Official Game Reviews Topic

Review by [SD]MasterWong

Transformers: The Game



Details

Formats

• PS3
  
• PS2
  
• Xbox 360
  
• PSP
  
• PC
  
• DS
  
• Wii
  Genre:
  
• Action
  Origin
  
• UK
  Publisher
  
• Activision
  Developer
  
• Traveller's Tales
  Price
  
• £49.99
  Release
  
• Out Now
  Players
  
• 1

Rating


Anyone that has suffered the detestable claptrap that was Pearl Harbir will agree that Michael Bay is a director whose talents are ideally suited to glossy trash.
In that respect he is the perfect choice ti helm the new Transformers movie. We don't mean ri denigrate the licence, but it stands to reason that a cinema adaption of a kid's cartoon would be best served if treated like a music video - precisly the tactic that Bay employed with Pearl Harbor, and precisely the reason why it was so damn awful.
However, while nice effects are well-worn cliches are enough to hold a summer blockbuster together, a game requires much more - looks and one-liners are merely a window drssing for the gameplay. Transformers: The Game does remarkably well on these viscera elements. The robots feel nice and heavy , the pavements cracking beneath their mighty steps, transforming to and from a vehicle is as satisfying as you'd want it to be, and the game as a whole is finished with a highly professional sheen. Squint and you could belive that you were playing a movie licence that actually works. Look below the surface however, and the flaws begin to show.

The Open-World gameplay works well in theory, but developers Traveller's Tales provides little reason to explore, and the vast majority of the time you will just head straight for the next mission. The option to play as either the Decepticons or the Autobots is very welcome, particularly when each side has several unique levels, but the gameplay is shallow that the choice quickly becomes irrelevant. Most enemies can generate shields, rendering your range weapons virtually useless and forcing you to resort to button-bashing fistfights against all the weakest opponents. Drive, Punch, Drive, Punch, Drive, Punch, Drive, Punch - remember these words because, should you buy Transformers: The Game you'll be spending plenty of time doing both, and neither very convincingly.
The shame of it is that Traveller's Tales came so close to getting it right. There is a good game hiding in there somewhere, but is it drowned out by the flimsiness of the design and some horribly inconsistant physics - firing meteors at a door did't make a dent, yet a single punch ripped it from its hinges; drive into a npc tank and it will shoot into the air, but drive into a girder and you'll be stopped dead.
The nostalgic value of the Transformers licence cannot be ignored, and diehard fans will inevitably find something to enjoy despite the flaws. Unfortunately, we're not reviewing how much we loved a programme 15 years ago; we're reviewing a game in the here and now, and no amount of sentiment can raise this game above the average.

Source: Games™

Spider-man 3


Details [/size]

Formats
#Nintendo Wii
Genre:
# Action/Fantasy
Origin
# US
Publisher
# Activision
Developer
# Vicarious Visions
Price
# £24.99((http://www.amazon.co.uk)
Release
#2007
Players
#1



What can i say...just using 3 words to sum this game up

bad, awful, rubbish
short, lame, crap
waste of money

No matter how you look at it this is a bad game, now while the PS3/360 versions of Spider-man 3 are just graphically hulked up versions of Spier-man 2.
Here we have a truley awful game that a blind chimp with no arms could of done better at.

Now keeping in mind there was no really product testing on this game...were there no competent developers either? reach a certain distance or height in this game and it looks like you have arrived in lego block city, with buildings losing all and any sense of realism as they lack even the basic textures.

Now the only good quality of this game is the web slinging, using either the wii remote to swing out with your right hand, and the nukchuk for your left it is quite cool to just swing about in a city 2X bigger then in any other spidey game. but in a game with a story line this game, repetitive and awful game play and graphics which arch back to the time of the N64, just do what i did. Get yourself a copy of spider-man 2 or Ultimate Spiderman and enjoy a good spiderman game and experience.

Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn


Details

Formats
#PC
#Mac
Genre:
# Action/Fantasy
Origin
# Canada/US
Publisher
# Virgin Interactive
Developer
#BioWare
Price
# £8.99 - £24.99(add on included (http://www.amazon.co.uk))
Release
#2000 US
Players
#1 (1-6 on online multiplayer)



Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn can be easily summed up in just two simple words: PURE BRILLIANCE

not only does this game help define and entire genre but also throws gamers into a worlds with so much to do and see, that this game will keep you busy for weeks if not months.

Following on from where the original Baldur's Gate I finishes your character
finds himself locked in the dungeon of a evil power made wizard who wishes
to steal your godly essence for himself. But after a quick escape you soon find that you have been throw into the middle of an outstanding adventure!, taking on trolls, golems, werewolves, vampires, zombies, beholders, drow and loads more and highly unique monsters in your quest to reclaim your godly birthright and save the realm itself.

Now while this game is dated compared to other RPG's out there on the market please don’t let this put you off what could, would and should be one of the best gaming experience that you can ever have, with a simple mouse click system and the ability to pause the game at any time to cast spells or think on what to do next even a novice can pick this up and play this game.

and as for the game itself? over 100 NPC characters that you will meet and no two are alike, each has its own and in some cases funny voice that adds to the already in depth characters. With Hollywood quality voice acting and a script/story line that puts most so called "next-gen" games now to shame this is a must play for anyone with a PC and with over 100 hours + of game play (yes it is that long if you do every single quest) this is a game that will keep you hooked for years to come

Football manager


Details

]Formats
#PC/X-BOX 360
Genre:
# Sim
Origin
# UK
Publisher
# Sega
Developer
# Sports Interactive
Price
# £24.99((http://www.play.com)
Release
#2007
Players
#16



Well what can i say....this has to be the best football managing game ever made, well until 09 comes out that is. But seriously this game as it all and a whole lot more.

To sum it all up the games database as been updated to include even more players and teams, and stats only a die-hard nerd would care or wish to know about. A simple to use interface that doesn't overwhelm you with the games vast information and features (of which there are a lot of) but makes it seem that the game can be played by and mastered by anyone, which after some time it can. One of the new functions of half time team talks, only this time you can talk to all the team or every player individually, this time given even greater controller to motivate or berate your team. Making a return is the 2D pitch view system, while fun and fresh when first seen in FM05...it now seems extremely dated and boring to watch, needs to be overhauled.

Pros:
Easy to use interface
Huge database of players and teams
great sounds and 2D pitch interface
in-depth information for hardcore fans
months if not years of game play
online updates

Cons:
Gets tiresome fast if not a football fan
information can be overwhelming
2D pitch views seems outdated and boring
new addictions to the game don't justify the price

Death to Spies


Details

Formats
PC exclusive.
Genre:
Action/Stealth.
Origin
Russian.
Publisher
1C Company.
Developer
Haggard Games.
Price
$29.99(http://www.ign.com)
Release
2007
Players
1



To easily describe this game, we can say it's the World War II version of Hitman. In Death to Spies you play as a Soviet counterintelligence agent, who is sent in several missions to infitrate Nazi bases and steal important documents or assassinate key enemy characters.

The main feature of this game is planning every move you make. Despite the linearity of it's missions, there's planety of ways to solve a single objective, which adds up to it's replayability. You can use the environment to help you acomplish your goal, as well as a fair amount of vehicles and weapons, each which has individual features that can affect your performance. For example, carrying a russian rifle or machinegun can alert the german guards, while a german weapon will make them less suspicious.

This is a really difficult game because you aren't a superman in the battlefield, your skill is at remaining hidden rather than running and gunning. A game for those who love strategy and have the enormous amount of patience that takes to get into a base swarming with enemies just to steal some paper or kill some guy and not being discovered.

It has downsides. Vehicles aren't as great, many of them are very slow or difficult to handle. There's clipping through walls sometimes too, or weird moments in animations like when you are lifting an inconscious body to your shoulders, it appears at the top position before the "lift" animation ends. But in general it's flaws aren't enough to kill the experience.



