MEMBER PROFILE FOR Lucifer_Hawk
Average Overall Score Given: 9.71429 / 10
Total Forum Posts: 117
Reviews
Ninja Gaiden
Overall: Its been a while in the wait and finally alot of Xbox owners can be happy that they finally have gotten a hand on a copy of Ninja Gaiden, and I am one of them. The game showed some major potential early, sporting amazing graphics for the Xbox and some fluent gameplay, but does the game live up to the Ninja Gaiden name, read the review to find out.Gameplay: The gameplay in this game is what makes Ninja Gaiden Ninja Gaiden. When the demo version of the game was released, it was raived for the fluid movements of the characters on screen and never once did the game slow down or become choppy. For most people, this game provides kind of a Prince of Persia style of fighting, with X and Y button mashing to pull of crazy moves and numerous acrobatic movements. The games puzzles are pretty simple to complete and don't require as much as games like Prince of Persia do. But there are a few downsides to the gamplay of this game that need to be addressed. One is the camera which was a major complaint in the demo. The camera angles are flat out difficult to control for beginners, and only a long time player can get used to it. The camera doesn't posistion itself well forcing you to rearrange it into numerous positions to get it into a good view, and by this time you already have swarms of enemies upon you. But this problem is all but forgotten after passing through the first couple of chapters. The second and kind of minor problem is the difficulty. This game has two difficulty settings, normal and hard, and from numerous people, I heard that this game was extremely hard so I tried it on normal. To my dismay, even on normal this game is extremely difficult. No matter how many pretty wall jumps and attacks you can pull off in a fight, soemtimes 7you just get too overwelmed by swarms of enemies and are easily taken down. The bosses however, are the hardest part of the game. They have quick attacks and will beat you down numerous time. For this game, if you want to accomplsih anything, be prepared to do alot of stuff over again and have alot of patience, cause this is probably one of the hardest games you will play for a while.
Graphics: The visuals in this game are absolutely beautiful and live up to what the screens and gameplay videos orginally showed. The characters are very detailed and the landscapes and explosions are stunning. The level designs are all different and make for a different experience each chapter. One thing the game does lack however is some lighting effects, but that is a minor thing when it comes to overall graphical power. This game makes the Xbox Graphics chip work hard like Halo, and it gives you some great eye candy that sometimes you just have to stop and marvel at. The only thing surpassing the gameplay graphics is the cinematic graphics, which is some of the best you will find in any game on the market at this point.
Audio: The sound in this game is good but it is sometimes overlooked during the gameplay. The sword slashings and screams of enemies dying around you does bring some satisfaction, but unless you have a good surround system hooked up, then the sound is practically unnoticed. The music on the other hand, is kind of a techno/rock mix, which does get your adrenaline pumping.
Suggestions: Overall the game turned out to live up to the hype and I think it is lived up to the Ninja Gaiden name. With a large number of weapons to test and try out, fun combos, unlockable versions of the first Ninja Gaiden games, and Xbox Live compatibility coming in May, this game is sure to please alot of people and keep me playing for months to come. The only suggestion I can give about this game is to have alot of patience with it because it is a very difficult game to beat and even I have had to use a strategy guide a couple of times to pass a few obstacles. The game has a few bugs, but when these are overlooked, the game is well made and sure to please any Xbox owner who needs a game to play while they wait for Halo 2 or Fable.
