smithboy1177's GameSpot Friend's Reviews smithboy1177's GameSpot Friend's Reviews smithboy1177'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 02:19:13 -0700 GameSpot smithboy1177's GameSpot Friend's Reviews http://img.gamespot.com/gamespot/shared/promos/misc/gs_logo.gif http://www.gamespot.com 135 40 Sun, 19 May 2013 14:02:42 -0700 The_Deepblue reviewed Uncharted: Drake's Fortune for the PlayStation 3... http://www.gamespot.com/uncharted-drakes-fortune/user-reviews/811494/platform/ps3/ ...and gave it a 6.5.

Often considered to be the Playstation 3's first must-own exclusive, Uncharted: Drake's Fortune is a platformer-shooter hybrid resembling the previous generation's Prince of Persia titles and the old Tomb Raider games. It starts with promise: Nathan Drake has partnered up with television personality Elena Fisher, who apparently hosts a television show that would probably be a staple series on the Discovery channel. She documents Nathan's recovery of his ancestor's (Sir Francis Drake) coffin from the bottom of the sea floor. There is no body within but instead the late Drake's treasure booklet, containing maps, pictures, and clues to a coveted treasure located in El Dorado. Assisted by his partner, the middle-aged, cantankerous Sully Sllivan, Nate and company embark on a grand treasure hunt.

The first few hours shine with promise. Aside from the captivating cutscenes, climbing around in the jungle and exploring a tomb or two sparks curiosity. The platforming is mostly smooth thanks to Drake's fluid movement and great animation, though not completely perfect. Similar to how one must press the "Z" button in 3D Legend of Zelda games to position the camera to line up Link's jump, you must do the same with Drake. While Link's jump looks a bit mechanical, Drake's is more lifelike, but his jumps will often be slightly off, making landing on smaller platforms a bit more tricky. Shimmying along walls and swinging from ropes and vines is pleasant, but the platforming does not escalate into any exciting territory.

From what I have seen from Uncharted 2 and the third installment in the series, with their movie-like action sequences, I thought the first would be more explorative. This is, after all, a game whose plot is centered on a treasure hunt. There are treasures to be found, which unlock concept art and behind-the-scene videos chronicling the making of Drake's Fortune, but this game has virtually no explorative qualities. As linear as a straight line, the tidbits of tomb-conquering quickly turns into a sequence of firefights.

Gun-wielding pirates are the only enemies for quite some time. These foes come in gangs, and they can shoot an airborne penny from a hundred yards away and throw grenades like world champion corn-hole players. Luckily, these gun showdowns take place in areas with lots of projectiles utilizable for cover. A good duck and cover system allows Drake to hide and shoot around corners. The controls for this system are fine, and without it some battles would be impossible to win.

However, you are put in a more than a few damned-if-you-do, damned-if-you-don't situations where if you emerge from cover, you are shot and killed, or if you stay in that position, enemies will flank you from an unexpected direction and slay you where you are. In these scenarios, the only thing to do is run around like a trigger-happy psycho and hope you kill them before they kill you. Kinda sloppy design. The firefights are fun for a while, however, but for some hours in the middle of the game, these sequences happen far too often, making the majority of Drake's Fortune a repetitive, predictable, frustrating slog. There are a few set-pieces such as a water-ski getaway sequence, but that particular piece is hampered by annoying control and, of course, relentless baddies that are crack-shots regardless of their shooting distance.

There is little else to keep Drake's Fortune fresh and interesting. A plot twist of sorts causes the game to pick up its pace near the end, but by that time fatigue has set in, making the ending desirable. The first Uncharted still looks great, though it is a six year old game. The animations are smooth, environments illustrious, and the musical score induces an Indiana Jones feel. All of the positives can be savored for a fine experience, but the repetitive bulk of the game with its frustrating firefights hardly make this a treasure worth playing.

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]]> http://www.gamespot.com/uncharted-drakes-fortune/user-reviews/811494/platform/ps3/ Mon, 15 Apr 2013 00:07:19 -0700 danny_dm_moore reviewed BioShock Infinite for the PlayStation 3... http://www.gamespot.com/bioshock-infinite/user-reviews/810261/platform/ps3/ ...and gave it a 9.5!

Innovation has long been a point of contention in gaming. With so many aspects to a game, not to mention genre's and systems, what can be instantly recognisable as innovative?

The game bearing name the Bioshock Infinite is a game that will spring to my mind from this point forward when discussing such ideas. While it does little to rewrite what a First Person Shooter is, the latest from Irrational Games innovates in so many other ways it is sure to become an instant classic that will be remembered long after this console generation is replaced.

Much like the first two Bioshock games, Infinite has a very unique setting, the floating city of Columbia serves as not only as the place to fight through, but also a living, breathing world, full of intrigues both large and small. The game is set in 1912, but why is a barbershop quartet singing a Beach Boys song? What technology is allowing an entire city to float above the clouds? What type of people want to live there?

You play as Booker Dewitt, former Pinkerton (FBI before the FBI, basically) and war survivor. Booker is in debt and so agrees to go to Columbia and bring back Elizabeth, a girl held in a tower. That is about all of the story your getting from me.

I could spoil every detail, give my own opinions on the intentions of Ken Levine and co and analyse every image, dialog and sound byte in the game, but that would make you miss just what makes Infinite so special and so you will just have to play it.

Luckily, playing the game is a lot of fun. Personally I never had an issue with the combat in the previous Bioshock games, but I can also tell that everything is tighter here, and in an FPS that is a basic fundamental that needs to be nailed, and it is with aplomb.

Your right hand has your currently equipped weapon, while your left has your currently equipped vigour. Vigour's are functionally the same as plasmids from Bioshock, granting you special powers such as the ability to throw fireballs or electrocute enemies. The various powers can be combined, so turning an enemy to your side then hitting them with a fireball will set them alight and allow them to set others ablaze, its a good system that works well, allowing experimentation with the powers.

It does allow said experimentation, but whether you actually want to or not is another matter. I found that while I could combine effects, it could prove stressful to remember to change powers in the middle of combat. I found it much more effective to combine powers with the various weapons to help deal with large crowds.

Which brings me to my only real problem with the game. The weapons feel really good to fire, and that makes the game fun apart from two things: 1) Hard difficulty and above can get frustrating and 2) there just two many of them. To the first point, Hard mode in a game should provide a decent challenge and to be fair it did here too, but death got to be such a huge thing that while there is no real way to fail it became frustrating to go into every encounter knowing for certain you will die and do it often.

The second point is an interesting one because FPS games are usually stuffed with weapons so that you can pick and choose. However, this is a title less about the weapons and more about story and setting. You don't need three kinds of assault rifle/machine gun along with the usual RPG, shotgun and sniper rifle. Four or five weapons would have been more than enough, and you can easily get through the entire game using less than that. Its a silly thing that brings nothing to the title and feels out of place.

My recommendation is to play on normal and choose two or three weapons early and keep using them. It will see you through almost all encounters and the vigour's allow more combat options than the same gun with a different skin.

The game looks and sounds fantastic, and while the PS3 version I played had a little screen tearing, it is nothing that can really affect the game and to be fair, you get so immersed in the world that you wont notice it that often anyway.

Columbia is a joy to just walk through, with no combat at all. It's cool to see the massive engines keeping the city aloft as the buildings above them bob gently in the wind, the clouds slowly moving by. Every place is connected by 'sky-lines' - basically roller coasters that allow you to move between area's of the city pretty quick. Of course, you may have to fight on these things, and I didn't find that particularly easy to do, but you don't have to jump onto a sky-line while in combat so its not really an issue.

It feels like a living breathing place, and while yes, that is a cliché, it is one I am happy to revel in. One scene where Booker ends up on a 'beach' with people sunbathing and hanging out with friends and family shows this particularly well.

The sounds add to this at all times, especially the dialog. Though some parts can repeat a bit too often, it's a thing that happens in all games so there is little reason to care. The voice acting is outstanding and really helps sell the story and audio logs scattered throughout the city.

Elizabeth is a female companion to a male protagonist, and as such you might feel like you know exactly where that particular story is heading from the first time you meet. You would be half right and that is all I am going to say. In gameplay terms, she is actually very useful and at no point does the game devolve into an extended escort mission.

She never comes under fire herself and runs around the area seaching for health pack or salts (think mana) to throw to you to keep you going. It allows for your full concentration to be on the task of fighting and there are times when you will need all your wits about you just to survive. It may seem weird that all the guys attacking you never turn on her, but in the context of the story it makes sense.

Infinite is a game that defies expectations, one where you may think you have figured it all out, but that makes the actual revelation all the more brilliant. It sets a new bar for storytelling in games and shows just what imagination can do when unleashed with a clear vision.

Bioshock showed just what types of games can be done on the current generation all those years ago, and so it is fitting that one of the last few big names of that same console cycle is also a deeper, better, more thought provoking game to bare the Bioshock name.

Infinite is a game you should play for many reasons: Its a great and fun FPS, it is visually and aurally gorgeous and its story is a masterpiece of fiction in any medium. Drop what you doing and start playing right now, trust me, you wont regret it.

Get the full article at GameSpot

"danny_dm_moore reviewed BioShock Infinite for the PlayStation 3..." was posted by danny_dm_moore on Mon, 15 Apr 2013 00:07:19 -0700
]]> http://www.gamespot.com/bioshock-infinite/user-reviews/810261/platform/ps3/ Sun, 07 Apr 2013 20:59:00 -0700 The_Deepblue reviewed New Super Mario Bros. 2 for the 3DS... http://www.gamespot.com/new-super-mario-bros-2/user-reviews/809994/platform/3ds/ ...and gave it a 8.0.

