While the time control elements make the gamer border on orgasm for the first few levels; the features give way to unbelievably linear areas; puzzles designed by 2 year olds and a non-existant story line.
The only saving grace is that the combat is refreshingly different; and if you like graphics you'll love the rain soaked city present in the first level. But I would recommend renting this one; dont waste your money
Really excellent little puzzler, not dificult but forces you to use your brain for once. Or you could get sidetracked and mess about with portals.
Great Game.
I've tried Team Fortress 2 as well. Bores me. Not fast enough to be arcady, not tactical enough to rival Call of Duty 4 and weapons don't make an impact and arn't particuly inventive. Best class by far is the Spy. _________________ PSN: nathaniel_21
I loved Timeshift, it reminded me of proper old school blasting, bags of fun. Enjoyed the SP campaign far more than the likes of Halo 3 (which is also guilty of linearity (lets face it most of the best shooters are linear!).
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Soldier of Fortune; Payback 5/10
The single player in this is very poor, the story is complete tripe, the scripting was probably done by a 17 year old game tester, because it sounds worse than an 80s Steven Seagall film. The action is a mixed bag though, I quite enjoyed the ease in which the aiming was done, the guns feel solid (indeed the sounds are awesome, the CAWS shotgun sounds likea friggin cannon!!), and the environments are generally quite pretty. The over the top gore is very funny at times, and some of the death animations are truley awesome, it's funny as fook when you watch an enemy try to drag himself away as you've just blown his leg off!!
The gameplay is very straight forward, there are no puzzles, you'll never get lost, but you will occasionally get frustrated when you walk around a corner and die instantly (particularly on hard).
The multiplayer is obviously where the devs were hoping this would be as successful as SOF2 on the original xbox, but sadly it cannot compare with giants like CoD4. It does however offer a nice diversion, and whilst there can be a lot of spawn raping on busy maps, I found myself enjoying the manic gameplay, gore and mix of weapons and modifications, it's just a shame at the max I found maybe only 50 people online!!! And zero ranked matches!!
If you are a shooter fan you should defo give this a rent at some stage, it's a totally different flavour to the normal lollipop shooters, and the single player campaign only takes about 3 hours to complete on normal difficulty. _________________ Get your own articles and reviews featured Live: DIRTYR4T - PSN: D1RTYRAT - Xfire - screwtape
Let me set the scene. Its the 1960's, you are travelling over the Atlantic on a passenger air plane, smoking a cigarette and clutching a gift. Suddenly your plane free-falls from the sky, crashing into the ocean. You awake in a daze, the plane is sinking and fire engulfs the ocean surface. You seek refuge on a isolated lighthouse, thinking it will provide a safe haven, in fact it is the portal to another world.
Bioshock is the latest offering from 2K games aka irrational studios. It is set in the world of Rapture, an underwater haven, crafted by its founder and ruler Andrew Ryan. Rapture is designed to be man's utopia, where human creativity and knowledge know no bounds, morality and religion do not constrain the human development, a place where the artist is truly free to express. In reality, Raptures limitless freedoms ultimately lead to its downfall.
Bioshock in essence is an FPS game, although to label it as such would be very short sighted as it plays more like an RPG. Bioshock's fascinating plot weaves you around the city of Rapture, on the way encountering beautifully crafted realms which contain soul-less inhabitants. The basic story revolves around the discovery and exploitation of plasmids and a substance called Adam. Combined, these allow Human upgrading, certain plasmids unlocking different skills, such as telekinesis's and the ability to conjure fire and electricity. These are not only a vital part of the gameplay but also of the story. The back story comprises of smuggling and power over the distribution of Adam and the ability to use plasmids. This story is re-created perfectly as the player progresses through the game with a series of audio diaries, genetically induced ghostly flash backs of past events and radio messages. The story is a huge part of Bioshock and has been expertly written. It is engrossing enough to keep you following for the whole game and always leaves you wanting more, the plot twists are superb and most importantly believable.
