sound. The graphics are nice. Not much more to be said here, but they look good and they do the job. The sound is sufficient and all the clangs and thuds of battle are well represented.

Loot. The loot is a ton of fun. Again, if you like picking up items like the "Burning Greatsword of Slaughter +2", you will love the loot in this game. It's similar to Diablo where the enemies explode loot upon their death for you to pick up and either equip or trade off at a merchant. It's a fun system of constantly upgrading that makes playing the game addictive and fun.

Finally, character customization. There is plenty of customization in the form of armor, weapons, rings and amulets, as well as skills, passive traits and "ability scores" such as strength, dexterity, charisma, etc., to play around with. It's a "meaty" experience in that it gives you a lot to chew on if you're a fan of leveling up your character and gaining new skills and abilities to use, and getting to put that one point of strength in so you do just that much more damage in battle. Quite simply, it's very fun in this aspect.

It should also be noted that there are 4 classes to choose from, so there is some replay value if you would like to experiment with each class and see how the playstyles differ.

So that's about it. If you're still reading this, do yourself a favor and buy this game. It's only $15 on Xbox Live Arcade. However, it should be noted that this is not a long game. It took me and my dad playing co-op around 10-12 hours to beat, though it might take you more if you are the type that likes to grind for the highest levels and best loot. They give you the option to grind, but it's not necessary if you don't want to do it. Best of both worlds.

Pick this game up now! It's well worth it.

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"fluent2332 reviewed Dungeons & Dragons: Daggerdale for the Xbox 360..." was posted by fluent2332 on Mon, 31 Dec 2012 13:59:15 -0800
]]> http://www.gamespot.com/dungeons-and-dragons-daggerdale/user-reviews/805548/platform/xbox360/ Thu, 27 Dec 2012 18:57:50 -0800 Tidus1012 reviewed Blades of Time for the PlayStation 3... http://www.gamespot.com/blades-of-time/user-reviews/805276/platform/ps3/ ...and gave it a 8.5.

Blades of time is a Hack and Slash game produced by Konami, you play the role of Ayumi, a sexy treasure hunter. If you are a follower of this kind of games you may know X-Blades, featuring the treasure hunter Ayumi, with poor graphics, story and gameplay made this a really bad game. Unlike X-Blades, Blades of time features awesome graphics, beautiful action combos, a vast number of swords and equipment, extra costumes, powerful bosses, lot of game actions (Dash, counter attacks, finishing moves) plus other surprises. This game difficulty can be overwhelming at some points, this will test your skills for sure, also there is an online mode available with lots of things to unlock. In overreal this game deserves more than a 6.0, it´s a pretty good game with many things to enjoy, i totally recommend it.

Completion time: 12-15 hrs
Trophies: 36
Offline: 35
Online: 1

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"Tidus1012 reviewed Blades of Time for the PlayStation 3..." was posted by Tidus1012 on Thu, 27 Dec 2012 18:57:50 -0800
]]> http://www.gamespot.com/blades-of-time/user-reviews/805276/platform/ps3/ Sun, 02 Dec 2012 12:42:59 -0800 sandyqbg reviewed Company of Heroes: Tales of Valor for the PC... http://www.gamespot.com/company-of-heroes-tales-of-valor/user-reviews/804087/platform/pc/ ...and gave it a 6.5.

I had heard that Tales of Valor was the weakest link in the Company of Heroes franchise and I had no idea how true that would be until tried the game myself. Tales of Valor is a spoilsport to the amazing franchise that Company of Heroes is.

Tales of Valor features three short campaigns - the romp of the village of Villers-Bocage in a Tiger tank(Tiger Ace), the assault of the heavily defended La Fiere Causeway by American airborne divisions(Causeway) and the defense of the Falaise Pocket from Allied attack(Falaise Pocket).

