MEMBER PROFILE FOR zhiwiller
Average Overall Score Given: 8.40741 / 10
Total Forum Posts: 1
Reviews
Whacked!
Overall: Whacked is a game with a fun and excellent multiplayer mode, a lackluster single-player campaign and enough freakish style to entertain the sickest of minds (like mine).Gameplay: Whacked is based around a simple game mechanic tht worked for twisted metal: run around and smash the opponent. What was so much fun in Twisted Metal is fun again in Whacked! Only instead of cars you have some psychotics... and instead of guns and missiles you have.... guns and missiles and egg guns and belch and kabobs...
You have to play it to enjoy it.
Graphics: Looks great. Haven't experienced a framerate slowdown ever, but I shouldn't considering you can only have 4 players in an arena and the arenas can be quite small.
Audio: While funny at times, the background sounds can be disturbingly loud. While funny, it is still a thumbs down.
Suggestions: Kick up the modes and unlockables. Larger stages with more characters equals great fun on Live!
Overall Score: 9.0 / 10
Dead or Alive Xtreme Beach Volleyball
Overall: Thank God for Team Ninja coming out with an original game for the Xbox. I was getting frustrated at the racer-racer-mech game-racer-fighter-racer lineup Xbox has had. DOAX is a game that is a little frustrating and seemingly simple at first, but once you start to get the hang of it, it becomes immensely addicting. The only way you won't like this game is if you have decided before you played that you won't like this game.
Gameplay: If I hear one more person complain about ow "shallow" the volleyball is, I am going to scream. Apparently depth is proportional to the number of buttons used. The volleyball portion of the game is all about timing, not 42-button combos. Someone here complained that it doesn't have the real rules of volleyball, but then he says he doesn't even know what the real rules are! Come on people, its not a volleyball simulation. Have fun with it! The real depth in the game is in the item collection. That is what will keep you coming back. Trying to figure out what will win over the girls is one of the most challenging aspects of the game. Those who think that this game is the same old stuff over and over again, probably don't realize that the way a character is facing on their icon indicates their "mood", i.e., how they will play in the matches or any of the other intricate details that make this game so addicting.
The people who buy this game for T&A are the ones who have been highly dssapointed. The ones who buy this game because it is something new and original have been highly addicted.
Graphics: Obviously, the visuals are top-notch. Sometimes the camera can be a little unforgiving, though. It would also be nice if you could actually walk around the casino or beaches, looking for games or matches.
Audio: Argh! Just like PGR, this game implements custom soundtracks but it doesn't randomize them. What a pain. I have to give it props though for having seperate daytime and nighttime playlists and for having track control like Amped at any point in the game.
Suggestions: Make more orignal games with the DOA girls. While I didn't like DOA, I am hopelessly addicted to this!
Overall Score: 10.0 / 10
MechAssault
Overall: MechAssault has the distinction of being my favorite XBox Live game thusfar. Mediocre players on Live call it a battle of circle strafing and pounding the trigger, but if you are actually good at it, you find there is a lot more strategy. With a great single-player campaign and downloadable content (CAPTURE THE FLAG!!) coming soon, I have no reason to not give this game a 5.0Gameplay: Almost everything is breakable in this game. Nothing is more appealing than having an opponent on live walk under a destructable bridge and then having my Rangnarok destroy the bridge having the rocks crash down on my opponents doomed pile of scrap. Mwahaha! Oh... Sorry.
Graphics: The visual could be better, I suppose, but we saw what happens when you value visuals over tight gameplay (UC framerate drops). There is nothing wrong with the visuals. They just look like a launch game.
Audio: Great sound. The volume differentation between non battle and battle always makes you feel like you are in something epic and certainly something over 40ft tall.
Suggestions: Keep the downloadable content coming. New game types shoot the replay value of this one skyward.
Overall Score: 10.0 / 10
Unreal Championship
Overall: Well, this game is fast paced, absolutely beautiful and simply fun. It would easily rate among my 5.0 games if it wasn't for unforgiveable frame rate drops in many situations, both off line and on XBL. Gameplay: Fast. I played Halo last night with some buddies that game and visited and I couldn't handle how slow it was. It takes some getting used to. Incredibly fun and if the framerate issue was solved, I would call it the best multiplayer ever.
