Zassimick's GameSpot Friend's Reviews Zassimick's GameSpot Friend's Reviews Zassimick's GameSpot Friend's Reviews en-us Copyright (c)1995-2013 CBS Interactive. All rights reserved. http://www.gamespot.com 20 Wed, 22 May 2013 19:25:59 -0700 GameSpot Zassimick's GameSpot Friend's Reviews http://img.gamespot.com/gamespot/shared/promos/misc/gs_logo.gif http://www.gamespot.com 135 40 Tue, 14 May 2013 16:20:52 -0700 AQWBlaZer91 reviewed Tales of Phantasia for the PlayStation... http://www.gamespot.com/tales-of-phantasia-1998/user-reviews/811304/platform/ps/ ...and gave it a 8.5.

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Game Title: Tales of Phantasia
Platform: PSOne
Developer: Wolfteam
Publisher: Namco
Genre: Action Role Playing Game
Age Rating: Cero: A, ESRB: T for Teen (Rated by Fans)
Original Release Date: December 23rd 1998
Translation Team: Absolute Zero/Phantasian Productions
Fan-Translation Patch Release Date: Absolute Zero: 25th December 2007 Phantasian Productions: 31st December 2012
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Game Score: 8.8/10
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Summery:
If you're still into old school style RPG's then Tales of Phantasia for the PlayStation is one RPG that is both impressively remastered and still enjoyable after a long while.
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Looking at your old dusty Gray PlayStation game console, you only played it every now and then today cause you only missed playing all our favourite games such as Resident Evil. Gran Turismo, Sypro, Crash,, Final Fantasy and the legendary Metal Gear Solid. Nearly towards the consoles timeline had been ended mostly RPG's helped keep it going for a short extra while. How about this, a fan translation group called Phantasian Productions independently worked on a English translation patch for the 1998 PlayStation enhanced remake of the original Tales Of title that started it all as well as it's counterpart Absolute Zero who released their English Patch of the game in 2007. It did took Phantasian Productions 12 long years for their project to start in it's beta stages, getting the right men and time to get to work on translating and adding some new features to make it feel as if Namco would have localised this game instead of the inferior GBA version.

For those who have not seen the original version nor played the GBA version, Tales Of Phantasia was originally released on the Super Nintendo in Japan of 1995, it was Namco's first entry into the popular running RPG series and it showcased 48 bit capabilities for it's impressive graphics and a powerful soundchip which allowed voice samples and tje opening song being played in the intro. Three years later it got remastered for the PlayStation and thanks to the translation efforts, it's one of, if not the best version of the game we can get our hands on.

Tales Of Phantasia follows teenage swordsmen Cress Albane (whose known as Cless Alvein in this version) who sees a mysterious spirit who lives inside of a withered tree. Cress returns to witness the destruction of his village and the death of his parents. Cress embarks on a journey which transcends him from space and time to stop an evil lord known as Dhaos who's intends on eliminating anyone related to the power of magic. Tales Of Phantasia's story wasn't anything as gripping as Square's Chrono Trigger but however the game has solid writing for both fan-translation patches and enjoyable characters that still make them as engaging as they were back then. Characters such as Chester Burklight who is Cress' bast friend and archer, Mint Adenade a Cleric, Claus F Lester a summoner and Arche Klaine a magic user. The English fan-translation patches does an excellent job of translating the dialogue even if Phantasian's is sometimes complex to read and Absolute Zero having only a few translation liberties. Dispute this it's still excellent writing and on top of that there are also some new cutscenes as well as some anime sequences that add more tension to the story.

Tales Of Phantasia started of the Tales formula so you'll feel right at home if you've played future titles in the series. However in the PlayStation version the game includes brand new features on top of the games original content. The game goes by the series pacing, if you haven't played any game in the series then simply it's an Action RPG where you wonder through the world map where you can go into dungeons, move on from one town to the next for the next part in the story while having to fight off against a group of monsters along the way. Towns serve as your resting points and you can interact with NPC's and you can visit shops to purchase items and better gear. In Dungeons there are some puzzles that require you to press switches, pull statues or rocks out of your way or to other spots on the map which are needed to open doors to the next area. Later on you'll acquire an accessory called a Successor's Ring which can shoot fireballs at switches from afar. At the end of each dungeon there will be a challenging boss battle to fight off against and then it's back to town to rest up and move on to the next portion of the game. Tales Of Phantasia keeps it's pacing balanced in between cutscenes and gameplay so that you never waste to much time doing one thing at once. Tales Of Phantasia also has a few minigames that you'll find in between and of course the game has it's original side quests on top of the brand new content.

Most notably is the redesigned graphics and improved soundtrack unlike Square's PS1 versions of the old Final Fantasy and Chorno Trigger games. The characters as well as the locations have been redesigned with new signs and different colour palette which look more impressive then did look back then. Characters are still pint sized but however do they have additional and smoother animations that make them more cleaner. The World Map has also changed into 3D and it's castles, mountains and towns have all received a bump up in detail and they look way more shaper then the original and later GBA releases. The Soundtrack itself has remixed tunes as well the opening music track that plays in the opening intro which are great with one exception. The track that plays when you fight against a summon spirit called Fighting of the Spirit has perhaps one of (if not) the best remix version that is ever heard in games in the series ever, it was so fantastic that when I took on my first summon spirit I actually paused the game for a few minutes just to listen to it. To fans including myself this track is simply that powerful.

Tales Of Phantasia on the Super Nintendo was the first game in the series to introduce the Linear Motion Battle System, however this version of the game uses an updated system that was used in it's 1997 instalment Tales Of Destiny. For those who never heard of the system, simply battles take place inside a small side scrolling battle arena where characters and monsters engage each other in real time combat. You control Cress in battle while your allies are controlled by the AI, you can have up to 4 members of your party to fight together but however you can switch Cress out and play as other characters if you want. The controls for battle are Circle or regular attacks, Cross for your abilities known as Artes, Square makes your character black incoming enemy attacks and Triangle brings up the battle menu where you can change party members behaviour in battle, use items, change formation and set your abilities whilst you can also do these outside of battle. You can use the D-pad and Circle to do different main attacks such as Down+Circle for a Thrust attack or Up+Circle for an upward slash. L1 reverses your party formation if incase the enemies surround you and you can switch between different different targets on the screen with the R1 button. There are 3 different battle controls that you can use. Auto allows the AI to take control of your party members, Semi Auto allows you to control your character but not fully while Manuel mode allows you to fully control your character. Phantasian Productions has given Cress an accessory called the Technical Ring when you start the game, this will give you the Manuel Control option. When equipped which allows you to freely move around the Battlefield without constantly returning to your standard position.

Regardless of what the game says on the back of the box, you can actually get a second player to control another character by plugging in a controller and equipping a second character with a Channelling accessory. You can also plug in a PlayStation Multitap to allow up to 4 players each equipped with Channelling accessories to be able to play together locally.

Characters have their own abilities that are called Artes which are basically skills of strike and magical attacks which are used to take down powerful enemies in the game. It's easier to combine Strike Artes with Magic Artes as they do more damage then standard attacks. Artes can be learned by levelling up while some others such as Magic Artes and also Arcane Artes can be purchased b NPC's while summon spirits are earned through battles with them. They can be turned off in the Artes menu or can just assign your teammates to use them Manually or shortcut buttons.

For characters styles of fighting, Cress relays on his weapons such as Swords, Axes and Spears. Cress' attack has two different attack stats that represent one for Slash and one for Thrust. Swords doing all round damage, Axes are better for Slash while Spears are better for Thrusting. Chester Burklight is an Archer who shoots arrows at enemies and in this version Chester can now have his own Artes which makes a useful Long Range character in battle unlike in the SNES version. Mint Adenade is the party's healer and can use a variety of healing and support spells to keep your members alive when injured or inflicted with status aliments. Claus F Lester is a summoner and can summon beasts that you've earned from beating them in battle while Arche Klein is a magic user who can conjure up deadly spells like Ice Tornado, Eruption, Thunder Blade and advanced spells like God's Breath, Fire Storm and Indignation. The updated battle system offers plenty of depth and rebalance as well as tweaks such as removing Mints Valkyrie spell and Arche's Extinction. Boss battles are cool and challenging and also Phantasian Productions has also added additional difficulties which can make the game almost impossible and must only be attempted by masters of the game due to the aggressive AI and uneven stats each monster has. Ether way it's an amazingly addictive combat system but it's understandable that it isn't as advanced as future titles.

For the most part the battle mechanics have improved quite a lot from it's SNES counterpart but however there is one issue, the random encounter frequency. Random battles are triggered every few steps on the world map and in dungeons, the problem with that is that it tends to bother you when you're solving a puzzle which becomes aggravating. However it is important to grind because bosses do tend to put up a reasonable challenge and later enemies can really mess you up and put you in a disadvantage.

In addition to the updated battle system, there are numerous new features to the game that are added in this version while others not seen in the later GBA version. First up is cooking, it allows you to cook recipes for your party members to recover HP, TP and other status elements. You've seen this idea in perhaps later Tales Of games like Eternia, Symphonia, Abyss and so on as this proved useful in keeping your party members healthy even if the ingredients became expensive.

There are around 25 recipes in the game to find in towns as they each have what's called a Wonder Chef. Another new feature is titles which some can think as achievements but however it's for characters for completing certain actions in the game, some of these are acquired through levelling and story while you can get others through sidequests.

Speaking of which are also some new sidequests in this version as well as brand new areas and dungeons. New areas involve the updated shadow dungeon and the extended Treant Forest which can be difficult to go through. There is a brand new minigame where you play as Arche in a Horizontal 2D shooter as you use both front and backward attacks to take down everything on the screen, there is also one sidequest following a young ninja girl named Suzu Fujibayashi where you need to help her find her parents and doing so will allow her to join you in battle. She uses her Ninjitsu to rapidly cut down enemies, throw fiery shurikens and summon a mighty giant frog that can breathe fire, yes it can breathe fire...just don't ask how.

If you're still into old school style RPG's then Tales of Phantasia for the PlayStation is one RPG that is both impressively remastered and still enjoyable after a long while. With improved mechanics, brand new extra content as well as great storyline and characters make it the best version of Tales Of Phantasia available to English speaking gamers. You will be held back by the Phantasian Productions patch's issues with the collector's book and looking at one location on the map, it also has a major issue if ran on the PS2 where you get up to the final boss and then crashes. It's more playable on PS1 Emulators and modded PS1 Consoles but at least you can use Absolute Zero's patch which at least has no issues. If you can ignore those issues and want the additional difficulties then go with Phantasian Productions but otherwise stick to the Absoulte Zero English Patch which came before it. Tales Of Phantasia is now 18 years old and thankfully for the title in the series, it's tale has aged wonderfully.
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The Good Points:
1. Improved Battle Mechanics and also has 4 Player support
2. Several new additions such as side quests, replacements and improvements in-which some of them where not seen in the later GBA version
3. Phantasian Productions Patch provides new difficulty settings (when unlocked) and also has the options to have Artes named differently
4. The best version of Fighting of the Spirit heard in any version, Ever
5. Characters still engaging and enjoyable and also the added cutscenes and some Animé sequences add more to the story

The Bad Points:
1. Awkward random encounter frequency
2. Phantasian Productions English Patch has a few minor bugs
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Reviewed by: Anthony Hayball (AQWBlaZer91)
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Get the full article at GameSpot

"AQWBlaZer91 reviewed Tales of Phantasia for the PlayStation..." was posted by AQWBlaZer91 on Tue, 14 May 2013 16:20:52 -0700
]]> http://www.gamespot.com/tales-of-phantasia-1998/user-reviews/811304/platform/ps/ Mon, 29 Apr 2013 13:21:57 -0700 jg4xchamp reviewed BioShock Infinite for the PC... http://www.gamespot.com/bioshock-infinite/user-reviews/810834/platform/pc/ ...and gave it a 8.0.

The thing that stuck with me most about Bioshock Infinite was that I wanted to replay the game instantly after being finished with it. It's rare that a game causes this kind of reaction, and it's even rarer for that game to be a big triple-A blockbuster. Yet here I am, and I can't just go through it once. Even after trying to explore every little nook, alley, or trash can, I need to find the stuff I overlooked. After taking as much of the atmosphere and narrative in as I could, I still needed to go back to see what I missed. For the first time in a long time, a big triple-A game genuinely made me wonder what was coming up next.

Bioshock Infinite starts a lot like the original Bioshock did. A man named Booker Dewitt who travels to a lighthouse. This lighthouse contains some cryptic writing, and before long he's well on his way to a city unlike anything he could have imagined. Only this time you're ascending high into the sky and entering the world of Columbia, not sinking down into the depths to find Rapture. Whereas the original Bioshock was about discovering a city that was already in ruins, Infinite is about a city that is still going strong.

Columbia isn't a haunting city in ruins as much as it's something almost awe-inspiring. This sense of old American nationalist pride permeates the city as it is decked out in the colors of old glory. Where Rapture was built on science, Columbia is built on faith. It's fitting for a city high enough to be in the heavens, and for those opening moments you're just taking it all in: the raw vertigo that comes from being that high in the air, the incredibly well-done production values, the prayers of the priests in the opening church, the white supremacist nature of this society, and even aspects of the city that just feel wrong.

The game is set in 1912, but there is an uncanny anachronistic aspect to this opening, aside from the the fact that Columbia is a city in the sky. Early on, there is a quartet of singers sharing a piece of music that has no business being in 1912. You're playing a character who has no idea this city even existed, and yet the city already knows him as a anti-Christ known as the False Shepard because of the mark on his right hand. On top of that you're here to capture a girl (Elizabeth) who is so valuable she can wipe away Booker's debt from men who you don't want to owe money to. It's a city that can be as uncomfortable as it is inviting, and it's a feeling that stays strong through out the majority of the experience.

Before our two leads ever meet, we first get a glimpse of the game's main antagonist: Zachary Hale Comstock. He is to Columbia what Andrew Ryan was to Rapture, but he is more a man driven by faith, and presents himself as a prophet to a society that is blindly willing to follow him. He is a well-meaning man that can be downright frightening because what his ideologies drive him to do. He truly believes in what he is doing no matter how flawed his actions seem when compared to what he is preaching. Like Ryan was an example of the potential dangers of Objectivism, he is a take on the potential flaws of religion when taken to extremes.

Religion isn't the only theme at play in the early going. The game also wants to handle racism. It won't be long before you also start dealing with the Vox Populi, the rebel force that is trying to save the non-white members of this society, who are living life at the bottom of the barrel. It gives you the impression of a game (like the original Bioshock) willing to make a statement on these real-life themes by showing us extremist interpretations of them. Sadly, it never quite takes these themes as far as it could as the narrative is about the mystery behind the girl.

Who is she really? And why is she capable of doing the things she does? Elizabeth isn't a normal damsel in distress. She is capable of opening things called "tears" that are like windows to other worlds. But their exact nature is unclear, and the game will make you, and the characters, wonder what they are? The future? Another spin on that time-line, or something else entirely? In search of a way out of the city, Elizabeth and the player go on the run and start getting their answers along the way. And as they go further down the rabbit hole and begin to unravel Colmubia's mysteries, they also see the unraveling of Columbia, and the game world changes to reflect this. What was once a calming blue sky is now a thunderous group of storm clouds creating an ominous darkness over the city. A bustling street and fair now lay in ruins that evoke some of the more terrifying imagery found in the original Bioshock. All this deconstruction and destruction builds up to a fever pitch before you get to the game's conclusion, which is so compelling that it demands another run through, and you'll find yourself viewing what once seemed minor scenes with no real importance now feel like important tidbits that were foreshadowing the grand conclusion all along.

