daxter223's GameSpot Friend's Reviews daxter223's GameSpot Friend's Reviews daxter223's GameSpot Friend's Reviews en-us Copyright (c)1995-2013 CBS Interactive. All rights reserved. http://www.gamespot.com 20 Tue, 21 May 2013 07:05:11 -0700 GameSpot daxter223's GameSpot Friend's Reviews http://img.gamespot.com/gamespot/shared/promos/misc/gs_logo.gif http://www.gamespot.com 135 40 Thu, 16 May 2013 20:23:03 -0700 naju890_963 reviewed Metal Slug 3 for the PlayStation 2... http://www.gamespot.com/metal-slug-3/user-reviews/811398/platform/ps2/ ...and gave it a 8.0.

Metal Slug, a series best known for it's frantic gameplay and challenging difficulty. SNK's third outing in the franchise, Metal Slug 3 is critically acclaimed and loved by many fans of the series and it's deemed to be the best game in the franchise. While I personally never played a Metal Slug game before this one, I can't deny that MS3 is incredible. Metal Slug 3 was originally released in the arcades on the NEO-GEO MVS hardware which was a dominant force in the days of the arcades. Along the years it has been ported to many different systems, including the Xbox, PC and PS2. The one I'll be reviewing is the PS2 version.

Metal Slug is a series that has always thrived on ridiculously frantic gameplay and Metal Slug 3 doesn't fail to deliver. It's as frantic as ever. It does have a few new additions since Metal Slug 2/X. While no new weapons were added, SNK brought in a couple of new vehicles. One of these vehicles is an ostrich with a machine gun mounted on it. That's why I love this game. It's just goofy, the whole series has a great sense of humour. Apart from a few changes, Metal Slug 3's gameplay is still classic Metal Slug. That's not a problem at all. Metal Slug is one of those games were it is easy to pickup but hard to master. It can really get overwhelming sometimes and death can become unavoidable. Metal Slug 3 has four playable characters, which all play and feel the same. Their's also some backstory, which I wasn't bothered to read because personally I come to Metal Slug for one thing, gameplay. But it might interest some die hard fans of the series.

Gameplay wise, MS3 is very similar to previous entries in the franchise. Almost identical actually, except for a few new mechanics. Levels can actually branch out and can be played differently each time. This adds a lot to replay value. Metal Slug is all about non stop action. I love how it keeps at it all the time and rarely let's down. Most of the time, the screen will be filled with gunfire, soldiers and gigantic bosses. Speaking of gigantic bosses, these are probably the craziest bosses you'll ever see in a 2D run and gunner. They take a lot of hits too and most of the time there are standard soldiers running with them. The bosses don't require much strategy but they are still challenging none the less. A few gimmicks are present in some levels. In a particular level if the player dies, he'll be transformed into a zombie were he is immune to gunfire but still can die if other zombies attack him. I feel like they are a worthy addition and can help break up the gameplay at times. Weapons remain unchanged but I don't feel like that's a problem because they are all fun to use. SNK compensated for that and brought in a couple new Metal Slugs.

Metal Slugs resemble tanks but way wackier. Most of them have machine guns mounted on them, but some might have some special secondary weapons. They'll offer extra protection too. There is one metal slug available for each level. Their isn't much to say about the controls, they work great for the most part but I have a small gripe with them. In one level in particular I found myself on a platform with enemy soldiers underneath me. But for some reason it doesn't allow me to shoot below me which was a real pain as I had to restart the level and take them out first before proceeding upwards. It's nothing to cry about but it did manage to bother me for a while. Graphically it looks very close to the MVS version, I personally see no difference and it's a well done port. Metal Slug features that iconic announcer, you know the one.

The soundtrack rocks too, perfectly fitting. The console versions feature two bonus modes that can be played after finishing the main game. They are fun to play for a while but I didn't find myself going back to them nearly as much as I did with the main game. I would definitely recommend this version for anyone who hasn't played Metal Slug 3 but for those who did play it, I'd see no reason to buy this version except for the bonus modes which aren't that special to begin with. Overall I found Metal Slug 3 to be fun as all hell, fans of 2D games must check this one out.

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"naju890_963 reviewed Metal Slug 3 for the PlayStation 2..." was posted by naju890_963 on Thu, 16 May 2013 20:23:03 -0700
]]> http://www.gamespot.com/metal-slug-3/user-reviews/811398/platform/ps2/ Fri, 03 May 2013 04:19:30 -0700 naju890_963 reviewed Sonic the Hedgehog for the Genesis... http://www.gamespot.com/sonic-the-hedgehog/user-reviews/810955/platform/genesis/ ...and gave it a 8.5.

The Sonic the Hedgehog series has been running since 1991 when the first game debuted on the Sega Genesis. This was Sega's idea of a mascot. A blue hedgehog, with spikes on its back and red shoes. Sega created a platformer with this character, made him run very fast in colorful levels with lots of enemies, power-ups and bosses. This was a winning formula. It was the game that got the Sega Genesis up on its feet. Nowadays Sonic is on par with Mario when it comes to popularity but in the last 10 years we have seen a decrease in quality when it came to Sonic games. None the less, Sonic is still loved by many and his old games will always be cherished by Sega fans everywhere.

Sonic The Hedgehog was the first 2D platformer to feature a character so fast. At the time, Genesis owners were amazed at the speed that Sonic ran. He still runs fast nowadays but it won't blow your mind like it did back in the 90s. This contributed to fast platforming and an incredible flow that made Mario and other platformers seem sluggish. The main antagonist is Doctor Ivo Robotnik who was snatching animals and transforming them into evil robots. It's up to Sonic to defeat Robotnik and save the day. Sonic 1 features 6 zones with 3 acts each. This means that it has 18 playable levels with a special stage that can only be accessed in the first two acts of every zone. While most of the levels are pretty solid, I found the pacing to be poor. Let's see. The game starts of with the infamous Green Hill Zone. It's a fast and short level just like it should be. The second level is called Marble Zone. This is a platform heavy zone, so it's naturally quite slow. I personally find it fun but Sonic is not about slow platforming. All of the levels after Green Hill except Starlight Zone don't capture the feel of speed the first zone manages to achieve. Even so the platforming in these levels still managed to keep my attention and are pretty challenging.

Every zone has a boss of its own. The boss is always Robotnik with a new machine wreaking havoc upon Sonic. Once you get the patterns down, the boss fights are laughably easy, they're still fun to go through though. The levels are packed with rings, enemies and power-ups. Rings are very important. Sonic doesn't have the usual health system found in most platformers. If Sonic doesn't have any rings and gets hit by an enemy he will die. But if Sonic has one or more rings on him and gets hit, Sonic will simply drop all his rings. It's a great system and it helps keep the action fast. There are other things that the rings can do. If Sonic collects a 100 rings in one act than he gets an extra life. Rings are also necessary if the player wants to access the special zone. If Sonic collect fifty rings, a giant ring will appear at the end of the level. When Sonic jumps through it he'll be teleported to the special stage. Sonic will need to traverse a maze with multi-colored blocks while collecting rings. Collecting another hundred rings here will grant the player an extra life and a continue. But the main reason why the special stages exist is the Chaos Emeralds. If Sonic collects all the emeralds in all the special stages, a different ending will play instead of the normal one. These special stages get annoying sometimes, although the background and the music are kinda trippy. Keep in mind that special zones are not available at the end of act 3 of every zone, as a boss is present.

A bevy of power-ups are available, they can usually be found in computer monitors. There is the Super ring, which rewards Sonic with 10 rings, the Speed shoes, which make Sonic run even faster, a shield which grants Sonic an extra layer of protection against enemies, Invincibility, speaks for itself and a 1-up, extra life basically. Also keep in mind that invincibility won't help if Sonic falls on spikes or a pit. Sonic has a few attacks up his sleeve. He can jump on enemies or use the spin attack in which Sonic rolls up into a ball and charges his enemy. Speaking of enemies, theirs a plethora of enemies which are all Robotnik's robots. Theirs a couple of annoying enemies here and their but I think they look cool and most of the time they're fun to stomp on. Sonic has very simple controls, D-pad for movement and the A button for jumping. Simplicity at it's finest. The 16-bit sonic games are all beautiful to look at, and this is no exception. The colors are simply amazing, everything just pops out of the screen. It's ironic that a game this old can still wow gamers with its colorful graphics while newer games like Battlefield 3 can bore me to death with its various shades of brown. Also the infamous soundtrack for Sonic, unbelievably catchy and just a joy to listen too, truly a gem.

What can I say more? The original Sonic the Hedgehog is something that everyone must play, most of you must have already played it. It's available on tons of platforms but if you want to be a purist and buy it on the original console then it's not a problem at all. The Sega Genesis or Megadrive, depending on where you live is very easy to find, the sonic games are quite easy to find aswell, they were best sellers on the console after all.

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"naju890_963 reviewed Sonic the Hedgehog for the Genesis..." was posted by naju890_963 on Fri, 03 May 2013 04:19:30 -0700
]]> http://www.gamespot.com/sonic-the-hedgehog/user-reviews/810955/platform/genesis/ Fri, 26 Apr 2013 14:44:00 -0700 naju890_963 reviewed Duke Nukem 3D: Atomic Edition for the PC... http://www.gamespot.com/duke-nukem-3d-atomic-edition/user-reviews/810705/platform/pc/ ...and gave it a 8.5.

It's time to go back to Duke's glory days. As you may know, Duke's latest game, Duke Nukem Forever was a flop. It was an outdated mess that made Duke look pathetic. DNF went through countless development cycles and it was basically a big old mess. But let's forget about that for now and go back to the time when Duke was still a force to be reckoned with in the gaming industry.

Duke Nukem 3D originally came out on MS-DOS back in 1996. This was back when games were harder to boot up than launching a rocket in space. But thankfully nowadays we have procedures that are much easier. There are numerous versions and ports of this game. The one I'll be reviewing is the Atomic edition. This contains another episode with eleven levels. You can try being a purist and buying the original DOS version but that would be a big pain in the ass. The easy way is to buy it off gog.com or get the Megaton edition from Steam. Let's dig in.

Duke Nukem 3D is an old-school FPS, were you control the always charming Duke Nukem. There are four episodes in total with eleven levels each, except for the first episode that only has seven levels. A multiplayer mode was also available but that is long gone. After the events of Duke Nukem 2, Duke finds himself back on earth. He finds out that an unknown force has taken over earth and it's up to Duke Nukem to save the day. It's a very simplistic storyline, although it doesn't really show itself throughout the game except at the occasional cutscene peppered throughout the episodes. But I believe that a simplistic, cliché storyline like this goes perfectly with Duke's outrageous character. Speaking about Duke, he's one hell of a character. Firing one liners at every opportunity he gets and blasting aliens without remorse, that's Duke alright. Duke is as two-dimensional as it gets. Nowadays characters in video games are more realistic and most of today's games have abandoned these macho one man army's with no soul, like we used to find in games like Doom or Wolfenstein 3D. I can't imagine what kind of controversy this game sparked up back in 1996. Why you ask. Well Duke 3D features strippers, (probably the first game to do it) and countless more nods to pornography.

Now that we have covered the setting and story, it's time talk about the gameplay. First of all, this game runs on the 2.5D build engine which is similar to the engine that Doom uses. Moving and shooting feels a lot like other 2.5D FPS's. It can be pretty weird to control Duke for players that never played a 2.5D game before. Unlike 3D shooters, the player is only allowed to look left or right. Eliminating enemies that are standing above or under the player can be done by shooting in the direction that the enemy is situated in. Unlike shooters of today, Duke 3D doesn't try to be realistic by giving the player only two weapons to use at a time, no it lets the player use the full arsenal once you unlocked them all obviously. Speaking about weapons, theirs a bevy of fun weapons to choose from like the chaingun, shrink-ray, microwave expander and others. It's so refreshing to play a shooter that doesn't have the usual military weapons like the M4, AK-47 and so on. Not to mention that all these weapons feel very different from each other. Theirs also an inventory system which is used to store items like Holodukes, health packs and steroids. To be honest the inventory is a bit of a pain to use and flip through items. I really like the levels in Duke 3D. I think that the level design is very clever at times. There are multiple routes to take to get to the objective and tons of secrets and easter eggs to find. The levels look awesome and the environments are very interesting to explore. These levels are filled with fun things to do like, tipping strippers, pissing in toilets and lots of other things to interact with.

Graphically it looks dated by today's standards, but it's totally playable. Even though graphically it looks dated it has this charm to it that makes everything all the better. As far as sound goes, everything sounds retro and awesome. To be honest some sounds from the alien enemies really creeped but I guess it's just me. I almost forgot to mention that the main theme is incredible. It's so awesome in fact that Megadeth actually made a cover for it. Duke Nukem 3D manages to still retain its charm after all these years and clearly stood the test of time. I doubt that you'll find an FPS as fun and creative as Duke 3D.

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"naju890_963 reviewed Duke Nukem 3D: Atomic Edition for the PC..." was posted by naju890_963 on Fri, 26 Apr 2013 14:44:00 -0700
]]> http://www.gamespot.com/duke-nukem-3d-atomic-edition/user-reviews/810705/platform/pc/ Sun, 21 Apr 2013 02:32:17 -0700 JustPlainLucas reviewed Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Mini-Land Mayhem for the DS... http://www.gamespot.com/mario-vs-donkey-kong-mini-land-mayhem/user-reviews/810487/platform/ds/ ...and gave it a 7.5.