The main characters in the game split between Humans, Splicers (whose rampant plasmid and adam gorging has left them in a state of near insanity, virtually devoid of any human emotions and feeling) and the little sisters who are genetically altered children designed to extract Adam from dead people. Their protectorates are the big daddies, who are in their own right one of the most fearsome and destructive creatures in the game, their only mission being to protect the little sisters. Radio messages and audio diaries introduce a compelling back story with a diverse range of characters, all of whose actions become entwined, eventually leading to the story of the current day (in game) and revealing the protagonists past. What follows is truly a remarkable turn around and one which really exemplifies the high standard of the story and script.
Gameplay is solid and progressive expansive. New areas of the underwater world only become open once the current missions are complete, so in a sense its a fairly linear lay out, however, once in an area you as the character are free to go where you wish, harvesting splicers, dealing with little sisters,completing missions or simply admiring the beauty of the world. There is a wide range of plasmids and weapons, all of which can be upgraded and host a variety of different firing rates and ammunition.
Graphically, Bioshock is superb. The lighting and water effects add greatly to the feeling of Rapture, enabling you as the player to almost believe that it is a living, breathing entity. The lighting, radio messages and tools all add up to create a believable and intoxicating theme, the sex, drugs and rock and roll attitude of the 1960's is captured perfectly in the city, further adding to the games experience.
Bioshock never sacrifices gameplay for story or vice versa. What it does do is deliver a highly entertaining and thrilling experience. The story telling outclasses just about any other game in its genre.The gameplay is tight and intuitive to allow for solid and fun gameplay, never becoming a focus point for anger but at the same time never making the game especially easy or creating a feeling of god like invulnerability. There would be little point in being stranded in an underwater world, full to the brink with psychotic, half human beings if your character shared the superhuman gun fighting abilities of James Bond. Even if FPS games are not you thing this game will not dissapoint, it exemplifies all of the qualities a next generation game should, solid and intuitive gameplay mixed with beautiful settings and wrapped up with a compelling story with a wide range of characters that generate a storm of emotions, not unlike something you would experience at a pantomime. Bioshock is simply a must for any gamer, young or old, experienced or new. If ever there was a reason to buy an Xbox 360 console, this is surely it.
ok lol I only said it coz I saw other folks doing it first _________________ Get your own articles and reviews featured Live: DIRTYR4T - PSN: D1RTYRAT - Xfire - screwtape
I think it was in the off topic forums, can't remember which thread. _________________ Get your own articles and reviews featured Live: DIRTYR4T - PSN: D1RTYRAT - Xfire - screwtape
Erm... superb visuals, really shows what the Wii is capable of with quite expansive and colourful worlds. The sound track was typical Nintendo through and through.
The controls were on the whole spot on although I did find that pointing my wiimote to collect gems (star bits) was a bit hit and miss, maybe it's my setup but I wish some kind of calibration could be done to have it perfect for me.
The camera was a bit annoying changing angle while running in a heated battle only to suddenly have Mario running into danger rather than away from it.
The bosses and some of the levels are repeats over and over which can get a bit tedious if you're expecting something completely fresh.
The 2-player co-op is also extremely poor.
Now that I've gotten the complaints out of the way let's do the good.
Again the visuals and music are done well, Nintendo must have actually paid the sound guy this time around instead of sticking him in a room with a Matsui cassette player and a toy keyboard and saying make music (I'm kidding ).
The platforming bits are flawless, they're everything you would expect them to be. They're challenging and in this world of FPS games and sports titles it's good to see the plumber back for some 3D platforming action.
I was a bit disappointed by the final few battles and I did not get all the stars and just did the minimum needed to see credits.
If you put more time in than I did then you'll probably enjoy this game more than I did.
As it stands good game but not the piece of brilliance I expected after listening to the press and "Nintendo-heads."