It's the type of adventure that Wario and Waluigi could only dream of embarking on: to scour the Mushroom Kingdom and other lands for coins, one million of them. There is the cumbersome task of rescuing Princess Peach from Bowser and his evil family members, however, and those two would devise some cheap scheme to get what they want with as few burdens as possible. So this must be a job for Mario. He has done it many times before, and he's as fast and nimble as ever, even though his weight stays at a hefty level. With all the Tanooki leaves scattered across the stages in New Super Mario Bros. 2, Mario will be doing more flying than running to keep his belly from further bulging.

Gold is the shiny element central in this installment of the legendary series. Gold coins used to mean something back in Mario's eight and sixteen-bit days, but as the Mario titles scaled down in difficulty and gave coins out more liberally, the value of the coin dropped even more. Not to say that this game does not pour out the coins, because it does. There is an official coin count at the bottom right of the bottom screen, chronicling your progress en route to collecting one million coins.

Mario can get richer by bopping into golden blocks, which fall on his head (he becomes a golden blockhead), and as he runs, coins stream out from its top. The fire flower, which enables Mario to shoot fireballs, returns, but so does a new, golden variation of that power-up. The gold-flower turns the plumber gold and gives him something of a Midas touch. With it, he can shoot large, golden fireballs that turn brown blocks into gold coins, and Mario is rewarded with golden coins when he uses it on baddies.

Though collecting a million coins seems to be the primary goal of New Super Mario Bros. 2, this idea, aside from the marketing of the game and the huge amounts of coins in the stages, is not pushed to the forefront in the story or in any other way. Mario's story does not have to become complex or even change its basic foundation, but the gold coin gimmick is restricted to a number count on the bottom of the screen, and that's all. Earning the goods can be fun; a new mode called Coin Rush was implemented. In this mode you dash through previously completed stages (that are scaled down or made more linear), racking up as many gold ones as Mario's pockets can hold. It's a good way to get that money count up, but regardless of how one does it, reaching the million takes a lot of time and dedication.

I have completed every single stage in the game, including the secret worlds, and I have not cracked the one hundred-thousand mark yet. Granted, I have not put much time into coin rush, for now I am racking up all of the gold-star coins. I do not know what the payoff is, but from what I have heard, it is disappointing. So I still felt, having completed a bulk of everything this game has to offer, that I had enough experience under my belt to review it. And my final verdict is this: New Super Mario Bros. 2 is perhaps the most basic since the original on the NES, but that's okay, because the timeless formula that that game established still makes for a good time today.

If you have played a two-dimensional Mario platformer before, you know what to expect here. Mario will jump and fly his way through the Mushroom Kingdom, the desert, the sky, and worlds of fire and ice. The Tanooki suit is a welcomed return, and unlike in Super Mario 3D Land, the power-up is very useful in New Super Mario Bros. 2. It's good for whacking bad guys with a tail-twirl, but it helps Mario to reach hidden areas up high or on the far sides of the screen. And there are a good number of secret places that unlock paths to hidden stages and even hidden worlds. Finding all of the secrets, including star coins (there are three in each stage), is no easy task. This aspect, aside from the frenzied coin mission, is probably the most challenging in the game, and even Super Mario vets will get stumped on how to gain access to every area on each world's map.

Much of the levels are pretty straightforward, but Nintendo does enough to keep the game's rhythm and pace from becoming boring. Some stages are water levels in which Mario swims from beginning to end. Others are those that scroll on their own and Mario must keep up, and there are dangerous Tower and Castle levels as well as those tricky Haunted Houses (also known as Ghost Houses). At the end of the Tower and Castle levels are bosses. Ranging from yawn-inducing easy to fun and nostalgic, few of the boss battles really give you a sense of accomplishment after winning. A few are recycled from past entries in the series, and the originals do not present much of a challenge. The final battle with Bowser was satisfying, but compared to other encounters with Mario's shelled nemesis, it was decent at best.

New Super Mario Bros. 2 looks and sounds excellent, but the problem is that the aesthetics have not evolved much from the other "New" games. The animation is certainly impressive; the backgrounds and character models are colorful and pretty, and these graphical pluses is a reason why I prefer this entry to its Nintendo DS predecessor, but there still is not enough diversity in its paint. Musically, the same can be said about the soundtrack. You'll hear the tried and true New Super Mario Bros. theme song quite a lot, but you will also become accustomed to and jaded by other themes. You just know what tune to expect whether Mario is swimming with the fishes or hopping over lakes of lava in a castle.

Nothing here will surprise or wow the Super Mario fan, but there is more than enough finely-tuned, solid gameplay here to satisfy platforming enthusiasts. There could have been more diversity in the aesthetics, the coin idea is refreshing but perhaps too taxing on the perfectionist, and there is a lack of new power-ups. Nonetheless, this is a high-quality Super Mario that will get you hooked, and replaying those stages to find all of the goodies and unlock the secrets will prove to be a ton of fun worth your coins.

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"The_Deepblue reviewed New Super Mario Bros. 2 for the 3DS..." was posted by The_Deepblue on Sun, 07 Apr 2013 20:59:00 -0700
]]> http://www.gamespot.com/new-super-mario-bros-2/user-reviews/809994/platform/3ds/ Mon, 01 Apr 2013 20:09:37 -0700 The_Deepblue reviewed BioShock Infinite for the Xbox 360... http://www.gamespot.com/bioshock-infinite/user-reviews/809742/platform/xbox360/ ...and gave it a 8.5.

Bioshock wowed gamers six years ago in part because of its fascinating setting in an underwater city called Rapture. The third and newest entry in the cutting-edge first-person shooter franchise takes place way up yonder past the clouds. Columbia is the place-a city founded by a power-hungry cult leader named Comstock, who led his people from The Union, during the Colonial Era, to the sky as a gorgeous yet twisted distopia. Just as the original Bioshock succeeded in sweeping players off their feet with its introduction to Rapture, you'll likely find yourself entranced by the floating skyscrapers and monuments all across the sky in Columbia. The feel of southern colonialism is captured nicely, including both negative and positive aspects of what the old south was for many. Columbia's residents seem genuine about their faith, which is a twisted version of Christianity, and they are also unflinchingly patriotic, worshipping U.S. founding fathers such as Washington, Jefferson, and Franklin as if they were Greek Gods.

The main protagonist, Booker DeWitt, is a polar opposite in this world, so why is he there? Little is known about DeWitt throughout the game; he conceals much of his character, apparently hiding terrible sins from his past, but his guilt certainly shows through his words. Dewitt is in Columbia to do a job: bring back the girl and wipe away the debt. The girl is named Elizabeth, and her identity is every bit a mystery as Dewitt's for the majority of the campaign. Infinite slowly unravels these characters as the plot progresses, and regardless of how one may feel about Elizabeth and Booker in one moment, it is subject to change because their decisions and personalities that drive them are impressively deep...for video game characters.

Prior to its release, trailers and hype propped up Infinite's stunning theatrics. On this front, the game is fantastic; it delivers endearing, developing characters and a story that is far from conventional, addressing a myriad of serious subjects. Infinite seemed poised to become more than just a run-of-the-mill shooter, and in the first hour or more, it feels like an otherworldly game altogether. Then, as the gameplay settles in and the story's rhythm slows to fit into a ten hour campaign, Bioshock Infinite, though it never falls below greatness, does not feel as unique.

This is still just a first person shooter, but its shooting mechanics, combat, enemies, weapons, and powers called "vigors" all combine to make an often intense and highly enjoyable adventure. Aside from the usual pistol, shotgun, machine gun and the like, vigors can also be used to take down Comstock's men. Vigors are obtained by drinking certain potions found throughout. One allows Dewitt to possess enemy machinery or people, causing them to turn on their allies (reminds me of Dishnored). Another Vigor called the Bucking Bronco allows Dewitt to send a ground shaking wave at his foes, knocking them off their feet and into the air where they float as easy targets for a few seconds.

Using Vigors requires salt consumption, and building Dewitt's sodium levels is as simple as looking around for something to eat or drink. The usefulness of these powers largely depends upon how you personally play the game. I hardly ever used vigors except for when I was in an absolute pickle or found good reason to do so: when a group of enemies are in a common vicinity together, for example, Bucking Bronco was useful. It is too bad that an emphasis was not put on utilizing vigors, for the guns usually do the job just fine in combat. Comstock's army of men and machines often come in waves. So chaotic are the battle sequences at times that you have nowhere to hide or run, only to storm forth and damage or kill as many foes as possible before dying and coming back in a nearby area. When you die, you lose some Silver Eagles (this game's currency), but foes you had defeated do not respawn. This aspect of the combat cheapens the experience.

There are plenty of moments in the gunplay that shine forth, though. Aiming and shooting is smooth, reminding me of Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare. Disappointingly, Dewitt can only carry up to two weapons at a time. It can be hard to gauge which weapon to continue with or switch for another. Thankfully, there is a balance, for there seems to always be a choice nearby. There are a lot of guns, and with the two-weapons-at-a-time system, enjoying them all in one play-through is unlikely.

Clever are the moments when Elizabeth can use her unique "Tear" (as in: ripping up a piece of paper) ability in combat. The final chapter is particularly memorable, and was, in my experience, the most challenging, satisfying moment gameplay-wise. Elizabeth's tear allows her to open a portal into a different "world" or into an area in the past, present or future. In battle, she can make items, barriers, or machines appear using her power, and in many cases there are various options in one area, though only one can be used at any given time.

Bioshock infinite is linear like its predecessors, but there are areas that you can explore while marching toward the next destination. The sky-line, a magnetized, rail system used for transportation, can be utilized for travel by latching onto the railing with the skyhook. Gordon Freeman had the crowbar, Irrational gave Dewitt the skyhook-a versatile tool used for combat and as a means for travel. Sky-lines are fun to ride as well as perform cool aerial attacks on enemies below.

