MEMBER PROFILE FOR cdaymude
Average Overall Score Given: 7.87500 / 10
Total Forum Posts: 2
Reviews
Painkiller: Hell Wars
Overall: First person shooter with a good plot. You are a "good guy" according to you and are killed along with your wife in a car wreck and find yourself in a mid point between Heaven and Hell battling for survival to protect your soul while you await purification. You are trying to finally join your wife in Heaven but there is a plan in place that involves you, a lot of guns, major attitude, and a need to manage your fear which is where the fun begins... You have to battle across 20 very unsettling levels of battlegrounds and are up against lucifers army to prevent a war being waged against Heaven from Hell. From cemetary wars to posessed insane asylums you'll see it all and it will give you the chills at times. You battle grunts all the way up to generals against the evil army and to say you are outnumbered is an understatement.... Bottom line, this is not for the faint of heart, it's ultra fast paced, pretty scary theme wise, does not offer saves at your leisure, and requires thinking out your approach and ammo management unlike any other game that I have experienced. It's FUN & Hard...Gameplay: A lot like the Halo series, direction and camera controlled by the thumbsticks, etc. You use the whole controller. Game play was good overall, a bit glitchy in parts where enemy would get stuck in objects like walls or ceilings occasionally and the frame rate was a bit slower than I thought it would have been. Overall gameplay gets a B+ with A+ being the best.
Graphics: Visually, pretty good. The cut scenes are really cool based on the story line and the back ground against which you play each level and chapter are pretty good too. I think it's one of the better looking games on this platform.
Audio: Good sound overall. I play on a 57" HDTV w/Dolby 5.1 SS system so I'm looking for both fun and graphically appealing games that sound great. This one does the job for the most part. Great sound track! The preview/trailer that the games goes into if you don't start it right away is definitely worth watching as it gives you clues on the game and is a really great rock video in general set to the gameplay. The band should use it to promote themselves, it's really very cool and well produced. Heavy Metal guitar and slow haunting music are abundant depending on the situation at hand. When the stuff is about to "hit the fan", the metal music cranks up and when you are in a prelude to another level, in between moments of chaos, or in a spot that is somewhat unsettling, the spooky classical/haunting stuff is playing. It does a nice job setting the mood and pace of the game. A few of the weapons could use some more punch sound wise (rocket launcher for instance should be a really loud weapon with a BIG BANG but is kind of soft sound wise...) and enemy voices and phrases could use some work. They say the same things over and over and over and over and over (oh sorry...you get my point) which gets old on a few levels but the gameplay is so fast that you don't have time for it to bother you as you deliver lots of "lead love notes" to the bad guys at a blistering pace.
Suggestions: None, don't see a sequel to this one in the cards for these guys. Could have used some alternate endings as far as final cutscenes go but it is what it is. I felt like the end kind of left me hanging and did not reward me for all of the hard work & time it took me to get there. Sometimes it just goes that way. I still think the journey to get to the end was a lot of fun, frustrating at times, and very TOUGH. To me it was worth it just because of the overall story line and being able to take a crack at some legitimately in need of being killed bad guys.
Overall Score: 9.0 / 10
Chronicles of Riddick: Escape From Butcher Bay
Overall: Pretty good game with a semi original idea/story line behind it. The only thing that seperates this game from the other break out of prision titles is good graphics. The replay value was not there for me so I already sold it and have moved on. It's a good rental and worth a weekend or a few days worth of play not sure I would reccommend buying it though.Gameplay: Pretty good. Semi easy to master so you don't spend all of your time figuring out button combos etc and can focus on playing the game and enjoying the story line.
Graphics: Very good. They did a nice job with the looks of this game. It showed up nice on the 57" HDTV I have my console on. This is the way XBOX titles should all look. Nice.
Audio: Pretty good. Surround effects are the norm now so nothing super out of control cool but solid all of the way around. No complaints.
Suggestions: I don't see any replay value of this game therefore I've already sold it back to EB Games which is a quick way to burn up $50... Wish I'd a rented it so I did not feel like I wasted my cash. I liked it but since there was no replay value to me, I moved it on down the line. Make your games fun to play again guys and keep the graphics quality up on top.