All three campaigns suffer from the crucial drawback of poor mission design, something that the original Company of Heroes excelled at. The 2006 game might not have been completely original, but the way the missions tied into the story and the larger narrative of the game was unbeatable. On the other hand, the secondary and 'medal' objectives in Tales of Valor seem to be mostly thrown in for the sake of it and probably served to add more complexity to the game than being relevant to the primary objectives.

The Tiger Ace and Causeway campaigns are too narrowly scoped as the focus is on only a handful of units and all you do here is move units in and out of cover when you're controlling infantry and flanking if you're controlling a tank. It is annoyingly straightforward and there are simply no decisions to be made here. Ultimately, the depth and the variety of the gameplay is sacrificed for a closer-to-combat experience. To add to its woes, these units are too strong and even on the hardest setting, the missions are a breeze.

Falaise Pocket, even with its flaws, is probably the saving grace for this standalone expansion. You are given more options here; you can build units and structures. However, pacing is inconsistent, and this is particularly obvious when you're given a 'defend the position' type of mission with secondary objectives to setup defenses at particular choke points, but not given any time to set them up. I would have enjoyed the mission much more had I been given the chance to pit my well set defenses against a determined attacker.

In addition to poor pacing, Falaise Pocket also had the problem of having a confusing mission design, where there were way too many things to do; to the point where it started to feel like an APM game and continuously cycling through a number of points on the map became tiresome.

On a more general note, the narration in Tales of Valor is another letdown compared to the original Company of Heroes. The cut scenes seem to be forced just for the sake of giving a story to the missions and the voice acting feels distinctly out of place.

On the bright side, the core gameplay remains the same, complete with its immersive WW2 experience, intense action moments and highly destructible environments. There is also a good mission variety, and it is loads better than the repetitive build the base, attack the enemy routine that most RTS games offer. So kudos to that.

The expansion also adds three new multiplayer modes to the game. I am not much of a multiplayer gamer myself, but the new modes seem to be half-hearted attempts at bringing something new to the table. They certainly are attempts in the right direction, but they are yet to be developed into attractive multiplayer features.

VERDICT:

The original Company of Heroes had set the bar too high and Tales of Valor falls miserably short. It's not worth buying the game, unless you get it very cheap. Even if you do end up getting the game, don't bother playing Tiger Ace or Causeway.

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"sandyqbg reviewed Company of Heroes: Tales of Valor for the PC..." was posted by sandyqbg on Sun, 02 Dec 2012 12:42:59 -0800
]]> http://www.gamespot.com/company-of-heroes-tales-of-valor/user-reviews/804087/platform/pc/ Mon, 15 Oct 2012 07:26:34 -0700 mfouad reviewed Dishonored for the PC... http://www.gamespot.com/dishonored/user-reviews/801492/platform/pc/ ...and gave it a 9.0!

I really don't like first person shooter games at all but making something new in first person shooter makes me attractive towards them. Like Bioshock series and Darkness series, this game also contain some new elements which makes the game beautiful and unique. Main thing of the game is that its graphics and controls which really makes me sucked in. The way they made the game and the maps they put in the games are very magnificent and attractive. The difficulty is normal and everyone can learn the game play easily in less than 20 mins. And the upgrades in the game are very adorable. I love the mask gadget which is highly useful through out the game. As concluding my review, I have to say that hats off to you guys for making such a great game for us and keep it up and best luck for the next game. :)

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"mfouad reviewed Dishonored for the PC..." was posted by mfouad on Mon, 15 Oct 2012 07:26:34 -0700
]]> http://www.gamespot.com/dishonored/user-reviews/801492/platform/pc/ Wed, 12 Sep 2012 19:59:21 -0700 A_Norman reviewed Dust: An Elysian Tail for the Xbox 360... http://www.gamespot.com/dust-an-elysian-tail/user-reviews/799932/platform/xbox360/ ...and gave it a 8.5.

Dust: An Elysian Tail is a rewarding experience providing the player with incentive to explore areas and discover new secrets throughout a vibrant landscape, while providing a quality storyline to boot.