A lot of the story is also conveyed through environmental discoveries by the player. There are secret codes by the rebels that the player must solve to earn gameplay rewards. There are voxophones that give you further insight into the many characters and story beats at play the same way the audio logs did in the original Bioshock. In most cases, they can explain certain tidbits about the city or provide context for gameplay elements, but there is far more interesting stuff as well. For instance, the true story about what happened to Lady Comstock, and her actual feelings in the final few moments of her life may very well be one of the best aspects of the game, and are only available to the player through voxophones.

All of this makes Columbia a city worth exploring, even if you're going to feel that, at times, there just isn't enough of it to actually explore. A lot of the progression in the game is linear, and takes place in straightforward narrow paths. You get some boardwalks, beaches, and the like to explore, but more often than not you get funneled into combat zones.

Which means there also happens to be an action game tied to the story. Bioshock Infinite plays much like the previous Bioshock games. You have your basic weaponry which ranges from pistols, rifles, and shotguns, to heavy weapons, and then you have the Plasmid like powers of Columbia: Vigors. At the press of a button, you can unleash a bolt of lightning, release a flock of crows for crowd control, or deliver a furious bull rush, which provides a more visceral thrill compared to the other powers.

Charging these powers can create other abilities as well, which essentially allow you to set up traps. One such trap can detonate fire bombs, while another can provide an electric barrier if you need to protect something. There are also skylines, which happens to be a form of traversal in the city that also play a role in major set pieces. It provides a vertical dynamic to the combat that just wasn't there in the original Bioshock and makes it possible to escape combat zones more quickly, as well as bring death from higher vantage points.

It all comes together to create this powerful action game that feels far more fluid than the original Bioshock. Where the original felt clunky and almost lacked impact, Infinite genuinely wants you to feel strong. Even the more spongy enemies sell the notion that you can do serious damage, and the entire balance of the game is built with the idea that you play with some offensive latitude as opposed to a more laid-back, strategic approach.

The upgrading system is also a little familiar to Bioshock in that you do a lot of your upgrading at vending machines. With the right amount of money you can either upgrade your powers or your weaponry. These can range from damage boosts to quicker reload times for guns. For Vigors, the upgrades add bonuses effects, such as allowing your charge move to replenish your shield after every direct hit. There is a gear system that allows you to deck out Booker with other advantages as well. The player can wear up to four of these at a time, and they can do anything from increasing ammo capacity or adding effects to actions done while on a skyline.

All of this delivers a combat experience that is far more invigorating than the original Bioshock. Weapons feel stronger, set pieces feel larger, and environments are just big enough to allow proper experimentation with the multiple powers you have. All of this is welcome. The drawbacks come from some potential gameplay elements not found in the game.

If you're wondering if there are any scenarios where the player has the option to avoid combat, there really aren't, outside of one forced stealth scenario. While the original Bioshock allowed for a more "plan it out" approach, Infinite is about pure offense. The weapon wheel is gone and replaced with the often abused two-weapon system found in most FPS games. The addition of a shield also allows the player to play a bit more recklessly without any real drawbacks.

On top of that, you have the addition of Elizabeth who essentially cripples any real chance of a challenge in the game outside of 1999 mode, which gives you limited resources, removes quick revivals, and features more spongy enemies. She is constantly roaming the battlefield and is quickly there to resupply you, making sure the player is in no real threat of running out of ammo for their weapons or salts for using Vigors. Her tears provide some excellent combat options including added cover, automated allies, or even weapon dumps. However, they come with no real penalty. You can just spam them at will, and it creates a combat experience where, on top of all the power you have, you aren't ever really threatened by your enemies.

There is this familiarity to Bioshock Infinite that makes it feel like a game in which Irrational focused more on fixing the combat of the original Bioshock, and less on creating something that was new and belonged entirely to Infinite. On top of that, aspects of the game just feel stripped down or even further simplified. The hacking mini-game from the previous games is now replaced with a simple lock picking mechanic that just requires you to scavenge a certain amount of lock picks. Upgrade paths are more straightforward and limited, and the Vigors can be borderline game-breaking with the right upgrades. It's not anywhere near the thinking man's shooter Irrational hinted at as much as it's right in line with the many adrenaline fused action games on the market.

So, of course, there are some drawbacks along the way. The final combat sections aren't nearly as strong as some of the more intense shoot-outs in the middle of the game. The final stretch of gameplay is a tedious endeavor that is drawn out far longer than it should have been. You have to deal with the disappointment that the Songbird is a potential gameplay obstacle the player never has to deal with. There are story elements that just don't gel with the rest of the game or feel like outright filler. Plot swings sometimes make very little sense, and other major characters come off a little underdeveloped given their importance. Columbia never lives up to Rapture in terms of exploration, and Comstock never quite delivers monologues on the same level as Andrew Ryan.

The game misfires more than a truly great game should. Instead of being graceful all the way to its conclusion, it gets there stumbling, tripping over itself, and at times falling flat on its face. Yet, it won't be those moments that stick with you as much as the moments where the game completely knocks it out of the park. It's going to be the part where the city drew you in immediately with it's absurd and almost majestic nature. It's going to be the combat that, while never challenging, makes you feel powerful in ways most standard triple-A action games rarely ever do. It's going to be an ending that changes the way you look at entire scenes throughout the game. It's a conclusion worth thinking about, and one that is effective enough to make you want to go just one more round to see what you missed.

Bioshock Infinite isn't as deep as it could be, or as concise as it needs to be to be truly effective. It doesn't live up to all the ambition that was shown in its many previews before it released, and it doesn't provide anywhere near the same commentary the original Bioshock did. What it does succeed at is showing you that there is still some wonder and excitement to be found in the triple-A action game. And that makes it an experience worth playing, warts and all.

Get the full article at GameSpot

"jg4xchamp reviewed BioShock Infinite for the PC..." was posted by jg4xchamp on Mon, 29 Apr 2013 13:21:57 -0700
]]> http://www.gamespot.com/bioshock-infinite/user-reviews/810834/platform/pc/ Thu, 25 Apr 2013 22:39:48 -0700 DarkLink77 reviewed BioShock Infinite for the PC... http://www.gamespot.com/bioshock-infinite/user-reviews/810680/platform/pc/ ...and gave it a 9.0!

"Bring us the girl, and wipe away the debt. That was the deal. I gambled, and now I owe money to men you don't want to be in debt to. I come here to pay it back."

That's the premise of Bioshock Infinite, summed up by protagonist Booker Dewitt. The deal he refers to is what sets the events of Bioshock Infinite in motion. The details, are by now, well known to you if you've spent any stretch of time following Infinite's protracted development. "The girl" is, of course, Elizabeth and the "here" is Columbia, a floating city founded upon religious principles, white supremacy, and the inherent greatness of America by a man named Zachary Hale Comstock, whom the people of Columbia hail as The Prophet.

It sounds like a deceptively simple request. Unfortunately for Booker, the people of Columbia believe that Elizabeth is the Lamb, Comstock's successor, who will cleanse the Sodom Below (a universal term applied by the people of Columbia to everywhere that is not Columbia, but mostly America itself) of evil. Further complicating matters, Comstock has forseen that a man from the Sodom Below, whom he calls the False Shepherd, will come to take Elizabeth away, and corrupt her in the process. To prevent this from happening, Elizabeth is locked in an ivory tower, and guarded by a mechanical monstrosity called the Songbird, until the time comes for her to fulfill her destiny.

It's a familiar set-up, isn't it? A hero, a girl, a protector, a man, and a city. There's always a man and a city. These are the constants of the Bioshock universe. Throw in some social commentary, and you have the formula for a Bioshock title. It's a formula Infinite revels in, and one the game's opening pays homage to, as Booker is rowed out to a lighthouse by a man and a woman the game does not initially deign to name. But there is one key difference between the two games, and one Infinite reveals to the player as soon as the game begins: something about all of this isn't right.

It's not a particularly subtle suggestion, the way Bioshock's opening moments cleverly hinted at the significance of "Would you kindly?" No, Infinite's is almost impossible to miss, and in hindsight, it's easy to see that the game's opening isn't designed for first-time players. It's designed for the player who is on his second, or third, or fourth play-through. If the kind of opening that tells you that there's something more behind the curtain, but gives you little context as to what that might mean.

And so, you forget about it. Your mind files it away as Booker ascends the lighthouse, and you see warnings plastered on the walls. "This is your last chance, DeWitt," they say. You forget as Booker rings the bells, and sits in a pod that rockets into the clouds, a scene that parallels the original game's reveal of Rapture.

"Hallelujah," a voice cries as Columbia comes into view for the first time, and you get that first, magnificent view of the city above the clouds. "Hallelujah."

The game continues at this pace for a while, allowing you to become acclimatized to the way things work in Columbia. It's a nice start, if a linear one, and it allows you to get used to the sights and sounds of the city before everything begins to spin out of control and the search for Elizabeth takes center stage.

And once things start spinning, they don't stop. Luckily, Booker is up to the challenge, and Infinite provides you with the standard Bioshock staples to combat any problems that might arise. Plasmids return as Vigors, and guns are plentiful and varied, though the game does limit you to two weapons at a time and a small amount of reserve ammo per weapon. These restrictions feel arbitrary, especially later in the game when enemies are both powerful and plentiful, and many combat arenas present situations when more options would have greatly benefited the game.

Infinite's combat is, however, superb. Guns feel powerful, shots have impact, and enemies react realistically to damage. And guns aren't the only solution to your problems. Ironically, outside of the two weapon limit, Infinite isn't afraid to give you options. The game supplies you with plenty of different Vigors of varying types, each with multiple effects. One allows you to possess machines, while another allows you to summon a murder of crows to distract enemies, and both Vigors and guns are upgradeable at the various Rapture-esque vending machines that are scattered around Columbia, provided you have the cash. Booker can also make use of the Sky-Hook, a rotating object worn over the hand which functions both as a melee weapon and allows access to Columbia's Sky-Lines, a rail system high in the sky that transports cargo and personnel around Columbia. Sky-Lines add an unprecedented amount of verticality, speed, and mobility to Infinite's combat, allowing you to rain death while zooming around at high (or low) speeds and to move seamlessly in across the battlefield at the press of a button. The Sky-Hook also opens any additional way to explore Columbia, and you'll have to keep that in mind if you want to acquire all of the game's many collectibles.

Like the original game, Bioshock Infinite features audio diaries recorded called voxophones that significantly expand on the game's plot, and essentially offer a finer understanding of both the story and the characters themselves. New to Infinite however, are infusions, which will allow you to upgrade your health, shield, or salts bar, as well as gear, which can be equipped in up to four slots and allows you to modify everything from weapon properties to the way your abilities function on Sky-Lines.

If all of this sounds like it's a lot to take, that's because it is. Infinite knows this, and the game continues the introduction's slow burn for some time, slowly introducing mechanic after mechanic and building Columbia as a world, until you finally meet the girl. Much has been said about the AI behind Elizabeth, but all the talk of Irrational's programming prowess can't do the character justice. Elizabeth is expertly written and phenomenally acted by Courtney Draper, and she will earn a place in your heart very quickly. Once you meet her, the thought of being parted from her company becomes painful. Elizabeth reacts realistically to events around her. If you're wandering around a crowded area, she might sit on a chair or talk to a nearby vendor. Other times, she'll examine pieces if the environment, pointing out interesting objects as she goes, and in some instances, she'll just lean against a safety railing, and take in the beauty of the city. Elizabeth the heart and soul of Bioshock Infinite, and you'll wonder how the game's admittedly masterful opening sequence ever managed without her.

However, Elizabeth isn't just a wonderful companion to explore Columbia with, and there is a lot to explore, despite the relative linearity of the game. She also provides new gameplay mechanics. Out of combat, she'll help you find money and items such as lock picks, which you can use to have her open doors and safes, should you have the required amount. But it's in combat that she really shines. Elizabeth has the ability to open "tears," which are essentially windows into other worlds. This ability allows Elizabeth to pull guns, health, mechanical companions, freight hooks for you to hang from with your Sky-Hook, and even cover into the world for you to use. In addition, she'll also supply Booker with salts, which are consumed when you use Vigors, as well as health and ammunition.

It would be easy for Elizabeth to completely steal the show in Infinite, given your reliance on her abilities as a player and how well the team at Irrational constructed the character. Fortunately, they've constructed another who is equally compelling in protagonist Booker DeWitt, voiced by the incredibly talented and increasingly prolific Troy Baker. The former-Pinkerton-turned-Private-Detective-trying-to-escape-his-past is an absolutely fascinating character, and easily one of the best protagonists to ever grace the medium. However, it's the way these characters play off of one another and the world and characters they encounter that elevates them to a whole other level, and watching their relationship evolve over the course of the game is one of Infinite's true joys.

Over the course of their journey together, Booker and Elizabeth begin to unravel the mysteries of Columbia and Elizabeth herself. Who is she, really? Why can she do the things she does? What exactly is she doing? What are the consequences? Bioshock Infinite asks these questions and more as it masterfully spins its yarn, all the while dealing with very real social issues such as racism, class divisions, the extent to which religion should be allowed to influence a government, and the idea of American exceptionalism itself. As the narrative unfolds, Booker and Elizabeth are drawn deeper and deeper into the conflict between Comstock and the Vox Populi, and soon, it becomes clear that events are far more complex than they appear. The amount of environmental storytelling present in Bioshock Infinite means that Columbia is just as much of a character as Booker, Elizabeth, or Comstock, and as the foundations of Columbia unravel around you, the world changes to reflect the growing intensity of the city's ongoing civil war. In the end, events build to an unpredictable and magnificent climax that will haunt your thoughts long after the credits finish rolling, and make you want to revisit the game again just to appreciate how well the game foreshadows and builds to its inevitable conclusion.

For all of these successes, however, Bioshock Infinite is not without its failures. Like the two weapon limit, the inclusion of gear feels arbitrary, and the system restricts you more than it should. Certain sections of the game feel drawn out to maximize gameplay, and a few plot points just feel out of place in the world Infinite creates, while others are only explained sufficiently through voxophones the player may not find. The much promoted Songbird is almost painfully underused, and a noticeable number of the game's major characters feel underdeveloped. For all of Irrational's efforts, and they are considerable, Comstock never escapes from the shadow of Andrew Ryan, and Columbia never comes together as a world the way that Rapture did so many years ago.

In the end, though, Infinite's successes are so great that its failures feel minute in comparison. In many ways, the game is a victim of Irrational's previous successes. It's not perfect by any stretch of the imagination, but something this ambitious rarely is. Infinite is, like its predecessor, a game that matters. It's a game that has something to say, about the medium, and about us. It's a game that will be remembered years from now, in the rare way that few games are. It's a game that you'll remember long after you play it, one that sinks its hooks in and never lets go. In many ways, Bioshock Infinite is a lot like Columbia, viewed for the first time in that pod, its magnificent shining towers coming over the horizon, a city we have never been to, yet know intimately. Brilliant, but flawed. Imperfect, but unforgettable.

Hallelujah. Hallelujah.

Get the full article at GameSpot

"DarkLink77 reviewed BioShock Infinite for the PC..." was posted by DarkLink77 on Thu, 25 Apr 2013 22:39:48 -0700
]]> http://www.gamespot.com/bioshock-infinite/user-reviews/810680/platform/pc/ Wed, 10 Apr 2013 23:11:23 -0700 DarkLink77 reviewed Journey for the PlayStation 3... http://www.gamespot.com/journey/user-reviews/810090/platform/ps3/ ...and gave it a 9.5!

