MEMBER PROFILE FOR gH0sT
Average Overall Score Given: 8.66667 / 10
Total Forum Posts: 2
Reviews
ESPN NHL Hockey 2K4
Overall: Solid hockey game. And another word and a couple more and then we are at 75 so we write a few more...Gameplay: Great control. Great feel and response. Lot of hockey know how can be employed. Gone are the days of the 32 goal "wrap-around bananzas" of NHL '94. Here, you get the benefit of acutally having an idea of what should be going on.
Graphics: Not bad. Not bad at all. Not worth 100 words, but pretty darn good. So here I go again, we are almos
Audio: Good feel and well done. Hard to get hockey sound wrong I suppose, so what can yah say in 100 words.
Overall Score: 8.0 / 10
Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time
Overall: **THIS** is what videogames are supposed to be like. Man, when they do it it looks so simple, yet titles have been missing the mark by miles for years. This game is just down right awesome.Gameplay: Fantastic. From the over the top platforming elements and superb level design to the tricked out wuxia moves in battle. Control is always right on. Every now and then the camera can get hairy, but nothing that isn't expected from this kind of presentation. Man, if only all games were this much pure fun.
Graphics: Suh-uh-weet! Gorgeous in every way. The only thing that has impressed me more was Splinter Cell. The animations are killer the models are well done, the textures and what not are very detailed. Even the over-all blurry affect just feels middle eastern-ish. Hats off.
Audio: Good. I am not a huge sound nut, but the effects seem realistic and the voice acting is far better than most.
Suggestions: Shhh-yah. You guys should be shoveling out the advice. Keep up the great work!
Overall Score: 9.0 / 10
Dead or Alive Xtreme Beach Volleyball
Overall: Really a fun game. Absolutely perfect for what I bought it for: when Splintercell or Bloodrayne (or the like) drives me to the point of wanting to chuck my controller against the wall, this is the bomb to put in the box to get back to actually having fun in front of the tv.Gameplay: I find the gameplay close to perfect. For those who complain about 'only two buttons' I find this a very narrow minded perspective. Just because a game employs every button and 300+ combinations there of, does not make it a killer app. Nor does simplicity exclude a title from the 'great' category. This game is designed to be 'picked up and played' and as such, it nails the ball out of the park. The camera takes some getting used to, but after you become accustomed to certain things (like, the ball got bumped over, my chick is gonna come flying in from off-screen for a spike...here she comes, WHAM0!) you get used to it. Still could have been better IMOHO.
Graphics: Nothing that I can say here that hasn't been said ad naseum...but I have to fill up 100 chars, so "bounca-bou
Audio: Should have had English dubbing. Cut having custom sound tracks tips this title into the 'hell yah' category.
Suggestions: You know we want it, give us the 'skin' cheat, heck they marked it M, you might as well give us M content.
Overall Score: 8.0 / 10
TimeSplitters 2
Overall: This game is a ton of fun. The missions are varied, the characters are plentiful, there is a perfect mix of thinking vs. whoopin' ass, it has a map maker. Great game all the way around. With arcade, story, and a killer multi-player, I can't imagine ever putting this title permanently on the shelf, there is always something more to get out of it.Gameplay: Again, missions and environments are varied enough to keep you engaged and the challenges are a great mix of 'figure out where the hell to go' as well as 'figure out how to get out with you butt in one piece.' Tons of stuff to do aside from story mode. The arcade leagues are TONS of fun all by themselves. And multi-player...dare I say it...it is better than Halo...now, calm down, no this game can not lick the dust off MChief's boots, but in a vac !&%$@#* e (that is vak-yume, the naughty word filter doesn't like c-u-m apparently), the multi-player in TS2 ownz. With bots and custom maps, system-link and TONS of characters, it is the apex multi-player XBox title IMOHO.
Graphics: Very stylisitic. A lot of people don't like the graphics, but I kinda like them. Realistic is not always better, and I feel the entire game has a steady 'feel' and the graphics compliment it perfectly.
Audio: Nothing great, nothing horrible. The fact that nothing stands out in my mind is both good and bad I suppose, depending on how you look at it.
Suggestions: Bring on 3!
Overall Score: 9.0 / 10
Grand Theft Auto: Double Pack
Overall: GTA. Google it. Read the news articles and the volumes and volumes of data. Way more accomplished people have put enough work into describing this game. Gameplay: Awesome. I have played nearly 20 hours and have only completely 6%. I disagree with the 'it gets boring' argument of others. I guess if you could get bored in a real city, you can get bored here. But when there is this much to do and when there is this interactivity with the environment, I wonder what those who get bored want? You can watch a gang fight break out and jump into the fun if you want. You can see the mafia get into it with the police and muggers running rampant. If you think that you might even sort of be an immersion gamer, you can't get better than this.
Graphics: Look at the age of this code, then look at the graphics. Taking that into account, they are way better than average. No, they are not Crimson Skies quality, but considering what they are working with, the scope of the environment and the updates (polys, reflections) they absolutely deserve a 4.
Audio: Awesome. 5.1. You can hear gunshots ringing out and then follow the sound to locate the action. I love the radio stations and all the voice acting is topnotch.
Suggestions: Code 4 for the Box.