Overall Score: 9.0 / 10
Crimson Skies: High Road to Revenge
Overall: My baby(Xbox) and I were up late celebrating her birthday and as her gift for her special 2 years( after the wonderful 2 socks in the cd tray) I surprised her with a copy of Crimson Skies HRTR, we went to bed happy. And since, I haev been playing this game non stop, I can't get enough of it. I haev been playing it so much I keep forgetting to write my review of this game, so I finally pulled my eyes from the screen to type up my review of Crimson Skies High Road to Revenge^^~~Gameplay: The gameplay in this game is outstanding. For any person that likes plane games, this is a must for you, for everyone else, this is a must for you. The fighting is quick and explosive, with bullets and rockets zipping past you, and your planes attempt to pull out some tricky manuevers to get you out of sticky situations. The game is easy to master and fun once you know it. The game has a great single player story to go along with it, with some cinematics and an interesting tale, but the place where all the action happens is on Live. With many game types like simple team dogfight, all the way to wild chicken(a person grabs a flying chicken and attempts to return it to the enemies base for points) the game will keep you playing for a long time, as it has done for me^^~~
Graphics: Visualy, this game looks great as well. The planes and terrain are crisp and can show off some of the Xbox's power. The missles and bullets look as realistic as missles and bullets can get in a 1930's style futureistic plane game. The terrain is also something to goggle over, with the tall skyscrapers, to large earth statues, to rain splattering on the screen and lighting bolts, the game visually, looks great^^~~
Audio: It seems that everything is great about this game, including the sound. The game has same amazing sounds, with the explosions, and the machine gun fire that keeps you wondering where it is coming from. The games planes sound great as well, including when a plane does a nose dive, it makes that kinda sound that a person would expect from a plane flying downward rapidly at a 90 degree angle^^~~
Suggestions: Overall this is a great game and if you have Xbox Live, you have to own this game or cancel your subscription! For anyone who doesn't have xbox live, this game is still a must have for its single player alone and fun play. One thing i am looking forward to is some of the downladable content, since none has been released yet since the game is still new. For anyone who wants to get xbox live, I sugest this be one of the first games that you get. A person can only hope that games like this will come out more often, because it seems like a game like this is hard to find now a days. Christmas is coming up soon, and I am looking to get a new tv to complete my xbox package. Until that time comes, I will see you on the forums^^~~
Overall Score: 10.0 / 10
Grand Theft Auto: Double Pack
Overall: Alrighty folks, I was just walking, admiring the wonders of Best Buy, my favorite little electronics store, when I stumbled upon something that caught my eye. A stack full of GTA dobule packs with the Xbox label. So, how any good natured, never owned GTA, guy with 50 bucks in his pocket would do, I forked over the cash and bought the game. And I sit here now, reviewing the controversal Grand Theft Auto console games, on Xbox.^^~~Gameplay: Gameplay for these two games has not changed from the ps2 gta games. You still enjoy the pleasures of killing mobsters and gang members, shooting up pedestrians, and robbing a woman of her virginity, then killing her and stealing her profit. The games storylines are also great to follow, but no one can get over running down a hooker right? ^^~~
Graphics: The Xbox versions of the GTA games have gotten a major visual boost. This time around, the vehicles reflect lights from there hoods, the characters have individual fingers, and the explosions look more life like. Liberty City and Vice City however, are still there old, criminal infested, pimp rundown selves.^^~~
Audio: The sound is this game is also worth a 5 for many reasons. For one, the sounds of the cars and weapons sound very realistic. The games storyline is played out with some bueutiful voice work. But the best part about the GTA games, has to be, the radio. GTA has become well known for its radio system, allowing you to switch through numerous stations to fit your musical appitite. Another cool feature for the DB is that you can insert your own music into the radio, just as long as it is saved to your Xbox's hard drive. ^^~~
Suggestions: Overall, this is a great game made greater by being moved to the Xbox. The developers did an outstanding job of improving this game in ways from its ps2 counterpart. I would suggest this game to anyone as long as they arn't controlled by an overly protective parent. One last thing i would like to sta6te is that the packaging for the game is great. It looks great and really makes you feel good to own it. I should be playing these games for a while to come. I am still looking forward to purchasing Crimson Skies, and I should get that within the next two weeks, if not this weekend. I'll be looking to review that as soon as possible. Until then, I got some GTA to play. lata ^^~~
Overall Score: 10.0 / 10
Jet Set Radio Future
