MEMBER PROFILE FOR George89
Average Overall Score Given: 8.13333 / 10
Total Forum Posts: 776
Reviews
ESPN NFL 2K5
Overall: For a mere $20, ESPN NFL 2K5 is a must buy for any football fan. The game is easy to pick up and play, and has plenty of modes for any Xbox player. This is the last ESPN NFL 2K game we'll see from Visual Concepts, but I think it is by far the best football game on the market.Gameplay: Like i mentioned before, I love ESPN NFL 2K5 because it is so easy to pick up and play. While Madden has more complicated meters, 2K5 is a much easier game for players to kickoff and complete plays. 2K5 has the usual modes--Exibition, Season, Franchise, and Xbox Live.
Graphics: Visually, ESPN NFL 2K5 is very impressive. The players all look very realistic, with wrinkles in their clothing and realistic looking shadows. The in-game menus for things like kicking and choosing plays are also all easy to use and effective.
Audio: The sound in the game is good too. From players tackling each other to the roars and cheers of the crowds, it all sounds great and completes the game as a overall total package for any NFL fan.
Suggestions: Since you can't use the NFL, NCAA Football, or AFL liscenses, why not just make up your own fantasy league with unique players, teams, and stadiums :)
Overall Score: 9.0 / 10
Fable
Overall: Fable is a game that is hard to score. On one side we have the hype. Fable was hyped up to be the best RPG of all time, with open-ended gameplay, a massive and sprawling world, and very deep gameplay. Even though Fable turned out to be a good game, it is nowhere near as good as i expected. And for being in development for over 4 years, it certaintly doesn't show. Honestly, i cannot see how this game took so long when there are bigger and better RPGs that are done and out faster. Instead of a long open-ended journey, i got a short 10 hour quest, and as for a massive world to explore, they gave us a very small world with fenced in areas and sectioned off areas to be each loaded as you get to them. But for what it was, and not from what i was expecting, Fable still was entertaining and fun.Gameplay: Forget the whole deep RPG thing, Fable is more of an adventure game with RPG elements. Yes, your character's appearance can change, but the game just doesn't feel nearly as deep as the top RPGs on Xbox. For instance, the weapon selection and clothing selection is extremely small. The gimmick for them is that there are alternate materials for the weapons. That means that the bronze sword and the steel sword look exactly the same (minus the color difference).
The story of Fable kicks off to your village being massacred before your young eyes. You are saved by a mysterious man who takes you to the Hero's Guild to be trained. Once proper training is complete, you then are able to go to the guild to recieve g in Fable suffers from the same fault, that there's just not enough of anything. There's not enough unique NPC skins, not enough clothing options, not enough weapons, not enough world to see, not enough quests, not enough enemy types....and you can figure out the rest. But then you say, well at least i'll be able to replay it a lot (since the slogan for the game is that every choice has a consequence). The problem with this is that no matter what you do in the game, the story stays the same. There are some in-mission decisions, like whether you should kill a character for a prize or let the character live...but for whichever of the choices you make, nothing in the game changes. There is the whole good and evil thing, which will encourage many people to try both sides, but like i said, the story never changes, and the only difference for being evil is that people run away from you.
For the experience points in the game, you'll gain points to spend depending on how you kill an enemy. For instance, if you kill an enemy with a bow and arrow, you'll gain experience points to spend in the bow and stealth category. Same goes for the magic and the sword combat.
So overall for Fable's gameplay, if you were expecting it to be deep, it's not, and if you were expecting it to be long, it's not (i beat the game in 12 hours, and some people beat it in under 10). But while it lasts, it still is quite fun, even if you feel disapointed that this isn't the epic, ambitious RPG you hoped for.
Graphics: Visually, the game looks good. The environments look unbelievable, but then again, there's not too much environment to see. Invisible walls pop up everywhere, and fences won't allow you to stray from paths. Plus the load times come very often while traveling through areas.
A very good thing visually will be your character, who'll change depending on how you play the game. If you get hit a lot and damaged, you'll develop scars, and if you use experience points to gain strength, your muscles will get bigger.
Audio: The music in Fable is very good. The theme for the game is done by Dan Elfman, and fits perfectly into the whimsical sense and feel of the game. The voice overs are ok, since a lot of the characters have annoying voices and accents.
Suggestions: I want to be able to roam around, and not be limited to narrow paths! There were also way too many loading screens.
Overall Score: 8.0 / 10
Silent Scope Complete
Overall: Silent Scope Complete is the complete collection of all the arcade Silent Scope Games. In it is Silent Scope 1, Silent Scope 2, the third arcade Silent Scope game (which is different than the PS2's Silent Scope 3), and a PS2 port of Silent Scope 3. It's a lot of bang for your buck, but with a lackluster light gun and the insane brightness level needed to play the game, is it worth it?Gameplay: Since these games are made for the arcade, the gameplay is very straightfoward, putting you in the shoes of a sniper who has to stop a wealth of terrorist attacks. There are branching paths, which really increases the replay value, but only Silent Scope 3 (which was a PS2 game) offers a game where it'll take more than 20-30 minutes to complete.
Besides the main mode, each game has a bunch of modes--from the standard training modes to the sniper hunting mode.