I remember the first time I saw my co-op partner. I was in a large, circular ravine, trying to rebuild a shattered bridge by collecting pieces of cloth that would span the gaps.

I had just collected one of the pieces of cloth, and turned to see what affect that would have on the status of my bridge. It was coming along nicely; the cloth I'd collected had just repaired the second piece of the bridge, creating a flowing red path to the next section. Then, something caught my eye: another adventurer, clad in a red shawl like mine, flying high on his scarf. Until that point I'd been alone, guiding my red-robed wanderer through the sands, exploring the remnants of a civilization forgotten long before my character shook the dust of his (or her, it's impossible to tell) robe, and began hiking towards the mountain in the distance. But here was another person, who was drawn to the strange mountain in the distance the same way I was. He must have seen me at relatively the same time, because I saw him alter his trajectory in mid-air, and angle himself towards me. We met somewhere in the middle of the sands.


There was so much I wanted to ask my newfound friend. Had he played Journey before, or was it his first time? What did he think of the game? What was his name? But I couldn't ask him any of those questions, because the co-op and communication in Journey is restricted. I didn't ask him to join my game, and he certainly didn't ask to join mine. There's no way to invite your friends, and neither he nor I could see one another's PSN IDs. In the same way, there's no way to talk to your partner, at least in the traditional sense. The only means of communication the game offers you is a small chirp, activated by pressing the circle button. Holding the button down "charges" the chirp, until your character practically jumps for joy, shouting at the top of their lungs, and the sand around you ripples in response. In addition, the chirp also serves to power up your partner's jump, which is the only other mechanic in the game besides your character's ability to walk.

At first, this may seem like an arbitrary restriction on the part of thatgamecompany, but it fits with the rest of rest of Journey's design. It's a simple and elegant game that polishes the few mechanics it has to perfection, and then invites you to use the mechanics it does have to explore the world it lays before you. Despite the limitations in communication forced upon us, my partner and I got along swimmingly as we stuck our noses into every corner of the game that we could, finding bits of cloth to jump from, little murals revealing bits of the game's backstory, and most importantly, the collectible glyphs that extend your character's scarf, and give you more air time whenever you jump. We even figured out how to communicate on a basic level.

If it seems like I'm spending a lot of time on Journey's co-operative mode, it's because of how essential it is to the game. Journey did something I never thought a video game could do: it made me care about my co-op partner, and not because my success was linked to his. There is no failure state in Journey. You can't die. The game will never get too hard, and it will never stop you from progressing. The only way to "lose" is to stop playing. Instead, the biggest tragedy is losing part of your scarf, and in turn, part of your ability to jump. Losing a piece your scarf is emotionally crushing. After all, it's a visual representation of how far you've come over the course of the game. However, it's far worse to watch it happen to your co-op partner and realize how powerless you are to help them. You can't defend yourself in Journey. You simply try to get through the things the game throws at you while maintaining as much of what you've gained as possible.

As disheartening as losing your scarf is, however, losing contact with your co-op partner is worse. It might mean losing them forever, or having them replaced with another player. In the latter case, you'd never even know it happened. Yet, the idea of losing my co-op partner was incredibly stressful. Every time he disappeared from my view, I would stop what I was doing and try to find him. Strangely enough, he did the same thing. There was no gameplay incentive for us to do this. I could have finished the game by myself. He could have, too. But that wasn't enough for either of us. I wanted to finish the game with the same partner I'd had since the beginning. We'd taken this trip together. We'd watched each other succeed and fail. We'd shared triumphs and defeats. We'd each led the other to hidden secrets within the game. This story belonged to both of us, and seeing it through alone would have defeated the purpose.

Yes, Journey does have a story, and make no mistake, it goes far beyond the game's initial suggestion that you climb that mountain in the distance. It's played out through mostly silent, beautifully directed cutscenes at the end of certain gameplay segments. It's hard to describe what it's about without spoiling anything, so I'll simply say that the beginning is the end is the beginning, and leave it at that. And, of course, every story beat, and every part of the game, for that matter, are supplemented by Austin Wintory's masterful score.

It might be easy to say that Journey succeeds because it is more than the sum of its parts, but it wouldn't be accurate. Journey is the sum of its parts. It can be nothing else. It's a rare kind of game: the kind where every element is crafted to further one singular purpose. It's the kind of game that wants to offer you an experience, one best enjoyed with a stranger. And you will remember those experiences.

One particular moment stands out for me. My partner and I were moving through some ruins. It looked to be a structure of some sort that had fallen over onto its side. The sun was low in the sky, casting a bright orange glow over the world. We came to the end of the structure, and gazed out the opening on the right side. The world sloped down gracefully below us, into a ravine, the sand a sparkling orange under the light of the sun. We'd surfed the sands briefly before, but nothing like this. I gave a quick chirp, which had become code for "Ready?" In response, my partner leaped off. I followed after him, my character moving effortlessly down the shinning mountain of sand, my eyes searching for my companion. I looked and looked, but I couldn't find him. Just as I was about to give up hope, something caught my eye. A robed figure, like mine, further down the mountain. I sped up. He must have been looking for me as well, because he slowed down. We caught up with one another on the edge of the next platform, another twisting river of sand spread out below us. This time, he gave the first chirp, an apology and a question all in one. I gave a quick chirp, then leapt and sped off into the sands, wondering if he'd be able to catch up. Then suddenly, he was past me, and slowed himself. I caught up, and we raced down the sands, through the arches and the ruins, over the remains of a city the world had forgotten. Together.

Journey is adept at creating moments like that. It's a game that provides equal parts tragedy and victory, joy and sorrow. For all its mastery, however, the genius of Journey is that you will not remember it for the moments it builds for you. You will remember it for the moments you and your co-op partner build for yourselves. You will remember how those moments made you feel long after the credits roll, and that is Journey's triumph.

Get the full article at GameSpot

"DarkLink77 reviewed Journey for the PlayStation 3..." was posted by DarkLink77 on Wed, 10 Apr 2013 23:11:23 -0700
]]> http://www.gamespot.com/journey/user-reviews/810090/platform/ps3/ Tue, 09 Apr 2013 23:54:47 -0700 AQWBlaZer91 reviewed Final Fantasy: All The Bravest for the iPhone/iPod... http://www.gamespot.com/final-fantasy-all-the-bravest/user-reviews/810055/platform/iphone/ ...and gave it a 1.0.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Game Title: Final Fantasy: All the Bravest
Platform: iOS
Developer: Bitgrove
Publisher: Square Enix
Genre: Action RPG
Age Rating: N/A
Release Date: 17th January 2013
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Game Score: 1.1/10
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Summery:
All the Bravest's mindless gameplay, stupid micro-transaction problems make this application a total insult to both fans of the series and to video games in general.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Throughout the years Final Fantasy has had of case between great games during the 8 bit, 16 bit and the PlayStation eras. However since Final Fantasy XI, the series has gone a different direction and it's gone between both good remakes of the old games and Tactics while releasing a series of completely terrible games. We were hoping for Square Enix get on with Versus XIII but instead we get this time around is a god awfully abysmal game for the Ipad that comprises on micro-transaction deals. It's result is Final Fantasy: All the Bravest for the iOS which no hardcore or causal gamer should ever, ever play.

There is only one factor about this game that I like and that it does feature classic tunes from each of the represented titles like the battle music and the overworld maps from each of the games, the rest of the games features carry nothing but serious issues. Technically speaking, the game's graphics are nice and it does feature some nice character and monster sprites even if there animations are laughable. Spell effects and summons do fair much better though.

First up this game is supposed to be an RPG with a storyline right, well guess what? There isn't to this game. Basically all your favourite sprite based heroes from the originals all the way up to XIII join forces together for whatever reason to take down all the monsters and bosses without any dialogue what-so-ever. Instead characters go from one spot to the next to fight a series of monsters and eventually fighting a boss. You'll gain EXP and level ups as well as Gil but however there isn't any in the game what-so-ever, eventually you'll gain additional weapons which can allow characters to deal greater damage and it's automatically equipped to your party members.

The game's giant and fatal flaw with All the Bravest is the gameplay. One of it's main features is that the game has a micro-transaction deal where you need to pay real money for adding characters to your party. Instead of having 4 members you get to control up to 30 characters at Max together and it costs 0.99 to get a random character from the series into your party. This costs over 27.72 for the full party in total and worst off it's randomized so you can't pick who you'd want in your party and also it will always be different so if you were hoping to get Cloud Strife in your party only for you to get someone else that you don't want. You do have 25 job characters that you can unlock as you go and enlist them to your party. On top of Square Enix's scam list, you want to know how to get to the other locations in the game? Pay 3.99 to in which you have dozens of Gil in the game at your disposal that you could have used instead. It's just totally stupid for the company to take your hard earned money since an average playthrough will probably cost you over 40.00 top of the game's cheap download price.

The worst thing about the game is it's battle system. Sure it uses the Active Time Battle system where characters have to wait for their bar to be full before they can attack but however all you do in the battles is mindlessly tap or swipe your finger across your party and they will automatically attack the enemy on screen. You simply cannot simply command them to attack whatever enemy on the screen. All characters including the white mage characters jut simply attack but they have their own attacks to deal damage to the enemies. What's bad about this system is that all battles relay why to much on mindlessly swiping the screen and on top of that it really tires your hand out after only the first few battles you have in the game but that ain't the worst of the battle systems problems.

The characters can die in one hit when attacked and when your party is wiped out you have 2 very stupid options instead of just selecting the retry battle option or using a Phoenix Down when one member dies. Your First option is wait for 3 minutes for one member to be brought back to life only to get his backside handed to him again, this would however take about 90 minutes for your entire party to be revived. Your second is to use an Hourglass which instantly revives your allies and resume the fight. OKAY HANG ON! How do Hourglasses revive party members? That doesn't even make any sense at all. On top of that you need buy them as well as if you've already spent your entire allowance on the maps and characters in which again why can't you just pay for them with your Gil instead.

After only nearly an hour with the game. Your hand would be tired out when playing and you would simply figure that you regretted ever buying this game. Overall Final Fantasy: All the Bravest's mindless gameplay, stupid micro-transaction problems make this application a total insult to both fans of the series and to video games in general. If you see this game in the app store, don't even think about downloading it let alone look at it. With the original Final Fantasy games already available on the app store, your better with those games instead.

Seriously avoid this game at all costs.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Good Points:
1. Features classic tunes

The Bad Points:
1. Terrible and mindless gameplay that relies nothing more then screen swiping
2. Costs money to unlock all the content
3. Micro-transaction deal of picking out random characters as well as additional for reviving which is annoying
4. Features little to no story, and gameplay is completely boring and devoured of any substance
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Reviewed by: Anthony Hayball (AQWBlaZer91)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Get the full article at GameSpot

]]> http://www.gamespot.com/final-fantasy-all-the-bravest/user-reviews/810055/platform/iphone/ Tue, 09 Apr 2013 06:02:56 -0700 AQWBlaZer91 reviewed Orcs & Elves for the DS... http://www.gamespot.com/orcs-and-elves/user-reviews/810036/platform/ds/ ...and gave it a 7.5.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Game Title: Orcs & Elves
Platform: Nintendo DS
Developer: id Software, Fountainhead Entertainment
Publisher: Electronic Arts
Genre: Fantasy Role Playing Game
Age Rating: PEGI: 12+, ESRB: T for Teen
Release Date: March 13th 2007 (US), March 16th 2007 (UK)
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Game Score: 7.5/10
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Summery:
It's a short-lived experience but however Orcs & Elves has a well balanced and fast paced RPG game design that's both accessible and fun.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
It's incredible to see that the mobile phones are capable of gaming as they do exist some games that are actually impressive. Id software did an RPG version of it's popular Doom games as well as it's lesser known but well received mobile title that is Orcs & Elves, which is ported to the Nintendo DS a year later. For it's translation from mobile phone to the DS it's impressive in spite of it's overall length.

You play as an Elven warrior named Elli who is accompanied by a magical talking wand named Ellon. He is tasked with the goal of travelling towards the mountain of Zharrkarag where a tribe of dwarves have been overrun by a massive load of evil Orcs and all that remain of them are their spirits. You dive into Dwarfen territory to find out the source of the problem, but eventually you learn about the true evil behind the assault and also the death of the dwarves king named Brahm. It's a simple plot but however the characters are interesting by the Dwarfen spirit's dialogue being spoken in ghostly text and also sticking to the old English language which is refreshing for them and each spirit you meet later on in the game has some personality to them. As for your talking wand Ellon, he has a cheeky but proud personality as he served Elli's father and also tends to insult the bad guys pretty much which is amusing.

Orcs & Elves takes place in First Person where the game plays like a classic dungeon crawler much like the Eye of the Beholder series. In the dungeons you'll spend the entire game looking for gold and treasure, enemies to kill, secrets areas to discover and of course earning EXP and Gold from monsters which can level up your character. One of the key features of the game is that it focuses on turn based combat even though the game is in First person. Everything you do such as moving, using potions, attacking enemies and so on all use up one turn and each enemy you face in the game will use it's turn as well.

You control your Character using the control interface on the Touch Screen or by using the DS face controls. The D-pad moves your character and using the L or R strafes and since it is turn based your movement is grid based. You use the A button to use your current weapon and also you can use the X Button to cycle between your available weapons. You can use the Y button to skip your turn which actually helps to let the enemies get close to you and finally the Select button brings up the Map for the bottom screen. You can also use the icons on the touch screen to touch the equipment you want to use, activate the map or repair your armour. In my opinion the DS face controls work better but using the Touch screen controls is a nice mechanic.

What's impressive about Orcs & Elves is how well each dungeon is designed. You wonder around each of the games varied dungeons where you'll have enemies to fight against and also you'll need to find some treasure and items lying around that will be a variety of different potions and ales as well as ammo for other weapons that you can use when you're in danger. If you explore hard enough through the levels and have the map activated on the bottom screen, you'll find secrets with hidden and rare items inside. Should you eliminate all enemies and find all the hidden secrets of each level, you'll get a bonus amount of EXP for 100% completion which is helpful for easier level ups.

You'll have a few puzzles to solve such as talking to the spirits which can give you the code to open locked doors, getting through walls that can crush you before you can deactivate them and moving boulders out of your path. Each of these environments are well paced and they are well designed for the main purpose of the game.

Once you go through the dungeon you'll discover a Fire portal which takes you to the Dragon's Lair which is guarded by the Mighty Dragon Gaya who in which has a shop allowing you to buy weapons, rings and potions. You start out with your basic sword and armour as well as your talking wand but eventually as you progress further into the game you'll eventually gain better weapons like a Flaming Sword, a Vorpal Sword which gives the power of lighting, powerful crossbows, phoenix eggs that are like explosive bombs, a dragons breath which can burn enemies, a powerful hammer named Abraxas which crush enemies and can target enemies that surround you. and finally the scroll which can petrify monsters.

Eventually your magic wand will gain new spells and become more powerful as you advance through the game. It will grant you 4 spells that are Lighting and Fire which are powerful against some types of enemies and there is Stun which can stop enemies for a few turns and the last spell is Force which can shove enemies out of your way. Most of the spells are useful but sometimes you won't end up using most of your other arsenal you have until later portions of the game where you need to use a scroll or a long range weapon to knock down a boulder for you to safely move on. Be careful though as you'll also have a rat that will try to steal some of your stuff such as gold or in one segment of the game your wand. At the end of most dungeons there will be a quick boss battle which takes several hits and few potions to be put down but there's not much strategy needed for them.