The story of the game begins with the main protagonist, a fox-like creature named Dust, waking up in the woods with no recollection of what brought him there. Upon waking he meets a talking sword called Ahrah that is accompanied by a flying cat-like creature named Fidget who agree to help Dust on his journey. This sets the stage for Dust's quest to find out who he is and about his mysterious past. Throughout the game the player will discover a set of memorable characters that help drive an engaging story composed of dark undertones of genocide and war that you will want to see to the end.


Being an action-RPG, the mechanics focus on making Dust stronger though leveling up by gaining experience and using various pieces of loot scattered throughout the game. Leveling up rewards the player with skill points used to increase the common categories of health, attack, defense, and luck. The game, however, adds the option of increasing your 'Fidget' ability, a projectile attack coming from you partner and a crucial element for completing high combos and getting through later parts of the game. Experience is typically gained through battles consisting of endless swarms of enemies, with bonus experience awarded for performing high combos. A number of different combos are given to the player to use in battle, but none too complex to the point that it becomes a chore to use them.


Experience can also be gained through interaction with numerous characters met throughout the game, who often times have a problem that Dust can help them out with. Upon completion of these side quests, the player is rewarded with money and essential items used toward progressing into new areas or discovering secrets. Outside of gaining experience, the player can also obtain pieces of loot that Dust wears to further increase his abilities. The game implements a simple, easy to use crafting system that utilizes various materials found throughout the game. The player also is given the option of just skipping the process and buying the loot from shops, although some pieces aren't available for direct purchase, giving the player incentive to invest in purchasing and selling new materials to craft better loot.


The ambiance in the world of Dust is varied, with the areas you set out to explore ranging from bright forests and snowy mountain tops, to haunted cemeteries and underground caves, each full of secrets and treasures waiting to be discovered. Each area is set up in a classic Metroid-like layout with each featuring a unique ability Dust can use to progress further, as well as backtrack to previously unreachable sections of the game. The map for each area illustrates which sections have shops for purchasing items, save stations, as well as areas with undiscovered secrets. Secrets such as keys, treasure chests, and cages that hold recognizable characters from other indie games all provide incentive for discovery. Keys unlock treasure chests and cages, treasure chests hold loot, money, and health items, while the indie characters provide health bonuses to go along with their cool cameo appearances. Select areas also contain challenges tasking the player with completing a score based obstacle course within a certain time limit. While challenging, rewards for completing these trials are merely common pieces of loot, giving little incentive to try and top previous scores outside of achievement and leaderboard purposes.


Visually, this is a gorgeous game. The character design and animations are on par with a typical animated movie or television show, and make light of a story consisting of fairly mature themes. The backgrounds mesh well with the character designs, while setting a good tone for each of the diverse areas the player is tasked to explore. It's also worth noting that some of the backgrounds where secret characters are found resemble a theme from the game they are associated with, which I thought was a pretty neat part of the cameos. The music also gives Dust a heroic feel that provides a good theme to go along with the enemy encounters and exploration. Cut-scenes are displayed with a close in view of the animation and dialogue of the character speaking, while some of the more important story related sequences are presented as a fully animated cut scene. The cuts-scenes, while sometimes excessive and cheesy, provide quality voice acting that allows the characters to become more intriguing and likeable as the game progresses.


Although this is clearly an exceptional game, it is not without its flaws. With large numbers of enemies constantly being thrown at you, slowed down frame rate was an issue at times, especially when attempting large combos involving Fidget. Another problem with the amount of enemies is clutter and confusion on screen during combat, mostly due to too much character and enemy animation. This can often lead to a lot of unexplained deaths, resulting in some frustrating moments. Some areas also consist of precision platforming, usually jumping while avoiding environmental hazards such as spikes or poison, which is not a strong suit of the game. When Dust is hit by an enemy or hazard, it always results in him being incapacitated for a short time, which sometimes opens up for excessive punishment in these platforming areas. Dying usually isn't too frustrating as long as the player has recently saved their game. Sometimes save points can be few and far between, however, resulting in long treks back through large sections of the game, which can be annoying at times. Boss battles are also a bit bland, usually solved through exploitation and using the same attacks over and over instead of requiring much strategy or skill. Around half way through the game and again at the end, I also encountered a couple of major spikes in difficulty that made progress almost impossible, which disrupts the pacing a little bit. However, these difficulty spikes can be a blessing in disguise, in that they can encouraged more exploration of previous areas to find new and better loot while gaining experience in the process, making it feel more rewarding than simply grinding. I found this to be an important element for success, especially at the end boss, which can be brutal if not fully prepared.


