Metal Gear Solid 4
Score: 6.0
System: PS3
Genre: Action, Stealth movie Publisher: Konami Developer: Kojima Productions Release Date: 6/12/08 Length: 25 hours Difficulty: 5
Pros - Creative and varied sections including stealth, on-rails shooting, and hand-to-hand combat - Outstanding graphics, sound and production values - All movies and codec can be skipped
Cons - Almost half of the disc (can't even call it a game anymore) involves sitting and watching movies and codec conversations - Repetitive gameplay isn't challenging - Several minute installation sections riddled throughout the game
Before I start, I find it necessary to mention that I love stealth games. There is such a great sense of satisfaction in sneaking up behind a large force and taking them down individually while the rest of the company is oblivious to your existence. I really loved the first Metal Gear Solid, which was a landmark title on the PS1. The Splinter Cell series has expounded on the stealth series in its own vision and is probably the most direct comparison to the Meta Gear Solid series. Alright let's get onto the review.
The Patriots are a conspiracy theory junkies' wet dream for a group that controls private armies, which wage war to support weapons building corporations. Liquid is attempting to destroy the Patriots to create chaos throughout the world. Premature aging renders Solid Snake terminally ill as he hunts down and attempts to stop his nemesis, Liquid Snake, one last time.
The million dollar real question is whether there is any gameplay on the disc. About one-half of the game's 25 hours is spent watching movies and listening to codec. John Carmack, main programmer for many famous id games, summed it up best when he said, "Story in a game is like a story in a porn movie. It's expected to be there, but it's not that important." If games are intended to involve interaction with controllers, then why aren't we allowed to use them for such prolonged sections? The answer? Hideo Kojima really likes movies. He should be making them for Hollywood to be seen in theaters rather than working on interactive media.
His stories are just too self-involved and detailed. He wastes time discussing people's relationships, who's married whom, and how they've dealt with cancer. You start to wonder if you are watching "The Young and the Restless" or playing a game. There are far too many details and dialogue to explain a plot that really isn't really that complex. While the story is somewhat interesting, humorous and attempts to pull at your emotional cords, it is just too self-involved. Get over yourself, Kojima!
His work would serve the movie audience better. Unfortunately, he has found a way to mind control a sizeable section of gamers to buy his games continually just to sit on their rears and watch movies. The CIA and FBI really should look into how he has been able to accomplish it. I think the irony is that his conspiracy theory stories are true. He's slowly gaining control over everyone through subliminal messages in his movies. We need someone to take him down pronto!
Many movie sections are like watching the end of a football game. "Just 2 more minutes and I'll take out the trash, honey!" slowly and inevitably turns into 30 minutes, 1 hour, etc. It's so ridiculous that the game's makers know it and indulge in it. One character actually asks you to put the controller down while he gives his speech. They have the audacity to show they know they aren't making a game anymore. Why do people live with this tripe?!? In exchange for pre-release review copies to larger sites, even Konami acknowledged the problematic cutscene lengths by demanding pre-reviews not mention these problems.
Thankfully you can skip all movie sections and cut straight to the action. You will miss the story, but after watching all the movies I can't recommend it to anyone who values their time. The only commendable movies are at the end of the five main stages.
What about the little action left for gamers? The actual sections involving gameplay aren't half bad. Surprisingly, there is plenty of variety with stealth, on-rails shooting sections, and updated hand-to-hand combat. There are cool weapons to customize and trade. The OctoCamo and Metal Gear MKII remote drone provide alternate ways to get through some tedious stealth sections.
The main problem is that there isn't enough gameplay and it isn't very different from previous games in the series. You can play the game as a first-person shooter, but there are already too many of those types of games. The stealth aspects to the game haven't changed much since the first MGS. The hand-to-hand combat is new but not very different from many other games already available. Even if you skip the movies, you get a sub-par game.
This final entry in the series also introduces the psyche and stress meters. I applaud new innovations, but I just didn't fully understand these features. The stress meter seems to increase when you aren't in good cover or in combat. Snake is supposed to be more mistake-prone with a high stress meter, but I never saw a difference. A lower psyche level is supposed to be a problem, but it never affected gameplay. Perhaps these meters are needed on higher difficulties. I was able to get through the game without paying them any heed by taking advantage of the game's simple AI and patterns.
Solid Snake needs more moves to deal with such advanced enemies. As noted, the most comparable game to Metal Gear is Splinter Cell. Each new addition to the Splinter Cell series adds new movements to Sam's repertoire. He can climb on poles hang upside down and break an enemy's neck. He can hang from a railing below an enemy and pull him down to his death. He swims underwater, cuts a whole in ice, and pulls enemies down. He whistles to attract a guard's attention, then dispatches of the guards one by one. What happens when Sam sees an enemy's shadow in a tent? He cuts a hole with his knife, sneaks up behind him and takes him down.
Snake may be an old dog, but he's learned a few new tricks for his final bow. He has some new close-quarters combat moves to throw, kill and knock out guards. Snake can also hold a guard hostage and search him for items (no anal probes thankfully). There is a wide array of weapons available along with several ways to customize them. It's just puzzling why more hasn't been implemented over the past decade.
While these new moves are appreciated, gamers expect more advances over a decade within a series. Why can't Snake use his environment better? Why aren't we enthralled by a wider variety of ways to dispatch enemies? Why aren't there more than 4-5 types of basic enemies (excluding bosses)? Why hasn't Kojima done this? He's spending all his time on his absurd movies and plot twists is the answer. This is a game. Add new ways to interact rather than watching everything cool happen during the movies. I'd like to perform some of the amazing action during those cutscenes. The more action I saw that I couldn't affect, the more frustrated I became.
The game is set over five main stages. The movies start you off in a battle-torn war zone in the Middle East. You are in the middle of some large combat zones where multiple forces are fighting each other. If you are patient, you can take advantage of each side's ensuing weaknesses. The setting is refreshing compared to the typical one-man army Solid Snake against a squadron of guards and vision cones, which the series has become known for. The combat environment isn't unique though, since it has been replicated many times since the inaugural Half-Life.
The second stage is set in the typical South American jungle we've all seen countless times. We get it. Producers liked Rambo 2. Please get past the hiding in jungles motif. The middle and later sections of the game provides some welcome variety in the gameplay. Various sections of the game make it clear that Kojima and his team have a ton of talent. If they only spent it filling games with more gameplay sections rather than the mundane movies, the world would be a better place.
No action game would be complete without boss battles. Snake will vanquish numerous bosses that are all unique, varied and set in cool environments. None of them will challenge you much though. The main problem is you will spend a good portion of your time manipulating your inventory and weapons in the middle of combat rather than actually fighting. It actually fits with the theme of the game. The game wants to take you away from any interaction as much as possible. Even the actual interactive sections involve many portions that are not interactive.
Of course, this is the PS3, so you must endure a several minute installation section before the game even loads. But wait there's more. Act now and we'll throw in several more multi-minute installation sections before each stage. Unfortunately, there's no money back guarantee on this one. It all comes to a slow and hopefully final conclusion with an even more overt slap in the face. The game ends with a ninety-minute movie to conclude the series. Ok, you like your characters and story. We get it.
It's not that I don't like a good compelling story. I just think it could have been executed better with voice-overs that allow simultaneous gameplay, such as in Bioshock or Splinter Cell. Games should always strive to include as much interaction as possible. Only take us away from playing for a few minutes and make it worth it. I'm not against a game including a short intense movie after every few levels to "reward" you for getting past a tense and difficult section. If the excellent movies at the end of each major level would have been the only non-gameplay sections in the game, the final product would be much better.
The graphics during gameplay and the movies are gorgeous. The only issue is an overt use of browns and grays. I know that Solid Snake is gray now, but does the world need to be also?
The music is both moving during dramatic sequences and energetic during action sequences. Things that should go boom, go boom loud with satisfying bass. Surround sound is executed very well to envelop you in the frenetic war zone and cautious, tense stealth sections. The very realistic bullet twings remind me of the beginning of Saving Private Ryan. Yes, they are that good.
Its become clear that larger sites praise Metal Gear Solid and other hyped games because their reviews are bought out by the publisher's large advertising budgets. "Give us a perfect score review or we'll take our ads away!" We know we aren't alone in recognizing these problems. Well, PoweredUpGamers isn't a biased site. Our review may differ from other sites, but we don't work from their positively-skewed scale that rarely dip below a 7. If we don't enjoy a game, it gets a low score despite the hype.
Showing posts with label Play Station. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Play Station. Show all posts
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
Grand Theft Auto IV Review - Severely Overrated Game Suffers From Extremely Repetitive Missions
Grand Theft Auto IV
Score: 7.0
Systems: Xbox 360, PS3, PC
Genre: Action Length: 30 hours Difficulty: 6 Publisher: Take Two Developer: Take Two
Pros - It's the best GTA game - Liberty City is very detailed and creative - Lots of Multiplayer mission types
Cons - It's still a GTA game: Watch cut scene, drive from point A to point B, shoot somebody. Wash, rinse, repeat for 30 hours - Frame rates and graphics look like PS2.5 - Has an interesting world, yet there are no interesting things to do in it
The mega review sites undeservedly dish out hype and praise like clockwork to the GTAs, Halos, Final Fantasies, and Metal Gears of the world. No game encompasses such a ridiculous amount of hype as GTA does. GTA3 was an admittedly a revolutionary game for its time because it started a whole new genre: the sandbox game. It should be praised for originality and pushing videogames to new places. However, the GTA formula and actual gameplay have always been average at best.
Where do we begin? Let's take a minute to review what the mainstream media has to say about GTA4. Currently GTA4 is being hailed as literally the BEST game of all time. The game has a ridiculous 99% score on Gamerankings.com. Every single review without fail has praised the game as the Holy Grail of gaming. WOW! Can I start my own site to get another viewpoint from the hype driven, marketing based payola that is the norm in the videogame media?
The mega sites are all posting 10 page reviews that go on ad nauseum about the spectacle and grandeur of GTA4. Yet within those pages of PR fluff, there is very little concrete information about why GTA is the most fun game of all time, why GTA gameplay is anything more than average, why the game deservers a frickin' 10 out of 10.
Most of the large sites comment continually about how wonderful the cut scenes are. I think cut scenes can be a nice reward for finishing a larger portion of a game. Once these movies start becoming a significant portion of the game, then I may as well watch a movie (are you listening Metal Gear Solid?). In my opinion, games are a unique form of entertainment because they allow people to interact with a world and do things that are not feasible in reality. Watching cut scenes, regardless of their quality, tends to bore me to tears because it takes me away from having fun doing things in this great city that they've meticulously built.
The mega sites also write reviews the size of War and Peace filled with the nebulous, meaningless dribble about how the game makes you feel or little cute details in the world. Yes the world is a highly rich, detailed, and interesting place: plenty of people walking around with funny comments and actions, tons of variety in car models, good physics engine, and plenty of things to do other, such as bowling, buying clothes and going to a strip club (gotta be controversial to sell the game, right?). The main problem is that the gameplay is just not that fun inside this world. How does any of this matter if the game isn't actually fun to play?
The first 3 hours of the game is literally half cut scenes, and half chauffeuring people back and forth through the city. Woohoo, I can see now why this is the best game of all time. They should have called this "Driving Miss Daisy Theft Auto IV". The missions do get better and more interesting, but the game basically always revolves around talking to someone, getting a job (some kind of hit), and driving to go kill somebody.
There is so much peripheral SIMS like crap in the game such as bowling, dating, buying clothes, surfing the web that sound cool in theory but are not fun to do in a videogame. It really seems the developers focused on adding more meaningless content that no one wanted in the first place as opposed to making the game's core gameplay more enjoyable and varied (I supposed it adds to the bullet points they can put on the back of the box). If these types of things are fun, they have been done much better in other games devoted to the genre. Why play a game of bowling when you could get a bowling game instead?
I think that open world gameplay tends to be a flawed style of gameplay. It sounds cool in theory to allow people to do anything they want and see how the world reacts to your actions. It was fun when GTAIII introduced the style on the PS2. The genre has just failed to innovate to keep things fresh. What you end up with is trying to do all things for all gamers - a jack-of-all-trades, but master of none type of philosophy.
The open world also compromises graphics and makes gameplay repetitive and uninteresting. Other open world games, such as Assassins creed and Spiderman 3, are also great examples of the general flaws of this gameplay type. These games tend to have interesting worlds but ruin the experience with uninteresting and monotonous missions and side tasks. Repeating the same 4-5 types of tasks on enemies and environments that look different for 30 hours fails to keep me interested.
There have been many updates to the GTA system that allow it to move into the 21st century: map navigation and GPS voice allow you to get your next mission MUCH easier, aiming controls and fighting allow for easier lock-on and switching between targets, and improved controls.
Crackdown is a good example of an open world game, which is fun.. Its over the top action, mega explosions, fun platforming, smooth and polished graphics, and silly sense of humor make Crackdown a fun open world game to play. The upcoming game Prototype also looks to be a solid open world game because you get to do some amazing, over the top things in the open world. Again what you do in the game's world is the key, not the actual world and its appearance.
To be fair, the GTA game does try to provide you with a lot for your gaming dollar. The campaign is lengthy 30 hours (about 6 hours of cut scenes and 6 hours of driving between missions), and there are endless side missions (bowling, dating, clothes shopping, etc.)