Less serious review:
This game is really hard. I tried the "normal" difficulty and it was a lot harder than i expected so i went to "easy" and damn... it still takes me several hours to just get to a soldier and knock him out for his unifform or a key, etc. Quicksave and quickload are your best friends because this is really unforgiving, a movement a second too early or too late will get you killed, so you need to know what fights to pick and when to act. Guns are almost a mere decoration as you rarely use them, it only applies to firearms though because you are constantly using chloroform or a cord to choke your enemies to death silently.

All in all is a great game, really SLOW paced and a single mission can take you hours and hours to solve.

If you like puzzles and general strategy, this is a good third person action game you might want to try.

(I'm "noob" at writing reviews, don't be too harsh if you don't like it hehe)

Spartan: Total Warrior


Details

Formats
#Nintendo GameCube, Playstation 2, Xbox
Genre:
# Action
Origin
# America
Publisher
# Sega
Developer
# Creative Assembly
Price
# £19.99((http://www.play.com)
Release
#2005
Players
#1



This game can be summed up with one three letter word...wow
and i mean wow, Spartan: Total Warrior allows players to take control of a nameless Spartan warrior who has to stop the expansion of the Roman Empire, how while in real life the Romans and Spartans ever thought each other this doesn't stop Sega from throwing you up against 100's of soldiers, the dead and monsters.

From the first few seconds of game play you get a feel for the rest of the game, fast and frantic game play where in each stage you take on almost 100 enemy's at once, some times with allies (alto most of the time they just serve to delay the enemy until you can kill them) and with a variety of various weapons and power moves at your disposal its extremely satisfying decapitating or slicing apart hordes of soldiers in a matter of seconds.
Also added to the main missions is the Arena challenge mode, in which you can take your character to various locations in the game and complete against wave after wave of enemy's until you die, added with items and troops that can be added via drops in the mission mode it adds for an exciting experience and you can see how long you and your fellow Spartans can last.

The game also has a mission reply mode, in which you can reply the game. But truth be told your only going to use to if you want to find any missing items or for certain battles. The games single player is extremely short, one of the games main problems...taking only a few hours to complete most of the time is spent on the Arena mode with this game, added that even with a army fighting with you it seems that your fighting the battle yourself as they do nothing but distract the enemy and die fast.

Spider-Man: Friend or Foe


Details

Formats
#Nintendo Wii
#Xbox 360
#PSP
#PS2
#DS
#PC
Genre:
# Action/Fantasy
Origin
# US
Publisher
# Activision
Developer
# Next Level Games
Price
# £29.99((http://www.amazon.co.uk)
Release
#2007
Players
#2



Well...how can i sum this game up.

Well as being surprisingly good, you start off with spider man and a few token sidekicks to play with, but it isn't until the 2nd stage when you unlock your first bad guy (Dr Ock) that the game really gets going and you get to play as the spier man (movie/comic) villains. This is where this game shines and stands way above the awfulness that was SM3, and makes for a very good spider man game that if had a free roam ability would stand way above any other spider man game. But you fight out in stages where you follow the path defeating bad guys as you go along.
Now the graphics are good, and provide a mix between comic book styles of USM and the realistic feel of SM1, 2 & 3, with the game playing much like Marvel Ultimate Alliance, but only better with an much more fluid looking and individual combat system for each character. each character has his and her own move set and some unique combo and joint attack moves, Dr Ock attacks with his metal tenticels, spider man uses webbing a look and Green Goblin using weapons. now while at first this seems too good to be true, unless you upgrade your characters they just don't stand a chance in the later levels and this is one of the games first problems, with such a varied selection of characters its hard to not keep with one guy and as such you don't really get a feel of the others to much. But seeing how the games bad guys only change there appearance you really wont find this game to hard to complete, which means that stage after stage its the same type of bad guys over and over

Now the two player works well and is great fun for both players, controls work well, but i find that i have to shake the Nunchuk as hard as i can to switch characters in one player mode. All in all this is a must buy for any Wii owner

Mario Galaxy


Details

Formats
#Nintendo Wii
Genre:
# platform
Origin
# Japan
Publisher
# Nintendo
Developer
# Nintendo
Price
# £39.99((http://www.play.com)
Release
#2007
Players
#1-2



Well here it is, the wait is over and what can i say about this game...well in one word "Breathtaking"...in two words "Very Breathtaking"...and in three words..."Game of the year"...well thats four words but i would be shocked if anything managed to beat this.