Super Nintendo:
+ Superb Visuals
+ Great sound and Music
+ Lots to do and enough levels to last a while.
Virtual Boy:
- Repeated bosses
- Rare but costly camera issues
Verdict: Worth a try and a play. If you like 3D platforming this is dare I say it... the best example this gen so far. _________________ Veccy is now over the hill.
Nice one..... http://www.chm.bris.ac.uk/sillymolecules/fart.gif _________________ Gaming since 1986/87
First Console Atari 2600,
a random Amstrad and then a suspectly similar Spectrum! "eeeeh, uuuuh, ooooh, eeeh, uuuh" Yeah you knoe the ones!
SMS, SMD, SNES, SS, PSX, N64, SDC, PC, PS2, GBA, PSP, Wii, PS3.
If you put more time in than I did then you'll probably enjoy this game more than I did.
No, no, no. Youve stopped at the correct point. I almost changed my score to 9 after thinking I may have been a bit harsh when i reached where your point. But then it throws loads of purple coin collection tasks at you to extand the lifespan - lazy as sin! It gets worse if you play it more & arent one of these massive fans.
I like your super nintendo & virtual boy positives & negs - very smart
& surely you can say its easily the best platformer this gen. Theres not exactly a lot of competition _________________ Fed up of ads & slow loading pages? Join The Dark Side
If you put more time in than I did then you'll probably enjoy this game more than I did.
No, no, no. Youve stopped at the correct point. I almost changed my score to 9 after thinking I may have been a bit harsh when i reached where your point. But then it throws loads of purple coin collection tasks at you to extand the lifespan - lazy as sin! It gets worse if you play it more & arent one of these massive fans.
I like your super nintendo & virtual boy positives & negs - very smart
& surely you can say its easily the best platformer this gen. Theres not exactly a lot of competition
I'm not going to try and continue it. I've already got my eyes on the game I want to trade it for. Roll on Mario Kart. Nights and Galaxy are going in for you _________________ Veccy is now over the hill.
+ awesome boss fights
+ excellent combo system
+ good replay value
+ Dante and Nero are well balanced and are as good as each other.
- repetative
- too much backtraking (mainly with Dante)
first dmc game ive ever played and overall i really enjoyed it, though i do prefer ninja gaiden. Now i just have to play the others, dmc3 will be a piece of p**s _________________ GAMING SINCE 1994!!!
PSN- HammersUK
Twitter- http://twitter.com/HammersUK
There should be a new gaming category called "James Bond" games.
I don't mean games starring the worlds favourite 00 agent. A "James Bond" game would be once which exudes the same qualities as the man himself: effortlessly good looking, charming, witty, and fantastic fun. The reason I say this category should exist is because I could then just use it to describe Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door, and make this review much easier on my typing hand.
Quick confession here guys: I hate RPGs. I have got exactly zero patience, as anyone who has ever argued with me knows too well (I tend to lose my temper with them quite quickly), and as a result, games which focus on levelling up and puzzle-solving are automatically on a disadvantage with me. So therefore, much like FPS, it takes something very special if I not only like a game from that genre, but end up adoring it after the end credits have rolled.
Paper Mario is one such game. I find it hard to know where to begin, or indeed end, as the whole experience just left me with such a wonderful feeling. I suppose it's best to begin with the graphics, as it are these which set it apart from it's contemparies. Paper Mario's graphics are essentially 2D characters on a 3D backround. This may sound rubbish, but it's so well done that I'd rank it's graphics better than many other fully 3D games (including the other game I'm playing, Second Sight). The characters exude such charm and cuteness that it's impossible not to like them. I have a mouse-mat of Paper Mario which has become my official Amiga one, and Paper Peach is so cute I was actually considering changing my avatar.
