MEMBER PROFILE FOR xboxxer
Average Overall Score Given: 8.62500 / 10
Total Forum Posts: 0
Reviews
Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell
Overall: Splinter Cell is surely a MUST. The game is really exciting from the begining to the end. The only reason for me not giving it a 5 is that the replayability is not very high.Gameplay: The controls are good, it's quite simple to get use to them, and it was never a real issue to mix them up at the beginning. You can quite easily select items from your equipment. Regarding the action in the game, sometimes you may find it hard to believe that Sammy remains unseen while standing on what appears to been a very well enlighted spot :-) but...maybe the bad guy had been drinking too much that time. It would have been intresting (and more realistic) if the ennemies have been using lights when exploring the shadowed places (I mean what kind of idiot goes straight into the darkened corners of a room when the lights are mysteriously shattering around. Otherwise the difficulty is well balanced and increased along the game.
Graphics: This is far the best part of the game. From the first screens, you will see that everything is depending on light and shadows. Sam fisher moves around very fluently and has complete set of moves that are very realistically captured. Overall the characters and missions are well designed and textured. Nice work!
Audio: The sounds are also very good. The baddies voices could have been more 'personal'. The background music feets the action well.
Suggestions: I want more replayability...AI could be improved
Overall Score: 9.0 / 10
Colin McRae Rally 3
Overall: This title was available in Europe since November 2002 and been a real fan of the genre, I was bound to buy this one. And I must say that this is a real good one. Some small problems or things that might annoy more than one (why do I have no choice over the car during a championship ?) are pulling the game down. But overall it's really great Rally game.Gameplay: First of all this is not an easy game: if you want to drive around at very high speed, and bump around along the track 'Gotham style', stop to read here and do not buy the product: you might hate it. The others shall go on...The control are simple och very identical to everything you might known about car racing games (RSC or Project Gotham for instance). In CMR, you are playing Colin himself and try to win the championship through different Rally (different countries) divided into several events (6 tracks + speciale). You can also practice on each track (and this is the only way to test other available cars). The damage system is pretty good also and the car will react regarding to damges (I lost the back wing of my Metro GR once, and the car was almost uncontrolable at high speed)
Graphics: The cars models are really great. The best part is the real time damages: you will actually loose parts and some other parts will be hanging loose sometimes. The overall track design is sometimes a bit worse: On the one hand there are many more details than RCS, but on the other hand the finish is not always as good (for instance the trees are much nicer in RCS, but you almost can count them, in CMR you might drive around in a real forest but they do not look as good as in RCS...my opinion)
Audio: The sound are really good. Everything is there to make you feel like you were driving a rally car.
The choice of your co-driver is clear and almost always accurate (some parts could be more...)
The music itself is not something, I've relly notice, and I do not care in this case.
Suggestions: Good job overall! Maybe a bit more work on the tracks textures (especially the trees).
Overall Score: 10.0 / 10
Enclave
Overall: These are my very first impression, I uselly wait more before posting reviews. But I really have to say What I have to say abour this game. At the beginning , I was a bit disappointed about several things in Enclave. The combat system is extremely simple, I was expecting something more complicated in a good way ( for those of you who have played Blade of darkness on PC...I might take this one as a reference). But otherwise, the game is pretty good.Gameplay: The controls are OK and the difficulty is so long in the game average. I think that it's necessary to explore a lot in this game, as you might find hidden potions and/or gold everywhere. The action is breathtaking and you the very first time you play a level, you are always surprised by some falling rocks or exploding walls and so on...
This makes the game rich and exciting, as you may be able to use this to your advantage in combat. A negativ point is also that you will rarely find weapons or items other than god/potions/arrows. A better balance between gold/items could have add a new dimension to the inventory management. Another personal point of view concerning this: I do not like when items float in the air with some kin of aura around them...it makes me think about some old super mario game :-)
Graphics: No need to tell that the graphics are extremely good. The characters are very well detailed and the textures are also very good. Some have complain about the framerate. I have experiment some slowdown some few times, that's a pity and this is the reason why I gave this game 4.5, but there is absolutely no reason to 'crucify' the game for that. Many other good games do have slow-downs.