Graphics: The graphics are stunning. It seems that they cared about that much more than locking the framerate. Can you tell yet that that bugs the crap out of me? I'll still give the graphics a 5.0 because the environments are brilliant.
Audio: I love how you can change channels on XBL so you dont have to listen to the annoying people with the robot voice mask. Grr. Custom soundtracks would have helped, but a 5 nonetheless.
Suggestions: Make the game consistant. There is no excuse for allowing a game to ship with frame rate drops when the whole point of it is to be a fast paced frag fest. Boo.
Overall Score: 9.0 / 10
Shenmue 2
Overall: I'll admit I have not played this as extensively as some of you have, but I have played it enough to know that it is a bigger version of Shenmue I, which in my opinion was the most overhyped game ever.The fact is that the same people who rip on Final Fantasy X and Metal Gear Solid 2 for being a movie with some game elements instead of a game with some movie elements are the same people lauding Shenmue II.
For some, the genre is intriguing. There are quite a few fans of it out there obviously. I will score the game what I think it deserves: not based on scope or story but on fun. Scope and story are fabulous, deserving of a 4.5. They just seemed to have forgot to add fun. (Sans the old Sega arcade ports)
Gameplay: Meh. I found the gameplay of the original Shenmue to be monotonous; Shenmue II does not revolutionize the title in this aspect. There are more QTE's, which is a positive addition, but there aren't enough to keep the game intriguing between walking back and forth and back and forth between buildings.
Graphics: Argh! So frustrating. At times, this game can look incredibly beautiful and then you find textures that make you think you were back on the PSX. The body motions are animated well, but the face motions are animated terribly.
Audio: It's not too bad, but you can tell the game was orignally in Japanese. There is that dubbed Anime "feel" to it. Nothing terrible, nothing to write home about.
Suggestions: Keep doing what you do; it seems to appeal to the non-me market.
Overall Score: 5.0 / 10
Deathrow
Overall: So yeah. I wanted to wait to do this review until I've unlocked quite a bit and now I can say I have. Deathrow is a game blessed with originality and replay value, with enough small annoyances that you can tell it was made by a small developer. You can only fit about two dozen songs on the custom soundtrack feature. Why? MotoGP lets you have the entire soundtrack. That's unacceptable. Other grips are below, but note my 5.0 score indicates that I believe this is a MUST BUY. Gameplay: The game is simple and fun. What more could you want? There are only three games right now for xbox that have multiplayer worth playing: Halo, Timesplitters2 and now Deathrow (Don't like how multiplayer is handled in sports games). Deathrow gets an extra nod because it does multiplayer successfully in a non shooting environment. AI gets stupid sometimes, but it is mostly on the money. There are some minor bugs that matter little and the loading times are frusterating sometimes.
Graphics: Hunter: the Recoknoning level graphics are always a plus. Actually, I'd say they are a little better than Hunter's. The arenas are beautiful, in some you can see the rendered crowds unlike certain football games that have 2d crowds *cough*.
Audio: Any game with the custom soundtrack feature done right deserves a 5, but I am docking a half point for limiting soundtracks to two dozen or so songs. Why would you do that? Also, the speech is hard to hear at times, almost like the volume levels were not normalized.
Suggestions: -Full custom soundtrack support.
-XBOX LIVE
-Cursing filter
-Statless teams when playing multiplayer.
-Deeper conquest mode. See results of other matches.
Overall Score: 10.0 / 10
TimeSplitters 2
Overall: I was lukewarm on this game at first, but after I found that auto-aim can be turned off and I got over the fact that this is not a more tactical non-squad-based fps and that since it is multi-platform it wouldn't look as good as Halo, I found the game to be a blessing in disguise. This game shouldn't be ranked so low, but one jag off who hasn't played the game puts down a 1 and the mean is unfortunately dragged far below where it belongs.Gameplay: The gameplay requires some getting used to. The first thing you have to get used to is turning the autoaim off. In all seriousness, the game moves great and if you have ever been addicted to Goldeneye, here is your sequel.