Mario's been battling Donkey Kong far longer than he's been battling his other nemesis Bowser. At first, it was just a bunch of ladders and barrels between him and Donkey Kong but over the recent years, he's been taking the fight to Bowser using clockwork Mini Marios. As the player, you needed to guide them to the goals of each level. In Min-Land Mayhem, the Mini Marios return, and this time you have a construction-based mechanic to help you accomplish your tasks.

There's not much in the way of a story here, as Donkey Kong kidnaps Mario's former squeeze Pauline and runs off with her. You'll be puzzling solving over a course of eight different amusement park themed worlds, each containing eight levels, a boss battle and a bonus game. You only get access to the bonus game, however, by collecting letters in every stage that spell out MINIMARIO.

The basics of the gameplay involve removing and placing girders, ladders, springboards, walls and conveyor belts all around the levels to create paths for the Mini Marios to reach the door. You can only place them in certain spots, and you have a finite amount of materials to work with. You can reuse whatever you need, and some of the more complex stages will require a good deal of multitasking to solve. The timer doesn't actually begin counting down until you touch one of your Marios, so you can actually study the level and begin placing girders and other parts before the stage even starts.

Mini-Land Mayhem starts off extremely easy. The level design is solid and varied, but many of the levels simply aren't complex or very large. Most of the game involves simple stages that can be completed in a about a minute and usually on the first try. Only when you get near the end of the game are you met with some real challenges. Once you finish the game, Plus Mode unlocks, so you can play the game again, this time with harder conditions. You also have a ninth special world consisting of 20 stages, and an expert world that requires a certain number of trophies to unlock each level.

When you finish a stage, you earn points in three different categories. You have your general Game Score, Time Bonus and Collection Bonus. The Game Score is for finishing the stage itself while collecting tokens for more points, whereas the quicker you finish, the more points are attributed to the Time Bonus. The Collection Bonus is given when you grab every coin, M token and letter. If you grab every letter in each stage of a world, a bonus game unlocks, where you need to guide clockwork Mario characters into boxes safely before time runs out. Each stage also has a high score goal and if you surpass it, you're granted a trophy. It provides some incentive for perfectionists to keep trying.

Boss levels are scored as well, and you might need to do these over several times to get the trophy, as they can be quite chaotic. Your Mini-Marios will need to get up to where Donkey Kong is to either hit switches or kick objects at him, three different times. Not only do you have to build paths up to him, but he'll also disable certain girder points, causing whatever floor was there to disappear. Lastly, he'll start throwing things as your Mini-Marios, but if you have enough girders, you can simply block them by building a ceiling over their heads.

There's also a level creation mode called Construction Zone. In this mode, you can create levels with unlockable parts that you earn by clearing their respective worlds. You can also share these levels via Nintendo WiFi, and you can download other people's levels as well. It's a great way to expand the life of the game when you've finished all that is has to offer, and it's also a good training exercise as well.

The graphics of the game are very simple. Since it's a DS game, playing on a machine such as the 3DS XL might make the graphics look lower quality. Even though it's not impressive on a technical level, the art design is pleasant. Every level is colorful, and the animations of the Mini-Marios are cute and charming. You'll also come across some levels where you'll be guiding Mini-Donkey Kongs, Mini-Toads and Mini-Princesses to their respective doors and seeing these characters in mini form makes the game even more adorable.

Nintendo loves to dote their games with nostalgia, and it shows in Mini-Land Mayhem's audio. The soundtrack is loaded with recognizable music from other Mario games. You'll hear everything from Super Mario Bros. 2 to the castle theme from Mario 64. You'll even hear the underground theme that got its infamous start in the first Super Mario Bros. Sound effects are simple, but you always feel bad when you hear your Mini-Mario break. Also, every time you close your DS or 3DS, Mario says something along the lines of, "Ouch, my head!" or "Hey, get back here!" It's guaranteed to make you smile.

If you enjoy the Mario Vs Donkey Kong games, you'll find some enjoyment out of this one. It does take quite a while before its puzzles begin to challenge you, but the gameplay is solid fun. With the addition of Plus Mode after you beat the game, and the Construction Zone to build and share your own levels, you could very well keep playing the game long after you've finished it. Give Mini-Land Mayhem a look if you're after a decent puzzler.

Get the full article at GameSpot

]]> http://www.gamespot.com/mario-vs-donkey-kong-mini-land-mayhem/user-reviews/810487/platform/ds/ Sun, 14 Apr 2013 22:55:15 -0700 JustPlainLucas reviewed BioShock 2 for the PlayStation 3... http://www.gamespot.com/bioshock-2/user-reviews/810257/platform/ps3/ ...and gave it a 8.0.

DISCLAIMER: No amount of time was spend on the game's multiplayer, so this review is focused solely on the single-player aspect.

In 2007, 2K Games introduced the gaming world to a whole new world underwater. It was a submerged metropolis known as Rapture, promised to bring its citizens a life of utopia but it ended up being a disastrous dystopia instead. It had the player using weapons and special powers brought on by plasmids and an upgrading system which let you customize exactly how you wanted to play the game. Three years later, 2K brought it all back with Bioshock 2, but this time playing as one of the first game's most feared enemies: the Big Daddy.

Big Daddies have one purpose, and that is to protect the Little Sisters, genetically engineered girls who siphon off precious genetic material known as ADAM. Bonded by a symbiotic telepathic link, the Big Daddies will guard the Little Sisters with their lives. You begin the game as a Big Daddy, and your Little Sister is claimed by Sophia Lamb, who immediately hypnotizes you and forces you to put a gun to your head in front of your Little Sister Elanor. Years pass, and you hear the voice of Elanor awakening. She's alive, but most peculiarly, you're alive. She needs your help desperately, so now it's time to fulfill your role as a Big Daddy.

The majority of the gameplay of Bioshock 2 remains pretty similar to its predecessor. It's a first-person shooter that has you wielding weapons and plasmids, but this time your weapons are suited to your Big Daddy persona. They're the giant weapons you may remember going up against in the first game, from the machine gun to the spear gun, the rocket launcher and of course the giant drill. There's a visceral sense of satisfaction as you run up on a Splicer and press your spinning drill into its abdomen.

Although weapons still have alternate firing options, there's more of an emphasis on trap ammunition. One of your main duties as a Big Daddy is to liberate the Little Sisters from their respective Daddies and protect them as you have them harvest ADAM from corpses. When you set a Sister down to begin harvesting, Splicers will come out of the woodworks and try to kill her. You have trap rivets, trap spears, proximity mines and mini-turrets to help with your defense, and you'll be needing them, too. Fail to protect her or die in the process and you'll need to start over again from the very beginning.

It may seem like a lot of work, but using Sisters to harvest ADAM is imperative to the game's progress. As with the first game, ADAM is spent at Gatherer's Garden vending machines where you can buy new plasmid powers, gene tonic upgrades, new slots and increase your health and EVE (plasmid energy) bars. Again, you can choose to rescue a Sister from her brainwashing, or you can harvest her and collect extra ADAM. If you rescue them, you might not get as much ADAM, but there will be payoff bonuses in the end. Lastly, there's a new twist in the game called Big Sisters, and these female Daddies are faster and scarier and will come for you whenever you rescue or harvest all the Little Sisters in a given level.

There isn't much in the way of new plasmids, but old favorites have returned. Electrobolt, which paralyzes enemies and machinery; Incinerate, which immolates foes while you pump them full of lead; Winter Blast, which encases them in ice where you can shatter them to pieces; and of course there's Telekinesis which has you picking up enemies and bodies and flinging them around, or even plucking grenades out of the air and pitching them right back.

Hacking has returned as well, but the puzzle-based pipe minigame has been replaced with a simpler system of stopping the needle on bands of color. It streamlines the hacking mechanic, but it also dumbs it down and makes it a frustrating system to use for people who aren't good at timing. You can hack everything from security bots to turrets to health stations and even vending machines. New in Bioshock 2 is a hack gun that lets you hack machines from a safe distance, and there's even an auto-hack ammo type that lets you instantly hack whatever you shoot at.

The world of Rapture feels a little familiar, as many areas of the levels feel like retreads. You could have sworn you've been there before in the first game, and there isn't as much variation either. What is new, though, is being able to walk on the ocean floor in the open water, but these moments are so far in between and so short that they simply aren't exciting. Plus, there's no combat when underwater, and that just seems like a missed opportunity.

Bioshock 2 looks practically identical to its predecessor. The corridors are designed in the same fashion, and the colors and shading are used to the same effect. It's still an impressive looking game from a technical standpoint, but given the fact that it uses the same HUD as the first game, you'll have a difficult time telling the two apart. The water effects also don't seem to be as impressive, which is a shame considering that's one of the features that left such an impression on gamers when they first stepped foot in Rapture.

If the game looks the same and plays the same, there's a high chance that it will sound the same as well, which it indeed does. That isn't to say that's a bad thing, as the game sounds just as fantastic. You'll hear your giant footsteps as you walk around in your diving suit, and you'll make a grunt every time you're hurt. Your weapons make terrific sounds as they fire off, and explosions will rattle inside your helmet. The one sound effect that will terrify you is when the Big Sister starts screeching and howling, announcing her approach. The music is great with original orchestration and licensed music from the 40s era helps establish authenticity. Voice acting is as superb as ever and like the first game, voice recordings that you pick up along the way are delightful to listen to as they give you more insight into Rapture's world.

The prospect of playing as a Big Daddy is honestly the only new feature of Bioshock 2, outside of a few tougher mob types. Everything else seems practically lifted straight from the first. That isn't exactly a bad thing, but the game ultimately feels like an elongated expansion pack. It also doesn't carry with it a story as strong as the first and its ending is very anti-climatic as there's no final boss battle to be had. Still, it's a very fun game and if you enjoyed the first, you'll like the second. You can buy it dirt cheap now that it's been out for a few years but if you paid full price for it, you'd most likely end up somewhat disappointed.

Get the full article at GameSpot

"JustPlainLucas reviewed BioShock 2 for the PlayStation 3..." was posted by JustPlainLucas on Sun, 14 Apr 2013 22:55:15 -0700
]]> http://www.gamespot.com/bioshock-2/user-reviews/810257/platform/ps3/ Sun, 14 Apr 2013 00:04:46 -0700 naju890_963 reviewed Killzone for the PlayStation 2... http://www.gamespot.com/killzone/user-reviews/810217/platform/ps2/ ...and gave it a 6.0.

Killzone is your typical Sci-fi FPS series, nowadays the 2nd and 3rd game in the franchise are very popular on the PS3. But let's take a look at the first game in the franchise, Killzone. Killzone is set during a Helghast invasion on earth. Helghast are basically the main baddies of the franchise. They wear their signature helmet which makes their eyes glow red. Basically Helghast are invading earth and the ISA, earth's defense force must save the day. I can't say much about the plot as it's pretty generic and uninspired.

Killzone takes itself very seriously and that's one of the things that I personally dislike about it. The setting and story are too boring to be taken seriously and therefore isn't fun to experience. Comparing KZ1 to shooters of this era is a bit unfair so I'll be going a little bit soft on it, so to speak. KZ is pretty standard when it comes to content. It packs a single player campaign that lasts around 10-12 hours which is pretty average for shooters these days. It also features a Multiplayer mode which is quite barebones when compared to today's robust multiplayer shooters.

Now let's talk about the campaign. First you'll be greeted by a character select screen. For now you'll be only able to choose one character but the others will be unlocked throughout the campaign. The only thing that differentiates these characters from each other are the weapons that they use. There are also a lot of cutscenes scattered throughout the campaign missions backed up by some solid voice acting. But as I said before, Killzone takes it self too seriously and personally I found these cutscenes to be quite boring. The controls are very problematic, they feel heavy and trying to aim can be annoying. This could be intentional. Lots of "realistic" military shooters like to incorporate these type of controls which feel a bit more realistic. While these type of controls work on games like battlefield, sadly they feel like crap on Killzone. Now let's talk about another important factor in an FPS game, the levels. KZ tries it's best to be a gritty realistic shooter and it definitely shows. While I would normally be against visuals like these, I have to honestly say that these type of visuals fit KZ perfectly. As I said before as a game that wants to be taken seriously, gritty visuals are a no brainier. But sadly everything looks drab and boring, level's aren't any fun to explore as everything looks the same.

Oddly enough, even with all these problems, I can't deny that KZ can be very fun at times. I don't know if it's the way that the Helghast collapse when shot or how the weapons feel but there is something very satisfying. Speaking about the weapons, they are standard fare and fun to use most of the time. Both factions (ISA and Helghast) have their own set of weapons. Most of the time I found myself sticking to one assault rifle because most of them feel similar. Level design isn't bad for the most part but in some levels I found myself lost because I couldn't tell which way I should be going. It could be better but the basic design gets the job done. The AI could use some tuning for both friendly and enemy. They both suffer from the typical AI problems, like getting stuck or being dumb in general. From time to time my squad AI would actually do some work.

This one thing annoyed me throughout the course of my playthrough, the frame rate. It's plan awful. It's choppy as hell and frame drops are very common. Now I'm not saying that Killzone is unplayable, no. It normally holds up but in moments when a lot of things are going on the frame rate just drops very low. I understand that the PS2 isn't the most advanced system of all time but they still could have done better. Also I already talked about the artistic style and how drab it looks but I haven't touched on the technical side of things. I guess it looks quite good for a PS2 game, character models look decent, same for the gun models.