The newly introduced multiplayer is robust as well with 12 different modes. Some of the modes are pretty cool, such as cops and robbers (one team runs from the other team chasing trying to catch them), GTA race (race while shooting at each other), and some co-op modes for 2-4 players. Due to the game's large following, there are plenty of people on-line to play with. Unfortunately, the technical problems that mar the single player portion of the game, such as poor frame rates, become even worse online. The game feels too sluggish to be any fun long-term online.Also, there is no online menu, so you have to quit a game, go back to the single-player mode and then re-enter the new multiplayer mode you want (all with the obligatory load times mentioned above).
If you are comparing GTA to previous iterations in the series, then it looks great. However, this game pales in comparison to the standards set by this generation's Gears of War, Crackdown and Ratchet and Clank. The textures, jagged edges, and rough look make this look like your average 3rd party multi-port game. The frame rate also suffers (appears to run from 20-30fps), which makes the game feel sluggish and the controls are not as responsive as needed. The load times are absolutely ridiculous in length (10-15 seconds each) and quantity (before each cut scene and the beginning of each mission). It is not uncommon that the game freezes up during these load times and you have to reboot the system.
I understand that the Liberty City world is a large and very detailed world, and its tough to make a sandbox game look like Gears of War or Drakes Fortune. However, Crackdown was a sandbox game and it managed to have great textures, frame rate and controls, so it appears Take 2 decided to focus on other aspects of the game and allow the graphics to suffer. GTA4 is a nice looking GTA game but an average looking game at best.
In summary, GTA4 is the best GTA game so far. However the gameplay itself continues to be the weakest link in the overall package. We here are PoweredUpGamers believe that gameplay rules the day every time, and no amount of hype is going to change that. If you liked former GTA games and don't mind that the actual gameplay hasn't changed much, then you will like this game. If you compare this game to other alternatives on any system, then you will probably find that the game pales in comparison to the games competing for your time and money.
Score: 7.0
Systems: Xbox 360, PS3, PC
Genre: Action Length: 30 hours Difficulty: 6 Publisher: Take Two Developer: Take Two
Pros - It's the best GTA game - Liberty City is very detailed and creative - Lots of Multiplayer mission types
Cons - It's still a GTA game: Watch cut scene, drive from point A to point B, shoot somebody. Wash, rinse, repeat for 30 hours - Frame rates and graphics look like PS2.5 - Has an interesting world, yet there are no interesting things to do in it
The mega review sites undeservedly dish out hype and praise like clockwork to the GTAs, Halos, Final Fantasies, and Metal Gears of the world. No game encompasses such a ridiculous amount of hype as GTA does. GTA3 was an admittedly a revolutionary game for its time because it started a whole new genre: the sandbox game. It should be praised for originality and pushing videogames to new places. However, the GTA formula and actual gameplay have always been average at best.
Where do we begin? Let's take a minute to review what the mainstream media has to say about GTA4. Currently GTA4 is being hailed as literally the BEST game of all time. The game has a ridiculous 99% score on Gamerankings.com. Every single review without fail has praised the game as the Holy Grail of gaming. WOW! Can I start my own site to get another viewpoint from the hype driven, marketing based payola that is the norm in the videogame media?
The mega sites are all posting 10 page reviews that go on ad nauseum about the spectacle and grandeur of GTA4. Yet within those pages of PR fluff, there is very little concrete information about why GTA is the most fun game of all time, why GTA gameplay is anything more than average, why the game deservers a frickin' 10 out of 10.
Most of the large sites comment continually about how wonderful the cut scenes are. I think cut scenes can be a nice reward for finishing a larger portion of a game. Once these movies start becoming a significant portion of the game, then I may as well watch a movie (are you listening Metal Gear Solid?). In my opinion, games are a unique form of entertainment because they allow people to interact with a world and do things that are not feasible in reality. Watching cut scenes, regardless of their quality, tends to bore me to tears because it takes me away from having fun doing things in this great city that they've meticulously built.
The mega sites also write reviews the size of War and Peace filled with the nebulous, meaningless dribble about how the game makes you feel or little cute details in the world. Yes the world is a highly rich, detailed, and interesting place: plenty of people walking around with funny comments and actions, tons of variety in car models, good physics engine, and plenty of things to do other, such as bowling, buying clothes and going to a strip club (gotta be controversial to sell the game, right?). The main problem is that the gameplay is just not that fun inside this world. How does any of this matter if the game isn't actually fun to play?
The first 3 hours of the game is literally half cut scenes, and half chauffeuring people back and forth through the city. Woohoo, I can see now why this is the best game of all time. They should have called this "Driving Miss Daisy Theft Auto IV". The missions do get better and more interesting, but the game basically always revolves around talking to someone, getting a job (some kind of hit), and driving to go kill somebody.
There is so much peripheral SIMS like crap in the game such as bowling, dating, buying clothes, surfing the web that sound cool in theory but are not fun to do in a videogame. It really seems the developers focused on adding more meaningless content that no one wanted in the first place as opposed to making the game's core gameplay more enjoyable and varied (I supposed it adds to the bullet points they can put on the back of the box). If these types of things are fun, they have been done much better in other games devoted to the genre. Why play a game of bowling when you could get a bowling game instead?
I think that open world gameplay tends to be a flawed style of gameplay. It sounds cool in theory to allow people to do anything they want and see how the world reacts to your actions. It was fun when GTAIII introduced the style on the PS2. The genre has just failed to innovate to keep things fresh. What you end up with is trying to do all things for all gamers - a jack-of-all-trades, but master of none type of philosophy.
The open world also compromises graphics and makes gameplay repetitive and uninteresting. Other open world games, such as Assassins creed and Spiderman 3, are also great examples of the general flaws of this gameplay type. These games tend to have interesting worlds but ruin the experience with uninteresting and monotonous missions and side tasks. Repeating the same 4-5 types of tasks on enemies and environments that look different for 30 hours fails to keep me interested.
There have been many updates to the GTA system that allow it to move into the 21st century: map navigation and GPS voice allow you to get your next mission MUCH easier, aiming controls and fighting allow for easier lock-on and switching between targets, and improved controls.
Crackdown is a good example of an open world game, which is fun.. Its over the top action, mega explosions, fun platforming, smooth and polished graphics, and silly sense of humor make Crackdown a fun open world game to play. The upcoming game Prototype also looks to be a solid open world game because you get to do some amazing, over the top things in the open world. Again what you do in the game's world is the key, not the actual world and its appearance.
To be fair, the GTA game does try to provide you with a lot for your gaming dollar. The campaign is lengthy 30 hours (about 6 hours of cut scenes and 6 hours of driving between missions), and there are endless side missions (bowling, dating, clothes shopping, etc.)
The newly introduced multiplayer is robust as well with 12 different modes. Some of the modes are pretty cool, such as cops and robbers (one team runs from the other team chasing trying to catch them), GTA race (race while shooting at each other), and some co-op modes for 2-4 players. Due to the game's large following, there are plenty of people on-line to play with. Unfortunately, the technical problems that mar the single player portion of the game, such as poor frame rates, become even worse online. The game feels too sluggish to be any fun long-term online.Also, there is no online menu, so you have to quit a game, go back to the single-player mode and then re-enter the new multiplayer mode you want (all with the obligatory load times mentioned above).
If you are comparing GTA to previous iterations in the series, then it looks great. However, this game pales in comparison to the standards set by this generation's Gears of War, Crackdown and Ratchet and Clank. The textures, jagged edges, and rough look make this look like your average 3rd party multi-port game. The frame rate also suffers (appears to run from 20-30fps), which makes the game feel sluggish and the controls are not as responsive as needed. The load times are absolutely ridiculous in length (10-15 seconds each) and quantity (before each cut scene and the beginning of each mission). It is not uncommon that the game freezes up during these load times and you have to reboot the system.
I understand that the Liberty City world is a large and very detailed world, and its tough to make a sandbox game look like Gears of War or Drakes Fortune. However, Crackdown was a sandbox game and it managed to have great textures, frame rate and controls, so it appears Take 2 decided to focus on other aspects of the game and allow the graphics to suffer. GTA4 is a nice looking GTA game but an average looking game at best.
In summary, GTA4 is the best GTA game so far. However the gameplay itself continues to be the weakest link in the overall package. We here are PoweredUpGamers believe that gameplay rules the day every time, and no amount of hype is going to change that. If you liked former GTA games and don't mind that the actual gameplay hasn't changed much, then you will like this game. If you compare this game to other alternatives on any system, then you will probably find that the game pales in comparison to the games competing for your time and money.
Gears of War 2 - XBOX 360
Welcome back the Locust Horde. Only yourself and your crack team of elite fighters (Delta Squad) can stop the locusts horde from ending the lives of all the humans on the planet. This time its not as simple as blasting your way through the game. What is evident in this game is it based around tactics, tactics and more tactics. The introduction of a new 'cover system' means you can employ the services of the enemy as a a shield. The graphics have improved from the Gears of War 1 opener and appear to be both more detailed and deeper in color.
The game offers both single and multi-player options. The solo mission is larger, harder and the weapons are more severe and destructive from the previous edition. Epic would be a word that comes to mind and this is not just a reference to the developer. The plot twists in this game keeping it both entertaining and interesting and should keep you coming back for more. One thing that does seem to have improved is the graphical glitches. Most games seem to slip at some point or another but this seems to be very rare on GofW2
The multi-player Horde mode is a welcome addition and extremely entertaining. You and four others can fight off wave after wave of Locusts and see who can survive till the end. This mode allows the gamer to take charge of any of the human fighters plus any of the locusts. It may take the more advanced of gamers out there a number of long sittings to get to the end, but there is no doubt it will have been well worth it.
The game offers both single and multi-player options. The solo mission is larger, harder and the weapons are more severe and destructive from the previous edition. Epic would be a word that comes to mind and this is not just a reference to the developer. The plot twists in this game keeping it both entertaining and interesting and should keep you coming back for more. One thing that does seem to have improved is the graphical glitches. Most games seem to slip at some point or another but this seems to be very rare on GofW2
The multi-player Horde mode is a welcome addition and extremely entertaining. You and four others can fight off wave after wave of Locusts and see who can survive till the end. This mode allows the gamer to take charge of any of the human fighters plus any of the locusts. It may take the more advanced of gamers out there a number of long sittings to get to the end, but there is no doubt it will have been well worth it.
Be Rich - And Let Your Real Estate Empire Thrive!
Strategy real estate-themed games become extremely popular lately, and after the huge success of the Build-a-lot series we are presenting a new game of this type - Be Rich. While offering mostly similar game play, it introduces some new twists that make your game experience a bit different.
Do you prefer a lightning-fast career or thoughtful development? It's all here!
Be Rich offers you not much of a story. You just found you real estate company and start developing it in one of the two modes - Career or Sandbox. In Career mode you complete level after level and develop your corporation, while in Sandbox you just have a large area and a number of rather challenging goals to achieve as well as a number of tools to use in your game and no time limit, so you can make it your own way.
But if you choose to make a career, you select your assistant out of three highly qualified real estate professionals and step to the first level. Each level represents a town with your company branch and certain objectives to complete. You have some cash and construction wagons, and possibly some real estate properties. There are also some parameters like Town Appearance or Population. Your objectives may be related to any of these, for instance, earning certain amount of money or rental income, building a certain number of specific houses or getting the town population to a certain level.
Your choice of means to use is rather wide. You can construct houses, upgrade them (which increases not only the rental income, but also the number of tenants), sell and buy them, and repair them if necessary. You can also construct buildings like shops or workshops to create additional revenue stream or eliminate some frequent problems. Each town may also offer its own issues like fixing a bridge or creating a stadium and running some matches there. You can also decorate your town with trees, fountains and other beautiful additions, which also add to your revenue and town appearance.
There is also one feature that makes the game a bit more complicated, but at the same time more interesting - the roads. You can't build something away from a road, as the constructors may not be able to get there, so you always have to think where you put our buildings and about communication and objects location a lot.
Between the levels you can see you company's Headquarters and purchase improvements for it using your points earned for completing level objectives early. These upgrades give you some advantages, like faster construction or more tenants to houses, which is very useful sometimes.
So, if you enjoy strategy games, Be Rich is a nice variant to try - and test your managing skills!
Do you prefer a lightning-fast career or thoughtful development? It's all here!
Be Rich offers you not much of a story. You just found you real estate company and start developing it in one of the two modes - Career or Sandbox. In Career mode you complete level after level and develop your corporation, while in Sandbox you just have a large area and a number of rather challenging goals to achieve as well as a number of tools to use in your game and no time limit, so you can make it your own way.
But if you choose to make a career, you select your assistant out of three highly qualified real estate professionals and step to the first level. Each level represents a town with your company branch and certain objectives to complete. You have some cash and construction wagons, and possibly some real estate properties. There are also some parameters like Town Appearance or Population. Your objectives may be related to any of these, for instance, earning certain amount of money or rental income, building a certain number of specific houses or getting the town population to a certain level.
Your choice of means to use is rather wide. You can construct houses, upgrade them (which increases not only the rental income, but also the number of tenants), sell and buy them, and repair them if necessary. You can also construct buildings like shops or workshops to create additional revenue stream or eliminate some frequent problems. Each town may also offer its own issues like fixing a bridge or creating a stadium and running some matches there. You can also decorate your town with trees, fountains and other beautiful additions, which also add to your revenue and town appearance.
There is also one feature that makes the game a bit more complicated, but at the same time more interesting - the roads. You can't build something away from a road, as the constructors may not be able to get there, so you always have to think where you put our buildings and about communication and objects location a lot.
Between the levels you can see you company's Headquarters and purchase improvements for it using your points earned for completing level objectives early. These upgrades give you some advantages, like faster construction or more tenants to houses, which is very useful sometimes.
So, if you enjoy strategy games, Be Rich is a nice variant to try - and test your managing skills!