As far as content, SSC excells with hours of arcade gameplay. The thing that bring the gameplay down though is the lightgun. The problem here is that if you don't have the lightgun, the game isn't as immersive and fun, but then if you do have the lightgun, you'll find that it doesn't work properly. The perk of the gun in that when you look through the scope on it, a sensor will make the reticule on the game screen turn into cross-hairs. The problem is that this didn't work on my gun (and from what i here, it also didn't work for most other people). This left me to have to use the manual zoom, which wasn't as fun. Plus for the $50 the gun costs, it feels way too light and cheaply made. The & feature is also nothing more than a small rumble noise that comes from inside the gun, and you don't even feel it while playing.
Overall, the gun was disapointing, but if you don't mind it's shortcomings, SSC offers a lot of content.
Graphics: Now visually, Silent Scope Complete is bad. None of the games have gotten visual overhauls for the xbox, which makes them all look way too dated. The only game that looked good at times was Silent Scope Complete, which I thought had some nice backdrops and much better effects than the other games.
So we already have plain, bland, and ugly looking games to begin with, but what ruins the visuals is the insanely high level of brightness you need on your TV to use the lightgun. This washes out a lot of the color, and makes the visuals look that much worse.
Audio: It's an arcade game, so don't expect much for the voice acting and the effects. The voice acting can be summed up as just cheesy and stupid. You almost want to laugh at some of the bad accents on the bosses, and the very dumb dialougue that they say.
Suggestions: Graphics need an overhaul, and make sure there's a quality lightgun that's out when the game ships.
Overall Score: 7.0 / 10
MVP Baseball 2004
Overall: EA's baseball titles up until their 2003 MVP game weren't the best choice for baseball fun in my opinion. But luckily when they switched the name from Triple Play to MVP, the game quickly turned into what I think are the best baseball games on the market. MVP 2004 is truly great becasue it's easy to pick up and play, yet the gameplay is also much deeper than it's competition. The pitcher throws the ball, EA swings, and they hit a home run with MVP Baseball 2004.Gameplay: MVP's gameplay is very easy to pick up and play, yet i love how it's so much deeper than the competition. When pitching, there's a meter that goes from one side to the other, and you must press a button as close to a green square as possible to make your pitch go where you want it too.
Pitching is also more fun thanks to the ball marker now being invisible from your opponents eyes. Instead, you'll rely on controller vibrations to tell you when you're getting outside the strike zone. For batting, you simply tap A to swing (and up and A for a more powerful swing). There's no batting cursor, which i actually think is better than having one. But the best addition to the game is the fielding. When you need to throw a ball when in the outfield, you must hold down the button to throw so a power meter can fill up to where you want it. Bad fielders need the meter to be filled all the way to make a long through, but the better fielders just need the meter filled half way to make a long throw. This adds the much needed depth to the fielders that other baseball games need to try and add in.
For modes, there's the usual things like exibition, the season mode, etc. And it's all a blast to play thanks to the great gameplay.
Graphics: Visually, MVP Baseball 2004 looks pretty good. The fields look nice, and the camera views are good too. Animations also look good, as does the rest of the game. It's nothing that'll blow you away, but the graphics are sufficient. I think 2K4 looks a little better than MVP 2004, but I personally think that since MVP has a deeper gameplay, you won't mind at all.
Audio: The sound in the game is also very strong, from the cracks of the bat when hitting to the cheering of the crowd. The music in the game is also pretty good, and is mostly alternative. Like the rest of the game, the sound is solid.
Overall Score: 9.0 / 10
Burnout 3: Takedown
Overall: Burnout 3: Takedown, the sequel to Burnout 2: Point of Impact, proves that crashing in a race can be fun, and playing dirty is just fine. Faster and more furious than it's predecessors, Burnout 3 finally brings the Burnout series to it's well deserved critically and commercially acclaimed status. With Xbox Live support, a wealth of cars and tracks, and a boat-load of game modes, Burnout 3 blazes an impressive track filled with excitement and fun.Gameplay: Burnout 3 is not only about the racing, but also about the crashing. This is shown in the various modes in the game--which mix and blend these two elements together to provide a very satisfying driving game. New to the series are the takedowns. This brings the crashing element into the racing mode as you have to try and total your opponents' cars to gain boost. Returning is also the crash mode--which involves pure crashing, as you try and make as much destruction with one car as possible. The actual gameplay of Burnout 3 is much faster than any other racing game on Xbox i've played. Cars go by at blurring speeds, and one wrong turn could mean victory or last place. This makes some later races frustrating, but overall, you'll still be having a blast all the while.
So Burnout 3 is all about risks. Take the risks, and you'll get rewards. Risks envolve doing things like nudging enemy cars, driving in the wrong lanes, tailgaiting, and driving close to other cars. Your reward is boost--which will send your car blazing down the track at high speeds.
Most of your time will be spent in the career mode--where you'll not only compete in races, but in crash modes and a variety of others. There's also Xbox Live races, which let you take your takedown and racing skills against other Burnout 3 players.
Graphics: Visually, Burnout 3 looks amazing. The effects are breathtaking, with cars going by at blurring speeds, and reflections and shadows popping up everywhere.
