MEMBER PROFILE FOR flatbread
Average Overall Score Given: 8.18182 / 10
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Reviews
Indiana Jones and the Emperor's Tomb
Overall: This newest Indiana game focuses on combat more than its predecessors, which emphasized puzzles. The combat allows for hand to hand, and it works out well. There is plenty of enemies to take out, and you can use guns, fists, your whip, or anything in the enviroment you can get your hands on. As the game progresses you will get new enemies to face, new items to use, and a ramp up in the difficulty that plays out nicely. The game as a whole is not overly difficult and a little bit short(probably 10-15 hours first time through). The game has a technical issue with the sound that caused my xbox to stutter and the frame rate to drop considerably when the stuttering occurred. Although it didnt happen enough to ruin the game experience, it did affect the game when it did happen. The addition of hand to hand combat was a great idea. I like tomb raider kind of games, and this one had the best combat of any of them. I wish the puzzles were a bit more difficult, but if you like this genre then you will like this game.Gameplay: The hand to hand combat allows for combinations, plus indy can jump, swim, roll, climb, swing and fight with his whip, defend and use items in his enviroment. The left thumbstick used to move and aim in First person mode is to sensitive(especially in first person mode). Sometimes the camera will focus on you when your fighting so you have to move it manually to see your enemies. This can be frustrating as you cant see what there up to. The levels got harder and better as the game progressed, with lots of jumping and platforming elements thrown in. The enemies changed up as the game progressed, I liked the ghosts in the latter stages of the game. I also liked the sequence of running from the german in the digging/tank vehicle. The game has 30 artifacts to find throughtout its levels to add some replayability.
Graphics: The game uses the buffy engine, and looks just like it. Good graphics, but not halo quality.
Audio: There is a bug in the sound. Sometimes when the music kicks the whole game stutters, the xbox is sounding like its working overtime while the framerate plummets. This makes me think the game was rushed.
Suggestions: I would have liked a bit more puzzles, and more difficult puzzles. It seems that more characters could be incorporated into the gameplay and story. That sound bug was bad.
Overall Score: 8.0 / 10
Midtown Madness 3
Overall: Midtown Madness 3 replicates the city maps of DC and Paris and gives players a plethora of options gameplay. I have live, and if you do have live the game is undeniably fun. Its not a typical racer, as the 2 humongous cities give the game a much different feel. In addition to online checkpoint races there is also tag, stayaway, hunter and capture the gold, some of these modes can have teams. The online portion offers frantic addictive fun, with a good interface( unlike mechassault)that lets u stay with a game after its over. The single player is not as good as the online, but its fun to get the cars, paint jobs in cruise, and the races are different than other games because of the city maps. It allows you to create your own path, something other games cant do because of the 1 way tracks they ussually use. If you have live then midtown madness is very fun and easily worth 50 bucks, if you dont then just rent it.Gameplay: Its basic car racing stuff, the single player race takes you through varied missions, checkpoint races against competitors, and timed checkpoint races. The sense of speed is not as good as ive seen in other racers, but like I said this game is not really a racer though. I was disappointed with the traffic cars in the game, as they never tried to react to me, and when I hit them they bounced off my car like i kicked a tin can. That made the crashes disappointing. On the other hand, the physics of car collision are handled much differently when u crash into other players, and those are very satisfying. The 34 cars that came with the vary from buses and firetrucks to hot rod corvettes, lotus and everything in between. The cars handle very differently, giving each car a unique feel. Multiplayer gives you so many options, I especially liked being able to use different car classes. The star of this game is the 2 cities, it loads up fairly quickly 1 time, and then you have an entire HUGE city do drive in. It makes this game different than any other out there.
Like rallisport, terrain makes a difference in cars traction, especially the grass.
Graphics: Considering the HUGE maps the graphics are very good, with tons of details. The models of eiffel tower, capital building are very well done. The game gives u the option to race in morning, day, twilight, and night. Plus you can choose whether its raining or clear, and the rain effects your car's traction. Pretty good visual all in all.
Audio: Sound was good.
Suggestions: Sometimes my car sticks to walls when Im starting against it after crashing, annoying. The traffic in burnout 2 is much better implemented than MM3, I would prefer cars that react to me, and better physics on traffic collisions in single player. Great game, this one is a keeper.
Overall Score: 9.0 / 10
Outlaw Golf
Overall: This is the best golf game ive ever played, its the only one that makes me want to come back for more. Outlaw golf has many things going for it: a great swing mechanism that is much more satisfying than the old style 3 button method, excellent ball physics, terrain, and wind effects, it has great looking courses, multiple game types for variety, plus funny commentary. I mark it down for stereotyped characters that often were duds, (some funny stuff too though) a putting scheme i liked but was a bit too easy too make long putts, i bet i make 4 out of 5 putts of 20 ft length, and finally not enough courses. Still the overall experience easily outweighs the negatives for a very solid title.Gameplay: I really like the swing mechanism. You pull back on the thumbstick too hit for power, move it foward for aim. The straighter the better, hooks and slices are severe in this game. There are plenty of options for controlling everthing in your hit, spin for the ball, arc of the shot, wind conditions, it all makes for a unique experience for every shot.
Graphics: The courses and terrain were very well done. The terrrain was especially well rounded, very realistic ball movement on the terrain. Characters were a bit blocky, jaggy, kinda ugly. I found the commentary much better than the characters. I liked the ball effects when you hit it well, satisfying too see that, good reward, same with camera angle switching when the ball is going to hit very close to the hole.
Audio: Sound was good,
Suggestions: I would like real celebrities instead those characters, like mr T, or the kool laid guy, or anything that people already know. The jokes could be much better than. More courses, online might be very good for this game.