The main issue with the game is that the overall game's length is about 6 hours which is incredibly short when you just scratch the surface of the games main content, however searching for secrets and defeating all enemies in each dungeon can extend it to nearly 7 to 8 hours of gameplay from start to finish. You're actually are better playing it on the harder difficulty settings which does provide more of a reasonable challenge then the default Normal. This is because it takes longer to beat since you need to spend time grinding and thankfully the respawning enemies on Nightmare will happily help with that since their corpses that you don't destroy will come back to life to attack you again. Yes, I actually managed to beat Nightmare mode on Orcs & Elves and I was Level 35 when I finished it and it's a great achievement for me.

While the gameplay of Orcs & Elves has been translated well from the mobile, the graphics have been improved well from it too. The enemy and weapons sprites as well as the ghostly 3d models of the dwarfs are impressive. The environments as already stated are well designed to the whole medieval setting and the animations for the ghostly dwarfs texts are impressive with the way that the words animate.

As for the soundtrack it's mostly heard on the main menu and at the games background story rather then the gameplay. Still it's decent orchestral music and the sound effects for the monsters and weapons are impressive.

For a Mobile Phone game it's impressive for it to translate it nicely to the handheld. It's a short-lived experience but however Orcs & Elves has a well balanced and fast paced RPG game design that's both accessible and fun. If you can get at a cheaper price rather then full price then this game is worth it but however you will be disappointed at it's overall length.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Good Points:
1. An excellent translation from mobile to the DS
2. Nice control interface and turn based combat
3. The Dungeons are nice and are well designed

The Bad Points:
1. It's very short.
2. No music during the gameplay
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Reviewed by: Anthony Hayball (AQWBlaZer91)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Get the full article at GameSpot

"AQWBlaZer91 reviewed Orcs & Elves for the DS..." was posted by AQWBlaZer91 on Tue, 09 Apr 2013 06:02:56 -0700
]]> http://www.gamespot.com/orcs-and-elves/user-reviews/810036/platform/ds/ Thu, 28 Mar 2013 13:26:30 -0700 AQWBlaZer91 reviewed Final Fantasy XI: Seekers of Adoulin for the PC... http://www.gamespot.com/final-fantasy-xi-seekers-of-adoulin/user-reviews/809498/platform/pc/ ...and gave it a 2.0.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Game Title: Final Fantasy XI: Seekers of Adoulin
Platform: Xbox 360/PC
Developer: Square Enix
Publisher: Square Enix
Genre: MMO RPG
Age Rating: PEGI: 12+
Release Date: PC version: March 26, 2013 (US), March 27, 2013 (Europe, Australia, Japan)
Xbox 360 version: March 26, 2013 (US), March 27, 2013 (Japan, Australia, Europe)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Game Score: 2.0/10
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Summery:
It's another mission pack for this already shallow RPG that is simply worse then the other packs avaiable in all regards.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
After 5 years of one of the most disappointing online games that kept gaining money from fans for so long, It was at last we can finally put this travesty down for good. However Square Enix planned to make another Final Fantasy Online game that was XIV and we all know how bad that trash was. Final Fantasy Online continues it's long going disappointing spree with their announcement of XIV: A Realm Reborn and also it's latest Final Fantasy XI Mission pack which is no doubt the worst of them all and why did it have to exist is beyond us. This mission pack expansion is called the Seekers of Adoulin and it's available for the Xbox 360 and the PC.

This is a game that should have just been it's own game and also being that it's online that still plans to be a pay to play is disgusting. Getting the new content out of the way first, there are 2 new classes that are Geomancer and Rune Fencer that try to add new elements and also there are also 8 new enemies, a new region to play which has 12 areas to visit if you so chose to.

Sadly Final Fantasy XI's gameplay doesn't hold up at all and it's a shame XIV never solved it's issues. Basically you run around each town or dungeon talking to people to get quests to do where's all about fighting against types of monsters before taking on the next. It gets really boring quickly and worse off the battle system is super slow and uninteresting to handle.

In case anyone has thankfully never ever played Final Fantasy XI before, basically there is no battlefield when you start battles, instead the entire dungeon and overworld is treated as it's own battlefield and battles are started by walking towards enemies on the map and selecting the attack button on the command menu. You simply just watch as you and the enemy take turns to attack each other. You can select Magic spells and other abilities in the battle menu by selecting but however their set up is very confusing at times. The main feature of this being an MMO is having a party together with other players but only then the battles becomes uninteresting because the turn based battles are extremely slow and boring to play since you're mostly watching the battles. You can try and run away from battles if you possibly can and also it becomes annoying when you're attacks keep missing the target even if you as close as possible.

Final Fantasy XI's graphics won't impress anyone on the Xbox 360 version with dated visuals, blend environments and dull magic spell effects. Basically it looks rather outdated even the PC version doesn't fair better in that department. The character animations are only decent and there each of them can look good in any different kind of available outfits and armours. The soundtrack is the only thing that is good about the game. Each track features plenty of impressive beats and orchestral pieces and the sound effects are good at least.

Seekers of Adoulin won't be able to redeem any of the poorly delivered content, battles are slow and boring to play or even watch even with friends. The command interface is still terrible and also dying causes you to lose experience which is just very stupid especially if you worked really hard gaining it all only to lose it at the hands of a powerful enemy. Overall this is a poor excuse of a mission pack and it really doesn't do anything to enhance the experience of this already terrible MMO RPG game and this is overall just another mission pack for this already shallow RPG that is simply worse then the other packs available in all regards.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Good Points:
1. At least the audio is good and that's it

The Bad Points:
1.It's still a pay to play game by monthly basis
2.Dated graphics
3.Bad user interface and the battle system is slow and boring even with friends
4.A waste of extra space and money
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Reviewed by: Anthony Hayball (AQWBlaZer91)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Get the full article at GameSpot

]]> http://www.gamespot.com/final-fantasy-xi-seekers-of-adoulin/user-reviews/809498/platform/pc/ Thu, 28 Mar 2013 13:24:30 -0700 AQWBlaZer91 reviewed Final Fantasy XI: Seekers of Adoulin for the Xbox 360... http://www.gamespot.com/final-fantasy-xi-seekers-of-adoulin/user-reviews/809497/platform/xbox360/ ...and gave it a 2.0.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Game Title: Final Fantasy XI: Seekers of Adoulin
Platform: Xbox 360/PC
Developer: Square Enix
Publisher: Square Enix
Genre: MMO RPG
Age Rating: PEGI: 12+
Release Date: PC version: March 26, 2013 (US), March 27, 2013 (Europe, Australia, Japan)
Xbox 360 version: March 26, 2013 (US), March 27, 2013 (Japan, Australia, Europe)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Game Score: 2.0/10
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Summery:
It's another mission pack for this already shallow RPG that is simply worse then the other packs avaiable in all regards.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
After 5 years of one of the most disappointing online games that kept gaining money from fans for so long, It was at last we can finally put this travesty down for good. However Square Enix planned to make another Final Fantasy Online game that was XIV and we all know how bad that trash was. Final Fantasy Online continues it's long going disappointing spree with their announcement of XIV: A Realm Reborn and also it's latest Final Fantasy XI Mission pack which is no doubt the worst of them all and why did it have to exist is beyond us. This mission pack expansion is called the Seekers of Adoulin and it's available for the Xbox 360 and the PC.

This is a game that should have just been it's own game and also being that it's online that still plans to be a pay to play is disgusting. Getting the new content out of the way first, there are 2 new classes that are Geomancer and Rune Fencer that try to add new elements and also there are also 8 new enemies, a new region to play which has 12 areas to visit if you so chose to.

Sadly Final Fantasy XI's gameplay doesn't hold up at all and it's a shame XIV never solved it's issues. Basically you run around each town or dungeon talking to people to get quests to do where's all about fighting against types of monsters before taking on the next. It gets really boring quickly and worse off the battle system is super slow and uninteresting to handle.

In case anyone has thankfully never ever played Final Fantasy XI before, basically there is no battlefield when you start battles, instead the entire dungeon and overworld is treated as it's own battlefield and battles are started by walking towards enemies on the map and selecting the attack button on the command menu. You simply just watch as you and the enemy take turns to attack each other. You can select Magic spells and other abilities in the battle menu by selecting but however their set up is very confusing at times. The main feature of this being an MMO is having a party together with other players but only then the battles becomes uninteresting because the turn based battles are extremely slow and boring to play since you're mostly watching the battles. You can try and run away from battles if you possibly can and also it becomes annoying when you're attacks keep missing the target even if you as close as possible.

Final Fantasy XI's graphics won't impress anyone on the Xbox 360 version with dated visuals, blend environments and dull magic spell effects. Basically it looks rather outdated even the PC version doesn't fair better in that department. The character animations are only decent and there each of them can look good in any different kind of available outfits and armours. The soundtrack is the only thing that is good about the game. Each track features plenty of impressive beats and orchestral pieces and the sound effects are good at least.

Seekers of Adoulin won't be able to redeem any of the poorly delivered content, battles are slow and boring to play or even watch even with friends. The command interface is still terrible and also dying causes you to lose experience which is just very stupid especially if you worked really hard gaining it all only to lose it at the hands of a powerful enemy. Overall this is a poor excuse of a mission pack and it really doesn't do anything to enhance the experience of this already terrible MMO RPG game and this is overall just another mission pack for this already shallow RPG that is simply worse then the other packs available in all regards.
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The Good Points:
1. At least the audio is good and that's it

The Bad Points:
1.It's still a pay to play game by monthly basis
2.Dated graphics
3.Bad user interface and the battle system is slow and boring even with friends
4.A waste of extra space and money
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Reviewed by: Anthony Hayball (AQWBlaZer91)
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Get the full article at GameSpot

]]> http://www.gamespot.com/final-fantasy-xi-seekers-of-adoulin/user-reviews/809497/platform/xbox360/ Thu, 21 Mar 2013 14:18:02 -0700 AQWBlaZer91 reviewed Peter Jackson's King Kong: The Official Game of the Movie for the DS... http://www.gamespot.com/peter-jacksons-king-kong-the-official-game-of-th/user-reviews/809168/platform/ds/ ...and gave it a 1.5.

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Game Title: Peter Jackson's King Kong The Official Game of the Movie
Platform: Nintendo DS
Developer: Ubisoft Casablanca
Publisher: Ubisoft
Genre: Action
Age Rating: PEGI: 12+, ESRB: T, Cero: A,
Release Date: 21st November 2005 (US), 2nd December 2005 (EU), 15th December 2005 (AU), 25th May 2006 (JP)
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Game Score: 1.5/10
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Summery:
Kong Kong on the DS is extremely terrible, uninspiring and worst of all it's really, really broken and buggy.
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While the giant ape would have it's place to shine on most other consoles, DS owners would be introduced to not only one of the worst movie tie-ins it has but as well as being one of the worst games on the platform period.

When you first boot up the game you are introduced to it's first of many problems with the game. There are no extra modes to play so you're stuck with the main game only and there are no options mode to change your settings.

Now you get into the story. You remember the plot of the King Kong movie versions right? Basically Carl Denham wants to build his movie in the legendary skull island which is located in the Pacific Ocean. Jack Driscoll his screenwriter invites the movie heroine Ann Darrow and Green Beret Hayes into the island. What they soon discover that it's home to a 25 foot giant ape called Kong who kidnaps Ann. In the DS version the cutscenes are told through stillframe images detailing some events but other then that there isn't any voice acting portrayed.

There are about 17 levels in the game and they are shared between both the First Person Shooter stages where you play as Jack and every now and then you'll be able to play as Kong for one segment before playing as Jack again for a few more levels. These levels are extremely short and also there very few Kong levels in the game.

The first gameplay perspective is the First Person shooter stages where you play as Jack as this style is like the early Turok games on the Nintendo 64. You control Jack with the D-Pad, sliding the stylus on the touchscreen and using weapons with the L button. These are the controls for left handed players but also the controls are available also for right handed players. You can use the touch screen to order your partner to open up doors and plant bombs by the arrow which allows you to order your allies. You can also activate switches by standing close to a switch and holding down the L or R buttons. Aiming is automatic which can be annoying like when you're trying to shoot down a hive when there's bees that are constantly coming at you and you're automatically targeting them instead.

A lot of these levels involve you picking up spears and using them to take out crabs, bees and a raptor. In every level you'll always be fighting crabs which gives the game a real lack of variety but where they spawn from gets annoying. In some fights 2 of them can ambush you which can surely result in your death and sometimes these ambushes can appear frequently. Whenever you take a hit the screen flashes red and you die if you take another hit. One thing also is that Jack can't do use any Melee attacks and you can only carry one gun at a time. These guns include a handgun, shotgun, machine gun or a sniper rifle so if you run out of bullets or haven't got a spare spear with you. You're screwed and you'll have to restart the stage again. The worst thing is that when you complete a stage, the game magically takes your equipped weapons away for no apparent reason what-so-ever which can sometimes leave you unarmed in a segment or 2.

When the game gets to the Kong stages the game doesn't fair any better then Jack's stages. Simply Kong's levels take place in a Third Person perspective as you climb up vines and walls to reach other areas and also you'll fight off against giant dinosaurs and raptors with button mashing skills and also using finishing moves to break the enemies jaws and hearing Kong's trademark roar when you win. Mostly these fights can only be won by mindlessly button mashing and also there are also very less Kong stages and also this version of the game has the stage where you rampage the city and the stage where you destroy the planes is also not playable which is very disappointing. Damages done to both Kong and the enemies also lack any impact.

The worst thing about the game is that it is broken. It's extremely buggy and glitchy in nearly every aspect of the game. The ingame graphics have outside lines showing and sometimes you'll might even fall through solid walls which leaves you dying inside the polygonal abyss. The crabs respawn in such a way that they can scare you at times, usually right in front of you and worst off is that spears can ultimately go through enemies at point blank range. There is also a badly distanced fog which makes the game even terrible to look at and it's even worse when an enemy is within the fog. Other problems include the game resetting when you get to Stage 9 and also humorously some enemies can instantly zoom away from you after they landed an attack on you or disappear through the walls. Until you get close for them to appear again.

On top of the bugs and glitches, the graphics themselves are horrendous and is really ugly to look at. The character models look like zombies, the weapon firing has a huge polygon mesh which makes the weapon even uglier then it always is. Even if your equipped spear has not been thrown it can go through walls and also there are no special effects in the game at all.

The only redeemable quality is the soundtrack which is aright by the systems speakers, the sound effects are poor and again there is no voice acting accept for when Jack is commanding his allies.

There is really no excuse for a game like this to really become this bad. On the plus side it will only last for about 2 hours. There is replayability or any unlockable content available for when you beat through the game and you can't replay the levels you played and you would have to erase your save to replay them again. The Metroid Prime Hunters Demo and Goldeneye Rouge Agent on the DS showed how good FPS's can be but however this version of the game just shows how lazy the game designers where when they programmed it. Overall stay away from this version of the game at all costs and stick to the superb console versions instead, it's extremely terrible, uninspiring to play and worst of all it's really, really broken and buggy which in my personal opinion makes it the worst game on the DS.
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The Good Points:
1. The soundtrack

The Bad Points:
1. No unlockable content or any replayability
2. Slow paced linear First Person Shooter levels and are poorly designed
3. Kong's fighting controls are monotonous to handle
4. Loads of Bugs and glitches show of the game's lazyiness in polish
5. A very uninspiring port
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Reviewed by: Anthony Hayball (AQWBlaZer91)
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Get the full article at GameSpot

]]> http://www.gamespot.com/peter-jacksons-king-kong-the-official-game-of-th/user-reviews/809168/platform/ds/ Thu, 07 Mar 2013 11:43:49 -0800 AQWBlaZer91 reviewed Die Hard Trilogy 2: Viva Las Vegas for the PlayStation... http://www.gamespot.com/die-hard-trilogy-2-viva-las-vegas/user-reviews/808439/platform/ps/ ...and gave it a 5.0.

