freedomfreak's GameSpot Friend's Reviews freedomfreak's GameSpot Friend's Reviews freedomfreak'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 18:40:53 -0700 GameSpot freedomfreak's GameSpot Friend's Reviews http://img.gamespot.com/gamespot/shared/promos/misc/gs_logo.gif http://www.gamespot.com 135 40 Tue, 29 Jan 2013 13:34:02 -0800 SuperNovaftw reviewed LIMBO for the PlayStation 3... http://www.gamespot.com/limbo/user-reviews/806893/platform/ps3/ ...and gave it a 7.0.

Well what can I say about Limbo? Limbo is an atmospheric game the black and white theme is well executed. You play as a kid finding his sister you face angry tribesmen and a giant spider during your adventure.Limbo is basically a puzzle and believe me when I say this it is one of my first puzzle game. Limbo could also be considered as a platformer. Limbo is all about atmosphere the graphics are great, the sound is well executed and the puzzles are well thought ,but the problem for me is the puzzles the puzzles are great and all. Most were challenging some were easy. I keep on dieing again and again its just frustrating I was in a mood where I just wanted to finish the game because its just trial and error. The trial and error just ruins the atmospheric experiance on top of that there is nothing to do after you finish the game.

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"SuperNovaftw reviewed LIMBO for the PlayStation 3..." was posted by SuperNovaftw on Tue, 29 Jan 2013 13:34:02 -0800
]]> http://www.gamespot.com/limbo/user-reviews/806893/platform/ps3/ Mon, 28 Jan 2013 10:28:12 -0800 SuperNovaftw reviewed Just Cause 2 for the PlayStation 3... http://www.gamespot.com/just-cause-2/user-reviews/806847/platform/ps3/ ...and gave it a 9.0!

Just cause 2 a game which is set in Panau you are an agent from America your goal is to assasinate your old mentor Tom Sheldon, and while doing so destory the harsh dictatorship. The game plays well. You can choose difficulty modes and whatnot. The game is open world and the map is so damn big there are a variety of terrains from big city to mountains to desserts etc. You have a grappling hook and the hook helps you get through in such ease as well as killing enemys. There are so many ways of messing around the fun never ends. In order to unlock the storys main missions you have to do faction missions and cause chaos (destory government stuff.)There are 4 factions.Doing all this stuff makes the game repetitive its not very repetitive but you somtimes get a mission where you escort an engineer well you get that mission quite alot. One problem I had while playing this game was the fact that I kept on running out of ammo ! It just gets really annoying having to loot enemys in big scale fights.The game also has a record feature and the graphics are the best I have seen in a game.

Presentation:10
Gameplay:10
Story:9
Replay ability:9.5

overall : 9.0

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"SuperNovaftw reviewed Just Cause 2 for the PlayStation 3..." was posted by SuperNovaftw on Mon, 28 Jan 2013 10:28:12 -0800
]]> http://www.gamespot.com/just-cause-2/user-reviews/806847/platform/ps3/ Sat, 26 Jan 2013 12:46:37 -0800 SuperNovaftw reviewed Vanquish for the PlayStation 3... http://www.gamespot.com/vanquish/user-reviews/806775/platform/ps3/ ...and gave it a 10.0!!!

The game is amazing.The sound is great the main menu is good although they could have added more modes. The graphics are cool and flashy. The main charachter has a sense of humour his accomplice doesent. The main charachter is in a suit the suit is preety awesome you can boost and enter a special mode that slows down time,however there is one downside to this case if you use the powers for more then 20 secs the suit overheats and you have to wait 20secs for it to cool down. The AR mode is awesome you can jump out of cover and activate Ar mode. I can imagine some cool gifs being created. The cover mode is well implemented. Quicktime events arent a chore in boss fights. Overall this is a good game but its fun while it lasts it finishes so quickly but you can always change the difficulty and play again.

Gameplay:10
Presentation:10
Replayability:7

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"SuperNovaftw reviewed Vanquish for the PlayStation 3..." was posted by SuperNovaftw on Sat, 26 Jan 2013 12:46:37 -0800
]]> http://www.gamespot.com/vanquish/user-reviews/806775/platform/ps3/ Sat, 26 Jan 2013 12:35:01 -0800 SuperNovaftw reviewed Call of Duty: Black Ops II for the PlayStation 3... http://www.gamespot.com/call-of-duty-black-ops-ii/user-reviews/806773/platform/ps3/ ...and gave it a 9.0!

I have got all Cod games.This is the best one yet!

Presentation:Cod games dont change much. I never care about the look of the menus especially since Treyarch have done a marvellous job.Call Of Duty games dont change much in terms of graphics but the graphics are good. I feel that this game looks better then Black ops 1 but not by a large margin.The game runs at around 60fps in multiplayer which is very good for consoles especially compared to other games that run at 30fps.

Campaign: The best campaign in a Call of Duty game. First lets start with the story. The story switches between the future and the 1980s. In the 1980's you play as Mason ,and in 2025 you play as Mason's son. The game has a villian Raul Mendez who is set out for revenge. Woods returns and 2 other characters return (although they dont stay for long). The game is fun to play different levels are varied and you are put in decisions that can change the game.Infact there are 5 different endings to the game. Strike force missions also help to decide the ending. Strike force missions add a tactical part to the game. You basically control different units sentry,soldiers,helicopters etc and you use them to escort someone or defend a base. Every strike force mission is varied and different , although it isnt for everyone I skipped most of them. Also you can adjust your loadout before a mission.You unlock most of the weapons throughout the game.

Multiplayer: Call of duty is well known for its multiplayer for 2 important reasons its fun and addictive. Call of duty is the same as any past COD game you have call cards,emblems,new killstreaks,new modes,challenges. Regardless if there are new changes or not the game is a blast to play. If I get bored of the main boards (I hardly do) I just play the Party modes which are a blast to play. Theres also league play where you unlock everything from the start and you play with people at your level.

Zombies:Zombies is what separates black ops to Modern wafare. Zombies is great fun with freinds there are new modes here.

Presentation:9.5
Campaign:10
Multiplayer:10
Zombies:9

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]]> http://www.gamespot.com/call-of-duty-black-ops-ii/user-reviews/806773/platform/ps3/ Wed, 09 Jan 2013 09:14:57 -0800 caseypayne69 reviewed The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim for the PlayStation 3... http://www.gamespot.com/the-elder-scrolls-v-skyrim/user-reviews/806047/platform/ps3/ ...and gave it a 8.5.

Skyrim puts you in a world after the death of a king. You roam around doing as you please helping or killing whoever you want. Except for importanat characters of course, they never die.

For starters you have 1st and 3rd person view points. Combated is evolved from the previous ES game. Now you have casting and fighting abilities with both hands. Fighting can be rewarding and some times cheap. (running from a giant while shooting arrows). Dragon combat lacks a certain epic scale. It lands you slash it. Nothing more. I would have preferred some sort of combat change for the dragon battles. PS Giants are great for block leveling.

Leveling is fun and easy. It also caps at lvl 80. Currently I'm level 36. You can level up Spell casting, blocking, one handed swords, two handed and so on. It's pretty large in scale.

NPC characters have great voices but lack the body movement to really believe them. Honestly, the game needs more emotions, more nudity for my taste to be realistic. You can't expect me to slay dozens of dragons and not expect me to not want to bath with topless women. (Kratos thank you)

Quest assigning is easy and the world maps helps you on where to go. Be careful if you are wanting a quick play through then don't bother with MISC quests. They can hold you for days of game play. Literally.

At the end of the day this was bought as a gift for me and I love it. But I wish I had the PC version for its bountiful community of mods.

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]]> http://www.gamespot.com/the-elder-scrolls-v-skyrim/user-reviews/806047/platform/ps3/ Fri, 28 Sep 2012 13:01:29 -0700 Michael0134567 reviewed Resident Evil 4 HD for the Xbox 360... http://www.gamespot.com/resident-evil-4-hd/user-reviews/800587/platform/xbox360/ ...and gave it a 7.5.

I'm sure many of us have already played some version of Resident Evil 4. If you haven't, then you're really missing out as Resident Evil 4 is one of the best games ever made. Of course, that's just my opinion, and I imagine many agree and many disagree with that. I was excited to hear that Resident Evil 4 was going to be in HD, but this port is nothing but a quick cash-in. The HD in this port is not true HD. It's more of an upscale and the game actually looks worse. You're much better off with the Wii version or one of the other versions.

The plot for Resident Evil 4 is you are Leon S. Kennedy who is sent to Europe to rescue the President's kidnapped daughter, Ashley Graham. Ashley has been kidnapped by a mysterious cult. Upon going there, Leon encounters violent villagers who are not zombies. The story may be straightforward, but it is highly entertaining and has many intense, unforgettable moments.

Resident Evil 4's gameplay holds up really well to this day. It's a lot of fun and it's very satisfying. The main focus is on combat. There are some minor puzzles, but they definitely take a backseat. That's not a bad thing as the puzzles are relatively easy (but still satisfying to solve), and the combat is amazing. There's a wide variety of weapons you can use including handguns, shotguns, rifles, magnums, among others. You also always have a knife with you. You'll want to be a good shot as ammo isn't constantly handed to you. Using a Xbox 360 controller works well for this, although I did find the aiming a bit touchy sometimes. I vastly prefer using the Wii Remote and Nunchuk, but a dual-analog controller works well enough. I wish there was a way to increase the aiming sensitivity, as I find the aiming a bit too slow for my liking, but some weapons allow you to aim faster.

You'll encounter many boss fights through the main game, as well as mini-bosses, which include villagers with chainsaws. These are some of the best fights I've seen in a game. I won't spoil anything though. I will admit that I found the final boss fight to be a bit easy, at least when compared to some of the previous ones. Still, it's mighty satisfying.

When you buy an HD version of a game, you would expect it to look better than it originally did. That is not the case with Resident Evil 4 HD. Actually, it looks noticeably worse. Sure, the resolution is increased, and the characters look a bit better, but everything else looks worse. The most obvious is the environments. They're quite a bit blurrier than they originally were, and you do spend a lot of time exploring the environments for ammo, health, and treasures. This also means the cutscenes don't look so hot. Speaking of cutscenes, the ones for Separate Ways are really blurry. It looks like they kept them in standard definition and just stretched them out. I also noticed some slowdown in a few parts, which should not be happening. At least, the art-style is still great.