Overall Score: 10.0 / 10
BloodRayne
Overall: Game totally took me by suprise. I bought it as a budget item and was blown away. Money VERY well spent. Gameplay was right on and the game is downright FUN.Gameplay: Awesome. With abilities and moves, the weapon system, blood rage, etc, etc. Just perfect. I am not a big fan of the 3rd person perspective "stand and pivot" movement instead of strafing, but that is at least an optional setup (which I discovered much later). The vamp abilities were just the coolest and totally gave you the feeling that you were 'all that' vampiric badness.
Graphics: Not bad. Graphics were up to snuff if not exceptional. Mood was portrayed appropriately and everything was done generally well. Also, a lot of good imagination went into some of the settings and came through well in the art. Damage is realistic and the character animations are cool (even if the juggies were over done a bit).
Audio: Good. Weapons were realistic as were other effects. Ambient sounds were effective. Real nice how sound slowed down with celerity along with everything else. All in all, good.
Suggestions: Just bring on the sequel. Maybe make the combos require a little more skill to pull off and offer more.
Overall Score: 8.0 / 10
Brute Force
Overall: First, if you see anyone compare it to Halo, disregard the review whether it is positive or not. This is not Halo and I just can't understand what drugs people are taking that would make them think that. Other than the controls being similar and the fact that good guys are shooting at bad guys, they couldn't be more dissimilar. I think a lot of people read the "want something until Halo 2" headlines and then didn't do their homework.This game is more than pretty good. You *can* play it without tactics if you would like, and you can play Project Gotham Racing without going over 35 MPH as well, and in both cases the point is really meaningless. The fact is, if you want to use tactics, you can do A LOT with this game. The AI of both your guys and the baddies is really good. They will put their backs to a wall and kneel. Bad guys will use cover, concert their attacks.
If you want to challenge yourself to employ a small squad of specialists in some chaotic firefights, this is it.
Gameplay: Right on. Two sticks ala Halo (and numerous other games, but Halo set the mark and therefore the reference) with one for looking and one for moving. Moving, shooting and interacting is good and without thought after awhile. Each character has their own abilities and gives you multiple ways to go about everything. Lots of weapons, plenty of little secrets to discover. All around, really fun.
Graphics: In a word: awesome. Where the worlds and environments lack a bit in imagination, they make up tenfold in presentation. Lush landscapes and everything is very well detailed. The cut scenes are really good as well (check out Hawk's hair- nice).
Audio: Good sound. SFX are alright as well. Each gun has its own feel even if they are similar. Ambient noise is good. Score is nice and fitting. This game really kicks in voice acting though. Really, really well done and shows you why something like that shouldn't be overlooked if the resources are available.
Suggestions: I am forgiving on the small variety in environments when I see the work that went into the ones that are there. A few more varied type of opponents would have been nice though. Nothing to knock, but it would have pushed things over the top. Had to edit to say, "Hey, they killed Kenny!" cracked me up and with things like "A synth AND a girl..." the characters are WELL done. You guys did a good job all the way around.
Overall Score: 8.0 / 10
Hitman 2: Silent Assassin
Overall: Really fun game. It takes the sneak aspect I liked in POW and throws the ability to take the mother out if you need to. I feel that it provides a real good presentation of a professional hitman...it would be pretty cool to know you could mow all three dozen of those weenies down and even better to know you are too cool to need to.Gameplay: Control is simple enough and after a few minutes of aquainting to it, you forget about it.
There are a lot of 'neat' aspects that keep things interesting. The missions are varied and interesting. And the multi-path aspect to achieve your objective is really well done. I played the first level 8 times to finally get my "Silent Assasin" rating and I never did it the same way twice.
Graphics: There is a difference between writing an equation on a white board and actually feeling gravity as you jump out of an airplane at x thousand feet.
I don't care what the number junkies say about pixel counts and what not, the graphics work and work nicely. If you sit and anal-ize the wrinkles on the frog's scrotum, you will find enough to make yourself feel smart over. But if you load up a game and immerse yourself in it, you will have little problem doing that with this game.
Go into the church you start out in and walk into the confesional. Walk out. Shoot into it. Watch those curtains swing and sway interactively in real time. Nice.
Audio: Really nicely done, just not me preference. Matches the atmoshere nicely, but again, just not my cup of tea.
Suggestions: The introduction of non-lethal methods of elimination is nice, but I feel it needs more. If I am gonna chlorophorm a guard and strip him down to his underwear, I certainly would tie him up before I took off.
Overall Score: 9.0 / 10
Prisoner of War
Overall: A lot of fun. Not groundbreaking, not Halo, not something to quit your job to play (like Halo ;-) but still a lot of good 'ol fasion fun.Gameplay: Alright. There are times where things seem to get tedious, then I think, "Hey, why not actually play like a prisoner and go scout out your route, watch the guards routines, etc?" and then it gets back into fun.
But also in that is the major drawback. The only immersion is what I make of it. And some camera issues, but I can forgive those. The lack of immersion I can not.
Graphics: So bad it is humerous. I am serious. It is as funny as looking at Pong and thinking how you used to think that was the cat's meow. They are really that bad.
Audio: Voice acting is pretty bad. Except for the stereotypical Germans, which can be a riot. In the second camp, I actually got caught a couple times just to hear, "Perhaps theez will teech you zome rezpect!" I am chuckling just thinking about it.
Suggestions: Um...there is a graphics card in the XBox.
Overall Score: 9.0 / 10