Different items such as voxophones, gear, upgrades for your health, shield, and salt capacity are scattered abroad. Voxophones are audio logs with recordings from different characters in the backstory as well as those who play no prominent role. Sometimes voxophones give hints for where to find hidden treasure or where to venture off on an optional mission. Dewitt can equip gear onto his body for various benefits. Certain gear may boost an aspect of Dewitt's powers or attacks under certain circumstances in combat, while others may increase defense, speed, or health in some way.

Taking in Bioshock Infinite is an addictive and occasionally spell-binding experience. Eight to ten hours long is its campaign, and I completed it in less than the course of two days. For its cinematics, visual splendor, character interaction, and story, Bioshock Infinite is in a class of its own. As a shooter, it doesn't offer much new, but its tight mechanics and fair share of exhilarating moments make it a late generation great.

Get the full article at GameSpot

"The_Deepblue reviewed BioShock Infinite for the Xbox 360..." was posted by The_Deepblue on Mon, 01 Apr 2013 20:09:37 -0700
]]> http://www.gamespot.com/bioshock-infinite/user-reviews/809742/platform/xbox360/ Sun, 31 Mar 2013 11:34:11 -0700 dahaoleboy69 reviewed Dead Space 3 for the PC... http://www.gamespot.com/dead-space-3/user-reviews/809669/platform/pc/ ...and gave it a 8.0.

Dead Space 3, while not as scary nor as fun as the first 2, surprisingly impresses and surpasses my expectations. For how little they were.

Gameplay:
8/10

Tight, but not as PC friendly as Dead Space 1 and 2. I was forced at times to switch between controller and keyboard.

The horror factor of Dead Space 3. Dead Space 3 seems to take most of it's focus of terror and jump scares and more on the intensity and suspense of the situation. The end of the game is where it really picks up.

The necromorphs are cool, but sadly the "strategic dismemberment" factor goes mostly out the window. Most of the game is just shooting them till they're dead. Kind of sucks and the gameplay feels unbalanced with weapon damage.


Graphics:
8/10

Not the best but it's good. The lighting is not overdone like many other games and textures are good, but not the best.


Pros:

Graphics are OK, the intensity and suspense are great and voice acting is up there.

Cons:

Game feels unbalanced, not so scary, and strategic dismemberment is virtually out of the picture.


Overall:
8/10

While a bit unbalanced (weapons are underwhelming and don't pack as much a punch as in previous games), the overall experience was fun and exciting.

Get the full article at GameSpot

"dahaoleboy69 reviewed Dead Space 3 for the PC..." was posted by dahaoleboy69 on Sun, 31 Mar 2013 11:34:11 -0700
]]> http://www.gamespot.com/dead-space-3/user-reviews/809669/platform/pc/ Sun, 31 Mar 2013 11:06:46 -0700 dahaoleboy69 reviewed BioShock Infinite for the PC... http://www.gamespot.com/bioshock-infinite/user-reviews/809667/platform/pc/ ...and gave it a 9.0!

Bioshock Infinite will bring you through epic set pieces of complicated story and awesome gameplay.

Gameplay:
9/10

I did not find this game repetitive as so many people complain about. It was fun, and had a wonderful story with many twists and turns.

Like Bioshock 1 and 2, there are two gameplay elements: shoot and plasmid everybody, or in this game's case, 'vigor' everyone. I mostly shot everyone. So, if you have played any of the other two games, you'll find many similarities.

The AI also continues to impress. Elizabeth being a good example. The character Elizabeth is the most polished and bug free AI character I have ever seen in any game. She follows you, reacts to the environment and makes comments on your kills ("Oh my God!"/ "Screams"/ etc.). She is not some half assed AI character like Sheva from Resident Evil 5. The enemy AI is also great but not awesome.

Now for the ending. The ENDING. How can I say it without spoiling anything? Just imagine something like the Twilight Zone and having to think about it a lot afterwards. It's one of those endings to a game that makes you say "WTF". BUT, it is a very fitting ending to this wonderfully put together game.

Unfortunately, one large problem persisted throughout the game. Stutter. And frame drops. I would be playing the game at a solid 60, maxed out then it would drop down to 30 then immediately go back up to 60. It is a major irritation and the only thing keeping me from rating the gameplay section of my review a 10.


Graphics:
9/10

The entire game looks great. Lighting is great, if not a bit overdone and effects are well done. Textures are mostly great, some are a bit underwhelming. The overall game looks amazing except for the fact the the game screen tears even with V-Sync on.


Pros:

Great gameplay, Vigor, Elizabeth, AI, Voice acting, graphics and awesome story.


Cons:

Screen tearing even with V-Sync on and god awful stutter


Overall:
9/10

A great game and the best one out so far this year. Veni Vidi VIGOR.

Get the full article at GameSpot

"dahaoleboy69 reviewed BioShock Infinite for the PC..." was posted by dahaoleboy69 on Sun, 31 Mar 2013 11:06:46 -0700
]]> http://www.gamespot.com/bioshock-infinite/user-reviews/809667/platform/pc/ Wed, 27 Mar 2013 00:28:57 -0700 dahaoleboy69 reviewed Resident Evil 6 for the PC... http://www.gamespot.com/resident-evil-6/user-reviews/809423/platform/pc/ ...and gave it a 5.0.

After playing a few awesome Resident Evil games in the past few years (RE 1, 2, 4, and 5), I am sad at how the supposed successor to Resident Evil 5 came out.

Gameplay:
4/10

What can I say? Capcom, you shi*ted on this one. The gun-play is irritating, for two big reasons:
#1: No ammo, the complete lack of ammo to play this game is embarrassing. I cannot count the many times I was forced to use my knife to defeat hordes of foes or when I only had one shell in my shotgun for a final boss fight...
#2: The laser in the crosshair continuously moves around while you aim. This makes the feature a stupid irritation than a smart gameplay concept.

Another stupid gameplay element is fixed camera angles that force you to look at bosses when you're running away. IRRITATING.

The one thing good about the gameplay I found was the combat. Each character can make bad-ass melee attacks (like slamming the foe's head into the wall or picking them up off their feet and slamming them into the ground).


Graphics:
7/10

Character models all look excellent. Unfortunately, blocky shadows and lame textures ruin this.

The blocky shadows. I have a nice gaming PC, with a GTX 670 (with a crappy i3 :)
and I am lucky enough to be able to play this game maxed out at a locked 60 FPS. So imagine my reaction and surprise when I see crappy, half-assed shadows. Why would they even put the "high" option for shadows if it's just going to look like it's on low?

The textures. The textures on character models are again great, but the environment is crap. Up close the textures look like Resident Evil 4 on the PS2 or GameCube.


Pros:

Melee is fun and voice acting is great


Cons:

Dumb cliche events, crappy textures, blocky shadows, gun-play, camera angles and lack of ammo.


Overall:
5/10

If ammo hadn't been embarrassingly low in number, the game would have gotten a higher score (7-8/10) but Capcom got lazy, or did something wrong. Everything else is irritating but at least bearable. Believe me it is pretty damn hard trying to kill a boss with only a knife as a wepaon.

Get the full article at GameSpot

"dahaoleboy69 reviewed Resident Evil 6 for the PC..." was posted by dahaoleboy69 on Wed, 27 Mar 2013 00:28:57 -0700
]]> http://www.gamespot.com/resident-evil-6/user-reviews/809423/platform/pc/ Thu, 21 Mar 2013 02:03:30 -0700 danny_dm_moore reviewed DmC: Devil May Cry for the PlayStation 3... http://www.gamespot.com/dmc-devil-may-cry/user-reviews/809147/platform/ps3/ ...and gave it a 8.0.

It's only recently that the concept of the reboot has entered the world of games. Movies have been doing it for decades, but gaming hasn't really been around long enough for franchises to build themselves up to a point where a reboot makes sense, at least until now.

Other series have tried and failed, but Capcom made the wise decision to hand one of its most popular, but sadly flagging, franchises over to Cambridge developer Ninja Theory to deliver a reboot, and boy were they successful. DmC Devil May Cry reinvents series anti-hero Dante in a meaningful, mature way, does away with a lot of the 'Japanness' of the series and still manages to retain that sense of wise cracking bad-assery that the game needs.

They haven't done anything nuts like change it to a first person shooter, this is still a character action game through and through, only now the story is way better than past games in the series. We join Dante as a young man, struggling to find his place in the world and not remembering exactly who is parents are and what happened to them. It's a bit of a clichéd tale to start with, but as the story builds and we see Dante develop as a character, it grows into a good start for a series that severely needed something new, while also keeping a great sense of fun and humour at all times.

Changes to the gameplay are meaningful as well, striking the right balance between accessibility and depth. Normal strikes are linked to triangle, heavy to circle and shooting to square. That may seem like a simple control scheme, and to be fair it is, but as the game progresses and more weapons are unlocked and abilities upgraded, it is more than enough to provide plenty of depth as you rip your way through hundreds of enemies.

As the story progresses, Dante is granted access to 'Demon Weapons', changing his regular Rebellion sword into Demon or Angel weapons, such as an angelic Scythe or Demon Axe. Why Angel weapons you ask? Well Dante's mom was an Angel, and his father a Demon, so you know, story reasons. It makes sense, and these weapons provide new ways to attack, mixing up streaks of hits as well as providing new evasion options.

Mixing up attacks is highly encouraged, with the style points system from previous games making a return here. Now, I personally always found this system to be a strange disconnect in previous games, not really meshing with the rest of the title. However, here I find it a fun way to make you mix up attacks and string together demon destroying combos. That may sound strange, but I think it is due to the less complicated control scheme allowing me to actually rack up the odd 'SSS' rank and make me feel like a true demon hunter.