Overall Score: 8.0 / 10
Gauntlet Dark Legacy
Overall: Gauntlet is an ok multiplayer game, which is how i played it, so i had fun. But it still sux. The gameplay is simplistic, with some strategy with the items, but it doesnt change much as you go through the game, and consequently gets old. The game has a plentiful amount of levels, characters, items, treasure and baddies. Too bad its pretty much hack mindlessly for hours. On the beasts you face, I can think of no truly standout moments. This series can end here, who really cares?Gameplay: The different weapon itemss they came up with for using saves the gameplay from being completely mindless. Also the characters attack using the other players was good. A big problem is how your characters moves, SLOW, you cannot dodge melee attacks, and even long distance attacks are hard to avoid at times. You just power your way through. With all the different items and magic its easy to do.
Graphics: It looks like playstation game. I wonder if there is a gauntlet game out for ps? Weak, sad the choice to make no improvements at all to the game with the xbox power.
Audio: It was fine.
Suggestions: Hunter did it ALOT better, play that game and see where this kinda of gameplay can go.
Overall Score: 5.0 / 10
Brute Force
Overall: Brute Force is a 3rd person action game with squad tactics. Some of its action elements are borrowed from halo, (like the control layout, radar, 2 gun management, and grenades) but manages to stand out on its own as a fun, well presented game. Some of its highlights include great visuals, decent ai, plenty of options in disposing of enemies, 4 distinct controllable characters with different abilities, great production value, and most importantly addictive and fun gameplay. It also is the first game to offer 4 player coop gameplay, and squad deathmatch with different races. It also provides different experiences based on the difficulty level, as normal gives you a run and gun action fun, but harder levels need more planning and use of the games multiple abilities, weapons and gadgets. Each character has a unique ability, hawk can turn invisible, brutus can see heat and heal himself, tex can shoot 2 guns at once, and flint can snipe and auto-lock targets. You can be anyone of these characters at anytime during gameplay, there are also commands you can give out to them, like stand and guard, seek and destroy, cover me, move to, plus others. On the whole its well implemented, I like that the action is stopped while you issue the commands. The amount of strategy you imploy is up to you, though it does have its limits. If you like action games BF is one to play, very well done. Gameplay: The conrols are very similar to halo, with grenades being left trigger and fire being right trigger. There is a great variety of grenades, including rollers which bounce on the terrain seeking out the enemy, love those. There are a huge amount of weapons, some of which can only be carried by specific characters. The action is intense as the ai gets better as the game progresses. The enemies use cover, roll, snipe, and sometimes are very stationary. There are many situations where your set up for an ambush. Using hawks ability to turn invisible and take out enemies with her melee power blade weapon becomes important on hard and brutal difficulty setting. I like that her stealth meter goes way down when you fire a weapon, good balancing choice. Flints sniping abilities also can make a very difficult section much easier. Her sniping abilities are far superior to hawks, who has to deal with less range and a moving target recticle. Brutus's ability is great, not only do you heal, but you see the world in terms of heat. This makes seeing your opponents much easier. Its great for fog and on brutus home planet. The enemy hides out in the tall grass and you cant see them, but its easy to pick out with his ability. A complaint is the enemies variety, as they use the same guns as you, there all the same size, and hard to see in the enviroment. Although they put up a good fight, it would have been better to have more variety in the enemies. Most of the bosses were very forgettable, next time work on creating memorable enemies. That said, the action is great, reminding me of halo sometimes with its large open areas and plenty of enemies firing away giving u the impression of a battlefield experience. The levels are a mixed bag, some are generic like the lava level, some are very pretty like hostile reception and brutus's homeland. There mostly open space with lots of places for cover.
Graphics: Graphics are excellent, hostile reception was a beautiful alien world. Brutus homeworld was also nice with the tall grass, huge tree roots overhead and great looking leaves. Some repitition in the structures I noticed. Great cut scenes. Overall very well done.
Audio: The story was forgettable, and alot of the dialogue was corny and typical. I dont care about games story at all, but if your looking for a good story then look elsewhere. Some of the lines are funny though, like the huntin shadoon level where tex says "shadoon your !&%$@#* is mine" Flint replies " and you can have it, Ill take his head" hehe funny I lol.
Suggestions: Better enemy variety, add scripted memorable moments. Should have renamed skill levels to easy normal and hard, or beginner advanded and brutal. Several reviewers like gamespot give the impression that the strategy element is nonexsistent, but obviously rushed through the game on normal. I look forward to brute force 2, add live play. START THE DOWNLOADABLE EXTRAS SOON!!!
Overall Score: 9.0 / 10
Rocky
Overall: I gave it low because the first thing i tried worked against every ai opponent, so single player is useless. Playing with a friend is fun though, with dodging and moving becoming factors. Its a shame the ai is so dumb, cause the game brought u through all the rocky movies, and all our favorite boxers are in the game to fight, plus a great training segment. Gameplay: The gameplay is mostly fun. All the punches are here, jabs, straights, hooks and uppercuts. Good movement with the left thumbstick, you can lean left and right while dodging to avoid punches. There is a punch power meter that goes does the more punches are thrown. Its a good game if you get it just for the multiplayer game.
Graphics: Not bad, the places you fight have polygon crowds, the fighters look decent. It was pleasant to look at.
Audio: Sound was good.
Suggestions: Show stats for fighters in multiplayer. I beat the game with the same punch combo for the entire game! Thats bad.