You play as Mario...i know shocking isn't it, well you start off heading to Princesses Peach's castle for the star festival, and who shows up to kidnap the princes...thats right Bowser (you would think after 20 years of failed attempts he would of given up, but no...see kids if first you don't succeed, keep trying and trying and trying....) :roll: .Well after a promising beginning the game just delivers on every level you can think of, with an easy and fun control system that is hands down the most responsive seen so far on the Wii, Mario Galaxy is a game that feels to good to be true, pointing the Wii-remote to collect/fire star bits and shaking it to cause a spin attack dont feel tacked on at all but as if this is what the console was made for. And considering this is the best game on the Wii so far it looks like thats what its for.

But what sets it apart from most platform games it that the platforms in this game are in fact small planets in each galaxy (stage) each planet has its own gravity which lets players run around them any which way they please, confusing and mind boggling at times its still fun non the less...and blasting yourself across the areas to new planets just ever gets old.

Theres just to much to say about this brilliant game...but if you have a Wii and want what could be the best Mario game since the SNES era then pick this up NOW.
10/10.

PROS
Best Wii game so far
Best Platform game of this gen if not in the last 10 years
So much fun to play

CONS
NONE...ITS TOO GOOD :shock:

Call of Duty 4



Formats:
Pc \Ps3 \Xbox360

Genre:
First Person Shooter

Origin:
United States

Publisher:
Infinity Ward

Developer:
Activision

Price:
$55.99 *Xbox360* (Amazon.com)

Release:
2007

Players:
1


So Call of Duty 4. Let's start with the performance side first. Everything will be based from PC Version.

Graphics:
(PC)
When everything is turned up to the max. The graphics look amazingly good. It's not crysis level, but still really good.
Even if you don't have a high end system, there are plenty of options within the game that will make it runable. Usually putting a low resolution but with most settings on high gives a good end result.

(XBOX360)
I Don't know too much about 360. But after having a quick test on my friends 360. It seems that the graphics are also top notch. When you play on a 40inch screen in 1080p with a 60+ fps then you know something is right.

AI:
The AI in CoD4, is alright. Nothing special or new. The AI uses alot of cover instead of just standing in the open. And when you are on hardened or veteran settings, they tend to use alot more grenades, which certainly keeps you on your toes.

Sound:
As good as anything out now. The musical numbers are all spot-on, and the dialogue and combat chatter is phenomenal. Top notch all the way around - no "forced" sounding acting here. This games sounds like it was recorded during actual combat.
Now onto the gameplay:

Singleplayer:
I'll say this confidentaly. CoD4 has had one of the best storylines in an FPS that ive seen for a long time. I have played it myself over 3 times and the story always keeps me gripped.
However to some it can seem a bit short. As you can play through the entire game in rougly 6H if you know what to do. But i don't think it matters as its so much fun. And if you beat it, then you can always challenge yourself on Arcade Mode.
Unlike halo, there is no co-op mode though. Guess we might have to wait for the next CoD for Co-op.

Multiplayer:
For me the multiplayer is as good or better as Halo 3 or RB6. There are plenty of gamemodes to choose from so thats always fun to check out.
You can also choose preset classes *Like Battlefield Games* But as you become better and level up then you can create your own classes, with its own unique weapons and abilities.
However there is still some work that can be done to multiplayer mode such as:
-Ability to choose which map you join in ranked matches.
-Better team balancing
-Throwing grenade cooldown (As people have a tendancy to nag about the grenade spam that can appear, but hey thats life :p)

Overall:
A definate 5/5 from me. If you are an FPS fan then this is a 'MUST BUY'.

Well thats 1 review, ill get some more done when i have some time.