Overall: Well, I have alot of time on my hands so hell, why not review JET SET RADIO FUTURE! I was able to get my grubby paws onto this game with my Xobx in its double pack with Sega Gt 2002(which I hated) and I have alot of time on my hands so lets give JSRF some spotlight. JSRF is a cell shaded game involving continuous skating through a cell shaded world attempting to complete missions and find graffiti to graffiti over ^^~~Gameplay: Gameplay can be a blast for the first couple of hours. It consists of your character skating along walls, grinding on poles and rails, and leaping off high cliffs to complete numerous missions that you are assigned. The skating is quick and at some points exciting, but after a while, doing the same tricks over the cliffs and on rails can get kinda boring. The game comes with a map that points out where graffiti spots are located, but this map is complicated to use and there is no key to point out if the dot you are looking at is a graffiti spot or something else altogether ^^~~
Graphics: The visuals in this game look great! The cell shaded style of the game gives the characters a colorful and glossy look to em and the move fluidly. The scenery looks astounding with sewage pipes and skyscrapers rapped around by a Chinese dragon( the dragons scales allow you to skate up and down it) The city appears to be alot like a Japanese city, and that was prolly what the creators intended^^~~
Audio: The sound is great as well. The game is packed with some jumping tunes that make you wanna pop off your butt and bust some flows! The sounds of the skates upon metal rails are perfect and lifelike. When you are any character jumps, they call out yeehaws or grunt and while skating down busy streets, the pedestrians leap out of the way tumbling on the floor screaming as if you are attempting to run them over with a tanker truck ^^~~
Suggestions: That ends my review of JSRF. It is a good started game, but it gets old once you have bought some more Xbox games. I am looking to buy Crimson Skies HRTR very soon, so look for a review of that game in a couple of months. Until then my friends, this is Lucifer_Hawk, signing out ^^~~
Overall Score: 9.0 / 10
Soul Calibur 2
Overall: Hey Hey folks. Its your buddy Lucifer up with another review. This time its Soul Caliber 2, the sequel to the very popular fighting game Soul Caliber for the Dreamcast(live in peace dreamcast, live in peace)Gameplay: Gameplay here is a blast! I am still trying to figure out the controls because I am not someone you would consider an expert at fighting games, hhrm..... There are very few fighting games that I actually enjoy, but for Soul Caliber 2, I have to make an exception. I LOVE THIS GAME! The gameplay is quick and fun. The moves are stylish and fun to perform. And i just get a blast from pounding on people after they died and listening to there character scream ;)
Graphics: The visuals in this game are also superb. The graphics are crisp and the characters look full of life, and the scenery's look stunning. Superb.
Audio: The sound is great. During the begining of each match, you have the characters say there special lines, and they are played out perfectly. The sounds of weapons swinging and other fighting sounds are played out well. The characters can also occasionaly be heard yelling during the fighting. The onyl part getting on my nerves is the scentence the announcer reads before each match telling you about your oppenent in a poetic type fashion.
Suggestions: This box is supposed to be used to suggest something to the developers but i don't care, I need to write my ending! Overall, I think Soul Caliber 2 is a great game with alot going for it, but I really think it could have had something to make it the best fighting game possible as of now cough*Xbox Live*cough. Other than that, I think it is a solid game that is sure to keep me entertained for months to come. If anyone is excited to read my next review( I know your out there, just fess up) the next game i am looking to review is Unreal Championship( shut up, I have only had Xbox since February, I still gotta play some of these highly rated games!) but this will only happen if I can mangage a B averager on my finals this week( you know thats a hard feat to accomplish) Until then, this is Lucifer Hawk, signing out.
Overall Score: 10.0 / 10
Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic
Overall: Star Wars, Knights of the Old Republic, is a basic RPG with D&D style gameplay. This game had its hype, but not like Half-Life 2 or Halo 2. When lookign for a good RPG, this is one to consider.Gameplay: The gameplay is very easy once you have the hang of it. It consists of alot of menus and quick choices which are easy to master once you have played a few missions. The action is fast paced exciting, and your decisions are critical to winign or losing a battle(i.e. hurling a grenade, it will kill an enemy or injure it, but you can put your team in risk as well.) The gameplay has player switches during battles to take advantage of their abilities during battle as well. However, this game is very hard. There is no difficulty setting so if you arn't too good at this game, don't try lowering the difficulty level, it ain't gonna happen. I myself, have died plenty of times in this game, mostly from boss fights. The puzzles in this game are tricky and hard, so get a strategy guide newbs!
Graphics: The graphics arn't the best of what the Xbox can offer. Although the scenery looks gorgeous, the character detail is poor, reminding me of the PS2. One other item I can accept as visually stuning(eye candy) is the lightsaber effects. The blade moves bueatifully, laving its stream of light behind and causing sparks to burst out when striking an opponent.
Audio: The sound in this game is absolutely amazing! THe voice work was nicely done, making you feel as if you are actually watching a movie, not some games dialog. The best however, is the vehicle and weapon sound effects. The lightsaber sound effects are stunning, making the sounds during a single swing, draw, or cut of the saber. There was definetly some hard work put into the sound effects, and if you got some awesome 5.1 sound systems, you will enjoy the game even more like I do.
Overall Score: 10.0 / 10