Overall Score: 6.0 / 10
Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon
Overall: Ghost recon combines stealth and long ranged weapon combat that turns out to be a fun game. You perform varied tasks during wartime settings in the near future. You control a team of soldiers to help u. Soldiers can be told where to move, and their attack status. The game has a wealth of levels, game options, soldiers and guns. You can play a 15 level campaign, build up soldiers during the campaign to make them superior. The game gives u 50 missions to conquer to acheive the highest rank, plus there is live which i have not tried yet. My biggest gripe is the very slow lateral aiming movement, plus the lack of jump or crawl on to ledges that should be attainable. Though the game can bit repetitive with the sniping, i recommend this title highly. I will try it on live soon.Gameplay: Its a first person shooter that allows you to kneel and move, and lie flat and move to improve stealth. It provides a plethora of guns, including sniper rifles and rocket launchers. The campaign levels were nicely varied, from rescue situations to tank runs. It was also fun to build the soldiers skills up, which was incentive to keep them alive. It can get repetitive with finding soldiers and sniping them from a far. I liked the game when there was action all around me, but its more effective to snipe. Even though the game is very fun I think there are lots of ways to add to the gameplay.
Graphics: The bottom level terrain looks good, every model on top looks bland and blocky. The men look pretty good, but it looks like a 2 year old port from the pc version. Poor effects, explosions were non exsistent, lighting effects were dull. Better lighting effects could be a solid improvement for the stealth part of the game.
Audio: Sound was good. I liked it when a grenade or shell went off near by, had cross over voice interference during training mission.
Suggestions: Better graphics and lighting. Allow missions to control tanks and vehicles. Poor explosions effects. Vary the amount of men you can bring along the mission. Add some timed and timing missions. Elite Campaign should have save points rather than save anywhere you are for added toughness. Increase lateral aiming speed, and add jumping, or climbing over small ledges.
Overall Score: 8.0 / 10
MechAssault
Overall: Mechassault is all about action, the controls are a cinch, the action is intense, and the effects are fantastic. Without xbox live, I wouldnt be happy with Mechassault because the single player game is too short. Its fun, but warrants only a rental. Xbox live is where the game is at, and with the future of downloadable content promised, its going to have a long life. The online component has good things and bad things about it. The most important thing is there is no lag! Playing online is frantic and fun, and the voice communicater works pretty well. The bad things are being kicked out of the game and back into the main menu when the game is over. How are you suppose to get friends when u never get a chance to play with them again? There could be more game content, as there are 6 maps and 3 game types, 1 of which is kinda useless. But with any online venture, these things can be worked out with patches and new content. The basis is here for a long haul winner, there seems to be a ton of people online, so I expect Microsoft will want to keep their customers happy and update the game according to the masses desires.Gameplay: Controls are a cinch, I was good to go by the end of the second level. There are 9 different weapons, each with 3 different levels. There is also jump jets, jam radar, invisibility, and an item that attract other mechs missles. Each mech is equiped with some of these weapons and items, and learning about each mech is a fun part of the game. Mechs can overheat by firing to much, unlike the pc games though, it only slows down your rate of fire. I kinda wish it would shut down your mech like in the pc games, or even blow up your ammo. But this game is about action and simplicitiy, and is much more accessible than the pc games, mostly because of the intuitive controls. One thing that wasnt in the pc game was the destructible buildings. This was a plus, fun seeing huge buildings collapse on your opponent and you getting the kill.
Graphics: The mechs and explosions are fantastic. When a mech explodes its gigantic event, and if any other mechs are in the explosion radius they will probably explode too. The rest of the visuals are detailed, but have a washed out look to them.
Audio: When a mech explodes there is a satisfying sound that never gets tiring. The weapond, explosions, and collapsing buildings are well done, I like the rumble effects too.
Suggestions: Some gameplay balance issues with some of the weapons. The ppc weapon is too strong, while the auto cannon, lasers and machine guns are pathetic. Overheating is underwhelming, strategy i miss from the pc game. There is no sound indicator either that tells you your mech is overheated. Fix the online component so that you dont automatically get booted to the main menu after every game. Add a ctf mode, and flag domination mode, more maps. More options for the host to choose from, like tonnage constraints. Great game, xbox live is off to a solid start.
Overall Score: 8.0 / 10
Deathrow
Overall: Deathrow is a violent sports game that reminds of lacrosse with a hoop and no rules. Its difficult at first, it took me awhile just to recognize the ball. Its also difficult to get a handle on what you should be doing at first. The first thing i noticed was that you can beat the crap out of anybody, which is what i did for the first 5 games while i let the computer players do the scoring. But my buddy and i kept at it, playing the game on system link and cooperative campaign mode and we learned to play the game, and like it alot. The game has an addictive quality, a I have to play 1 more time to beat these guys. Deathrow really throws alot of unlockables at u, 32 arenas, 150 players and 18 teams! The arenas are varied and change up gameplay nicely.When I first played it I thought the game might be a little too quirky and weird to get into, but what i found was a game with a solid mix of action and strategy, and most importantly very fun.
Gameplay: The controls take a bit of getting used to, its not like halo. When you first play the game you will feel like many women watching a football game, clueless. The rules have to be learned and patience is needed. There are several fighting moves used to take down your opponents. One of my favorites is to knock down my opponent, then repeatedly kick him while he is down until he is injured. In the beginning I would ignore the puck and just try to knock out the team until they were all dead and we would win by default. Later on i learned how to pass, jump, roll, strafe, shoot. The game has many options to control your player. My one complaint is that collision detection seems suspect at time, nothing drastic but it can get frustrating constantly missing attacks and then the computer kicking my ass. The ai is pretty good, there very good at fighting and avoiding your attacks, not so good at defending against shots on goal. One thing i noticed is that speed of players was the best attribute to have. My buddy and I would kick the crap out of slow, tough teams but have our hands full against speedy but relatively weak teams. Wish that could be balanced out better.
Graphics: Not bad, but nothing great. Good player models, but they all look the same with different color uniforms. The arenas are varied and look different, but there is a dull, wash out look here that I think could be improved upon.