Overall Score: 7.0 / 10
Project Gotham Racing
Overall: Excellent racer. Great tunes. Great courses. Just a ton of fun and a great way to spend an hour or five!Gameplay: Really fun. Good controller feed back and responsiveness. Not sure how you could want more from your controller and the engine that supports the game is really accurate and responds well to the users commands.
Graphics: Excellent. This game has some really good looking back ground scenery, the cars are great, the tracks and roads themselves are really good looking too. This looks good on my 57" HDTV! Nice job!
Audio: Very good. Sounds like what you'd want a racer to sound like. Good highs and lows in the audio spectrum, the subwoofer was poundin along with my heart playing this title. Nice job.
Suggestions: Very good. I have not had a chance to check out the new title yet but will soon. So I'll say this, thanks for making a great and very fun game. I hope my expectations of the next title are met, I'm sure they will be. Good work.
Overall Score: 10.0 / 10
The Suffering
Overall: Wow! What a great game, good graphics, great story line (very original), excellent at keeping your interest level up and a bit on edge. This was like participating in a really twisted and unusual movie while at the same time reading a really cool scary book. You want to keep playing to see how it unfolds. I had a run at it until 4 AM the 2nd night I had it because it was just blowing my mind.Gameplay: Great controls, easy to use, easy to master the controller which is what I like. I want to focus on the game play and the action not having to memorize a hundred button combos, etc. Perfect.
Graphics: Very good. Not quite excellent but very good. I am a big believer in developing games that max out the XBOX graphics capabilities and this game takes a good run at them especially the final level. It is just beyond belief how great the final battle is. Get it just for this alone!
Audio: Very good. Played it in a surround sound environment and liked what I heard although I was more interested in the plot which is the best in my opinion.
Suggestions: Make another one. Improve the graphics even more. Give the character a faster response time when he needs to move there was a slight lag that got frustrating at times but other than that no advice other than come up with another great story to and even crazier monsters and situations.
Overall Score: 10.0 / 10
Manhunt
Overall: Rental thank goodness. This game looked and seemed pretty cool when I first started looking into it. I'm not a big fan of Rockstar titles so far due to poor graphics and limited story lines so this one did not do much for me either. Just gore and the same old stuff after you knock off the bad guys on the first couple of levels, hey wait a minute...you're a bad guy too!Gameplay: Movement was decent, the graphics and game engine are just too simplistic & ugly by todays standards which is one of the reason I own an XBOX vs other platforms - it has good graphics capabilities so the developers should be obliged to use them.
Graphics: Lousy graphics. The kill scenes are OK but like I said are repetive once you've seen a few levels worth. I actually got bored and returned it early as I failed to see anything new that would keep me interested in playing it.
Audio: Decent, works well with surround sound. I have to put at least 100 chars in this box so just skip the rest of this.
Suggestions: Step up to the plate guys. If you want a stealth shooter it's too late splinter cell beat you too it, if you want a good fighting game it's too late also as ninja gaiden beat you to that, if you are trying to develop something with good graphics you have not come close once. So far I have not seen anything from Rockstar worth spending a nickel on. My suggestion is to innovate and jot just rely on gore and cursing to sell product. The concept of this game was fair, the execution of the project was lousy. Back to the drawing board...
Overall Score: 5.0 / 10
Hunter: The Reckoning
Overall: L-O-U-S-Y! Need more? OK how about press your right trigger button about a thousand times in 10 minutes and then press pause to get the blood flowing in your own arm? Sound like fun trigger happy people? If so, it's for you. Felt like more of a workout than a game so get jacked up on caffeine and go for it or else you don't have a chance... Not for me, I'd rather use my brain than my thumb muscles - at least for this...Gameplay: Well I was handicapped in that I rented and did not get to review the manual... Soooo, I was not sure what to do except hack away for hours and try to figure it out. I did get it wired after about what seems like a million swings of an axe as the gun is nearly worthless and the camera makes it hard to aim. I think I need new springs in my right trigger button...
Graphics: Would be OK if the camera were better. It made me dizzy trying to follow the action. I did like the pan in views when I'd wax a boss but overall I like a different camera angle. It's like the sky cam on ESPN for their football broadcasts if you've ever seen that you can relate to watching things about 20 feet above where they are taking place.
