MEMBER PROFILE FOR sholmes983
Average Overall Score Given: 8.85714 / 10
Total Forum Posts: 19
Reviews
Outlaw Golf
Overall: I haven't found much that I dislike about this game, and those things are few and far between, and mostly pretty minor. I've gotten a ton of satisfaction out of this game. At first I thought that the toilet humor twist on the game would ruin it, but it makes for a good laugh, and the golfing is actually pretty realistic and can even satisfy real sim fans like me. Gameplay: If I had to use one word to describe the game it would be hilarious. The antics in this game are crazy and leave me wondering what else I can make them do. After seeing how the golfers react to birdies I can't wait to see what they do for hole-in-ones :). Anyway, the controls in this game work well, I've never played a golf game with the joystick swing thing. But basically you hold it back, until you get to the desired power level, then push it straight forward to hit the ball. It's really very useful, and they put a ton of detail into the way that a person can hit the ball. The variety of things to do is also great, there are little skill challenge games that test your ability at chipping, putting, and driving, and are a real blast to play, and then there are a variety of different modes which can be selected to play a round of holes. The only thing that's really disappointed me in this department is that there are only 3 courses, which means you see a lot of the same stuff....
Graphics: Not much to say about these. The courses look beautiful, the characters are very well done, and I have experienced no slow down at all. Not much to it other then that.
Audio: The music isn't bad, but it's the character voices and announcers that make this game what it really is. And they are very well done. The voice acting is very good, and everything sounds very nice, and realistic. The announcer does get boring after a while though, but I guess that's like every other sports game.
Suggestions: More courses :(
Overall Score: 9.0 / 10
Elder Scrolls III : Morrowind
Overall: I waited a long long time for this game. Well, it finally got here, and 4 weeks later I'm logging onto the internet for the first time to give my review of the game. One thing I've noticed of this game, it's kind of a love or hate thing. The vast number of options that you are presented in this game is amazing, I've played the game for at least 75 hours so far, and haven't really done anything in the game as far as the story goes. I generally go around, do my own thing, explore new places, find new people, etc. If you are a diehard final fantasy type fan, well, rent before buy.Gameplay: Ok, I love this game, I love almost everything about this game. One thing, that I hate and would cause me to throw this game out the window if it were any other game, is the numerous glitches, that cause me to crash more times then I'd like to count. It's very, very frustrating to travel across the map to a remote cave to do a quest, just to have it crash the second I get there. Of course I wouldn't have saved it for a long while, because saving takes a lot of time, and there isn't an autosave option. That being said, the rest of this game is wonderful, the magic system is awesome, allowing unlimited combinations of spell effects and magnitudes. There is even something for the fighter, the ability to find weapons, then have them enchanted with any magical effect desired (some more difficult then others of course) is great. You can have a weapon tailored just to your style of playing, and that's one of the better parts of the game. The map is also huge. It would take forever to uncover the whole map, and there are tons of places to go, and tons of enemies to kill. I've heard a lot of complaints about the fighting system too, personally, I like it a lot, it's simple, yet very effective.
Graphics: Not much to say about this. The graphics in places are stunning, but having watched the PC version, you can tell they were kind of dulled down. The water doesn't react to anything that's going on in the game, people's faces aren't very pretty at all, and when they are talking to you at the beginning it's almost enough to bring out a laugh. But other then that, the environments were gorgeous, the landscape is breathtaking in places. And the towns are awesome. I think a very good job was done on the graphics in this game.
Audio: Not much to say here. I enjoyed the sound, the music isn't very bad, and the weather effects are awesome. But it does get repetitive after a while, especially the voices of some of the NPCs. But other then that, it's great.
Suggestions: Lets see some add-ons.
Overall Score: 9.0 / 10
Pirates: Legend of Black Kat
Overall: Well, I got it used so it was cheap, but really, I wouldn't recommend buying this game, the game is fun at first with the whole pirate thing, but the novelty wears off fast, the battles are repetitive, the missions are silly, but I'm being hard on it, I did have fun with it.Gameplay: Well, basically you take the role of this pirate, and go to different islands, kill lots of pirates, and sink lots of ships. Not much else to it, there are little side quests, but they aren't too involved. The on foot combat system is pretty lame, there are very few moves, and that doesn't change as far as I've seen, the bosses are cool, but easy.
Graphics: The game really looks good, the ground textures aren't anything to get excited about, but the water effects are kind of cool, and the characters are well done. Explosions and gunshots are cool too, overall I think they did a good job on graphics.
Audio: The sound does get awful repetitive, but it's not too bad, it sounds alright, but nothing to get too excited about, I'm disappointed that they left out the option to use your own music.
Suggestions: Make the melee fighting more involved, as it is, it's just hack and slash at the most basic level.
Overall Score: 7.0 / 10
SSX Tricky
Overall: I remember playing the original SSX on the PS2, and I was blown away. This title does no less for me. It is by far the best snowboarding game I have ever played, easily. While I was kind of disappointed that they don't have an easier way to practice tricks and such, I'm still hooked on this game. If you are into snowboarding games, this is a must have, trust me.Gameplay: Not really realistic, if that's what you are looking for, it's kind of an arcadish, high flying snowboard game. But that's not bad, snowboarding through the middle of a city is great, and there is a level with a series of pipes and tracks in mid air, giving lots of variety for that. These are easily the nicest courses I've seen in a snowboarding game.