To gain said rank, you must switch weapons in the middle of combo's, as well as use different attacks with each one. The demon weapons are activated by pressing L2 for the angel weapons and R2 for the demon weapons and keeping them held. Attacks are pulled using the previously mentioned controls and it works brilliantly. There is nothing like shooting a demon with iconic guns Ebony and Ivory, following with a couple of sword strikes and launcher, jumping to the victim, slashing them with your angelic Scythe then slamming them back to the ground with your demon Axe.

I am not the worlds greatest DmC player, not by a long shot, but when even I can pull off some killer combo's, not getting hit once and ripping through hordes of enemies you know that the game is doing something right. I played on normal difficulty and it provides more than enough of a challenge, though hardcore players of previous games may want to increase it a bit.

Boss battles are excellent, forcing you to use all of Dante's abilities to beat them and providing excellent reasons as to why you are fighting them. The final boss is a little too easy I felt, but I also didn't have to spend an hour just trying to figure out how to beat it either. The look great and can easily rival things found in similar games.

The game looks gorgeous, the real world sections looking appropriately decayed and 'inner city', while Limbo, the alternate reality Dante is pulled into to fight, and where most of the game takes place, looks appropriately other worldly. Things that happen in Limbo can affect the real world and that is a very nice touch, foregoing what could have been a glaring disconnect in an otherwise very cohesive game.

It does suffer from graphical oddities however. There can be some very bad screen tearing during cut scenes, and some strange jerking on character movements. It doesn't make the game completely unplayable or unwatchable, but it is enough that it can throw you out of the game. However, that is the worst thing I can really say about the game on a technical level, and that achievement cannot be lauded enough.

DmC Devil May Cry is one of those titles that does everything right, but just feels a little bit lacking. It is my firm belief that this is mostly down to it being essentially the first game in the series, with the developer finding its feet story wise and establishing a new mythos and characters ready for the sequel. It plays fantastically, but by the end of the game I still wanted just a bit more of...something.

The games meta story of how society is a slave to consumerism and just how much power the media can have over us is admirable, and something more games need to look at - having something to say about real life is no bad thing. DmC is a fantastic game, brilliantly fun with a good story and a great sense of humour. It provides everything you want from a reboot of this classic franchise, with a deceptively deep combat system that allows for killer combos that make you feel like Dante - a wise cracking, demon slaying bad-ass, and that is no bad thing, I just wish it had a little bit more bite.

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"danny_dm_moore reviewed DmC: Devil May Cry for the PlayStation 3..." was posted by danny_dm_moore on Thu, 21 Mar 2013 02:03:30 -0700
]]> http://www.gamespot.com/dmc-devil-may-cry/user-reviews/809147/platform/ps3/ Wed, 20 Mar 2013 18:51:05 -0700 dahaoleboy69 reviewed The Walking Dead: Survival Instinct for the PC... http://www.gamespot.com/the-walking-dead-survival-instinct/user-reviews/809124/platform/pc/ ...and gave it a 2.5.

Please, do the developers the favor and pirate this game. Why is this considered a favor? So that they'll never waste their time making crap like this. The only reason I got the game is because I wanted to see a short back-story on the Dixon brothers. What I got was a game covered head to toe with crap gameplay. How can I enjoy a story when the gameplay has been flavored with crap? I eventually stopped playing the game, realizing Kirkman probably never had any involvement with this game, and the creators of the TV show probably had very little influence as well.

Save yourself some money and wait for Dead Island: Riptide next month if you want a good zombie game.


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]]> http://www.gamespot.com/the-walking-dead-survival-instinct/user-reviews/809124/platform/pc/ Sun, 10 Mar 2013 14:19:50 -0700 dahaoleboy69 reviewed DmC: Devil May Cry for the PC... http://www.gamespot.com/dmc-devil-may-cry/user-reviews/808622/platform/pc/ ...and gave it a 8.5.

DMC Devil May Cry is a fun reboot of an excellent series I have yet to play more of.

Gameplay:
8.5/10

Fast paced combat and great looking visuals make this game a joy to play through. The overall game is very optimized for the PC and can play well on low-mid range GPUs on (estimating) and maybe medium settings. Expect great performance, great graphics and great gameplay. Just make sure to use a Xbox controller or any other controller that's PC compatible.

Graphics:
8.5/10

Like I said before, very nice looking, effect are great, lighting is well done and facial expressions show emotion. The overall game is great looking.


Pros:

Graphics, gameplay combat and overall, great voice acting and facial animation.

Cons:

I didn't really find much, I guess I could say Dante's emo hair style? But I didn't really care.


Overall:
8.5/10

A great reboot with great combat

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"dahaoleboy69 reviewed DmC: Devil May Cry for the PC..." was posted by dahaoleboy69 on Sun, 10 Mar 2013 14:19:50 -0700
]]> http://www.gamespot.com/dmc-devil-may-cry/user-reviews/808622/platform/pc/ Sun, 10 Mar 2013 13:58:07 -0700 dahaoleboy69 reviewed Tomb Raider for the PC... http://www.gamespot.com/tomb-raider/user-reviews/808621/platform/pc/ ...and gave it a 8.5.

Tomb Raider Reboot is a fun game, it has excellent graphics, smooth gameplay and is just a joy to play. But, I feel this game would have been better off being named something else, not Tomb Raider. In the original ,or the remake of the original I played, the main focus of the gameplay was puzzle solving, and raiding tombs to find treasure. This reboot takes all the focus off tomb raiding and takes more attention on shooting people in the head and gaining XP. The idea of tomb raiding in this game becomes a secondary, optional objective that you do not have to do. Basically what I am saying is, the game is fun but it feels more like another game and it would have been better off being one.

Gameplay:
8/10

Besides not feeling like a tomb raider game, this game plays very well and will keep the player's attention throughout it's 10+ hour play-through. The available tombs scattered throughout the semi open world are fun puzzles to solve and the scenery is beautiful to look at.

Graphics:
9/10

Easily one of the best looking games so far, but the game is not very well coded for PC. Tessellation turned on makes the game crash; since I have an Nvidia card (GTX 670), and the game can lag down to the high 20's (FPS) in some large areas. I hope patches will come around one day and fix the crashing and lag in this beautiful looking game.


Pros:

Gameplay is fun, controls are great and graphics are amazing

Cons:

Lag (even on high end cards), crashes on Nvidia cards and the game doesn't feel like a Tomb Raider game.


Overall:
8.5/10

While the game should go by a different name, Tomb Raider is an excellent game that anyone will enjoy.

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"dahaoleboy69 reviewed Tomb Raider for the PC..." was posted by dahaoleboy69 on Sun, 10 Mar 2013 13:58:07 -0700
]]> http://www.gamespot.com/tomb-raider/user-reviews/808621/platform/pc/ Wed, 06 Mar 2013 03:56:22 -0800 danny_dm_moore reviewed Dishonored for the PlayStation 3... http://www.gamespot.com/dishonored/user-reviews/808337/platform/ps3/ ...and gave it a 8.5.

Much has been made of video game violence over the years, especially in the last few months, and it can be hard to argue with some of it. Games do certainly give you hundreds of enemies to kill in some pretty inventive ways, none more so than in first person shooters, where killing is pretty much the meat of the game.

How refreshing it is, then, to spend several hours with a first person game and during that time kill maybe 15 enemies, and those were generally accidents due to either a lack of familiarity with the controls at the start of the game, or poor planning in the later sections. Yes, Dishonored affords you the ability to take out even key mission targets via non lethal means, and it is a brilliant game for it.

You play as Corvo, bodyguard to the Empress of Dunwall and her daughter Emily. The Empress is brutally murdered and Emily kidnapped, leaving you to be framed for the whole thing. Six months later, you break out of prison and start a quest for revenge on those who framed you, helped by a group of people loyal to the Empress and a mysterious being known as 'The Outsider' who grants you mystical powers to help you on your path.

It is these powers that allow you to going through the game and not take a life if you so desire. The most useful of which is Blink, a short range teleport that allows you to zip around levels and climb over buildings. The brilliantly designed levels give you multiple paths to success, allowing for a totally stealth run, a kill anything that moves run, or a combination of the two.

Using Blink allows you to knock someone out/kill them, teleport to the chandelier above you, then jump down and take out the person that comes to investigate the body. You can use it to sneak around the rafters of a building to find evidence or information on your main mission target, or hunt upgrade currency in the form of runes.

Runes allow you to make your powers better, up to two levels. Level 2 Blink means you can move further, while upgrading your possession ability gives you power of the mind and body of enemies. To be honest, Blink and a couple of other powers where all that I really required for the entire game, and hunting down runes (using a very useful clockwork heart that highlights their location) grants you their full usefulness before the game is done. However, I was playing as a non lethal (for the most part) assassin who chose to knock out rather than kill, so the abilities I required for that where different to those that I would have required if I had gone in sword swinging and guns blazing.

When you do enter full blown combat, you can fight your way out, killing all who stand in your way. Again however, the powers allow other methods. You can teleport way, possess a rat and scurry through pipes, even stop time and make a run for it. The possibilities for forging your own path through are myriad, and it makes for deeply satisfying game play.

Dishonored doesn't come with out some problems however. The city of Dunwall looks amazing, and the game overall has a fantastic art style, but said city is pretty devoid of life, and what is there follows pre-set patrol paths very rigidly. Dunwall is plague ravaged city, but that conceit falls a little flat when the only people you find are enemies on patrol.

The story can be predictable in a few spots, which is a shame but doesn't harm the game that much. I did encounter a sound bug that created lag on all sound effects, but that was resolved by closing and reopening the game and only happened once.

The biggest problem with Dishonored is more to do with stealth in games in general rather that something specific to this title. You can think you are hidden and out of range of enemies view, but they suddenly detect you and you have multiple threats converging very quickly. This is due to a lack of information on exactly where and how far enemies are looking. A lot of games fall into this trap, and while Mark of the Ninja showed how to do it correctly, there is still a ways to go before such things are common place.