Despite some annoying platforming areas and occasional screen clutter during combat, Dust overall does a great job at what it sets out to do. It provides a quality story consisting of interesting characters and mystery, backed by amazing visuals and ambiance, while topping it off with great action-RPG elements. Not only is there an abundant amount of extra secrets and treasures available to be discovered, but also an incentive for the player to go and find them, making it rewarding and a completionist's dream and a top XBLA title.

Get the full article at GameSpot

"A_Norman reviewed Dust: An Elysian Tail for the Xbox 360..." was posted by A_Norman on Wed, 12 Sep 2012 19:59:21 -0700
]]> http://www.gamespot.com/dust-an-elysian-tail/user-reviews/799932/platform/xbox360/ Wed, 27 Jun 2012 06:34:18 -0700 ChiefFreeman reviewed The Black Cauldron for the PC... http://www.gamespot.com/the-black-cauldron/user-reviews/796521/platform/pc/ ...and gave it a 7.5.

Released in 1986 for the IBM pc, Atari ST and Apple II E computers, The Black Cauldron followed the formula previously established by Sierra's classic adventure games, Kings's Quest and Space Quest. Your character moves around sprite based screens and interacts with objects by typing commands. This was the first Sierra adventure game to replace the text driven commands with the F (function) key, in order to make it simpler for children. It was also Sierra's first game to have multiple endings, giving it replay value. The Black Cauldron was also notable for being one of only two games Sierra created based on animated films; the other being The Dark Crystal.

You play the role of a young boy names Taran, who is the pig keeper on the farm of an old enchanter named Dallben. Taran dreams of one day becoming a great warrior and leaving the farm. It is discovered that Hen Wen, (the pig he cares for), has clairvoyant powers, and foretells the prophecy of an evil undead being known as the Horned King, who is searching for the Black Cauldron, an object that will grant him unstoppable power. It is decided by Dallben that you must get Hen Wen to safety, in order to prevent the King from using her to locate the Cauldron.

As previously stated, the game looks and plays nearly identical to Sierras King's Quest and Space Quest games, with the exception of the F key commands instead of the more complex type driven commands to interact with the world. The story was well done, and fit within the confines of the game nicely. You come across colorful characters such as Princess Eilonwy, a small furry creature named Gurgi, an old eccentric lute player named Fflewddur Fflam, several fairy like beings known as the Fair Folk, and three witches in possession of the Black Cauldron.

The graphics for the game were quite beautiful for the time. Remember, this was 1986, so 2-D sprite drawn graphics were the norm. I personally thought this game looked better, and had better art than the first 3 King's Quest games. The music was also well done, taking into consideration that games of the period only had two or three channel sound! I remember playing this on my Dad's old IBM Pc Junior at age 13, loving the sound effects. : )

If you aren't nostalgic, and don't appreciate puzzles and the much simpler gameplay of these 80's adventure games, you likely won't get any enjoyment out of The Black Cauldron. The story progresses by moving from screen to screen and gradually interacting with the games characters and objects. Back then, there weren't any FAQS, cheat codes or maps telling you where to go and when. I remember sometimes months would go by before my father or I would be able to figure out a puzzle or command in a certain part of the game that stumped us. That was the beauty of these old games. As frustrating as they could be, the joy and satisfaction of solving those parts overrided all the negatives.

The Black Cauldron stands proudly alongside Sierra's other offerings of the the period, and is a classic. Charmful characters, beautiful sprite drawn graphics, challenging puzzles and multiple endings will keep admirers of these old school adventure titles hooked till the end.