Resident Evil 4 HD's audio fares better than the graphical side, but it's still not perfect. The game still sounds great, but the sound effects and voice acting occasionally sound muffled. I found it distracting and I also ran into some sound glitches that I never encountered until this version. In one part, a door was opening, and after the door was completely opened, it was still making the sound as if it was still opening. Not a big deal, but distracting. I also found the music hard to hear sometimes.

Resident Evil 4 HD includes all the content found in previous versions, plus you can now check leaderboards. I enjoyed seeing the top times for the main game. This means there's plenty of replay value, but considering how lazy this port is, and the fact that you can get the Wii version for cheaper brand new, I find the price to be too high. I'm sure some people will be more than happy to pay $20 for this port, but I find it too high.

Gameplay: It's still plenty satisfying and fun. Great boss fights, and plenty of challenge. 9.5/10

Graphics: The art-style is still great, but this HD port actually makes the game look worse. 6/10

Sound: Still sounds great, but is occasionally muffled, and music can be hard to hear sometimes. 8/10

Value: I do think it's priced too high, but still, there's plenty of content and reason to continue playing. 9/10

Resident Evil 4 is in my opinion, one of the best games of all time. It still holds up really well to this day. If I had to rate the game, it'd be a definite 10. However, I would give the "HD" port a 5. This is a really lazy port, and there's no question about it. If you're looking to buy a version of Resident Evil 4, I recommend buying the Wii, PC, or PS2 version over this. The Gamecube version is awesome of course, but it doesn't have all the content in these versions. If you already own one of those versions, stick with that one. It's better than this one.

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"Michael0134567 reviewed Resident Evil 4 HD for the Xbox 360..." was posted by Michael0134567 on Fri, 28 Sep 2012 13:01:29 -0700
]]> http://www.gamespot.com/resident-evil-4-hd/user-reviews/800587/platform/xbox360/ Fri, 24 Feb 2012 00:08:12 -0800 wis3boi reviewed Star Wars: The Old Republic for the PC... http://www.gamespot.com/star-wars-the-old-republic/user-reviews/788450/platform/pc/ ...and gave it a 6.5.

Story driven MMO from BioWare? Sounds fantastic! Or so I thought when in the beta and when I went retail release. I played my free month, and one paid month, and then stopped and won't be back for more and here's why.


- the planets are an interesting selection, but they are very linear for the most part and many don't offer much in the way of pvp. All classes share sidequests and they make up the bulk of the game (storyline quests for your class are far fewer than the "seen one seen most of em" side quests).

- rerolling new classes means heavily repeated content

- server balance is terrible. Many servers are heavily populated with empire players, leaving a bitter taste in your mouth on both sides due to terrible pvp

- pve instances are neatly designed but incredibly easy and short. Endgame consists of two easy raids

- pvp warzones only have three maps and are horribly balanced. It separates players into brackets (a 1-49 one, and a level 50 one). Stats are inflated based on the top level player in the map, making very lopsided battles.

- the graphics engine is very poor for 2012...no multicore support, no 64 bit support, DX9 only, terrible performance even on supercomputers,and a broken graphics menu (high settings don't work, they are the same as medium. BioWare knows about this and has said they don't intend to fix it any time soon)

- lack of basic features, like auction house functionality, a barber shop, cosmetics, chat bubbles, or a working friends/guild member list.


Overall the core gameplay itself was fun, the soundtrack is great, and it's star wars! But simple features missing, lack of polish, and lack of meaningful content makes this my biggest disappointment of 2011. I hope they can add more to the game to make it worth returning to because I would love to get more into a good star wars RPG.

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"wis3boi reviewed Star Wars: The Old Republic for the PC..." was posted by wis3boi on Fri, 24 Feb 2012 00:08:12 -0800
]]> http://www.gamespot.com/star-wars-the-old-republic/user-reviews/788450/platform/pc/ Mon, 19 Dec 2011 15:51:48 -0800 charizard1605 reviewed Pokemon Black Version for the DS... http://www.gamespot.com/pokemon-black-version/user-reviews/783648/platform/ds/ ...and gave it a 9.0!

Let's get this out of the way, here and now- Pokemon Black and White are the best handheld games ever created. No other game has had this compelling craft of deep and addictive gameplay that is equally inviting to newcomers and series veterans alike, no other game has managed to evoke these feelings of wonderment and excitement, and a genuine, legitimate curiosity as to what comes next, no other games have actually had a game world as immersive as these games do since the original Gameboy Pokemon games. In every way possible, Pokemon Black and White represent the pitch perfection of the handheld game philosophy- they're easy to pick up and get into, and can be played in as short or long play sessions as you would want, they represent a genuinely compelling personal story that you instantly connect to, and they actually use all the tech available at their disposal and use it in exciting new ways. Simply put, these are the ultimate handheld titles, and if they are any indication of where Nintendo plans to go next with its handheld software development, then the Big N should really not feel threatened at all by the cheap dollar apps available on smartphones. As long as games like Pokemon Black and White exist, core handheld gaming is going nowhere.

Let's backtrack, and start at the beginning, though, for those of you who may not have any idea what Pokemon really is, or for those of you who only know it as a billion dollar, media spanning enterprise that is the biggest franchise in gaming today. Look beyond the anime, and the yearly movies, and the trading cards, and the plush merchandise, and what you are left with is a series of exceptionally strong role playing games, that has always been the premier software line on handhelds. The Pokemon games, at their core, are basic JRPGs, and they reflect a lot of the conventions of that genre in their design, replete with countless random battles, turn based battling, experience based leveling up, exploration of secret dungeons for loot and secret characters, and more. To any layperson who takes a casual glance at the series, that is what the Pokemon games will appear to be- heavily simplified JRPGs, made to appeal to the broadest possible demographic.
What a casual glance cannot tell you is that Pokemon are also strategy games, perhaps some of the finest around. There are six hundred and forty nine different Pokemon species available for capture, and each of these can be recruited to be a part of your party. Each Pokemon species can be affiliated to up to two Pokemon elemental types, which range from the obvious (such as Fire, Grass, Water, Electric) to the somewhat more ambiguous (Fighting, Dark, Psychic). Each elemental type is strong against some other types, and weak to others. A Pokemon's type (or type combination, in case it has more than one type) determines what Pokemon it will be strong against in battle.

Each Pokemon can also learn up to four moves. Moves themselves are also affiliated to one of the seventeen types, and if a Pokemon uses a move that is of the same type as itself (that is, if a, say, fire Pokemon uses a fire move), then it gets an attack bonus. Moreover, moves are also classified into Physical (involves the attacking Pokemon making direct physical attack with the opposing Pokemon), Special (involves the attacking Pokemon damaging the opposing Pokemon without any physical attack) and Status (involves the attacking Pokemon causing some kind of stat change). The effect of each move on the attacking and opposing Pokemon is governed by the six stats that all Pokemon have- Attack, Defense, HP, Special Attack, Special Defense, and Speed.

Head spinning already? That isn't even half the story told. There are infinite other things that add more complexity to battles, such as equippable items, weather effects, Pokemon abilities, and more. Pokemon battles are incredibly complex, and require thorough training and foresight and planning to be mastered properly. The best part, though, is that the game eases the player into each of these concepts so gradually that by the end, the player will have mastered all of them, but won't have realized the immense complexity of it all.

The question, of course, is, why do the games focus on Pokemon battling at all? Well, the series focuses on children living in the Pokemon world, on a quest to not only catch all the monsters, but also to train them in Pokemon battles (which are what I suppose can only be termed as an acceptable form of cockfighting), to participate in the world Pokemon championships and become the champion. To do so, the trainer- that is, the kid who's catching and training Pokemon- must challenge eight different Pokemon League certified gyms throughout the land, to be qualified to participate in the tournament. Most of the times, along the way, the kid has repeated encounters with the local terrorist group that seeks to use Pokemon to further their own nefarious ends.

The reason that I have spent so much time in establishing and explaining the template of the Pokemon games is because it is largely the same in every game of the series, including Pokemon Black and White. To the newcomer, then, the above paragraphs should serve as a basic Pokemon 101 guide, although they are by no means comprehensive. What with the series adding new features and elements to the game incrementally with every major release, the formula of the Pokemon games has grown, been refined and perfected over the years, until last year's Pokemon HeartGold and SoulSilver, which represented perhaps the ultimate refinement of every single feature that the Pokemon series has had over the years. The problem is, it has also grown somewhat too bloated and stagnant, and the series was in major need of some fresh air. Pokemon Black and White, with their back to the basics approach, don't exactly reinvent the wheel, but they do give the series just the adrenaline shot it needed.

For starters, let's be clear on one thing- structurally, the games are still the same as the previous entries in the franchise. If you were really hoping to play as a member of the evil organization, or be a gym leader or a Pokemon breeder, then you're in for some disappointment. Pokemon as a series thrives on refining and perfecting the same formula, making it feel just new enough each time to warrant a purchase and yet keeping it comfortingly familiar. With Black and White, things have been mixed up, but just enough to make these titles feel refreshingly new. Part of this comes from the fact that the game features all new monsters, and none of the older ones. This forces Pokemon veterans to actually play with the new menagerie of creatures, as opposed to instantly going after old favorites, which, in turn means that they are forced to learn about these new monsters. It's an exciting thing, trying to figure out what type the Pokemon you've just encountered is, trying to figure out which of your moves will work best against it, and it evokes the same kind of feelings that players must have had when they were playing Pokemon Red and Blue.

What also adds to the games feeling fresh is the new region, which is without doubt, the best region to have appeared in a Pokemon game till date. And I mean that in more ways than one. From a geographical perspective, Unova is diverse, with lush forests, sprawling cities, rural settlements tucked away in some unsuspecting corner, and sprawling bridges. From a gameplay perspective, this probably represents the best world design that Game Freak have ever come up with, with the world having tons of secrets meticulously tucked away, and posing significant challenges to the player at every turn, without the need for the game breaking Hidden Moves that were required to progress in the earlier games.