What about the multiplayer. Well unfortunately the official servers were closed down long ago so Online play is cut off. Their's still offline multiplayer though. You can either play on your own with bots or with a friend. It's very barebones and it's what you expect out of a 2004 FPS. If you enjoyed the core gameplay in the singleplayer than you will most likely enjoy the multiplayer aswell. All in all Killzone is a decent at best shooter, I won't recommend this for anyone who's looking for your average FPS, there are much better offerings on the market today. But for those who are fans of the series, I'd give it a shot.

Get the full article at GameSpot

"naju890_963 reviewed Killzone for the PlayStation 2..." was posted by naju890_963 on Sun, 14 Apr 2013 00:04:46 -0700
]]> http://www.gamespot.com/killzone/user-reviews/810217/platform/ps2/ Fri, 29 Mar 2013 11:42:02 -0700 Shacks210 reviewed Tomb Raider for the PlayStation 3... http://www.gamespot.com/tomb-raider/user-reviews/809558/platform/ps3/ ...and gave it a 9.0!

I have never played any of the previous Tomb Raider games. I have seen some of the first couple played from time to time, but nothing about them caught my interest at all. So I can not do any comparing really from those to the new rebooted Tomb Raider that has given birth to a new Lara Croft. Crystal Dynamics did what I think a lot of developers wish they could do with big budget well known game series. Not only did they go out on a limb to reboot Lara Croft and the Tomb Raider franchise, but they did it with great success as well.

All of have ever known about Lara Croft is she is rich, raids tombs and loves adventure. With this reboot it basically shows us the start of Lara's addiction to adventure. She has set out to make her mark as an archaeologist on a ship with a crew that is looking to create a reality TV show. The set piece is the lost island kingdom of Yamatai. However things go sideways as the ship crashes them onto the island and Lara is quickly separated from her friends. From there Lara learns quickly that she must do anything necessary to survive.

Crystal Dynamics said before the launch of this Tomb Raider that they wanted to make players feel like they had to protect Lara as they played through the game. That isn't the case at all. In fact playing as Lara is no different then playing almost any character in similar situations and actually goes a bit farther than that. I personally don't like playing females in video games; simply because I am not one, but playing as Lara Croft was the closest to a female protagonist I have felt since Jill Valentine in Resident Evil 3. Lara Croft came across to me as a very independent and strong character, which did not need anyone taking care of her.

Lara Croft is quickly thrown into an environment were she has to do anything to survive and she does by all means necessary. Tomb Raider does a great job of blurring the lines of adventure and stealth. One minute you will be running around the area and the next you will be sneaking up on your enemies to take them out quietly. Or you can if you choose run in guns blazing, but the bow Lara gets quickly in the game makes the stealth quiet way of doing things most fulfilling. If that is not your style Lara gets her hands on a few other weapons in the game in line of a pistol, rifle, climbing ax and a shot gun. All of which can be upgraded throughout the game. None of them are as fun and again fulfilling as the bow, especially the shot gun. A shot gun should not take around four shots to kill someone up close. When Lara is not in battle she gets around usually by climbing rock sides and others with ropes to slide down or climb up. You will also unlock different tools and such to use with the weapons to also help you get around. This enhances the game play allowing you to go back through to get collectables that you before could not get.

Outside of the main story of Lara trying to get her friends and herself off this island alive, there is also tombs to beé well, raided of course. These tombs do give a break in the main game play, but they are all very short lived however. They all usually take all of five minutes to complete with one or maybe to puzzles total in each. Not only is there not a lot of puzzle solving, but they are easy to solve on top of it. The tomb raiding does seem like they are very tacked on at best and most of the focus in the game went to the main story and adventure that lies there. Of course being I have not played a Tomb Raider game before I can not at all compare tombs of before to the ones in this game, but I can assume there was much more to the tombs in old Tomb Raider games, simply because these are so simple and watered down.

Tomb Raider is a pretty linear game, but it is well masked with the ability to go back to old locations and that most locations are open for you to play around in after the baddies are all dead to search for salvage, complete challenges and find hidden things such as GPS caches. This also helps break up some of the repetitiveness of killing bad guys and also if you find fun to swinging and climbing around this will add to the length of the game. It also gives you the opportunity to just simply look around you. Tomb Raider has arguably the best graphics of any console game to date and looking around the environment is absolutely breath taking to say the least. Even during cut scenes the game at times almost looks real to life. It is like you really are watching a movie.

The only thing that feels more tacked on in Tomb Raider than the raiding of tombs is the multiplayer. I would have given it more time, but I didn't have to. It is by far probably the worst multiplayer I have played in a long time. The controls don't feel as smooth as the single player causing your character to clunk around while running or aiming down opponents. The lag is horrific and completely game breaking more times than not. There was even an instant that right as a game was starting someone came from behind and killed me, within seconds of the match starting. This wasn't me coming into a game late and not paying attention. This was I was in the lobby and then the match started. There is a short count down as you look at your character before each match starts. So either the game is that bad to have someone kill me so quickly or someone glitched, either way it is a problem with the multiplayer and should have been addressed. There is no excuse this day in age to have a multiplayer be this broken.

The multiplayer might be a nightmare, but it is not at all the reason to play this game. I am sure hardcore fans of Tomb Raider games and of Lara Croft will find issues with the new tone for her and where this new series is going, but it is amazing none the less. Lara Croft is never crying or whining, she strong and takes all that comes at her in stride. Some might say this is dark compared to the other games, but Crystal Dynamics humanized Lara Croft and put her through the wringer making her one of the greatest adventures I have ever seen. I love what this game is and can not wait to see what is next for Lara Croft. This is a must have for anyone that loves action and adventure in their video games.

Get the full article at GameSpot

"Shacks210 reviewed Tomb Raider for the PlayStation 3..." was posted by Shacks210 on Fri, 29 Mar 2013 11:42:02 -0700
]]> http://www.gamespot.com/tomb-raider/user-reviews/809558/platform/ps3/ Wed, 27 Mar 2013 10:30:46 -0700 naju890_963 reviewed Crysis 2 for the PlayStation 3... http://www.gamespot.com/crysis-2/user-reviews/809444/platform/ps3/ ...and gave it a 7.5.

Games made by Crytek are infamous for their jaw dropping graphics and Crysis 2 doesn't disappoint in that regard. But Crytek games are not all about graphics, Crysis 2 has a fun but short singleplayer campaign which tells the story of Alcatraz were he fights the CELL corporation and the Ceph. A race of aliens which was explored in the other entry in the series, Crysis. Crysis 2 also features a multiplayer mode, which left me a bit disappointed but more on that later.

Crysis 2 picks up were Crysis left off. This time the suit is given to Alcatraz a soldier that has been reduced to a bloody pulp. He's kept alive thanks to the suit. Later in the story, more characters are introduced and more enemies roll out. It's interesting enough to keep you going along. It's recommended that you play the original Crysis if you want to get the full backstory that is. The nanosuit is a very important gameplay element. It allows Alcatraz to survive ridiculous amounts of damage and gives him the key to several abilities. The two main abilities the suit houses are the "Armor" and "Cloak" abilities. The armor ability gives the player an extra layer of protection against damage and can help in desperate situations or for straight up rushing, while the cloak ability makes the player invisible which helps a lot for stealth gameplay. While using this cloak ability, the player will be exposed if he chooses to attack. Keep in mind that when using these abilities they will be draining from the suit energy. This is necessary to balance out gameplay. You can really feel that Alcatraz is helpless without his suit because when he is out of suit energy, he can barely run and can die easily.

Apart from those two major suit abilities there are also a variety of more passive abilities that can be unlocked with currency dropped by the ceph. These abilities aren't essential but they do help at times. The AI is surprisingly good. Enemies are often hard to hit and can often outsmart the player. There is also a weapon customization system which works well but I often forgot about it during gameplay. Weapons are fairly standard and nothing special but they do get the job done. A big change from the original is the level design. Crysis used to have more open world levels, were you could formulate your own path to the objective. On the other hand Crysis 2 is a much more linear game. I personally find the linear level design to be better as it shows the player what the developer really wanted out of the level. Like most FPS campaigns these days, Crysis 2 has a lot of set-pieces. These set-pieces love to show what the Cry Engine can do. But that's really what set pieces are all about, they look really cool though. There are also a couple of collectables scattered about in the game's levels, they're fairly standard and their sole purpose for being there is probably for the achievements.

Graphically Crysis 2 looks amazing. I didn't really have to say that, it speaks for itself really. I was surprised that the console versions looked pretty good and played at a decent framerate. As for sound design the same can be said. As I said before Crysis 2 also features a multiplayer mode. Basically it plays it safe by incorporating the CoD formula into it's multiplayer. It has the usual class system, challenges, prestige modes and the usual multiplayer modes. I hate how every FPS has to do this. I played atleast 5 hours of the multiplayer and I got bored out of my mind because I experienced the same type of multiplayer on plenty of other shooters. The only thing that Crysis implements In it's multiplayer to try and differentiate itself from the other countless CoD knockoffs is the power system. But this barely changes anything. At the end of the day you're still gaining XP to unlock new weapons, perks and other multiplayer stuff.

I had my share of fun playing Crysis 2, the campaign while short had it's moments and the good pacing made it even more enjoyable. While the multiplayer is a shameless CoD ripoff, it is fun for those who still enjoy multiplayer shooters but it's nothing to write home about.

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"naju890_963 reviewed Crysis 2 for the PlayStation 3..." was posted by naju890_963 on Wed, 27 Mar 2013 10:30:46 -0700
]]> http://www.gamespot.com/crysis-2/user-reviews/809444/platform/ps3/ Fri, 22 Mar 2013 18:14:16 -0700 naju890_963 reviewed Altered Beast for the Genesis... http://www.gamespot.com/altered-beast/user-reviews/809218/platform/genesis/ ...and gave it a 6.5.

Altered Beast was originally an arcade game which was ported over to several home consoles including the Sega Master System, Famicom, ZX Spectrum and obviously the Sega Genesis. By far the best home console version was for the Genesis. This was one of the many reasons why gamers loved Altered Beast at first because it had shown the potential that lies in the Genesis. It was also a pack in with early Genesis models so it's rather easy to find and cheap to purchase in cart form nowadays.

You're basically controlling a warrior that has been resurrected by Zeus and commands him to save his daughter and defeat the evil Neff. It's a pretty barebones plot but what do you expect from an arcade game. The story is not the only thing that's barebones in this game. The gameplay is very shallow offering no depth at all and can get very tedious after playing for a few hours. The gimmick that Altered Beast boasts is the beast transformations. By collecting orbs from dead wolves, your character will get stronger and stronger until he eventually transforms into the designated beast for the level. As I said each level has it's own beast.

Their are five beasts to transform into. A werewolf, dragon, bear, tiger and a golden wolf. They don't differ from each other that much but they are great fun
when experienced for the first time. Although these transformations help the flow of the gameplay it still feels weary after a while and the light platforming doesn't help either. The bosses aren't very challenging especially the final boss which is a complete joke. Graphically it looks the best out of the console versions and it looks quite good for a game this old. The soundtrack is decent aswell and some tunes match the style of the game greatly.

It's a worthy pickup for any Sega fan or collector but don't expect any complex level designs or anything like that. At it's core, Altered Beast is a drony side scrolling beat em up with a gimmicky transformation system that makes the game worth a try. This can be easily found in most Sega compilations and it's also very easy to find for the original system too.

Get the full article at GameSpot

"naju890_963 reviewed Altered Beast for the Genesis..." was posted by naju890_963 on Fri, 22 Mar 2013 18:14:16 -0700
]]> http://www.gamespot.com/altered-beast/user-reviews/809218/platform/genesis/ Thu, 21 Mar 2013 19:36:16 -0700 JustPlainLucas reviewed Brain Age: Concentration Training for the 3DS... http://www.gamespot.com/brain-age-concentration-training/user-reviews/809182/platform/3ds/ ...and gave it a 6.0.

Do you remember Brain Age? Wouldn't it be funny had you played Brain Age but forgotten all about it? The DS was treated with two Brain Age games, designed by Japanese neuroscientist Dr. Ryuta Kawashima. Using the DS's unique hardware features such as the microphone and touch screen, those two pieces of software presented the gamer with different training exercises to enhance a multitude of different brain functions. It's been quite some time, almost six years, since the second Brain Age, and now Dr. Ryuta Kawashima returns with a new Brain Age, this time for the 3DS.

Brain Age: Concentration is quite different from the previous two games. Concentration focuses on our declining ability to focus and, well, concentrate on matters at hand. When you first start up the game, Dr. Kawashima, who now speaks to you with his own voice, introduces himself to you with a mini-lecture about how addicted we've become to information. We're constantly checking our email on our laptops or fiddling around with our phones, unable to focus on our work. The clinical term is called "information addiction", and the good doctor has designed Brain Age: Concentration to help combat it.

Kawashima's new series of brain training exercises is called Devilish Training. You'll notice that when you select Devilish Training, Kawashima's virtual visage is now adorned with horns. Yes, these training exercises are hard, which is why they're called Devilish Training. There are eight exercises in this mode, and they all grow increasingly difficult the better your performance. If you start having trouble, the difficulty scales down to adjust to your current ability. Gone is the actual Brain Age, where you received a number that corresponded with your actual age, and now you are ranked with a training grade which is worn across the chest of your Mii.