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"ChiefFreeman reviewed The Black Cauldron for the PC..." was posted by ChiefFreeman on Wed, 27 Jun 2012 06:34:18 -0700
]]> http://www.gamespot.com/the-black-cauldron/user-reviews/796521/platform/pc/ Wed, 30 May 2012 03:15:21 -0700 Fleetlordavtar reviewed Dark Fall 3: Lost Souls for the PC... http://www.gamespot.com/dark-fall-3-lost-souls/user-reviews/794996/platform/pc/ ...and gave it a 5.0.

Don't have to play the original Dark Fall game, because it recycles material from that first game. Yet the characters are still no memorable or interesting. I get an overall sense that J. B. the game designer/ script writer was just plain lazy.

He reuses the same small set of puzzles in similar situations, GOD help you if you didn't solve a puzzle the first time, you'll have to hear the dialog all over from the start with no way to skip it. There is also no way to end the puzzle early if you realize you didn't get the response in the dialog correctly, you'll have to go thru all the options and hear ALL the dialog again; the dialog is mercilessly used word for word repeatedly until i felt like using the games scissors to end it...

Lots of backtracking, the puzzles are NOT logical typical of the dark fall games (y m still playing them?) and the lost crown. Even moving hasn't been improved much since the first game. A couple of times the object that needed to be triggered was in my view, but i couldn't interact with it until i "turned" and the whole moving around could have been streamlined better with having the view offset a little so you could choose multiple paths (like on the 1st fl stairway landing where you could go up or down on the same view.)

The audio is by far the most Superior, but again seemed lazy in the way it was used & the graphics were good except once again in this franchise the 3D models are SCARY (pun intended), horrible looking, ugly...made me want to look away and looked out of place with the rest of the game.

SKIP this game, choose to play one of the following instead:
F.E.A.R.
Clive barkers the undying
most of the Resident Evil games
Try "THE PATH" or
Overclocked: A History of Violence

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"Fleetlordavtar reviewed Dark Fall 3: Lost Souls for the PC..." was posted by Fleetlordavtar on Wed, 30 May 2012 03:15:21 -0700
]]> http://www.gamespot.com/dark-fall-3-lost-souls/user-reviews/794996/platform/pc/ Sun, 27 May 2012 16:22:28 -0700 Fleetlordavtar reviewed The Lost Crown: A Ghost-hunting Adventure for the PC... http://www.gamespot.com/the-lost-crown-a-ghost-hunting-adventure/user-reviews/794832/platform/pc/ ...and gave it a 3.5.

I played this game on a couple of rainy days (which are not normal in Denver) and still couldn't get in the mood.


The CONS:
Horrible voice acting, the best sounding like they are reading; the lead character Nigel is by far the worst, overemphasizing and over stressing dialog the whole game!!! (Although nanny Noah, a supporting character sounded tired or possibly bored to say her dialog the rest of the "actors" were so bad i felt obliged to giver her KUDOS! )

character movement lethargic, moving like the classic zombies/ animaltronic speed. This "strolling" along with the unsynced talking makes me feel like i was playing a puppet (they look like them)

TONS of unnecessary backtracking, typical contrived hints system i.e. even though you have the items to get a clue, you CAN'T until you backtrack (a lot) to get some dialog; the traveling is so SLOW...!

awful character graphics

no scary atmosphere or tension.

dialog, back story. repetitive comments for certain actions take away from the game... (although i appreciate the spoof websites)

pacing of the game

can't skip the dialog if you start it by accident

Although the audio is overall superior to the previous dark fall game, most of the 'SCARY' sound fall flat in adding to the tension or atmosphere

95% of the game is in black & white, without explaining why the sparse misc objects are colored!?! (except the blue sky near the end of the game)

Awful reasons to limit your area of exploration I.E. won't walk down a couple of paths in the open beach because he "doesn't know where they lead to if anywhere", but the path you follow with the the saying "nothing ventured..." into a dark cave!!!

i agree with askelly35 & Swoosie's summary of the game.