Yep, you heard that right. Whereas this game still has HMs- seven of them, in fact- none of them are needed to progress in the game (except for Cut, which needs to be used once very early in the game). The only thing you'll need them for is to access secret legendary Pokemon and hidden areas and dungeons. This means that you can finally concentrate on both, your progress through the game, and bringing up a well rounded team without having to worry about having an HM decoy Pokemon that drags your team down. This, along with the fact that TMs are now infinite use, leading to customizable move sets that fans have always wanted, do wonders for the game.

The makers of the game however, evidently realized that the star of the show is not the main character, or any of the surprisingly well developed supporting characters (more on that in a minute) this time around, but rather, it's Unova. I say this this because they clearly went to excessive lengths to present Unova to the player in a way that leaves a lasting impression. With dynamic camera angles, close ins and zoom outs, 3D cutscenes and panorama sweeping camera pans, Unova is sure to leave an impression on your mind.

The changes in the graphics aren't just limited to the overworld alone, however. After more than a decade of being stuck with Gameboy era slide show battles, Pokemon battles have finally been given a makeover, and while it isn't what we would have liked, it still makes for a nice change from the static affairs that we've been stuck with so far. In battles, your Pokemon are constantly moving around, wagging their tails, ears twitching, legs bounding, and they in fact even respond to status changes- a sleeping Pokemon, for instance, will have its eyes closed. The camera now zooms in and out at dramatic moments, giving the player a better feel of the battle, and this, accompanied with the new improved attack animations, makes battles actually look impressive for a change.

However, all of these new aesthetic changes do not bog the speed of the battles down. Players of Pokemon Diamond and Pearl probably remember how frustratingly slow battles were in those games, often dragging out for thirty, forty minutes at a stretch. In Black and White, the entire process has been streamlined with some long overdue changes. So, for instance, you no longer have an animation for the arena weather effect at the end of every turn anymore, but the effect is represented by a small icon on the touch screen. Every time you attack, the opposing Pokemon's HP meter does not slowly go down to zero like in the previous games, but flashes down instantly to the new HP level instantly. Animations in general have been sped up. This causes the battles to feel reinvigoratingly fast, and represents the game's design philosophy at large- that of streamlining the overly bloated mechanics to a manageable whole.

This isn't just limited to battles- for instance, some of the peripheral gameplay mechanics, like berry growing and egg breeding, now take a back seat and are more or less absent from the game until after the main quest has been beaten (which takes a harrowing forty hours). The multi pocketed bag of previous Pokemon games is gone, and we are now left with four pockets- items, medicine, TMs and Key Items. The PC box count is down to eight, and entire menus can now be assigned to the Y button, for ease of access and use.

However, while the game at large has been streamlined well- and by streamlined, I don't mean dumbed down, as the term has come to mean these days- the menus and interface of this game have taken a baffling step backwards. Players of last year's HeartGold and SoulSilver will remember that Game Freak more or less perfected the menu and interface design with those games. The menu was always accessible on the touch screen, so you didn't have to waste time pulling it up by pressing a button, for instance, and more than one item could be hotkeyed, including one to the touch screen, in addition to always on Running Shoes. Well, all of that is gone now. The menu has to be brought up by pressing X (though it can still be controlled with the touch screen once you've done that), and you always need to press the B button if you want to run. And while several items, and entire menus, can be assigned to the Y button, you still need to pull up a menu, scroll and select an item or menu. This feels like a step backwards, and also makes you question why the other unused buttons- L and R for instance- weren't used for anything at all.

But where the interface feels like a step backwards, the game definitely makes leaps and bounds forwards with its story. As all players can attest to, Pokemon has never been about the story, with the plots for the game being laughable at best, and that has changed to a certain degree this time around. This is apparent from the very beginning, as the game adopts a more character and plot driven approach from the get go. The story is now involved with Team Plasma, a group of activists who want all trainers to free their Pokemon, as they believe that humans enslaving Pokemon for their own good is morally wrong. They raise interesting ethical questions and issues, and the game deals with them lightly enough, to make you feel uncomfortable and to put the entire premise of the series into question. How the question is resolved is something I will not reveal, but suffice it to say that what they say is often disturbing, and that feeling never quite goes away.

Better than the story are the characters, from your two best friends, the victory obsessed Cheren, to the bubbly Bianca, who runs away from home to become a Pokemon trainer against her father's wishes. However, the best and most enigmatic of them all is the mysterious individual known as N, whose motives remain unclear even after he declares his true allegiances, and Ghetsis, the smooth talking man who has something more to him than meets the eye, something sinister.

Of course, with this newfound focus on the story and characters comes a new focus on the presentation of the game. As already explained, graphically, the game leaves no stone unturned, and is perhaps amongst the best looking DS titles till date, which is fitting considering that it is also the last major release planned for the system. However, it is in the sound department that this game truly shines. The music in Pokemon Black and White, from the surprisingly innocent rival battle theme to the rocking remix of the gym music, to the techno jazz Team Plasma battle theme to the nostalgia inducing Elite Four battle theme to the effervescent themes assigned to each of the cities and routes, is undoubtedly the best in the series so far. And whereas I know that most people simply turn the volume down when they're playing on their handhelds, please, do yourself a favor and get yourself headphones. The music in these games deserves it.

Also what is good is the fact that the ambient sound effects, first introduced in last year's HeartGold and SoulSilver, are back, although they are much more subtle, and they blend in with the environment more. What is even better is that the Pokemon cries now finally sound like the cries that animals would make, rather than sounding like some weird, distorted, mutated, twisted eight bit cry of torment. This is true, at least, for all of the new Pokemon- bringing in the older Pokemon into the game (which you can do once you're through with the story mode) means that the older Pokemon will still sound jarringly ancient and perplexingly annoying.

Speaking of the new Pokemon, the new designs definitely take some getting used to, but they are, by and large, very good. The legendary Pokemon look BA as always, but it's the regular Pokemon where the game simultaneously demonstrates its shining creativity and its flat out laziness. From imaginative designs like Sawk and Timburr and Snivy and Emboar to the flat out stupid ones like Vanillite (an ice cream cone. No, seriously), Klink (Two gears. What. The. Duck.) and Trubbish (a bag of trash. No, I mean it) , this bunch has them all. While these monsters still don't top the original 251 Pokemon, they're better than most of the crap that Generation Four threw our way, and that's a bit of a relief.

Thankfully, you can import your older Pokemon from the DS Pokemon games into these ones once you beat this game's long story mode, which clocks in at more than forty hours. This excessively long play time means that this game gives you more bang for your buck than almost any other console title released these days. But there's more! In addition to the full featured single player mode, Pokemon Black and White have the most full featured online and local multiplayer mode for any Nintendo game, Pokemon or otherwise, till date. There's finally random battling online, and the GTS returns in a much improved form, allowing for negotiated trades. The bulk of the online options are still accessed via Friend Codes, which is a shame, but the local multiplayer shines thanks to the new IR support that is native to these games, which allows for much faster local battling and trading without having to go to a Pokemon Center (yes, I know!). All of this ensures that Black and White will be firmly lodged in your DS game slot for years and years to come.

It basically boils down to this- Pokemon Black and White are the best handheld games ever. They are also quite obviously the best Pokemon games ever, better than even Gold and Silver, and the most full featured yet accessible titles in the series to date. Where Pokemon will go next is anybody's guess, especially seeing how the developers seem to be running out of ideas for new creatures, and how the 3DS will afford them with all the power of a home console, but that doesn't matter- Black and White remind you why you would care in the first place, they remind you why handheld gaming is still relevant. Surprisingly poignant and touching, epic and grand in scale, fun and familiar, new and old, Pokemon Black and White is a game that any and every self respecting gamer should go out and buy immediately.

Get the full article at GameSpot

"charizard1605 reviewed Pokemon Black Version for the DS..." was posted by charizard1605 on Mon, 19 Dec 2011 15:51:48 -0800
]]> http://www.gamespot.com/pokemon-black-version/user-reviews/783648/platform/ds/ Mon, 19 Dec 2011 15:50:56 -0800 charizard1605 reviewed Pokemon White Version for the DS... http://www.gamespot.com/pokemon-white-version/user-reviews/783647/platform/ds/ ...and gave it a 9.0!

Let's get this out of the way, here and now- Pokemon Black and White are the best handheld games ever created. No other game has had this compelling craft of deep and addictive gameplay that is equally inviting to newcomers and series veterans alike, no other game has managed to evoke these feelings of wonderment and excitement, and a genuine, legitimate curiosity as to what comes next, no other games have actually had a game world as immersive as these games do since the original Gameboy Pokemon games. In every way possible, Pokemon Black and White represent the pitch perfection of the handheld game philosophy- they're easy to pick up and get into, and can be played in as short or long play sessions as you would want, they represent a genuinely compelling personal story that you instantly connect to, and they actually use all the tech available at their disposal and use it in exciting new ways. Simply put, these are the ultimate handheld titles, and if they are any indication of where Nintendo plans to go next with its handheld software development, then the Big N should really not feel threatened at all by the cheap dollar apps available on smartphones. As long as games like Pokemon Black and White exist, core handheld gaming is going nowhere.

Let's backtrack, and start at the beginning, though, for those of you who may not have any idea what Pokemon really is, or for those of you who only know it as a billion dollar, media spanning enterprise that is the biggest franchise in gaming today. Look beyond the anime, and the yearly movies, and the trading cards, and the plush merchandise, and what you are left with is a series of exceptionally strong role playing games, that has always been the premier software line on handhelds. The Pokemon games, at their core, are basic JRPGs, and they reflect a lot of the conventions of that genre in their design, replete with countless random battles, turn based battling, experience based leveling up, exploration of secret dungeons for loot and secret characters, and more. To any layperson who takes a casual glance at the series, that is what the Pokemon games will appear to be- heavily simplified JRPGs, made to appeal to the broadest possible demographic.
What a casual glance cannot tell you is that Pokemon are also strategy games, perhaps some of the finest around. There are six hundred and forty nine different Pokemon species available for capture, and each of these can be recruited to be a part of your party. Each Pokemon species can be affiliated to up to two Pokemon elemental types, which range from the obvious (such as Fire, Grass, Water, Electric) to the somewhat more ambiguous (Fighting, Dark, Psychic). Each elemental type is strong against some other types, and weak to others. A Pokemon's type (or type combination, in case it has more than one type) determines what Pokemon it will be strong against in battle.