Star Wars - The Old Republic (PC)
No, it's not another KotOR, which I'm semi-disappointed about, but it is a new Star Wars MMORPG. This game is actually set 300 years after Knights of the Old Republic, but does feature some familiar faces. You'll be able to fight on both sides in this game, as you were able to in KotOR.
So here's the thing. Why now? Why didn't they announce this game way back when they released KotOR II. It was actually in demand then, now the Star Wars hype has died down again, with the exception of The Force Unleashed, which was kind of a let down, to me at least. Yes, it took a different look at Star Wars, and let you be a complete bad ass, but I'm not really into that sort of thing. I want to be a Jedi, I want to fight Darth Vader, or whoever else has control of the Empire, and most of all I want it to be challenging, yet beatable. Is that too much to ask?
I doubt this game will even feature and Emperor, but hopefully I'll be pleasantly surprised. They also better not make this a subscription based game, because there's no way I'm even buying it then. I have better games that don't even cost money. Or I'll pick up a $10 one off Steam. Maybe BioWare will give this game all they have, or maybe they'll piss it away like some other games which I won't mention. Now I'm going to have to go play some KotOR in anticipation.
So here's the thing. Why now? Why didn't they announce this game way back when they released KotOR II. It was actually in demand then, now the Star Wars hype has died down again, with the exception of The Force Unleashed, which was kind of a let down, to me at least. Yes, it took a different look at Star Wars, and let you be a complete bad ass, but I'm not really into that sort of thing. I want to be a Jedi, I want to fight Darth Vader, or whoever else has control of the Empire, and most of all I want it to be challenging, yet beatable. Is that too much to ask?
I doubt this game will even feature and Emperor, but hopefully I'll be pleasantly surprised. They also better not make this a subscription based game, because there's no way I'm even buying it then. I have better games that don't even cost money. Or I'll pick up a $10 one off Steam. Maybe BioWare will give this game all they have, or maybe they'll piss it away like some other games which I won't mention. Now I'm going to have to go play some KotOR in anticipation.
Warhammer 40,000 - Dawn of War 2 (Insight) (PC)
Why our citizen Relic-aholic is so blessed that Dawn of War II has just appeared should be apparent to anyone with a feel even accidentally abreast the beating of PC gaming. Not alone is this the latest and greatest action straight from the makers of Company of Heroes, but it's a swell one that has approved to advance things in a hardly altered direction.
It promises old-school charms with all-new tweaks - admitting able and carrying are two absolutely altered races, just like Space Marines and Tyranids.
One of the above departures for Dawn of War II's single player attack lies in the absolute angle the adventure is told through. The artifice for Dawn of War II is focused appealing alone on the Space Marines, to the admeasurement that there are no added playable factions in the single player.
A above acumen for this is that it seems Relic has approved to analyze what affectionate of belief can be told aural the RTS genre; war and political struggles are appealing , but is it accessible for added claimed dramas to become an acute allotment of the story? Relic thinks so and has advised the absolute single player about the idea.
The a lot of accessible way that the developer has done this is by ascent aback a lot of Dawn of War's scope. The 40K cosmos may be one of Amaranthine war, but at the amount of that is a affluent fiction that Relic has broke into by eliminating the abstraction of body queues and countless, faceless soldiers. Your armament are no best innumerable and anonymous; individuals matter.
The absolute artifice for Dawn of War II isn't annihilation wholly remarkable, it has to be said. The adventure starts on the abroad planet Calderis, training arena for the celebrated Blood Ravens chapter, which is getting assaulted by barbarian hordes of Orks. Astime goes on new enemies are alien and you yield the action to new planets, but at its amount it's still just the aforementioned Amaranthine war that's consistently kept the 40K cosmos active inches from extinction.
It promises old-school charms with all-new tweaks - admitting able and carrying are two absolutely altered races, just like Space Marines and Tyranids.
One of the above departures for Dawn of War II's single player attack lies in the absolute angle the adventure is told through. The artifice for Dawn of War II is focused appealing alone on the Space Marines, to the admeasurement that there are no added playable factions in the single player.
A above acumen for this is that it seems Relic has approved to analyze what affectionate of belief can be told aural the RTS genre; war and political struggles are appealing , but is it accessible for added claimed dramas to become an acute allotment of the story? Relic thinks so and has advised the absolute single player about the idea.
The a lot of accessible way that the developer has done this is by ascent aback a lot of Dawn of War's scope. The 40K cosmos may be one of Amaranthine war, but at the amount of that is a affluent fiction that Relic has broke into by eliminating the abstraction of body queues and countless, faceless soldiers. Your armament are no best innumerable and anonymous; individuals matter.
The absolute artifice for Dawn of War II isn't annihilation wholly remarkable, it has to be said. The adventure starts on the abroad planet Calderis, training arena for the celebrated Blood Ravens chapter, which is getting assaulted by barbarian hordes of Orks. Astime goes on new enemies are alien and you yield the action to new planets, but at its amount it's still just the aforementioned Amaranthine war that's consistently kept the 40K cosmos active inches from extinction.
Halo Wars
If you are a fan of real time strategy, then Halo Wars is the right game for you. Halo Wars is based in the Halo universe that is based in earlier times. You get to live the events that happened prior to the first Halo game. Serina is your help in guiding the various units of the game which you are familiar with. There are also technologies throughout the battlefield that allow your Commanders to utilize their powers and assist you in battle.
Game Play Specifics
The campaign mode allows you to live the story in which your UNSC Warship, the Spirit of Fire and all of its troops first meet up with the Covenant, your alien enemies that are on a mission to exterminate humans. You can take control over Covenant units when playing multiplayer and lead your Grunts, Elites, Ghosts, as well as Scarabs to defeat human foes on the battlefield.
Ensemble Studios did a great job at creating this groundbreaking Xbox 360 real time strategy game with intuitive game play through a interface that plays almost effortlessly. This creates a control scheme which can be mastered to demolish your enemies and power through games with strategically planned game play. This large scale combat system lets you truly feel like a commander of an army. This is true for both sides, being UNSC troops or Covenant forces. Build up your army and become the superior force to obliterate your foes. This offers a tactical system that is unmatched by any other real time strategy game on Xbox 360. By using combinations of leaders and units to control, you can custom tailor your playing style to match realistic war simulations.
The Bottom Line for Halo Wars
This is a unique and interesting take on one of the greatest PC to Console games transformations. You could really create your story of how the events prior to the original Halo game occurred. This gives you an idea as to why you love playing Halo alone and with your friends online, as well as insight through where this concept originates. This is a great buy for anyone that enjoys real time strategy game play or just plain war games with their friends. Whatever your take, this is a must have for your Xbox 360 console.
Game Play Specifics
The campaign mode allows you to live the story in which your UNSC Warship, the Spirit of Fire and all of its troops first meet up with the Covenant, your alien enemies that are on a mission to exterminate humans. You can take control over Covenant units when playing multiplayer and lead your Grunts, Elites, Ghosts, as well as Scarabs to defeat human foes on the battlefield.
Ensemble Studios did a great job at creating this groundbreaking Xbox 360 real time strategy game with intuitive game play through a interface that plays almost effortlessly. This creates a control scheme which can be mastered to demolish your enemies and power through games with strategically planned game play. This large scale combat system lets you truly feel like a commander of an army. This is true for both sides, being UNSC troops or Covenant forces. Build up your army and become the superior force to obliterate your foes. This offers a tactical system that is unmatched by any other real time strategy game on Xbox 360. By using combinations of leaders and units to control, you can custom tailor your playing style to match realistic war simulations.
The Bottom Line for Halo Wars
This is a unique and interesting take on one of the greatest PC to Console games transformations. You could really create your story of how the events prior to the original Halo game occurred. This gives you an idea as to why you love playing Halo alone and with your friends online, as well as insight through where this concept originates. This is a great buy for anyone that enjoys real time strategy game play or just plain war games with their friends. Whatever your take, this is a must have for your Xbox 360 console.
Rock Band 2 Review - Harmonix's Guitar Hero Has Evolved Into Xbox 360, PS2, PlayStation 3 Versions
For many, the only thing better than Guitar Hero is the new release of Wii Rock Band 2. If you want to be a part of the new concept in gaming, then tapping into this console can help you to enjoy even more of your gaming experience. This particular game is known as the best playing option and Rock Band upgrade in Wii history, with several more features and abilities than past Wii music games.
History of Wii Rock Band 2
Rock Band 2 was originally released by Harmonix, a company that provides digital games linked to music. When building this game, they began with the launch of "Guitar Hero". This allowed players to add in some basic tunes while playing a guitar in the console. This particular concept developed into the Rock Band game, where standalone software was given for the guitar or drums, as well as an entire bundle that allowed players to sing and play their choice of instrument. Since this game was developed by an outside company, it is available for Wii as well as Nintendo, PlayStation and Xbox. However, the advantage with the Wii platform is due to ability to move into motion with the music.
How Wii Rock Band 2 Relates to Others
The Wii Rock Band 2 was expected to be released in December, 2008, as one top option for the Christmas season. However, with this were some delays in some of the music, which had to be released in 2009. With the main game that was released, instant positive feedback made this game one of the best games of the year. Because of the additional 84 songs, free music downloads and compatibility with other players, and the highlight of enjoying listening to music while participating in taking center stage with the game.
Along with this, is the benefit of Rock Band 2 being available with different consoles. The release also includes the PlayStation 3 version, Xbox 360 version and the PS2 version. The only difference noted with these are that more songs are available to download than in the Wii version. Because the game was tried in these areas first, it is also providing more playing options. With these, are software attributes that ranges from standalone versions of $49 to bundles that are at $189, as well as sales and discounts from wholesale stores.
Whether you a professional or an amateur, you can be a part of the rocking music through the Wii Rock Band 2 console. Let the music begin to flow out of you. This particular musical platform is one that provides even novice musicians everywhere with a chance to star in the spotlights and to experience the full band beats. This latest version 2 has received rave reviews about the unique concept of playing music, and as a console, is also being rated as one of the best experiences in gaming.
History of Wii Rock Band 2
Rock Band 2 was originally released by Harmonix, a company that provides digital games linked to music. When building this game, they began with the launch of "Guitar Hero". This allowed players to add in some basic tunes while playing a guitar in the console. This particular concept developed into the Rock Band game, where standalone software was given for the guitar or drums, as well as an entire bundle that allowed players to sing and play their choice of instrument. Since this game was developed by an outside company, it is available for Wii as well as Nintendo, PlayStation and Xbox. However, the advantage with the Wii platform is due to ability to move into motion with the music.
How Wii Rock Band 2 Relates to Others
The Wii Rock Band 2 was expected to be released in December, 2008, as one top option for the Christmas season. However, with this were some delays in some of the music, which had to be released in 2009. With the main game that was released, instant positive feedback made this game one of the best games of the year. Because of the additional 84 songs, free music downloads and compatibility with other players, and the highlight of enjoying listening to music while participating in taking center stage with the game.
Along with this, is the benefit of Rock Band 2 being available with different consoles. The release also includes the PlayStation 3 version, Xbox 360 version and the PS2 version. The only difference noted with these are that more songs are available to download than in the Wii version. Because the game was tried in these areas first, it is also providing more playing options. With these, are software attributes that ranges from standalone versions of $49 to bundles that are at $189, as well as sales and discounts from wholesale stores.
Whether you a professional or an amateur, you can be a part of the rocking music through the Wii Rock Band 2 console. Let the music begin to flow out of you. This particular musical platform is one that provides even novice musicians everywhere with a chance to star in the spotlights and to experience the full band beats. This latest version 2 has received rave reviews about the unique concept of playing music, and as a console, is also being rated as one of the best experiences in gaming.
Cabela's Big Game Hunter PS2 - Does it Measure Up to Expectation?
Cabela's Big Game Hunter is the first hunting game in the current high-end consoles. The game gives the player the freedom to do what they like as a hunter. For serious players, who would imitate hunters, those who would use decoys, scents and scopes to do the traditional stalk, the game will let you do just that.
But if you just want to explore the land by riding an ATV or snowmobile and shoot animals as you see them, you can do that as well. This freedom certainly adds realism to an outdoor setting experience. The game can be played in three difficulty settings. The easy setting will let you spot animals from afar by marking them with a red dot.
The medium setting removes the red dot but the animal's AI is still the same. The hard setting increases the animal's AI a few notches, which requires you to consider the wind's direction and type of approach in shooting animals. The graphics and sound is fairly good. Different types of environments and animals are re-created sufficiently. The hunting regions follow its appearance according to the season of the year.
If it's winter season, snow can be seen covering the ground and trees and if it's spring, growing grasses can be seen on the ground and on the hillside. In general, Cabela's Big Game Hunter for Playstation 2 will only captivate few gamers around the world. It can satisfy hunting game lovers and those who are really into real life hunting sport.
But if you just want to explore the land by riding an ATV or snowmobile and shoot animals as you see them, you can do that as well. This freedom certainly adds realism to an outdoor setting experience. The game can be played in three difficulty settings. The easy setting will let you spot animals from afar by marking them with a red dot.
The medium setting removes the red dot but the animal's AI is still the same. The hard setting increases the animal's AI a few notches, which requires you to consider the wind's direction and type of approach in shooting animals. The graphics and sound is fairly good. Different types of environments and animals are re-created sufficiently. The hunting regions follow its appearance according to the season of the year.
If it's winter season, snow can be seen covering the ground and trees and if it's spring, growing grasses can be seen on the ground and on the hillside. In general, Cabela's Big Game Hunter for Playstation 2 will only captivate few gamers around the world. It can satisfy hunting game lovers and those who are really into real life hunting sport.