The amount of game modes and unlockables gives this game such depth and dimension that you want to keep playing and you can overlook small errors in the gameplay and safely give this one a 5.
Graphics: The game is multi-platform, so it does not look as good as if it were xbox exclusive. I've seen worse looking games on the box, but it does make 4-person split-screen difficult.
Audio: There is absolutely nothing special about the sound to write about. It could have included a feature to use your stored music files in multiplayer, but it IS multiplatform after all, so it wasnt expected.
Suggestions: You can still be multiplatform and use xbox features. Bump up the texture resolution, bump up the mapmaker's room capacity, allow us to listen to stored music files, but most of all let us play on xbox live!
Overall Score: 10.0 / 10
NFL 2K3
Overall: What can I say? I had been a Madden freak for more or less ten years, but the last two incarnations disappointed me. I switched to NFL2k3 and haven't looked back. The game is ALMOST everything a football game should be. Give it a couple more years of polish and it will be definitive.Gameplay: The gameplay is smooth. I love how you can adjust the difficulty on a spectrum and among many different attributes instead of sets called rookie, pro, all pro, all madden, etc. as in previous Maddens.
The gameplay is much quicker than Madden, but not so much as it seems unrealistic. I can't wait to get my butt kicked on XBL
Graphics: This is the hardest area to score. If it said "Graphical Appeal" instead of "Visual Appeal" I'd easily give it a 3. The textures look absolutely terrible in places, and when was the last time there was a nearly infinite-stretching green field outside Heinz Field? Very dissapointing.
On the other hand, the animations are the best I have seen in any sports game, hand down, and that bumps the score up to a reasonable 4.
Audio: The commentary is nowhere near as repetitive as all the other sports games in my library, but it does sound tinny and flat.
Suggestions: Keep applying the polish! Just a little more to go!
Overall Score: 9.0 / 10
Enclave
Overall: I have figured it out, finally. All over the internet, forums as: "Why do major sites give great games mediocre ratings?" These forums scream bias, payoffs, etc. but no one has had a reasonable explanation. My idea is that these people have a job where they are assigned games, essentially forced to play games for their paycheck. Cry me a river, right? Well, they aren't the ones playing the games that interest them. Sure, some magazines give people that like FPS the FPS titles, but just because you like FPS' doesn't mean you are going to dig the vibe of all FPS.This brings us to Enclave. Something about this game excited me from the second I read about it. I don't really like third person action-adventure games. They are usually frustratingly linear, short on variety and lack replay value. Nonetheless, something struck me about Enclave that did not strike the reviewers forced to review Enclave.
The game is no Halo, but frankly, the game is much better than any of the major reviews I have read. Read on to find out why.
Gameplay: Enclave handles well with a Halo-like control system. Numbers pop up showing how much damage is done, which is a great help when deciding which weapon to use.
There is a great variety in levels and characters aren't cookie cutters with a different skin. The equipment system is fantastic. Your money level is the amount of resources regardless if you blow it all on an early level. You sell back everything for full price, allowing full customizability without having that nagging concern in most games about "saving for something really cool later."
The game handles beautifully and it doesn't hurt that the game is REALLY HARD. It was my top worry that this game would be as short and frustratingly simple as Blood Omen 2.
This one will last you for a while compared with others in its genre.
Graphics: Even the neighsayers of Enclave do not rag on the graphics. The visuals are breathtakingly beautiful, definately deserving on a 5.0. You can see for yourself, so I won't waste your time.
Audio: I only have a stereo, not a 5.1 system, so I can only comment on that aspect. Everything sounds great, very authentic, not too cliched. I won't give this a 5 because there is nothing particularly breathtaking.
Suggestions: More save points! Yikes!
Overall Score: 10.0 / 10
Elder Scrolls III : Morrowind
Overall: Whoa, talk about some biased people here (both positive and negative). I think 90% of people had their minds made up on this one before it hit and that is obviosu by the sheer range of opinions you get on this one. Hopefully, my review is objective.Gameplay: You CANNOT argue with the sheer size and scope of this game. It is enormous, something that is severly lacking in most games these days. Your $/hour will be much less with this than say, Hunter.