Each Pokemon can also learn up to four moves. Moves themselves are also affiliated to one of the seventeen types, and if a Pokemon uses a move that is of the same type as itself (that is, if a, say, fire Pokemon uses a fire move), then it gets an attack bonus. Moreover, moves are also classified into Physical (involves the attacking Pokemon making direct physical attack with the opposing Pokemon), Special (involves the attacking Pokemon damaging the opposing Pokemon without any physical attack) and Status (involves the attacking Pokemon causing some kind of stat change). The effect of each move on the attacking and opposing Pokemon is governed by the six stats that all Pokemon have- Attack, Defense, HP, Special Attack, Special Defense, and Speed.

Head spinning already? That isn't even half the story told. There are infinite other things that add more complexity to battles, such as equippable items, weather effects, Pokemon abilities, and more. Pokemon battles are incredibly complex, and require thorough training and foresight and planning to be mastered properly. The best part, though, is that the game eases the player into each of these concepts so gradually that by the end, the player will have mastered all of them, but won't have realized the immense complexity of it all.

The question, of course, is, why do the games focus on Pokemon battling at all? Well, the series focuses on children living in the Pokemon world, on a quest to not only catch all the monsters, but also to train them in Pokemon battles (which are what I suppose can only be termed as an acceptable form of cockfighting), to participate in the world Pokemon championships and become the champion. To do so, the trainer- that is, the kid who's catching and training Pokemon- must challenge eight different Pokemon League certified gyms throughout the land, to be qualified to participate in the tournament. Most of the times, along the way, the kid has repeated encounters with the local terrorist group that seeks to use Pokemon to further their own nefarious ends.

The reason that I have spent so much time in establishing and explaining the template of the Pokemon games is because it is largely the same in every game of the series, including Pokemon Black and White. To the newcomer, then, the above paragraphs should serve as a basic Pokemon 101 guide, although they are by no means comprehensive. What with the series adding new features and elements to the game incrementally with every major release, the formula of the Pokemon games has grown, been refined and perfected over the years, until last year's Pokemon HeartGold and SoulSilver, which represented perhaps the ultimate refinement of every single feature that the Pokemon series has had over the years. The problem is, it has also grown somewhat too bloated and stagnant, and the series was in major need of some fresh air. Pokemon Black and White, with their back to the basics approach, don't exactly reinvent the wheel, but they do give the series just the adrenaline shot it needed.

For starters, let's be clear on one thing- structurally, the games are still the same as the previous entries in the franchise. If you were really hoping to play as a member of the evil organization, or be a gym leader or a Pokemon breeder, then you're in for some disappointment. Pokemon as a series thrives on refining and perfecting the same formula, making it feel just new enough each time to warrant a purchase and yet keeping it comfortingly familiar. With Black and White, things have been mixed up, but just enough to make these titles feel refreshingly new. Part of this comes from the fact that the game features all new monsters, and none of the older ones. This forces Pokemon veterans to actually play with the new menagerie of creatures, as opposed to instantly going after old favorites, which, in turn means that they are forced to learn about these new monsters. It's an exciting thing, trying to figure out what type the Pokemon you've just encountered is, trying to figure out which of your moves will work best against it, and it evokes the same kind of feelings that players must have had when they were playing Pokemon Red and Blue.

What also adds to the games feeling fresh is the new region, which is without doubt, the best region to have appeared in a Pokemon game till date. And I mean that in more ways than one. From a geographical perspective, Unova is diverse, with lush forests, sprawling cities, rural settlements tucked away in some unsuspecting corner, and sprawling bridges. From a gameplay perspective, this probably represents the best world design that Game Freak have ever come up with, with the world having tons of secrets meticulously tucked away, and posing significant challenges to the player at every turn, without the need for the game breaking Hidden Moves that were required to progress in the earlier games.

Yep, you heard that right. Whereas this game still has HMs- seven of them, in fact- none of them are needed to progress in the game (except for Cut, which needs to be used once very early in the game). The only thing you'll need them for is to access secret legendary Pokemon and hidden areas and dungeons. This means that you can finally concentrate on both, your progress through the game, and bringing up a well rounded team without having to worry about having an HM decoy Pokemon that drags your team down. This, along with the fact that TMs are now infinite use, leading to customizable move sets that fans have always wanted, do wonders for the game.

The makers of the game however, evidently realized that the star of the show is not the main character, or any of the surprisingly well developed supporting characters (more on that in a minute) this time around, but rather, it's Unova. I say this this because they clearly went to excessive lengths to present Unova to the player in a way that leaves a lasting impression. With dynamic camera angles, close ins and zoom outs, 3D cutscenes and panorama sweeping camera pans, Unova is sure to leave an impression on your mind.

The changes in the graphics aren't just limited to the overworld alone, however. After more than a decade of being stuck with Gameboy era slide show battles, Pokemon battles have finally been given a makeover, and while it isn't what we would have liked, it still makes for a nice change from the static affairs that we've been stuck with so far. In battles, your Pokemon are constantly moving around, wagging their tails, ears twitching, legs bounding, and they in fact even respond to status changes- a sleeping Pokemon, for instance, will have its eyes closed. The camera now zooms in and out at dramatic moments, giving the player a better feel of the battle, and this, accompanied with the new improved attack animations, makes battles actually look impressive for a change.

However, all of these new aesthetic changes do not bog the speed of the battles down. Players of Pokemon Diamond and Pearl probably remember how frustratingly slow battles were in those games, often dragging out for thirty, forty minutes at a stretch. In Black and White, the entire process has been streamlined with some long overdue changes. So, for instance, you no longer have an animation for the arena weather effect at the end of every turn anymore, but the effect is represented by a small icon on the touch screen. Every time you attack, the opposing Pokemon's HP meter does not slowly go down to zero like in the previous games, but flashes down instantly to the new HP level instantly. Animations in general have been sped up. This causes the battles to feel reinvigoratingly fast, and represents the game's design philosophy at large- that of streamlining the overly bloated mechanics to a manageable whole.

This isn't just limited to battles- for instance, some of the peripheral gameplay mechanics, like berry growing and egg breeding, now take a back seat and are more or less absent from the game until after the main quest has been beaten (which takes a harrowing forty hours). The multi pocketed bag of previous Pokemon games is gone, and we are now left with four pockets- items, medicine, TMs and Key Items. The PC box count is down to eight, and entire menus can now be assigned to the Y button, for ease of access and use.

However, while the game at large has been streamlined well- and by streamlined, I don't mean dumbed down, as the term has come to mean these days- the menus and interface of this game have taken a baffling step backwards. Players of last year's HeartGold and SoulSilver will remember that Game Freak more or less perfected the menu and interface design with those games. The menu was always accessible on the touch screen, so you didn't have to waste time pulling it up by pressing a button, for instance, and more than one item could be hotkeyed, including one to the touch screen, in addition to always on Running Shoes. Well, all of that is gone now. The menu has to be brought up by pressing X (though it can still be controlled with the touch screen once you've done that), and you always need to press the B button if you want to run. And while several items, and entire menus, can be assigned to the Y button, you still need to pull up a menu, scroll and select an item or menu. This feels like a step backwards, and also makes you question why the other unused buttons- L and R for instance- weren't used for anything at all.

But where the interface feels like a step backwards, the game definitely makes leaps and bounds forwards with its story. As all players can attest to, Pokemon has never been about the story, with the plots for the game being laughable at best, and that has changed to a certain degree this time around. This is apparent from the very beginning, as the game adopts a more character and plot driven approach from the get go. The story is now involved with Team Plasma, a group of activists who want all trainers to free their Pokemon, as they believe that humans enslaving Pokemon for their own good is morally wrong. They raise interesting ethical questions and issues, and the game deals with them lightly enough, to make you feel uncomfortable and to put the entire premise of the series into question. How the question is resolved is something I will not reveal, but suffice it to say that what they say is often disturbing, and that feeling never quite goes away.

Better than the story are the characters, from your two best friends, the victory obsessed Cheren, to the bubbly Bianca, who runs away from home to become a Pokemon trainer against her father's wishes. However, the best and most enigmatic of them all is the mysterious individual known as N, whose motives remain unclear even after he declares his true allegiances, and Ghetsis, the smooth talking man who has something more to him than meets the eye, something sinister.

Of course, with this newfound focus on the story and characters comes a new focus on the presentation of the game. As already explained, graphically, the game leaves no stone unturned, and is perhaps amongst the best looking DS titles till date, which is fitting considering that it is also the last major release planned for the system. However, it is in the sound department that this game truly shines. The music in Pokemon Black and White, from the surprisingly innocent rival battle theme to the rocking remix of the gym music, to the techno jazz Team Plasma battle theme to the nostalgia inducing Elite Four battle theme to the effervescent themes assigned to each of the cities and routes, is undoubtedly the best in the series so far. And whereas I know that most people simply turn the volume down when they're playing on their handhelds, please, do yourself a favor and get yourself headphones. The music in these games deserves it.

Also what is good is the fact that the ambient sound effects, first introduced in last year's HeartGold and SoulSilver, are back, although they are much more subtle, and they blend in with the environment more. What is even better is that the Pokemon cries now finally sound like the cries that animals would make, rather than sounding like some weird, distorted, mutated, twisted eight bit cry of torment. This is true, at least, for all of the new Pokemon- bringing in the older Pokemon into the game (which you can do once you're through with the story mode) means that the older Pokemon will still sound jarringly ancient and perplexingly annoying.