Audio: Moans and groans from the undead sound OK but get old after a while. Music is fast paced and semi-haunting so it goes with the content pretty well. About what I expected but nothing spectacular.
Suggestions: Glad I rented it. Not very intuitive and as I mentioned earlier is more of a workout than a game. If you drink a bunch of coffee and eat a few candy bars so you're all jacked up with energy then you may crush this game other than that you need to pause it and get a rub down on your whole arm! Ouch! Make it more intuitive for the rental audience as you won't sell many with this type of review out there I'd suppose. Maybe I'm wrong and your rich beyond your wildest dreams - bet not. Better listen up.
Overall Score: 2.0 / 10
Crimson Skies: High Road to Revenge
Overall: A topsy turvey flying shooter that's a bit challenging to operate but is reasonably fun to play with the ability to play in the air or on the ground from land based weapons.Gameplay: I thought this was a really hard game to get a handle on in regard to the controls while flying. I had to put the controller down for a while because I was getting dizzy playing it on the 57" HDTV! The controls were too sensitive for my liking but I'm not a pilot so go figure... The missions are pretty long and unforgiving in regard to having to start all over if you get squashed before you get through it. I found that a little frustrating.
Graphics: Really good. This is a great game to look at in regard to the renderings and the characters. A definate plus for the XBOX library with regard to the XBOX being the superior system for graphics.
Audio: Solid. Nothing spectacular, good explosions but who doesn't these days. Just average by today's standards.
Suggestions: Allow us to save when we like, deaden the controller movement some, do something more useful with the right thumbstick.
Overall Score: 7.0 / 10
Armed and Dangerous
Overall: A light hearted shooter that's worth it's weight in gold. Absolutely excellent in so many ways (cutscenes, gameplay, weapons, characters). Take a look at this game if you want to see something unique that will have you laughing out loud at times and as focused as much as HALO makes you become at times. It's a roller coaster ride that is worth taking. Great game!Gameplay: Great, easy to pick up and really fun to use the various weapons. This game is clearly a product of a smart and witty development team. While it's no HALO, what is? Nothing has even come close to HALO so why try to reinvent the wheel vs taking a different angle on a shooter and make it funny along with being intense? This game has the best cut scenes in regard to the content and the most unusual weapons I have ever seen. It is truly unique from a thinking persons stand point and if you like dry or witty humor this game is for you.
Graphics: Pretty good. This would be the games weak point in my opinion especially on the XBOX. They did not take full control of the graphic capability that they could have but I am not convinced that they did not do that on purpose to give it more of a raw edge. The back ground areas are really nice, the characters look pretty good, the movement of them is pretty good also so to me it's not an issue.
Audio: Solid. No complaints and the music is excellent. The celtic tunes that blare in the background really add a dimension to the game that I really liked.
Suggestions: I already beat the game in about 3 days of off and on play. There are more missions to get via download so that's the angle to take. The game is a keeper for sure and another installment with this group of characters is a must. The guys who made this should be commended.
Overall Score: 10.0 / 10
NBA Street Vol. 2
Overall: Brother man get your fro pick out and stand that mutha up! Get your Chuck Taylor's laced up, and your long socks on cause it's time to hoop it up on the pavement! This game is hillarious and is just plain fun to play. If you dig old school hoops and clownin' around this is your game. Makes you feel like your silly non athletic self could have been a globe trotter! Check it out!Gameplay: The controllers are complicated at first for the great moves but like all games they have a learning curve and can be mastered in a short while. Once you have them dialed in the fun really begins and you play the game vs thinking about button sequences. This game is fast paced and keeps you on the edge of your seat the whole time. You feel like you are throwin' it down yourself when you take it strong to the rack!
Graphics: Not the greatest graphics especially for the Xbox but acceptable. The gameplay is so much more fun than the lack of graphics that you really don't mind. You can see what you need to clearly - the hoop or your team mate 20 feet up waitin for an alley oop!!!
Audio: Pretty good. The music is just great and the old school sound they give you makes it a ton of fun. The announcer get a little annoying after a while and should be substituted by the players talking smack at times to break up his commentary.