The cars in the game look great. The models are all brought to the game in superb detail, and crashes bring forth some amazing effects. The only disapointing part was the lack of what i'd call "unique" cars for the races. All the cars here are race cars--and too many of them in their specific class control and look too much alike. There is noticible separation between the car classes, but in each, a lot of the cars seem like mere variations of others.
This is also a problem for the tracks in the game. Although they look great, there aren't many, and most are variations of others.
Overall though, you can't deny that Burnout 3 is a beautiful game.
Audio: The sound in the game was good. The cars had nice sound effects, as did crashes. The sound track i thought was just okay. It's made up of mostly just alternative rock songs that started to get on my nerves after awhile--luckily there's the custom soundtracks, so then i could listen to whatever i wanted to.
Suggestions: Larger variety of cars and tracks--too many in this game were just variations of others, which started to make the very fun racing gameplay feel a little boring after awhie.
Overall Score: 8.0 / 10
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas
Overall: Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas is the latest and greatest Grand Theft Auto game to hit the streets. As the fifth GTA game, it boasts the largest map, over one hundred missions, and a huge list of new things to do and see. Taking you from the gritty streets of Los Santos, to the wide-open acres of Flint County, to the sprawling city of San Fiero, to the dusty deserts of Bone County, and finally to the glitzy streets of Las Venturas, San Andreas takes you on a wild ride filled with excitement, twists, turns, and a lot of fun.Gameplay: San Andreas is indeed the jack of all trades. If you thought you could do a lot in Vice City, just wait until you play San Andreas. The core gameplay involving driving and shooting is still here, but what really makes them more fun this time around is the variety of locales and the intriuging storyline. Besides the driving and shooting, missions will now also test your skills at things like stealth and swimming.
The shooting system this time now lets you do manual aiming as well as lock-on targeting. This is a welcome addition, especially since there are many missions where precision is key. What I really love about this GTA game though is that i can have a blast when i'm not even doing the missions. There is just so much that can be done in this game that i can't even fit it all into this review. For starters, here's just a taste of what you can do when not doing missions: go go-karting, street racing, off-track betting, gamble at casinos, base jump, triathalons, workout at the gyms, get a tatoo, get a haircut, rob houses, participate in gang wars, go on random crime sprees, explore the main part of the map that is about 6 times larger than Vice City (and that's not including the miles upon miles away from land you can go into the ocean).
But for the story, you'll play as Carl Johnson (CJ for short). As CJ, you've returned to your hometown (Los Santos) because of the recent death of your mother. Once there, you tumble into roller-coaster of a ride that the story takes all the way through the state of San Andreas.
Graphics: So now there's the graphics. On one side, many people will initially say that this game doesn't look nearly as good as most other Xbox titles, but for them, i have some points to make. First off, this game is a port of a PS2 game...and that should be self explanatory. Plus, SA actually looks better than Vice City in my opinion, with shinier cars, better effects, you can now enter many building in the game, your character is customizable, and a map that is about 6 times larger. The game isn't a visual masterpiece, but it does just fine--and the gameplay is so much fun, you probably won't care.
Audio: And then of course there's the sound. As for the good, the voice acting in this game is absolutly amazing. With talent including Samuel L. Jackson, and all the voice overs for the 100+ missions, this sends the game up on a high note audio wise. The sound effects in the game are also good, but what i was actually a little disapointed about was the soundtrack. Compared to Vice City's radio stations, San Andreas' radio didn't seem like it had as much time put into it. First off, the soundtrack offers mostly rap, some rock station, a talk show station, and a few other things. Though the songs included in the game were good, what i didn't like was that there weren't enough. My two favorite stations in the game when i started were Radio X and WCTR. Radio X is a rock station, and what disapointed me was that i kept hearing the same songs over and over and over and over and over and...well, you get my point. This would be fine, but in Vice City it seemed like the music stations had a lot more songs. So then i decided to check out the talk show, WCTR. In Vice City, i loved how the talk shows had so much content that i usually was listening to someting new. But in SA, i kept hearing the same talk shows with the same interviews over and over and over. This is something that i was a little dispointed about, but there's always custom soundtrack--and the voice overs are so good, that the sound overall is great.
Suggestions: The game really needs a new engine. GTA III's is getting old fast.
Overall Score: 10.0 / 10
House of the Dead 3
Overall: House of the Dead 3 is the 3rd installment in the popular arcade seris House of the Dead. The game features beautiful graphics, great sound, and a bunch of fun light gun action!Gameplay: The gameplay in HOTD3 is fairly simple, it's pretty much shoot whatever you see on the screen. There are variations like the save your partner sequences, but for the most part, it's mindless zombie blasting action. Sadly, HOTD3 is about 30 minutes long, and HOTD2 (which can be unlocked) is just a little longer. There's good shootin, but just not enough of it.
Graphics: The game's visuals are great. Zombies look great, and the levels are highly detailed! The game also stays at a constant frame rate.
Audio: From moans to the character voices, they sound good, but the dialouge isn't the best. The music also seems kinda campy and cartooney for a horror game
Suggestions: A longer game!!! 30 minutes of new stuff isn't acceptable! Even if it's fun to replay!