Review - King of Fighters Orochi Saga (PSP)
Where to begin with this compilation that's based around the King of Fighters series circa 1994 - 1998? Would it be best to start with a witty remark such as "SNK Playmore refuses to accept new century, prefers to live in the 90's"? Perhaps not... Because as much as it begrudges me to say this, this title's actually quite playable.
Taking the King of Fighters titles as a collective entity, there is a lot of value contained within, I discovered. Playing through what's called the 'Orochi Saga', starting with KoF '94, you can see how the series has taken steps to evolve over the yearly entries. Ranging from the preset teams to choose from in the '94 edition, to the ability to create your own in '95, and the overall awesomeness of the '98 edition, it seems SNK Playmore took notice year after year regarding what the fans wanted to see in the next edition. King of Fighters '95 might start with the message "The event shall be conducted as the previous one", implying the title is exactly the same as '94, but I actually discovered the experience surpasses it in spades. From the combat to the graphics, each year feels new compared to the prior, and when you add in the many, MANY different characters contained in each release then you have more reasons to replay. Even if you only play as Mai....
Another enjoyable experience was the 'Challenges' mode, where you have arbitrary goals to accomplish such as 'Win a battle blind - no energy bars etc."". It adds further replay value and unlocks content from across the titles such as secret characters, artwork and other in-game assets. Trying to clear all of the challenges will likely keep you going for days! I'm still playing through them when I have time, as time is a very important factor for this title as I shall now explain.
Things I didn't enjoy:
Loading Times: UMD proves itself once more to be a thorn in the side of developers with regards to the PlayStation Portable. Getting from the main Title Select screen to an actual fight took exactly '1:02.05′. Long enough when you're playing a quick round or two and you end up waiting longer than a battle would normally last. Not only that, the load times between rounds were '6.7′ seconds long, again breaking up the flow of the combat. When a round can end in under 20 seconds for a REALLY good player this becomes a problem somewhat.
Bugs, glitches and errors. There are random occasions when the sound just cuts out randomly. The fight announcer might start talking then stop mid sentence, the same applies to the in game music. I wonder if it has anything to do with the UMD format itself? Perhaps there was a flaw in the porting across process and they simply didn't want to spend money fixing it. Who knows? All I do know, however, is that the problem is not limited to my PSP; I spoke to one Adam Gulliver over on GameStyle, and he was just as confused as I was about the glitches. Graphically, the title maintains the charm of the series, but I do wish that a proper 16:9 screen format had been included, as the default 4:3 just seems like a waste of screen. Nit picking I know, but I want my whole screen to be filled with lovely pixels, not wildly stretched ones.
Outcome? Whilst I can only speak for myself, I found myself thinking early on in my experience with this title that if you go into the title expecting a Street Fighter II, you will come away disappointed. Expect something more technical, where luck and persistence have to be joined with skill and remembering the patterns of many fighters in order to succeed. Give it a try, folks. It's a great way to get ready for King of Fighters XII this summer. SNK Playmore - colour me interested!
* Verdict: If you're a King of Fighters fan then the rating is BUY. If not? Try.
* Completed: KOF 94, 95, 98.
* Players: 2
* Platforms: PSP, Wii
* Price: £29.99
* Released: March 27th 2009.
Taking the King of Fighters titles as a collective entity, there is a lot of value contained within, I discovered. Playing through what's called the 'Orochi Saga', starting with KoF '94, you can see how the series has taken steps to evolve over the yearly entries. Ranging from the preset teams to choose from in the '94 edition, to the ability to create your own in '95, and the overall awesomeness of the '98 edition, it seems SNK Playmore took notice year after year regarding what the fans wanted to see in the next edition. King of Fighters '95 might start with the message "The event shall be conducted as the previous one", implying the title is exactly the same as '94, but I actually discovered the experience surpasses it in spades. From the combat to the graphics, each year feels new compared to the prior, and when you add in the many, MANY different characters contained in each release then you have more reasons to replay. Even if you only play as Mai....
Another enjoyable experience was the 'Challenges' mode, where you have arbitrary goals to accomplish such as 'Win a battle blind - no energy bars etc."". It adds further replay value and unlocks content from across the titles such as secret characters, artwork and other in-game assets. Trying to clear all of the challenges will likely keep you going for days! I'm still playing through them when I have time, as time is a very important factor for this title as I shall now explain.
Things I didn't enjoy:
Loading Times: UMD proves itself once more to be a thorn in the side of developers with regards to the PlayStation Portable. Getting from the main Title Select screen to an actual fight took exactly '1:02.05′. Long enough when you're playing a quick round or two and you end up waiting longer than a battle would normally last. Not only that, the load times between rounds were '6.7′ seconds long, again breaking up the flow of the combat. When a round can end in under 20 seconds for a REALLY good player this becomes a problem somewhat.
Bugs, glitches and errors. There are random occasions when the sound just cuts out randomly. The fight announcer might start talking then stop mid sentence, the same applies to the in game music. I wonder if it has anything to do with the UMD format itself? Perhaps there was a flaw in the porting across process and they simply didn't want to spend money fixing it. Who knows? All I do know, however, is that the problem is not limited to my PSP; I spoke to one Adam Gulliver over on GameStyle, and he was just as confused as I was about the glitches. Graphically, the title maintains the charm of the series, but I do wish that a proper 16:9 screen format had been included, as the default 4:3 just seems like a waste of screen. Nit picking I know, but I want my whole screen to be filled with lovely pixels, not wildly stretched ones.
Outcome? Whilst I can only speak for myself, I found myself thinking early on in my experience with this title that if you go into the title expecting a Street Fighter II, you will come away disappointed. Expect something more technical, where luck and persistence have to be joined with skill and remembering the patterns of many fighters in order to succeed. Give it a try, folks. It's a great way to get ready for King of Fighters XII this summer. SNK Playmore - colour me interested!
* Verdict: If you're a King of Fighters fan then the rating is BUY. If not? Try.
* Completed: KOF 94, 95, 98.
* Players: 2
* Platforms: PSP, Wii
* Price: £29.99
* Released: March 27th 2009.
Nintendo DS Kids Games - Best Choices For 2009
If you have a child that enjoys video games - and if you are looking for any Nintendo DS Kids Games, there are some really great ones to choose from this year. Of all the games to choose from, here are the ones that are "safe" (appropriate) for kids, as well as being highly rated and extremely popular with the real experts - the kids themselves:
1. Disney Club Penguin Elite Penguin Force for DS - This is a very cute-themed game, with the players being secret agents and solving top-secret missions. But, it's much more than a simple game - kids can be members of a club that sends them newsletters with updates about the games, as well as receiving new games for the system. Because of this the games can never get old or boring - there's always new missions to carry out.
2. Mario Kart for DS - Kids can play with up to four carts at the same time - or eight if they are playing online. Both classic Mario tracks are available as well as some new ones. Plenty of gaming and racing options - this one is lots of fun!
3. Pokemon Ranger Shadows of Almia for DS - In this version of the Pokemon video games for kids, the region of Almia allows for a broader territory and many more options for game play. The object is to journey and become the "top ranger" - players can use different characters in the game as well.
4. New Super Mario Brothers for DS - Hey I remember this one! But - this Super Mario Brothers has been modernized and is a terrific version of the game for DS. There are new power-ups, and new "other things" but the bottom line is that this classic game may never go out of style. It's still as fun as it ever was - but better.
5. Littlest Pet Shop Winter for DS - In this game, players can collect the "Littlest Pet Shop" pets, dress them up and even compete with them in games. 16 separate games are available for play, each having multiple levels - this is sure to be a hit with any Littlest Pet Shop fan.
Not only are the Nintendo DS Kids Games above fun games - they are actually appropriate for kids of any age - even the youngest of little players.
1. Disney Club Penguin Elite Penguin Force for DS - This is a very cute-themed game, with the players being secret agents and solving top-secret missions. But, it's much more than a simple game - kids can be members of a club that sends them newsletters with updates about the games, as well as receiving new games for the system. Because of this the games can never get old or boring - there's always new missions to carry out.
2. Mario Kart for DS - Kids can play with up to four carts at the same time - or eight if they are playing online. Both classic Mario tracks are available as well as some new ones. Plenty of gaming and racing options - this one is lots of fun!
3. Pokemon Ranger Shadows of Almia for DS - In this version of the Pokemon video games for kids, the region of Almia allows for a broader territory and many more options for game play. The object is to journey and become the "top ranger" - players can use different characters in the game as well.
4. New Super Mario Brothers for DS - Hey I remember this one! But - this Super Mario Brothers has been modernized and is a terrific version of the game for DS. There are new power-ups, and new "other things" but the bottom line is that this classic game may never go out of style. It's still as fun as it ever was - but better.
5. Littlest Pet Shop Winter for DS - In this game, players can collect the "Littlest Pet Shop" pets, dress them up and even compete with them in games. 16 separate games are available for play, each having multiple levels - this is sure to be a hit with any Littlest Pet Shop fan.
Not only are the Nintendo DS Kids Games above fun games - they are actually appropriate for kids of any age - even the youngest of little players.
Review - Demon's Souls - PLAYSTATION 3
Let me begin by saying this; Demon's Souls is not a game for everyone. It might not even be a game for you. However, if you can look past the game's punishing difficulty and sprawling scale, you'll find one of the best RPGs of this generation.
Demon's Souls is an action RPG born of an unholy union between Armored Core developers From Software and Sony Computer Entertainment Japan. Best known for their Armored Core mecha action franchise, From Software was also responsible for the King's Field games, a series of first person action RPGs on the Playstation, Playstation 2 and PSP. The King's Field series is notable for several things; its complex, sprawling dungeons, creepy monster designs, wide variety of NPCs and pieces of equipment, and its dark, dreary atmosphere. It's also quite well-known for its difficulty. Demon's Souls, planned by Sony and From as a modern re-invention of the King's Field franchise, shares many of these features, as well as several new innovations of its own.
This is the End of the World
Demon's Souls is not a happy game. The story opens with a narrator bitterly telling a tale of a power-hungry king taking control of the flow of souls, using them for his own personal gain; by slaughtering humans and monsters alike, King Allant was able to build up vast reserves of power for his kingdom of Boletari. However, as Boletaria grew more powerful, a thick fog spread across the prosperous country, covering the city in an impenetrable wall of darkness. By taking control of the power of souls, Allant awakened an Old God, and with it came an unstoppable horde of demons. From that point forward, adventurers, mercenaries, and psychopaths alike ventured into the fog surrounding Boletaria. Some went in search of lost loved ones, some in attempts to free the city from whatever evil controlled it; and others still sought to plumb the cursed city's vast reserves of Demon Souls to increase their strength...or worse. This is where your hero comes in.
In a lot of ways, the story of Demon's Souls is anti-typical of other Japanese RPGs; the game is clearly set in an European-influenced setting, from the environments to the accents of the characters, Demon's Souls reeks of Western influence. Meanwhile, the story itself seems influenced heavily by the works of H.P. Lovecraft and Stephen King, dark and gothic with nary a doe-eyed little girl spewing "power of friendship" speeches in sight. That being said, the story in Demon's Souls isn't exactly the deepest or most in-your-face narrative you're going to find in an RPG; it serves mainly as a means of setting the mood and explaining the setting. However, for fans of lore and subtlety, there is depth to be found here; item descriptions, NPC dialogue, and the bosses and level designs themselves reek of atmosphere, and the story explains itself well enough provided you're willing to pay attention and forgive a few translation issues. The atmosphere in the game is absolutely breathtaking; the silent emptiness of Boletaria Castle is enhanced by the lack of dungeon music, while the inherent creepiness of the abandoned prison Tower of Latria is altered into abject horror by the muffled screams of its lost prisoners, and the ominous bells being rung by its otherworldly guards as they stalk you through its darkened halls.
East Meets West: Boletaria Style
In Demon's Souls, much like a Western RPG, you play a created character; you choose a gender and a name, edit yourself a face, and then choose a character class. These classes range from fantasy staples like the Knight and Wizard, to more unusual classes like the Royal or the Wanderer. Your character class is absolutely important, as it influences your character's starting stats, default character level, and what equipment you begin with. On one hand, you could choose a Soldier and you might be gifted with heavy plate armor and a large broadsword, but your character will be unable to use magic for a considerable amount of time. On the other hand, you could pick a Thief and be able to sprint and dodge considerably more effectively than another class, but if you take more than a few hits, you're a goner. There are also several more "hybridized" classes like the Royal and the Wanderer that allow for more neutral stat builds, but they are generally not recommended for a first playthrough.
As I mentioned in my first impressions article, you begin Demon's Souls by dying. After creating your character, you're put through a simple tutorial dungeon to familiarize you with the game's mechanics and controls, then thrust into a boss fight with the creature pictured above. This monster, referred to as Vanguard, destroyed me in a single hit. After you die, your character will awaken as a spirit in the Nexus, the game's hub world. The Nexus is a constantly evolving tower full of NPCs to interact with; some appear when you level up, others can be found in the dungeons, and some are there from the start. In the Nexus, you can perform all necessary pre-adventure actions like shopping, item storage, repairing/upgrading weapons and learning new spells. Much like a Western RPG, Demon's Souls is an extremely non-linear game. After you've cleared the game's first "real" dungeon, the game officially lets go of any semblance of distinct structure; your only objective is to rid the world of the Old One, and however you get there is entirely up to you.