Audio: Terrible swearing, get rid of it. Its obnoxious and way over the top. Guys screaming "Were getting fuc#@! up the !&%$@#* out there" Come on, thats gimmicky and in poor taste. The game stands on its own merit and does not need this to sell more copies.
Suggestions: More player models with different dimensions. It would be nice to give personality to the teamates you play with, and a distinguished look for each player. Get rid of the swearing. Support xbox live if you make a sequel. Nice job, this game surprised me in respect to how much fun it was.
Overall Score: 9.0 / 10
Blinx: The Time Sweeper
Overall: Blinx is a 3d platformer game with a new gimmick, time control. From time crystals, which lay throughout the levels and come from time monsters, blinx picks up time abilities. The abilities include rewind, slow, pause, fast foward and record. They are well implemented and are a big plus for this title. Record and rewind are especially clever, several of the levels requiring there use to continue or get the special items. Blinx uses a vacuum to sweep up trash then regurgitate the trash to kill the enemies. The enemies have the usual cutesy style to them, each one have its own style of attack. The levels have great style, colorful, lots going on. Each level has a 10 minute time limit to complete, which adds challenge to blinx, and there is a pretty good challenge to some of the levels. Luckily the levels are not long, so it wasnt long before you learn the level and are able to beat it. There are 8 worlds, each world has a boss, I thought the bosses were great. It took time to learn of there weaknesses, but your time controls were the great equalizer. Blinx was overall fun to play, I found myself addicted to beating the challeging levels. Its great satisfaction to beat the levels and find all the cat medals, several of which are cleverly hidden and can be only be obtained with your time controls. Some things could be improved though. In particular, a poor story that was hardly developed at all, blinx has no personality as a result. The aiming system can be frustrating and chaotic, and a camera that when gets too close to walls takes on a life of its own. But these problems did not prevent me from having fun, and i surely look foward to a blinx 2 if there is a sequel in the works.Gameplay: When u first play blinx i was struck by how slow he moved. You get used to it, and it works well in the levels. He also has a double jump along with his vaccuum. I liked the vacuum part of the game, finding trash littered throughout the level was a good way to create ammo. You can upgrade your sweeper so that it sucks larger trash, and holds more too, nice addition. What i didnt like was the aiming, sometimes it would shoot in odd directions and can be hard to figure which way it will shoot. Shooting while your against a wall was like a blind man with a gun, its a crapshoot. The game can become frustrating at these times. I read in reviews that the time crystals were hard to get in the correct sequence because of how close they are. This is true, but i dont think they realized you can shoot trash at them to disburse them. There are lots to do and find in the level, with all the crystals, cat medals and gold. Things are well hidden and often times need the time crystals to reach them. Blinx requires you to go back to previous levels to restock time crystals and lives. This is ok because then you can look for those well hidden cat metals.
Graphics: Great visual style, the levels look blurry to me though. Its definately got the cutesy style, the enemies and blinx have a cartoony style. The levels are chocked full of action, structures collapsing, river and mud flows, plus each level had its own style and flare.
Audio: Sound was a big minus, as everything was in japanese and blinx had no personality because he said nothing. There was no story to follow and the store !&%$@#* cat said nothing, you had to read the text like mario games. The in game music reminded me of being at a circus or amusement park. Could be improved.
Suggestions: After you defeat the level remove the time limit so we can explore the levels freely. Vary the time objectives for each level. It would be nice to have different size levels. Fix the aiming and camera problems. Improve the story, have more cut scenes that create a villain and hero storyline. Next time have the cat medals unlock sweepers or some function in the game, maybe time abilities. Great game, sorry it got such bad reviews, i liked it alot.
Overall Score: 8.0 / 10
The Thing
Overall: The Thing is based on the sci-fi horror movie of the early 80's and does a great job of capturing the spirit of the story. The thing is a hideous creature who takes over a living host and imitates it exactly. The movie had several memorable moments, and surprisingly so does the game. The game takes place right after the events of the movie, and captures that dreadful, whats around the corner feeling with excellent game events, foreboding sounds, and grotesque creatures and enviroments. The movie was scary cause you didnt know who to trust, and the game tries to incorporate that aspect also, although its a little straight forward and becomes a minor point of gameplay. The developers did a better job with the fear element, although it was still straight forward and simplistic, I witnessed my teamates going nuts just like the movie, shooting at anything and everything, coccooning into a small shell, and even killing themselves. I really enjoyed this game, it has a few knocks against it that bring it down, but overall it was an entertaining expierence.Gameplay: The controls had 4 variations, I played with the trigger buttons being the strafe buttons. The controls were easy enough, but i wish i had a better free look option. It also has automatic aiming, coupled with the lack of a true free look makes the game easy for veteran shooters. My biggest gripe is the lack of jumping, so it reminds me of an old style 1st person shooter without the mouse. The enemies are great(especially the bosses), they successfully capture the horror from the movie monsters. Grotesque bloody creatures, the sounds the creatures make made me tense and uneasy. I really liked the aspect of fire in the game, some enemies require you to finish them off with fire. You could also use fire strategically to wall them away from u. The only enemies that were disappointing were the marines, they were slow in the brain and trigger. The levels had many memorable moments, i loved the seige, the bosses, and cinematic in game events( seeing your buddy get blown away by the tunnel bomb was a nice touch). Your team ai is generally good, they follow you well(dont get stuck or fall hopelessly behind), help you in battles, and communicate there needs to u. Still, they dont really feel like teamates, and this part of the game could be improved. Your men often times were more like tools u needed to get to the next level then somebody i really cared or took notice in. One last thing that irked me was the physics, maybe it was a good thing there was no jump, cause there seemed to be a lack of any real physic model here. When i fell off the side of a building it felt like a huge gust of wind was pushing me forward. The grenades bounce seemed unrealistic too, a minor gripe, but its related to the overall control that i wish would be more like halo.