Speaking of the new Pokemon, the new designs definitely take some getting used to, but they are, by and large, very good. The legendary Pokemon look BA as always, but it's the regular Pokemon where the game simultaneously demonstrates its shining creativity and its flat out laziness. From imaginative designs like Sawk and Timburr and Snivy and Emboar to the flat out stupid ones like Vanillite (an ice cream cone. No, seriously), Klink (Two gears. What. The. Duck.) and Trubbish (a bag of trash. No, I mean it) , this bunch has them all. While these monsters still don't top the original 251 Pokemon, they're better than most of the crap that Generation Four threw our way, and that's a bit of a relief.

Thankfully, you can import your older Pokemon from the DS Pokemon games into these ones once you beat this game's long story mode, which clocks in at more than forty hours. This excessively long play time means that this game gives you more bang for your buck than almost any other console title released these days. But there's more! In addition to the full featured single player mode, Pokemon Black and White have the most full featured online and local multiplayer mode for any Nintendo game, Pokemon or otherwise, till date. There's finally random battling online, and the GTS returns in a much improved form, allowing for negotiated trades. The bulk of the online options are still accessed via Friend Codes, which is a shame, but the local multiplayer shines thanks to the new IR support that is native to these games, which allows for much faster local battling and trading without having to go to a Pokemon Center (yes, I know!). All of this ensures that Black and White will be firmly lodged in your DS game slot for years and years to come.

It basically boils down to this- Pokemon Black and White are the best handheld games ever. They are also quite obviously the best Pokemon games ever, better than even Gold and Silver, and the most full featured yet accessible titles in the series to date. Where Pokemon will go next is anybody's guess, especially seeing how the developers seem to be running out of ideas for new creatures, and how the 3DS will afford them with all the power of a home console, but that doesn't matter- Black and White remind you why you would care in the first place, they remind you why handheld gaming is still relevant. Surprisingly poignant and touching, epic and grand in scale, fun and familiar, new and old, Pokemon Black and White is a game that any and every self respecting gamer should go out and buy immediately.

Get the full article at GameSpot

"charizard1605 reviewed Pokemon White Version for the DS..." was posted by charizard1605 on Mon, 19 Dec 2011 15:50:56 -0800
]]> http://www.gamespot.com/pokemon-white-version/user-reviews/783647/platform/ds/ Wed, 21 Sep 2011 20:07:19 -0700 Link3301 reviewed Team Fortress 2 for the PC... http://www.gamespot.com/team-fortress-2/user-reviews/775090/platform/pc/ ...and gave it a 9.0!

Team Fortress 2 is one of the best first-person, tactical shooters ever. On top of that, it's a freemium game. However, this game is different from other freemium games. Most freemium games give you limited content from the game, and makes you pay for the rest of it. Team Fortress 2 does this differently. It gives you the entire game, except for some hats your characters can wear, for free. The hats have no effect on the gameplay at all. You get everything that matters for free. Which is hard to believe considering how good this game is.

Gameplay:

Team Fortress 2 is like many other shooters. You have a variety of modes and maps to play on.

It offers nine classes to choose from: Scout, Soldier, Pyromaniac, Demoman, Heavy Weapons Guy, Engineer, Sniper, Medic, and Spy. Each of these classes is wildly different than the last. They all play an important role on the team. If you are in a macth and a class is not being used by your team, you may want to use that class to help your team out. Also, some classes won't get as many kills as others. This is because completing objectives is much more important than kills in this game.

As you play the game, you will unlock more powerful versions of your equipment for your characters. They will buff up your characters with a variety of stats.

Graphics:

Team Fortress 2 is a four year old game. It was also developed on the Source engine, which first debuted in 2004 with Half-Life 2. Despite being a four year old game on a seven year old engine, Team Fortress 2 still looks great. It still doesn't show signs of aging. The graphics are very cartoony, which is unusual for most shooters.

Overall:

Team Fortress 2 is excellent. I've yet to encounter a bug. It is very well polished, addicting, and fun. However, I can't give it a ten. It is kind of like a Team Fortress 1.5, rahter than Team Fortress 2. They added a few new modes, removed grenades, and they've done a few other small changes, but at the core, it still feels a lot like Team Fortress 1. I feel that with nine years of development time, they could've added some more custimization options or a new class or two. Also, there was no real wow factor that blew me away.





Get the full article at GameSpot

"Link3301 reviewed Team Fortress 2 for the PC..." was posted by Link3301 on Wed, 21 Sep 2011 20:07:19 -0700
]]> http://www.gamespot.com/team-fortress-2/user-reviews/775090/platform/pc/ Wed, 24 Aug 2011 11:51:47 -0700 Michael0134567 reviewed Call of Duty: Finest Hour for the PlayStation 2... http://www.gamespot.com/call-of-duty-finest-hour/user-reviews/773120/platform/ps2/ ...and gave it a 8.0.

Finest Hour is the first Call of Duty for the PS2,Xbox,and GameCube.It's a pretty solid game,although some flaws hurt it.I've heard the original Call of Duty is better(which I haven't played),but even if you have played that one,I think you should still play this one.

There is a story in Finest Hour,but it's not in-depth at all.You play as a character for a mission or two,and then go to a different character.This may sound good,but it makes it hard to care about any of the characters,as you don't get much of a chance to learn about them.

Finest Hour consists of three separate campaigns.They are told through three different perspectives;the Russian,British and American armies.This makes for good variety in areas,and plenty of memorable moments.The mission types aren't particularly original,but they're still pretty fun for the most part.You get on-foot missions,tank missions,sniping missions,and etc.I'm not particularly fond of tank missions.I just don't find driving a tank very fun.There's lots of different weapons to use,and several grenade types as well,including sticky grenades.You get weapons like the MP40,Thompson,M1 Garand,and more.There are some issues,however.Perhaps the biggest issue is the checkpoint system.You usually only get 1 checkpoint per mission,and sometimes you don't get any.This isn't too bad in the first two campaigns,but the third campaign can be pretty frustrating,due to the game getting a big difficulty bump.Another issue is throwing grenades.When you throw them,they don't seem to be affected by gravity.They can be useful,but it's too easy to blow yourself up.The AI on the enemies is pretty good for the most part.They take cover,and are fairly accurate(sometimes too accurate).Your teammates can be useful,but will occasionally get in the way while you're shooting or throwing a grenade. The shooting is pretty fun,and the campaign is fairly lengthy at over 10 hours long.There's also three different difficulties.There is multiplayer,but I don't have online.The campaign is fairly sold though.

The graphics are pretty good.The animations are nice and realistic looking.Weapons are highly detailed,and animations for reloading are nicely done.Environments are varied and for the most part,look pretty good.Explosions look nice,and menus are attractive.The frame rate will occasionally chop up though.Overall,Finest Hour offers pleasant and satisfying graphics.

The sound is very well done.The voice acting is excellent,as you would expect from a World War II shooter.Weapons sound good,although not as good as other shooters.The music is good,but not particularly memorable.Still,it helps the game feel epic.I think people will be satisfied with Finest Hour's sound.

There is a decent amount of replay value.The campaign is over 10 hours long with three difficulties which make a difference on how much health you can carry,amount of damage you take,and etc.There is multiplayer,but again,I have no online so I will just be rating on single player.

Story:There are plenty of different characters,but you never get a chance to care about them,or like them.What's hear is well told,but you probably won't care. 5/10

Gameplay:The shooting is fun,and the weapons feel solid.Some issues bring it down,like the checkpoint system.The AI is pretty solid though. 8/10

Graphics:Detailed weapon models,and realistic,attractive animations.Varied environments with good detail.Frame rate occasionally slows down. 8.5/10

Sound:Great voice acting,and weapons sound good and punchy.Music is good too,though probably not memorable. 8.5/10

Value:A 10 hour or so campaign with three difficulties.You'll probably only play through it twice,but may not make it through on hard,as it gets frustratingly tough on the third campaign. 7/10

Finest Hour is a solid first person shooter.It's well worth playing,particularly if you love Call of Duty.A few issues hurt it some,but you'll keep playing as its shooting is solid and fun.The AI is pretty good too overall.It's not as good as other Call of Duty's,like Big Red One,but you should still play it.It's a solid shooter with some issues.

Get the full article at GameSpot

]]> http://www.gamespot.com/call-of-duty-finest-hour/user-reviews/773120/platform/ps2/ Tue, 09 Aug 2011 05:25:52 -0700 Michael0134567 reviewed Killzone for the PlayStation 2... http://www.gamespot.com/killzone/user-reviews/772208/platform/ps2/ ...and gave it a 7.5.

Killzone is the first entry in the Killzone franchise from Guerrilla. It's a fun shooter, but it's very flawed. It has a lengthy single player, but it's pretty repetitive, and mainly because of the terrible AI. It also has a solid multiplayer, but it suffers from the same issues as the single player. Killzone follows four characters called Templar, Luger, Rico, and Hakha. Templar is like the leader, Luger is an assassin, Rico is a big guy with a chain gun, and Hakha is half Helghast/half human. The story is kinda unique, but it's not told all that well, which is a shame. There are too many fights between Rico and Hakha, but the voice acting is decent though. In the end, there are definitely games with worse stories, but there are games with stories that are told much better.

The gameplay is pretty solid for the most part. There's a good variety of weapons, and each character is different in the single player, which makes for a different experience and adds some replay value. It doesn't have the most satisfying shooting, but it's still fairly solid. The aiming feels a little weird at first, but you'll get used to it. Using the sniper rifle is kinda annoying, as when you zoom in with it, the aiming acts like it would in Perfect Dark or Goldeneye 007. You also can't move when you're zoomed in with the sniper rifle, or else it will un-zoom it. The worst thing is the terrible AI. They do a lot of standing around, and like to walk in a straight line, which makes them really easy to kill. Your teammates are pretty stupid too, although they can sometimes be useful for killing enemies, and they can't die either. If they could die, you would have to restart missions a lot. Another frustrating thing is the checkpoint system. Sometimes you don't even get a checkpoint in a section, which will make dying a very aggravating thing. Usually, you'll get a checkpoint about halfway through the mission, but some of the missions are pretty lengthy, and you will have to play through a lengthy and frustrating part again. The campaign is 11 missions long with a couple sections in each. It's fairly lengthy, at over 10 hours. It's very repetitive, because of the AI. I have no problem shooting the same enemies over and over again, but the AI makes it repetitive and kinda forgettable.