Stemming from this, when you are detected, more enemies spawn in from apparently no where, and if you manage to leave an area you where detected in bad guys from the new area know your there despite not seeing you in the previous area. It's a little weird, but doesn't harm the game that much.

That's the mark of a truly great game. The problems I have outlined are relatively minor and while they do mar an otherwise great game, Dishonored will become a classic purely for being a title where killing everything in sight isn't the only option, during a time where if you view it in first person, destroy it. That's a generalization, but a valid one.

Dishonored then, is a master class in level design and game play. It gives you to the tools to go about your goals how you see fit, and the ability to get out of sticky situations when less than careful planning results in unwanted combat. Corvo may not be the most charismatic protagonist in the world, but he does the job and leads you on a revenge tale that lets you role play how you would react in the same situation. It is fantastic, and highly worth your time.

Get the full article at GameSpot

"danny_dm_moore reviewed Dishonored for the PlayStation 3..." was posted by danny_dm_moore on Wed, 06 Mar 2013 03:56:22 -0800
]]> http://www.gamespot.com/dishonored/user-reviews/808337/platform/ps3/ Sat, 02 Mar 2013 10:47:10 -0800 The_Deepblue reviewed Gunman Clive for the 3DS... http://www.gamespot.com/gunman-clive/user-reviews/808158/platform/3ds/ ...and gave it a 7.5.


Gunman Clive, originally an iOS device game available in the Apple App Store, has made its way onto the 3DS, and for a game that is just under two dollars, it can be highly recommended in spite of its short length. Gunman Clive is a good little game because it does a fine job of harnessing elements and design choices that were implemented in platforming's past while maintaining its own solid identity.

Stylistically, Gunman Clive's aesthetics are admirable. It's a playful western: winds kick up dirt past old saloons, trains rumble through the tracks in the desert, and UFOs and ancient artifacts zip around the screen threatening the life in these humble western settings. Yes, Gunman Clive's pencil-drawn art-style encompasses a small cast of varying characters, but in an era where Cowboys and Aliens is a box office hit, it's no surprise, and the intermixing here is charmingly acceptable.

The character animations, particularly when an enemy is shot, are impressive. Clive is a gunslinger, a cowboy out to rescue Ms. Johnson who has been kidnapped. The simplistic story sounds familiar just as the gameplay feels so. The most immediate comparisons many will draw is to old-school Mega Man games. Clive runs and jumps at about the same speed and distance as Mega Man, and he shoots a gun. Stage design is also clearly inspired by the original Mega Man series. Other influences peek out at different points in the game; there is no doubt that the cart ride level screams Donkey Kong Country, and Clive rides a rocket in side-scrolling shoot-em-style in one stage.

Gunman Clive does what a good platformer should: successfully executes a diverse range of gameplay elements. It is held back, however, by its extremely short length. Expect to beat it in thirty minutes or less if you are seasoned in playing this kind of game. You do unlock the option to play through the game twice more as two different characters, most interestingly as a duck with no weapons or defense of any kind. Because of the extra characters, the value reaches a balanced level. Another aspect that may be considered a flaw is poor weapon upgrades.

Enemies will sometimes drop an item that enhances Clive's gun, but they're not that exciting. Clive's standard pistol makes for the most theatrical kills, but the missiles are a bit too slow and only truly useful against bosses, and the bubble gun is disappointing. A laser gun that shoots through barriers and an upgrade that makes Clive's gun shoot three bullets in the same amount of directions, are strengths.

Gunman Clive balances its pros and cons out into a nice package, so whether you prefer the Nintendo 3DS's 3D capabilities and button/analog control, or playing Gunman Clive on your iOS device, perhaps with retina display, this is a cheap, short, but well designed platforming shooter.

Get the full article at GameSpot

"The_Deepblue reviewed Gunman Clive for the 3DS..." was posted by The_Deepblue on Sat, 02 Mar 2013 10:47:10 -0800
]]> http://www.gamespot.com/gunman-clive/user-reviews/808158/platform/3ds/ Tue, 12 Feb 2013 03:29:50 -0800 danny_dm_moore reviewed Assassin's Creed III for the Xbox 360... http://www.gamespot.com/assassins-creed-iii/user-reviews/807365/platform/xbox360/ ...and gave it a 6.0.

Setting is an interesting thing in games. It's a medium that can take you to any world, inside a computer, real life cities and even various points in time, and in this last regard, the latest in the Assassins Creed series takes players to revolutionary America and gives them a new protagonist to play. Unfortunately story and character mis-steps, as well as a raft of technical problems, mean this is one of the worst games in the series.

The story picks up after the last game, with Desmond Miles and his support team setting up shop in a first civilisation ruin and jumping back into the Animus to seek out more of his ancestors and figure out what the hell is going on in the overall story. The game opens in a very interesting way, setting up what I have to admit is a hell of a twist and making you think that this could actually be one of the best in the series. Unfortunately, the game cannot keep this up and quickly starts to fall flat after the big reveal, spoiling some great improvements to the core gameplay.

As I said in the opening paragraph, setting can mean a lot to a title and in this regard AC3 nails revolutionary America. It gives you New York, Boston and an open wilderness known as the frontier to play around in and while in some ways these new areas are a welcome change from the Europe of the last game, they are almost identical in function, offering very little new in the way they are set up and what happens in them. There are two exceptions to this: The Frontier allows for free running through the treetops and mountains and feels amazing to run around in, and, in a series first, naval combat allows you to take to the high seas and engage in some very cool ship battles.

The cities, though, are simply palette swaps of similar areas from the first four games (don't get me started on this being an Assassins Creed 3 review but it is actually the fifth game in the main series), and everything from the guards on buildings to thieves to orphans/homeless wanting money are exactly the same. It is depressing, as AC, as a franchise, is capable of so much more.

Other areas suffer this same problem. Recruiting new assassins and sending them on missions is accessed differently (no more pigeon coops!) but is exactly the same in function as it was when it was first introduced. You can still find feathers and treasure chests dotted around the various areas, purchasing maps to unlock their exact locations. You can buy multiple weapons from shops, but they serve very little purpose and sticking with the default weapons is more than enough to get you through the game. Even new toys like the rope dart get overlooked. You can now trade with merchants in various cities, using goods created at your homestead to craft items that sell for various amounts. Its all well and good, but there comes a point when you realise it is unnecessary to seek out the shops to allow you to do this as you don't really need to purchase that much throughout the game.

Having said that, changes to the core gameplay - free running and combat - make this probably the best game yet. It is contradictory I know, but despite the myriad other problems, the ease with which Connor moves and fights is second to none. Changes to the controls mean you only have to hold the right trigger to climb and jump around with wanton abandon, and a much simpler combat system means that taking on multiple bad guys and ripping through them with the skill of a master assassin feels exactly how it should - like you're a total badass.

The main new addition to the gameplay sounds like it should have no place in this type of game: Naval combat. However, it actually works really well and instead of being sluggish and boring like many thought it would be before the games launch, is in fact fast and frantic and gives a very epic feel to even smallest water based encounters. It is very cool and breathes an extremely small amount of new life into what is at this point an aging franchise.

Assassins Creed 3 is also riddled with technical problems. Ubisoft has just about every one of its studios working on some part of these games, allowing it to push out a new game every year, but with so many people working on it you would think that bugs would be few and far between. I had to restart a couple of missions because the scripting broke and the next wave of enemies didn't spawn, several enemies got stuck in animation loops, button presses didn't register for no reason, lip syncing was so off it looked like characters weren't even moving their mouths and mission critical information was never presented to me on several occasions. It is simply not good enough, AC deserves better and Ubisoft can provide it, if they choose to.

The biggest problem with Assassins Creed 3, though, is that the story is boring. Seeing Connor weave through major events in America's history is kinda cool, but the tale of his background (he is half british, half Mohawk) and what boils down to daddy issues with his absentee father just makes little sense and ends up providing a couple of villains which are just not compelling. Connor himself, personally I found to be pretty boring, with no back story to speak of and little context for why he joined the Assassin brotherhood in the first place. Don't get me wrong there is a reason, its just rubbish. Ezio was a charming womanizer with a tragic reason for becoming an assassin, with a well thought out enemy to fight and he felt like a real, fleshed out character. Connor does not.

In the end, Assassins Creed is in dire need of some fresh ideas. Simply giving us the exact same game every year in a different time and the same character with a new skin is not good enough anymore. Fundamental changes to the core of the series need to happen to keep it fresh, and while I fully admit that the traversal and combat mechanics are pretty much spot on, everything around those two tenants needs to change radically. This is a series that can take many hints from Batman: Arkham City and Mark of the Ninja. The overall universe is so cool that taking a year off to reboot and seriously look at what makes it then is no bad thing, I just hope Ubisoft listens, especially with the next generation so close to release, it really is the perfect time.

Get the full article at GameSpot

"danny_dm_moore reviewed Assassin's Creed III for the Xbox 360..." was posted by danny_dm_moore on Tue, 12 Feb 2013 03:29:50 -0800
]]> http://www.gamespot.com/assassins-creed-iii/user-reviews/807365/platform/xbox360/ Mon, 04 Feb 2013 19:48:12 -0800 jparis09 reviewed DmC: Devil May Cry for the Xbox 360... http://www.gamespot.com/dmc-devil-may-cry/user-reviews/807103/platform/xbox360/ ...and gave it a 8.5.

It's been five long years since the smart ass, demon slaughtering Dante has graced our presence with another entry in the popular Devil May Cry franchise. This time around the franchise has been put in the hands of a different developer. Ninja Theory has been put up to the task of continuing what Capcom has built on. With different developer comes a different vision for the franchise. Ninja Theory has completely rebooted Devil May Cry. Is the new vision a good thing for DmC or has Ninja Theory sent the Son of Sparda straight to the depths of hell? Well let's find out.