Overall Score: 8.0 / 10
Grand Theft Auto: Double Pack
Overall: Grand Theft Auto Double Pack contains 2 of the most beloved games in recent time, Vice City and GTA 3. They both look much better and have many new features to boot!Gameplay: The cities are like sandboxes, you can do just about anything you want from killing people to being a pizza delivery man. This is what makes the game fun and keeps you coming back for more. The main point takes you through over 70 missions of mafia work.
Graphics: Visuals have gotten an upgrade for xbox, cars have reflections and everything just looks a lot better in this version
Audio: Finally they used custom soundtracks in a game like this! The game sounds good as there is a lot of radio voice overs and songs and the sound effects are quite nice.
Suggestions: Maybe larget cities.
Overall Score: 9.0 / 10
Crimson Skies: High Road to Revenge
Overall: WOW! Did this game surprise me! I remember seeing trailers for this game awhile back and thinking it was nothing special, as soon as I heard it had online play, wonderful graphics, and an excellent single player, I had to get it. Crimson Skies is a flight game set in an alternate 30's.Gameplay: You play as a man named Nathan, he is a sky pirate. He gets into trouble right from the start of the game where he gambles and loses his zep (blimp) the night before. The gameplay is fun and thrilling, from diving down into trap filled caves to fighting giant robotic bosses the game stays fun and fresh throughout the lenghthy single player. The story is superb and the dogfights are amazing. Its just plain fun to shoot down giant zeps and watch their burned skeleton drop down to the ground, while collecting the supplies that fell out. The game features 4 different locations (which are ever changing), now dont just asume that this means the game is quick, its not, the levels you play on have optional side missions, races, and story missions to fill up your time. From manning turret guns and protecting the city, to fighting giant robotic spiders, the game is a blast to play and with the online and many multiplayer features, the game should be playable and remain fun for a long time.
Graphics: The visuals in this game are some of the best the XBOX has to offer. Things like water and fire look totally realistic, detailed, and amazing. The levels are huge and very detailed. The planes look great as well as their weapons (things like plasma cannons, snipers, shotguns, missles). The game just looks amazing, and as the game goes on the environments get more and more detailed. There are also amazing looking CG movies that are fun to watch and help more the plot along.
Audio: The sound is great, from voice works, to sound effects of weapons and your plane, the game sounds wonderful. The music is very appropriate and adds that extra feel to the game.
Suggestions: None, it was great.
Overall Score: 10.0 / 10
MechAssault
Overall: MechAssualt is one of the first games to feature live support. The game is fast and furious as you fight other mechs and destroy just about everything around you.Gameplay: The game pits you in a highly powerful mech. You fight through a single player campaign, as well as split screen and XBOX live multiplayer. In just the single player mode, the game got fairly boring for me. When you play multiplayer modes the game is a blast though. The battles are fun and the destruction is even better.
Graphics: The game looks beautiful. The mechs look awsome as well as their attacks. The explosions look amazing and the level of destruction is great.
Audio: The sound is fairly good. Explosions sound real, as well as other effects like buildings crumbling and guns firing.
Suggestions: Better single player mode.
Overall Score: 8.0 / 10
NFL Blitz 2003
Overall: NFL Blitz 20-03 is Midway's over the top, arcade style football game. The game seems to be too shallow, with seasons that offer no changes or options and roughly the same gameplay we get every year.Gameplay: The game plays like a regular football game. Just take away half of the positions, the refs, the rules, and half of the field, and you have a rough idea of Blitz. Like I said before, the game plays exactly like the previous installments and offers no depth in the way of the season modes. It is a fast and fun football game that is fun to play at parties, but gets repetitive and boring after too long.
Graphics: The game looks fairly good. Theres still the short field and narrow posts. The ball is still plain and huge, and the characters still look bulky and unrealistic. The animations are nice and funny though when you tackle someone.
Audio: Absolutly nothing special. The sounds are few and the announcers are repetitive to the point where you want to mute them.
Suggestions: Add new options from year to year and provide a deep franchise mode like most other football games.
Overall Score: 7.0 / 10
Spider-Man
Overall: Spider-Man the game is very loosly based on the hit movie. You play as Spider-Man, you fight through tons of action packed missions using you cool powers.Gameplay: The game is a standard beat em up. You jump, kick, punch, and use your web to defeat enemies and bosses. The battles are fun and bosses each offer something different. The game is loosly based on the movie so a few things will be from the movie. In outdoor levels you can swing around a limited part of the city. You cannot touch the ground (which disapointed me)though. The game plays well with some platforming elements here and there. The are also some bonus games and unlockables which all that I will tell you is that you can play the game as other characters besides Spider-Man!
Graphics: The visual effects are very good. The cities are open and the effects like rain look good. The levels are detailed. The enemies all look similar, but other than that, everything looks good.
Audio: The character voices are straight from the cast of the movie, which provides for a more cinematic experience. The grunts from killing enemies gets annoying since they all say about the same thing when they die.
Suggestions: The ability to freely explore the city. That includes go in buildings at will, and walk on the ground.