Graphics: The monsters were great visually, especially the bosses. It reminded me of the movie, which i am a big fan of. The rest of the visuals were adequate, they successfully created a horrific, dark, bloody enviroment just like the movie.
Audio: The sounds were great and added to the atmosphere. They took the sounds right from the movie i think, smart idea in the end.
Suggestions: Fix the controls, make it 1st person with jumping, real physics AND keep the same theme, with teamates with fear and trust attributes. Have teamates that stay with u longer, and have character traits, personal knowledge and/or skills that make the player care about them more. In this game one engineer is just like all the others. Have them chattering about the events that have just unfolded or are generally happening. You could make the game a bit longer too, especially since once you reach the end there little reason to play it again. It would also allow you to develope game events that were character driven as well as action driven. Overall though, this was the best movie adaptation game ive ever played, BY FAR. Great effort and i hope to see a sequel!
Overall Score: 8.0 / 10
Quantum Redshift
Overall: This is a wipeout style game, and out does wipeout fusion handily. My buddy and i compared the graphics for redshift and wipeout fusion side by side and it wasnt close. Quantum redshift is only upstaged by rallisport challenge graphically. The game is extremely fast, once you get to redshift speed its an incredible rush. The physics of the ship are remarkable, at top speeds allowing for tremendous flight possibilities. The tracks are expertly crafted, strategically placed obstacles, great fly zones. The race changes once you hit redshift speeds, as new options open up for flying over terrain you previously had to race over. The weapons are individualized for each character, and can be built up. Last night i saw a nuclear explosion that encompased the entire screen. It was incredible, as this game is.Gameplay: The bulk of the single player game is done in the tournament mode. You race each character to unlock different speed zones,characters and tracks. As you race you earn money to use to upgrade your ships turbo, shields and weapons. IGN gave this game a 6.2, and said the weapons were uninspired. I dont think they played the game long enough to max out the weapons. Once you do the weapon affects change for all 16 characters and are quite impressive. They also said the fly zones were brief, obviously not playing until you hit redshift mode. At that point the way you race the tracks becomes different because of being able to turbo and fly over the terrain. I really hated reading gamespot and ign reviews for this and many other games, they say this game offers nothing new, and then give gran turismo and madden 9 plus when its the same game from last years addition. Gran Turismo 3 used the same exact tracks from the last version! Madden is hardly anything new, its the same game with some new addons, impacting gameplay little. I like these games, but if your going to give it a bad score because it gives you the same tired old game your being hypocritical. Its obvious they prefer simulation style games to arcade games, as there reviews are always lower for blitz, hitz, jam series then for madden, 2k2. Same with racing games. Extreme g, wipeout and now redshift all get lower scores automatically it seems because they are classified as arcade. Why? i dont know, maybe they should get somebody who likes these styles of games to review them. Let me say 1 fact. It takes ALOT more skill to race well in quantum redshift then it does to race simulated races. Not only is it much faster, you also have to use the weapons effectively. The ai in quantum redshift is very good. They use weapons effectively, and race efficiently. The tracks are not huge so its very rare to be alone for very long. The sensation of speed is as good as wipeout, the physics model is superb, allowing for great slide turns and pitch control that is not available for simulated racing. Incredible adrenaline pumping gameplay.
Graphics: Ign said the game enviroments are baron. The game is beautiful, maybe it doesnt have ships flying overhead and volcanoes exploding, but it does have the best great rain effects ever seen by me in a video game. The water effects are also gorgeous. The enviroments are varied, from snow covered tracks to lush green hills with castles. I dont know why anyone would complain about the baron tracks when your blasting at 700 mph trying to win and everthing is a blur anyhow. Most people will be very impressed with these graphics. Very impressed.
Audio: Sound is great
Suggestions: The story was awful, it was so awful it was funny. Alot was put into the nemesis storyline and it really had little impact on the game. Why not have your nemesis chatter at you while your racing, and everytime he hits you have him give you the business. Also, you require way too many races to unlock the last track. Jesus i think its well over 350 races you have to win to get the last track. It takes over 200 just to get redshift speed. Many people are going to miss how great this game really is( including ign and gamespot ). Lighten the load there a bit. The game is cheap about where you place the ship when your off the track, it sets you back way to far, and in some places its cheap about where you go off the track, which leads to a frustrating double whammy of your off the track when you were not, plus were thrown back. Ughh. Overall great game, anyone who like wipeout, extreme g will like this game.
Overall Score: 9.0 / 10
Burnout
Overall: Burnout is about the exileration of flying through traffic at high speeds, escaping narrowly from certain death, and witnessing spectacular crashes. If you like that in your games then you will enjoy this title. There is nothing like power braking through standstill traffic, perfectly passing through waiting cars while you hear your opponents crash behind you. Burnout is not perfect though, the a.i. is typical rubber band, which doesnt reward skill and is way too easy to beat. The graphics are average, and the game is too short. Still i liked the game overall because it gives you that edge of seat tension.Gameplay: Its typical car action, with solid car control. The cars probably grip the road a little too well, but you will be glad they did as there are several obstacles to avoid. The game adds a burnout meter, which is essentially a turbo boost. To get burnout turbo you have build the meter by near misses to other cars, power brake slides or stay in wrong way traffic lanes as long as you can. I liked this feature, and the turbo seemed ridiculously fast. The traffic cars reacted well also, swirving out of the way if they could avoid you. It was a little to easy to avoid oncoming traffic though, just staying in the middle of the road was ussually all you had to do.