Not that the characters are all that make the graphics so superb. The whole world is in paper form, and so it allows a lot of unique effects as a result. For example, you can turn your character sideways so they are literally "paper-thin", and squeeze through gaps. At one point, you enter what you think is an empty room, but a tear hanging from the wall shows a different story - blowing away the covering piece of paper reveals a hidden chest. You can also head down warp pipes and end up literally in the backdrop, jumping around and accessing areas you couldn't before. The second level, "The Great Boggly Tree", is entirely in black and white, apart from the floor which is glorious technicolour, giving the place a wonderfully alien feel. It's tremendous, and is totally unique (apart from obviously, the other Paper Mario games).
OK, let's get off graphics for a second and put on my serious reviewer hat. The gameplay is, as expected, Nintendo quality. The usual random RPG battles are thrown out in favour of having you see the enemies in the field, and walking into them to attack. You can even hit them and gain the first attack in battle (although they can do the same to you). Basically, if you've played a "Mario & Luigi" game on the GBA/DS, you know what to expect. The turn-based battle syste, is still in place, but I actually prefer this as it gives you some hands-on control rather than waiting around for your turn and deciding who is on potion duty.
RPGs usually revolve around plot, and as thus, are taken very seriously indeed. Paper Mario is the absolute exception to this, as it enjoys sending itself up totally and utterly. Don't get me wrong, the Big Bad is still treated with the utmost respect (mainly due to being kept a secret until right at the end of the game), but other chapters - which included an Agatha Cristie style whodunnit, a wrestling tournament, a quest to find a ghosts name through a haunted house, and a pirate voyage complete with shipwreck - are almost designed as parodies, done very well, but have lots of littles in-jokes poking fun at the scenario (for example, in the train mystery, there is a decetive who is appalling bad and simply claims he "knew it all along"). In fact, the whole game is sent up with the appearance of Luigi, who tells Mario about the quest he is on, which almost mirrors Mario's exactly (he is trying to collect seven coloured compass pieces to rescue "Princess Eclair" from the evil "Chesnut King"). The fact Mario falls asleep whilst Luigi is telling this story is fantastic, even more so is when the townspeople start treating him like a hero (complete with biography!), whilst completely oblivious to how Mario is saving their lives. To this game, the plot is just an excuse to have fun... whether its the bickering Shadow Sisters, or Bowser's little segments which play like Super Mario Bros., or the aforementioned ghost being unable to dissapear at will like his compatriots so he jumps out of a window instead, the whole deal is simply done to bring a smile to your face.
Not to say that there arn't some little moments of brilliance, plot wise. In one chapter, you fight a shadow Mario, and gain the crystal star upon defeating him. After the obligatory "end of chapter" screen, Mario leaves... and you then get up, AS the shadow Mario, leaving you to try and regain your stolen form by beating "yourself"... and your allies. And then there's TEC, the CPU controlling the base where Peach is being held. In between chapters, you play as Peach, and notice how TEC appears to be getting more and more... fond of her, shall we say. Computers with human emotions are extemely creepy (see Portal for details), and TEC is no different, as his overbearing affection for Peach is on par with the homocidal tendencies of other intelligent AIs.
If you're expecting Final Fantasy, don't bother. This isn't a massively complicated RPG with deep plotlines and massive revelations. But that's not what this is about... in fact, simplicity seems to be one of the games strengths. It's accesible to everyone, giving non-RPG fans (like me) the chance to experience how good they can be. In the end, games are designed to be fun, and that's what Paper Mario attempts to be at every turn. I am actually sad that it's finished, although it does allow you to go back after you've finished it (it's nice to have people acknowledge you "won" rather than make you start from the last save). The one good thing is that I now have a taste to go and play other RPGs that I own, namely Skies of Arcadia. Whether that can beat this game is to be seen, because Paper Mario 2 is an absolute joy from start to finish. _________________ Currently playing
Super Mario Galaxy (Wii)
Pokemon Pearl (DS)
Mario Kart Wii (Wii)
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney (DS)
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