Devilish Calculations will have you memorizing answers to previous equations. Devilish Shapes is just like Calculations, but you'll be remembering random shapes instead, and Devilish Listening is like Calculations as well, but Ryuta will be speaking out the equations. Devilish Mice shifts the positions of mice hidden behind tiles and Devilish Cups shifts numbered balls around like a shell game where you need to answer in sequence. Devilish Pairs is like the classic Memory game, where you'll need to flip cards right side up and match them, while Devilish Blocks has you memorizing the positions of blinking blocks. Devilish Reading is the only exercise in the game where it's almost unplayable. It has you reading sentences out loud and memorizing underlined words, but the microphone doesn't pick up on what you're saying well. You pretty much have to scream at the 3DS to get it to register and you're so focused on trying to get the game to hear you, you start forgetting what the underlined words are.

The game is designed to improve your memory, and you will see benefits if you really try to stick with it, but it comes at a cost. Unlike the previous Brain Age games, these exercises prove to be more frustrating than they are fun. One such problem is that Concentration suffers from the same issue as the other games in that its handwriting recognition is still shoddy. Sometimes you will write a three that is very easily legible as a three, but the game thinks you wrote a seven. Once that happens, the game will buzz or Kawashima will go "Uh oh." Kawashima also continues to say things to you while you're trying to focus on these exercises, and that can be counter-productive at times.

Fortunately, the game has more than just Devilish Training. There's other modes, such as Supplemental Training and Brain Training. Supplemental Training focus on improving the speed of your working memory, while Brain Training is centered more around the cognitive functions of your brain. Both modes bring back training exercises from previous games, such as Piano Player, Calculations X 20 and Change Counter, but they also have some new ones as well. Brain Age has many different solitaire games ranging from classic Klondike to Peg to Mahjong.

Relaxation Mode is available to you in case you've had enough hard thinking for a while. Blob Blast has you matching up rows of different blobs and clearing them before the ceiling closes down on you. There's also Germ Buster, which is a remix of Dr. Mario. Then there's Music Appreciation, but it isn't a game at all. All it does is play different pieces of music while it displays some relaxing scenery. The real letdown of this entire package is that it's completely devoid of Sudoku. It also takes 40 days of training before you unlock everything, which means sometimes you go a few days without anything new to play, and once you get something new, it's a revisit to a training exercise you've already done in both Brain Ages.

It's hard to really go into depth about the graphics with a title such as this. Dr. Kawashima's virtual face is rendered and animated better while still continuing the defined polygonal aesthetic Brain Age fans are used to. For the most part, you're just going to witness simple graphics that display basic shapes and white backgrounds that have black text. Aside from a little added definition, there's no real use of 3D in the game.

The same can be said with the audio. Since this isn't really a game per se, there's no need for fancy sound effects. You'll just hear positive bings and negative bongs and scribbles as you write things down and squeaks from mice as they get shuffled behind tiles. There's occasional music that plays while you're shuffling through the game's modes and it's soft and relaxing. When you play Germ Buster, you'll recognize the arrangements of the classic Dr. Mario music, although they are far too tuned down. Dr. Kawashima's voice is pleasant to listen to, but sometimes he can come off a bit patronizing.

Brain Age: Concentration does serve a purpose. It's a harsh reminder that we have become entirely too distracted in the ever-growing Age of Information. Dr. Ryuta Kawashima does come right out and apologize early for his Devilish Training, because it is quite hard. Fans of the previous Brain Ages will take to this game differently; some will appreciate the fresh new take on the series, but others will grow entirely too frustrated with it. Leveling up on a Devilish Training only to level down again can be very discouraging to impatient games. Plus, the value of the game seems to be lacking, as many of the Supplemental and Brain Trainings are repeats. Again, there's no Sudoku, and if anything was going to be repeated, it should have been Sudoku. If you feel you really need help with improving your memory, by all means, give it a look, but just be warned: Ryuta Kawashima is indeed a devil.

Get the full article at GameSpot

]]> http://www.gamespot.com/brain-age-concentration-training/user-reviews/809182/platform/3ds/ Tue, 12 Mar 2013 23:06:35 -0700 JustPlainLucas reviewed Tomb Raider for the PlayStation 3... http://www.gamespot.com/tomb-raider/user-reviews/808743/platform/ps3/ ...and gave it a 8.5.

Disclaimer: No amount of time was spent on the multiplayer, so this review is reflective of the single player portion only.

A couple of years ago at E3, Square-Enix unveiled a new Tomb Raider. This new Lara Croft was instantly perceived as completely different. Very quickly, she was beaten up, bruised, battered and bashed and wore the battle scars from it. It was immediately apparent that this was going to be far from your typical Tomb Raider. Ever since its first unveiling, the gaming world has been keeping a close eye on Lara. Now her new adventure is finally underway, carving out a survivalist origin story with every life-threatening fall she takes.

Lara Croft is fresh out of University, chasing down the myths of a goddess lying in the ancient city of Yamatai. Treasures abound, but they lay hidden in a section of the ocean called the Dragon's Triangle, an area of water that makes the Bermuda Triangle look tranquil. Many of her fellow friends and shipmates do not want to make the journey, but the captain sides with Lara so they sail into the triangle. Just as they enter, a maelstrom swallows them whole and splits the ship in two, washing any survivors ashore a mysterious island. Lara, coming to, sees her friends suddenly overtaken by armed strangers and then gets knocked unconscious. She wakes to find herself hung upside down and now she has to find a way to escape, find her friends and fight for her own life every step of the way.

A lot more has changed besides Lara Croft's more realistic look. The gameplay has been practically reinvented. Traveling from one distant location to another to explore massive tombs has been replaced by one massive tomb spread throughout an entire island. The island that Lara Croft will spend roughly 15 hours in varies itself in scenery quite regularly. She'll be trekking through forests, climbing snow-capped mountains, jumping across rooftops in a shanty town, wandering through ancient shrines and exploring wrecked ships along a sandy beach. Every region of the island will also be peppered with collectable relics and GPS caches, along with documents that fill in bits and pieces of the island's backstory.

It's unfortunate that there are no major tombs to explore and complex environmental puzzles to solve. Sure, there are hidden tombs tucked away behind rivers and buried under rubble, but these tombs are small with puzzles that only take a couple of minutes to solve. You're rewarded with a treasure map that reveals more documents and relics in the region, but you're left wanting more. You see shadows and silhouettes of old Tomb Raiders that never seem to emerge past the background, so every time you come across a new hidden tomb, your excitement tapers a little.

It is fortunate, though, that the rest of the game is extremely solid. While Lara's climbing cliffs and jumping across chasms, she'll be encountering a number of armed guards of a previous expedition and cultists who call themselves the Solarii. Gone are the days of jumping around the playing field like a gymnast firing away duel-fisted with unlimited ammo. Lara's extremely fragile in this reboot, and the game does a great job reminding you of that. She'll need to take cover behind obstacles, but there's no blind fire option. When you pop up, you'll need to make each shot count, or you'll take too much fire and die quickly. Plus, the enemy AI is quite intelligent, and will assault your cover spot with Molotov cocktails and dynamite frequently. They'll also take cover themselves and will work together to flank or sneak up behind you.

You are not without your own means of defense, though. For most of the game, your go-to weapon will be a bow and arrow, but you'll also come across a shotgun and assault rifle as well. One of the most poignant moments in the game is when Lara obtains a handgun from her would-be killer and kills him in self-defense. This is the first time that Lara's killed someone, and it leaves a visible emotional scar on her. It has been quite some since acquiring a weapon has carried that much impact. Each weapon can be upgraded by finding parts and collecting salvage from boxes, enemies and prey that Lara can hunt. Improvements include more powerful arrows, reduced recoil and better weapon efficiency for extra damage. There are also secondary fire options that can be unlocked as well, such as a grenade launcher for the rifle and a focused shot from the shotgun.

Just about everything that Lara Croft does in the game earns her experience points, from killing animals and guards to advancing through sections of the game. Once she earns enough XP, she's granted a skill point that she can use to unlock new abilities and perks from one of three skill sets: Survivor, Hunter and Brawler. She also has a very useful ability called Survival Instinct, which turns the world black and white and highlights objective markers, pick-ups and puzzle-related objects. Some might consider it a crutch, but it's entirely optional and if you want to rely on just your own senses, you're more than welcome to do so.

Ever since the gaming community has been following Tomb Raider, the unavoidable comparisons to Uncharted have been made. This is in large part to the set pieces that have Lara constantly running across the rooftops of collapsing buildings, crashing through cavern floors, and parachuting from wrecked fuselages teetering on the edge of a cliff. They are exhilarating, but don't quite match the cinematic experiences perfected by Uncharted 2 and 3. Lara also climbs set paths along cliffs and wreckage, but it doesn't have the same epic scales as previous Uncharteds. What Tomb Raider does better than Uncharted is its pacing. Instead of funneling you from one scenic set piece to the next, the game lets you breathe and take in the beauty of the island, exploring for hidden nic nacs and figuring out just how the heck you're supposed to get up there! Plus, there are base camps that allow for Fast Travel, meaning you can revisit any area of the island you wish at any time.

Although Tomb Raider might not be as sharp as the Uncharted games, it does pack its own visual flair. The island is painstakingly detailed, creating and upholding a terrific sense of atmosphere thanks to its art direction. The special effects serve to continue the sense of realism with blowing winds and rushing water and settling dust being reflected by Lara's torch, whose fire has a life all its own. Sometimes, the atmosphere can be so immersive, you'll develop a sense of claustrophobia from the dusty and dank caverns. When you come across the light and exit out of the other side to be met with blue skies, you can almost feel the fresh air wafting over you. Animations are also very realistic, with enemies reacting to being hit with painful accuracy. Sometimes Lara's own animations tend to be a bit jerky or spastic depending on what you're trying to do, but it's not that big of a deal.

The audio of the game that compliments the visuals is exemplary. Each weapon fires with its own distinct report, and every explosion rumbles deep into your chest. Lara dies in a number of different ways and hearing her get impaled or have her head smacked on a rock underwater makes you jerk in reaction. Zipping down zip lines carries with it a sense of urgency, and hearing chimes lets you know you're close to a hidden tomb. The soundtrack is terrifically composed, playing very well to the ongoing action of the game. Voice acting is solid all around, with Camilla Luddington playing a great Lara Croft, but the voice acting from the thugs isn't anywhere near on the same level.

Tomb Raider is an exceptional reboot that's drawn the interest of people who may have never cared for Tomb Raider. By its new approach of cover-based gameplay and a large island filed with exciting set pieces, it's also turned away some very loyal fans looking for traditional gameplay. They will miss their classic Tomb Raider elements but if they approach the game with an open mind, they'll find it to be a lot of great fun in its own right. Crystal Dynamics has developed a new foundation for the Tomb Raider franchise with their new engine, so let's hope that they can wrap it around larger, more memorable tombs for the sequel.

Get the full article at GameSpot

"JustPlainLucas reviewed Tomb Raider for the PlayStation 3..." was posted by JustPlainLucas on Tue, 12 Mar 2013 23:06:35 -0700
]]> http://www.gamespot.com/tomb-raider/user-reviews/808743/platform/ps3/ Fri, 08 Mar 2013 22:35:23 -0800 JustPlainLucas reviewed Shinobi for the 3DS... http://www.gamespot.com/shinobi-2011/user-reviews/808534/platform/3ds/ ...and gave it a 7.5.

Remember when games used to be hard based on the sole premise of getting everything done right in a handful of lives or it's back to the beginning of the level? No check points, no regenerating health. Just a reliance on gaming skill; sharp reflexes and expert timing. Shinobi for the 3DS is one of those games. If you've let yourself grow soft from the hand holding that most modern games have been doing lately, you're going to get a swift ninja kick in the teeth.

The story of Shinobi 3DS centers on Jiro Musashi, father of Joe Musashi, ninja master of the olden Sega days. There isn't much to the game's narrative, and what's there is told through quick anime-style cutscenes. Without digging into the story deeper from external resources, all you're able to glean is that Jiro somehow enters a time portal into the future. Once fighting ninjas in forests, he's now fighting mutants on trains, aliens in space ships and giant robotic sharks in facilities hidden fathoms beneath the earth's surface. Trying to keep up with the story presented in bite size pieces just makes you not really want to care, and it would have been better not to have any story presentation at all.

Shinobi 3DS is a mixture of action and platforming. The action requires memorization of enemy patterns and reflexes to parry, dodge and counter-attack effectively. The platforming requires split-second timing to avoid spikes and other hazards. It gives several nods to arguably one of the best Shinobi games of the franchise, Shinobi III. There's a horseback riding level, mutant brains burst from tanks to attack, Jiro makes his way across a gunship fighting massive energy cannons and more. It's fantastic to see these throwbacks, because it helps deliver nostalgia.

The game feels incredibly natural, just like past Shinobis. Double jumping and dispensing kunai is a staple technique that has returned, and Jiro can now perform combo slashes and other sword techniques. Ninjitsu returns as well, allowing Jiro to attack with fire kunai, protect himself with lightning and use the power of water to jump higher into the air. Jiro can also parry to block just about every attack, but your timing needs to be perfect; there is no constant blocking. There's also a score multiplayer that's been added to the game that increases with each successive hit. Once you take damage, that multiplier resets to zero. After you finish a level, you can also save the replay of it and share it via StreetPass. If you're the type of gamer who loves playing games for high scores, you'll get a rush going for perfect runs.