Graphics: Pretty average, the surrounding were nice in terms of the buildings and trees etc. The traffic cars and trucks were subpar. The cars often looked like old style cars, way too top heavy. The weather effects and lighting were disappointing, the night tracks were a joke, there had zero effect on gameplay. This area could be improved greatly.
Audio: The sound is fine, like i said earlier it is great to hear your opponents crash behind you.
Suggestions: Add more to the surroundings, like people on the streets, police cars that chase you, road blocks that you need to creativey pass. Short cuts might be fun to exploit. Better ai on your opponents, reward good driving but make it harder to win. Better graphics, but keep the frame rate good, its more important to have good frame rate than good graphics but crappy frame rate in a racing title.
Overall Score: 8.0 / 10
Gunvalkyrie
Overall: Gunvalkyrie is a game id like to rate higher, but with so many issues that detract from its core fun I cant recommend this game for everyone. On the one hand it has a very unique booster controls that sets it apart from any other game. Many of its levels are perfectly suited for the controls, giving the gamer a high amount of enjoyment. On the other hand, it took me 3 to 4 hours to get used to the controls. Anyone who just wants to get in and play this game is in for a rotten time, and will not see the good things the game has to offer. Other downpoints include the story, which never really gets woven into the gameplay at all, and is very odd also. Even after getting used to the controls, my thumbs would get tired, blistered and sore from the constant boosting, power moves and firing. The graphics are also uneven, way to busy for my tastes, which leads to some slow down on the boss levels. I hated how you had to complete the last 3 levels (2 of which are bosses) in one sitting without being able to save it. Some of us have to do other things besides playn 3 hours straight to beat a game. Gunvalkyrie is relatively short, i beat it first time in 12 hours. They add in some bonuses and unlockables for repeat value. Its a very uneven playing experience, with flashes of both brilliance and frustration. Gameplay: Once you get the controls down its remarkable what you can do. Your able to boost and remain airborn for quite a lengthy time, based on your thumb manuerving skills. While in the air you can fire in any direction, giving you an impressive amount of versatility. The problem is to boost you have to first get in the air using left trigger, then while in the air press the left thumbstick down then press in the direction u want to go, this give you a short boost. Once the boost is over you will fall to the earth, to stay in the air you have to continuely press the boost before you drop, and its important to boost in all directions, then add firing and aiming with the right thumb stick and you have some major hand coordination needed to master this game. The game requires this skill, as staying on the ground will make it impossible to beat the game. Like i said its not for everyone. I enjoyed it, but it took some patience.
Graphics: Very uneven like the game. The graphics are busy, lots of details on the players, really too much for my tastes. The enemies were disappointing looking, they had very little color, were ussually small and indistinguishable. The bosses were good though, and a joy to play against. The graphics are like the story, odd.
Audio: sound is fine, nothing special.
Suggestions: Have a tutorial that slowly brings the player up to speed, building on skills just learned until it all comes together. Many people will just give up in the first 2 hours because of the frustration. Incorporate the story into the gameplay much better! This part of the game was dismal. Work on the controls, my hands get tired from constantly boosting. I think this game could be special if some of its problems are addressed.
Overall Score: 7.0 / 10
World Series Baseball (Sega)
Overall: I havent played a baseball video game since atari 2600 realsports baseball. In most respects the game has come along way. The meat of the game revolves the pitching- batting relationship, and world series baseball does this well. Each pitcher is very distinguishable because of the speed, amount of curve and accuracy of his respective pitches. The batters also have hot zones and cool zones, offering a nice variety for every game. There are a plethora of options, franchise mode is particularly impressive, as you get to manage a team year after year with a remarkable amount of options. One thing i did not like was the fielding, not much has changed since the realsports days, and feel an oppurtunity is being missed here by the developers. I also started getting bored in blowout games, just like in real baseball. If you like baseball though, this is an excellent choice, has a great multiplayer game too.Gameplay: The game is centered around the pitcher vs batter like real baseball. The amount of effort in making each pitcher and batter reflect his real counterpart is commendable. Fans of the real game will appreciate this greatly. All the options are here to steal, hit and run, bunt, etc. Nice effort except the fielding, which is very simplistic and requires very little skill.
Graphics: The game is very uneven visually, the players, grounds and stadiums look great. The players faces are recognizable! On the other hand the crowds are pathetic, when the players throw the ball they look like a girl throwing it for the first time, and i hated the way they put there golve in front of them each time they picked up the ball. Sometimes the swings looked pretty funny too.
Audio: The sounds were adequated, the announcers were boring, they sounded as dead as the real life game. Once in awhile i heard heckling which i liked and wished they added more things like that.
Suggestions: The fielding can be expanded upon greatly. Outfield should switch to a first person perspective with the camera switching to the outfielders view point. Right now the game is a one trick pony, and for me gets boring cause of the long games and repetive nature of pitching -batting.
Overall Score: 8.0 / 10
Hunter: The Reckoning
Overall: Hunter is a gauntlet type game that travels up the evolutionary latter. It has fun gameplay, good weapons, and excellent visuals. It falls short of greatness because of a list of annoyances. I didnt like not being able to use characters you've been playing with in new games. It effectively kills character development because you can only play a character 1 time through. The game is too short, you could beat it in 6 hours. The single player experience is MUCH different than the multiplayer one. Single player is much easier because you can move without the restriction of the camera. I had 29 lives going into the final boss because i could use ranged weapons effectively. Multiplayer becomes a hack fest because of the camera restrictions and is much harder. As a result, multiplayer can be frustrating at times, and less fun. Overall the fun gameplay makes this title well worth a look, but probably a rental rather than a buy.Gameplay: Gameplay is fun, with plenty of zombie killing action. You use the right thumbstick to point in the direction you want to fire, and use the left thumbstick to move. It can be awkward at first but gets easier with practice. There are 4 characters each with their own magic, stats, and personal weapons. Its good point of the game that gives you some unique gameplay. The baddies are of the mindless rushing category, later on they start using ranged weapons to add challenge. There are lots of bosses to fight to add variety. Because the action is so intense at times there is an exhilerating feeling the game brings you as your taking out dozens of enemies swarming at you. It is because of this that i give this game an overall positive review.