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Game Title: Die Hard Trilogy 2: Viva Las Vegas
Platform: PlayStation
Developer: N-Space
Publisher: Fox Interactive
Genre: Action
Age Rating: BBFC: 15+. ESRB: M for Mature
Release Date: February 28th 2000 (North America), 2000 (Europe)
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Game Score: 5.0/10
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Summery:
John McClane fails to take justice in a poorly delivered sequel which ultimately fells way to similar or worse then it's predecessor.
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Oddly titled Die Hard Trilogy 2, it's a sequel to the superb PlayStation hit Die Hard Trilogy with the same three in one gaming perspectives. The ending result is a game where it fails in mostly fronts that leaves you to Die really Hard.

The game takes place inside a holiday city that never sleeps called Las Vegas where John McClane's old friend invite him to a party for his celebration of being the warden of Mesa Grande Prison. John McClane soon gets himself into big trouble when inmates run riot and prison guards helping them escape...for some reason, why I do not know. John's best solution to those issues is to point and shoot at bad guys without much in the way of giving doesn't much F-Bombs and the way Brace Willis has always portrayed his character in the movies. On the plus side there is some decent voice acting dispute a few dry lines including John's famous line "Yippe kai yay!" and also Brace Willis does not portray his role of John McClane like in the movies.

Just like with it's predecessor Viva Las Vegas has 3 different perspectives. One game places John McClane in a third person shooter where you shoot down bad guys, solve some environmental puzzles to advance further and collect better weapons as you go. The second game is an On-Rails Shooter where Light Gun is supported, you shoot down bad guys and you can get power-ups from some downed enemies. The Third game is a driving game where like in the original trilogy you got to disarm Bombs across Las Vegas by driving over them before time runs out. You can find extra time, repair kits and nitros laying each area to make driving a lot easier especially during car chases. You can play through all three of these games through the Story mode or you can play through one of either game types through Arcade mode or Practice mode to practice before playing the main games.

The flaws are as follows: In the Third person shooter levels you wonder large levels that are mostly uninteresting to play. There are a few puzzles like finding keycards and switches which allow you to access locked areas to rescue hostages and find better weapons and explosives. The AI is very flat and also the controls are very difficult to learn. There is a auto aim system which eliminates the First person aiming aiming system that you have.

There is also the driving stages which at first controls way better but each stage is nearly the same as the original trilogy. You drive over bombs to defuse them which sounds simple but however car chases appear far to frequently this time and they can sometimes be annoying as they can easily avoid you and can sometimes plant mines on you. There is a simple time limit this time I should like to point out and it goes up to 3 minutes.

Lastly there are the Light Gun levels which are the best in the overall package. You shoot bad guys before their crosshair turns red which they will shoot you. There are plenty of Health and Armour power ups as well as other weapons you can use. You can switch weapons unlike the original and also the game supports the Mouse as well as the Konami HyperBlaster and also the game finally allowing the Namco Gun to be compatible. Still there are issues like the Light Gun accuracy being inaccurate unlike the Namco titles and also there are some parts where enemies are planted across the screen in which you're always taking damage, the Hostages are extremely dumb and won't hesitate to literally dive into your line of fire and sometimes also the enemies which can sometimes make these levels very frustrating. Overall the entire gameplay is well spent on the Light Gun levels while the Third person and Driving aren't enjoyable at all and can also be frustrating.

The graphical are also very similar to the original with minor enhancements to the character models. Their animations are dimwitted and it's pretty stupid to see someone rolling around like crazy after being blasted by a rocket launcher. Still the environmental details do look nice and the explosion effects are pretty cool. In the Third Person levels John McClane has the power to see through the environment since it allows you to see who is inside the rooms. The sound effects are aright, the music tracks inspired by BT, Lil' Zane, Black Rob and Tony Touch are decent mixes of technical beats and rock music.

Die Hard Trilogy 2: Viva Las Vegas isn't a sequel that really is made for Die Hard fans of the franchise. Having three gaming perspectives in one is great and all but however each gametype has a series of flaws that Bruce Willis would be disappointed to hear about. It's good for a cheap buy but you're better off with the original trilogy which is way better.
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The Good Points:
1. 3 Gaming Perspectives in one game
2. Finally has Namco gun support

The Bad Points:
1. Third Person stages are very uninteresting
2. Hostages are very stupid in the Light Gun Levels
3. Driving stages can sometimes be frustrating
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Reviewed by: Anthony Hayball (AQWBlaZer91)
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Get the full article at GameSpot

]]> http://www.gamespot.com/die-hard-trilogy-2-viva-las-vegas/user-reviews/808439/platform/ps/ Thu, 28 Feb 2013 14:19:35 -0800 AQWBlaZer91 reviewed Die Hard Trilogy for the PlayStation... http://www.gamespot.com/die-hard-trilogy/user-reviews/808099/platform/ps/ ...and gave it a 8.0.

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Game Title: Die Hard Trilogy
Platform: PlayStation
Developer: Probe Entertainment
Publisher: Fox Interactive
Genre: Action
Age Rating: ELSPA: 18+
Release Date: August 31st 1996 (North America), November 1996 (Europe), December 13th 1996 (Japan)
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Game Score: 8.0/10
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Summery:
3 solid Die Hard games in a single game is a superb and fun deal that Movie fans can really appreciate.
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Most Movie licensed video games are just complete rubbish cash-ins which attempt to make a quick buck but however very rarely there is a licensed game that is actually good. One of those kind of games is Die Hard Trilogy. This game is a 3 in 1 compilation which fans of the movies will not be disappointed about. Believe it or not unlike many other movie licenses this package is actually great to play.

Die Hard Trilogy consists of 3 different games which all have different perspectives. You have Die Hard 1 which plays as a simple 3rd person shooter, Die Hard 2: Die Harder which is a On-Rails Shoot-em-up and finally Die Hard: With a Vengeance is a driving game. All 3 of these games are very faithful and also resemble many of the locations seen in the movie.

I look at Die Hard 1 first and it's a Third person shooter where the camera the behind the player and your goal is to run around a closed building one floor at a time and then shoot down the terrorists while rescuing Hostages. Each level has a set number of enemies and hostages to be sorted out before you need to find the elevator with a bomb to defuse and take you to the next level. You control John McClane with the D-pad and using X to shoot, Circle cycles through your other available weapons, Triangle jumps, L1 and R1 strafe and L2 and R2 buttons do a side roll. You'll also find different weapons lying around inside crates or large boxes and also some enemies will drop them such as Grenades, rifles, machine guns and armor to protect you from damage.

While enjoyable the game does surprise you with a bomb sequence where if you think you've finally finished a stage you'll have a 30 second timer to find that elevator before the bomb explodes which delivers some heart pounding moments that you don't want the building to blow up. Whenever you fail at reaching the bomb you'll lose a Life and you have to restart the whole stage again.

Sometimes you'll be faced with loads of enemies which can damage you easily so the best idea is to wait for one guy to come to you so that you can pick them off easier. Always watch out for Hostages cause shooting one will cause you lose points. Die Hard 1 is fun but it just gets more harder and harder that you'll be desperate for extra lives. There are only some by the way.

On to Die Hard 2: Die Harder which is a On-Rails shooter much like Virtua Cop and also it's compatible with the Light Guns that are the HyperBlaster on the PlayStation version but it's unfortunate that the game does not support Namco's G-Con 45 controller. You can also use the standard controller or the PlayStation compatible Mouse. I mostly played this with the Light Gun. When bad guys show up they will have a crosshair on them to tell you to shoot them and they have arrows which go anti-clockwise while the screen zooms in at the target and when it's finished reaching the centre then the enemy shoots you. You have about 6 Lives and if you get shot with no lives left then you die. You have to aim carefully at the bad guys cause some guys can use hostages as baits to get you to shoot down the hostages causing you to lose points. There are about 8 stages and unlike the first game you get additional points for stage success and you do unlock secrets by perfect shots and avoiding to shot civilians.

The 2 main issues I have are: one the camera in which when I shot one guy the camera can immediately shift to another guy when I'm about to another guy instead killing a civilian by accident. The second problem is that you cannot calibrate the Light Gun controller which means you'll most likely have problems aiming more efficiently. Dispute these issues it's fun to blast through waves of enemies in an On-Rails fashion and there are plenty of destructive power ups and your main weapon can be instantly swapped permanently for a better weapon as a reward.

Die Hard: With a Vengeance is a driving game where your goal is to drive around streets, warehouses or the seaside to locate and destroy the target bombs within the time limit. With each bomb you catch the time limit increases but however should the timer go out, they city is blown up and you'll restart at the last checkpoint. You'll occasionally find a few power ups such as Extra Time, Bonus Points, Turbo Boosts and Rarely you'll get an Extra Life. After each stage you'll enter a subway stage where you challenge a truck racer who is nearly faster then you but I managed to win against the big truck every time.

It's aright but however the driving controls are very awkwardly set up on the controller and takes a while to get used to. Some chases with bomb cars can be annoying when they try to delay you from bashing right into them. You'll might spend a lot more time running over civilians by accident.

Die Hard's graphics are quite good, the environment details from the movie are rendered nicely and the models while facial features are rough are quite good. The amount of destruction you can do in the games are impressive as each area can be damaged or blown up. Each explosion causes the screen to shake and also in Die Hard 2, the screen does a warp effect each time you are shot and you are given a white flash effect when you die. During the results screen you'll enjoy watching people burn to death and watching people people mess around at the results screen while it's amusing for each character to hold up letters for you to select.

The game's soundtrack is impressive if not relatable with the movie, the voice clips are detailed nicely but the phrase "Yippy ki yay" has the F part edited out.

All three games in this package are amazingly enjoyable and a superb and fun deal that Movie fans can really appreciate. If must movie licenses where that bad before this one and also Goldeneye on N64 then maybe it's time for most game developers to encourage themselves in watching the movie first before even deciding to make one. Of the available versions of the game then I recommend the PlayStation it does feature Light Gun support and also the graphics are way better to look at.
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Reviewed by: Anthony Hayball (AQWBlaZer91)
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Get the full article at GameSpot

"AQWBlaZer91 reviewed Die Hard Trilogy for the PlayStation..." was posted by AQWBlaZer91 on Thu, 28 Feb 2013 14:19:35 -0800
]]> http://www.gamespot.com/die-hard-trilogy/user-reviews/808099/platform/ps/ Wed, 20 Feb 2013 13:29:30 -0800 AQWBlaZer91 reviewed Dragon Ball Z: The Legacy of Goku for the Game Boy Advance... http://www.gamespot.com/dragon-ball-z-the-legacy-of-goku/user-reviews/807776/platform/gba/ ...and gave it a 3.5.

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Game Title: Dragon Ball Z: The Legacy of Goku
Platform: Gameboy Advance
Developer: Webfoot Technologies
Publisher: Infogrames
Genre: Action RPG
Age Rating: 3+ ELSPA (Europe), E ESRB (North America)
Release Date: April 14th 2002 (North America), October 4th 2002 (Europe)
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Game Score: 3.5/10
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Summery:
This Saiyan's pride is hurt by it's short length which consist of about 4 to 5 hours roughly, bad design, bad battle mechanics and also a unbalanced enemy design followed by it's bad hit detection and also some inaccuracies
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Like all other Dragon Ball Z games before it, there are mostly just sad attempts to capture the feel of the popular Japanese anime series and so is the Gameboy Advance title Dragon Ball Z: The Legacy of Goku from Webfoot Technologies. The game is a retrace back to the 16 bit Super Nintendo days where the gameplay is nearly similar to Square's Secret of Mana titles expect that this game's power level of trashiness is over 9000 on my scouter.

The game takes place during the beginning of the Saiyan Saga, Namek Saga all the way to the final showdown against Freiza. Fans of the show or those who read the manga books might appreciate the idea where the game is getting at for the most part and there is solid writing for the character dialogue.

You play as Goku through the whole game and the gameplay style is a overhead action RPG like Zelda and Secret of Mana, You can fight creatures of the wild like snakes, squirrels, crabs, dogs, dinosaurs, and also powerful warriors like in the show right? It's absurd enough that Goku is spending most time blasting some poor animals but however Goku starts the game at a very pathetically weak level which advancing to quickly will cause Goku to be murdered by dogs which take about 1/3 of his health.

Levelling is extremely necessary if you are willing to survive cause enemies could kill Goku in an instant since the amount of damage the enemies do makes the game very unbalanced. Also there is a problem with the game's hit detection, get this: when you punch an enemy you'll hear either a bash sound which knows that your attack has landed damage on him but if you hear a ticking sound it shows that either your attack has missed him or the attack did nothing at all. Whatever you do try to avoid getting into mindless button mashing since that will only get you killed against harder enemies. You can find Herbs and Senzu Beans which restore your health but in all the battles are all about trying to be rather precise and avoid taking damage then fighting head on. Eventually after some levelling your fireballs will eventually take out most enemies in the game with 1 blast but even then the levelling will only go up as high as 25 in this game.

You can control Goku with A Button for punching, B for KI attacks, R for flying but he has a limit to how long he can fly for while L switches your KI attacks from Energy Balls, Solar Flare to blind enemies for a few seconds and also Goku's famous Kamehameha in which his voice is portrayed very well when using it.

When you're not fighting wildlife creatures you'll find people that will ask you for your help and it's the only way to advance through most of the story. You'll do things such as finding a lost child or a cat or finding bricks to make a bridge for an old man to cross. On top of that the awards like learning the Solar Flare from an old guy and Kamehameha from King Kai makes the storyline very inaccurate but however it does give the game at least some value dispute the poor set up.

There is one thing that this game does right and that's the presentation that is impressive for the system. I actually played this game on my Nintendo DS Lite since GBA games look way more colourful and more brighter then on the actual system. When the game is booted up you are treated to seeing the intro of the show with the FMV engine, during gameplay the environments are nice and sprite-work dispute some rough touches look impressive and their animations aren't bad. The two cons I noticed when playing it that some scenes like when Piccolo blasts both Goku and Raditz with his Special Beam Cannon you don't see the energy projectile at all and the same is said for when Krillin gets killed by Frieza. Also one thing I noticed which may sound like a game bug or programming error is that characters can go through solid walls during the cutscenes which is really bad for a game to have.

Overall Dragon Ball Z: The Legacy of Goku is just another bad attempt for a company to capitalize on a popular anime license. This Saiyan's pride is hurt by it's short length which consist of about 4 to 5 hours roughly, bad design, bad battle mechanics and also a unbalanced enemy design followed by it's bad hit detection and also some inaccuracies makes it not even worth a cash in with Camelots Golden Sun and also Capcom's Breath of Fire I and II also available at the time.
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The Good Points:
1. Sprite work is good and the FMV video is pretty good for the system as well as the music

The Bad Points:
1. Lousy hit detection
2. Poor side quest set up
3. Unbalanced damage from enemies and their AI is really bad
4. Other details look unimpressive and terrible to look at
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Reviewed by: Anthony Hayball (AQWBlaZer91)
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Get the full article at GameSpot

]]> http://www.gamespot.com/dragon-ball-z-the-legacy-of-goku/user-reviews/807776/platform/gba/ Wed, 13 Feb 2013 22:38:42 -0800 jg4xchamp reviewed Anarchy Reigns for the Xbox 360... http://www.gamespot.com/anarchy-reigns/user-reviews/807472/platform/xbox360/ ...and gave it a 6.0.