With all of Jiro's old and new moves, there's a slight problem with the game's controls. During many of the game's more challenging platforming segments, wall jumping will be required. The problem is when you're trying to jump off a wall, if you have not started descending from your apex, you'll double jump instead. Having to pause momentarily before you start wall jumping means you'll need to adjust your reflexes. In the later levels where the platforming becomes devilishly tricky, this will cause several trips to bottomless pits and a good deal of frustration, since you'll have to start from the beginning of the level.

Every level also has secret areas that hide away coins and other tokens. If you collect the bonus coins, you'll get to play ninja star throwing mini-games, like the ones in the old arcade games. Achievements can also be earned by performing well during the game, such as finishing off bosses before enough time has passed. These achievements unlock extras such as different combos and cheats to be used in the game's Challenge Mode. The challenge stages are specially designed stages to test your gaming skills to the limit, while also establishing impressive scores and times.

Shinobi isn't a bad looking game, but it's far from being an impressive game for knowing what the 3DS can do. In spots, it doesn't look any better than the best looking DS game. Animations are smooth and special effects are nice, such as the metallic sparking of projectiles being deflected by Jiro's sword and enemies crumbling in a pile of bones. The levels are designed well, though, and showcase some pretty nifty art direction. You can actually feel the heat the volcano and smelting stages give off. The 3D effect actually harms the game, however, as all it takes is a bit of crosstalk to make you misjudge a jump you have the smallest margin of error for. The way the camera's designed as well poses its own set of perceptional difficulties, as sometimes you can't see what's below or above you until it's too late.

In the audio department, Shinobi holds up well for a side scrolling action game. The sounds of kunai cutting through the air and then being deflected with metallic twangs accentuates battles. Kicks to the head sound like they hurt, and the fleshy sounds of a sword slashing into enemies is nasty. There's explosions ranging from flamethrowers as their tanks blow up and helicopters as Jiro lands the final blow. One of the craziest levels in the game has you fighting on the top of a jet fighter in the middle of combat, and it sounds like you're fighting in an Afterburner game. The soundtrack is also pretty good, but it's not as memorable as the franchise's best, Shinobi III.

Every once in a while, we need to be remembered what games were like. Shinobi for 3DS is one of those games. You'll need to brush up on your skills, because they'll be the only thing carrying you through the game. You'll need to give it your undivided attention to learn where every enemy is and how to react to them and how to handle every jump or risk not having enough lives when facing off against the boss. It requires practice, patience and perseverance, because once you finally get the level down and are able to clear it in just one life, it's a fantastic feeling. Shinobi's a solid game for any 3DS action lover and long-time fans of the franchise.

Get the full article at GameSpot

"JustPlainLucas reviewed Shinobi for the 3DS..." was posted by JustPlainLucas on Fri, 08 Mar 2013 22:35:23 -0800
]]> http://www.gamespot.com/shinobi-2011/user-reviews/808534/platform/3ds/ Sun, 03 Mar 2013 17:11:14 -0800 JustPlainLucas reviewed River City Ransom EX for the Game Boy Advance... http://www.gamespot.com/river-city-ransom-ex/user-reviews/808211/platform/gba/ ...and gave it a 6.0.

The 8-bit Nintendo Entertainment System was a beloved machine because it put out so many classics. One such classic was a game by American Technos Inc. called River City Ransom. This side-scrolling beat 'em up had you controlling either Alex or Ryan on a quest to River City High to save Alex's girlfriend Cyndi from Slick, the leader of River City's gangs. It also featured a bit of RPG elements in the way of hit points, shops and increasing stats. In 2004, Atlus published an enhanced remake for the Game Boy Advance, but added some features that didn't really help.

The structure of the GBA version is identical to the NES original. You start out at your own school of Crosstown High and must work your way through River City to River City High beating up various gangs during your progress. You start out with basic punch and kick attacks, but in the EX version, they've been kind enough to start you out with the Dragon Kick technique, an ability that lets you kick three times in quick succession. As you beat up thugs, they drop coins, and each tougher gang member drops more coinage. Bosses will appear in certain areas after you've mopped the streets with its occupants, and each boss will tell you where to go to face your next challenge. Only after you've beat every boss will you be granted access into River City High.

You can pick up and use weapons along the way from lead pipes to chains to trash cans. The EX version has also introduced new weapons such as longer chains and ladders, introduced by new gangs such as The Eagles and The Entrees. You can swing or throw each one, and you can also learn techniques that will bestow upon you new fighting moves. The EX version has included several new techniques, such as Bicycle Kick and Helicopter, but for the most part the old techniques of the original still work the best.

If you've been doing a good job of picking up cash from defeated hoodlums, you can spend your dough in a number of different shops in several malls that you'll pass through. You'll remember all sorts of items and books to learn techniques from, but unfortunately it's a lot more irritating to shop now. The EX version has included many more items for each shop, but the list of items is randomly generated, and you do not have access to the full stock all at once. You might need to enter and exit a book shop more than twenty times until you see that wonderful Grand Slam book that teaches you the ability to swing your weapon three times in succession; it's a royal pain.

Speaking of royal pains, your AI partner is one. Since there is no two-player option (no link support), developer Million included a computer controlled character, but he's no help at best and can kill you at worse thanks to friendly fire. If he throws his weapon and hits you, it can hurt you or even interrupt your attacks to the point where the enemy can get the upper hand and kick your butt. You can tweak his AI behavior to make him less accidentally hostile towards you, but since he's still dead weight, the game's simply better by getting rid of him completely.

There's also an options mode that lets you practically debug the game. You can increase or decrease the power of your punches, kicks, weapons, etc., or you can even play around with the physics and gravity to make the game play wonky. Of course, this would be considered cheating but since it takes some grinding to become strong enough to beat the end bosses, it is a nice feature for those who just want to rush through the game (although the game takes roughly two hours to beat anyway).

The new save system is a double-edged sword, however. Gone is having to write down a 33 character password; you can now save on the spot. The irritating thing is that you cannot save over an existing file, so the game will just keep creating new files each time eventually clogging up the menu until it starts deleting the oldest file. It also only saves your current stats and amount of money so when you turn on the GBA again and resume, you'll be started at the beginning of the game, having you beat each and every single boss all over again. This in conjunction with other convoluted menus and navigation makes the EX version a little more irritating to play versus the original.

The 8-bit graphics of the original have been given a 16-bit face lift. For the most part, the environmental art hasn't been reworked, so every street scene should be instantly recognizable. There were some liberties, however, with the characters as Alex is now in all white and Ryan is now in all blue, instead of a mix of white and blue tops and bottoms like in the original. Gone also are some of the glitches of the original, such as characters stuttering in and out of existence.

The audio of the game has been improved somewhat as well. It still retains all those classic sound effects of punches and kicks and weapons being flung into enemies. There are a couple of sound effects, though, that aren't quite as good as remembered, such as when rocks and brass knuckles fall on the ground. The soundtrack has been preserved, so if you have fond memories of the music, you'll enjoy revisiting the game. Plus, the pinnacle moment when you hear the Double Dragon theme when you encounter the Twins makes that something to look forward to again.

Depending on how cheap you can find River City Ransom EX, you may want to consider buying the NES version off the Wii's Virtual Console for five dollars instead. The problem with playing EX on the Game Boy Advance is that if you own an SP, this is one of those games that unfortunately does not utilize the system's sleep mode. Unless you want to start all over from scratch, (aside from saved stats), River City Ransom EX is something you're going to want to slot yourself a couple of hours to play through. Besides, the purity of the original game is better cherished if you really want to reminisce with River City Ransom.

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]]> http://www.gamespot.com/river-city-ransom-ex/user-reviews/808211/platform/gba/ Fri, 01 Mar 2013 00:55:39 -0800 JustPlainLucas reviewed Bulletstorm for the PlayStation 3... http://www.gamespot.com/bulletstorm/user-reviews/808114/platform/ps3/ ...and gave it a 9.0!

Most first-person shooters these days take themselves too seriously. They try to establish tension and meaning in their narratives, attempting to fill the void from point A to point B with purpose. They give you colorful characters to follow you around in to provide some sort of emotional fodder when they inevitability get killed by a stray bullet. Not Bulletstorm, though. Bulletstorm takes itself about as seriously as a clown hopped up on nitrous oxide. Bulletstorm is about being over the top in its gameplay and purposefully offensive in its presentation. It's everything a crazy shooter should be.

Gray is angry. So angry that he's sacrificing the life of his crew aboard his ship to take out the Ulysses, his ex-commander Sarrano's ship. Sarrano has been using Gray and his squad of Dead Echo to carry out assassinations of innocent people, targets of the Confederation. Gray's alcohol-imbued impulsed idea may have worked in taking down the Ulysses, but it failed in killing Sarrano while killing everyone aboard Gray's ship, except for Ishi. Having undergone massive cybernetic implants to save his life, Ishi is now more computer than he is human. Feeling guilty for what happened to Ishi, Gray now has another objective aside from getting to Sarrano: to get Ishi off the Godforsaken planet they've crash landed on. There's going to be a storm of bullets along the way!

Bullestorm may not seem that special when you first begin, but once you pick up your first toy, the Leash, things get interesting very quickly. The Leash is an energy whip that can grab objects and enemies and yank them your way. As enemies get closer to you, they slow down due to an anti-gravity field that surrounds them. By kicking them with your gravity boots, you also produce the same effect, except they start to slowly move away from you. This allows you time to aim at different parts of their bodies and perform what it called Skillshots, and oh boy, are there a ton of different Skillshots!

Skillshots are how you earn points in the game, which you'll use to upgrade weapons and purchase ammunition at different drop boxes. To get Skillshots, you'll need to do such things as shooting an enemy in the privates and then finishing him off in the head, wrapping a flail grenade around a baddie and then kicking him into a group of his cohorts to act like a human bomb, flinging enemies into cactus, into spinning fans and broken wires, and much, much more. There's also a slide kick that helps you set up Skillshots, while also allowing you to cover ground quickly and safely. There's so much variety to slaughtering that the game never, ever gets old.

Your arsenal is full of fun toys as well. There's the standard assault rifle, the quad-barreled shotgun, the sniper rifle, the flare gun, flail gun, a crazy grenade launcher that shoots bouncing bomb balls and the vicious drill gun that impales enemies with spinning drill bit spikes. Each gun also has a secondary fire option that requires purchased charges to use. They can come in really handy when you're up against a group of foes or a particularly nasty individual. Also, you can even steer the shots you fire from the sniper rifle to ensure you get that critical skill shot. And yes, every gun you unlock also unlocks an entire set of unique Skillshots.

What makes the game even more fun is the massive levels that you'll traverse through. There are deserts outposts. subterranean prisons, overgrown botanical gardens and dilapidated skyscrapers with gaping holes in their walls. You'll need to stop from time to time just to enjoy the beautiful but bleak scenery of the game, as the desolate world is quite captivating in its own way. The levels are chock full of all sorts of environmental hazards as well, from the basic rebar spikes jutting from broken concrete walls to crackling electric storms that blanket the many war-torn buildings. One of the game's most exciting levels has you controlling a giant robotic dinosaur, complete with laser shooting eyes.

And when you're running from point A to point B with nothing to shoot, you're treated to some really well-written dialogue, in a very crass and cheesy sort of way. If you take this game in any serious way, you'll find the lines to be painful and cringe worthy, but if you accept the game for what it is, then you'll laugh at the ludicrousness of the dialogue. To be forewarned, there are a lot of references to male genitalia and many jokes that could be construed as homophobic, so if you're at all bothered by content like that, you should avoid Bulletstorm. For the nature of the game, and considering Gray is a scruffy war-hardened mercenary, the dialogue actually fits perfectly.

When you finish the campaign, there's always multiplayer, but of course it's a ghost town with the game being two years old at the time of this writing. There is, though, Echos which lets you play segments of previous levels over and over again to get higher scores. This is where you can hone your Skillshot abilities to rack up some really high scores and unlock access to new levels. Your scores are also ranked, so if you love to climb leaderboards, you have that much more incentive to keep playing.

Graphically, Bulletstorm is a looker. There's a lot of great texturing, lighting and shadowing, but the game's color pallet is a bit limited. There's a lot of usage of browns and blues and oranges and grays, so when the game mixes nature with urban areas, it isn't as impressive as it should be. Still, the artistic direction is something to behold. They've done an excellent job in making the world seem like it's been through complete and utter hell, and the feel and scope of the game is just massive. There's also the matter of blood, and there's lots of it. You'll see heads implode and bodies get impaled. Torsos separate from legs when shot at pointblank range with the shotgun and bad guys light up like the Fourth of July when shot with the shotgun's molten rounds.

If there's one thing Bulletstorm does well with its sound design is make you squeamish when you're killing people. Hearing your first body get impaled on a cactus is just nasty. Bones being broken and flesh being pulverized establishes quite well that this is a violent video game. Each gun has its own unique report from the cracks of sniper rifles to the firecracker whistlings of flare guns to the metallic banging of the Bouncer balls. The music is well-composed and is as perfect for an action game as any other soundtrack. Fans of MadWorld and Anarchy Reigns will also recognize Steve Blum, as he voices the main character Gray. He gives a fantastic performance, and his gruff voice is perfect for the rogue soldier.