Story 8/10

The evil demon King Mundus controls everything through manipulation, debt, and deceit. Who can stop him? Half angel and half demon. Nephilim is what they call them. Dante and Virgil are back and better than ever. DmC takes place in the early stages of Dante's exploits as a demon killer. The story however, takes place in the insane world of Limbo City. The game events begin with our friend Dante keeping two beautiful woman company in his trailer. Typical Dante right? Anyways soon after his night of fun he is attacked by a hunter demon and is dragged into the world of Limbo. After meeting Kat, and eventually fighting his way out of Limbo as cool and smooth as only Dante can, Kat takes Dante back to her boss. Dante learns that Kat's boss is also his brother Virgil. Virgil explains that Mundus is controlling Limbo and basically controlling the world. He wants Dante to team up with him and take Mundus down. Of course we all know how stubborn Dante can be at times so Virgil has to do a little convincing. Virgil shows Dante about their past and also what happened to both of their parents at the hands of Munds. After "being shown the light" Dante agrees to help Virgil in this epic quest.

Gameplay 9/10

The foundation of DmC has always been its flashy gameplay. This reboot is absolutely no different. Combat is just as good as it always has been. There are plenty of combos, weapons, and sick ways to dispose of those pesky demons (and there are tons of different ones). Dante fights with his Rebellion. The Rebellion is the basic sword he uses while he is in "human form." This along with his trusty Ebony & Ivory are his basic set of weapons. There are three other modes you can use to unleash hell on your foes as well. First is the "demon form" the demon form gives you access to your demon weapons such as the Arbiter or Eryx. These weapons allow you to attack slower than usual but deal much more damage. You also have your "angel form" which gives you access to Aquila and my personal favorite the Osiris. The angel form is more of a crowd control form and anybody who's played DmC before knows things can get a little hectic sometimes, so that definitely comes in handy. Finally you have your Devil Trigger. This is the ultimate form for Dante. Basically you become extremely powerful and all enemies become vulnerable to your attacks because they have no defensive capabilities at all. Of course Dante also keeps an arsenal of guns with him as well. This installment is no different. In addition to his trademark Ebony & Ivory, Dante is equipped with the Revenant and Kablooey. The Revenant is shotgun. The Revenant comes in handy in close range. Whip it out and blow a demon's face away. The Kablooey fires sticky grenades with a remote detonator. These are awesome for disrupting enemy's attacks.

Combos and your style play a huge role in your success in DmC. You are graded at the end of each combat sequence as well as at the end of each chapter. Performing different combos will increase your score after combat. This isn't a hassle at all because the gameplay is so fun and rewarding it encourages you to explore different ways to increase your score. For example you can grab enemies towards you or pull yourself towards enemies in the air to extend combos. The air combat is extremely engaging and brings another level of play to the combat system. There are hundreds of combos you can play around with to achieve that coveted SSS ranking. If you are like me and initially had a hard time getting SSS and had to live in the C and B ranking range for a while then you are in luck. There is a training mode that you can use that will give you endless amount of enemies to slice and dice in any way you want until you begin to get used to how to increase your rating. Your earn points you can use to buy more combos for your weapons and guns as well. Unfortunately there isn't a lock on feature this time around so trying to focus on a single enemy can sometimes be frustrating but doesn't' hamper the overall experience to much. Ninja Theory has done a great job revamping the combat system in this reboot. Plenty of different ways to fight and different styles make for a very entertaining experience.

Graphics & Sound 9/10

DmC looks great. There is a unique art style that Ninja Theory uses. Limbo is very colorful. Everything is detail and looks very crisp. Textures are great and so are character models. As soon as you lay your eyes on Limbo you will be surprised of how beautiful and unique the environments are. I didn't have any frame rate issues at all during my playthrough. Unfortunately my game did freeze three times while I was playing. I highly encourage installing the game to the HDD if you have the space. Sounds are also top notch as well. Voice acting is great. Music and sound effects do their job immersing you into the game. The visuals and sounds in DmC will not disappoint you so be ready for a treat in this department.

Replayability 8/10

The main quest is a short 8-10 hour playthrough but the replayability does not simply come from beating the story once. DmC highly encourages multiple playthroughs to give the full experience from the title. The 7 difficulty settings are extremely fun to playthrough. Heaven or Hell is a unique mode to playthrough especially. Everybody dies in one hit including you. Hell and Hell is the hardest mode of all. There are things to collect such as keys and lost souls. These keys allow you to unlock levels in which you complete certain objectives such as time trials and enemies in order to unlock health boost or devil trigger boost. Even though the story is only 8-10 hours Ninja Theory has done an excellent job increasing the replayability by adding unique difficulty modes as well as secret doors to find and complete.

Final Verdict 8/10

Pros

+Robust Combat System
+Difficulty Modes
+Art Style

Cons

-No Lock On
-Freezing

Closing Comments

Ninja Theory has done a superb job in rebooting such a popular series but at the same time not taking away from the franchise what made it so great in the first place. With such a gorgeous world, fun, fluid combat system, good story, and so many different difficulty settings to hack and slash your way through, DmC will surely satisfy any DmC fans.

Get the full article at GameSpot

"jparis09 reviewed DmC: Devil May Cry for the Xbox 360..." was posted by jparis09 on Mon, 04 Feb 2013 19:48:12 -0800
]]> http://www.gamespot.com/dmc-devil-may-cry/user-reviews/807103/platform/xbox360/ Sun, 13 Jan 2013 04:29:19 -0800 The_Deepblue reviewed Cave Story for the 3DS... http://www.gamespot.com/cave-story/user-reviews/806210/platform/3ds/ ...and gave it a 9.0!

Note: this version of Cave Story was released in 2012 and contains extras found in Cave Story+

Cave Story lives up to its name in many ways. The story behind its conception and creation is noteworthy considering the final result. Originally released for the PC as Freeware in 2004, Cave Story was completely designed, programmed, and developed by one young man: Daisuke Amaya. He began working on the project as a young college student, and since Cave Story debuted, it has been heralded as the indie darling of modern day video games and has been rereleased several times.

Developer Nicalis worked with Amaya to port the game to WiiWare and also created a 3D remake for Nintendo's 3DS handheld. Other versions were previously released for Windows, iOS X, and DSiWare. The newest version released for the 3DS eShop contains a couple of extra modes that can be unlocked contingent upon how you play the game. Even after many reissues, Cave Story remains a must-play for those who enjoy retro platformer/shooting titles, for it bolsters tight, engaging play, a superb art direction and digital musical score.

The story within, just as the game's birth, is also worthy of recognition; it's one that slowly unfolds, revealing a serious plot with dark overtones. As one who looks to be a young boy, you begin in a lightless cave, and after discovering a gun, you happen upon Mimiga Village, home of the mimiga creatures: personified rabbit-like animals whose population have decreased drastically due to the evil workings of a mysterious individual.

No time is wasted in thrusting you right into the middle of a dire situation. Amaya originally did an excellent job with the writing; dialogue between the main characters is often implicit, leaving the player guessing about the storyline yet captivated by the tense conversations. Since Cave Story's tale is never plainly laid out, plot twists and new characters who enter the storyline are more meaningful and welcome.

The path the main character must take is not always clearly laid out either. Cave Story's world, containing five different areas, is not enormous, but exploration is an important aspect. There are alternate paths that can be taken to find missile upgrades and heart containers, but toward the end, hidden areas open up new possibilities in changing the remainder of the campaign.

Baby dragons, flying and jumping bugs, and a variety of nasty creatures infest the Mimiga's dwelling places. The main character's trusty star gun is a reliable blaster, and it is only one of several weapons that can be obtained. All weapons follow an interesting leveling system. When you kill enemies they drop small, triangular, golden shards. Collecting the shards fill up your equipped weapon's power meter, and when it is full, it ups the weapon's power level. Each weapon maxes out at level four, but when the main character takes damage, the equipped weapon's power meter decreases. This simple concept adds challenge and an incentive (along with not wanting to die) for not taking damage.

There are plenty of fun boss battles in Cave Story with the final string of bosses being particularly memorable. Boss appearances are unpredictable and require no deeply thought-out strategy as much as pure jumping, shooting, and dodging. Yet, the battles come off as complex due to how precise and careful your maneuvers and attacks must be to win.

Though often praised as a throwback to the eight-bit golden days of 2D shooters, Cave Story feels like, in gameplay, a natural progression from the sixteen-bit era. This is a deep game in the genre that ascends above the limitations of the NES generation. It is short, around four to five hours, but with multiple possible endings as well as a few unlockable gameplay modes in this version, replay value is high and for ten dollars. Technically, Cave Story is almost flawless. The only issue I had was that in one area there was a very ungenerous stretch between save points. Otherwise, Cave Story remains a brilliant action/platformer that absolutely deserves to be played today.

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"The_Deepblue reviewed Cave Story for the 3DS..." was posted by The_Deepblue on Sun, 13 Jan 2013 04:29:19 -0800
]]> http://www.gamespot.com/cave-story/user-reviews/806210/platform/3ds/ Thu, 20 Dec 2012 05:31:15 -0800 danny_dm_moore reviewed Borderlands 2 for the PlayStation 3... http://www.gamespot.com/borderlands-2/user-reviews/804956/platform/ps3/ ...and gave it a 9.0!

Disclaimer: I didn't play the original Borderlands, so I have no context for the changes between games. This review is based on reactions to Borderlands 2 alone.

Blasting virtual people with guns has always been fun. The sheer number of First Person shooters on the market are certainly testament to that fact, and each is fun in its own way, to many different people. Call of Duty rewards skill and practise, Bioshock is evocative with unique enemies and settings, and Borderlands 2? Well that's just plain fun.