Overall Score: 8.0 / 10
Burnout 2: Point of Impact
Overall: Burnout 2: Point of Impact is an arcade style racer that features over the top driving, and spectacular crashes!Gameplay: The game isn't like your normal driving games. In this game you take risks, drive at high speeds, and crash big. There are many modes of play including multiplayer. You can go in a single player main mode or go into the best part of the game, which is the crash courses. In these there is usually a traffic situation and you must cause as much damage as you possibly can. The chain reactions of the cars rock, and the crashes are so much fun to watch and see what you destroyed.
Graphics: The visuals are a big step up from the first. The cars look better, The environments are larger and more detailed, and the crashes have been improved. Everything looks very good.
Audio: The sound is great too. The sound effects for the crashes are great. You hear the cars grinding together and things cracking and breaking.
Suggestions: no suggestions.
Overall Score: 9.0 / 10
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
Overall: Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, is EA's LOTR game based on the first two movies of the seris. You play as Gimili, Legolas, Aragorn, and a secret character through levels from the first two films. The game has clips from the movie and the movies soundtrack and voice talents. The game is really short at just about 6 hours.Gameplay: The game is a standard hack and slash. You fight small minions then face a boss at the end of a level. The game is on a sort of 2-D style play (kind of like on rails) so there is no room for exploration. The game is way too short at 6 hours also.
Graphics: Visuals are fairly good. The characters look a little blocky, but other effects look dazzling. The cut scenes consist of mostly film clips.
Audio: The sound is great, with the movies soundtrack and the voice talents of the actors from the films. The sound is very good overall.
Suggestions: Needed to be longer, exploration, and more characters.
Overall Score: 7.0 / 10
Crazy Taxi 3: High Roller
Overall: Crazy Taxi 3 is the next Crazy taxi game from Sega that pits you as a taxi driver who must earn money by picking up and dropping up passengers. All while you drive freely around the 3 huge cities or play with the addictive and hard mini games.Gameplay: The gameplay is unique and fresh. Similar to Simpsons RR, you drive around the cities, searching for pedestrians to pick up and drop off. The game is very fun. Most of your time will probably be on the very addictive, but hard mini games. One mini-game has you on a football field and you must get to the other end in a certain time, but watch out as cars and trucks try to bash you off the sidelines, another has you trying to knock down bowling pins, and some even have you platform!
Graphics: The graphics are good. With lots of shiny surfaces, fast and fluid animations and 3 full cities to roam around through, there is plenty of things to look at, and they all look good.
Audio: The sound is also good, with your average rock style soundtrack and the usually sterotype character voices.
Suggestions: More levels to explore and more drivers. Make the mini games easier too.
Overall Score: 5.0 / 10
Star Wars: Obi-Wan
Overall: Obi Wan pits you as Obi Wan during the events around Episode 1. You play through many missions and a few multiplayer modes .Gameplay: The game-play is kinda too simple and at times too hard. The game is kind of boring when you do just about the same thing all of the time. The battles in multiplayer with friends are pretty cool though, with slow motion and cool jedi powers.
Graphics: The visuals are kind of bland and everything looks flat and sloppy. The game looks like a good PS1 game, not like an XBOX game. The characters mouths don't move when they talk and the cut scenes look worse than most in game moivies for games.
Audio: The sound isn't very good. The characters sound nothing like the ones from the movies and the soundtrack isn't anything special.
Suggestions: Fix just about everything for a sequel.
Overall Score: 6.0 / 10
NFL 2K3
Overall: NFL 2K3 is a combination of Sega and ESPN's football games. The game supports a deep franchise mode, as well as great graphics, and XBOX LIVE play.Gameplay: The main part of the game will be probably spent on the franchise mode. This years is very deep and fun. The addition of XBOX Live provides an even deeper experience. The game flows great in gameplay. There are some things that I like better than Madden like how you can catch up if someone is on a breakaway.
Graphics: Nothing special, but they look very good. The stadiums are detailed as well as uniforms and player faces.
Audio: Sound is pretty good, the broadcasters don't get too repetitive and the ESPN music is here. Player responses to some things are almost always the same though.
Suggestions: no suggestions
Overall Score: 8.0 / 10
Elder Scrolls III : Morrowind
Overall: The Elder Scrolls 3: Morrowind is an open ended non linear role playing game. You play as who ever you want and do whatever you want to. You have a whole island to explore and find adventures in.Gameplay: The gameplay is very addictive. You can play as just about any kind of character, with whatever skills you want. You can do whatever you want too. It's very fun to find little side quests and buy armor, spell, and weapons. You join guilds and climb the ranks. You venture off and fight monsters. You can pretty much do about anything you want. With so much to do, sometimes I actually felt myself bored because there was no real plot to follow and no specific path to follow. I got lost easily and the missions I got were confusing. The combat is ok, its better to fight in 1st person. The collision detection isn't very good, which can be frustrating.
Graphics: The vast world is just mind boggling. There are so many people to meet and things to see. The character animations don't look to good, and there are too many load screens, but most is forgivable when you think of how much has to load in the about 2 minute(estimation) load time when you die.
Audio: There are so many people to talk to and see that it just is so great. Most people though say about the same thing to you which gets repetitive. The sound track is very good.