Bulletstorm will not win any awards when it comes to class. It knows that and is proud of it. It flips conventional FPSs a middle finger and goes about its merry way. It doesn't care if you're offended by its language, or if the thought of skewering three people with one drill bit spike repulses you. You're going to play this game and like or it's going to put its size 15 gravity boot up your backside. Bulletstorm is quite the ride, and the fact that it's so unique and so outlandish is the game's best feature. If you're tired of the same old FPS, you'll really want to check out Bullestorm, especially now that it's super cheap.

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"JustPlainLucas reviewed Bulletstorm for the PlayStation 3..." was posted by JustPlainLucas on Fri, 01 Mar 2013 00:55:39 -0800
]]> http://www.gamespot.com/bulletstorm/user-reviews/808114/platform/ps3/ Mon, 25 Feb 2013 19:33:08 -0800 JustPlainLucas reviewed LEGO Indiana Jones 2: The Adventure Continues for the Xbox 360... http://www.gamespot.com/lego-indiana-jones-2-the-adventure-continues/user-reviews/808005/platform/xbox360/ ...and gave it a 6.0.

Traveler's Tales do one thing and one thing only: make Lego games. Any young-hearted fun-loving gamer has played at least one by now, whether it's Star Wars or Harry Potter or Pirates of the Caribbean or Lord of the Rings. Even the Indiana Jones trilogy has been Legoized. Making Lego games out of trilogies and sagas is something that Traveler's Tales does really well, but they seem to have hit a wall when it came to making a game based on one movie. Instead of developing a lengthy adventure of the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, they padded the rest of the game with a redux of the previous Lego Indy games.

The core gameplay is still as fun as any Lego game before it. You run around destroying blocks with fists and plastic weapons collecting millions upon millions of studs. You still build all sorts of Lego objects and cars and look for hidden power up bricks. It's the way the game goes about presenting you with these gameplay opportunities that might not be as appreciated as well as in former entries.

To start things off, there is no central hub that connects every chapter together. Rather, each chapter has its own hub. This might seem that it presents you with more freedom, but the story levels still need to be followed in a progressive order and hidden areas and other unlockables can only be accessed after you've unlocked certain characters. Now, it's the character selection that proves to be one of the more irritating features in the game. You cannot select from every possible character type at will. The main characters will follow you around, but if you need a rocket launcher type, you may have to run to the other end of an island to the base where he spawns to switch to him. It causes unnecessary backtracking.

The other major problem with the game are the levels themselves. Although each chapter now has 15 levels (5 story, 5 revisited, 5 bonus) as opposed to the previous Lego trilogy games only have 6 per chapter, these levels are tiny. Story levels rarely last more than 10 minutes and some are so short, they're over in just a couple minutes. They can be revisited with a preset loadout of characters, but in some cases the revisited levels are even shorter. Bonus levels are a lot of fun, though, as each one is a booby trap infested pit of puzzles. Still, having a larger number of shorter levels is not much compromise when it comes at the expensive of lengthy well-designed levels.

If you loved searching for the mini-kit canisters, you will not find them in this game. That's right, there are no mini-kits to be made. Instead, you can collect artifacts, 15 in each chapter. Doing so grants you golden treasure chests that you can destroy for pieces and build a spaceship or a UFO or an exploding volcano; something that will whisk you away from the hub and into the Super Bonus Level. These simple stress free levels have you collecting 1,000,000 studs, and it's a nice way to wind down the long grind of finding all those artifacts.

There are also issues with controls and ally AI. Each chapter has a driving stage, and each one of those driving stages will not be looked forward to. Driving has never really been Traveler's Tales' strong point, but they have succeeded if only to make the driving worse in this game. Vehicles now have suspension and clip very easily, which of course means you'll roll your vehicle over and over again. There's also the wonky bumper car physics which will somehow bump you back 10 feet in your truck when you've tapped a motorcycle. There's also the aiming mechanic of holding down X and moving the analogue stick to aim at a shootable object, which sometimes doesn't work at all, having you careen your character off a cliff when you were expecting to see a reticule moving.

Ally AI just doesn't seem to get any better with partners unable to beat up enemies or simply not doing anything all. Sometimes they have no idea you need them to stand on a tandem switch, and they love to get in your firing line when you're shooting at a target, not taking the hint to the move out of the way. Also, being bumped off platforms or having someone jump at you right when you're jumping makes some bonus levels a tad more frustrating than need be.

Lego Indiana Jones 2 does feature a robust level creator that lets you create levels from scratch or edit existing ones. Its tutorial is very brief, though, leaving a lot of details out. Its item purchasing system is also a bit cumbersome, and many attempts to 100 percent this mode have failed as a result. You can get really creative with the creator, coming up with some wonderfully inventive puzzles, but the real shame is there's no way to publish your levels and share them. Unless you have friends willing to come over and see your work, there's virtually no incentive for exploring this feature unless you want to 100 percent the game.

At the time of its release, Lego Indiana Jones 2 set the bar for Lego game graphics. The Legos themselves are very realistic. You can almost feel the smooth surfaces of the flat pieces and the bumps of the studs and the corners of the plates. Each character has that whimsical charm about them that only Lego can do. The environments that these bricks are built on are rendered well and look realistic. The camera effect of blurring out objects in the extreme foreground only enhances the realism. Special effects are about as standard as they have been with Lego games, but it's always a joy to see something blow up into a shower of studs.

Traveler's Tales also knows how to take audio source material and put it to good use. Using John William's original scores lends a mighty hand to the game's authenticity. It cues in with different pieces when you reach certain areas and heightens when action is about to happen. The sound effects are about the same as they've ever been, though. There's the snapping of bricks being put together, explosions of them be broken apart, and the plastic rain of studs as they cascade along the floor. The voice acting is the traditional incoherent mumblings that always manage to illicit at least a smile, especially when you hear Mola Ram chanting "RA-REE-RAH!"

Lego Indiana Jones 2: The Adventure Continues is an example of what happens when you break formula and try something new. It's a very risky thing to do, and in this case, it did not pay off. Sure, there are more levels to play, but there are even less truly noteworthy ones. Instead of enjoying a fully fleshed out adventure for the Kingdom of the Crystal skull, we instead see half the game reserved for Indy trilogy retreads. What's even more disappointing is that the game's humor isn't as solid as previous Lego games. It's a fun game that any Lego fan will like, but it just leaves so much to be desired.

Get the full article at GameSpot

]]> http://www.gamespot.com/lego-indiana-jones-2-the-adventure-continues/user-reviews/808005/platform/xbox360/ Sun, 17 Feb 2013 17:24:11 -0800 JustPlainLucas reviewed Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch for the PlayStation 3... http://www.gamespot.com/ni-no-kuni-wrath-of-the-white-witch/user-reviews/807640/platform/ps3/ ...and gave it a 8.5.

PS3 owners have gone quite some time without a good, quality old-fashioned JRPG, and now their wait is finally over. In 2010, Level-5 in collaboration with Studio Ghibli, released a game on Nintendo's DS called Ni no Kuni: Shikkoko no Madoshi. It was a brilliant and beautiful game, and now more than two years later, this magical game has been brought to the PlayStation 3 with Wrath of the White Witch. Finally, after waiting for so long, PlayStation 3 gamers can now have a role-playing game that hearkens back to the good old days.

Ni no Kuni's story starts out as stereotypical as most JRPGs do. It begins with a boy, in this case Oliver, who is tasked with saving the world. He doesn't know that just yet. Living in the bustling town of Motorville, Oliver is best friends with an aspiring inventor named Phil and the two of them are working on a powerful racing car. Going against his mother's wishes, Oliver sneaks out of the house and joins Phil to test out the speed demon. An unfortunate mechanical failure occurs, making Oliver lose control and steer wildly into the river. Oliver's mom received a startling vision that her son is in mortal danger, so she raced to the river looking for him and found him drowning. She dove into the river and saved Oliver, but the stress proved too be too much for her heart and she fell ill. Now on her deathbed, she begins to say good bye to her beloved son.

The beginning chapter is told in beautiful hand-animated and in-game cutscenes. It's very hard to not be at least somewhat affected by the game's melancholy opening, but it serves a purpose. It helps you to become attached to Oliver as you see him weep, his tears falling on a fairy doll that he's got tightly clutched. It's understandable if you shed tears yourself, but as Oliver's tears touch the fairy, something happens. The fairy suddenly poofs to life and becomes extremely animated, running off at the mouth a mile a minute. Obviously confused, Oliver asks how this happened, and this is when the story truly begins.

It turns out this fairy - who refers to himself as Drippy, Lord High Lord of the Fairies - comes from another world; a parallel dimension. Drippy tells Oliver that these two worlds are connected, and every person in one world has a soulmate in the other. He suggests to Oliver that there's a possibility of saving his mom in this world by saving her in Drippy's world. That would, however, require something else from Oliver, and that would be to save Drippy's world completely. Feeling remorsefully guilty for being the cause of his mother's death, Oliver wants to save his mom and at the same time do as much good as he can to make up for the one major wrong he's done.

When Oliver learns his first spell of Gateway, he's whisked away to Drippy's dimension. When you begin exploring the overworld for the first time, you get flooded with wonderful memories of just how good JRPGs used to be. The world is expansive and beautiful and detailed, pock-marked with cities to travel to and hidden areas to explore. Dotting the hills and valleys are monsters that you can seem roaming about, so you can choose whether or not you wish to engage them in battle. This is good to know for those who miss old-fashioned RPGs, but don't miss being bombarded with random encounters.

Ni no Kuni's battle system is based on a Pokemon-esque set up of finding monsters, capturing them and bringing them into battle as familiars. The system itself is mostly real-time, but you can pause the action by selecting commands. When you summon a familiar into battle, it takes your place and effectively shares your HP and MP. When you have characters with you, they also replace themselves with their familiars. The problem with the battle system is that it's restrictive at times. Because the familiar is sharing your HP and MP, your own character's stats basically become unimportant. It would have been much more fun if the familiars were able to fight along side you, and that you could call more than just one at a time into battle.

Sadly, the main characters suffer form rather short mana pools at the onset, and artificial intelligence is not very adequate. Your partners will often waste MP on healing spells when you suffered just a scratch, or they'll use familiars in the wrong ways, such as having mage-types physically attack or warrior-types attack when you need to have a defense-heavy familiar tank. You can take over characters at a moment's notice, but seconds are easily wasted this way. It also doesn't help that whoever you change to withdraws their familiar, having you cast it back out again. There are a few spells and actions that take far too long to use when casting, and even using restorative items can take one second too long druing life or death moment. It's far from a horrible battle system, but it certainly has enough idiosyncrasies to annoy you from time to time.

There is a system in place that helps to alleviate the damage sustained in battle, and it's glims. Glims are glowing orbs that sometimes pop out from enemies as they're being hurt, or when you successfully block or counter their actions. Green glims restore HP and blue ones restore MP, and they come in different sizes. The most important glim, however, is the Golden Glim, and these not only completely heal you, but also allow your character or familiar to execute their Miracle Ability. These can greatly turn the tide of a battle, but the only real issue is making sure you get to it first before another character does, or you might have a Miracle Ability activate that you don't want.

Since the game's battle system relies so heavily on familiars, there's a large emphasis on creature collecting. Each familiar is broken down into a genus and has one of four different signs: planet, star, sun, and moon. It basically plays out like Rock, Paper, Scissor, so you need to learn what familiars work best against others. The game contains so many different creatures to collect that it becomes impossible for you to know exactly what set works the best without investing scores upon scores of hours raising them; it's best to use a guide or forum and find out the optimal group right off the bat. Familiars can also be fed, which not only increases their relationships with their masters, but allows them to grow stronger and learn other abilities, or Tricks. After being leveled up enough, they can metamorphosize into more powerful forms.

Aside from collecting familiars, Oliver can also collect a vast array of spells to restore his Wizard's Companion spell book. Some of these are awarded to him by characters in the main storyline, while others are obtained through quests. There's a fair amount of combat spells, but you're better off keeping your MP for healing until your pool increases a notable amount. The rest are for "every day" purposes, such as talking to spirits in town, or manipulating things in dungeons. You also can collect a wealth of formulae for use in alchemy, and you can make everything from food items to incredibly powerful weapons and armor.

As for the dungeons themselves, they are designed wonderfully, but they aren't very long. After you level up to the point where monsters run from you, you can easily run from the starting point to the boss room in just a matter of a few minutes. They also feature some light puzzle elements. You might be wondering how to get to the top of a ledge. Just cast Quick Grow to make a row of mushroom caps grow larger. Icicle blocking your way? Cast a fireball at them and watch them melt. The "Every Day" spells give the game some novel fun, but some spells you obtain may only get a few uses throughout the game.

The main story lasts roughly 30-40 hours, but if you choose to rush through it, you'll find yourself going up against exponentially harder foes and bosses. To really enjoy the game, you'll need to drop by Swift Solutions in each of the game's main cities. These shops not only dole out a list of tasks that citizens need help with, but they also host a list of bounty hunts that you can partake in. Completing tasks and killing monsters for bounties not only allows you to grind your levels a bit more, but grants you stamps on cards that you can turn in for additional perks. These perks include things like increasing the likelihood of glims and dropped items to faster movement speed to the very necessary unlocking of Oliver's potential, which increases both his HP and MP by 100.