Set on the planet of Pandora, Borderlands 2 follows your character, the Vault Hunter, as he/she (depending on class) works their way from mission to mission, hooking up with Characters from the first game while fighting all manner of bandits, native creatures and the titles big bad, Handsome Jack of Hyperion. An FPS with RPG elements, it is addictive and fun to just run around, shoot and level up, unlocking some very cool powers.

Those powers are determined by your class, with options of Commando, Assassin, Siren, Gunzerker and Mechromancer. Each has its own unique abilities and special powers, however every single one can use every single type of weapon. This allows for one of the unique selling points of the franchise - randomly generated guns - to really shine though, though there are so many combinations that seeing them all is impossible, even if you play through the 60+ hour campaign multiple times with multiple characters.

I played using the Commando, also known as Axton. His special ability is the Sabre turret, a deployable autocannon that tracks enemies and each kill it racks up adds to your xp, which is nice. The Sabre turret can be upgraded so that it fires bursts of rockets as well as the cannon and effective use of special powers are the key to success as the game throws many enemies at you at once, especially during boss fights.

Each class has a unique power, so your choice will be determined by play style and which you think looks the coolest. I just wanted to play stuff up, so went with Axton, but stealth, tank and other styles are catered for too. The XP you earn through kills, completing missions and generally doing stuff in the world level you up, and each level grants a skill point which can be spent on the characters skill tree', of which there are three per class.

How you choose to spend said points is pretty much up to you. For example, my Commando had a very accurate Sabre Turret that also fired rockets, a kill skill that allowed an increase in fire rate and reload speed when killing enemies and increased health and shields. I wasn't even half way down the list of skills at that point either, so you can sink hundreds of hours into the game if you want to get every skill on all three trees.

A secondary way to customize your character is with badass tokens. These tokens are earned by completing challenges such as 'Kill 30 Skags' or 'Loot 10,000 dollars'. You are randomly given five options for what you want to spend the token on, such as gun damage, melee damage, shield capacity, maximum health etc. Spend a token and get a very small increase in that attribute, and when I say small, I mean 0.1%. So get so many over the course of the game though, that the small increases soon add up.

Borderlands isn't about skills though, its about guns. Lots of guns. They are pretty awesome, with some unique characteristics and designs for each one. To be fair, to say there is a 'bizillion' guns as the game implies more often refers to stats rather than looks. Each gun is different in appearance, but some designs do repeat. It's not a huge thing and your mostly concerned with the weapons abilities rather than its looks, but it can be noticeable.

Despite this small short coming, the weapons themselves are just plain fun to use. The bigger assault rifles and sniper rifles feel weighty were appropriate and have all the features you would expect. Launchers are low on ammo but very powerful and pistols and SMG's feel light weight and agile.

Knowing how to use the unique properties of you guns you own is key to fighting enemies, and that knowledge combined with effective use of special powers such as the Sabre Turret will allow you to rip through enemies at a great pace. Boss's require a little more thought and patience but are never impossible.

The game has a almost cell shaded art style, though it isn't quite that cartoony, and looks awesome. Draw distance is good and every looks very sci-fi where it needs to be. The big downside to the graphics come when you load into an area. Texture pop in is quite bad when this happens, and everything looks very muddy and out of focus until the correct texture appears a few seconds later. It is not a massive issue as the game still plays great while loading said features, but it is bad enough to be noticeable and worthy of comment.

Borderlands 2 is a funny game, several laugh out loud moments will occur during your time with it and some of the characters, especially Claptrap, provide constant comic relief. It definitely doesn't take it's self too seriously, which all adds to the fun and even loading screen hits can be hilarious. One states what the Gunzerker skill 'Sexual Tyrannosaurus' does, then says 'but hopefully, you just saw the name and said 'I want that'. I found it funny every time, but maybe that says more about my sense of humour than anything else.

Excellent Voice acting adds to this humour and helps bring the game together cohesively. Missions are a lot of fun as well, though to be perfectly honest, you probably wont care a single lick about the story. I am into game stories more than most, but even I found myself just doing the missions to have fun blasting stuff, not to see where the twists and turns of the story take me. There are no twists and turns really, but again it provides some good humour and enough context for what you doing to be worthwhile.

I played mostly by myself, and I had an absolute blast, but I can definitely see that playing with up to four friends in co-op would be even better. The enemies would be tougher and loot better, the game would naturally generate good banter between players and generally be a ton of fun.

The only other downside to Borderlands 2 is the golden key system. In one of the games towns there is a golden chest that can only be opened via said shiny device. You can only get them through Gearbox, the games developers, via codes or when you start the game. The chest contains some of the best loot in the game, keyed to your characters level. However, only recently has a patch been applied that explicitly states the chest will use a golden key, before then it just opens and uses your first key.

If the game told what you were going to do you could save the key until later in the game to get better loot. Again, its a small thing, but it is very annoying all the same. On the plus side, Gearbox are giving golden key codes away every week, so you can get around it.

Borderlands 2 is an excellent, fun game. The story may not be up to much and some texture pop in muddles what would otherwise be a great looking game, but those are minor foibles in an great title. Blasting enemies is as enjoyable as it can be and the heart of the game, exactly as it should be. Here is looking forward to Borderlands 3!

Get the full article at GameSpot

"danny_dm_moore reviewed Borderlands 2 for the PlayStation 3..." was posted by danny_dm_moore on Thu, 20 Dec 2012 05:31:15 -0800
]]> http://www.gamespot.com/borderlands-2/user-reviews/804956/platform/ps3/ Sun, 16 Dec 2012 22:59:53 -0800 The_Deepblue reviewed Metal Slug 3 for the iPhone/iPod... http://www.gamespot.com/metal-slug-3/user-reviews/804810/platform/iphone/ ...and gave it a 4.5.

Across many consoles and handhelds, Metal Slug has always provided a good side-scrolling shooter fix. With the challenge of a Contra and the graphical style and humor similar to Gun Star Heroes, Metal Slug's appeal is wide. Released over a dozen years ago, Metal Slug 3 is still a lot of fun...but not on iOS devices. If you can opt for the Metal Slug Anthology, released for the Nintendo Wii, Playstation 2, and Playstation Portable, that compilation, which contains Metal Slug 3 and six other games from the series, is the better choice.

The main reason Metal Slug 3 for iOS devices cannot be recommended is the controls. There are a few games in the App Store that were originally designed and released for consoles and handhelds that were meant to be played with traditional controls (buttons) that work well: the recently released Mutant Mudds and Shantae: Risky's Revenge, among others.

Metal Slug 3 is a fast-paced, challenging shooter where a plethora of enemies and debris flood the screen, and your character dies in one hit. Using the on-screen analog stick to both aim diagonally and move forward or backward at the same time is frustrating and almost impossible to do with any sort of precision. Alternate routes can be taken in certain stages; stage one contains a submarine route, but instead of being an enjoyable set piece, the controlling of the submarine punishes the player for choosing a different path.

It's too bad that the controls completely ruin the experience, because Metal Slug 3 is a fun romp with a good sense of humor and cool power-ups. In the second stage, when you are bitten by a zombie, you will turn into one. As a zombie you can attack by spewing a stream of toxic blood out of your mouth to eliminate anything on one side of the screen. Lots of guns and bombs can be retrieved by rescuing hostages, and these fun-to-use weapons are especially useful against the terrifyingly enormous bosses.

Though you can choose between four different difficulties, even normal mode will prove to be too much of a hassle due to the controls. Local blue-tooth multiplayer can be utilized for co-op, but wi-fi capabilities are absent. There is a session save feature in which you can save the recordings of your play-throughs, though it probably will not be utilized much. Metal Slug 3 has a couple of nice features, but it's pretty barren overall. This was originally released as an arcade game, after all, so it naturally was not meant to be very deep. And for under a dollar in the App Store, Metal Slug 3 would be highly recommended if not for its fatal flaw.

Apparently, there are those who can muster the controls and find an enjoyable experience in Metal Slug 3 for iOS, but anyone who gives it a try cannot say that this is how it was meant to be played.

Get the full article at GameSpot

"The_Deepblue reviewed Metal Slug 3 for the iPhone/iPod..." was posted by The_Deepblue on Sun, 16 Dec 2012 22:59:53 -0800
]]> http://www.gamespot.com/metal-slug-3/user-reviews/804810/platform/iphone/ Sun, 16 Dec 2012 17:53:54 -0800 The_Deepblue reviewed Angry Birds Space for the iPhone/iPod... http://www.gamespot.com/angry-birds-space/user-reviews/804803/platform/iphone/ ...and gave it a 7.5.

Note: game played on ipad mini

With the original Angry Birds exceeding over twelve million downloads from Apple's App Store alone, it was inevitable that many sequels would entail. Angry Birds Space sends the infuriated birds beyond the stars to beat up those obnoxious, green, bad piggies who have once again abducted the birds' precious eggs.

As in previous entries, you utilize touch screen controls to pull back and launch birds from a sling shot, aiming to pummel their oinking foes. A dotted line gives you an idea of where your shot will travel and ultimately end up; it is a simple geometrical game where trajectory is extremely important for success. If your bird hits an object, he automatically loses his momentum and his impact will be minimal on any pig. The pigs are usually set atop some scaffolding or beneath a tower of sticks, concrete or ice blocks.

The unique element in Angry Birds Space (surprise, surprise) is its implementation of gravity or (lack thereof). There are around ten to thirty stages in each of the six worlds in Angry Birds Space. Small planetoids are in many of the stages, and a ring of gravity surrounds them.

