MEMBER PROFILE FOR mahalan
Average Overall Score Given: 8.66667 / 10
Total Forum Posts: 201
Reviews
Elder Scrolls III : Morrowind
Overall: The worst of all possible worlds. A great beginning that sucks you in for HUGE amounts of time and then leaves you sorely disappointed with no middle or late game.Gameplay: The weakest aspect of this game. The economy is broken. Combat is weak. Skills are unbalanced. Individual quests are too linear and require next to no thought. There's nothing challenging for experienced characters.
Graphics: Very nice. The surroundings are amazing. I wish Bethesda had done as good of a job with their character graphics, though.
Audio: Very nice, especially with DD 5.1. The NPC interaction does get pretty stale, though. Overall, very good.
Suggestions: Finish the game next time. Be sure to include some quests for advanced characters, balance the skills, create a real economy, make more intellectually challenging quests.
Overall Score: 3.0 / 10
Outlaw Golf
Overall: Hilarious and addictive. I stayed up playing it until 7:30am this morning. This could be very detrimental to my health and career given the size of the game, I've played about 20 hours and have barely scratched the surface of everything in it.Gameplay: It's a blast and I hate golf. The commentary and characters make the game enjoyable and the controls make it challenging without being frustrating. I can't wait to taunt in multiplayer.
Graphics: Really well done. The overpasses and oil tanks in Jersey are great. The southwestern desert scenes are terrific too. I really like the way that divits remain in the ground after your ball hits as well.
Audio: Amazing. There were times where the Dolby Digital 5.1 made me think there was something in the room with me. The voice acting is very good as well and the soundtrack is top notch.
Suggestions: Let more than one person use the same character in multiplayer. I can't imagine the time I'll spend building the stats and unlocking all the equipment to even out the characters to make multiplayer fair.
Overall Score: 10.0 / 10
Blood Omen 2
Overall: Great game. The graphics aren't as nice as what you'll see in some other Xbox games since this was made for the PS2 as well but they're still done well. This is my first game in the Kain series and I have to say that that didn't affect my interest. The story's great and this game's addictive. I've had it for four days and have spent two of them up until 5am playing this.Gameplay: Really addictive. The combat could be more challenging and the puzzles more difficult but despite that, the game rocks. The bosses are the only area in combat that provide a real challenge but the game's still a blast. Definitely a keeper.
Graphics: Nice. Not great but nice. I would have liked it more if they'd have come up with a second set of graphics for the Xbox so we wouldn't be anchored down with the limitations on the PS2 version but you can't have it all.
Audio: Most of the sounds are awesome. Love the voices. They've done a great job at selecting great characters for that. The only place I'd knock them here is when you rescue Uma(sp?), her voice and the Sarafen Lord's voice are almost impossible to hear because it sounds like there's a washing machine in the background.
Suggestions: More difficult combat. More difficult puzzles which require portions from prior segments. Multiplayer would be awesome (able to play as Kain or the Sarafen Lord in combat would be great).
Overall Score: 9.0 / 10
Jet Set Radio Future
Overall: Try as I wanted to hate this game, I can't. I'm sorry but the idea of skating around painting on walls just hits me as stupid. I'm also not a big fan of cartoon art for games. Despite that, this is a really fun game with lots of play value. I was shocked to see that it was 5am and I'd been playing for 7 hours straight my first time sitting down with the game.The game's very easy to pick up and play well. The controls are so easy you almost don't need an opposing digit to play the game. There's not much to learn to do tricks. The soundtrack is awesome and meshes with the game really well.
I can easily imagine this game going over very well with kids, chicks, and the attention span challenged.
Gameplay: Really fun game. Nearly non-existent learning curve. You're doing amazing tricks as soon as you touch the game pad. Despite this, the game contains a good deal of play value and the multiplayer mode should retain this play value over the long haul. Could see this being a really good party game.