The skill systems, quests even battle can be as deep as you want it to be. The game has enough to keep you pulled in for hours and hours until it is halfway through the night and you realize you have to wake up at 8am. :-)
Graphics: Yuck. Look guys, I know this game is fun. I admit that. I know this game is deep and the story is great. I admit those. But you CANNOT give this game a 5 on graphics. I can throw a rock farther than the draw distance. The frame rate drops considerably in key situations and it is tough exactly to tell where you are or which way is up when you are underwater. I understand how incredibly large the environments are, and so I give some concession to that. Yet I cannot give concessions to the TERRIBLE texturing in most places and the laughable animations of most characters. But the mantra rings true: it is the gameplay, not the graphics.
Audio: Great orchestral score, the lightning crashes are actually startling. I find the townspeople to be annoying, saying "What do you want?" as I run by, not even stopping and such, but those are minor quibbles.
Suggestions: Build a better engine. And make it so that you cannot drop/sell key game items. That is just a pain the rear.
Overall Score: 9.0 / 10
Gauntlet Dark Legacy
Overall: The core of this game is the exact same thing as the NINTENDO 64 VERSION OF THIS GAME. Need I say anymore? Raed on.Gameplay: Gauntlet has always been fun. It has absolutely no depth, you run into enemies to kill them, sometimes some strategy is required (mostly on bosses). The stages are long and there is a leveling system which is kind of fun. The game is deep even though the gameplay is not.
Graphics: Terrible. This a game where the poor graphics actually get in the way of the game. There is a bonus level where you are riding on a cloud collecting coins to unlock a secret character. Well the 3d is so bad that you can't line yourself up and the bonus level becomes neigh impossible.
Audio: The game actually has adrenaline pumping arcade sound, but it is washed out in the sea of mindless features.
Suggestions: Most arcade games play better than this one. Look at Hunter the Reckoning for a way to apply the Gauntlet formula.
Overall Score: 3.0 / 10
All-Star Baseball 2003
Overall: Yuck with a capital Y. I had just found myself addicted to a ROM of Roger Clemens MVP Baseball when I decided id upgrade to a game that actually had an MLB license and I picked this one up. Big mistake. Yay for EB's return policy.Gameplay: Unresponsive and not very robust, I felt the SNES Roger Clemens game had the same # of animations used. Yeah, every once in a while a batter would do something silly, but the field ones were just terrible. Maybe I should have given it more time, but I just couldn't.
Graphics: The models weren't bad at all, and the parks were modeled fairly accurately, nothing truly impressive but a step up from the rom I was playing :-). The players still move like robots.
Audio: I was actually pretty impressed with the sound in this game with one exception: where is the umpire!? Is he a mute? Geez. Thats part of the excitement of baseball: hearing stttttttttrrrrike!
Suggestions: Start over.
Overall Score: 4.0 / 10
Madden NFL 2002
Overall: I'm surprised that this game got as high of a score as it did. It is an OK simulation with a bevy of ;, but it is buggy and outdated already.Gameplay: Port-tastic, batman. SOmeone needs to make a football game where you can't win choosing the same three or four plays over and over again, but arent slaughtered every time you step to the line.
Graphics: See also the PS2. Nowhere near as nice as Fever or even Nfl2k2 for that matter. Lazy lazy. No improvements seem to be made for the next installment either
Audio: The opening rap song is the most annoying opening song in the history of video gaming. I dreaded popping this game in simply for that alone.
Suggestions: Look, this game isn't terrible, but what it has potential to be is a lot more than what it is. If more people would give this tough scores and not buy this portastic waste of football, maybe they would get better at this.
When XBox Live comes out and Madden is the only football game not to use Xbox Live, we will see it fade like John Madden's real hairline.
Overall Score: 5.0 / 10
Dead or Alive 3
Overall: This game is like the girl you pined for in high school. The most beautiful thing in the world that everyone works and works for, but once it arrives you find it shallow and irritating.Gameplay: Let me give disclaimer: I'm not a big fighter fan, but I like them every once in a while. The problem is that this is just a button smasher, nothing more. :-(
Graphics: Holy cow, these visuals are the best of any game ever. I can't wait for DOA Xtreme Beach Volleyball *drool*
Audio: Standard Fighter Fare. They could have translated instead of leaving the subtitles, I suppose. ::shrugs::
Suggestions: Ok, you got the graphics down for the next couple of years, now work on the depth. Add gameplay modes.