Suggestions: Better combat and more specific mission descriptions.
Overall Score: 9.0 / 10
James Bond 007: NightFire
Overall: James Bond 007: Nightfire is the newest Bond game. It pits you as James Bond through 12 action packed missions involving gun play, stealth, and driving.Gameplay: There are so many different kinds of levels you will do. Some involve the obvious gun play, some driving, some you must be stealthy, and many more including diving underwater in your car and floating on a space station. The best part is that some levels provide you with choices on how to complete them. Sadly though the game only has 12 missions that aren't too long. There are many multiplayer modes, and bots if you have no one to play with.
Graphics: Visually, the game looks fairly good. The action flows seamlessly and there are no ugly textures or colors. Though the driving levels definatly don't look as good as the gun levels. The cut scenes look very nice, even the in game ones.
Audio: The sound is very good also. Explosions sound real and so does just about everything else. The enemies talk amongst themselves if you listen closly.
Suggestions: More levels!
Overall Score: 8.0 / 10
Kung Fu Chaos
Overall: Kung Fu Chaos is a fun party style brawler for up to 4 players. You fight it out as one of 9 wanna be movie stars on 6 unique, interactive sets based on hit blockbusters like Titanic. The game suffers from being way to short with a 3 hour story mode and it only takes a mere 5+ hours to unlock all it has to offer. Kung Fu Chaos is short but very sweet.Gameplay: The game is a fun, fast, and furious fighter. You fight in one of 6 gigantic interactive movie sets. Things like the ground crumbles around you, and poison gas seeping into the room are only a few obstacles. One level pits you on a giant ship called the Gigantic (Titanic rip off) while it sinks, with floors falling out from under you, you duke it out untill the final battle in the life boats. The game is a blast to play. The characters specials are also very cool, like the yo-yo girl spins her yo-yos to creat a tornado which kills all of the other characters. With just about 5+ hours alone (but a lot more if you play at partys) the game is just too short, but superb while it lasts.
Graphics: Visually the game looks very good; from the water to the giant stuffed T-Rex that chases you through one level, the game looks great.
Audio: The one liners from the characters are great and the director adds to the humor, shouting out everything you do wrong and telling you the upcoming danger. The soundtrack consists of songs from old kung fu movies.
Suggestions: The game is just too darn short. With just about a few more big scenes, the game could have gotten a 5.
Overall Score: 8.0 / 10
Dynasty Warriors 3
Overall: Dynasty Warriors 3 is a cross between a hack and slash and an epic war game. You control one of over 40 officers as you wage war through Chinese history.Gameplay: The gameplay is so repetitive, but just so much fun. You will either love or you will hate this game. All levels (except maybe one or two) have you doing the exact same thing. The game though gets you so involved into the storys of these characters that it is just so hard to stop playing. This game probably got well over 20 hours from me. You can play as so many characters and each time you play a battle you try something a little different hoping that maybe one general will survive or that your army fights extra well. The game has so many things to collect that it just drew me in for so long. The controls are simple and easy, one button for normal attack, one for strong attack, one for special, and one for jump. You can even ride horses and elephants.
Graphics: The visuals are pretty average, but since the environments are so wide open, its good for what appears on screen, like over 1,000 enemies rushing at you.
Audio: Sound is very bad. The voice overs are just abnoxious and I preferred to put everything in Japanese, which turned out good.
Suggestions: More options during gameplay.
Overall Score: 8.0 / 10
Dead or Alive 3
Overall: Dead or Alive 3 is a fighting game featuring 16 characters and many levles and modes of play. The game has some of the best graphics around, but barely has any unlockables.Gameplay: The game is an average 3-D fighter. Though some may be decieved by the beautiful graphics that hide the real gameplay. The levels are interactive, and have many layers which definatly is a fun plus.
Graphics: The visuals are mind blowing, especaially since it came out 2 years ago. The levels are huge and very detailed, as well as character models.
Audio: The sound is fairly good, though none of the voices are in english. The characters sound good, and there are water sound effects as well as other backround effects.
Suggestions: It needs more unlockables. I just found it to be a short story mode (which you unlock some VERY well dont CG movies) and a 2 player fighter.
Overall Score: 9.0 / 10
Turok: Evolution
Overall: Turok: Evolution is the latest game in the Turok seris. The game consists of FPS and 3rd person flights. The game takes place in a time where dinosaurs roam the earth, and you must stop a race of mutant looking dinosaurs. Sadly I could not get too much of the story because well, there are only about 3-4 cut scenes; one in the beggining, one at the end, and 1-2 in the middle. Because of this, Turok is a very hard game to follow. With some unforgiving controls for flight, and its extremely hard difficulty; Turok disapoints.Gameplay: The game consists of FPS and flight modes. The flight mode is fun, well up untill you are in close quarters, AND IF YOU CRASH ONCE ITS BACK TO THE BEGINING OF THE LEVEL! and when you play FPS and you get to the end and get shot in the head or fall on some spikes, well, back to the begining of the very long level. Now, if you want a challenge than thats fine. For people like me who like to enjoy a game, and not play a level up to 20+ times because I made one silly mistake. The game also has some annoyingly hard puzzles for an FPS, like find three tiny little glowing keys in the jungle. Well, for one I crawled into a log which I walked past a few times. One was in a tree, which took me about 30 minutes to get there, and then one was out of my reach. Well, I finally figured out, after many trials which some killed me, that you jump off the side of the mountain so you land on a little outstreached rock. Then there will be a tunnel underground, leading to a ladder, which leads to the key. The game is frustratinly difficult. The multiplayer is actually VERY nicely done. With the choice to battle your friends as a gun toting person, or a ferocious raptor.