The multiplayer is considerably more enjoyable than the single player. There's six different modes to play, and 8 different maps. The maps are good overall. Some of the modes are no fun when you just have AI playing, as they suck at defending and destroying targets. I never got to play online, but I imagine it's a lot better. The gameplay is still decent overall, but it's very flawed.

The graphics are a big mixed bag. The texturing is decent, and the characters look good up close. When you're far away though, they're just a blurry mess. The best thing about the graphics is the great art style. The weapons also look really good, and I dig the animations for reloading and switching weapons. The animation is okay overall, but it can look a little weird at times. The death animations are terrible, as bodies will occasionally get caught on walls and stuck in the ground. They also die in unconvincing ways. The graphics are riddled with glitches, and there's a LOT of pop-in. The frame rate is probably the biggest offender. The game likes to chug and it's very easy to see that the frame rate is slowing down when you just move. When you're standing still, it looks good, but that changes when you start to move.

The sound is considerably better than the graphics. The voice acting is decent, with some cheesy dialogue here and there. The weapons sound good. There are some occasional glitches though, like when one of my guns made a completely different sound than it's supposed to when I fired it. The music is good though, and kinda has a epic feel to it.

There's quite a bit of replay value. The campaign is around 10 hours long, and you can always play through with the different characters. There's also 3 difficulties, which don't make much of a difference. The multiplayer will keep you busy for a while, as it has a decent selection of maps and modes. The AI isn't good here either, but it's slightly better.

Story: Interesting and kinda unique. It's not told well though, but the voice acting is decent. 6/10

Gameplay: Fun, occasionally frustrating, and repetitive due to poor AI. Pretty good variety of weapons and environments. Multiplayer is solid and campaign is good. 7.5/10

Graphics: This is where the game gets really messy. The frame rate is pretty bad, and there are lots of little glitches that really start to add up. At least the textures are decent for the most part, and the reloading animations are nice. 6/10

Sound: Quite a bit more consistent than graphics. Solid voice acting overall, good music, and the weapons have a nice punch to them. 8.5/10

Value: A lengthy, but repetitive (and mostly fun) single player. The multiplayer is quite a bit better with a solid amount of maps and modes. Having different playable characters in the single player is a nice touch. 8/10

Killzone is a good shooter (not great, just good), but it's flawed and occasionally frustrating. Sometimes, it feels a little rushed, and it could've been so much better if they took a couple more months on it. Instead, we get a good shooter riddled with issues. There are much worse shooters out there, and there are much better ones. Despite that, Killzone is a solid shooter that is worth playing.

Get the full article at GameSpot

"Michael0134567 reviewed Killzone for the PlayStation 2..." was posted by Michael0134567 on Tue, 09 Aug 2011 05:25:52 -0700
]]> http://www.gamespot.com/killzone/user-reviews/772208/platform/ps2/ Sat, 06 Aug 2011 19:29:07 -0700 Michael0134567 reviewed Call of Duty 2: Big Red One for the PlayStation 2... http://www.gamespot.com/call-of-duty-2-big-red-one/user-reviews/772059/platform/ps2/ ...and gave it a 9.0!

NOTE: I own the Call of Duty Legacy, which seems to have the Collector's Edition of Call of Duty 2: Big Red One. It doesn't say it on the case or the disc, but it says it on the memory card, and it has the extra content found in the Collector's Edition.

Call of Duty 2: Big Red One is another entry in the Call of Duty franchise and it's a really good game that's worth everyone's time. This game follows the Big Red One, the US Army's 1st Infantry Division. You play as a nameless private, who doesn't even talk. You have several teammates going along with you through the 14 mission campaign. I like the characters here, which hasn't been the case for a lot of other shooters. The storytelling is good, and immersive. You really feel like you're in a war. When a teammate dies, you'll definitely feel sad. One minor annoyance is that you can't skip cutscenes. Overall,the story is surprisingly good and engaging.

If you've played more recent Call of Duty's, then the gameplay is going to feel pretty similar, but that's not a bad thing at all. The action is fast and intense, except you can't sprint like in recent Call of Duty's. The controls feel great, and the weapons have a good feel to them. You can aim down the sights of every weapon so you can accurately hit an enemy. There's a good variety of weapons, from the Thompson and MP40 to rifles and sniper rifles. The AI is actually pretty good, but that'll depend on the difficulty. On normal, they're pretty decent, but will occasionally do stupid things. On hard, they're pretty good, and can kill you pretty quick Your health also doesn't regenerate, so you need to find health packs. This basically tells you to think smart, and not go out running and gunning. The campaign is fairly linear, but that's not necessarily a bad thing as the campaign has lots of variety and is very fun. The campaign is a little short at around 7 to 8 hours, but it's never dull, so you'll play through it again after beating it. The gameplay is very fun and will make you play through the campaign more than once.

The graphics are very good, save for some fairly minor issues. The characters and soldiers are well detailed and animated. The weapons look great, and the reloading animations look good. The environments are varied and make you feel like you're in a war. The main menu and other menus are very nicely done. The death animations look very good, and the soldiers will die in very convincing ways. However, the animations for characters aren't as smooth as they could've been, as they're a little choppy. The lip syncing is occasionally off, but that's never a issue in cutscenes. The frame rate occasionally slows down, but it's so minor that it's not even worth mentioning.

The sound is top notch, and really helps immerse you in the game. The music is very good and hits the right notes. The weapons sound great, but they don't sound as powerful as they probably should. The voice acting is top notch and really help the story become engaging. This is what you except from a World War II game.

There's a decent amount of replay value here. The campaign is a decent length, at around 7 to 8 hours, and you have three different difficulties that actually mean something.There is online multiplayer, but I never got to play it, and it's probably dead. Even after you finish the campaign, you'll want to play through it again and again.

Story: Entertaining and engaging. I like the characters too, and the voice acting is excellent. Not much to complain about. 9/10

Gameplay: Fast, intense, and very fun. The AI is solid too, which I haven't seen very often in shooters. 9.5/10

Graphics: Characters look great and the animations look good. Nice death animations, as well. Detailed weapons. The main menu looks very attractive. Animations look a little choppy at times. 9/10

Sound: Basically what you except from a World War II game. Excellent voice acting, great sound effects and satisfying music. 9.5/10

Value: A great campaign around 7 to 8 hours. Unlockable concept art and more. 8/10

Call of Duty 2: Big Red One is a great game. If you love Call of Duty, then you owe it to yourself to buy this. It has an immersive and highly entertaining campaign with never a dull moment. The graphics and sound are excellent as well, which help immerse you. You can get the Call of Duty Legacy for $20 now, which is a great deal. Call of Duty 2 Big Red One is a must buy.

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]]> http://www.gamespot.com/call-of-duty-2-big-red-one/user-reviews/772059/platform/ps2/ Fri, 08 Jul 2011 14:25:23 -0700 Michael0134567 reviewed Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Lockdown for the PlayStation 2... http://www.gamespot.com/tom-clancys-rainbow-six-lockdown/user-reviews/769898/platform/ps2/ ...and gave it a 5.0.

Lockdown is another entry in the Rainbow Six franchise, and it's probably the worst game in the franchise. In Lockdown,you play as Domingo "Ding" Chavez. You lead small fireteams on dangerous missions, such as teammates likes Eddie Price, Louise Loiselle, and so on. Honestly, I didn't care about the story, as the briefings before each mission were fairly boring. The CG cutscenes look great though. I wouldn't say the story is bad, but it's not entertaining, or particularly interesting.

The gameplay has taken an arcade-y turn, and the game is actually easier because of it. You have a heartbeat sensor, which will detect enemies through walls and such, and this takes the tension out of it, as the previous games had. However, you don't have to use it, and I rarely used it. There's also an option where enemies will have a box around them, and you can thankfully turn that off, if you want. I found the game could get pretty hard later in the game, because I didn't really use these things.

The AI in the game is pretty frustrating, perhaps even broken. They might sometimes have decent tactics, and sometimes they do a lot of standing around, despite having a teammate killed right beside them. Early in the game, they're really dumb, no matter what the difficulty is. In fact,I don't find there's much difference between the difficulties, as the AI is barely improved. The AI does get ridiculously tough later in the game, as it can take 10-15 bullets sometimes, but in the beginning of the game, they can be killed in one shot. Your teammates also get pretty annoying, as they like to walk in your line of fire. Your teammates are also suicidal. Several times I've told them to throw a grenade to a certain spot, only to take cover behind a wall and throw the grenade at the wall. They occasionally don't follow orders as well. They sometimes won't throw a grenade, and will sometimes follow you around, even though I just told them to hold at a certain spot. Your teammates love to get in your face, and make walking through doors, or even a hallway a chore.

Another issue is the loading times. Every time you die or have to restart a mission, you have to wait through a lengthy load time. These last around 10-20 seconds or so, and it gets annoying if you die a lot (which will happen a lot, sometimes because of your teammates). There's also an annoying glitch which happens every now and then, but when it does, it's incredibly frustrating. I don't know how or why the glitch happens, but it shows your ammo clip as being empty even if you just reloaded, and when this happens, you can't fire,or even try to reload. This pretty much means you have to reload your last save, and it may even happen again.

There is also offline co-op, which is pretty fun, but suffers from the same issues. It also has an exclusive issue; there are no checkpoints in the missions. If you're at the end of the mission, and a civilian gets killed by accident or by a terrorist, you have to restart the whole mission, which is very frustrating. There is also online multiplayer, but I never got to play it, and I'm not even sure if people still play it. The shooting is solid,but the frustrating issues really make this game a chore to play.

The graphics are fairly decent overall. The characters have a decent amount of detail, more than in previous games. The animations are decent as well. The death animations look really good, as enemies die in realistic looking ways. Enemies disappear pretty quickly though,which makes the game feel more arcade-y. The environments are varied, and look pretty good, though some spots are a little weak. The weapons for the most part, are detailed, except for a few exceptions. The framerate occasionally slows down, especially in co-op. Overall,the graphics are solid, but have a few obvious wrinkles.