Overall Score: 7.0 / 10
Project Gotham Racing
Overall: A great driving game, but just short of a masterpiece, this was a launch game for every gamer to have in his library but in a few short months, it has been dethroned.Gameplay: The Kudos system is unique, but I'm not sure if it is a good thing or a bad thing. The tracks are incredibly narrow, but the multiplayer is very tight.
Graphics: Very nice. Could have used anti-aliasing and probably still escaped slowdown. The cars are in great detail, but the rest of the scenery is kind of generic. Nice, but generic.
Audio: Custom soundtracks yea! But not randomized? wtf? How hard would it have been to code a randomizer? Geez.
Suggestions: Take after Rallisport Challenge's and Moto GP's innovative styles and game modes.
Overall Score: 8.0 / 10
Halo: Combat Evolved
Overall: I don't really have anything to add that wasn't said before, but I just wanted to be complete and review everything I've owned for xbox. You know how good this game is.Gameplay: Best 1-player story mode of any shooter ever. Best co-op mode of any game ever. Best multiplayer 1st person shooter ever (yes better than goldeneye)
Graphics: I was recently going back to beat every stage on Legendary and I was waiting in a corridor while my partner death rushed some guys. I noticed some incredibly intricite textures on a panel on a part of the ship that you are just supposed to be running through. Amazing graphic detail.
Audio: The only thing that would have made this better is to have custom soundtracks during multiplayer non-co-op. I don't see how they would have envisioned that one though. Ah well.
Suggestions: Multiplayer Bots. XBox Live.
Overall Score: 10.0 / 10
MotoGP
Overall: DO NOT TRUST THE OXM DEMO OF THIS. It was from a December build of this game and REALLY does not reflect the greatness of this game in any area.Wow. After hearing some major hype for this one over at Teamxbox.com's forums and having a little disposable income at my disposal (hehe), I strolled down to EB to pick this one up and WOW am I glad I did. There was NO hype for this one at all but this is easily my favorite xbox racer!! It is just amazing in every category! Read on.
Gameplay: Tight. Perfect. Exactly what you would expect from moto bikes.
There is an INSANE amount of gameplay in this one. You can earn points for your rider to distribute to stats in an RPG style and the amount of unlockables are just mind-boggling. Unlike PGR's "exciting" unlocking of different colors, you can unlock different gameplay styles and some other really crazy stuff that I wont spoil until you get the game. But trust me, it is nice.
I just can't say enough about this game. I'm an armchair racing fan, I'll buy the REALLY good ones. I don't know what made me buy this, but I am SO glad I did.
Try playing this one online using Gamespy or XBConnect. The developers actually helped the xbconnect people optimize their system so that moto gp would runs smoother on the network. That is dedication. Come play online with me!
Graphics: Looks better than PGR in my opinion. The weather effects are spectacular. The tracks are perfect down to ths nicest detail. The only thing blocky is a stupid model at the beginning of the races. Everything visually about this game is beautiful. You can tell that they put some heavy loads on DX8 with the pixel/vertex shading. The screenshots don't do it justice at all.
When you are on wet tracks and a biker cuts in front of you to splash water on your face, the screen actually gets water droplets on it making it more difficult to see. Wow.
When you reach about 150mph, you start to get a kind of "tunnel vision", it is almost like the blur effect on JSRF only more realistic. It is a beautiful touch.
Audio: This was the final straw that ran me over. I love the idea of custom soundtracks, and PGR is the only game I had that had capability of handling them before I purchased Moto GP. My gripe with it was that it would always play the songs in order. Moto GP plays the songs randomly AND resumes the middle of a song when you restart and such. yay. :-).
The bike sounds are much less annoying on the real game than the demo and there are other great little crowd sounds and such added in.