If I was trying to sum up all the brilliance Anarchy Reigns would have to offer it comes down to one simple statement: you punch people and they explode. This level of over the type action has become synonymous with Platinum Games. Anarchy Reigns certainly delivers for the most part in that regard, but this is the first time they've taken their act into the multi-player space. To say their first experiment in this space is completely successful would be misleading but what they do have here is a great foundation.

The core combat of Anarchy Reigns does your standard beat-em-up normal attack and strong attack routine. Your character will also have a "killer weapon" which is tied to an energy gauge that fills up based on how much of a beating you dish out. These attacks can all be used in conjunction with each other with the right opening and the game rewards players enough for playing with some finesse. A brief pause between strikes can change the entire animation routine of your strikes setting up a different combo entirely. There is also a rage meter which acts as a safety net for the player for a quick turnaround. When activated your character can go berserk and then hit your enemy with a myriad of strikes.

All of these attack combinations are fluid, responsive, and most importantly, brutally satisfying. Each strike has a high level of impact that will make you feel power. The fact that there is more depth there for a player willing to learn its nuances is also a rewarding feel. Sadly, this level of depth is also poorly presented to the player. There really isn't a move/command list for the many characters in this game, and the in game training options only teach you the basics. With recent fighting games having more advanced training techniques, this feels half-baked by comparison.

This learn-as-you-go approach also shows up in the multiplayer. The initial learning curve is going to take some time to get used to, but once you get a handle of your character, you'll be able to play at a more competitive level. As it stands Anarchy Reigns' modes are varied from the likes of team deathmatch, free for all for up to 16 players, a wicked version of soccer, and even shooter main stays like capture the flag. The multiplayer has a level of randomness to it that can make any match thrilling on what can happen in the environment alone. In one second you can have the entire arena lit up by an airstrike to another moment where a key part of the map has a black hole. It all creates an exciting brand of chaos that just isn't the norm with what's currently out on the market.

Unfortunately, this chaos also presents some of the multiplayer's biggest issues. While 2v2 and 4v4 modes are well thought out and fun to play due to easier communication; the free for all modes all are far too messy. Platinum Games has always had a penchant for chaos, but this is the first time navigating it has become an issue (albeit not an issue with the solo play). There is just far too much going on in these matches, and the poor lock on makes it difficult sometimes to be able to juggle multiple adversaries. A lot of your kills, and the general scoring in these games will be a product of "kill stealing". As a whole it lacks the competitive consistency to play with the big boys, but it's certainly fun in its own right as a celebration of chaos.

There are 17 characters in the game (18 if you have the Bayonetta DLC) and the vast majority of them have to be unlocked either through single player or multiplayer. It's worth mentioning that you can unlock every character without ever touching the story mode, however, this can take an extremely long time, making playing the story mode almost mandatory. This is unfortunate as the story mode is by far the weakest aspect of Anarchy Reigns.

The game is split into two story campaigns: one starring Madworld protagonist Jack Cayman and the other starring newcomer Leo. Both sides will also give you options to play as other characters in the story mode, but you don't necessarily have to play as anyone but our two main characters. While the two sides do present different angles of the plot they ultimately feel like carbon copy of each other. It makes the mode feel incredibly repetitive as every mission comes down to you needing to do some mass killings. A lot of your missions just come down to straight up killing a set amount of enemies. The game has makes a decent attempt at being varied with boss fights, shooting segments, and even vehicle segments. Sadly this format is rinsed and repeated through both campaigns so in a sense you go through the campaign twice.

The hub world doesn't help matters either. You're dropped into very bland environments with little to do but kill enemies and go to mission points. If you don't earn enough points in the missions you end up having to replay some of them, adding to the repetitive nature of the campaign. Boss fights and combat are executed well enough to be satisfying but the routine nature of the campaign leaves quite a bit to be desired.

The story itself isn't much to write home about either. Both Leo and Jack are looking for a Maximillion Caxton who has recently gone insane. In Leo's case, Max is a mentor figure who he is trying to save, and because Max killed his daughter, Jack is out for blood. The story itself is told through some cheesy flashbacks, a litany of poorly done character introductions and a number of clichéd elements found in most power fantasy stories. And it doesn't help that most of the dialogue is just far too nonsensical to be taken seriously. This brand of cheese has usually been entertaining in previous Platinum Games, but only because they seem intentionally cheesy. Because Anarchy Reigns sets itself up as a game that takes itself more seriously, it ends up falling flat.

Anarchy Reigns' inconsistent design flows into the presentation as well. Anarchy Reigns has an excellent soundtrack, especially if you were a fan of Madworld. Once again, Platinum uses hip-hop music to give Anarchy Reigns its own characteristic. A good portion of the music is about fighting and earning money so it gels well with the cast of characters. Unfortunately, the visual design is underwhelming, especially this late into a console generation. The environment designs are far too bland considering how often they appear and the color palette is far too washed out. Given this title's Madworld roots, it's rather disappointing that they didn't choose to use that sort of stylized visual aesthetic.

Taken as a whole, Anarchy Reigns isn't completely successful. The repetitive nature of the story mode is certainly disappointing yet the multiplayer modes can make up for a lot of its shortcomings. It's chaotic, messy, and seemingly half-baked at times but also unlike anything else on the market. At its budget price this is far from an awful game but Anarchy Reigns isn't quite ready for a primetime prize fight.

Get the full article at GameSpot

"jg4xchamp reviewed Anarchy Reigns for the Xbox 360..." was posted by jg4xchamp on Wed, 13 Feb 2013 22:38:42 -0800
]]> http://www.gamespot.com/anarchy-reigns/user-reviews/807472/platform/xbox360/ Tue, 05 Feb 2013 17:00:32 -0800 AQWBlaZer91 reviewed Catherine for the Xbox 360... http://www.gamespot.com/catherine/user-reviews/807131/platform/xbox360/ ...and gave it a 9.0!

Game Title: Catherine
Platform: Xbox 360/PlayStation 3
Developer: Atlus
Publisher: Atlus, Deep Sliver (Europe)
Genre: Puzzle, Psychological Horror
Age Rating: Cero: C (Japan), ESRB: M for Mature (North America), PEGI: 18 (Europe), BBFC: 15 (Europe)
Release Date: February 17th 2011 (Japan), July 26th 2011 (North America), February 10th 2012 (Europe), February 23rd 2012 (Australia)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Game Score: 9.0/10
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Summery:
Catherine is simply unlike any other Nightmarish game worth staying up for.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Compared to other games being released today, other developers just recycle the same ideas over and over again but only now and then will be a game that turns to be something original. Japanese developer Atlus who's known for RPG's like their long running Shin Megami Tensei titles to lesser known games like Etrian Odyssey for the DS brings forth a game where it's not about saving the world but rather telling a twisted love story with demonic elements from their other titles.

In Catherine the game opens with a TV presenter telling you about the main plot of the game and referring to the players as the viewers. The game follows a man named Vincent Brooks who is stuck in a deadly love triangle relationship between his long time girlfriend Katherine (spelled with a K) and also another girl that he meets in a bar who happens to wake up next to him who's Catherine (spelled with a C). This leads to Vincent to get Nightmares where other men who cheat on their loved ones appear as sheep are forced to climb their way to freedom or else they will end up dead in reality. Vincent himself appears in his nightmares with sheep horns carrying a pillow while only wearing his Boxer Shorts. Vincent has to survive the nightmare to advance to the next day and sort his relationships out or else he will turn up dead in the real world.

Katherine is interested in marriage and parenthood while Catherine wants people to witness freedom and life while being the seudative type. This leads to Vincent suffering with stress and torture. Vincent's voice actor Troy Baker (who also played Yuri Lowell in Tales of Vesperia) portrays his feelings and shocks amazingly well. Throughout the course of the story, the game allows you to make discisions and depending on your discision it change how the story can play out and there are multiple endings depending on the meter if you're on the red for Catherine or blue for Katherine. The characters in the game are beliveable as some of them have the same nightmare as Vincent and also don't seem to remember what happens to them in those dreams. They are voiced quite well but there are a few rough spots and there is no opiton for the Japanese soundtrack with English Subtitles.

Catherine has the main storymode which is the Golden Playhouse inwhich you play as Vincent in order to face his nightmares and also spend time at Vincent's favoraite hangout bar called the Stray Sheep. In the bar you can talk to people, send text messages through your mobile phone, or play an arcade game called Rapunzel, wash face to see what the next upcoming stage is or to get yourself drunk with 4 different types of alcholic drinks. You can drink up to 3 bottles of alchol and that makes Vincent faster in his nightmares. Talking to people allows you to help them out of their problems and also change their fates. There are about 50 achivements for completing levels, earning awards or by helping people out their problems and so on, this also unlocks music tracks from other Atlus games like Persona 4 and Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne which I like to point to Europeans like myself it's called Shin Megami Tensei: Lucifer's Call.

After you enjoyed your stay in the Stray Sheep Bar you'll then take on the night where you face Vincent's Nightmares in a form of a puzzle game where you have to pull or push blocks around in order to form stairs and reach the goal without falling off or getting squashed by a block. You have 8 different stages and they are broken up by floors where you just climb to the top and finally the final floor of the night where you'll a boss battle where you have to avoid a boss attack or else you'll get crushed.

In the Nightmare Stages you control your character with either the D-pad or the Analog Stick to move around while you grab blocks and you can move them around anywhere and if that block is connects to an edge the blocks can hang one step away from that block. You can hang from an edge and get around tight spots or from areas that are somtimes blocked. In each new area you go through the game will introduce a new type of block like trap blocks or ice blocks and will also add sheep and other enemies like crazed sheep with weapons and giant ants to increase the challenge. You can also find items like bells to change the type of blocks around, scrolls or create a block to give yourself an advantage. If you ever find yourself stuck then you can undo your last action up to 9 times on the Easy or Normal difficulties, or you can just simply retry a level fron scratch or from a checkpoint which takes away a retry pillow inwhich more can be found throughout stages. You can also shove your enemies out of the way since two characters cannot stand on the same space.

Once you reach the landing you can talk to other sheep and help encourage them to climb higher or you can learn techniques from them which can allow you to climb easier. Helping them can also affect the story depending on choices and also the questions you are given at the confessional before you tackle the next trial. A lot of theese are different so can expect a different result each time you answer. Make no mistake Catherine's puzzles are extremely challenging even on the Easy difficulty.

Once your about to reach the final door to escape from the Nightmare you'll be greeted by a boss battle inwhich they try to attack you as you're climbing. These stages are intense as each attack they do can either slide you down to your doom, change blocks around or by landing a stright shot at you inwhich when they get close to you, the screen virbirates slightly and does a reflect effect, the blocks around her attack will turn red and the game does a close shot of Vincent's tortured face before being finished off. This is where your heart will start pounding when your just so close to the finish line only to be killed off by the boss's attack.

Aside from the bosses there are minor camera problems it's always in the fixed position, you'll need to get used to the controls where Vincent is hanging from especially if he's behind the blocks and also you can accidently put yourself down a block to the lowest which can always lead to death. You need to really think about the layout of each new stage you tackle before moving blocks carefully in order to make it through to the top alive. Catherine's puzzle are addictive and fun but their a serious learning curve to be had.

Once you master the main game on the harder settings you can take on Babel challenges where you need to climb randomly generated levels and somehow make your way to the top. Beating the main game will unlock the Coliseum Mode where two players compete against each other to make it to the top first. You can also take on the Babel challenges with another player locally and you're scores are shared through online leaderboards. However there is no online play which makes the multiplayer modes very limited.

Atlus has been stuck to the old PS2 for so long but they make an impressive graphical change for HD consoles. The cel-shaded visuals are impressive and the character models inculding Vincent's expressions are very spooky to witness with all the trouble he's been through. The anime cutscenes by Studio 4oc alongside the ingame cutscenes while amazing but they tend to be very lengthy. The audio tracks are full of catchy j-pop music with some spooky boss music which fit the mood for being chased for boss fights. When you complete a night you'll be greated with Messiah Hallelujah Chorus. You can listen to music tracks on the Jukebox when you are at the bar.

Catherine is a love tale game which is unlike anyother kind of game out there. Your desisions with the two women can change the overall outcome of the story well, the puzzles are additive and challenging from start to finish and you do feel the sense of accompishment for beating the horrible nightmares. Limited multiplayer modes do hold your relationship with this love tale back and so will dying so many to the brutal puzzles and you will be seeing the Game Over quite often as it's called "Love is Over". If you have a relationship with difficult puzzles or just for the twisted demonic tales that Atlus is known for then Catherine is simply unlike any other Nightmarish game worth staying up for.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Pros:
1. The puzzles are additive and challenging but very brutal
2. Boss battles are intense chases
3. Changes to storyline and there are multiple endings depending on the relationship between the two women as well as helping other people from their troubles
4. Impressive Anime and ingame cut scenes

The Bads:
1. Minor camera issues
2. Limited Multiplayer modes
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Reviewed by: Anthony Hayball (BlaZer91)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Get the full article at GameSpot

"AQWBlaZer91 reviewed Catherine for the Xbox 360..." was posted by AQWBlaZer91 on Tue, 05 Feb 2013 17:00:32 -0800
]]> http://www.gamespot.com/catherine/user-reviews/807131/platform/xbox360/ Tue, 05 Feb 2013 16:50:08 -0800 AQWBlaZer91 reviewed Catherine for the PlayStation 3... http://www.gamespot.com/catherine/user-reviews/807130/platform/ps3/ ...and gave it a 9.0!

Game Title: Catherine
Platform: Xbox 360/PlayStation 3
Developer: Atlus
Publisher: Atlus, Deep Sliver (Europe)
Genre: Puzzle, Psychological Horror
Age Rating: Cero: C (Japan), ESRB: M for Mature (North America), PEGI: 18 (Europe), BBFC: 15 (Europe)
Release Date: February 17th 2011 (Japan), July 26th 2011 (North America), February 10th 2012 (Europe), February 23rd 2012 (Australia)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Game Score: 9.0/10
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Summery:
Catherine is simply unlike any other Nightmarish game worth staying up for.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Compared to other games being released today, other developers just recycle the same ideas over and over again but only now and then will be a game that turns to be something original. Japanese developer Atlus who's known for RPG's like their long running Shin Megami Tensei titles to lesser known games like Etrian Odyssey for the DS brings forth a game where it's not about saving the world but rather telling a twisted love story with demonic elements from their other titles.

In Catherine the game opens with a TV presenter telling you about the main plot of the game and referring to the players as the viewers. The game follows a man named Vincent Brooks who is stuck in a deadly love triangle relationship between his long time girlfriend Katherine (spelled with a K) and also another girl that he meets in a bar who happens to wake up next to him who's Catherine (spelled with a C). This leads to Vincent to get Nightmares where other men who cheat on their loved ones appear as sheep are forced to climb their way to freedom or else they will end up dead in reality. Vincent himself appears in his nightmares with sheep horns carrying a pillow while only wearing his Boxer Shorts. Vincent has to survive the nightmare to advance to the next day and sort his relationships out or else he will turn up dead in the real world.

Katherine is interested in marriage and parenthood while Catherine wants people to witness freedom and life while being the seudative type. This leads to Vincent suffering with stress and torture. Vincent's voice actor Troy Baker (who also played Yuri Lowell in Tales of Vesperia) portrays his feelings and shocks amazingly well. Throughout the course of the story, the game allows you to make discisions and depending on your discision it change how the story can play out and there are multiple endings depending on the meter if you're on the red for Catherine or blue for Katherine. The characters in the game are beliveable as some of them have the same nightmare as Vincent and also don't seem to remember what happens to them in those dreams. They are voiced quite well but there are a few rough spots and there is no opiton for the Japanese soundtrack with English Subtitles.