Graphics: The visuals are actually very good. When you start torching a enemy, they fall and roll on the ground before you. You can even see like a blur coming out of the fire from gases, and smoke. The dinosaurs look very good as well as most of the other things. The enemys limbs blow off and blood spurts out, but sadly you have to worry about dying all the time to appreciate the vast landscapes.
Audio: The sound is very well done. On jungle levels you can hear sounds of dinosaurs and bushes shaking which can sometimes be the difference between life and death.
Suggestions: Could you make more difficulty levels than HARD. Otherwise it was good.
Overall Score: 7.0 / 10
The Simpsons Road Rage
Overall: Simpsons Road Rage is a Simpsons take on Crazy Taxi style arcade action. Drive around town with many of your favorite Simpsons characters and play Crazy Taxi style. If your not a Simpsons fan, you should think twice about purchase because that would be the only purchase point of this over Crazy Taxi 3. The game is fun though and thats where it counts most. Overall, its an average game with an awsome license which is its redeeming point.Gameplay: The game is exactly the same as Crazy Taxi, you pick up passengers and take them for a drive for cash. The story behind this one is that Mr. Burns has bought up the bus route, is running the buses on nuclear toxins, and is jacking up the fares. Its up to you and a wide variety of your favorite Simpsons characters to raise enough money to buy back the buses and get everything straight. There is multiplayer (2 players), and a last minute mission mode which includes 10 missions, all about the same. The game is very repetitive and I am rating this taking none Simpsons fans into mind who might not appreciate the game as much as others.
Graphics: Its cel-shaded, and even for cel-shading, the game looks average. There are slight glitches in the graphics at times, but otherwise its just about average looking.
Audio: The cast of the Simpsons is here with funny one liners making for some great fun. This is its best quality, if your not a Simpsons fan, you might not get some of the jokes, but if you are, all the better!
Suggestions: Better grapics, more variety of things to do and see. Take more time making the missions in mission mode.
Overall Score: 7.0 / 10
Jet Set Radio Future
Overall: Jet Set Radio Future is a cel-shaded skating game that takes place, well in the future. Jet Set Radio Future combines fun and crazy gameplay, with beautiful cel-shading, and a great soundtrack. What is not to like?Gameplay: Jet Set Radio Future is so many game types combines into one. It is a skating game where you go around city platforming and doing tricks, racing, doing grafitti, fighting off police, and its a great adventure game, filled with a real story, plot twists and a lot of fun. The game features a wide open city for you to explore and recruit members for your skating gang. The skating mechanics are easy to learn and use. The game plays well and is extremely addictive and fun. The only downside is that the story eventually ends.
Graphics: The game has very vibrant, beautiful, stunning, cel-shaded graphics. From the cel-shaded birds and pedestrians, to the cool looking grafitti to the wild characters. Everything in the game looks stunning.
Audio: The game has some great voice acting and a great soundtrack to back it all up. Everything sounds good, from the screech of your skates to the one liners that the characters say, the game's sound is superb.
Suggestions: Everything was perfect. Slightly short (takes about 18 hours for story mode), so make the next one longer. Otherwise the only downside was that the game ended so soon, leaving me wanting more.
Overall Score: 10.0 / 10
Apex
Overall: Apex is best known as a driving game where you make your own car company, complete events and races, and select new cars to manufacture. The game supports 2 players has over 50 tracks and over 80 cars to choose from.Gameplay: Apex starts out with you going into an abondoned gas station with your partner, only to find car blue prints. You partner designs the car of choice for you and your off to start the game. Apex is an average driving game. Very little fun can come of this game unless you like driving around repetitive tracks for up to and over 10 minutes of racing against usually 5 other opponents who NEVER mess up. The driving is so DULL, and I wont even get started on the poor "Make your own car empire" deal. To put it. You do nothing but race, come back to your garage, maybe change the color of you cars or pick a new car blueprint to work on (which there are fewer than 20 car blueprints). The game is just too dull. The game starts off great, driving your first car in an amatuer race for cash, but the game has absolutly no twists, no changes, and nothing to do but drive and drive and drive very dull races. The pretty blocks on wheels handle to sim like also making the game frustrating, not fun.
Graphics: The graphics are mind blowing, which thankfully saves this game from getting lower than 3. If you like pretty reflections, beautiful courses, very detailed cars, and awsome looking roads, this game has it all.
Audio: The only saving grace from the gut renching soundtrack is that you can put on some of your own tunes. The car collisions sound horrible and so does just about everything else, including the 3 lines each character says.
Suggestions: I wanted a deeper experience making my own car empire, and can I at least design my own cars?