Audio: The music is a bit repetitiv to my taste, but the rest of the sound effects are good corresponding to the atmosphere of the game.
Suggestions: Really good work...try to make the game more a RPG by letting the character find items along the way...trade them and so on. Extend the combat system.
Overall Score: 8.0 / 10
Amped: Freestyle Snowboarding
Overall: I was not planning to buy this game until Microsoft comes with its 'reward pack' in Europe. I decided to give this one a try as it had so many good reviews. I'm still not regretting my choice. This game is fun and appealing. It is quite difficult though especially rail tricks.Gameplay: The gameplay is good if you keep in mind the huge number of tricks that you can do in the air and/or on rails. The progression in the game could be better because some challenges are really difficult to beat...for instance Sponsors challenges could be a reason for many of the gamers to just put back this game on the shelves because it gets frustrating when you just loose the run because of a single bad trick or so. Otherwise it is really interesting to experiment new tricks on always more parts of the environment. A 'real' two players mode would have been great !
Graphics: The graphics are good. Not as detailed as others and surely not the best on X-box, but they are over the average. Sometimes I noticed my shadow about 20 meters down the hill !! :-) funny glitch. But no serious problem regarding framerate or rendering.
Audio: Nothing to be said there...I think the sound effects just fit well to the game. The default tracks are just good enough and even if it's a plus to be able to play you owns, I'm just happy with these. The cameramens comment are fun...a while, then you might get mad at them when you find them laughting at you after a bad trick...:-9
Suggestions: Add a real two players mode.
Overall Score: 8.0 / 10
Project Gotham Racing
Overall: I was not really found of this game at the beginning, but I have to admit that after several hours of play, I kind of begin to enjoy it a lot. The kudos-scoring challenges are really addictiv and give another dimension to the game.Gameplay: The control are really easy and natural. The cars are handling differently and you might need some practise before you really can get the best of them. The only minus is that it sometimes seems that the best way through a track is to drive as fast as possible without even thinking about the sharp curve waiting at the other end...Driving against the IA drived cars can also be frustating sometimes because the opponents just don't care about running over you and almost push you and make you loose control of the vehicle (Where the hell did they learn to drive ?). Otherwise the kudos challenges are really intresting, I personnaly prefer them because you have to be both fast and avoid collisions...
Graphics: The graphics are great ! The cars models are really good and the cities look nice (not as much detailled though...but who cares ? you just not have time to look at them :-). The framerate is overall good, but I notice some serious slow down on one level (Kudos challenge 10 or 11...New York level with both rain and night). Not that serious and the rest of the game was just so nice...!
Audio: The sound are also great in this game. The cars engines sound differnet from one car to another. And the 'standard' sound tracks are really good. I like it when it seems like you are listening to the car radio or CD.
Overall Score: 8.0 / 10
Rallisport Challenge
Overall: This is one of the greatest racing game I've ever played. The graphics are realistic, there are plenty of cars and tracks, and each of them is real fun to play. It had been even more fun if the multiplayer game had been extended with some kind of challenge mode (pick up several tracks and run some kind of championship against other players.)Gameplay: The gameplay is great. Some might think that the car handling is far too easy to be realistic and this might be true (the physics are maybe not the most accurate in the game) but you get your adrenalin kick anyway when you drive at full speed on the different available tracks. The controls are easy and intuitiv.
One annoying thing: the auto-reset-to-track feature can be real *¤!"@ sometimes. The progression system in career mode is also well balanced.
Graphics: Just really good! The tracks are so well rendered that you almost want to drive around (though it's not possible due to the ¤#"?! auto-reset-to-track feature ;-). The car are really nice too. Some funny details are also to be appriciated when looking at some replays after a race.