Super Smash Bros.: Brawl

Formats:
Wii
Genre:
Action
Origin:
Japan
Publisher:
Nintendo
Price:
$49.99
Release:
Players:
4

There have been other Super Smash Bros games and they have been very successful such as Super Smash Bros: Melee.

Rating


This game is a wonderful game and is proven if you play it. It has great graphics and phenomenal reviews. The characters are taken from other successful games. The characters take are very famous and popular. Nintendo, the publisher of SSBB is a big and popular company. This game is one of the best games it has ever made.

Storyline
The storyline starts off with Mario and Kirby fighting in a stadium. As they battle, a purple cloud appears where the Ancient Minister and his Subspace Army appear and detonate a Subspace Bomb, which transports part of the world into Subspace. While the Ancient Minister's army goes across the Smash Bros. world, some heroic characters team up to destroy the Ancient Minister and his army. Later, it is revealed that the Ancient Minister is a subordinate to Ganondorf who is under order of Master Hand. Sonic the Hedgehog appears in the story to help later.

BioShock
http://www.2kgames.com/bioshock/



-Formats
PC, Xbox 360
-Genre
Action/FPS
-Origin
US
-Publisher
2K Games
-Developer
2K Boston/2K Australia
-Price
$56.99 for Xbox 360, $29.99 for PC (http://www.amazon.com)
-Release
August 2007
-Players
1

Rating


This is a review for the PC version
Must buy for someone that wants to try a new, original game.
The story takes place in 1960, where the player(Jack) survives a plane crash and stumbles upon a lighthouse in the open ocean. The player enters and finds a bathysphere(a deep sea vessel) which takes him down to the underwater city of Rapture. As jack reaches the city, he sees a man get killed by a gruesome figure. Jack picks up the radio and a person named Atlas tells Jack that he wants to do everything to keep him alive. With no other choices, Jack follows Atlas' commands to stay alive and find out what is going on in Rapture at the same time.

The atmosphere in the game is just amazing, giving you a creepy, erie feel while traveling through the city. The graphics are top-notch too, giving you a better feel of the environment. But to play on high, you need a pretty good graphics card.

The sound is absolutely amazing too. While there aren't many real face to face conversations in the game, there are plenty of voice diaries that gives information on what happened to Rapture before you arrived. The voice casting is phenomenal too. The music is amazing too, great musical score. The music where you enter Rapture really makes Rapture feel like a underwater city filled with mystery

The AI in the game is pretty good, they chase you until you are killed, hides when reloading. But they fall for your traps too easily. Some of the splicers would just charge at you though there is a mine on the ground.

Gameplay in this game is exceptional. The storyline is frikin amazing. IMO i think this is one of the most original storyline in a game. The game isnt just a plain fps game. There are many items and stuff u can pick up in the game. With many weapons and powers to choose from, there is no one way to kill an enemy. You could shock an enemy, then bash him with your wrench, or lit up an enemy and watch him burn. The possibilities are endless. The customization is also great, you can choose your powerups and decide what weapons you want to power up. There are also vending machines and other things which you encounter in the game, which you can buy health packs, ammo, and special things. The game is a bit on the easy side though, with Vita - Chambers that auto revive you when you die, but you can those off though. The game does have a lot of technical difficulties on the PC also.

- Pros
Storyline, Sound, the atmosphere, the variety in gameplay

- Cons
some techincal stuff on the PC, and the vita chambers make the game a little bit too easy

Overall, this is an awesome game. 5/5

http://assassinscreed.uk.ubi.com/home.php#/home/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cc-ClutaN_I
^--- Short Trailer

- Formats
PC
xbox360
Playstation 3

- Publisher
Ubisoft

- Developer
Ubisoft Montreal

- Genre
Action-adventure, stealth

- Price
$49.95 (For PC)

- Release
April 9th (For PC)

- Players
1

- Rating
8/10

This is a review for the PC version

"Assassin's Creed is a third-person stealth game in which the player assumes the role of Desmond Miles, an average bartender who is the last descendant of a long family line of assassins. Desmond has been taken to a facility where he is forced to use the Animus, a machine that traces and recreates the memories of his ancestors during the Third Crusade." You mainly play as Altair, an assassin in the year 1191. The game takes place primarily in the Holy Land. It consists of four main cities: Jerusalem, Acre, Damascus and Masyaf.