A Field of Corpses
The combat in Demon's Souls is generally pretty standard dungeon crawler fare; you have two hands, and you can equip two items to each hand, one main weapon and one backup weapon, easily swapped between by a tap of the D-Pad. My usual setup was to equip my main melee weapon and my bow in my character's right hand, and a shield and a spell catalyst in his left; allowing close-range and long-range combat, as well as defense and spellcasting. Other players may choose other ways of handling things, though; there's really no wrong way to do it...that is, unless you decide to try and run through a dungeon dual-wielding shields. Each weapon class has its own unique combos and animations, with rare weapons receiving their own specials. You can also opt to wield any weapon with two hands, leading to more powerful, wider-ranged attacks at the expense of being able to defend as effectively. Equipping a light shield also allows you to parry incoming enemy attacks, if timed right, allowing you to unleash a devastating riposte, while careful blocking or stealthy maneuvers can allow you to perform a powerful backstab. Easy to learn, hard to master is the name of the game when it comes to combat in Demon's Souls.
Now, there's no point in mentioning the combat in Demon's Souls if I don't at least talk a bit about the bosses; it was the design for the boss pictured above that initially sold me on the game, and thankfully, the boss fights do not disappoint. With weaker fare like Phalanx the Shield Slime out of the way early on, Demon's Souls evolves quickly into conflicts with truly breathtaking creatures like the Storm King, as well as head to head challenges with brutal humanoid opponents. Demon's Souls also introduces what I believe might be a first in the RPG community; a PvP boss fight against another player summoned from across the Playstation Network. Truly, the wide variety of boss battles is one of the greatest strengths of Demon's Souls, capping off each dungeon crawl with a satisfying, pulse-pounding conclusion. What's also impressive is the variety of ways a player can tackle each boss; while certain strategies certainly work better than others, almost any way you want to take a boss down, you probably can if you're skilled enough. Well, provided you're not trying to fistfight the Old God, that is.
Wait...I'm Dead AGAIN!?
Now, reading as far as you have, you're probably thinking "well, that doesn't sound so bad," right? Wrong. Like King's Field before it, Demon's Souls is a difficult game; punishingly so, even. This is a game that, without question, wants you dead and makes no attempts to hide its murderous nature. From hazards ranging from a fire-breathing dragon strafing across your intended path to a massive, pitch-black lake of poison, Demon's Souls will kill you more times than you can count. And frustratingly enough, there is a penalty for dying! As you kill monsters, you are awarded Souls. These Souls act both as currency and experience points; you can "spend" them in the Nexus, as well as at vendors throughout the game's five sprawling worlds, to purchase new items and equipment, repair and upgrade your weapons, and also to level yourself up and gain new spells. This is all well and good until you realize that whenever you die, you lose all unspent Souls in your inventory. Like in Diablo, you can re-enter the dungeon and find your corpse, recovering any lost Souls from your last death, but also like Diablo, if you die again on the way back to your corpse, you lose what you lost, forever. As such, the game encourages very defensive, structured play during the early stages, until you learn the Evacuate spell. There is truly nothing more frustrating, after all, than amassing 50,000 Souls during a dungeon run, only to accidentally dodge off a cliff and lose them all.
As Dave mentioned in his challenge article some time back, Demon's Souls is not a game you "get" instantly. Its sprawling dungeons are a throwback to the Roguelikes and dungeon crawlers of old, with numerous branches, ruthless deathtraps, and dangerous enemy ambushes around every corner. The enemies are, to put it simplest, bloodthirsty; there's no particularly complicated AI at work here, these enemies want you dead, and if they get hit in the process of hurting you, they just don't care. In fact, in the case of some of the bigger monsters, like the dragon pictured above, they will gladly roast other enemies alive if it means killing you. The level design, especially in some of the later stages, is also expertly engineered to lull you into a false sense of security, then drop a barely-visible cliff or deathtrap in your way at the exact second you're too relaxed to react in time. The game's numerous bosses also range in difficulty from pathetically easy to "HOLYCRAPIMPOSSIBLE", and it seems that From Software doesn't mind mixing things up a bit, as long as it leads to the player dying. In the first dungeon alone, I likely died a good three or four times before reaching the boss; you don't want to know how many times I died during my first run-through of the third dungeon.
However, the difficulty of Demon's Souls is a blessing in disguise. Interestingly, the more you play and the more you die, the more you learn; enemy attack patterns become more obvious, allowing you to dodge or parry more easily, while the map design grows more familiar, and several of the "surprise" elements designed to kill an unwary newbie are no longer a threat. You'll learn which weapon types are most effective against certain enemies...and as your knowledge grows, the game will eventually click. No longer will you fear that skeleton wielding a massive zweihander; you've got a mace that shatters bone in two hits. That giant slime? He hates fire. Get a fire spell or enchantment for your sword and watch him die in under a minute. As you learn the game's subtle nuances, and find ways to exploit them, the true depth of Demon's Souls reveals itself to you. This is not a game designed to be blazed through in a weekend. In fact, a player's ability to endure repeated deaths and learn from their own mistakes is perhaps the simplest way to gauge their potential enjoyment of the game; patient players with a drive to conquer any obstacle in front of them will be rewarded with an intensely enjoyable experience, while gamers more grounded in the "instant gratification" school of thought may not find what they're looking for in Demon's Souls.
It's Fun To Slay Together
It's no big secret that Japanese developers haven't really jumped onto the whole "online" bandwagon this generation; hell, it's been three years now and we still don't have an online co-op Dynasty Warriors game. Despite this, From Software did at least try to bring something new to the table in Demon's Souls; the Phantom system. As I previously explained in my impressions post, the game mixes single player, co-op, and MMO elements to allow a cohesive game world without any pesky online lobbies. Demon's Souls supports online co-op play for up to three players over the Playstation Network, allowing three friends (or strangers) of similar levels to join together and take down bosses. The downside to this is that to join another player's game, the host has to be alive (easier said than done most of the time), and the people joining his game have to be within ten levels of him; there's no asking your level 255 buddy to come in and oneshot a boss for you in this game. The game expects you to work together to take down bosses, and they grow considerably more aggressive to reflect this.
demonssoulscoop
As mentioned before, interaction between players is handled almost entirely through glowing runes inscribed on the floor of the dungeons, allowing players to warn each other of upcoming traps, or let other players know they're looking for a co-op partner. This is definitely not the simplest online integration in the world; there's no question of that. It's very silly to have a co-op mode that boots everyone out of the party if the leader dies, for example. The PvP, on the other hand, is handled quite well. All in all, From Software should at least be commended for trying to innovate in terms of online/offline play for the RPG genre, as well as trying to make it fit the game's story and universe. It's definitely fun to take on a boss with friends, though, provided the game decides it wants to let you play together at all.
Game Over +
As I said before, Demon's Souls is not a game for everybody. First of all, it's not even available on US store shelves, only currently found on import gaming websites like Play-Asia and NCSX despite being completely in English. Completing the game requires copious amounts of time, patience, and ambition; you have to want to win in order to finish the game, From and Sony aren't holding your hand along the way. While the brutal difficulty and lack of direction might put off some fans of more traditional JRPGs, patient gamers who're willing to try something new (and get eaten by a few dragons along the way) will find plenty of things to love about the game; the brutal boss fights, the sprawling selection of weapons and armor, using the souls of previously-defeated bosses to forge new, more powerful weapons and armor; the list goes on and on. The story may not be the deepest or most elegantly told out there, but compared to the seemingly endless onslaught of asinine anime cliches being spewed out of games like Star Ocean: The Last Hope, Eternal Sonata, and Blue Dragon, the minimalist approach in Demon's Souls is a welcome change of pace. And believe it or not, there are gameplay elements I haven't even touched on in this review; it's just that deep! My first playthrough of the game clocked in at roughly 58 hours; the only single-player games this generation that even approach the amount of time I've put into Demon's Souls are the XBOX 360's Lost Odyssey and the PSP's Dissidia: Final Fantasy.
In the end, while it might not have the production values or graphical "WOW" factor of a mainline Final Fantasy title, Demon's Souls has easily usurped the PS3's "best RPG" throne...but with FFXIII slowly approaching, we'll see how long it holds onto the crown. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a New Game + to finish.
Pluses + Dark, gothic atmosphere with solid graphics and excellent level design + Surprisingly competent localization, with few glaring translation errors + Breathtaking, challenging boss battles + Numerous online options for multiplayer fans + Vast array of items and equipment pieces to find, mix and match + New Game + feature allows for infinite replayability with increasing challenges
Minuses - Punishing difficulty may take players by surprise - Online functions are not particularly well-explained - Frame rate can chug in certain isolated areas - Not officially released in US/Europe
Available now on Playstation 3 in Japan;
Asian version features full English translation
CERO Rating: D (17+)
Players: 1 (offline) 3 (online co-op)
Completed game as a Thief; began New Game + and defeated several bosses, experimented with online modes and PvP
Final Verdict: For players who love a good challenge, Demon's Souls is an absolute must-buy, and one of the best RPGs of this generation.
Demon's Souls is an action RPG born of an unholy union between Armored Core developers From Software and Sony Computer Entertainment Japan. Best known for their Armored Core mecha action franchise, From Software was also responsible for the King's Field games, a series of first person action RPGs on the Playstation, Playstation 2 and PSP. The King's Field series is notable for several things; its complex, sprawling dungeons, creepy monster designs, wide variety of NPCs and pieces of equipment, and its dark, dreary atmosphere. It's also quite well-known for its difficulty. Demon's Souls, planned by Sony and From as a modern re-invention of the King's Field franchise, shares many of these features, as well as several new innovations of its own.
This is the End of the World
Demon's Souls is not a happy game. The story opens with a narrator bitterly telling a tale of a power-hungry king taking control of the flow of souls, using them for his own personal gain; by slaughtering humans and monsters alike, King Allant was able to build up vast reserves of power for his kingdom of Boletari. However, as Boletaria grew more powerful, a thick fog spread across the prosperous country, covering the city in an impenetrable wall of darkness. By taking control of the power of souls, Allant awakened an Old God, and with it came an unstoppable horde of demons. From that point forward, adventurers, mercenaries, and psychopaths alike ventured into the fog surrounding Boletaria. Some went in search of lost loved ones, some in attempts to free the city from whatever evil controlled it; and others still sought to plumb the cursed city's vast reserves of Demon Souls to increase their strength...or worse. This is where your hero comes in.
In a lot of ways, the story of Demon's Souls is anti-typical of other Japanese RPGs; the game is clearly set in an European-influenced setting, from the environments to the accents of the characters, Demon's Souls reeks of Western influence. Meanwhile, the story itself seems influenced heavily by the works of H.P. Lovecraft and Stephen King, dark and gothic with nary a doe-eyed little girl spewing "power of friendship" speeches in sight. That being said, the story in Demon's Souls isn't exactly the deepest or most in-your-face narrative you're going to find in an RPG; it serves mainly as a means of setting the mood and explaining the setting. However, for fans of lore and subtlety, there is depth to be found here; item descriptions, NPC dialogue, and the bosses and level designs themselves reek of atmosphere, and the story explains itself well enough provided you're willing to pay attention and forgive a few translation issues. The atmosphere in the game is absolutely breathtaking; the silent emptiness of Boletaria Castle is enhanced by the lack of dungeon music, while the inherent creepiness of the abandoned prison Tower of Latria is altered into abject horror by the muffled screams of its lost prisoners, and the ominous bells being rung by its otherworldly guards as they stalk you through its darkened halls.
East Meets West: Boletaria Style
In Demon's Souls, much like a Western RPG, you play a created character; you choose a gender and a name, edit yourself a face, and then choose a character class. These classes range from fantasy staples like the Knight and Wizard, to more unusual classes like the Royal or the Wanderer. Your character class is absolutely important, as it influences your character's starting stats, default character level, and what equipment you begin with. On one hand, you could choose a Soldier and you might be gifted with heavy plate armor and a large broadsword, but your character will be unable to use magic for a considerable amount of time. On the other hand, you could pick a Thief and be able to sprint and dodge considerably more effectively than another class, but if you take more than a few hits, you're a goner. There are also several more "hybridized" classes like the Royal and the Wanderer that allow for more neutral stat builds, but they are generally not recommended for a first playthrough.
As I mentioned in my first impressions article, you begin Demon's Souls by dying. After creating your character, you're put through a simple tutorial dungeon to familiarize you with the game's mechanics and controls, then thrust into a boss fight with the creature pictured above. This monster, referred to as Vanguard, destroyed me in a single hit. After you die, your character will awaken as a spirit in the Nexus, the game's hub world. The Nexus is a constantly evolving tower full of NPCs to interact with; some appear when you level up, others can be found in the dungeons, and some are there from the start. In the Nexus, you can perform all necessary pre-adventure actions like shopping, item storage, repairing/upgrading weapons and learning new spells. Much like a Western RPG, Demon's Souls is an extremely non-linear game. After you've cleared the game's first "real" dungeon, the game officially lets go of any semblance of distinct structure; your only objective is to rid the world of the Old One, and however you get there is entirely up to you.
A Field of Corpses
The combat in Demon's Souls is generally pretty standard dungeon crawler fare; you have two hands, and you can equip two items to each hand, one main weapon and one backup weapon, easily swapped between by a tap of the D-Pad. My usual setup was to equip my main melee weapon and my bow in my character's right hand, and a shield and a spell catalyst in his left; allowing close-range and long-range combat, as well as defense and spellcasting. Other players may choose other ways of handling things, though; there's really no wrong way to do it...that is, unless you decide to try and run through a dungeon dual-wielding shields. Each weapon class has its own unique combos and animations, with rare weapons receiving their own specials. You can also opt to wield any weapon with two hands, leading to more powerful, wider-ranged attacks at the expense of being able to defend as effectively. Equipping a light shield also allows you to parry incoming enemy attacks, if timed right, allowing you to unleash a devastating riposte, while careful blocking or stealthy maneuvers can allow you to perform a powerful backstab. Easy to learn, hard to master is the name of the game when it comes to combat in Demon's Souls.