Suggestions: Improve the graphics some, forget holding 3 or 4 buttons at once as it's too demanding, add some smack talk between players, more old school funk tunes, and thin out the air time the announcer gets or get a new guy to do the play by play, this guys is trying too hard to be funny to actually be funny. Great game!
Overall Score: 10.0 / 10
ESPN NFL Football 2K4
Overall: Excellent Game! This game is a lot of fun to play and is very realistic in how it is presented to the player. This game goes so deep that it is just almost too much to try to comprehend when you step away and think about what you have in front of you. It's really well done and first person mode is just too much to describe, go get it and see for yourself.Gameplay: Excellent, the controls are easy to learn, there are not hundreds of things to remember when in a tight situation which makes it more fun to focus on the game vs the controller.
Graphics: Excellent! Top quality graphics and animations. The time and effort to create this is an example of how committed ESPN is to sports and how they won't let anyone use their brand unless the deliverable is top quality. This game looks great from soup to nuts!
Audio: Excellent here as well. Again, the attention to detail and voice overs by Chris Berman are a real plus to this game.
Suggestions: None I can think of, this is as good as it gets for a football game. Nice job to the development team.
Overall Score: 10.0 / 10
Conflict: Desert Storm II : Back to Baghdad
Overall: Glad I rented. Not good for single player at all. Team members are shooting targets vs value adding cast. Play in multiplayer or don't bother. Should have known better but squad leader games are best played in multiplayer period. Can't save when you want either which makes things frustrating.Gameplay: Pretty decent as far as characters movement goes but pales in comparison to Ubisoft titles. Weapon selection is good and is pretty fast to learn. Again, play this in multiplayer mode or don't bother.
Graphics: Pretty decent as far as characters movement goes but pales in comparison to Ubisoft titles. Just looks older and not as smooth to me from a technology stand point.
Audio: OK - For example; calling in an air strike is fun and getting confirmation on it then watching it take place is pretty cool so the sound is an asset. Explosions are pretty good also.
Suggestions: No, it's all wrong for Xbox from the get go. It's a port it looks like and should stay where it is. They are not using much of what the system is capable of with the graphics and multiple save capability so I'd just leave it alone and go create something just for the Xbox if it were my group of developers.
Overall Score: 7.0 / 10
Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon
Overall: Not my type of game. I don't like having to be responsible for others if they are controlled by AI vs other people playing. I play alone usually vs online so this game is not that great as a single player. The team members end up getting shot and killed too easily and don't really add any value to what you do. Not true in multiplayer where covering fire or diversion is a real asset of a thinking person who is playing along with you.Gameplay: Pretty good as far as character movement goes but the controls are really complex and takes a long time to fully understand what is at the players disposal to use. Controlling other team members is tedious and frustrating, again play this in multiplayer or don't bother.
Graphics: Really nice. Ubisoft has some of the best looking games there are. Visually this is really great looking.
Audio: Pretty good also. I can't think of anything that should be done better here either. Nice job and a compliment to the surround sound system I played it on.
Suggestions: Not much to say here, squad commander is not my type of preferred role I guess if playing alone. Advertise the game as a real plus for multiplayer vs "good fun for anyone"... If you play alone, don't get this because your team mates have rocks and shortly after bullets in their heads and just hurt the overall mission.
Overall Score: 7.0 / 10
Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell
Overall: Better have some patience for this one! Visually, it is superior to anything I have seen to date and the story is pretty good to. Just be able to put in the time if you are going to get this because it can be really frustrating to have to go through many iterations of one level.Gameplay: As far as the character movement goes and so on it is great! The inability to save when I like is L-O-U-S-Y! Go back to my first comment on not being able to save when the player wants. Frustration builds quickly for minor mistakes and gets old.
Graphics: The best ever to date in my opinion. There is not much more that can be done to improve this. Ubisoft has really done a great job with the engine they used to develop this game with. Just unbelievable. My wife watched it for a while and said it was like watching a movie.
Audio: Really good as well. Surround sound is a real plus as are character sounds and environmental sounds also. Not much else to do here to improve. The music that is in the background is excellent and fits the game perfectly.