It isn't only a "Here's your target, go kill him now" game, as you first need to gather information on your targets by interrogating people who work for them, or pick pocketing notes etc about their where abouts, what they're up to and when a good time to strike would be. It's a stealth oriented game, however if you chose to do so you can do it the harder way (and more fun in my opinion) and slash/kill anything that carries a weapon (Dare I say it's Metal Gear esque?). You get some different weapon choices such as a sword, throwing knives, short blade and my personal favorite the hidden blade for those sneak attack kills.. to name a few. The counter attacks for the sword and short blade are a nice touch. The graphics in this game are quite stunning and do require a high(er) end rig to be able to run the game properly, but well worth it. The go anywhere environment is definitely a very nice feature in this game, as it can really vary how you play the game each time.

One of the bad things about this game is the enemies AI. When you can walk up to two guards within five feet of each other, kill one, stand there and have the other guard not notice it was you there's something strange going on. Sword fights even when there's 6 guards versus you it's still basically a 1v1 fight as they'll only attack you one at a time, which makes walking into a area with multiple guards and attacking them not a bad thing to do. As fun as killing random guards and Templars is, it does get quite repetitive after awhile.

Overall it's a great game, especially if you like this sort of genre as I do.

Mario Kart Wii


Details

Formats
#Nintendo Wii
Genre:
# Racing
Origin
# Japan
Publisher
# Nintendo
Developer
# Nintendo
Price
# £29.99((http://www.amazon.co.uk)
Release
#2008
Players
#1-4 (12 online)



Now while some may find any racing game boring, i challenge anyone to not play this game with a huge grin on their face. Its fast, fun and full of so much craziness you just cant stop playing it.

Mario Kart Wii is probely the first Wii game with a proper online service, from the ability to challenge friends and strangers alike to 12 person race you can also complete in competitions, time trails and battles. All of which grant you a continental and worldwide score and rank so you can see just how good you really are. Also updated are the games graphics, new and improved from Mario Kart Double Dash (NGC) the game really shows off what the WIi can do, while not HD quality its still amazing to watch the crazy and strange stages as you drive through them.

Now this game as up to five different controllers scheme, yes you heard me five, these are the Wii Wheel, controller, controller and nunchuck, classic controller and a NGC controller...but how would i rate them...well:

Wii Wheel = Its fun and simple to use, takes a bit to get used to but makes the game that much more fun.

Controller = Same as the Wii Wheel, but harder to use as you cant really determine how to move it.

Controller + Nunchuck = simple and easy to use controller, nukchuck to streer and controller for tricks, speed and brake.

Classic controller = simple controller, button based.

NGC controller = The same controllers as from Mario Kart Double Dash on the NGC.

Now as for the game itself, well everything you expect from a Mario Kart game is here, 2-4 player multi player single and battle races, 1-2 player online mode and the Mario Kart Channel (allows you to easily manage your Mario Kart Wii stats), Now while this game does have a Grand Prix mode, it lets its self down by being only single player...meaning that you can no longer do 1-4 player GP races anymore, which takes away a bit of the fun from the game. Another added feature which was first seen in the DS Mario Kart is old stages from past Mario Kart games, in this game expect to see various courses from the SNES, DS, GBA, N64 and NGC versions of Mario Kart for you to play on, all with the same graphic style and music from the original with of course an update.
From Mario to Bowser all your old fav characters are back for more mayhem and madness with a few new faces such as Funky Kong (Donkey Kong Country series) and Rosalina (SMG), but this time the action just doesn't take place on four wheels, oh no. Mario Kart Wii comes with not only four wheeled rides but also two, yes thats right bikes and plenty of them, from stander dirt bikes to themed Bowser and Bullet Bill bikes are is a huge range of rides to chose from.