Now, there's no point in mentioning the combat in Demon's Souls if I don't at least talk a bit about the bosses; it was the design for the boss pictured above that initially sold me on the game, and thankfully, the boss fights do not disappoint. With weaker fare like Phalanx the Shield Slime out of the way early on, Demon's Souls evolves quickly into conflicts with truly breathtaking creatures like the Storm King, as well as head to head challenges with brutal humanoid opponents. Demon's Souls also introduces what I believe might be a first in the RPG community; a PvP boss fight against another player summoned from across the Playstation Network. Truly, the wide variety of boss battles is one of the greatest strengths of Demon's Souls, capping off each dungeon crawl with a satisfying, pulse-pounding conclusion. What's also impressive is the variety of ways a player can tackle each boss; while certain strategies certainly work better than others, almost any way you want to take a boss down, you probably can if you're skilled enough. Well, provided you're not trying to fistfight the Old God, that is.
Wait...I'm Dead AGAIN!?
Now, reading as far as you have, you're probably thinking "well, that doesn't sound so bad," right? Wrong. Like King's Field before it, Demon's Souls is a difficult game; punishingly so, even. This is a game that, without question, wants you dead and makes no attempts to hide its murderous nature. From hazards ranging from a fire-breathing dragon strafing across your intended path to a massive, pitch-black lake of poison, Demon's Souls will kill you more times than you can count. And frustratingly enough, there is a penalty for dying! As you kill monsters, you are awarded Souls. These Souls act both as currency and experience points; you can "spend" them in the Nexus, as well as at vendors throughout the game's five sprawling worlds, to purchase new items and equipment, repair and upgrade your weapons, and also to level yourself up and gain new spells. This is all well and good until you realize that whenever you die, you lose all unspent Souls in your inventory. Like in Diablo, you can re-enter the dungeon and find your corpse, recovering any lost Souls from your last death, but also like Diablo, if you die again on the way back to your corpse, you lose what you lost, forever. As such, the game encourages very defensive, structured play during the early stages, until you learn the Evacuate spell. There is truly nothing more frustrating, after all, than amassing 50,000 Souls during a dungeon run, only to accidentally dodge off a cliff and lose them all.
As Dave mentioned in his challenge article some time back, Demon's Souls is not a game you "get" instantly. Its sprawling dungeons are a throwback to the Roguelikes and dungeon crawlers of old, with numerous branches, ruthless deathtraps, and dangerous enemy ambushes around every corner. The enemies are, to put it simplest, bloodthirsty; there's no particularly complicated AI at work here, these enemies want you dead, and if they get hit in the process of hurting you, they just don't care. In fact, in the case of some of the bigger monsters, like the dragon pictured above, they will gladly roast other enemies alive if it means killing you. The level design, especially in some of the later stages, is also expertly engineered to lull you into a false sense of security, then drop a barely-visible cliff or deathtrap in your way at the exact second you're too relaxed to react in time. The game's numerous bosses also range in difficulty from pathetically easy to "HOLYCRAPIMPOSSIBLE", and it seems that From Software doesn't mind mixing things up a bit, as long as it leads to the player dying. In the first dungeon alone, I likely died a good three or four times before reaching the boss; you don't want to know how many times I died during my first run-through of the third dungeon.
However, the difficulty of Demon's Souls is a blessing in disguise. Interestingly, the more you play and the more you die, the more you learn; enemy attack patterns become more obvious, allowing you to dodge or parry more easily, while the map design grows more familiar, and several of the "surprise" elements designed to kill an unwary newbie are no longer a threat. You'll learn which weapon types are most effective against certain enemies...and as your knowledge grows, the game will eventually click. No longer will you fear that skeleton wielding a massive zweihander; you've got a mace that shatters bone in two hits. That giant slime? He hates fire. Get a fire spell or enchantment for your sword and watch him die in under a minute. As you learn the game's subtle nuances, and find ways to exploit them, the true depth of Demon's Souls reveals itself to you. This is not a game designed to be blazed through in a weekend. In fact, a player's ability to endure repeated deaths and learn from their own mistakes is perhaps the simplest way to gauge their potential enjoyment of the game; patient players with a drive to conquer any obstacle in front of them will be rewarded with an intensely enjoyable experience, while gamers more grounded in the "instant gratification" school of thought may not find what they're looking for in Demon's Souls.
It's Fun To Slay Together
It's no big secret that Japanese developers haven't really jumped onto the whole "online" bandwagon this generation; hell, it's been three years now and we still don't have an online co-op Dynasty Warriors game. Despite this, From Software did at least try to bring something new to the table in Demon's Souls; the Phantom system. As I previously explained in my impressions post, the game mixes single player, co-op, and MMO elements to allow a cohesive game world without any pesky online lobbies. Demon's Souls supports online co-op play for up to three players over the Playstation Network, allowing three friends (or strangers) of similar levels to join together and take down bosses. The downside to this is that to join another player's game, the host has to be alive (easier said than done most of the time), and the people joining his game have to be within ten levels of him; there's no asking your level 255 buddy to come in and oneshot a boss for you in this game. The game expects you to work together to take down bosses, and they grow considerably more aggressive to reflect this.
demonssoulscoop
As mentioned before, interaction between players is handled almost entirely through glowing runes inscribed on the floor of the dungeons, allowing players to warn each other of upcoming traps, or let other players know they're looking for a co-op partner. This is definitely not the simplest online integration in the world; there's no question of that. It's very silly to have a co-op mode that boots everyone out of the party if the leader dies, for example. The PvP, on the other hand, is handled quite well. All in all, From Software should at least be commended for trying to innovate in terms of online/offline play for the RPG genre, as well as trying to make it fit the game's story and universe. It's definitely fun to take on a boss with friends, though, provided the game decides it wants to let you play together at all.
Game Over +
As I said before, Demon's Souls is not a game for everybody. First of all, it's not even available on US store shelves, only currently found on import gaming websites like Play-Asia and NCSX despite being completely in English. Completing the game requires copious amounts of time, patience, and ambition; you have to want to win in order to finish the game, From and Sony aren't holding your hand along the way. While the brutal difficulty and lack of direction might put off some fans of more traditional JRPGs, patient gamers who're willing to try something new (and get eaten by a few dragons along the way) will find plenty of things to love about the game; the brutal boss fights, the sprawling selection of weapons and armor, using the souls of previously-defeated bosses to forge new, more powerful weapons and armor; the list goes on and on. The story may not be the deepest or most elegantly told out there, but compared to the seemingly endless onslaught of asinine anime cliches being spewed out of games like Star Ocean: The Last Hope, Eternal Sonata, and Blue Dragon, the minimalist approach in Demon's Souls is a welcome change of pace. And believe it or not, there are gameplay elements I haven't even touched on in this review; it's just that deep! My first playthrough of the game clocked in at roughly 58 hours; the only single-player games this generation that even approach the amount of time I've put into Demon's Souls are the XBOX 360's Lost Odyssey and the PSP's Dissidia: Final Fantasy.
In the end, while it might not have the production values or graphical "WOW" factor of a mainline Final Fantasy title, Demon's Souls has easily usurped the PS3's "best RPG" throne...but with FFXIII slowly approaching, we'll see how long it holds onto the crown. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a New Game + to finish.
Pluses + Dark, gothic atmosphere with solid graphics and excellent level design + Surprisingly competent localization, with few glaring translation errors + Breathtaking, challenging boss battles + Numerous online options for multiplayer fans + Vast array of items and equipment pieces to find, mix and match + New Game + feature allows for infinite replayability with increasing challenges
Minuses - Punishing difficulty may take players by surprise - Online functions are not particularly well-explained - Frame rate can chug in certain isolated areas - Not officially released in US/Europe
Available now on Playstation 3 in Japan;
Asian version features full English translation
CERO Rating: D (17+)
Players: 1 (offline) 3 (online co-op)
Completed game as a Thief; began New Game + and defeated several bosses, experimented with online modes and PvP
Final Verdict: For players who love a good challenge, Demon's Souls is an absolute must-buy, and one of the best RPGs of this generation.
Wonderburg Game Review
The town-building time and resource management genre is back with Wonderburg. It plays very similar to the established games in this genre such as the Build-a-Lot games, but with a new take on it, set in a magical land of wizards, dragons and castles.
You take on the role of Alisa the witch and Rudy the dwarf builder in this town-building adventure. The game starts with our heroes discovering that the villages in their land are being destroyed or taken over by mysterious magical forces. They decide to work together and try to rebuild these villages, as well as defeating the invaders and finding out the reasons for the invasions.
Their quest takes you through many regions of the land, from peaceful villages and rolling hills, to haunted coasts, to snow-swept mountains and many other areas you'd expect in a fantasy world. And in each area, you will match wits with monsters such as trolls, pirates, ghosts, wizards and dragons.
The game play in Wonderburg is very similar to that in games like Build-a-Lot. The main part of the game is the building of homes and supplementary buildings in a village/town in order to generate income. The amount of stuff you can build is limited by the amount of cash and raw material you have, and the number of builders working for you. You get to build and upgrade houses of increasing value and income, as well as supplementary buildings that have their own function, such as making raw materials cost less or scaring away the monsters.
Unlike other town-building games, Wonderburg has mechanics and gameplay that goes very well with the fantasy fairy-tale theme. You have dwarven builders doing the construction, repairs and upgrades for you. And your buildings can sometimes be cursed, requiring your witch to come riding on her flying broom to weave her magic and decurse the house.
The animation in the game screen is pretty decent. In addition to the witch and dwarf builders, you see the villagers walking around going about their daily lives. You also see the monsters/invaders running around creating chaos in the village. Wonderburg utilizes this concept quite nicely by adding a mini-game where you need to use your magic wand to zap away at the monsters as they run around.
The game can be played in either a relaxed untimed mode, or a competitive timed mode depending on your preference. In the timed mode, you must complete each scenario within preset time limits in order to win bronze, silver or gold medals. The better you do, the better the medal you earn. And these medals aren't just for show. If you earn gold medals in all the scenarios of a region, you unlock a secret level for that particular region. This adds good replay value as you try to improve your efficiency and skill.
The atmosphere of the game is also relatively decent. Unfortunately, there aren't any movie clips or other dynamic animation in between scenarios. Instead, you see comic book-style shots of the heroes interacting with the other denizens of this magical world. The quality of the art is cartoony and funny in a Disney kind of way. However, be prepared for some really corny jokes and bad puns!
More experienced gamers might find that Wonderburg will get slightly boring after a while because even with its many fantasy-related features and tweaks, it still plays very much like the typical town-building game. But for those of you who want a change of scenery and want to rub shoulders with witches and dwarves and battle trolls and wizards, then this game will be a nice refreshing change.
You take on the role of Alisa the witch and Rudy the dwarf builder in this town-building adventure. The game starts with our heroes discovering that the villages in their land are being destroyed or taken over by mysterious magical forces. They decide to work together and try to rebuild these villages, as well as defeating the invaders and finding out the reasons for the invasions.
Their quest takes you through many regions of the land, from peaceful villages and rolling hills, to haunted coasts, to snow-swept mountains and many other areas you'd expect in a fantasy world. And in each area, you will match wits with monsters such as trolls, pirates, ghosts, wizards and dragons.
The game play in Wonderburg is very similar to that in games like Build-a-Lot. The main part of the game is the building of homes and supplementary buildings in a village/town in order to generate income. The amount of stuff you can build is limited by the amount of cash and raw material you have, and the number of builders working for you. You get to build and upgrade houses of increasing value and income, as well as supplementary buildings that have their own function, such as making raw materials cost less or scaring away the monsters.
Unlike other town-building games, Wonderburg has mechanics and gameplay that goes very well with the fantasy fairy-tale theme. You have dwarven builders doing the construction, repairs and upgrades for you. And your buildings can sometimes be cursed, requiring your witch to come riding on her flying broom to weave her magic and decurse the house.
The animation in the game screen is pretty decent. In addition to the witch and dwarf builders, you see the villagers walking around going about their daily lives. You also see the monsters/invaders running around creating chaos in the village. Wonderburg utilizes this concept quite nicely by adding a mini-game where you need to use your magic wand to zap away at the monsters as they run around.
The game can be played in either a relaxed untimed mode, or a competitive timed mode depending on your preference. In the timed mode, you must complete each scenario within preset time limits in order to win bronze, silver or gold medals. The better you do, the better the medal you earn. And these medals aren't just for show. If you earn gold medals in all the scenarios of a region, you unlock a secret level for that particular region. This adds good replay value as you try to improve your efficiency and skill.
The atmosphere of the game is also relatively decent. Unfortunately, there aren't any movie clips or other dynamic animation in between scenarios. Instead, you see comic book-style shots of the heroes interacting with the other denizens of this magical world. The quality of the art is cartoony and funny in a Disney kind of way. However, be prepared for some really corny jokes and bad puns!
More experienced gamers might find that Wonderburg will get slightly boring after a while because even with its many fantasy-related features and tweaks, it still plays very much like the typical town-building game. But for those of you who want a change of scenery and want to rub shoulders with witches and dwarves and battle trolls and wizards, then this game will be a nice refreshing change.
Romopolis - Caesar Believes in You!
Romopolis is a game that combines truly addictive and challenging game play with amazing graphics and immersive atmosphere of ancient Rome. This week has brought us several games that creatively remake the idea of Build-a-lot strategy game play and put it to historic setting. Romopolis is a great example how it can be done to make a perfect game.