Suggestions: More ammunition - I know it's stealth but give me the option please. A little less penal on some mission aspects would be acceptable also. I get the feeling I am following a series of modern "if-then" statements to complete a level. It needs to be more free form in that regard. ALLOW US TO SAVE WHEN WE WANT TO! This is a must and is hurting your overall scores.
Overall Score: 8.0 / 10
Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2004
Overall: EXCELLENT - EXCELLENT - EXCELLENT! This game is absolutely fabulous! You have got to manage yourself and the course or else you will suffer for it just like it is for real. The character creation is unbelievable and has people laughing for hours. The depth of this game is excellent and does not get boring. Non golfers like this game a lot which I found really amusing. Check it out.Gameplay: Pretty easy to pick up, do yourself a favor and spend a few minutes with the practice sessions with the short game (chips, pitch shots, putts) as this is where you lose shots (again just like for real). It is clearly put together by people who are involved in the game and I am sure the PGA Tour and TW had plenty of input for realism.
Graphics: Really great. More animated in the cartoon manner than Links is but the course renderings are terrific. Camera control and fly by views are really great and let you understand each hole before you play it as opposed to the "hit and hope" approach (again just like for real).
Audio: Really one of the best features of this game. Custome soundtracks, good included music, and the capability to mix them as you like really makes it fun. Also, the commentary from Gary McCord and David Feherty are terrific and very sarcastic sometimes which makes it funny just as those 2 jokers are on TV. They make golf more fun to watch - TAKE THAT Johnny Miller!
Suggestions: Make 2 or more player mode available in PGA Tour Season mode so you can work on making good money with your character while playing with your family and friends. I don't use XBLive but hear it's great, so pay attention to your customers who want it if you have not addressed it already. Otherwise, more courses and that's it. Great job!
Overall Score: 10.0 / 10
Wakeboarding Unleashed featuring Shaun Murray
Overall: A video game that if you are lucky and ultra fast with your controller allows you to perform unrealistic wakebaord tricks and might also give you a headache trying to follow the camera in the process of playing. I wakeboard and have been for a long-long time. I am disappointed in the lack of realism that this game delivers. I was expecting something great and got high speed, fantasy, that makes me dizzy when I try to play it... Gameplay: It is so fast and the camera angle flips around and in and out too much. It is really hard to look at even on a 57" HDTV. This makes it hard to follow and anticipate your next move which makes it not too much fun as you flail about with your controller vs having a good time riding. Free riding is lousy as you have to perform unrealistic events to unlock and use this feature. The payoff in terms of game progression is not worth the time I had to invest to get there in my opinion.
Graphics: Pretty good graphics nothing spectacular for certain. I was expecting a lot more from this game and was hoping the images and action itself would seem more realistic especially the free riding portion.
Audio: Pretty good sound with surround sound and custom soundtracks supported it's a nice addition to the game.
Suggestions: Again, I was really hoping for something more realistic that did not have the same feel as those games which are too hard to look at due to the excessive camera movement and unwanted zoom in and zoom out vantage points which compromise your timing and consequently your fun. I wish it were more like Amped 2 which gives the rider a sense of semi reality vs none at all.
Overall Score: 4.0 / 10
Amped 2
Overall: Snowboarding wide open with a big daredevil feel to it. This game is pretty realistic as far as the physics of it are concerned but as one might expect the ability to go "big" gets a little crazy when you are riding away from 100 foot high airs.
Gameplay: As a former professional snowboarder and video game enthusiast I find this game to be just great and do not find myself getting tired of it. Just as if you were riding the same run on a mountain, you can take a different line each time and get different outcomes each time. It's pretty realistic as far as how the game behaves.
Graphics: Really good. The graphics themselves are top quality I think. The snow look real the parks and their obstacles look real and are fun to explore. The thing I really like is the camera angle allows you to adjust just as if you were riding for real and gives you a moment to react vs zooming in or out really fast and disorienting you visually.
Audio: Great! Add custom soundtracks, unlock free riding levels, and go rip up powder with deep carving turns or get your jib on in the park. Like anything it's more fun when you have your favorite tunes blasting while you ride.
Suggestions: More mountains, better replay capability by means of different camera angles, more big mountain free riding, more variation in the parks.
Overall Score: 10.0 / 10