Suggestions: Wow... um... hmm... Can't think of anything right now. Allow "experience points" to be earned on multiplayer races? I'm just grasping at nothing right now. The game is great.
Overall Score: 10.0 / 10
NBA Inside Drive 2002
Overall: Before this game, I hadn't bought a basketball game in eight years (since NBA Jam). This game is a great balance of sim and arcade. It has a great deal of features, but what holds it back from true greatness is a lack of franchise mode and other bonus amenities found in NBA2k2. It gets a 5 from me, nonetheless, because it is one of my most played games. Gameplay: Very smooth, very responsive. The on-the-fly play calling won it for me. The only qualm I have with the game play is that when you deke, sometimes the player will deke out of bounds and there is really nothing you can do about it. Much smoother than NBA2k2 in my opinion.
Graphics: The player models are great! I love being able to tell where Divac is just by glancing at the players. Everyone looks like their real-world counterparts. Fisher even wears a headband. ;-)
Audio: I'm not sure how a sports game can excel in sound. All the crowd noise, players talking, etc is there.
Suggestions: ID2003 looks like it will be gold from the reports I am reading. Keep adding bonus features!
Overall Score: 10.0 / 10
Oddworld: Munch's Oddysee
Overall: I got this game free from Microsoft at one of their recruitment deals at my university. It is a fun game, but nothing warranting a purchase unless you can get it cheap. The game has a great premise, but something about it just doesn't keep me coming back for more, unfortunately. The gags are funny, but maybe you had to play the first Abe games to "get" the point of this game. Gameplay: The controls are a little crazy. The Mudokons very rarely do what you want them to do and the action jumps quickly from an hour of nothing to 800 sligs attacking you from all angles.
Graphics: The draw distance was poor. You can tell that this was a ps2 game before coming to the box. Unfortunate.
Audio: I love the sound in this game. There are a lot of gags that just wouldnt be funny at all without the audio.
Suggestions: Maybe the ability to get maps?
Overall Score: 8.0 / 10
Hunter: The Reckoning
Overall: This is a good game, absolutely everything I expected it to be and that is Gauntlet by Romero. Unfortunately, there are some major problems with the game that keep it from the masterpiece tier.Gameplay: This game is f-u-n. I must admit I'm a sucker for zombie games/movies but this is just gratuitous fun. The Main problem is that in one-player mode the game is incredibly short. Some levels you can just run by everything and pass it. In multiplayer, the camera does not zoom out far enough to be of use. Hence, everyone gets crammed on the same screen, which isnt a problem for melee guys like the Avenger, but can be a huge pain in the arse for the Martyr. I hate to say it, but Gauntlet: Dark Legacy (blech) had a better camera.
Graphics: Nice. Very nice. You don't get RE-level detail in this one, but there are 900 enemies on the screen at the same time, so I don't really expect to.
Audio: I don't know if it is just my setup, but in most cases the audio ranges from too quiet to hear to ear piercingly loud. The subtitles when the characters in the cutscenes talk helped me through this one though. Otherwise, nice audio. I feel I should comment that when the number of undead on the screen gets to a certain level, this pulse-pounding metal music usually comes on. It gets your adrenaline pumping, which is nice.
Suggestions: There either needs to be (a) longer levels or (b) more levels with greater complexity. It was just too easy. Luckily, the game lends itself to replay with friends.
Overall Score: 8.0 / 10
Gunvalkyrie
Overall: Now, I'll be the first to admit that I am not very far into this game, just a few missions in, but unless its differs much from what I'm getting, this game is a sure keeper! I don't believe that a game has to be perfect to get a five, just something that everyone should at least TRY. Read on.Gameplay: I really wonder if anyone who doesn't like the control scheme has actually played the game. I'm only a few hours in and it is second nature to me. The only problem may be too MANY options! I guess the majority of people are used to Blood Omen 2's wide variety of block or attack... You blast stuff from EVERYWHERE in this game. You must think fast and be skilled, or the game will not reward you. I just don't see how you couldn't get all fired up with this game. This is definately one that will take a while to beat and will probably have some serious replay value.
Graphics: Crisp. Clear. What more can I say? It isn't perfect, but it beats or ties the majority of the box's games out there and thats just not bad.