Play F.E.A.R. or Clive barkers the undying, which are far better games.

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]]> http://www.gamespot.com/the-lost-crown-a-ghost-hunting-adventure/user-reviews/794832/platform/pc/ Sat, 19 May 2012 08:03:38 -0700 Fleetlordavtar reviewed Gears of War 2 for the Xbox 360... http://www.gamespot.com/gears-of-war-2/user-reviews/794143/platform/xbox360/ ...and gave it a 6.5.

HATE:
Still exposed to enemy fire when you aim to throw grenades!
Its actually better aim when you throw the grenade from cover
(e.g. hiding) !!!
Aiming controls still too touchy and over shoot what your
aiming for
dialog is sub par
Sires, whatever, locust rejects!
you still have to squat before leaping over objects (GAY!).
no running when your standing, still only running while looking
like your trying to take a dump!
various enemies look to same e.g. look like linebacker for
American football!!

Love:
You can now crawl to your buddy so he can heal you
more of the story
i really like the the red heated rifle barrel after firing a lot.

neutral
Rapid reloads

SPOILER:

By far the worst EVER plot point in the series & most games is when Dom kills off his wife Mary; i wanted to KILL HIM INSTANTLY. A SELFISH act to commit, the story implies there isn't anything to do for them after getting into such a state, but the story DOESN'T clarify the point!!! You can try to assisted her in some way, at least try to get her out of the area!! As soon as his fantasy is over of finding her in descent health, he shoots her! HORRIBLE!!!! The story overall is better until the killing of Mary, but that's not saying much. this games is for the lowest domination...


Better games to play; brothers in arms



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"Fleetlordavtar reviewed Gears of War 2 for the Xbox 360..." was posted by Fleetlordavtar on Sat, 19 May 2012 08:03:38 -0700
]]> http://www.gamespot.com/gears-of-war-2/user-reviews/794143/platform/xbox360/ Sun, 01 Apr 2012 20:42:34 -0700 Wensea10 reviewed Balloon Bomber for the Arcade Games... http://www.gamespot.com/balloon-bomber/user-reviews/791202/platform/arcade/ ...and gave it a 6.0.

Balloon Bomber

Balloon Bomber is a shoot-them-game from 1980. The player controls a tank that shoots balloons propelling on the tank's level. This video game makes for somewhat satisfying experiences.

This gameplay pretty much flows until the players' lives expire. With the beginning levels, the game turns out being challenging. Players should adapt by gunning the balloons depending on their direction. As the levels progress, there is a bomber constantly sending grenades around the battle-tank's surface. Advice here is that gamers need to become evasive, specifically depending on where the bomb aircraft's weapon forces impact.

Balloon Bomber pretty much gives simplistic quantities of enjoyment. Even with five minutes passing, the game becomes stiff with challenge. This game will mainly also barely satisfy serious shooter fans.

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"Wensea10 reviewed Balloon Bomber for the Arcade Games..." was posted by Wensea10 on Sun, 01 Apr 2012 20:42:34 -0700
]]> http://www.gamespot.com/balloon-bomber/user-reviews/791202/platform/arcade/ Sat, 31 Mar 2012 03:00:41 -0700 lazyhoboguy reviewed Turok: Battle of the Bionosaurs for the Game Boy... http://www.gamespot.com/turok-battle-of-the-bionosaurs/user-reviews/791102/platform/gameboy/ ...and gave it a 6.0.

I had very fond memories of this game, as it was one of the first video games I ever had. Unfortunately, my happy nostalgic memories of this game couldn't hide the fact that the actual game is pretty mediocre.