Graphics: Excellent visuals, great looking textures and 3d models. When the camera gets close you can really see the detailed enviroments. Much of the time you will be fighting from a zoomed out camera which takes away the detail, but id rather have gameplay over graphics so i dont mind. The cutscenes looked good, except for the final boss, which looked silly.
Audio: The lines and story were corny and forgettable. The characters were all drama queens and it felt like an awful science fiction horror budget movie. I ussually dont care much about game stories, and this one isnt any different.
Suggestions: On the back it said 23 HUGE levels, next time actually make it HUGE, at least 15 hours of unrepeated gameplay. Fix the multiplayer game, pull back the camera so everyone has more room to go, tweak it so its easier for multiplayer and harder for single player. The combat is great, dont fiddle around with that much. Your on the right track for a solid series, make the next one the killer title it can be.
Overall Score: 8.0 / 10
Halo: Combat Evolved
Overall: Halo is one of my favorite games, brought to you by the lead designer (Jason Jones)of my favorite game MYTH. No surprise that this game is outstanding, jason jones has only made outstanding games. Halo is the best single player FPS ive ever played, that includes halflife, quakes, unreal, deux ex, etc. The combat is very satisfying, the A.I. is by FAR the best ive seen, the story was incorporated well into the gameplay. The vehichles were very fun to play. (I really think they could add alot of new fun for multiplayer games) Halo has turned out to be a new franchise for bungie and microsoft. Halo 2 will be a title i eagerly await. Gameplay: Best part of the game is the gameplay. The enemy you fight is smart and tough. All enemies have their own personal traits. Some dodge your attacks with rolls, or runaway when theyve been hit, and even get mad and charge you. Enemies have various weapons and vehicles at their disposal, and will use them if opportunity presents itself. Its fun to fight hovercraft vs hovercraft. The game provided so many satisfying moments. One of my favorite gaming moments was the introduction of the flood. The flood had a gauntlet like mentality of overwhelming u with numbers, its great action that added a great twist to this game. Could go on and on with positive things to say, the weapons, friendly soldiers, story. If you havent played it yet your in for a great game.
Graphics: Visuals were incredible, the textures had incredible detail, especially when you got close to them. Some of the outdoor levels were beautiful. The level named Halo was a particularly outstanding. The detail on the characters was very high, especially on the master chief. Alot of work went into the details of halo, i am glad they put out such a great effort.
Audio: The sound was well done, it foreshadowed intense moments nicely. The friendlies said some comical lines, and had a real presence because of the chatter. Outstanding work.
Suggestions: Me tell you what to do? Right. Take your time and make halo 2 even BETTE
Overall Score: 10.0 / 10
NHL Hitz 2002
Overall: NHL Hitz offers great gameplay. Its got the branded "arcadey" stlye of play, which i think is fun. It delivers very balanced gameplay in terms of offence and defence, the scoring is neither too hard or easy. The game offers much to unlock, great customability, good franchise and stadium modes, and fun multiplayer.I especially like to use the nicknames, heads, and body dimensions to make my own teams. There are enough moves that make team play important. Playing the computer is never as fun as playing a freshy, but the computer can put up a good battle. This game got screwed by some reviewers, people will like this game more than they do. Gameplay: Controls are simple, with several variations like 1-timers, fake-shot and pass combos, hot spots, double pass, spin, check and poke check. The skills directly impact gameplay, in franchise mode you begin a team that stinks and slowly raise its abilities until you win the championship. I love the announcer yelling out your players when they do something good or bad. The fights are well done too, having the player who loses out for the game makes the outcome heated. Most importantly the gameplay keeps you coming back for more.
Graphics: Good visuals, the player models have good detail. I like the heads that came with game. Some are humerous. When i was trying out the different faces for humans I could hardly notice any difference between them. The team fire graphics annoyed me, seem to slow the game down a bit. The many stadiums to unlock was a nice feature, some of them were good ideas.
Audio: The announcer was great. The nicknames u can pick from are hilarious. I use billy- bob, t-bone and gallahad right now. My girlfriend thinks its a riot. Funny thing, the game intro no longer plays any sound, probably an option i mistakingly did.
Suggestions: The slow down on team fire should be removed. The team fire is overload graphically. Add more heads, and nicknames the announcer can say. I would have liked to choose the length of torso, arms, legs etc. Getting to make your own characters and see them play adds to the gaming expeirence. Looking forward to nhl hitz 2003.
Overall Score: 10.0 / 10
Amped: Freestyle Snowboarding
Overall: Amped is a unique snowboarding game, instead of racing your goal is to impress media, sponsers and pros with your skills and rise in world wide rank. With a variety of play modes and and a HUGE amount of terrain to cover, Amped has an immense amount of gameplay. Probably too much for the average gamer, my guess is that most people never finished this game. The game offers a serious challenge as you progress, one that got frustrating for me, trying to please the sponsers and beat the pros got to be a chore in repetition. On the other hand, the sense of satisfaction received when you finally did accomplish the task was very rewarding. Bottom line, if you like snow boarding games, this game is a big winner.Gameplay: The controls are very difficult at first. I found myself struggling just to do a single trick at first. Patience pays off, as you get the hang of it, you will begin pulling off amazing stunts. I liked the diffculty level in performing tricks, not to easy so that it was boring, not so hard that it was overly frustrating. The runs were beautiful, packed full of different jumps, rails, pipes, and half pipes. You can be very creative in your runs because of their size. Many tricks to master. Fun to play.