Real good job!
Audio: What can you expect from this kind of game ! I'm not the type of person who wants to drive a car with a bumpy music in the background, so I just enjoy listening to the motors (they actually sound different from a car to another). For those who want musics, there are about 15 sound tracks that can be played, that's enough !!
Suggestions: Multiplayers should be able to attempt 'bigger' championship (not only a single race). It might had a lot of fun.
Overall Score: 9.0 / 10
Dead or Alive 3
Overall: What can you say it's a fighting game. A nice and good one. There is no innovations and that could be a problem in the long run with that type of games. Developer should try to come with some new idea. Just having a real background scenario could have helped DOA3 to be a real hit.Gameplay: The controls are classic for fighting games. Combinate differend direction and buttons, and you get different combos. I really like the throws and block features and the 'third' dimension added by the 'out of ring' throws that take you to another fighting place.
The minus would be the very very poor story mode: I do not see any story in it...maybe some cutscene once in a while, and the beautiful end scene, but otherwise.!! You will have to read the manual to know a bit more of the characters and their motivation to join the tournament.
The other modes are fun to play, especially the TAG mode.
Graphics: The graphics are just great, the best I've ever seen on a fighting game. The characters are very well designed, have even several outfits. The stages are also looking wonderful and very realistic. As good are the end scene on story mode. and the intro. Good job on that part.
A critic on some physics: sometimes the fighters can be kicked or punched up in the air, giving the opponent an opportunity to go on with plenty of combos (the defender is helpless then!!). That can get frustrating in some cases.
Audio: You can not expect much on this part.
The sound of the kicks and punches is good enough. I like the musics but I had loved to use my own tracks.
One thing that I found annoying is the Japanese speeches...?? Why ??? It can not be that difficult to translate them (at least in english).
I really hated that the first time I played the game...then I got use to it.
Suggestions: Come with somwthing new in the fighting games. Why not having a characters through a tournament, getting hurt for real, earning money when he/she wins, spending the money into training, healing..in order to be the greatest fighter on the planet :-)
Overall Score: 7.0 / 10
Halo: Combat Evolved
Overall: The game is great ! It features a succession of missions mixed with cinematics that really give a kind continuity in the game. There is even a real scenario and I get captured by the game. I just recommend to buy it !Gameplay: The gameplay is satisfying. The controls are simple and after 10 minutes gameplay, you can managed to quickly fire at the covenant forces, while straffing on the side, hide behind some tree and reload for a second round. It would have been great with a bit more diversity in the covenant shape and fighting behavior, you get a bit use to fire in the back of the tiny ones (can't remember their name) while they are running away :-).
Sometimes, the NPC, marines and cpt Keyes are a bit dum and jump into a melee assault without any life left. it would have been great if they had retreated behind the master chief when hurt.
I really like the fact that the Master chief can not carry more that two weapons at a time.(make the choice of the weapons more strategic)
The cooperativ mode is cool too, I can't wait to try it with some friend of mine.
Graphics: Everything is there!
Nothing to say but that the graphics are amazing! A lot of different environments, with snow, waterfalls, icy lakes and indoors that really look good. The marines, covenant and vehicles are well modelled. The physics might not be always realistic, but it's real fun to see corpses flying around when grenades or other stuff explode.
Audio: Even there, the developers succeeded to give Halo a top sound. The sound effects(firing, explosion, vehicles) are more than good. The 3D sound gives a realistic feeling when you are walking around the game (you might hear some marine talk on your left side, a rocket flying by...).
The covenant speech are almost funny in some way. I laught a lot the first time I heard a covenant grunt(is that the tiny one :-) screaming 'GRENAAAADE !' or 'ENEMYY'
Suggestions: I invite you to make a sequel. I think most of us would not be pissed of even if you use the same engine and designe a new (as good or better) story. You could add some new covenant troups.
Overall Score: 10.0 / 10