Catherine has the main storymode which is the Golden Playhouse inwhich you play as Vincent in order to face his nightmares and also spend time at Vincent's favoraite hangout bar called the Stray Sheep. In the bar you can talk to people, send text messages through your mobile phone, or play an arcade game called Rapunzel, wash face to see what the next upcoming stage is or to get yourself drunk with 4 different types of alcholic drinks. You can drink up to 3 bottles of alchol and that makes Vincent faster in his nightmares. Talking to people allows you to help them out of their problems and also change their fates. There are about 50 achivements for completing levels, earning awards or by helping people out their problems and so on, this also unlocks music tracks from other Atlus games like Persona 4 and Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne which I like to point to Europeans like myself it's called Shin Megami Tensei: Lucifer's Call.

After you enjoyed your stay in the Stray Sheep Bar you'll then take on the night where you face Vincent's Nightmares in a form of a puzzle game where you have to pull or push blocks around in order to form stairs and reach the goal without falling off or getting squashed by a block. You have 8 different stages and they are broken up by floors where you just climb to the top and finally the final floor of the night where you'll a boss battle where you have to avoid a boss attack or else you'll get crushed.

In the Nightmare Stages you control your character with either the D-pad or the Analog Stick to move around while you grab blocks and you can move them around anywhere and if that block is connects to an edge the blocks can hang one step away from that block. You can hang from an edge and get around tight spots or from areas that are somtimes blocked. In each new area you go through the game will introduce a new type of block like trap blocks or ice blocks and will also add sheep and other enemies like crazed sheep with weapons and giant ants to increase the challenge. You can also find items like bells to change the type of blocks around, scrolls or create a block to give yourself an advantage. If you ever find yourself stuck then you can undo your last action up to 9 times on the Easy or Normal difficulties, or you can just simply retry a level fron scratch or from a checkpoint which takes away a retry pillow inwhich more can be found throughout stages. You can also shove your enemies out of the way since two characters cannot stand on the same space.

Once you reach the landing you can talk to other sheep and help encourage them to climb higher or you can learn techniques from them which can allow you to climb easier. Helping them can also affect the story depending on choices and also the questions you are given at the confessional before you tackle the next trial. A lot of theese are different so can expect a different result each time you answer. Make no mistake Catherine's puzzles are extremely challenging even on the Easy difficulty.

Once your about to reach the final door to escape from the Nightmare you'll be greeted by a boss battle inwhich they try to attack you as you're climbing. These stages are intense as each attack they do can either slide you down to your doom, change blocks around or by landing a stright shot at you inwhich when they get close to you, the screen virbirates slightly and does a reflect effect, the blocks around her attack will turn red and the game does a close shot of Vincent's tortured face before being finished off. This is where your heart will start pounding when your just so close to the finish line only to be killed off by the boss's attack.

Aside from the bosses there are minor camera problems it's always in the fixed position, you'll need to get used to the controls where Vincent is hanging from especially if he's behind the blocks and also you can accidently put yourself down a block to the lowest which can always lead to death. You need to really think about the layout of each new stage you tackle before moving blocks carefully in order to make it through to the top alive. Catherine's puzzle are addictive and fun but their a serious learning curve to be had.

Once you master the main game on the harder settings you can take on Babel challenges where you need to climb randomly generated levels and somehow make your way to the top. Beating the main game will unlock the Coliseum Mode where two players compete against each other to make it to the top first. You can also take on the Babel challenges with another player locally and you're scores are shared through online leaderboards. However there is no online play which makes the multiplayer modes very limited.

Atlus has been stuck to the old PS2 for so long but they make an impressive graphical change for HD consoles. The cel-shaded visuals are impressive and the character models inculding Vincent's expressions are very spooky to witness with all the trouble he's been through. The anime cutscenes by Studio 4oc alongside the ingame cutscenes while amazing but they tend to be very lengthy. The audio tracks are full of catchy j-pop music with some spooky boss music which fit the mood for being chased for boss fights. When you complete a night you'll be greated with Messiah Hallelujah Chorus. You can listen to music tracks on the Jukebox when you are at the bar.

Catherine is a love tale game which is unlike anyother kind of game out there. Your desisions with the two women can change the overall outcome of the story well, the puzzles are additive and challenging from start to finish and you do feel the sense of accompishment for beating the horrible nightmares. Limited multiplayer modes do hold your relationship with this love tale back and so will dying so many to the brutal puzzles and you will be seeing the Game Over quite often as it's called "Love is Over". If you have a relationship with difficult puzzles or just for the twisted demonic tales that Atlus is known for then Catherine is simply unlike any other Nightmarish game worth staying up for.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Pros:
1. The puzzles are additive and challenging but very brutal
2. Boss battles are intense chases
3. Changes to storyline and there are multiple endings depending on the relationship between the two women as well as helping other people from their troubles
4. Impressive Anime and ingame cut scenes

The Bads:
1. Minor camera issues
2. Limited Multiplayer modes
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Reviewed by: Anthony Hayball (BlaZer91)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Get the full article at GameSpot

"AQWBlaZer91 reviewed Catherine for the PlayStation 3..." was posted by AQWBlaZer91 on Tue, 05 Feb 2013 16:50:08 -0800
]]> http://www.gamespot.com/catherine/user-reviews/807130/platform/ps3/ Tue, 22 Jan 2013 06:11:02 -0800 AQWBlaZer91 reviewed Laser Ghost for the Sega Master System... http://www.gamespot.com/laser-ghost/user-reviews/806581/platform/sms/ ...and gave it a 5.5.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Game Title: Laser Ghost
Platform: Sega Master System
Developer: Sega
Publisher: Sega
Genre: Light Gun Shooter
Age Rating: N/A
Release Date: 1991
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Game Score: 5.5/10
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Summery:
You'd at least be spooked at what you're not playing is the proper arcade version of the game.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Laser Ghost was actually an on-rails shooter for the Arcade and from first looks it's like a Light Gun version of Ghostbusters without the famous Ghostbusters license. Sadly that isn't the case with it's home console counterpart which is only release in PAL countries. What gamers get on the Master System is a mildly spooky game that is ultimately a parody of the Third Poltergeist movie.

The game's introduction tells the basic plot about a young girl named Catherine who is imprisoned inside an evil manor and her soul is taken. You have to help get her soul back in a town called Ghost City which is a town that's rumored to appear every 13 years. It makes little sense to me because how is still alive and breathing when her soul is taken? I bet it's a question nobody will ever find out or care unless anyone cares to tell me about the other Poltergeist movies without me watching them.

Unlike the Arcade version, Laser Ghost on the Master System (while still being a Light Gun shooter) takes place as a side scrolling on rails shooter where Catherine in game moves on her own and you have to protect her from flying bats, ghouls, demons, goblins and enemy projectiles before they touch her, she has about 6 hits and after she gets hit about 6 times she dies. You can shoot her to try and get her to avoid attacks but sometimes attacks are near impossible to avoid and you'll only end up damaging her more then the enemies especially when she ends up getting in the way of boss battles at the end of the stages.

Boss battles consist of of group of knights, an evil painting, a swarm of demons, hands which can grab and squash her, evil cars which can come to life and finally a room which has evil faces which proves rather difficult.

While mostly the game starts to get too easy but it later gets annoying when sometimes enemies instantly attack Catherine from both sides sending her back a few miles which gets frustrating. Catherine simply walks into traps carelessly and also on the fifth stage there are endless waves of ghouls that consistently attack while you're trying to shoot down a hanging man from the ceiling.

The game is compatible with the Light Phaser but you'll need the controller plugged in as well to use the Special Bombs hidden throughout the game. What I really hate about the game is that you need to Press Start on the controller when the gun is plugged instead of just pulling the trigger to start the game. Doing so well only make it that you play with the standard controller instead which is bad programming. Yes you need to plug the gun into slot 1 but you need to plug the controller into slot 2 as well.

Laser Ghost looks pretty good for the most part including animations but the frame rate is sloppy and sometimes the item sound effects can get annoyingly repetitive after the first stage. Catherine herself looks pretty good but she's tends to have a hair style change from her looks on the cover, her in game character and also her appearance in the chapter backgrounds. In some ways she does resemble her actor Heather O' Rourke who has played her character role in the Poltergeist movies.

It's a short and you can beat it in about less then an hour if you're experienced with Light Gun shooters while new comers will have some frustrating moments playing it whilst thinking that this game parodies Poltergeist III. It resembles it in ways but however you'd at least be spooked at what you're not playing is the proper arcade version of the game.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Reviewed by: Anthony Hayball (AQWBlaZer91)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Get the full article at GameSpot

"AQWBlaZer91 reviewed Laser Ghost for the Sega Master System..." was posted by AQWBlaZer91 on Tue, 22 Jan 2013 06:11:02 -0800
]]> http://www.gamespot.com/laser-ghost/user-reviews/806581/platform/sms/ Fri, 18 Jan 2013 02:29:07 -0800 jg4xchamp reviewed Shadows of the Damned for the Xbox 360... http://www.gamespot.com/shadows-of-the-damned/user-reviews/806412/platform/xbox360/ ...and gave it a 6.0.

When the super duo of Shinji Mikami(Resident Evil creator) and Suda51(No More Heroes) hooked up back in 2005 gamers were given Killer 7. An absurd cel-shaded on rails gaming experience that had style in spades. So when you heard this team was making another game about a demon hunter in Hell, and the composer of this game would be Akira Yamoaka(Silent Hill) how could you not be interested?

Sure Shadows of the Damned still ends up an experience you might not have expected, but not necessarily in the best way. For one it's a third person action game in the vein of well most third person action games post Resident Evil 4. You have over the shoulder shooting, demons, and a linear level design structure. On the flip side you have a Hell unlike any other before it. This Hell has doors blocked off by demon baby heads who need strawberries. This hell is a constant struggle against the darkness where one must find goat heads, and shoot them to light up the place for safety. This hell has a sex hot line that turns your gun into The Big Boner. Yeah, it's that kind of hell.

Shadows of the Damned isn't going to be some revolutionary experience, but the ride it puts you through is an adventure worth taking. It's a game that doesn't take itself too seriously as you play as Garcia F*cking Hotspur: a top notch demon hunter. His desire to essentially kick every demon's ass is what eventually pisses off one of Hell's more perverted demons Flemming. Flemming kid naps Garcia's woman, sends her directly to hell for eternal torture, and to boot threatens to defile her while he's at it.

It's an opening that sets the tone perfectly. This game is obsessed with throwing out some innuendos, making d*ck jokes, being vulgar, and violent while it's at it. But it's not done in a way that would make you think the experience tries too hard to be edgy. It'll certainly be divisive, but it feels more silly and endearing. Garcia is a one liner spewing and bravado driven man who's only real desire to keep Paula is to hit it. His companion through this adventure is a talking torch named Johnson. Who just happens to be able to turn into a motorcycle and the weapons you'll need to slaughter the enemies you will deal with in hell.

What makes the story side of the adventure so entertaining is the chemistry between the two leads. This chemistry happens to play a large role why many of the innuendos in the game work so well. It also makes reading through the story books that give the back story on the boss demons a satisfying pit stop in between the action. The campy voice acting, and odd creatures such as the game's salesmen who sounds absurdly southern really sell this vision of hell. Yamoaka's soundwork is a nice mix of cheese, punk, and a spanish guitar solo to boot gives the game a sound track that is nothing short of excellent. It all adds up to a fun adventure worth finish, and part of that is because the standard action is serviceable.

Shadows of the Damned plays like any modern third person action game, and you'll spend most of your time shooting your enemies with an over the shoulder view. The weapons at your disposal is a pistol(named the boner no less), a shotgun, and a rifle. Your guns also have a light shot which is necessary for ridding some enemies of the darkness that protects them from any damage. It's disappointing to only have three weapon options, and they aren't exactly the most clever of weapons either. However the damage they cause is thoroughly gratifying as it only takes a few shots usually to have blood and guts flying everywhere. It's a level of grotesque action that makes shooting even the more standard enemies fun all the way through.

The game progression constantly moves you forward with minor stops in between. In these stretches you may need to find an item that opens a door, requiring you to do some backtracking here and there. When the game is really hitting on all cylinders it's a blast to play through. The best moments usually have you being bombarded with the different types of enemies, and using your full arsenal becomes paramount in those situations. Also the ability to upgrade these weapons into stronger versions gives the player a sense of progression. You will be a far more powerful person by the end of the experience.

What doesn't work very well in the game is usually any time the game tries to mix it up and be varied. While the moment to moment action is good it's the attempts at having big moments that fall flat. Boss fights are predictable and formulaic in nature. They are pattern driven fights that require you to hit the glowing weak spot. While the fights can be well paced, and against rather absurd creatures they ultimately lack the thrill of a truly great boss fight.

Other scenarios such as the darkness mechanic don't really help matters either. Hell will sometimes be completely covered in a darkish blue hue of darkness that is a poison to Garcia. To fix this the player will have to find goat heads or in some cases demonic hands that are the source for the darkness. Rarely are these hidden far out of sight, and in most cases it's more of a chore than a moment that raises the intensity.

There are also major change of pace scenarios that overstay their welcome. One scenario in the game transforms your pistol in The Big Boner and is basically a shooting gallery as you shoot this gun at oncoming demons. After every shot Garcia says "taste my big boner". Admittedly funny the first few times, but it's a routine that gets very old after you already shot down twenty demons. And the side scrolling chapters in the game are easily the weakest moments in the game.
When Shadows of the Damned is just run-and-gun splattering of the demonic "hell monkeys" that Garcia hates so much it can be entertaining. It's not a bright nor a particularly challenging experience, but it's one that satisfies one's urge to just let loose and mow down some demons. The fact that it couldn't maintain something with a sense of variety or book end it with some stronger gameplay moments is disappointing. The lack of a new game plus also kills any replayability the experience might have. Yet the adventure is funny and crazy enough to want to see through till the very end.

Shadows of the Damned doesn't reinvigorate the genre with new game design ideas. It doesn't even take existing ideas and execute them at a high level. One where each moment is a carefully executed sequence of action gaming bliss. No in fact it's just good fundamental mechanics surrounded by some average action game design. But the silly adaptation of hell, genuinely funny innuendos, and excellent audio work makes it an experience worth finishing. It's one you'll have fun with. Even if it'll leave you thinking this game could have been so much more.

Get the full article at GameSpot

"jg4xchamp reviewed Shadows of the Damned for the Xbox 360..." was posted by jg4xchamp on Fri, 18 Jan 2013 02:29:07 -0800
]]> http://www.gamespot.com/shadows-of-the-damned/user-reviews/806412/platform/xbox360/ Thu, 20 Dec 2012 17:13:25 -0800 AQWBlaZer91 reviewed Point Blank for the PlayStation... http://www.gamespot.com/point-blank/user-reviews/804981/platform/ps/ ...and gave it a 8.5.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Game Title: Point Blank
Platform: PlayStation
Developer: Namco
Publisher: Namco
Genre: Light Gun Shooter
Age Rating: ELSPA: 3+
Release Date: August 7th 1997 (Japan), April 30th 1998 (North America), July 1998 (Europe)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Game Score: 8.5/10
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Summery:
The fun filled stages are additive, there's plenty of modes to play and also the gun package with the game is an excellent deal.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Namco's arcade title Point Blank (or Gun Bullet as it's called in Japan) is on the PlayStation and it's compatible with the G-Con 45 peripheral which brings the arcade home. The better deal is that you can get the game alongside the Light Gun controller for a decent price.