At times, your birds will be launched from within a gravity ring, and sometimes launched into them. When traveling in a gravity ring, the birds are pulled toward the planetoids, traveling 'round and 'round until bashing into the circular mass of rock. Pigs are stationed around the planetoids at different angles, and you must figure out how to launch your bird into the pigs in conjuction with the gravity ring's pull. This aspect alone qualifies Angry Birds Space as a deeper puzzle game than any of its predecessors.

Pigs are not always stationary; in certain stages they are floating around the level, and eliminating all of them can feel like shooting a lucky shot and successfully causing a chain reaction of explosions, collapsing parts and floating debris that fling into those hard-to-hit enemies. Thankfully, there are different kinds of birds to help strengthen your chances.

The red bird remains the "regular robin" of the bunch, but some of his friends have unique abilities. The purple bird (who is yellow in previous games) will launch himself, at a very high speed, into the desired spot that you touch on the screen. Birds of this feather don't always go to the EXACT spot that you touch, and this will cause you to fail a few times, but it works for the most part. The exploding-bomb birds return, and a bird that inflates, knocking down much of what is around him, also joins the crew.

When you defeat a boss, you may earn an eagle, or several. When you launch an eagle, he comes out of a vortex and swiftly obliterates any pork near him. When you use an eagle in a stage, you are not able to earn stars, however. Depending on how well you score on any given stage, you can earn either a one, two, or three star rating. Earning three stars for each level in a world will unlock a bonus stage. As for the boss battles briefly mentioned above, they're a real nice addition to the gameplay, and it is quite enjoyable taking down some giant pig in a wacky vehicle or contraption of some sort.

Angry Birds Space is yet another good and charming Angry Birds game. The trek into space was a good idea, not just for gameplay reasons, but for visual diversity in the series. An educational element is present: icons are spread throughout the level selection pages, and by tapping on them one can learn about astronomical subjects such as Mars, NASA, and more; it's an especially good addition for kids. As far as gameplay goes, this is yet another solid mobile/iOS game from Rovio; it can get a bit repetitive, especially if you have played previous entries in the franchise, but there is no denying that the space elements make it innovative and fun.

Get the full article at GameSpot

"The_Deepblue reviewed Angry Birds Space for the iPhone/iPod..." was posted by The_Deepblue on Sun, 16 Dec 2012 17:53:54 -0800
]]> http://www.gamespot.com/angry-birds-space/user-reviews/804803/platform/iphone/ Sun, 16 Dec 2012 05:40:56 -0800 jparis09 reviewed Far Cry 3 for the Xbox 360... http://www.gamespot.com/far-cry-3/user-reviews/804776/platform/xbox360/ ...and gave it a 9.0!

Far Cry 3 is the third main title in the highly acclaimed Far Cry series. While it isn't a direct sequel to 2008's Far Cry 2 it still has the same premise that made the series so popular. Far Cry has been known for its open world gameplay and action. With that said, Far Cry 3 has a lot to live up to in order to be considered a worthy entry to the series. Has Far Cry 3 stood up tall or has it fallen on its face? Let's find out.

Story 9/10

Far Cry takes place on Rook Island. You are in the shoes of Jason Brody. You and your friends are all on vacation enjoying the good life on the island. Nothing can go wrong right? Well of course it does. You are captured by a psychopath named Vaas. Vaas is one of the leaders of the island and is absolutely crazy. He answers to nobody beside Hoyt, his boss. Anyways you quickly escape his prison and are initially set on a quest to save your friends and get the hell of the island. Unfortunately for Jason, his quest isn't as simple as that. At the start of the game, Jason is not a killer by any means. He's just your average guy. Wrong place, wrong time. This is what makes Far Cry 3 story so great. It doesn't just place focus on saving your friends but Far Cry focuses more on Jason transformation from who he is initially to becoming a part of something bigger than himself as well as his friends. Jason encounters people on the island who are at war with Vaas. In order for him to save his friends he has to take part in the war. Jason slowly learns to become a killer and a vicious one at that. He learns to hunt and survive. As you play you will see him go from being scared to harm anyone, to actually enjoying and having fun as he disposes of his adversaries. Jason's relentless quest to free the Rook Islands of Vaas and Hoyt's control as well as save his friends is a great one as well as an immersive one but his evolution from being simply Jason Brody to becoming a great fierce warrior makes Far Cry 3's story stand out above anything else.

Gameplay 9/10

As I stated earlier Far Cry is known for its huge open world. This is no different. Far Cry 3 is enormous. There are plenty of things to do and explore on Rook Island. The gameplay is very engaging. There are different ways to approach how you play as well. For example there are outposts you can take over to help bring areas of the map under your control. When you take over these outposts you can go in gun-blazing and blow your enemies to smithereens or play the silent assassins role and stealthily pick those pesky island pirates out one by one. This brings me to another great aspect of the game, the skill tree. The skill tree that you have also gives you different ways to play. You can upgrade your weapon abilities such as accuracy or you can improve on other things that will help you survive such as increased health or different stealthy takedowns, and there are a lot. Takedowns are really fun and gruesome. It's always fun sneaking up on a guy, stabbing him in his back then snatching his knife and launching it at another unaware enemy's skull. If that isn't your style you can always throw some C4 in the back of a truck and use the truck as a bomb. I like to stir up trouble with a few cheetahs and lead them into enemy territory to handle my opponents, but hey that's just me. This never gets old.

Hunting also plays a huge aspect in the gameplay. There are tons, and I do mean tons of different animals walking the island. Tigers, lions, bears, leopards, and even sharks are all lurking the island just waiting to get a taste of your human flesh. Those are just a few of the vicious animals there are many others. There are Path of the Hunter quest. These quests send you through the island in search for rare animals to kill. All animals can be killed in order for you to skin them and use their skin to craft materials. Ammo pouches, weapons slots, syringe slots, etc. are just a few things you can use animal skins for. Exploration is highly encouraged for the simple fact without upgrades you're a dead man walking. Far Cry keeps pushing you to explore this world and you are rewarded greatly the more you discover. There are tons of things to find such as memory cards, runes, and letters. Each time you find a certain amount of them you are rewarded with guns, experience and skill points. The weapons are also great as well. Of course you have your typical FPS guns such as RPG's, assault rifles, etc. There is also a bow and arrow that can shoot fire arrows and explosive tip arrows, flamethrowers to rein havoc on just about everything. These weapons are extremely fun to play around with because at the end of the day deep down we all want to see the world burn right? Well at least Rook Island.

The multiplayer in Far Cry isn't as alluring as the singleplayer itself unfortunately. It basically is what you would expect it to be. All basic game modes we see in usual FPS games such as deathmatch or objective based modes. You have a progression system as well. Leveling up allows you to unlock attachments for you weapons and so forth. There is a map editor. The map editor is actually pretty well done. You can change terrain, add animals to the maps as well as other objects. The normal maps are otherwise forgettable. Overall there is nothing too special multiplayer wise. There is also a co-op mode. You and up to 3 other friends can team up and play through a side story. In co-op the world isn't open to explore as it is in singleplayer. Ubisoft ditched that formula and went with the linear approach instead. You play through each mission basically going from beginning to end with your friends killing everyone in your path. After a while it can sometimes get tedious and repetitive especially since the game is based on open world exploration. Both multiplayer and co-op are here for a different crowd which isn't a bad thing at all. Whether you're running for life with a crocodile hot on your tail, jumping from a hang glider and landing your knife in a pirate's neck, or going head to head online, Far Cry 3 gameplay is always entertaining and will surely keep you on your toes. Oh did I mention this game also looks absolutely spectacular?

Graphics & Sound 10/10

Gorgeous. Far Cry 3 is gorgeous. Colors are bright. As soon as you step foot onto Rook Island your eyes will widen. The island looks phenomenal. The environment is very tropical. The ocean is bright blue, grass and trees are bright green. Character models are top notch as well as lip syncing. Explosions look extremely realistic and are a sight to watch. Just about everything in this game is visual jaw dropping. It's eye candy. I didn't run into any graphical hiccups at all such as framerate issues, screen tearing, or freezes. The sounds are just as good as the visuals. Voice acting is great. Michael Mando (Vaas voice actor) deserves and Oscar. The characters in this game feel like they are more than just game characters. Vaas is an unforgettable villain. Great voice acting. Explosions and gunshots also have that bang we all like to hear. They all sound amazing. The score isn't a classic or anything but it gets the job done and gets you immersed into the action. The visuals and sounds are some of the best this generation has to offer without a doubt.

Length and Replayability 9/10

Far Cry 3 is roughly a 40-60 hour game. There are so many things to do. Path of the Hunter Quest, Wanted Quest, Side Quest, collectibles etc. You will find yourself exploring the island for hours before you realize you haven't even done the main quest yet. Unlocking everything takes a long time to do but it is very fun. There isn't much reason to replay the game over though after it's beaten unless you want to try to play on a harder difficulty setting. There isn't really any perks for replaying it unfortunately. Overall expect to spend countless hours in this world. Just don't stand still too long because you'll more than likely get eaten by a rabid dog or something. It happens believe me.

Verdict 9/10

Pros

+ Jason's Transformation
+ Voice Acting
+ Stunning Visuals
+ Vaas

Cons

- Bland Multiplayer
- Linear Co-op

Closing Comments

Far Cry 3 is nothing short of amazing. This game has tons to offer any fan of the FPS genre. Mouthwatering visuals and gameplay to compliment a great story is becoming a rare breed nowadays. Ubisoft has gone above and beyond to make sure they delivered on this game. Without question Far Cry 3 has proven it is more than a worthy installment to this franchise and will surely go down as one of the best FPS games to come out this year.

Get the full article at GameSpot

"jparis09 reviewed Far Cry 3 for the Xbox 360..." was posted by jparis09 on Sun, 16 Dec 2012 05:40:56 -0800
]]> http://www.gamespot.com/far-cry-3/user-reviews/804776/platform/xbox360/