Graphics: Great looking game. Reflections from ice could be better though, like in rallisport challenge. Trees looked nice, all the models look sharp and colorful. Looks good, not spectacular though.
Audio: Lots of music to choose from, game allows you to choose a genre too. I found myself liking some of the songs i heard on the techno tracks i heard.
Suggestions: Tweek the difficulty down a bit, sponsers got very difficult, so did the pros.
Add ice, and have it affect your boards grip. Add the reflections to the game so that the ice looks nice, like in rallisport challenge. Weather effects could be done also.
Have an event like the winter olympics. You get to compete against the pros you have already faced off against in the olympics competing for the gold medal.
More boarders to run into on the slopes could add challenge and humor. I would like to see crashes with real time physics done to the body for the lousy snowboarders on the mountain. Call me sick, i think it would be great, just like in motorcross madness 2.
MAKE MOTORCROSS MADNESS 3 for the XBOX!
Great job, best snowboarding game ive ever played, easily
Overall Score: 9.0 / 10
Oddworld: Munch's Oddysee
Overall: An entertaining title with a few shortcomings. The backdrop story is funny, maybe a little disturbing for some. The graphics and personal touches are all there, the wheelchair for munch is very funny. The big problem is the gameplay is very uneven, ranging from fun to tedious and super easy. The puzzles are generally obvious and often times boil down to drink a can of this to get where you want to go or get those nasty enemies. It kinda gets dull when all you have to do to kill a room full of enemies is possess one after another, the enemies never catch on. The game has everything going for it, but needs to shore up the gameplay dept. Gameplay: The gameplay is the problem. The balls of manna,(forget their name) are pointless to get because you can just get more by summoning anyone over and over again. Make them more valuable. Abe possession thing is overly powerful. It is limited at times in the game, but id change that whole portion. The special abilities with soda cans is used too much, along with giving spooce to open another door. The game felt like i was just going from 1 door to the next door. I like the caffeine powerup and wheelchair. The level you had to run away from the dozens of runts while avoiding the bombs was very fun, as was running through the laser turret posts. Water levels were ussually fun. Final assesment is gameplay needs some work.
Graphics: Good visuals, excellent water effects. Only let down was the lack of variety in the gaming enviroment. There was above ground, which all looked the same after awhile, and below ground, sewer worlds. With more variety this game would have had a wow factor in terms of graphics.
Audio: The sound is topnotch, there were nice touches here that added to character appeal.
Suggestions: Compelling gameplay needed for me to buy the next game.
Overall Score: 7.0 / 10
Rallisport Challenge
Overall: Very well done racing game. The controls are super tight, the slide turn is done masterfully and requires skill. Some of the races can be very challenging. The inclusion of different surfaces and tires adds alot to this racer. You can easily notice the difference in how your car's traction is altered by the game's terrain. Great graphics, grass, weeds and flowers for the first time look realistic in 3d game that i know of. Very polished solid effort.Gameplay: The controls are the best part of the game, which means gameplay is great. Wide variety of races, with point to point races againt your opponents time to traditional races agianst other drivers, plus hill climbs and ice racing, then factoring in terrain you can see why there is so much variety. There are 35+ tracks here, many cars to choose from. There is alot to like here.
Graphics: The graphics have a wow factor to show off to your friends. Bushes, flowers, grass and weeds all look real. Highlights include the sun reflecting off the ice, very pretty stuff. The developers are masters at visual arts.
Audio: Big fat whatever, but what can u do, i really just get annoyed at hearing the car burn rubber. I like putting my own music in the game, and rallisport allows you to do that, but the races are short and i only hear half the song before it switches to the next song, when the race is over, which annoyed me.
Suggestions: The career mode was annoying sometimes because of having to restart many times instead of having the option to save between each race within the tournament. Also adding to that annoyment was the menu system, which made restarting a longer proposition than one would hope for. I would like to see the crashes of the car played out longer for single player game. I remember going over a cliff and headed straight for the middle of a lake. Before I could see myself splash into the lake I appeared back on the track. It would have been nice to see it play out. Overall though I would recommed this game to anyone except people who dislake this genre. Truly exceptional work.
Overall Score: 9.0 / 10
Jet Set Radio Future
Overall: Likeable gameplay in a nutshell. Different player controls that the developers incorporated well with the game enviroment. Getting the graphity souls was fun and challenging. Liked being able to choose the graphity i wanted to. Game enviroments were huge and varied in terms of theme and graphics. Graphics are great, enviroments rich of colors & details. Many games i dont bother to finish but I liked this one so much that i am going after all the extras for the fun of it.Gameplay: controls are very basic for tricks, its about timing it correctly. Jumping and grinding are the main ways of getting around. Boost adds variety to controls. The game is in the 3d platformer mode, with alot of innovation. The challenge comes it getting to spots in the level, you can perform some great stunts.
Graphics: I already talked about this above, they are fantastic, the different areas are varied and memorable.
Audio: The songs are kinda catchy, there could be more choice and number of songs available. Didnt use xbox capabilities and let me play my own music or transfer my favorie tunes from JSRF to my hard drive.
Suggestions: The enemies were pretty dumb in the ai department, in that respect its not very challenging. Add more enemies that use the rails as there attacking ground. Have cameras that when they catch you will release turret guns or an enemy and you have to paint the camera lens to get rid of them. Maybe a paintball gun for bosses and special parts of the game?? Increase the sound options in the game. The story was corny and i have no suggestions for u on how to fix that. What can u do? Overall i am very glad to have played this game. Topnotch.
Overall Score: 9.0 / 10