All in all this is a brilliant a

Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem



Format
Nintendo Gamecube
Genre
Psychological Horror game
Publisher
Silicon Knights
Origin
Canada
Developer
Nintendo
Released
2002
Players
1
Rating


For all those who have been wanting to play a game inspired by HP Lovecraft's writings or for anyone that wants to play a very original and unique horror based game then Eternal Darkness may be your type of game. The game starts out as Alexander Roivas's investigates the murder of her grandfather in a mansion located in Rhode Island. What she ends up discovering in a room hidden in the mansion is a book called the tome of eternal darkness. Through reading the book she discovers the journey of all those who have come in contact with the tome and by reading this she discovers a great plot that is going on that could very well end the universe as we know it.

In Eternal Darkness you play not only as the main character, Alexander Roivas, but also a wide cast of characters ranging from the time periods of the Roman Empire to the present. This changes up the game a bit as each character will have their own individual sets of stats and weapons. Another thing to note is, when it comes to the spells known as "Magick", you share these spells with all the characters you find since they are written in the tome of eternal darkness. What really makes this story great and captivating is how the fates of these characters intertwines and fits in to the schemes of the Gods and of the plot itself and most often you will find yourself going through hours of game play just to get through as much of the story as you can.

What really makes this game unique would be the added status bar to your characters. While you have the typical HP bar and the MP bar for spells, you have a green bar for sanity. This bar basically how much your character's grasp on the real world is and when it starts to deplete it affects the game play. Some examples of this would be as in the screen will start to tilt, your character will randomly explode or will randomly sink into the ground (they won't actually die) and the lower the sanity bar, the more bizarre the effects are. While having a low sanity bar can reduce how well you can get through the levels it's sometimes entertaining to keep it low just to see what happens.

This game does have its flaws however. For instance, although the combat system does highlight the part of the monster (body, arms, head, torso) you want to strike which is very useful it is not without its problems. The combat system is pretty basic, as in for some monsters you just hit them until they die while the more strategic ones require you to hit them in the head repeatedly. The combat is also troublesome when you're in narrow hallways because your weapon will, instead of hitting the monster, hit the wall leaving the monster unharmed. This can be tedious and troublesome in situations when you have multiple foes. Another flaw relating to the combat is that, once you get more powerful magick spells near the middle of the game, the difficulty curve of the game seems to take a real nose dive as you can not only use a spell that summons a shield around you damaging any monster that attacks but you can heal your own HP, Mana, and Sanity on whim with the spells. While there are still a few remaining challenges most of your encounters you can succeed at without breaking a sweat.

Also another flaw is, although you can choose another god at the beginning of the game and go through the game again with different enemies and a different order of spells, there isn't much replay value to the game past that. However, the game play and the story from the first time around is more than enough to justify having the game. Overall though this would probably have to be one of my favorite games available for the Gamecube and it is a game that you will want to play, even if it may be tricky tracking down a copy of the game.

Sin and Punishment: Hoshi no Keishōsha



Format
Nintendo 64 (Japan), Wii Virtual Console
Genre
Rail Shooter
Publisher
Treasure Co. Ltd.
Developer
Nintendo
Origin
Japan
Price
$12.00 (Virtual Console)
Released
2000 (Japan) 2007 (Virtual Console)
Players
1-2
Rating


Sin and Punishment, which was originally a Japanese only game has been recently released on the Virtual Console. It's a Rail Shooter game meaning your character moves by itself and your basic controls are to move left or right, jump, slash, and shoot. The game uses the Classic Controller as well as the NGC controller and costs 1200 points (200 more points than the other N64 titles available on the Virtual Console)

The story of the game is that Japan is being slowly taken over by a group of mutated beasts called the "Ruffians" as well as a group called the "Armed Volunteers" who, instead of taking care of the Ruffians like they were intended to, decide to suppress the people in Japan. Out of all this a rebellion faction came about called the "Saviour Group" who are headed by a powerful woman named Achi. In the game you play as Saki Amamiya as well as Airan Jo who are both apart of the Saviour Group as they, along with Achi, fight against the Ruffians and the Armed Volunteers.

