MEMBER PROFILE FOR Mahz
Average Overall Score Given: 9.50000 / 10
Total Forum Posts: 90
Reviews
Fable
Overall: Four years we waited as Fable revealed and receded exciting features like multiplayer and a world that sounded limitlessly open ended. It would be unfair to judge this game on what it once had on the table, so a reviewer must forget the old features and look at the game in its own light. In Fable, the story is pretty straight forward. Bandits attack your city when you are a child, and you seek vengeance and hone your skills in the Guild of Heroes. I will not go on, however. - I am sure you all have read all about it in the years of waiting. The story is rather uninspired, however.Gameplay: Fable is rather linear in the direction of advancing the plot. Getting married and investing in real estate are small features pushed far into the background of the plot itself. Quests are especially linear and technical. The boast system, though, is excellent. Replacing a difficulty setting, you can boast, prior to the quest, to, say, defeat bandits without armor. This system is superiour to difficulty, because it gives the player a better level of customization. The combat is pretty straight forward and especially satisfying as each hit gives you a collision-ensuring splash of color and a grunt. In general, Fable feels more like an action game forced through a roleplaying game slot. Some elements are too technically supported by the interface, in my opinion.
Graphics: The visuals in Fable give the game character, but most of all, are simply exceptional. Detail is overwhelming, from the fuzz on the back of your character's legs to intricate architecture. The critique that is consistant through Fable reviews is the overuse of the bloom effect. Other than that, the game is very pleasant, especially in the day (as Fable has a real time day-night timing).
Audio: The sound is one of the biggest pros of the game. You will recognize music similar to the track all over the trailers, and just as good, all throughout the game. Music is also context sensitive. In the presence, the track facilitates from a slow to heated up, clearly depicting a battle. Along with the exceptional music scores, battle is also satisfying due to the meaty melee hits, magical sprees, and arrow whipping sounds. It is also noteworthy to add that every line of text in the game has its own audio clip to play with it.
Suggestions: A longer game would have been appreciated.
Overall Score: 9.0 / 10
Chronicles of Riddick: Escape From Butcher Bay
Overall: You are Riddick. You are a badass (you have Vin Diesels voice). You are sent to THE badass prison for THE badasses of the galaxy. Now, you must escape Butcher Bay using a combination of stealth, timing, and brute gunning. Chronicles of Riddick is immersive and an excellent experience, but its length warrants only a rental as it took me around only 8 hours to complete it on the hardest setting. Overall, Riddick combines a good story with good gameplay, making it a must-play.Gameplay: One of the reasons Riddick is such a good game is because of its circumstantial variation; there are several side quests to do, but the best aspect of the game is the number of ways you can approach a situation. As an example, you are against some patrolling guards, but all you have is a knife. Do you attempt to rush them and carve them to death or perhaps you would rather take them out from the shadows. Maybe you would rather have mercy on them and avoid them all together. The choice is yours - whatever suits your playing style.
Immersion is one of the key elements of the game. You will feel like Riddick as you get pissed off by fellow inmates, but satisfyingly hear Diesels voice respond in some sarcastic, tough guy rhetoric. Or when an explosion unlocks some monstrous creatures from the depths and you wander around with a few rounds of ammo in the dark, wondering what is around the corner. I do think, however, that Riddicks ocular implants that allow a type of night vision are a bit unnecessary. In dark areas, it would have been much more demanding if you had to use the wimpy light on your gun and could not simply turn on Eyeshine. However, I won't let this minute preference hinder the wondrous gameplay.
Melee in Riddick is the best of any game I have ever played. There are an assortment of shivs and clubs you will find around the game, and they are very fulfilling to use. By moving the left thumbstick while you attack, you can pull off pleasing combos. The left trigger blocks. These simple, responsive controls not only assist melee, but also make whole game fluid, without cumbrous frustration.
Graphics: The visuals in Riddick are the best I have seen in any game, and the best part is that slowdown is rare. Thank god for its normal mapping. What looks to be a high-polygonated wall filled with pipes and futuristic decor is just a trick of the mapping, as you see that from the side, the wall is really just flat.
The lighting in the game actually makes you feel hidden. Since you can look down and see your own body, you can see the shadow cast upon you as the guard walks right past you. There's no permanent graphical interface aside from your health, nor is there a light gem that displays how hidden you are, like in Thief. No need. The screen tints when you are hidden, and it is very functional and appropriate.
Audio: The sound is outstanding, with meaty melee cleaves and satisfying rounds of dispersed ammunition. As you alert guards of your presence, prepared to be taunted and cursed at as they search for you, saying you do bad things to mothers that only beckon your hands to twist their necks.
The music soundtrack just furthers the feeling that you are playing in an actual movie. The music even reacts to situations, which changes and heightens during action sequences. With Dolby 5.1, the experience even gets better as the voices of curious guards echo off the prison walls or sprays of bullets whiz past your ears.
Suggestions: Concept art is not an incentive for replay value, and the lack of multiplayer does not ask for more than a rental. AI also needs to be enhanced.
Overall Score: 10.0 / 10