Audio: People have said that the sound sucks because it sounds like an old genesis game or something with a little more modernization. Well... yeah. This whole game screams old-school blast fast blast fest, so of course the music is going to be a throwback to those games. I'm giving it a 5 for NOT using modern crap metal. :-)
Overall Score: 10.0 / 10
Blood Omen 2
Overall: It is a fun game, but I definately stress renting before buying on this one. I think my expectations were misplaced.Gameplay: I haven't played the Kain games before this, so I cannot compare, but the combat system is pretty weak. Beat up easy guys easily, die a couple times on bosses and then beat them. The puzzles are inane. Think Tomb Raider. ugh. The dark gifts are a lot of fun, but it isn't enough to save it.
Graphics: Don't say it is a ps2 port, because it isn't. They came out at the same time. It just had to be coded for the lowest common denominator. The graphics aren't BAD, but they arent GOOD.
Audio: The sound is good. It reminds me of Max Payne's. The dialogue is great, but the "ambient" sounds get annoying as hell. I want to kill that crow or whatever the heck it is...
Suggestions: Look to SIlent Hill 1 and Metal Gear Solid 1 for keys to great reply value and interesting puzzles.
Overall Score: 8.0 / 10
Jet Set Radio Future
Overall: Totally exceeded my expectations. I totally based this purchase on hype and was expecting a decent game, but it ended up consuming my time!Gameplay: There are only a couple quips with the gameplay. Sometimes it is way too easy to grind and way too impossible to stop. The physics engine in this game is not based on any earthly principles but that is OKAY. :-) There is an INSANE amount of replay value in this game. I spent 14 hours going through the story mode and I am another 14 hours into the bonus stuff and I'm not even close to having it all. Great stuff. HUGE game.
Graphics: Skeptics of cel-shading? Take a look. This game is beautiful, what more can I say? This has more visual style than any game I can think of.
Audio: So close to a 5.0 guys! If you would have just let us play our own songs! I know you signed these other bands, but give me a break. Birthday Cake is the worst song ever. But some of the songs are really awesome. It adds a lot to the game's style, I suppose, but I can only take so much rave music before I ache for some metal. ::shrug::
Suggestions: Custom soundtracks. Keep the extra stuff after you beat the game (incredible replay value) Extend the multiplayer capibilities.
Overall Score: 10.0 / 10
Max Payne
Overall: Now, I only have this game for the PC since I bought it pretty close to the day it came out. I haven't read a review yet that says the Xbox version is any worse than the PC version, so I must conclude that this game is at least as good as the PC version.... Now let me tell you that the PC version is S-W-E-E-T! Read below to find out why. :-)Gameplay: With a fabulous balance between the baddie-assault shooter style of Halo/Unreal and the tactical stylings of other action based shooters like Half-Life, Max Payne needs to be played to be believed. Remedy had to make a decision in this one. They came up with the idea to use the bullet time system... but they would be forced to sacrifice multiplayer mode to do so. They chose to go with bullettime... and I am very glad they did! If you want multiplayer, stick to a game designed with that in mind. This is a brilliantr story which happens to be a shooter. Play it and you will understand.
With that said, let me just quickly say that everything control wise comes out smooth as silk. :-)
Graphics: People have complained that Max looks like he is constripated... and he does. The characters facial models are atrocious. They don't even move.
That said, a look at the environments make you really appreciate this game. The high score isn't for beautiful, anti-aliased magic. This game is mediocre in the PRESENTATION of visuals. However, the environments and levels are crafted so !&%$@#* well, that you tend to forget about it. Just try to stop for a few and look around.
Audio: Wait a second... GOOD voice acting? Since when was there GOOD voice acting in a game? Oh yeah, since Max Payne. His lines are as metaphor filled as a Dennis Miller monolague, but a little less erudite. A LOT less erudite.
Listen to some of the TV shows and conversations going on in the game. Truly funny stuff to splice into the noir.
Suggestions: Ooh... tough one. I want a sequel... but I don't know how it would Mesh with the story line. Fix up the face models and this game would be !&%$@#* close to perfect!
Overall Score: 10.0 / 10
