MEMBER PROFILE FOR XcessKills
Average Overall Score Given: 8.50000 / 10
Total Forum Posts: 7
Reviews
Project Gotham Racing 2
Overall: I feel honoured to be the first XBox Addict member to review this game, simply because this is the best racing game ever released. I got my hands on this game 10 days ago and have played 4+ hours a day for a total over 50 hours up to date. I just got my racing wheel yesterday because of this game and is simply the most realistic racing experience you can get! Go get this game RIGHT NOW, I mean it RIGHT NOW !!
Gameplay: The car handling and physics are incredibly realistic, this game is truly a car simulator! You can definetly tell the difference from riding a Chevy Camaro and a BMW.
On the other hand the medal system is perfectly implemented. The game is easy to pick up and you will be getting your steel, bronze and silver medals in no time.
However the game is hard to master at higher difficulty levels. AI becomes unforgiving at gold and platinum level, so you will need to buy a wheel and earn every medal the hard way (lots of play and experience gained). I became frustrated after several hours of playing at gold level with the S Controller and not even getting close to make it. I went to the store and bought a Mad Catz MC Wheel and tried it again a few times and finally got it.
If you want to win at Platinum level, you will definetly need to know every turn by heart...
Graphics: As always I cannot give a game a full 5.0 in the visual department, because there is always room for improvement (hopefully PGR 3). I have not tried Need For Speed Underground yet, but I think this game would beat it (unless the guys at EA finally start thinking outside their own small little world)...
The graphics are even better than the ones we saw at Moto GP2. You can even see the hot air rising from the pavement on a hot day... I don't know how many FPS this game delivers but it surely is more than 50... This will be dramatically important in online gaming... Unfortunately I have not been able to find other competitors in XBConnect (my box was banned at XBox Live so I cannot get there), but I guess that will change this week.
Audio: The sounds of this game are awesome, with Dolby Digital 5.1 and custom soundtracks there is nothing else I can ask for... The radios are a cool touch and transport you to Italy , Hong Kong or wherever you are playing... The SFX are close to perfection, making you feel behind the wheel like in real life!
Suggestions: None so far.. Great job guys !
Overall Score: 10.0 / 10
SpongeBob SquarePants: Battle for Bikini Bottom
Overall: Spongebob's new XBox game is a great kiddie game... A nice blend of easy gameplay and attractive graphics will make it one of your kids favourite game!... Please do not compare Spongebob's game to Splinter Cell or Rainbow Six 3, but rather to Finding Nemo or Scooby Doo... Since it's not the genre of game I prefer and considering I am not a kid anymore, I can only give this game a 3.5 score; but if was 7 years old (like my daughter) I would definetly give it a 4.5. The general public under 10 years of age will find it addictive!
Gameplay: The gameplay for this game is fairly easy to pick up. This is very important for games oriented to small kids, since they do not have the ability to use 2 thumbsticks simultaneously like in serious FPS games. It is basically a third person game where you use 2 buttons to kill the enemy and 2 buttons to jump and monkey around. It is pretty straight forward if you played Super Mario 64 before...
Graphics: The visuals are acceptable for a game of this genre. Nothing fancy, though I find it better than Pac Man World 2... It is a very close attempt to re-create Spongebob's TV show look. It kind of look weird watching Spongebob in 3D after seeing him in 2D all the time, but this does not mean it's bad, actually I find it an appealing feature. Again, I have to remind you that this game is for kids, and as such I have to rate it accordingly.
Audio: Sound is just ok for this game.
The SFX sound nice on my DTS 5.1 system, and it's really close to watching Spongebob's show on the TV... The voices and laughs are exact replicas of the original.
The soundtrack is bad though; after hearing that hawaiian song for 3 hours straight I bet you will never want to travel to Hawaii in your life, but then again the original TV show lacks a decent soundtrack to also...
Suggestions: 1- Provide an option to disable subtitles would be good.
2- Allow multiplayer in cooperative mode up to 4 players. It would be nice to play with 3 of your friends as Spongebob, Patrick, Squidward and Sandy Cheeks...
Overall Score: 7.0 / 10
Brute Force
Overall: Brute Force is not a very good game in the XBox scene; if you are a proud new XBox owner and don't have another 3D Shooter, don't spend your money in Brute Force.Don't get me wrong, the game is sort of entertaining and the visual appeal is there, however the originality and addictiveness are missing.
There are a few new concepts that I really like about this game and it's the only reason why I gave it a 3.5 overall: The fact that you can join in Cooperative mode at any stage of the game whenever you want (I would love Halo to be able to do this), and the fact that you can play Cooperative mode with 4 players linked together.
In summary, I would recommend you to get Halo if you want a First Person Shooter or Splinter Cell if you want a Third Person Shooter to begin your collection of XBox games...
Gameplay: Gameplay is rather standard and straight forward. It's really easy to switch between characters and to command other soldiers. Way simpler than Ghost Recon Island Thunder but also the soldiers are way dumber! This strategic aspect of the game is probably it's second weakest point (after the camera as I will comment in Visuals)...
The money system that this game has is kind of absurd and useless... I like the fact that you keep the statistics of kills, re-clones, etc, this would be a nice addition to Halo 2...
The cooperative mode is nice and the fact that someone can join whenever they want is awesome, specially for Internet playing. I also like the fact that 4 players get to use exclusive characters in coop mode instead of being identical twins like Halo. I hate that when you go cooperative in Island Thunder you get to manage your own team,; Brute Force on the other hand make you a part of the team, I love this feature and would hope that Bungie takes note on this.. this cooperative features are the only reason I gave this game a 4.0, as for me is the only thing worth buying this game...
Graphics: The graphics are excellent! Nice textures and shadows, plus very detailed characters... Therefore you must be wondering why did I gave it a 3.0 only: Well the camera SUCKS big time... Whenever you are fighting or just moving around that annoying ghost in front of you just makes me sick!
Audio: Overall a good sound... Realistic gun fire and explosions. I love how the bullets ricochet in the steel walls. The soundtrack should be played more often. The only thing I hate is the sound of respiration when you are using the scope.
Suggestions: Just one:
Fix the camera !!!
Overall Score: 7.0 / 10
Halo: Combat Evolved
Overall: This is by far the greatest FPS you will find for any console. It is an elegant combination of nice graphics, easy gameplay, entertaining history and awesome navigation...Gameplay: If you are a person like me who likes FPS that are straight to the point, with no complicated and hard to learn gameplay systems, then you will love Halo... If you want more complicated team based, strategic kind of game, look for Rainbow Six 3... I think Halo is beautiful because of its simplicity.. It's simple but challenging enough (in Legendary mode) to keep a good balance...
Graphics: After seeing what the Xbox can deliver with Dead Or Alive 3 or Tao Feng I cannot give Halo a 5 points score... However I would give it a 4.8 because I have to consider that the two games I just mentioned are Fighting games and do not have all the maps that Halo has to deal with... Overall excellent graphics, but there is room for improvement that we will hopefully see in Halo 2...
Audio: Nice soundtrack: I can't get tired of Halo's music, is not as good as Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic but is catchy and nice enough to pump you up during those epic fights you get into in Legendary!
Suggestions: 1) Online capability (XBox Live) with 16 consoles instead of 4 consoles as it currently is...
2) Multiplayer capability in cooperative mode...(16 players going in cooperative mode against the machine in Legendary would be great!)
3) Ability to join (cooperative) a campaign on a started game (just like in Brute Force)...
4) Ability to save games in cooperative mode (not needing to start the game all over again!).
Overall Score: 10.0 / 10