The sound is good, with good sounding weapons. The music is good too, at least in my opinion. The voice acting is good for the most part, but there are a couple cases of cheesy dialogue. Your teammates get annoying when they say "awaiting orders" or something like that with boredom in their voice. I did notice the sound would occasionally disappear, particularly during co-op.

There's a solid amount of content in Lockdown. You can buy weapons, cheats, and more from collecting intel. The campaign is fairly lengthy, with 16 missions. The co-op is solid as well, but suffers from some issues.

Story: The CG cutscenes look great, but the story still wasn't entertaining or interesting to me. They tried to add more personality to the characters, but they're kind of annoying. 5/10

Gameplay: The gameplay is still solid, but broken AI ruins everything. Your teammates love to stand in your way, and have you shoot them. You will die a lot, and to make things worse, you'll have to wait through lengthy loading times every time you die. Don't forget the gltich. 4/10

Graphics: Mostly solid looking weapons and characters mixed with decent animation. The death animations are great. Some of the environments look good, while others look dated. Frame rate occasionally takes a dive. It looks decent overall. 7/10

Sound: Fairly decent overall. Good sounding weapons and mostly solid voice acting, with occasional cheesiness and annoying teammates. The sound may occasionally disappear. 7/10

Value: Weapons, cheats and more to buy. A lengthy campaign and solid co-op. Of course, you'll probably be too frustrated to keep playing for long, due to AI, loading times, and the glitch. 4/10

Rainbow Six Lockdown is a frustrating first person shooter. Rainbow Six fans won't enjoy it much, as it has a arcade-y flavour to it. I enjoyed it when I first played it, but the more I played it, the more I noticed how broken the AI is. The gameplay is still solid and sometimes fun, but these serious problems really bring it down. Lockdown is not even worth playing.

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]]> http://www.gamespot.com/tom-clancys-rainbow-six-lockdown/user-reviews/769898/platform/ps2/ Thu, 07 Jul 2011 19:45:44 -0700 Michael0134567 reviewed Perfect Dark Zero for the Xbox 360... http://www.gamespot.com/perfect-dark-zero/user-reviews/769838/platform/xbox360/ ...and gave it a 9.5!

Perfect Dark Zero is a prequel to the original N64 classic. While I wouldn't say this is as good as Perfect Dark, it's still a damn good game that is under-appreciated. The weakest element in PDZ is the story. It's poorly told, and the voice acting is horrible. As soon as Joanna talks, you know the story is going to be bad. But I might as well explain the story setup. The story is about Joanna Dark, a super spy, where she battles against the evil corporation dataDyne. It's practically impossible to care about the characters, and the missions end unsatisfactory and leave you with questions. The ending is disappointing as well.

The campaign however, is pretty solid. It's fairly lengthy at around 12 hours, depending on the difficulty. You can unlock weapons and there's a pretty good co-op mode as well. There are 4 different difficulties, and it can get pretty tough, even on the default difficulty. If you bump it up to expert, you'll have to restart missions over and over again. It's fairly challenging, and the hardest difficulty is insanely hard. The AI in the campaign is pretty weak however. They do a lot of stupid things, but they're very good shots. The AI hurts the campaign some, but the co-op is great fun. It makes some of the campaign less frustrating, and it's nice to have a (hopefully) smart teammate, as your AI teammates suffer from the same issues. I do find the checkpoint system rather aggravating. There's only one checkpoint in missions, and that's in the middle of the mission. If you want to get high-scores, you'll have to constantly restart missions, because if you use the checkpoint, you can't get one. Another issue is it can also be easy to get lost in levels, but you can turn on the waypoint system. The arrow however occasionally disappears. Despite those nagging issues, the campaign is solid, and the co-op is pretty fun.

To top it all off, there's online and offline multiplayer. There's a good variety of modes, and they're split into two different sections. There's the deathmatch variants, which include Deathmatch, Team Deathmatch, Capture The Flag, and more. Then there's the modes that seem to be inspired by Counter Strike. In these modes, you get money while you play (like getting kills), and you can use them to buy weapons, and armour. One of the modes is Infection, where the Infected are skeletons that try to kill the humans. The multiplayer is excellent, as there's a good variety of maps, including some downloadable maps that are cheaply priced. The weapon selection is great as well, offering your standard assortment of pistols, assault rifles, and some futuristic weapons, like the Laptop Gun. I never really got to play online, but all in all, the multiplayer is great fun.

The graphics are starting to show their age, as some of the characters look rather blurry. Joanna Dark however looks excellent. The weapons look incredible, sporting a lot of detail. The environments still look beautiful and are very varied. The animations are kinda lacking though, especially the death animations. The death animations just don't look realistic for the most part. The explosions look great, as they should. The art style is very nice, and the game definitely has a futuristic vibe to it. The framerate occasionally slows down, but nothing serious. The graphics are great overall, but have a few rough edges.

The sound is generally excellent. The weapons sound great, and have a punch to them. The music is great as well, and you can listen to your own music, if you want. The voice acting is horrible, as I mentioned earlier. Joanna Dark just doesn't sound like an adult, and the dialogue is just very cheesy.

There's a lot of replay value in PDZ. The campaign is solid overall, offering co-op and is a pretty good length. The multiplayer is even better, offering over a dozen modes, and great maps. There are also some downloadable maps, like some classics from Perfect Dark. PDZ will keep you busy for quite a while.

Story: The weakest spot in the game. Bad voice acting and poor storytelling. There's a lot of loose ends in the story. 4/10

Gameplay: This is where PDZ shines. The shooting is fun, and the multiplayer and campaign are great. Some issues in the campaign bring it down some. 9.5/10

Graphics: Joanna looks fantastic, and the weapons are some of the best looking weapons in a video game. Great looking environments and art style. Occasional framerate dips, and weak death animations. 9/10

Sound: The weapons sound excellent, and the music is great, which really helps the game feel epic. The voice acting is bad however. 9/10

Value: Lots of value here. A solid campaign, and great multiplayer. Downloadable maps that are cheap as well. 10/10

Perfect Dark Zero is a great first person shooter for the Xbox 360. If you loved the original Perfect Dark, Zero is worth playing. From the great multiplayer to the fun campaign, you'll have a good time, despite some issues in the campaign. If you're unsure about Zero, you at least got to rent it. If you loved Perfect Dark, Zero is a must buy.

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"Michael0134567 reviewed Perfect Dark Zero for the Xbox 360..." was posted by Michael0134567 on Thu, 07 Jul 2011 19:45:44 -0700
]]> http://www.gamespot.com/perfect-dark-zero/user-reviews/769838/platform/xbox360/ Fri, 24 Jun 2011 20:18:28 -0700 Michael0134567 reviewed Tomb Raider: Underworld for the Xbox 360... http://www.gamespot.com/tomb-raider-underworld/user-reviews/768662/platform/xbox360/ ...and gave it a 8.5.

Tomb Raider Underworld takes place after Legend (which I haven't played yet), and if you haven't played it, there's a video in the game that'll show you events prior to this game. The story is decently told, in my opinion. You play as Lara Croft (the sexiest video game heroine) and she's trying to finish some of her father's unfinished business. Along the way, she'll learn more about her mother, and the ultimate goal is getting the Hammer of Thor. I think the voice acting is pretty good. The story is probably going to appeal to fans more .

The gameplay is pretty similar to previous Tomb Raider games, but Lara does have some new moves. Some new moves are the ability to free climb, balance along thin beams, and the ability to fire her pistol while she's hanging onto something. The gameplay does have the same old issues, and they're perhaps even worse here, due to the game being more open. You still have the collision issues, glitches, and the camera issues. I think the camera is actually a lot worse here than it is in Anniversary. It was starting to give me a headache, but solving puzzles, and climbing walls are still as joyful as they've always been. Solving puzzles are still satisfying. You do have a few sections where you drive Lara's bike around, and they're not that fun. It just doesn't control well or feel fun. The combat is also still weak, with the same dumb enemies. You do have a few weapons to choose from, such as Lara's signature pistols, a shotgun, and more. You can also throw grenades. One nice thing is the ability to sprint. It's not necessary, but it's a nice addition as it speeds up the gameplay, and you can get to areas faster. There are also downloadable outfits, downloadable add-ons, and easy achievements. If you liked the previous Tomb Raiders, you'll definitely like Underworld, but probably not as much.

The graphics in Underworld are very pretty, but they do have some faults. Lara looks absolutely stunning, and is easily one of the most detailed characters I've ever seen in a video game (she looks very sexy). Her animations are excellent as well, with realistic reactions, such as when running through bushes. The environments are varied and pretty. You've got a jungle, snowy mountains, and more. You may even stop every now and then to look at the environments (or Lara). There are however, the occasional animation glitch and frame rate dip. But really, nothing serious.

The sound is pretty good, but not as good as the graphics. The guns sound good and appropriate. The music is pretty good, when it's there. I do think the voice acting is pretty good, and it made the story enjoyable for me. Really my only complaint is there wasn't enough of the music.

As far as value goes, there's quite a bit of replay value here. You can play the game on different difficulties. There's also over 100 artifacts, which unlock bonus content and achievements. There are 6 relics to find, which unlock achievements, and I'm not sure what else they unlock (maybe outfits like in Anniversary?). The game will probably take around 10 hours or less to beat, and once you're done, you can buy two downloadable add-ons that expand the experience. They're 800 points ($10) each though, and both of them are only a couple hours long from what I understand.

Story: Decently told and is entertaining. Voice acting is solid too. 8/10

Gameplay and controls: Same great Tomb Raider gameplay, although it still suffers from the same issues, like the camera, collision issues, and glitches. These will frustrate, but solving puzzles and climbing walls are still fun.8/10

Graphics: Lara is one of the most detailed characters in a video game, making her sexiness even more astounding. Environments look fantastic and the animations for Lara are excellent and realistic. Some minor frame rate issues and animation glitches. 9.5/10

Sound: Guns sound good and the voice acting is solid as well. The music is good, but I wish there was more.9/10

Value: Lots of artifacts and relics to find. Downloadable content as well, and the adventure is a decent length, around 10 hours. 8.5/10

Tomb Raider Underworld is a great game. If the camera and glitches were fixed, or at least improved upon and lessened, Underworld would've easily been awesome. But as it is, Underworld is a great game. It's well worth your time and money, especially if you're a fan. While I wouldn't say it's as good as Anniversary, I still highly recommend it.