While the plot does progress fairly well with its shares of twists, the plot can be confusing and can be hard to understand what is going on. This is especially true because the game will immediately plunge you into a dream sequence where you're killing ruffians and when you wake up you're spit out into the real world to kill ruffians as well as armed volunteer soldiers with little back story explanation (although this stuff is explained in the N64 version's manual). When I first played it I had no idea what was going on until I got to the end of the naval boat level especially since the game delves into some real sci-fi concepts.

The weapon used in this game is a gun with a sword attachment on it. While the gun is pretty straight forward as you are pretty much pointing your cursor at the enemy and shooting, the sword has some unique aspects to it. The sword can be used when an enemy is at melee range by hitting the attack button when they're at range. More interestingly, the sword can also be used to send any projectile sent at your enemy back at them to do some good damage. Along with the controls, which are intuitive but can be a bit hard to pick up, makes the game really fun when it comes to shooting and defeating enemies.

The game is a pretty fast paced game as your character is constantly running through what feels like waves of enemies. Also the cut scenes that explains the plot doesn't slow down the game as well, especially since it only takes 1-2 hits of a button to instantly click off a cut scene if you're the type that's impatient. The difficulty curve is a fair one, as in while the game may be easy in the beginning (especially on easy difficulty) it progresses to more challenging boss sequences as well as more challenging sections without completely spiking up the difficulty curve or lowering it. Not to mention for the more hardcore gamer, there are harder difficulties to the game if you're the type who feels like replaying the game while having more of a real challenge.

While I'm not a big fan of ratings but one of the reason why I give this game a three out of five is the audience this game appeals to since it's pretty much a love it or hate it game. Some may find this a very interesting game and will have plenty of fun while others will find this game too weird for their taste and won't play it that much if at all. One way you could tell what group you fit in watch a few minutes of the game play. If you find yourself interested then get this game but if you keep going "what the hell is this?" in your head then you may not want to play this game. I can safely say if you found Star Fox 64 to be a fun game then this is a game you should check out, especially since it's only 12 dollars. Personally I loved playing the game the first time around and IMO that justifies the price of the game enough. If you're not sure what to do with your extra Wii points you might want to get this game as it's a real fun and fast paced game.

Dreamfall: The Longest Journey



Details

Formats

• PC
  Genre:
  
• Adventure
  Origin
  
• Norway
  Publisher
  
• Aspyr Media
  Developer
  
• Funcom
  Price
  
• $24.49 (Amazon.com)
  Release
  
• Out Now
  Players
  
• 1

Rating


Dreamfall is a 2006 game that tried to revive the almost dead Adventure genre. As the sequel to "The Longest Journey" one of the icon games of the genre, you will see many characters and locations from the previous game.
In Dreamfall, you play as Zoë Castillo, a girl who lives in Stark, a world much like our own where technology plays an important role in its inhabitants lives. There's another world though, a world where magic is the moving force and the only machines that can be found are powered by it. This world is called Arcadia.
At first you are just a common character in the world but thanks to Zoë's ex boyfriend Reza, a journalist that's working on a mysterious story, you get involved in a conspiracy by one of the most powerful companies of Stark. At the same time, April Ryan (the main character of the first game) is struggling in Arcadia to release the people from military occupation. However, the fate of Arcadia and Stark is menaced by something bigger than both of them and they will need to work together to keep the Balance between the worlds.
With a fascinating storyline and characters, Dreamfall does a nice job at keeping the Adventure genre alive, in fact, the goal in this game was to add some action gamplay features to attract a wider audience. Unfortunately, this wasn't done in the best way and sometimes the gameplay (specially fighting) is uncomfortable or weird, besides the overly simplistic puzzles.
As most adventure games, Dreamfall's strongest point is its story, be prepared to listen to long conversations between the many characters.
If you are a hardcore fan of the genre you might not like Dreamfall for its simplicity but if you are interested in what these kind of games have to offer, Dreamfall can help you to go from the simple to the more complex later on.