The Empire needs your services, citizen! Are you ready to work for your Caesar?
You will take up the part of a new Imperial Architect in ancient Rome and Caesar, the powerful Emperor, will observe your work, give you tasks and direct the development of his Empire with the help of your skills and talent. That's basically all about the story. Let's speak about the game play.
So, be ready to use your strategical thinking and plan everything ahead, as in Romopolis you'll desperately need it to succeed. Each level represents a new city where you have to complete the mission given to you by the Caesar. You'll have goals obligatory to fulfill before your deadline approaches and usually an optional goal fulfilling which will bring you a trophy. The goals are mostly like building a certain number of houses or some service buildings, having some resources in stock or a certain denaries balance (money, that is), or income. You might also be required to reach a definite level of commerce, religion, healthcare or culture in your city or have a minimum number of residents. All these are achieved by building different kinds of constructions and arranging them so that you could use the given area most efficiently. As for me, the most tricky goals are those connected with happiness. It's rather hard to calculate, how many houses and gardens you'll need and the plan how to place your houses and services in order to achieve the minimum necessary level. And the larger the house, the more demanding are its residents!
Tip: try to place the gardens so that they were surrounded with houses. And putting a house near several gardens also works well.
In order to build something you'll need a number of resources. Some of them can be bought with money, like wood, stone and workers. Blueprints and concessions, required to unlock new constructions and upgrades, can also be purchased. But, for example, building lots are limited in quantity, tough you may get some more by cutting the forest or mining stones. These activities will also give you some materials.
There is much more about Romopolis, and I must say the game is genuinely challenging, and you do have to think hard and quick at the same time, but the fun is worth the effort. And if you don't want to fulfill missions someone designed for you, you are welcome to select the Sandbox mode and construct your own city as you wish.
Welcome to your new service, citizen!
The Empire needs your services, citizen! Are you ready to work for your Caesar?
You will take up the part of a new Imperial Architect in ancient Rome and Caesar, the powerful Emperor, will observe your work, give you tasks and direct the development of his Empire with the help of your skills and talent. That's basically all about the story. Let's speak about the game play.
So, be ready to use your strategical thinking and plan everything ahead, as in Romopolis you'll desperately need it to succeed. Each level represents a new city where you have to complete the mission given to you by the Caesar. You'll have goals obligatory to fulfill before your deadline approaches and usually an optional goal fulfilling which will bring you a trophy. The goals are mostly like building a certain number of houses or some service buildings, having some resources in stock or a certain denaries balance (money, that is), or income. You might also be required to reach a definite level of commerce, religion, healthcare or culture in your city or have a minimum number of residents. All these are achieved by building different kinds of constructions and arranging them so that you could use the given area most efficiently. As for me, the most tricky goals are those connected with happiness. It's rather hard to calculate, how many houses and gardens you'll need and the plan how to place your houses and services in order to achieve the minimum necessary level. And the larger the house, the more demanding are its residents!
Tip: try to place the gardens so that they were surrounded with houses. And putting a house near several gardens also works well.
In order to build something you'll need a number of resources. Some of them can be bought with money, like wood, stone and workers. Blueprints and concessions, required to unlock new constructions and upgrades, can also be purchased. But, for example, building lots are limited in quantity, tough you may get some more by cutting the forest or mining stones. These activities will also give you some materials.
There is much more about Romopolis, and I must say the game is genuinely challenging, and you do have to think hard and quick at the same time, but the fun is worth the effort. And if you don't want to fulfill missions someone designed for you, you are welcome to select the Sandbox mode and construct your own city as you wish.
Welcome to your new service, citizen!
Rooms - The Main Building
When we were young we used to solve puzzles. It was so sad when the picture was completed and we had to break it into small pieces again. Now we are adults, however we are still fond of puzzles. So what about puzzle game with an interesting plot? If you're ready, try a clever combination of puzzle and adventure elements in fascinating game Rooms: The Main Building from Handmade Game.
The story line is rather unexpected. Bored with simple sliding puzzles, you, as the main character, get a strange gift that transports you back in time to the 1930's and you find yourself in another world. Now you must travel through sliding rooms, picking up clues and trying to find your way back home. Here, rooms are broken into a series of spaces that can be moved around a grid like a sliding puzzle. Your task is to gather items to unlock more rooms searching for puzzle pieces that can help you run out of this grotesque world.
The main game play of Rooms: The Main Building is slider puzzles. Each picture is Slider puzzle segment and you need to complete it making tiles sliding until they will stay in their right place. The small person, a handsome middle-aged man, is on the picture and he moves from tile to tile. You can move a tile only if this character is on it. The main predestination of each picture is to make a path for you to move on. Sometimes it's not as easy as it seems prima facie. The time is limited on each level.
Also, from time to time it's hard enough to understand where to go and what to do. But every level you can click on a tiny lightbulb icon to get your hint. Furthermore, you will have a guide, Mr. Book, which tells you what to do. The game will introduce you interesting complex challenges like teleporters that can move you from one room to another, locked doors, ladders, spinning clock rooms or rooms which are filled with water. You will escape the surreal Mansion only if you will use all the items at the necessary moments.
Top gameThe game consists of 80 levels and 4 mansions. First, there's the puzzle portion of game, which takes place across 4 mansions, then you can enjoy a game in another buildings of the game universe. They are situated in Rooms Street. Your goal is to find four golden puzzle pieces, which will give you a possibility to get out of Rooms Street. You will face some interesting challenges such as how to wake up a sleeping chest or how to stop an enchanted mirror from crying hysterically, using items that you have already collected in mansion levels.
Rooms: The Main Building is a present for every fan of puzzle games. It has not only a challenging game play, but level editor to create your own levels. Unique concept and attractive levels make this game unforgettable and interesting for people who prefer solving uneasy tasks.
It's hard not to tell about amazing level design. And, honestly, graphics is very nice. Rooms: The Main Building has united a fascinating picture and suitable, not annoying sound. The music is very rich and lots of small graphical effects make the game pleasant and captivating.
The game Rooms: The Main Building is a success in the world of puzzles due to its addictive game play, moody ambiance and unique levels. One of the most prominent features of this game is the ability to create and share custom, user-created levels. It's not only an interesting game, but also a brain-racking work for every person. However, it's the best puzzle I've ever played.
The story line is rather unexpected. Bored with simple sliding puzzles, you, as the main character, get a strange gift that transports you back in time to the 1930's and you find yourself in another world. Now you must travel through sliding rooms, picking up clues and trying to find your way back home. Here, rooms are broken into a series of spaces that can be moved around a grid like a sliding puzzle. Your task is to gather items to unlock more rooms searching for puzzle pieces that can help you run out of this grotesque world.
The main game play of Rooms: The Main Building is slider puzzles. Each picture is Slider puzzle segment and you need to complete it making tiles sliding until they will stay in their right place. The small person, a handsome middle-aged man, is on the picture and he moves from tile to tile. You can move a tile only if this character is on it. The main predestination of each picture is to make a path for you to move on. Sometimes it's not as easy as it seems prima facie. The time is limited on each level.
Also, from time to time it's hard enough to understand where to go and what to do. But every level you can click on a tiny lightbulb icon to get your hint. Furthermore, you will have a guide, Mr. Book, which tells you what to do. The game will introduce you interesting complex challenges like teleporters that can move you from one room to another, locked doors, ladders, spinning clock rooms or rooms which are filled with water. You will escape the surreal Mansion only if you will use all the items at the necessary moments.
Top gameThe game consists of 80 levels and 4 mansions. First, there's the puzzle portion of game, which takes place across 4 mansions, then you can enjoy a game in another buildings of the game universe. They are situated in Rooms Street. Your goal is to find four golden puzzle pieces, which will give you a possibility to get out of Rooms Street. You will face some interesting challenges such as how to wake up a sleeping chest or how to stop an enchanted mirror from crying hysterically, using items that you have already collected in mansion levels.
Rooms: The Main Building is a present for every fan of puzzle games. It has not only a challenging game play, but level editor to create your own levels. Unique concept and attractive levels make this game unforgettable and interesting for people who prefer solving uneasy tasks.
It's hard not to tell about amazing level design. And, honestly, graphics is very nice. Rooms: The Main Building has united a fascinating picture and suitable, not annoying sound. The music is very rich and lots of small graphical effects make the game pleasant and captivating.
The game Rooms: The Main Building is a success in the world of puzzles due to its addictive game play, moody ambiance and unique levels. One of the most prominent features of this game is the ability to create and share custom, user-created levels. It's not only an interesting game, but also a brain-racking work for every person. However, it's the best puzzle I've ever played.
Dugi's Ultimate World of Warcraft Guide - Review
I was asked by a few people to do a review on Dugi's Ultimate WoW Guide, because they were not certain this guide could have all the information he claims. Well after gaining access to the members areas, I was pleasantly surprised with what I found. A massive collection of everything. It was quite shocking really. So everything he claims to have (and more) is all in there! This guide is 100% legit.
Just for your info, I remember running into Dugis' toon Murth a few years back, the game had only been out for 2 years by then, and Murth was in the top 20 arena teams for 2v2 & 3v3! With over 7600 hours of in game play time & PVP stats like that, it is no wonder he is able to create such an excellent guide.
So lets take a closer look at some of the features your going to get when signing up for this Ultimate WoW Guide (which is true to its name, Ultimate!).
Whats Inside The Members Area So what do you actually get when you decide to purchase Dugi's Ultimate WoW guide?
Well the guide is split into different sections. You can choose to buy all the guides as 1 package, or purchase them all seperately. So you only have to pay for what you want to use. Essentially, the guide is split up into 3 sections:
Ultimate Horde & Alliance 1-80 Leveling Guide
Ultimate PVP Strategies & Macro Guides
Ultimate Gold & Profession Guides
NEW: Ultimate Dalies & Events Guides
You will also get your hands on Class Gear, Talent Guides & Instance Strategies. This lists detailed information, item sets and other useful character build specific guides while you level form 1-60, 60-70 & 70-80. Where to get these items from, and what the best uses for these items are, what talent specs to use with them. This is great when you want to trial out new character specs, but unsure of exactly what item sets are available.
I personally used this guide to help me & my 2v2 team member achieve our PVP Season 4 Arena Shoulders. No easy feat when you need a personal rating and points. After that, I was fully decked out!
Just for your info, I remember running into Dugis' toon Murth a few years back, the game had only been out for 2 years by then, and Murth was in the top 20 arena teams for 2v2 & 3v3! With over 7600 hours of in game play time & PVP stats like that, it is no wonder he is able to create such an excellent guide.
So lets take a closer look at some of the features your going to get when signing up for this Ultimate WoW Guide (which is true to its name, Ultimate!).
Whats Inside The Members Area So what do you actually get when you decide to purchase Dugi's Ultimate WoW guide?
Well the guide is split into different sections. You can choose to buy all the guides as 1 package, or purchase them all seperately. So you only have to pay for what you want to use. Essentially, the guide is split up into 3 sections:
Ultimate Horde & Alliance 1-80 Leveling Guide
Ultimate PVP Strategies & Macro Guides
Ultimate Gold & Profession Guides
NEW: Ultimate Dalies & Events Guides
You will also get your hands on Class Gear, Talent Guides & Instance Strategies. This lists detailed information, item sets and other useful character build specific guides while you level form 1-60, 60-70 & 70-80. Where to get these items from, and what the best uses for these items are, what talent specs to use with them. This is great when you want to trial out new character specs, but unsure of exactly what item sets are available.
I personally used this guide to help me & my 2v2 team member achieve our PVP Season 4 Arena Shoulders. No easy feat when you need a personal rating and points. After that, I was fully decked out!
Ice Cream Craze - Tycoon Takeover Game Review
Ice Cream Craze: Tycoon Takeover is the sequel to the original Ice Cream Craze that made time management games cool (heh). Help Anna grow her business from an old ice cream truck into a force to challenge the well-established ice cream tycoon BigCo.
In the original Ice Cream Craze, you helped a teenager in the 1950's called Jan run her parents' ice cream shop. Now, it's 2 decades later, and you find out that her shop was run out of business by a giant company called BigCo. You now play the part of Anna, Jan's granddaughter. Anna believes that she can compete against BigCo, and starts off by serving ice cream out of an old ice cream truck. Granny Jan is also there to give advice along the way.
The overall goal of the game is to grow Anna's business large enough to challenge BigCo. You do that by having over $5000 in the bank and significant busines presence in all 9 locations in town. How you go about this is what makes the game stand out from other time management games and presents a fresh new perspective.
The main part of Ice Cream Craze: Tycoon Takeover is the actual serving of ice cream to customers at the ice cream truck. This starts off pretty easy at first, with just cones, 3 flavors of ice cream and 3 toppings to choose from. But depending on each level's difficulty, you might end up having to juggle cones, brownies and pies, and all sorts of flavors and toppings.
The difficulty of each level depends on which part of town you are in and what you are playing for. And this is where the game stands out from other time management games. In other games, you get to buy upgrades in between games. In this game however, the upgrades are rewards in completing specific levels. So you will need to decide whether you want to play for an espresso machine that gives you temporary speed boosts, or a cupcake platter that keeps your customers satisfied for longer.
The game isn't just a linear series of levels as well. The gameplay is separated by days, and what you decide to do each day has a huge impact on how successful your ice cream business will be. Wiill you spend Day 9 trying to earn the espresso machine? Or should you instead be trying to set up a new stall at the circus in order to earn you continuous side income every day? Setting up new stalls might be a good idea, but if you don't go for efficiency upgrades, you might find some of the more advanced levels a bit hard to cope with.