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"Michael0134567 reviewed Tomb Raider: Underworld for the Xbox 360..." was posted by Michael0134567 on Fri, 24 Jun 2011 20:18:28 -0700
]]> http://www.gamespot.com/tomb-raider-underworld/user-reviews/768662/platform/xbox360/ Sat, 09 Apr 2011 15:47:46 -0700 wis3boi reviewed Crysis 2 for the PC... http://www.gamespot.com/crysis-2/user-reviews/761600/platform/pc/ ...and gave it a 3.5.

After Crysis 1, this entry feels rushed, tacked on, and geared towards the console CoD craze of quick pick 'em up shooter. Lost are the more open levels with decisions on how to approach an object, the vehicle combat that felt useful, the gadgets that you could play with, the full suit functionality, and even the visuals and physics took a huge hit.

The game itself looks rather nice, but it can't hold a candle to Crysis 1. The physics of the first game a basically gone. No longer can you destroy entire structures or level a forest. Gunplay is a little more responsive now, but the Ai still suffers. it's dumber than ever and it's easy just to cloak around and stealth kill every target or use armor mode and absorb every shot fired at you for a long long time. Easy campaign, and short too. It's like "My first Crysis." Even the storyline from the first game got completely forgotten, left behind to rot in the closet and never remembered. Why is there a plague? Why are the aliens completely different from the old ones? What happened to North Korea? Why did nothing happen in 3 years, since Crysis 1?

This game is passable, and the MP is not even worth a look, it's just a 4v4 or 8v8 meat grinder with a shiny suit.

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"wis3boi reviewed Crysis 2 for the PC..." was posted by wis3boi on Sat, 09 Apr 2011 15:47:46 -0700
]]> http://www.gamespot.com/crysis-2/user-reviews/761600/platform/pc/ Mon, 10 Jan 2011 19:03:26 -0800 caseypayne69 reviewed Red Dead Redemption: Undead Nightmare Pack for the PlayStation 3... http://www.gamespot.com/red-dead-redemption-undead-nightmare-pack/user-reviews/752092/platform/ps3/ ...and gave it a 8.5.

I'm going to cut to the point. We all know how RDR plays, the music, the controls are just improvements apon the engine used in GTA4.

RDR Undead Nightmare takes the regular RDR, adds some cool scary music for atmosphere, the sky seams to have some sort of filter making the sun look more alluring and spooky as well.

All the towns of the original game are now overrun by zombies. All the cast (most) is back and either alive or a zombie or potential becomes one. Also, ai characters become zombies in real time as you watch innocent victims meet their doom. Always fun to watch.

The story is short but the amount of activities are a blash. nothing beats hunting for bigfoot.

I personally found the games overall play, much better than the original game. Which wasn't bad in its self.

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]]> http://www.gamespot.com/red-dead-redemption-undead-nightmare-pack/user-reviews/752092/platform/ps3/ Sat, 08 Jan 2011 20:33:04 -0800 Link3301 reviewed World of Warcraft: Cataclysm for the PC... http://www.gamespot.com/world-of-warcraft-cataclysm/user-reviews/751815/platform/pc/ ...and gave it a 9.5!

Cataclysm is a great improvement over Wotlk. Woltk mostly was for player's near or at 70. The only thing for player's below 68 was the Death Knight class which still required you to be 55. There was inscription, but that didn't require the actual expansion. Cataclysm has the worgen and goblins as two new races which new players can use. Also, Wotlk was a too easy and everything in heroics could die when blasted with AoE.

Graphics: Still pretty outdated but not that bad.

Sound:Really good. The new musical score sounds very epic compared to Vanilla WoW, BC, and Wotlk. There is even remixes of the old Vanilla music. The sound quality is very good too.

Story: As you probably already know, Deathwing has reemerged from deepholm and literally raped Kalimdor and the Eastern Kingdoms. What you might not know is that Ragnaros is back and his buddies Al'akir and Neptulon are with him. Iso'rath, one of the servants of the Old Gods has appeared in the Twilight Highlands. Cho'gall and his Twilight's Hammer clan are on the move. To make matters worse, now that Garrosh is warchief the War between the Horde and the Alliance has gotten more intense.

Gameplay: The mechanics are mostly the same as before, but the game is a lot more fun. Blizzard has made lots of creative quest and much more challenging dugeons. There are five new leveling zones for high level characters. There is also a sixth pvp zone known Tol Barad. Tol Barad is pretty unbalanced and needs some changes though. Its practically impossible for players who are trying to attack and secure it to actually win. The first faction to own it tends to own it 95% of the time. There are seven new dungeons and 3 new raids. There are also two new bgs.

Conclusion: any WoW player should get Cataclysm. It's and awesome expansion that has redeemed WoW.

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"Link3301 reviewed World of Warcraft: Cataclysm for the PC..." was posted by Link3301 on Sat, 08 Jan 2011 20:33:04 -0800
]]> http://www.gamespot.com/world-of-warcraft-cataclysm/user-reviews/751815/platform/pc/ Sun, 26 Sep 2010 14:18:21 -0700 Link3301 reviewed The Legend of Zelda Collector's Edition for the GameCube... http://www.gamespot.com/the-legend-of-zelda-collectors-edition/user-reviews/738504/platform/gamecube/ ...and gave it a 10.0!!!

The Legend of Zelda Collector's Edition is a great collection of games. It has four Zelda games (including the original and Ocarina of Time), 3 demos for Wind Waker, a retrospective video, and a preview video of Wind Waker.

There are four games in the collection: The Legend of Zelda, Zelda 2: The Adventure of Link, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, and The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask. Here is an overview of each.
The Legend of Zelda:

Story:
Ganon, the Prince of Darkness, has taken over Hyrule and kidnapped the princess Zelda. Zelda, fearing Ganon would take her Triforce of Wisdom, break it into several pieces and that scatter around Hyrule. Now its up to the hero, Link, to restore the Triforce of Wisdom to defeat Ganon and save the princess.

Gameplay:
The world is completely open for exploration. You can go anywhere you want right from the start. There no rules for this adventure. You dont even need to get your sword to start exploring (unless of course you plan on actually trying to beat the game). Throughout the games world you can find dungeons which contain pieces of the Triforce of Wisdom. To claim the piece though you must first defeat the dungeon's boss. There is a total of nine dungeon in the game. After you beat the game you can unlock the so called second quest which is a totally rearranged version of the normal game.


Zelda 2: The Adventure of Link:

Story:
Link sets off to find and claim the Triforce of Courage and awaken Zelda from her endless slumber. Meanwhile, Ganon's minions have returned to capture Link and tribute him to ressurect Ganon.

Gameplay:
The gameplay of Zelda 2 is much different than that of Zelda 1. Zelda 2 is more similar to a platformer. The overworld isnt that detailed either. You just run into wandering enemies and then go into a platforming level. The dungeons are also like platforming levels.

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time:

Story:
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time is the first game in the series chronologically. Link meets a fairy named Navi and sets off to save the Great Deku Tree. After defeating Gohma(who was causing the Deku Tree's ailing) the Deku Tree dies, but not without telling Link about the man who did this to him, Ganondorf. He also gives Link the Kokiri's Emerald. Link goes to Hyrule to find princess Zelda. When he finds Zelda, she says he saw him in a vision and also is suspicious of Ganondorf (who has gained the favor of the King). She sends Link to find the Goron's Ruby and and the Zora's Sapphire (which go with Kokiri's Emerald). Throughout the game Ganondorf will take over Hyrule, Link will claim the Master Sword while Ganon claims the Triforce of Power, Link will get the Triforce of Courage and Zelda will get the Triforce of Wisdom, and Link will get the Ocarina of Time and learn many songs.

Gameplay:
The game is pretty much Zelda 1 adapted to play in 3D. To help it make the change to 3D they added in the lock-on mechanic. This allows you to lock on enemies, objects, and people with the L-button to help you kill enemies, read signs and pick up rocks as wells as grass, and talk to people from a long distance. When you go off ledges Link will auto jump. When you use the Slingshot, the boomerang, the hookshot, and the bow the game will shift to first-person (unless if you are using the lock-on). You will use ocarina songs many times in the game. They are used for things such as solving dungeon puzzles and opening up areas of the game. There are also many other purposes for the ocarina songs. Also at many points in game you will claim and return the Master sword to shift between your child and adult forms so you can go to areas at different points in time. For example, as and adult there might be a space to small for you to crawl under, but as a kid you are perfectly capable of squeezing through.


The Legend of Zelda: Majoras Mask:

Story:
In Majora's Mask, Link goes on a hunt to find his old fairy friend, Navi. In the forest he encounters the Skull Kid with his to fairies, Tatl and Tael. They knock out Link and steal Epona and the Ocarina of Time. He follows them into a cave where the Skull Kid turns Link into a Deku scrub and then flees with Tael but leaves Tatl behind. Tatl then makes a temporary agreement with Link to work together with him. They continue through the cave. While traveling through the cave the stumble upon the alternate dimension of Termina. There they discover the clock town which is being terrorized by the Skull Kid. Link has only 3 days to save the world or the evil moon will be brought down on Termina by the Skull Kid. On midnight of the third day Link confronts the Skull Kid and retrieves the ocarina. He then proceeds to play the song of time to return to the first day. You then must explore Termina to save it from the Skull Kid who has apparently been posessed by Majora through the Majora's Mask.

Gameplay:
Gameplay is mostly the same as Ocarina of Time. There is one new thing masks. These will transform you into different creatures. There is a Zora mask, a Goron mask, and a Deku Scrub mask.

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]]> http://www.gamespot.com/the-legend-of-zelda-collectors-edition/user-reviews/738504/platform/gamecube/