What is most enjoyable about these tasks are the side stories that come with them. A large portion of tasks are people who have been broken-hearted. The game's main villain Shadar, also known as the Executor, stole pieces of people's hearts from all over the land. He took such pieces as Kindness, Love, Ambition, Courage and Enthusiasm, effectively reducing the peoples' collective ability for self-improvement. Seeing Oliver seek out those who have pieces of hearts in abundance so he can restore the broken-hearted is heartwarming in itself, because you see this young boy riddled with his own guilt selflessly help others in need. It's a really important emotional element of the game's story, and something that you shouldn't try to skip.

The original Ni no Kuni for the DS ends at a certain point, but the PS3 version has several more hours of content before leading up to the game's final battle. Once you finish that battle, a slew of post-game content opens up. A new list of tasks are posted, and several of these tasks provide closure to several of the game's more vague mentions. There's also a bevy of new bounty hunts as well, testing the limitations of your familiars. These bounty hunts eventually lead up to more powerful bosses you previously encountered, and an ultimate showdown may have you with little chance of surviving. If you manage to overcome these extra challenges, you're awarded with a very special memento from earlier in the game.

Ni no Kuni's gorgeous aesthetics is an example of when art direction meets technical proficiency. The hand-animated cutscenes have that magic only Studio Ghibli knows how to produce, and the in-game cutscenes make excellent use of cel-shaded graphics. Character designs are full of unique whimsy, a clear Ghibli trademark, and seeing them move about freely in the game world is just a delight. Special effects are wonderfully cartoon like, and the battle scenes dance with activity. It's even easy to lose yourself roaming around in the overworld, taking in every single sight you can as the never-ending horizon continues to produce more.

Studio Ghibli is most certainly not known for just its animation; they are masters at sound production. Ni no Kuni displays their proficiency expertly. The Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra has produced some delightful and emotionally poignant pieces, and the sound design has applied these tracks to the game with amazing effect. Every moment in the game, whether its a joyful reunion or an intrepid delve into a dungeon, is matched beautifully with the soundtrack. Sound effects also are well-designed, upholding the game's cartoon-like feel. Enemies poof out of existence and deadly spells hit home with impact. The voice acting is quite remarkable as well. Although Oliver himself is far from Oscar-worthy, it's the supporting cast that is so enjoyable. Steffan Rhodri as Drippy simply outperforms everyone with his hilarious Welsh accent and Brian Protheroe delivers an evilly sinister Shadar.

Ni no Kuni is simply a magical, wonderful, beautiful, imaginative, heartwarming and heartwrenching experience. Studio Ghibli is largely accredited for this acclaim, because as it stands, the game's mechanics are good but a bit short of great. There's a chance you'll become frustrated with the game's battle system, and you may not like spending several hours grinding and trying to find the perfect set of familiars. You may be disappointed by how shallow the dungeons are, even though they are visually appealing. You will, however, be immensely satisfied with Ni no Kuni as a whole. Its fantastic storytelling wrapped around a decent engine makes Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch a game deserving to be in any PS3 owner's library.

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]]> http://www.gamespot.com/ni-no-kuni-wrath-of-the-white-witch/user-reviews/807640/platform/ps3/ Fri, 01 Feb 2013 18:24:22 -0800 JustPlainLucas reviewed Resident Evil: Revelations for the 3DS... http://www.gamespot.com/resident-evil-revelations/user-reviews/807004/platform/3ds/ ...and gave it a 8.5.

The long running survival horror franchise Resident Evil shows no signs of slowing down. Having started its birth on the PlayStation, it has made appearances on the Saturn, the Nintendo 64, the Dreamcast, the PS2, Wii, PS3 and 360, and now the 3DS. Revelations is a special game, though, as its designed specifically for handheld gaming, and tells a side story following the series' original cast of Chris Redfield and Jill Valentine. Making use of a few of the 3DS's hardware features and containing a decent sized campaign with a number of extras, Revelations makes itself a noteworthy addition to the franchise.

The game begins with Jill Valentine and her partner Parker Luciani boarding an abandoned cruise liner named The Queen Zenobia. They're investing the last known transmissions from fellow BSAA partners Chris Redfield and Jessica Sherawat. They're also looking for any information involving the terrorist organization known as Veltro, who was responsible for attacking a paradise city in the middle of the ocean called Terragrigia. As they explore the ship, they encounter new monsters - products of a new virus - and a new enemy altogether. Revelations also follows several other characters as well, giving you more insight into the mysteries of the story.

Resident Evil: Revelations is a survival horror game that follows the basic formula of the games set before it. You explore the ship, entering whatever rooms are locked, finding keys and puzzle pieces to unlock previously barred passageways. Although Revelations is zombie-free, it does introduce some pretty freakish creatures of aquatic nature. You'll see bipedal monsters with mollusks for heads, mutated sharks, and some really sick and twisted boss encounters. Revelations also sees the return of the original bio-weapon, the hunter.

If you're playing the game on normal difficulty, it does a pretty good job of keeping you supplied with ammo, provided you're a decent enough shot. The game introduces a tool called the Genesis, which is a scanner that lets you find more ammo pick ups, as well as healing herbs. You can also use the Genesis to scan enemies and each time you do, you earn a percentage. Once you get up to 100 percent, you're granted a health herb. Scanning every room you come into does slow down the pace of the game, but the rewards are too beneficial not to pass up. Just by scanning alone, you'll ensure you'll have enough ammunition for the game.

You might find aiming with the circle pad to be a bit stiff and sluggish. Fortunately, you can use the 3DS's gyroscope to move the system and aim that way. Not only does it allow for better accuracy, it actually frees up the circle pad letting you do something no other Resident Evil has done before: move while shooting. The only downside is that since you're constantly moving the 3DS, the 3D effect will constantly be interrupted. Still, once you try it, you'll be hard-pressed to aim with the circle pad again.

As far as combat goes, it's pretty similar to Resident Evil 4 and 5. You have your basic handguns, shotguns and rifles with the occasional grenade. You're limited to the number of guns you can carry, but there are gun boxes every so often, and they allow you to upgrade your weapons with any parts you find. If you get grabbed by a monster, you can kick them off you. If you manage to stun them with a few shots, you can run up to them and execute a physical attack. When you're hurt, you use herbs to restore health, but they no longer come in different potencies; one herb will heal you completely, no matter how hurt you are. Also, you do have a partner with you but unlike Resident Evil 5, your partner doesn't use your ammo and health items. Of course, they don't do much to help you, occasionally firing a shot or two but if you're low on ammo, you can just run around the room and let your partner slowly finish them off.

Over the course of the game's 12 chapters, you'll be given control of different characters, such as Chris Redfield or another BSAA member Keith Lumley. Their episodes are usually set in the past, or around the same time frame as Parker and Jill's, but their load outs might be entirely different. You might be given more shotgun ammunition to deal with a pack of zombie wolves, or you find boxes of machine gun ammo scattered about to deal with wave after wave of hunters. Although each character specific moment plays in a similar fashion, each one has its own unique pace.

If there was any doubt that the 3DS wasn't a powerful handheld machine, Resident Evil: Revelations quashes those doubts. Thanks to some nifty shading techniques, the game's able to boast some incredibly detailed character models. Fantastic use of lighting atop superbly textured environments enhances the game's sense of realism. The 3D effect keeps things more subtle instead of having things flying towards the screen at you, but it's because of this that it gives the game a more defined aesthetic. You can also increase the 3D even more so through the game's options, but it can be overpowering for some. There are a few moments during elevator scenes when the game's loading up the next area where the frame rate stutters to crippling levels, but it never occurs during actual gameplay.

The game makes some great use of the audio as well. You can hear the clicking of claws and the stomping of feet as hunters pace back and forth looking for their prey. Monsters wither away with a sickening bubbling effect, punctuated with a disturbing squeal. Gun reports are loud and distinct, and the sounds of your body being slashed by a monster's razor sharp appendage is enough to make you wince. The music is composed nicely, coming in at opportune times; the final piece during the last level is orchestrated in a very spooky manner. The voice acting is nice, although it won't win any awards. Of course, the voice acting has improved dramatically ever since the first RE's classic line "You were almost a JILL sandwich!"

With the consoles and PC set to receive ports of Resident Evil: Revelations, the real question is, should you buy this game for the 3DS? If you want the best possible experience, the answer is obviously wait for the port. If you absolutely need a new 3DS game or simply want to play RE on the go, then you should get it for the 3DS. It's a very solid game in just about every aspect, and does a few things better than its last couple of mainstay installments. Tack on extra challenges to accomplish, a Raid Mode that lets you play cooperatively, and a much harder difficulty, and you've easily got enough game for your buck.

Get the full article at GameSpot

"JustPlainLucas reviewed Resident Evil: Revelations for the 3DS..." was posted by JustPlainLucas on Fri, 01 Feb 2013 18:24:22 -0800
]]> http://www.gamespot.com/resident-evil-revelations/user-reviews/807004/platform/3ds/ Fri, 01 Feb 2013 13:28:08 -0800 kjhg53 reviewed The Denpa Men: They Came By Wave for the 3DS... http://www.gamespot.com/the-denpa-men-they-came-by-wave/user-reviews/806999/platform/3ds/ ...and gave it a 9.0!

One of the greatest parts of the Nintendo eShop, other any other digital download service for that matter, is that every once in a while you will get a truly unique and gratifying experience at a very low cost to you. But there are also times where you can end up buying a game you will regret getting. So for this whimsical and strange looking game, The "Denpa" Men: They Came By Wave, which type of experience will you find? In my opinion, it is safe to say The Denpa Men is one of the must highlights of the Nintendo 3DS eShop.

Something you may be asking yourself at this point is "what are these Denpa Men?" Well, they are small little creatures that hang out around Wi-Fi spots, or radio waves as the game puts it. They come in all sorts of different colors, sizes, shapes, and have different skills. In order to catch them, your 3DS needs to be able to connect to the Internet and then, using the camera on the 3DS, you can go hunting. Different spots have different groups of Denpa Men, so if you can regularly hit up a few different Wi-Fi spots, you will be set since have a diverse group of Denpa Men is key. But if you can really get to a lot of Wi-Fi, you can unlock a PC eventually in the game which will let you read QR codes.

Probably the weakest part of the title is actually the story for the game, though do we really need a reason to go dungeon crawling? If you do, well meet Willis, he is a Denpa Men that has had his girlfriend, Crystal, taken away from him by the King of Evil. Willis needs help from you, and all of the Denpa Men you capture, to mount the perfect team and take him down. And after rescuing Crystal, there is still the matter of marriage that you'll need to take care of in the post game.

There is not a whole lot of new coming at us in this title in terms of game play. In a lot of ways, Genius Sonority blended traits of a lot of old school RPGs, though the ones that come to mind fist are Pokemon and Dragon Quest. Each Denpa Man has a different color, thanks to the spandex suit they all wear. Of course the colors are for more than just to look weird, it also tells you what types of attacks they are weak and resistant to. For example, red means they take less damage from fire attacks, but can be beat to a pulp by water attacks. Resistances can be changed based on clothing and items you equip to your team. I should also note that Denpa Men do not normally have a typed attack, so don't think that just because your guy is red, he will do fire damage if he or she physically attacks an enemy. There are also antennas that some of the Denpa Men will have. These act as a sort of "spell" that they can use, though they will only ever know one that will upgrade as you level up.

Dungeons are set up just like any other dungeon crawler, you enter each one and try and find the way to the next room, whether it be by stairs, hole in the ground, or door. Each room or floor is filled with narrow passage ways and slightly more open areas. There is also an onslaught of enemies that want to make your day hell before you even reach the boss and treasure chests that are filled with money or items. Dungeons are not randomized, so that way once you explore a floor, you will always know how it looks. The bottom screen serves as a map, so you can see what you have explored and you'll know where enemies and chests are.

There are quite a few dungeons in the game, a total of eleven including the ones you unlock in the post game. They are all fairly unique, though some rehash the same looking environments, mostly. For example, there are three forest dungeons, though one of them has an ice section to it. So it never really feels like it's the same thing over and over. At the end of the dungeon you, of course, get to fight a boss. They range from dead easy to being able to wreck your eight man team in a hit. It is recommended that you have a strategy for taking them down. Do not freight, in the much harder dungeons there are healing pools which restore your Denpa Men's HP and AP. There are also warp zones which will let you exit the dungeon and return to town. The next time you enter the dungeon you will have the option of starting from the warp zone you left from. The is great since you can only save while you are in town.

After running into an enemy, or them touching you, you will enter a battle. What you face in normally one to five enemies that are found in the part of the dungeon you are in. The actual fighting is speed based; the fastest character moves first. Some times if two or three contenders have the same speed stat the game will change who goes first. On the bottom screen you can choose what you want each of your Denpa Men to do by selecting them. Or if you are lazy, you can just use the auto attack feature. It is actually how surprising the auto attack is, since the Denpa Men will actually change what they normally do if something goes wrong. For example, you the enemy goes a lot of damage to one of your Denpa Men, one of your "healers" will actually heal him and not just attack. This is very helpful since you don't always know what the enemy will do, the your Denpa Men somehow do. It can also be your crutch if they decided to attack if the enemy is weak enough to die and you would of rather they had revived a down ally so they also gain much needed experience.