It is this overarching strategy that gives the game much of its appeal and will keep you coming back for more even after you've finished the game. Do you want to play like a businessman and quickly establish bases all over town? Or would you rather increase the efficiency of your ice cream service and earn big bucks every day?
The look and feel of the game isn't too bad either. There aren't any flashy movies or cool animations, but the graphics in the game are pleasant and definitely capture the feel of an ice cream business. However, one thing that bothers me is the abnormally big eyes that the characters have. They just creep me out...
Ice Cream Craze 2 is a great game to try, not only because it contains a really good time management aspect, but also revolves around a very fun and delicious business. Furthermore, the overall strategic and business decisions you have to make in this game give it a unique feel that is different from the other time management games out there.
In the original Ice Cream Craze, you helped a teenager in the 1950's called Jan run her parents' ice cream shop. Now, it's 2 decades later, and you find out that her shop was run out of business by a giant company called BigCo. You now play the part of Anna, Jan's granddaughter. Anna believes that she can compete against BigCo, and starts off by serving ice cream out of an old ice cream truck. Granny Jan is also there to give advice along the way.
The overall goal of the game is to grow Anna's business large enough to challenge BigCo. You do that by having over $5000 in the bank and significant busines presence in all 9 locations in town. How you go about this is what makes the game stand out from other time management games and presents a fresh new perspective.
The main part of Ice Cream Craze: Tycoon Takeover is the actual serving of ice cream to customers at the ice cream truck. This starts off pretty easy at first, with just cones, 3 flavors of ice cream and 3 toppings to choose from. But depending on each level's difficulty, you might end up having to juggle cones, brownies and pies, and all sorts of flavors and toppings.
The difficulty of each level depends on which part of town you are in and what you are playing for. And this is where the game stands out from other time management games. In other games, you get to buy upgrades in between games. In this game however, the upgrades are rewards in completing specific levels. So you will need to decide whether you want to play for an espresso machine that gives you temporary speed boosts, or a cupcake platter that keeps your customers satisfied for longer.
The game isn't just a linear series of levels as well. The gameplay is separated by days, and what you decide to do each day has a huge impact on how successful your ice cream business will be. Wiill you spend Day 9 trying to earn the espresso machine? Or should you instead be trying to set up a new stall at the circus in order to earn you continuous side income every day? Setting up new stalls might be a good idea, but if you don't go for efficiency upgrades, you might find some of the more advanced levels a bit hard to cope with.
It is this overarching strategy that gives the game much of its appeal and will keep you coming back for more even after you've finished the game. Do you want to play like a businessman and quickly establish bases all over town? Or would you rather increase the efficiency of your ice cream service and earn big bucks every day?
The look and feel of the game isn't too bad either. There aren't any flashy movies or cool animations, but the graphics in the game are pleasant and definitely capture the feel of an ice cream business. However, one thing that bothers me is the abnormally big eyes that the characters have. They just creep me out...
Ice Cream Craze 2 is a great game to try, not only because it contains a really good time management aspect, but also revolves around a very fun and delicious business. Furthermore, the overall strategic and business decisions you have to make in this game give it a unique feel that is different from the other time management games out there.
Flux Family Secrets - The Ripple Effect Game Review
Flux Family Secrets: The Ripple Effect is a hidden object game that experiments a little with the genre. In this game, you will find hidden objects, puzzles, adventure and even a few history lessons! In Flux Family Secrets, you play the role of someone who does not know their past and are actively seeking it out. A mysterious family contacts you and sends you on an adventure of a lifetime. Using a time travel device, you get to go back in time and solve historical puzzles.
The story begins with the mysterious Flux family welcoming you into their home and presenting you with a few puzzles to prove your worth. You then discover that the family has a time travel device that they use to repair damage caused by time Ripples. You then get involved helping them realign history, going back in time and solving puzzles and obtaining artifacts in the various categories such as art, music and flight.
The gameplay in Flux Family Secrets is refreshing as well. Rather than searching each scene for a shopping list of hidden objects, everything you search for in this game has a purpose. You are required to find parts of items that have been broken up into a few pieces. Once the items are assembled, you will need to either place them back into the scene where they belong, or get them to interact with some other object in the scene to progress or activate a puzzle.
The puzzles in the game are plentiful and well spread-out throughout the game so that you don't get bored with constantly looking for hidden objects. The puzzles aren't too complex, but there are many of them and they are pretty well thought out. You get to solve cryptex puzzles, safe-cracking, arrangement puzzles and even a couple of arcade-style minigames.
When you get to the time travel bits of the game, you will find that the hidden objects and puzzles aren't very straight-forward at all. In every "category" that you go back to fix (such as Art or Music), you will be presented with 3 scenes featuring 3 masters in their craft. The objects and puzzles in the 3 scenes are interconnected. You will need to solve puzzles in one scene in order to unlock puzzles and objects in a different scene. This adds a new dimension to the game, requiring you to keep hopping between scenes.
The game also adds a nice "history lesson" angle that makes it educational as well. The game will give you a brief description of Da Vinci and the Mona Lisa when you encounter them in the Art scenario. Similarly, you will learn more about the origin of flight and the Wright brothers when you encounter that scene in the Flight scenario.
The graphics and music are above average in this game. The art style and soundtrack are different for each scene and reflect the styles prevalent in those historical periods. In all, Flux Family Secrets is a game that tries to blend in features from the hidden object, puzzle, adventure and mystery genres and succeeds at doing so.
The story begins with the mysterious Flux family welcoming you into their home and presenting you with a few puzzles to prove your worth. You then discover that the family has a time travel device that they use to repair damage caused by time Ripples. You then get involved helping them realign history, going back in time and solving puzzles and obtaining artifacts in the various categories such as art, music and flight.
The gameplay in Flux Family Secrets is refreshing as well. Rather than searching each scene for a shopping list of hidden objects, everything you search for in this game has a purpose. You are required to find parts of items that have been broken up into a few pieces. Once the items are assembled, you will need to either place them back into the scene where they belong, or get them to interact with some other object in the scene to progress or activate a puzzle.
The puzzles in the game are plentiful and well spread-out throughout the game so that you don't get bored with constantly looking for hidden objects. The puzzles aren't too complex, but there are many of them and they are pretty well thought out. You get to solve cryptex puzzles, safe-cracking, arrangement puzzles and even a couple of arcade-style minigames.
When you get to the time travel bits of the game, you will find that the hidden objects and puzzles aren't very straight-forward at all. In every "category" that you go back to fix (such as Art or Music), you will be presented with 3 scenes featuring 3 masters in their craft. The objects and puzzles in the 3 scenes are interconnected. You will need to solve puzzles in one scene in order to unlock puzzles and objects in a different scene. This adds a new dimension to the game, requiring you to keep hopping between scenes.
The game also adds a nice "history lesson" angle that makes it educational as well. The game will give you a brief description of Da Vinci and the Mona Lisa when you encounter them in the Art scenario. Similarly, you will learn more about the origin of flight and the Wright brothers when you encounter that scene in the Flight scenario.
The graphics and music are above average in this game. The art style and soundtrack are different for each scene and reflect the styles prevalent in those historical periods. In all, Flux Family Secrets is a game that tries to blend in features from the hidden object, puzzle, adventure and mystery genres and succeeds at doing so.
Madworld Wii Gaming Review
Madworld is released on the Wii in March 2009 with ultra violent content and a unique look but will it be a real success or will it be too different?
Madworld is based upon the look of a graphic novel and it is almost completely done in black white and red, it is very different and can really affect your vision but is something you definitely will not see every day. Madworld is set in the city of Varrigan, which has been cut off from the world around it, as is basically left to kill or be killed culture with the winner receiving 100 million dollars. You are playing as Jack, who is in essence a bit cheesy and kind of a stereotype but an extremely violent character who is forced into the role of protector and battles against some equally violent characters called 'The Organisers' with an array of weapons. The citizens and Jack are unwilling participants in the game show to win the money but Jack has some ideas of his own. With some interesting commentators calling out moves as they are executed, this is a very unique game encompassing aspects of many different genres of game in one, which you will either really love or pretty much hate.
One of the criticisms of this game is that it is extremely short, over in around 5 hours of gameplay and although there are good mini games within it, such as MoneyShot and Man golf, some are good for the macabre visuals and comic book slash and gore although it still is a short game to shell out money for. Another frustrating aspect is if you are on your last life and die before completing the level and doing away with the boss then you will have to replay the whole level from scratch, you can't just resume from where you left off like in some games like Fable 2, for example. The overall black and white feel can also lead to a confusing effect but in all this game should appeal to the blood hungry gamer, with the violent action and hysterical commentary making this game a very innovative offering.
Madworld is based upon the look of a graphic novel and it is almost completely done in black white and red, it is very different and can really affect your vision but is something you definitely will not see every day. Madworld is set in the city of Varrigan, which has been cut off from the world around it, as is basically left to kill or be killed culture with the winner receiving 100 million dollars. You are playing as Jack, who is in essence a bit cheesy and kind of a stereotype but an extremely violent character who is forced into the role of protector and battles against some equally violent characters called 'The Organisers' with an array of weapons. The citizens and Jack are unwilling participants in the game show to win the money but Jack has some ideas of his own. With some interesting commentators calling out moves as they are executed, this is a very unique game encompassing aspects of many different genres of game in one, which you will either really love or pretty much hate.
One of the criticisms of this game is that it is extremely short, over in around 5 hours of gameplay and although there are good mini games within it, such as MoneyShot and Man golf, some are good for the macabre visuals and comic book slash and gore although it still is a short game to shell out money for. Another frustrating aspect is if you are on your last life and die before completing the level and doing away with the boss then you will have to replay the whole level from scratch, you can't just resume from where you left off like in some games like Fable 2, for example. The overall black and white feel can also lead to a confusing effect but in all this game should appeal to the blood hungry gamer, with the violent action and hysterical commentary making this game a very innovative offering.
Tomb Raider - Legend - Here at Last!
A million sexy points from Angelina Jolie couldn't do much for the Tomb Raider's first few installments. While other video games had gone places, Lara Croft could only dream of getting there. But thanks to a whole decade of fixing awkward controls and choppy motion graphics, she's finally arrived. Legend props the series up to par with radical evolutions and the audacity that survived its forerunners.
Tomb Raider: Legend anchors on Lara Croft's unquenchable thirst for her past and a passion for solving the mystery of her mother's death. Somehow, she snarls with the legend of King Arthur and ends up pursuing a magical sword's fragments that have been scattered around the world - great justice to all that platforming and box-pushing that take you everywhere from one exotic neighborhood in Ghana to another in Kazakhstan.
Basically, Lara's artifact-chasing exploits will have you working with switch puzzles through each level while searching for the artifact. But you'll want to know there's a certain cunning to these puzzles lest you fall for them and lose. The total effect is as cunning because you'd always want to beat those puzzles and while your adrenaline rushes to the point you actually figure them out, it drops because now there's nothing much to do but find the hidden pieces. The story also tends to be just a little bit garbled, although it does make perfect excuse for Lara's global itineraries. If you have an affinity for guns, there's nothing legendary about the guns in Legend. But save for these minor disappointments, you get to pump some real adrenaline just the same.
In between devastation and tombs, you could lock on to an enemy and squash him to death, throw grenades, launch air strikes, or leap onto to a speeding Ducati which is so perfect because the controls have just become more liquid and, by all chance, more cooperative. Camera woes are just about over as well, although it still could get annoying when you miscalculate a jump because of a wrong position. You'll appreciate those powerful designs that progress to a more intense feel of danger as you surpass one level onto the next.
Absolutely fantastic register on the Xbox 360 with all that crisp visual detail and all too compelling scenes. This cutting-edge illusion is created by the console's 720p with anti-aliasing coupled with Crystal Dynamic's sound that creates an altogether unique dimension to the game it practically pulls you right over into scene with Lara- whether she's bouncing off rock walls, fighting crooks in an arcadian village or colliding with cars.
Tomb Raider: Legend anchors on Lara Croft's unquenchable thirst for her past and a passion for solving the mystery of her mother's death. Somehow, she snarls with the legend of King Arthur and ends up pursuing a magical sword's fragments that have been scattered around the world - great justice to all that platforming and box-pushing that take you everywhere from one exotic neighborhood in Ghana to another in Kazakhstan.
Basically, Lara's artifact-chasing exploits will have you working with switch puzzles through each level while searching for the artifact. But you'll want to know there's a certain cunning to these puzzles lest you fall for them and lose. The total effect is as cunning because you'd always want to beat those puzzles and while your adrenaline rushes to the point you actually figure them out, it drops because now there's nothing much to do but find the hidden pieces. The story also tends to be just a little bit garbled, although it does make perfect excuse for Lara's global itineraries. If you have an affinity for guns, there's nothing legendary about the guns in Legend. But save for these minor disappointments, you get to pump some real adrenaline just the same.
In between devastation and tombs, you could lock on to an enemy and squash him to death, throw grenades, launch air strikes, or leap onto to a speeding Ducati which is so perfect because the controls have just become more liquid and, by all chance, more cooperative. Camera woes are just about over as well, although it still could get annoying when you miscalculate a jump because of a wrong position. You'll appreciate those powerful designs that progress to a more intense feel of danger as you surpass one level onto the next.
Absolutely fantastic register on the Xbox 360 with all that crisp visual detail and all too compelling scenes. This cutting-edge illusion is created by the console's 720p with anti-aliasing coupled with Crystal Dynamic's sound that creates an altogether unique dimension to the game it practically pulls you right over into scene with Lara- whether she's bouncing off rock walls, fighting crooks in an arcadian village or colliding with cars.
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