You play as an Native American looking guy and you start the game with a knife and bow. You will fight the same 2 or 3 enemy types over and over for the whole first level and the combat is pretty boring. Enemies will always just charge at you then charge in the opposite direction, then back at you again. So the best strategy is to tip toe your way right to the limits of their patrolling range and poke them with your knife a few times. Sometimes enemies will stand in place and shoot at you if they have a gun. Annoyingly, hitting an enemy with any weapon doesn't slow them down or stop them, they will continue charging at you undeterred by the consequences of very recent shotgun blasts to the face or shankings from your knife. It is pretty annoying because often you will hit them then they will charge at you and damage you 2 or 3 times even while you are hitting them. I guess the enemies just have no fear of death or feel no pain or something. Perhaps all the enemies are on drugs I dont know. Really, it's probably just a badly developed combat system. Oh, and you wont just fight each enemy in the level one time, you will surely have to backtrack many times and refight all the boring enemies.

Really though this game is less of a side-scrolling shooter and more of a platformer. The platforming isn't easy either. You have to be pretty precise and then you have to be ready to whip out a weapon to atttack the enemies that often ambush you right when you land a jump. This game is like 60 percent platformer 40 percent combat. The platforming is more fun than the combat so that is good I guess. Plus you have to ration all your bullets since ammo pickups aren't all that frequent. You always feel guilty using your guns since they have limited ammo so most times you will have to use your knife then in order to conserve your ammo anyways.

The game is setup so you have to collect 3 key things to progress to the next level, but usually when you find one key you have to drop down and backtrack through the entire level again. If you are observant of the levels and find semi-hidden new weapons, guess what your reward is? You get to drop down and backtrack again through the level to reach where you decided to jump to get the weapon... Later on when you find the second key can you possibly guess what happens?, the game alll of a sudden gets amazing and you never backtrack again. That is what happens.... I wish heh. Of course now you have to drop down and walk through the level yet again...

I played until level 3 and the repetition and extremely frequent backtracking was enough for me. After probably 10 years of not playing this, I never feel the need to play it again.

The gameplay is just extremely tedious because of the backtracking and boring combat. The only fun moments are when you discover a new more powerful weapon that will be fun to use for a small while. Then you have to mow down tons of boring enemies with it and your brief moment of joy for finding the weapon is immediately gone. You realize that you are being punished for finding the weapon by having to jump down to an earlier part of the level and backtrack again.

The one thing this game did very well though, is the soundtrack. The songs is this game are pretty great. I think even as a kid a reason I kept playing this game was because I liked the music.

So basically, this game is only worth playing for about 30 minutes to hear the music. After that, the crappy gameplay will make you never want to play the game for a very long time despite how good the music is. Holy backtracking s*** I said backtrack a lot in this blog. Not my choice though since that is what the majority of the game consists of.

The game should really be called Turok: Backtrack of the Backtrackosaurs on the Backtendo TrackBoy...

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]]> http://www.gamespot.com/turok-battle-of-the-bionosaurs/user-reviews/791102/platform/gameboy/ Sun, 25 Mar 2012 21:06:05 -0700 Wensea10 reviewed Lunar Rescue for the Arcade Games... http://www.gamespot.com/lunar-rescue-1979/user-reviews/790765/platform/arcade/ ...and gave it a 6.0.

Lunar Rescue is a shoot-them-up game within arcades. The pilot must land on platforms to rescue individuals then pilot upward taking them towards the player's headquarters. This shooter is workable but needs better game-play mechanics.

The game starts off supposedly easy but is actually stiff with challenge. Players should predictably utilize fuel when close towards asteroids. As the game progresses, spaceships become faster, fuel should become more conservative, etc. Often gamers need to make sure they very accurately land on the point platforms. Continuing, this is pretty much what gamers obtain from the game.

Its still good that Lunar Rescue functions well. The game often feels like its just a test of endurance. Shooter fans will very little feel passionate about this gaming piece.

6/10

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"Wensea10 reviewed Lunar Rescue for the Arcade Games..." was posted by Wensea10 on Sun, 25 Mar 2012 21:06:05 -0700
]]> http://www.gamespot.com/lunar-rescue-1979/user-reviews/790765/platform/arcade/ Sun, 25 Mar 2012 13:49:34 -0700 Wensea10 reviewed Missile Command for the Arcade Games... http://www.gamespot.com/missile-command-original/user-reviews/790736/platform/arcade/ ...and gave it a 6.0.