Graphics: I just don't like cartoon style graphics. Let me rephrase that. I like cartoon style graphics when they're done comic-book style (shading, textures, etc.) Instead, JSRF employs more of a sketchy, Dragonball Z type of cartoon work.
Audio: Absolutely awesome soundtrack. Loads of fun that meshes with the game playstyle. Is it possible to have a perfect soundtrack?
Overall Score: 9.0 / 10
Fuzion Frenzy
Overall: Great party game. I rented this before having some drinking buddies over. We played Gotham and Halo while we were sober but this was our game of choice once our vision got fuzzy. This game was made for parties. Each round is very short allowing people to switch regularly. All of the games are easy to learn and the variety of games ensures that there's always something someone will do well at even if they've never played this before.Gameplay: A ton of fun for a party. I doubt I'd sit around playing it alone, however. I'll definitely go out and buy it now that I've rented it. If you've got a lot of friends who come over regularly (and drink a lot), I'd get this game immediately.
Graphics: Very cute but not in a kidsy sickening way. The graphics definitely have plenty of chick appeal which is always a good thing. Games have a tough time attracting chicks but this one has it in the bag and chicks getting worked up playing a video game portend good things later.
Audio: Good for what the game is - party fun. You don't want the sounds from the game overpowering the enthusiasm of its players, others' conversations, or your music. Well done.
Suggestions: A better game classification system would help. When you've got 30 people who've never seen the game before selecting what to play having decent game descriptions would be very nice.
Overall Score: 8.0 / 10
Halo: Combat Evolved
Overall: What can you say other than the fact that this is a MUST HAVE game. I've looked at my watch only to find that it's 3am more often than I care to think about playing this game. The fact that you can play this over the Internet against others is the only reason I'm getting high speed Internet access at home (otherwise I'd have to move my home theater to my office).This game may not be revolutionary by creating a whole new genre in games but it definitely is revolutionary in doing everything a game should do flawlessly. I've never seen a game like it.
Gameplay: Amazing. The detail is incomparable to anything preceding it. The single player mode is challenging and addictive. I'm just afraid that the multiplayer will end up ruining my career and marriage.
Graphics: Simply amazing. I feel like I'm actually there shooting it out against the Covenant and Flood. I've pulled apart the safety plugs on my controller more times than I care to admit from jumping back during a tough fight.
Audio: Great! I LOVE the comments from the Covenant grunts!!! They're a riot. They're going to be one of the things I'll miss in multiplayer.
Overall Score: 10.0 / 10
Project Gotham Racing
Overall: Phenomenal! I've never been much of a racing game fan until now. This game is truly addictive. The graphics are amazing. The sounds are mind-blowing (especially in Dolby Digital 5.1). The car and track selections are unbelievable. Gotham and Halo make the Xbox a must have in every home.Gameplay: Once again, terrific. The kudos system - while getting a lot of flack - pushes players to get their game to a higher level. It also keeps the game from getting stale. For those who feel it creates an artificiality, get real. If you drive well, you'll get all the kudos you need.
Graphics: One of the best parts of the game. The track graphics are terrific. I've been to many of the places the races occur and this definitely brings them to life. One of my favorite locations to race is NYC. It's great seeing the WTC still standing.
Audio: AWESOME! Just makes you want to crank the sound up. The sound and graphics in this game justify the money I put into my home theater system.
Overall Score: 10.0 / 10
NFL 2K2
Overall: Great look and feel. One of the more realisticaly looking football games on the market. A blast to play and it never gets tiring against human opponents.Gameplay: The computer AI is very good for learning the game. Once you figure out how to hide your plays (try reading the manual), playing against human opponents is a blast and never tiring. Wonderful game.
Graphics: One of the games strongest points. The graphics in this game range from great to awe inspiring. The replays are terrific (especially when playing against another person - gives you time for trash talk).
Audio: A wide array of commentary prevents this from growing stale quickly. Only thing I'd like to see here is enthusiasm in the announcers' voices when someone does something really spectacular.
Overall Score: 9.0 / 10