Point Blank offers many different ways of playing. There is the original Arcade mode where you pick from 4 different difficulty settings with set of number of stages to beat but the Practice level has only 4 to play while the others have 16 levels. In some levels you'll have Very Hard symbol on it in which that level's difficulty is at the highest.

Each stage requires you shoot down a number of targets in order to qualify, there are also targets like bombs, cardboard civilians or the other players colour. If you fail to qualify or shoot the wrong targets you will lose a life and you have 3 at default. You can set the Life and Credits from 3 to 5 to Free Play which is infinite continues by the way. Every 8 Stages you'll enter a Bonus Stage where you get to chose from 1 of 4 chests to see which one has an Extra Life as well as Extra Points. Sometimes you'll might get a chest that has nothing which really hurts. At the end of the game you'll get a level where you need to shoot 20 targets in about 5 seconds which requires speed and accuracy to beat it.

Stages in Point Blank have their own theme such as such shooting your way through a Hallway of cardboard criminals, spraying bullets on a car and you can shoot of it's windows, wheels and the doors. There are colour stages where players need to their own colours, skeletons that have no animations aside from floating with different poses, shooting cardboard Japanese Ninjas while avoiding the girls, the stages that the most challenging are stages where you have to shoot down a target with one shot. One for example has you shooting down a Falling Leaf which is incredibly challenging to beat as sometimes you'll miss the target. There are also some puzzle based stages where you need to shoot down targets in order, targets where you need to wait for them to flip round so that you can shoot them. Shooting targets that are drop from a parachute and matching targets where you need to shoot down the correct target and also a a level where you shoot letters to match the words which is very cool. There are also protection levels where you need to protect Dr Don and Dr Dan from dangerous hazards like piranhas, Point Blank's gameplay is amazingly additive and you can invite a friend over locally to shoot down targets together and it results in creating an intense competition against each other.

The Arcade mode is very brief but however the console release has other modes like Special Mode where you can play console exclusive levels not seen in the Arcade Version, Training Mode allows you to select a level from different sets of category, play the whole category of your picking or seeing how many stages you can beat with only a set of Lifes. You can also play a series of party games where up to 4 and 8 players can play. Best point is that they can be played with one controller. The games are Score Battle where up to 4 players compete in 4 stages to get the highest score possible, Tournament Mode is where 4 players compete to get highest score through 4 stages for the winner to advance to the next round and Team Battle where both teams of 4 players have to earn the highest score possible to beat the opposing team. The Party Games use most of the same rules in which you'll get deja vu playing the other two once you played Score Battle. What's hilarious is that the game asks the losers to do weird things like making the players kiss each other, sing a song to the victor or to salute the victor on one leg. You'll feel like an idiot doing those things but they are only good for a laugh with friends.

The last mode of the game is the RPG infested Quest Mode where the game gives you a brief storyline, a chance to explore the 5 different areas, battle monsters and earn experience and gold much like other RPG's like old Dragon Quest and Final Fantasy games. The plot follows Dr Don and Dr Dan who look similar to Sesame Street's Ernie and Bert on their quest to retrieve the Legendary Gunball before a evil company Scrimp N Save get their hands on it. Their boss is named Quickbuck and he originally wanted the heroes to find it so that they can have their reward which is 1 million gold. The writing is mostly rough like "Best" a boss stage instead of beat. You walk around each area finding items that are very well hidden and you can only find them by searching by the walls. For the most part the Quest Mode is mostly not very challenging but you can still level up incase the minigames take more Health away from you for failing. Your biggest challenge in Quest Mode is finding out where to go. The game sometimes give you some clues but for the most part you'll be wondering around for a few minutes before you'll know where to go next. You can run away from encounters if you want to speed things up but sometimes it can't runaway from certain encounters. This can lead to losing a lot of Agility when you fail to runaway. You can Buy items from a shop with Items like Hamburgers, Medicines and finally Shotguns and Machine Guns which you can use in some stages. Quest Mode can be beaten in about under 5 to 6 hours but like the rest of the entire game the mode is insanely crazy with the encounters actually and that's very funny.

Point Blank's graphics aren't bad but the explosion effects for when each target is shot is pretty good. The target animations are impressive and Dr Don and Dr Dan's screams are really funny to listen to which makes shooting them very amusing. The soundtrack is full of techno beats to tracks that are just so weird.

Point Blank is a solid Light Gun Shooter game where many of it's minigames are additive and challenging. With the G-Con 45 and game package you'll get an excellent deal that's really worth the price. It's hilarious at times and the party games aren't bad with friends but the RPG Quest Mode is a little disappointing. Still Point Blank is an easier Light Gun shooter to recommend to fans wanting more great G-Con games to play.
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The Good Points:
1. Gun and Game package which is an excellent deal
2. Plenty of different modes to play for it's console release such as Party Modes and Special unlockable Levels
3. Each different level is challenging and additive with it's own variation
4. It's insanely wacky and funny

The Bad Points:
1. RPG invested Quest Mode does lack somewhat of a challenge and also it does leave you wondering on where you need to go next
2. Party Mode events play to similar to each other.
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Reviewed by: Anthony Hayball (AQWBlaZer91)
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"AQWBlaZer91 reviewed Point Blank for the PlayStation..." was posted by AQWBlaZer91 on Thu, 20 Dec 2012 17:13:25 -0800
]]> http://www.gamespot.com/point-blank/user-reviews/804981/platform/ps/ Thu, 06 Dec 2012 11:36:35 -0800 AQWBlaZer91 reviewed Dragon Ball GT: Final Bout for the PlayStation... http://www.gamespot.com/dragon-ball-gt-final-bout/user-reviews/804331/platform/ps/ ...and gave it a 2.5.

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Game Title: Dragon Ball GT Final Bout
Platform: PlayStation
Developer: Bandai
Publisher: Bandai, Atari
Genre: Fighting
Age Rating: ELSPA: 11+
Release Date: August 21st 1997 (Japan), October 1st 1997 (North America), November 2nd 1997 (Europe), July 23rd 1998 (Japan, Greatest Hits), October 4th 2002 (Europe, Re-release), August 24th 2004 (North America, Re-release)
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Game Score: 2.5/10
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Summery:
Final Bout just hasn't cut any of the fighting any improvement nor effort to capture the feel of the Anime Series.
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Dragon Ball Z would have been great concept for a fighting game but however on the PlayStation Bandai kept on screwing it up. Ultimate Battle 22 was the worst but also here's their second worst which is Dragon Ball GT Final Bout which I understand in Europe and Japan it's called Dragon Ball Final Bout. I like to to call the game by it's full name anyway considering it's supposed to set sometime in the GT era during the fight against Baby.

Here's a quick history about it. It was released back in 1997 back then but however got mostly negative feedback. Along with Ultimate Battle 22, Bandai has some nerve to re-release the other Dragon Ball monstrosity when the PS1 is at the end of it's life span. With Budokai on PlayStation 2 and Gamecube who in the fight mind would want this!?

Final Bout has 5 different gametypes, You can battle against the computer or another player locally on a normal game, enter tournament modes up to 8 players or CPU controlled characters and also making a return is the RPG building Build Up Mode where characters can level up after fights. All of these modes aren't worth playing but however beating the game on the Hardest setting does unlock 6 extra characters from the available 10.

There is only one good thing about GT Final Bout and that is the Beam Struggles. This is where two of the characters beam blasts collide together and who ever rapidly taps the button faster blasts their opponent. This is how the game attempts to mimic the show and it becomes the only thing that the game accomplishes. Everything else about this game is completely broken beyond belief.

The control is gosh awful, moving your character around is easier than trying to pull a few weights as each character controls are extremely stiff. When characters go past each each other they'll sometimes attack blindly before bothering to take to a while to turn around. Special moves can be a pain to execute but however meteor attacks where characters can perform a series of rush attacks before knocking them away or into rocks don't seem to respond much at all.

When special moves do work they take seconds to activate leaving them open for damage so moves like that are better off at long range where player has a chance to do the beam struggle, guard against it or send the beam away. Sometimes they work or most of the time it doesn't respond as much as the actual control.

The RPG Build Up mode doesn't fair any better, it's much similar to Ultimate Battle 22 Build Up but you get stronger by winning or damaging your opponent should you lose the battle. They haven't done anything to improve the system in anyway since punching can make your punches stronger when you level up or any time of KI waves will get stronger if you use them before levelling up. This once again makes your character completely unbalanced against later rivals and overall the fighting in Final Bout is completely atrocious.

The graphics on Final Bout are average, 3D are good with solid animations and the beam effects are quite good but however the colour of the beams are wrong and also the backgrounds are cheap and flat. The worst thing about the graphics is the way the characters float in the air. You fly by holding down the R1 button while using the D-Pad. While in the air characters can actually stand in mid air or by Little Goku sitting in mid air which is very silly to look at. The soundtrack remixes from other Dragon Ball Z games aren''t to impressive with the exception of Super Saiyan 4 Goku's theme tune and the opening theme tune which is called "The Biggest Fight", in which both tracks are awesome.

Another attempt to keep your old PlayStation alive just doesn't work with Dragon Ball GT Final Bout alongside Ultimate Battle. If you played this game before and said it was very bad then your ashamed that you picked this game up twice when Budokai released already on the PlayStation 2. Here's an advice to all game companies, do not attempt to release a really old bad game for an attempt to earn a quick buck.
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The Good Points:
1. Beam Struggles which finally mimic the show.

The Bad Points:
1. Flat backgrounds, some KI attacks have the wrong colour and character animations in the air
2. Slow, Sluggish and stiff controls
3. RPG Build Up has no main improvement leaving your character unbalanced
4. Unimpressive Soundtrack remixes
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Reviewed by: Anthony Hayball (AQWBlaZer91)
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Get the full article at GameSpot

"AQWBlaZer91 reviewed Dragon Ball GT: Final Bout for the PlayStation..." was posted by AQWBlaZer91 on Thu, 06 Dec 2012 11:36:35 -0800
]]> http://www.gamespot.com/dragon-ball-gt-final-bout/user-reviews/804331/platform/ps/ Tue, 04 Dec 2012 16:29:50 -0800 AQWBlaZer91 reviewed Dragon Ball Z: Ultimate Battle 22 for the PlayStation... http://www.gamespot.com/dragon-ball-z-ultimate-battle-22/user-reviews/804219/platform/ps/ ...and gave it a 1.5.

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Game Title: Dragon Ball Z Ultimate Battle 22
Platform: PlayStation
Developer: TOSE Software Co
Publisher: Bandai, Atari, Infogrames
Genre: Fighting
Age Rating: ELSPA: 11+
Release Date: July 28th 1995 (Japan), July 1996 (Europe), March 25th 2003 (USA)
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Game Score: 1.5/10
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Summery:
Warning to all hardcore and casual Dragon Ball Z fans, stay away from Ultimate Battle at all costs because it's one of the worst of it's kind.
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With the Dragon Ball Z episodes dubbed by Funimation and is catching it's eye on the audience really well, video game adaptations are mostly great by the fighting games like Super Butouden, Hyper Dimension and of course the Budokai games. It's not to say that Dragon Ball Z had it's own case of bad games as well and of the worst of the bunch is Ultimate Battle 22 for the PlayStation.

Believe it or not it was done originally for English release in Europe but how about this, Bandai decided to re-release it in 2002 for the popularity of the show as well as Budokai as well as Americans getting the game in 2003. Whatever you played this game before back in 1996 or today leaves a warning to all hardcore and casual Dragon Ball Z fans, stay away from Ultimate Battle at all cost it's one of the worst of it's kind.

The game has about 5 different modes, One mode where you face off against computer controlled opponents and one mode where you can challenge another player locally. There's a Tournament Mode where a Max of 16 computer controlled characters or players can complete against each other in a one-on-one battle. Lastly there is the RPG based Build Up mode where you can Level up your character that you're playing as, the problem is that the way that you develop your characters abilities doesn't make a whole lot of sense unlike other RPG's. To basically explain if you use punches your punches get stronger but if you use a certain special move and that move you keep using will get stronger. Since you have quite an extensive move list you'll never be able to balance out your character out. Once you have a strong character you can take that character against the other players character locally in Build Up Battle. You can set the level of the computer from Easy to Difficult. Ultimate Battle 22 has got a good set of modes but however the gameplay doesn't even make one simply gameplay mode even worth it.

Untimate Battle 22 has about 22 different characters with their own skill set, you can use a secret code which unlocks 5 more characters. The character list goes from the Frieza Saga up to the Buu Saga. The fighting arena works in a one plane battlefield where two fighters use their abilities to defeat their opposing enemy. Square Button Punches, X Button Kicks, Circle Button does a KI blast and Triangle makes your character into the air and pressing it again descends back down. You can also do a quick slide which are done by using either the L1 or R1 buttons but however it doesn't damage your opponent. Using KI moves drains characters KI meters and holding the Circle button can recharge the meter so using KI moves while the meter is low can leave you fatigued.

Each character has their own move list but however some of the moves are either difficult to pull of they just don't seem to work at all. Even if you can pull a special move energy waves like the Kamehameha all use the same sprites which is a badly pixelated ball of energy. It almost looks like a fireball to the untrained eye. I was able to beat the game with Vegeta and Goku using the same Quarter Circle + Punch motion for all my fights and it has worked well for me which means that an entire playthrough can be won by mindless button mashing.

In addition to difficult to pull off special moves, you'll also have to deal with sluggish controls like moving, jumping or just grabbing the other fighter when in close range which can sometimes happen at random. The AI can sometimes be stupid which leaves them open to your attacks. Overall the gameplay in Ultimate Battle 22 just hasn't done any improvement from the SNES titles and just breaks them down completely.

Ultimate Battle 22 is so awful to look at, the animated intro is unimpressive, backgrounds resembling locations from the series are plain low resolution polygons and the energy blasts as already mentioned are just pathetic and it's the same for all KI attacks and finally what's stupid is that when characters get knocked back the camera shifts clockwise along with the characters. I know this probably doesn't make sense to anybody but I swear when Darbura uses an attack where he launches spears before following up with a sword slash attack, the camera shifting is just so annoying that all that shifting makes no sense. The only thing that this game has that's good is the character sprites which are impressive at first look and their animations are not bad at least for 1995. The worst of the graphics production is before a Tournament fight where the announcer explains the next showdown. His animations when talking is just like "Wow, the developers where just so lazy."

The soundtrack is very forgettable and also no one decided to translate the voices so you're left with the original voices which can sound very silly when they're knocked back.

Overall, Dragon Ball Z Ultimate Battle 22 is one of the worst ways for Bandai to get a quick buck on the license when Sony's old PlayStation system has had it's last legs. With the Budokai games on the PS2 and Gamecube out in stores, simply stay away from this trash at all costs as well as Dragon Ball Final Bout. This is no doubt one of the Worst Fighting games for the PlayStation, Worst game for the system and also one of the Worst DBZ game EVAR!!!!! Bandai should have known better not to release this game so late in the system's life and should be ashamed for this.
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The Good Points:
1. Detailed Animé Character Sprites

The Bad Points:
1. Slow, Sloppy and Sluggish controls and most of the special moves don't work.
2. Camera's annoying, Backgrounds are awful and Energy projectiles like the Kamehameha look like pathetic energy balls.
3. The way you develop your character in Build Up Mode makes no sense.
4. Forgettable Remixed Soundtrack from other DBZ Games
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Reviewed by: Anthony Hayball (AQWBlaZer91)
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