Missile Command is a shoot-them-up video game within various consoles. The mission around this game is to shoot missiles rocketing towards the city. From this, gamers have a game that gets a little of the basics right.

Within the first couple of levels, the missiles drop around simple paces. Players should implement the middle weaponry more cause of their speed. As the video progresses the rockets also shuffling airborne enemies become faster. The players' weapons become more valuable as they should attempt to hit multiple objects. Even more, the adversaries start moving at light-speed. Competitors need to be skillful with their shots to easily score more lives.

Missile Command comes as being a minor gaming experience. The game-play does a minor good accomplishment of giving that retro vibeology. Shooter fans will barely enjoy this and then find more intriguing games.

6/10

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"Wensea10 reviewed Missile Command for the Arcade Games..." was posted by Wensea10 on Sun, 25 Mar 2012 13:49:34 -0700
]]> http://www.gamespot.com/missile-command-original/user-reviews/790736/platform/arcade/ Sun, 04 Mar 2012 17:34:16 -0800 taylorkristich reviewed Ninja Gaiden Black for the Xbox... http://www.gamespot.com/ninja-gaiden-black/user-reviews/789083/platform/xbox/ ...and gave it a 10.0!!!

First off, I have to say this has improved from it's last game. The regular Ninja Gaiden for Xbox. The controls are easy to get use to, and most of the time you'll have to do multiple attacks to different foes to process through the game. You'll learn new moves and techniques by picking up scrolls through out the game, as well as new power attacks and you can up grade them as well. There's also many different types of weapons you can use, making the game more in depth and more versatile. The graphics are nearly flawless in every way, making the Xbox get pushed to it's limit. You can tell that the creators of the game, put lots of effort into making this game very difficult. And, you'll find that each difficulty that you beat, gets much harder after you beaten the one you just completed. Which attracts many hardcore gamers to play this game. Just try the difficulty called "Master Ninja" you'll understand what I'm talking about, when you try that. This game also has a ton of replay value. From different costumes, and new game modes, you'll find yourself entertained for a long time. I don't want to give anything away to you of what exactly you'll unlock, but you will enjoy every bit of challenge that awaits you. I highly recommend this game if you want a challenge for the ages and you want to accomplish a game that most people couldn't do. You'll love every minute of it.

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"taylorkristich reviewed Ninja Gaiden Black for the Xbox..." was posted by taylorkristich on Sun, 04 Mar 2012 17:34:16 -0800
]]> http://www.gamespot.com/ninja-gaiden-black/user-reviews/789083/platform/xbox/ Wed, 22 Feb 2012 08:16:08 -0800 taylorkristich reviewed Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty for the PlayStation 2... http://www.gamespot.com/metal-gear-solid-2-sons-of-liberty/user-reviews/788321/platform/ps2/ ...and gave it a 10.0!!!

This game is simply amazing from start to finish. You will use every inch of Snake's stealth to get pass guards and other various challenges that will leave you breathless through out the game. Snake has a variety of different weapons at his disposal. However, the most important one, would probably be his way of sneaking up on people without them knowing. That is your best bet to get through the levels. The voice acting is breathtaking. You can tell that the creators took the extra effort into every character when came done to this. The graphics pushes the PS2 to it's limit, with great cut scenes, and marvelous display of different landscapes. The controls are easy to grasp, if you haven't played any of the Metal Gear Solid series. So, you shouldn't have a problem with that at all. There's much replay value in this game as well, giving you the opportunity to receive secret items that you weren't able to get through your first run through. All in all, this game is remarkable. And, should definitely not be missed to play. Not to mention it is extremely cheap to buy now. I hope you'll take the time to get this, you'll be wanting more after your finish with it.

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]]> http://www.gamespot.com/metal-gear-solid-2-sons-of-liberty/user-reviews/788321/platform/ps2/