The overall artistic styling of the game is very charming and wacky, though you could of guessed that from just the name alone. The Denpa Men all look different and, at times, very funny. For example, there is one in my party that has a dark skin color, but also has a pink mustache. All of the dungeons look nice as well, even though some of them use the same type of setting some times. They also rehashed the enemies, and some bosses, in this game. Much like the Dragon Quest series, enemies have different "genus" and there are many different "species" within them, but they are really just recolored and stronger versions. There is a bit of edging at times during the game, regardless if you are in 3D or not, but over all it look good. The 3D also looks good and it makes the environments really pop out while you are in dungeons.

Music is another area where the game really excels. The sound track is overall pretty good and captures the essence of the game very well. There is a mix of unmemorable tracks, but there is a lot of great, catchy songs as well. Some of the best are the battle themes; normal, boss, and the final boss themes. It is good that these ones are really catchy, since you will be listening to them a lot while you are playing the game.

Overall, The "Denpa" Men: They Came By Wave is a great title. If you are into challenging yet fun role-playing games, this is a must have. Even if you are new to dungeon crawling Japaneses role-playing games, this can be a very worth title to try out. For only ten dollars, you will get an experience that lasts well over twenty hours, even more if you are trying to collect all of the items.

Get the full article at GameSpot

"kjhg53 reviewed The Denpa Men: They Came By Wave for the 3DS..." was posted by kjhg53 on Fri, 01 Feb 2013 13:28:08 -0800
]]> http://www.gamespot.com/the-denpa-men-they-came-by-wave/user-reviews/806999/platform/3ds/ Tue, 29 Jan 2013 20:49:56 -0800 Cloud_765 reviewed Mighty Switch Force! for the 3DS... http://www.gamespot.com/mighty-switch-force/user-reviews/806911/platform/3ds/ ...and gave it a 8.0.

You're a cop. Your car has crashed and all of your captured convicts have escaped! In order to find them and bring justice, you must traverse the levels and use your jump, blaster, and platform-controlling siren. Surprisingly enough, this formula works fantastic.

The basic gameplay is that on each of the initial 16 levels, you have to use your blaster to get rid of enemies, jump to different platforms, and the key piece to this game, the siren, which switches what platforms are solid and which ones are transparent with the push of a button. Each level contains 5 felons you must capture, and when all of them have been caught, you find the transport mech to take you to the next level. Each level has a par time you can attempt to top, which is where the challenge comes in.

There are several types of blocks the siren controls. There's the ordinary goldish-tan color, which are normal solid platforms controlled by the siren on and off. Some of them are lined up in ways to make platforming tricky, requiring you press the button to switch the platforms mid-jump.

There's also launch blocks, which are purple and launch anything (enemy or you!) in the direction of the arrow of the block, when triggered. Some levels contain puzzles built entirely around this, other levels contain mini-puzzles where you need to launch an enemy through a path of these blocks to get them to reach something to trigger a needed switch.

The final of these is the lock blocks, which will not fade out if you are standing on one. Typically, some blocks will fade out and cannot be used while others will fade in. These make the puzzles even more complex. These tend to combine later on with the regular yellow ones to create tricky platform puzzles.

Your blaster, less used than your trusty siren, is capable of breaking small blocks in your path, or defeating enemies. Sometimes an enemy which is hard to defeat may need to be provoked through the blaster then defeated when you switch a block from transparent to solid to crush them. In addition, enemies and yourself can be crushed if you are standing where a block can be switched on, and that block does switch on with you right there (or the enemy). Your character has 3 hearts, and if you lose them all, you are thrown back to the level select. You can choose to retry a level when you pause the game or quit to the level select as well.

There are 16 levels in the game, with increasing difficulty. New puzzles are constantly introduced, and the platforming aspect is made trickier with the switchable blocks needing to be controlled with more and more finesse. Each of these levels are often highly replayable, and are tons of fun. You tend to feel a decent sense of accomplishment at the end of a level. To help you locate any missing felons or the transport mech, the radar on the bottom screen will show you which direction they're in.

The final main level is a "boss level" of sorts, which tests the player on everything they've learned. It uses everything up to that point, while making the player climb higher and higher up a building of sorts... with your siren unable to be controlled yourself, but rather be on a timer. At the end of this is a boss which as it is injured sets free a felon for you to capture (as there are no felons on the climb up). Defeating this boss unlocks a superpowered blaster to use in the first 16 levels, and the first of 5 bonus levels is unlocked. Defeating these bonus levels and reaching the par time on any level is where you'll find yourself soaking up more time playing this game.

The music is fantastic. Trance-like techno beats, and driving rhythms guide you through level after level. There's a couple dozen tracks to the game soundtrack in all, and all of them are quite catchy, with a few standing out really well. I highly recommend giving the OST a listen to even if you're not sold on the game concept, as the soundtrack is just great listening. The sound effects are nice, from the pew pew of the blaster, to the glass-shattering when something is launched into the screen from a block switch, to the explosions of the bomb enemies, and even the voice of the heroine rooting you on. They get the job done well.

The graphics are decent, colorful and fairly satisfying. The drawn environments where the game takes place (a trashy city ridden with criminals running away from the heroine) can be fairly eye-catching, but they slowly tend to recycle themselves slightly. Aside from that, the animations are decently detailed and give everything in the world of the game life. The 3D effects make shooting something into the screen that much more entertaining.

The game's biggest draw is in challenge and replayability. You will not reach any par times on your first run, I can almost guarantee you. But striving for those fast times (speed-running the entire game, essentially), as well as completing those optional bonus levels, is one of the game's most attractive features. The levels themselves are replayable just out of their entertainment value alone, regardless of how fast you can complete the level. Unfortunately, the main game is short, and will likely be completed in just a few hours. The replay value will bring the game time up a lot more, likely over the amount of time it took to beat the main game.

Breakdown:
Pros...
+High replay value
+Great music
+Unique, tricky mix of puzzle and platforming gameplay
+Only $5.99 off the eShop - really, get this game

Cons...
-Graphics, while nice, are slightly recycled later in the game
-The one boss in the game lacks challenge and is a Giant Space Flea From Nowhere

Scores:
Gameplay - 8.5/10
Presentation - 7/10
Sound - 8.5/10
Graphics - 7.5/10
Tilt - 8.5/10

Overall - 8/10

While a short main game experience, Mighty Switch Force is filled with flatteringly tricky puzzle/platforming gameplay that begs to be replayed. It also has fantastic music your ears will love, and the detailed sprite animations are catching. For only $6 off the eShop you can get a very good, worthwhile game for the 3DS. If you have an interest in platformers and puzzles, and access to the eShop, this is a game you definitely want to try.

Get the full article at GameSpot

"Cloud_765 reviewed Mighty Switch Force! for the 3DS..." was posted by Cloud_765 on Tue, 29 Jan 2013 20:49:56 -0800
]]> http://www.gamespot.com/mighty-switch-force/user-reviews/806911/platform/3ds/ Sat, 26 Jan 2013 12:45:56 -0800 JustPlainLucas reviewed Anarchy Reigns for the PlayStation 3... http://www.gamespot.com/anarchy-reigns/user-reviews/806774/platform/ps3/ ...and gave it a 7.0.

DISCLAIMER: No amount of time was spent exploring the multiplayer. This review reflects the single player campaign only.

Platinum Games has made a name for themselves for making some of the zaniest, most over the top, ludicrous and outlandish action games in the market. In 2009, Platinum Games introduced us to Jack Cayman, protagonist of the Wii exclusive third-person brawler MadWorld. Cayman was a chaser, or bounty hunter if you will, and on his right arm he had a two-bladed chainsaw capable of extreme savagery. Now four years later, Cayman returns for some more chasing, but this time he has to share the stage with Leonhardt "Leo" Victorion as they're after the same bounty, Maximillion Caxton.

The story begins in a bar as a task force of three barges in and begins asking questions. The leader, Nikolai, is soon met with resistance by Jack Cayman as he learns he's asking about his mark, Maximillion Caxton. Jack's quickly sucker punched into his place, and the team leaves as quickly as they came. So much for a relaxing drink. Jack now has to rev up his chainsaw arm and get back to work. Hopefully, he can find Max before the they do. He'll be out of a lot of money if he doesn't.

Anarchy Reigns is more of a spiritual successor than it is a full blown sequel. Sure, it sees the return of Jack Cayman, but Jack has to sit half the game out for newcomer Leo. You can start the game with Jack Cayman's "Black Side" or Leo's "White Side", but after four chapters, you'll be trading off. Mission structures follow a simple formula. After being dropped in one of the game's four hub levels, you roam the apocalyptic deserts and shanty towns and urban areas beating anyone you come across to a slushy pulp. As you smack people down, you earn points. Earn enough points, and a Free Mission unlocks, which will you earn even more points from. Continue to earn points and a Main Mission unlocks, which lets you progress the story further. Although Jack and Leo share similar missions, both of their stories are unique enough to make each campaign distinct.

Combat is less creative than it was in MadWorld. Although you still earn points, you have no inventive opportunities to dispatch your enemies. You can still throw spikes through their heads and bind them with tires, but that's really the only implementations that carried over from MadWorld. You'll spend most of your time mashing Square and Triangle to unleash basic combos while unleashing your Killer Weapon to dispatch gangs of thugs and deal serious damage to the game's bigger baddies. As you're fighting, you have a meter that builds up and when full, you can enter Rampage Mode. In this state, you move and attack extremely rapidly and you have limitless energy for your Killer Weapon. Unlike most games' similar overdrive states, Rampage lasts a good while, letting you go through two or three ridiculously huge mutants before wearing off.

You can block and dodge, but the game penalizes you for blocking and dodging too much. If you do so, you're stunned and become a sitting duck. There's also a serious problem with the combat, as you can't cancel out of an attack animation, and it makes a few of the game's tougher moments more frustrating than need be. The game's always giving you items to use at your disposal, though. You can get item picks up from shields to invisibility cloaks to instant charges for your Rampage mode, and you can also get weapons such as grenades, rifles and lovely, lovely rocket launchers.

The game does try to mix up the action a bit, though. Free missions are usually no more than "beat up this many guys in this amount of time", but some are a little more arcadey, such as knocking balls into goals. Story missions might have you going head to head with another character, or you might end up fighting two or three characters with one or two partners of your own. There's even a multistage battle with an electricity-spewing kraken that's one of the gamer's finer moments. For the most part, though, the game's a cakewalk, with most enemies just serve as punching fodder, letting you pounding on them without much resistance. Yet, when the game decides to finally get challenging, the spikes seem a bit unfair. If you really want a challenge, though, it's best to play it on Hard from the onset.

As for characters, the game has a few returning faces, such as the Asian cutie Rin Rin, the curvaceous yet deadly Mathilda, and everyone's favor pimp Blacker Baron. What's even better is that some missions let you choose who you want to play as. If you really loved Blacker Baron from MadWorld, being able to play as him might be worth the price of admission alone. Of course, there are a lot of new faces as well, such as Onkie, a snout-faced scavenger of parts; Durga, the cybernetic feline human; and Sasha, Leo's seductive partner. All these characters are unlocked as you encounter them in the campaign for use in the game's training and multiplayer modes.

It's easy to tell that not much money was spent on the game's production values. The visuals are obviously dated, as they aren't technically impressive at all. Textures aren't very sharp, and the environments and objects are built rather simply, but the game performs very smoothly. The game can throw a good number of enemies at you, while also doing crazy random things such as carpet bombing the ground while you fight, having an enormous excavator weave its way towards you, or even blind you as a twister summons up a gigantic sandstorm. Its art direction is the only thing that really captures the eye, as the character designs are quite interesting. For some fans of MadWorld, they'll be disappointed that the game's in full color now, abandoning the black and white noir style, and also trading in the red blood for other colors of fluid, such as blue for mutants and gray for cybernetic enemies.

It is a noisy game, though. If you love your action games loud, Anarchy Reigns reigns supreme. Using your Killer Weapons produces satisfying sounds of flesh being rendered with every swipe. Every powerful punch and slam and kick is accompanied with impactful thumps and whams and slams. The soundtrack is composed of a mix of hip hop and electronica and for fans of those genres, the official soundtrack is worth hunting down. The voice acting is pretty solid as well, with performances ranging from campy to deadly serious. If you loved the voice acting of Jack Cayman and Blacker Baron, you'll love it just as much in Anarchy Reigns.

The most appealing feature of the game is obviously its price tag of 29.99. MadWorld debuted at 49.99 and unfortunately was roughly three hours long. Anarchy Reigns is at least twice as long, and although it doesn't give you the same level of creative brutality, it does give you another absolutely crazy campaign. Plus, if you are into mulitplayer, it lets you whale on your friends with one of 16 different characts. Unfortunately, the game really does want you to play it more online than off, as the cursor actually defaults to Multiplayer when you first start the game up. MadWorld fans will be disappointed that they didn't get a true sequel to a game that definitely deserved one, but it's still fun nonetheless and the 30 dollar price tag makes it much easier to forgive.

Get the full article at GameSpot

"JustPlainLucas reviewed Anarchy Reigns for the PlayStation 3..." was posted by JustPlainLucas on Sat, 26 Jan 2013 12:45:56 -0800
]]> http://www.gamespot.com/anarchy-reigns/user-reviews/806774/platform/ps3/