Overall Score: 6.0 / 10
Brute Force
Overall: Brute Force is a squad based shooter set in the future. There is not much in the way of story, but there is tons of action for you to have with you four squad mates. Brute Force provides a generic game with beautiful graphics, but no real story or twists, which makes the game very dull.Gameplay: The gameplay in Brute Force is actually very good. The action is intense and Multiplayer fights are fun. The only problem is that the gameplay gets bogged down heavily from the dull missions and pointless story (if you could even call it a story). The game features 4 playable squad members to fight through an 18 missions(with more from xbox live, though the game is not playable on it). The multiplayer features fun and fast gameplay with 5 squads and over 20 characters to fight with. The game still suffers from repetition and dullness in the Campaign though.
Graphics: The game looks beautiful! From the very detailed characters, to the bump mapped EVERYTHING, the game is very good graphically, but as the gameplay is dull, so are the levels. There are just about 5 different varieties of environments which when you have to do each about 4-5 times, it gets boring to look at. The game looks very good though.
Audio: The explosions are great as well as the character voices. The enemies talk amongst themselves if you listen close enough and you can hear water crashing to the shore. The game sounds good.
Suggestions: A STORY! Variety in everything. Bots in multiplayer and more enemies and levels.
Overall Score: 7.0 / 10
Soul Calibur 2
Overall: Soul Calibur 2 is a weapon based fighting game; with over 20 characters, over 200 weapons, tons of modes, and dozens of levels to fight on. The game is the long awaited sequel to the original and is finally here, and was definatly worth the wait!Gameplay: The game is so much fun to play. You get to use all 200 weapons that you collect in Weapon Master Mode. In Weapon Master (which is where most of game will take place) you will fight, win money, and purchase, movies, weapons, costumes, arenas, characters, etc. The game plays extremely well; the characted moves flow together seamlessly, which makes for a very enjoyable experience.
Graphics: Though not as good as some other fighters (DOA3) the game does look terriffic. The character models are great, as well as weapons, stages, and costumes. There are some little things though that you can tell could be fixed if this was an XBOX exclusive, like weapons go wave into the ground when you are on the ground, and the water is not as good as it could of been. Een these though cannot take away from some of the levels detail. You can see little rings in the wood and there is texture in dirt. Overall, the game looks terriffic.
Audio: The sound is great also, with tons of voice overs, and a great soundtrack. Instead of annoying guitar solos, you get a fully orchestrated performance. The weapons each have a unique sound also.
Suggestions: Everything was perfect. Maybe for a sequel more characters would be great and possibly more unlockable weapons.
Overall Score: 10.0 / 10
The Simpsons: Hit and Run
Overall: The Simpsons Hit & Run is an in and out of the car,mission based game. You play as Homer, Bart, Lisa, Marge, & Apu, but you can drive around as many people aroun Sprigfield like, Cletus, Comic Book Guy, Principle Skinner, Snake, Grandpa, Frink, and many more.Gameplay: The gameplay consists of in and out of car, mission based gameplay. Most of the missions will have you in a car, completing mission which include things like, races, collecting items, getting to a place in a certain time, deliverys, destroying cars and objects, and well, thats pretty much it. Most of the out of car missions pretty much just have you doing some platforming to reach something. Even though there are a lack of mission types, they somehow all remain fresh and fun, because of the simpsons humor. There are 7 levels consisting of 7 story missions, 1 bonus mission, 3 steet races, and 1 wager race (2 for Homer, 2 for Bart, 1 for Lisa, 1 for Apu, and 1 for Marge). Really there are only 3 levels (Evergreen Terrence, Pier, and Downtown) But as the story progresses they change. For example the Evergreen Terrence level is use for levels 1, 4, and 7,but each time it changes. The first time you are there with Homer and it is normal, level 4 you are there with Marge, it is at night and more is accsesible (like you can go into Mr. Burns' mansion, which you could not do in level 1), and at level 7 with Homer, The town is is mostly in ruins, zombies everywhere, etc. (you can even climb to the conference room of the power plant, where you can find Mr. Burn hiding!)and the story will explain the zombies at the end. Oh, and that leads me to the story, it is pretty funny and very good, I don't want to ruin it for you though so I won't reveal anything! Here are some mission examples: One mission with Homer, you have to help Marge steal all of the new video games (Bonestorm),because they are too violent. You drive with Marge(with Homer as the passenger) and you bash the delivery trucks, collect the dropped games, and store them in you trunk.
Graphics: Visually, the game is not ground breaking, but definatly great. It is in 3-D, but almost has sort of a cel-shaded feel to it. The environments are very detailed, down to names on mailboxes to your favorite Simpsons characters walking around. The character models are VERY good, as well as the cars, which realistically smoke, break, and catch fire! The movies are hilarious and very detailed.
Audio: Oh my gosh! This is probably the best qualities of the game. There are just so many people to talk to, all voiced by the cast of the seris! The sound bytes are very funny and there are enough of them so the game does not get too dull. The sound is overall, excellent!
Suggestions: Ok, we want more levels! More freedom to go into more buildings. Possibly weapons also. Otherwise great game!
Overall Score: 9.0 / 10