Graphics: The graphics are very nice, and get the job done, the tracks look beautiful, and the riders are very nice looking, but I do have a problem with this game, whenever I'm in race mode, and start to get a few people on my screen, the framerate drops dramatically, sometimes to an unplayable level. This has really bummed me out on multiple occasions, but it's the only problem I've seen.
Audio: Well, the soundtrack is great, and fitting in most places, but the announcer gets very repetitive. And some of the riders are very, very annoying. But other then that, the comments can sometimes be funny. So overall it's not too bad.
Suggestions: Work on the voices to make them a little more bearable please :)
Overall Score: 9.0 / 10
Halo: Combat Evolved
Overall: Well, what can I say, it's Halo. It is truely a great game, but I really didn't get into it as much as others did. I don't believe it was worth the hype that it received. But anyway, most games don't. This is a killer game though, and the multiplayer is fantastic, especially with 15 other people :).Gameplay: I must be missing something, but when I played, it seemed to be the typical first person shooter. I thought it lacked in weaponry, but the vehicles were great. I loved to jump in those and take off. The multiplayer was great too, I can't get over how much fun it was to have 4 systems hooked up and 16 people playing. Probably the funnest multiplayer I've experienced. But the single player could've been done better I think, it was really short, the same old enemies get boring after a while and left me wanting for more. Oh, and not putting bots in multiplayer was a horrible blunder, why would they not do that, multiplayer was by far the best part of this game for me, and to be limited to a decent game only when other people want to play, well, sucks.
Graphics: The graphics are amazing. When I finally picked up my Xbox, and popped this game in, I was blown away, the visuals are great, the weapons look cool enough, and the explosions are great. The outdoor environments were breathtaking, and I didn't once encounter slowdown. That's about all I can say about that, 5.0 here.
Audio: The sound was also great. Weapon sounds were realistic (and the alien weapons sounded like one would think an alien weapon should sound, haha :)). The ambient sounds were also very nice, added a nice atmosphere to the game. What really gets on my nerves is that there was no option to use our own soundtracks in the game. But that's minor, but that's keeping me from giving it a 5.0. Anyway, the sounds were good for the game, and I guess I can play my CDs on the stereo. Oh, and the voice acting was also pretty good.
Suggestions: Bots! Multiplayer was great, but if someone doesn't have anyone to play with, what are they left to do after they beat the game?
Overall Score: 9.0 / 10
Hunter: The Reckoning
Overall: Wow. This game is by far the most satisfying game that I have been treated to in a long time. For me, this game takes Halo, and dropkicks it through the nearest window. With it's killer multiplayer (although I think it could've benifited from some sort of deathmatch) keeps me and my finds playing for hours, trying to formulate new strategies to be the most effective, even though it's all down to a mash fest with 50 zombies being thrown your way. Anyway, overall, I think this hands down the greatest game for the XBox. Gameplay: What's better then exploding body parts, wicked weapons, and killer magic? The quick paced, in your face gameplay with a kind of horror flic appeal just puts me over the edge. Friends know not to come knocking on my door when I'm in the middle of Hunter, unless of course they want to jump in. That brings me to multiplayer, which I think is the best way to go through the game. The multiplayer game is great, the funnest I've seen in a long time, it takes Gauntlet, and improves it 10 times over. Having multiple people on the screen trying to employ strategies to dispatch zombies the quickest is wonderful.
Graphics: Sooo much blood, you already know this though, because it's on every other review on here. That should tell you something, if you get queezy, perhaps this isn't the game for you, even with the blood off I don't imagine the game being any more friendly. But anyway, the environments are incredible, I just can't get past this, they are beautiful, and very interactive, blowing up cars and barrels to get rid of a enemies is just great. Frame rates only drop to a noticable degree in a few places that I've noticed. Character models are very fluid and well done. Nothing wrong with the graphics in my eyes.
Audio: I've heard people complain about the hard rock soundtrack, how this game should have a more spooky soundtrack. Screw that. There is nothing better then having the adrenaline pumping rock music blaring while wading through pools of undead. The weapon sounds are also very, very realistic. And sometimes the sounds can become downright frightening. I'll never forget the first time in the graveyard hearing that ear piercing scream. Anyway, I haven't heard anything coming from it that warrants giving it less then a 5.0
Suggestions: I think a deathmatch would've been fun. I suppose it can be done with the current game, by just having people turn on friendly fire, but heck, that wouldn't be much fun after continues are up. Anyway, that's my suggestion, put in the sequel you better be working on right now.
Overall Score: 10.0 / 10
Rallisport Challenge
Overall: Wow, amazing game... I regret not buying this sooner. But I have had a lot of experience with Rally racers and I can say that this is honestly the best I've played. This game has everything that I ask for in a game, and does it all well. So why don't I give it a 5.0? Well, because of a small problem I've had with the game locking up when saving. Gameplay: This game is very realistic, and the different modes of racing are all very fun. And I've just scratched the surface of the game so far. I haven't unlocked any of the special stuff (besides more cars and tracks) and I'm addicted.
Graphics: Again, wow... The graphics in this game are undoubtedly the best graphics in a racing game that I have ever played. The backgrounds are incredible, and the tracks and cars look almost real.
Audio: I love the fact that the developers took advantage of the soundtrack feature. It's very nice and I typically listen to my own music. But other then that, the cars sound great, the announcer can get very repetitive, but that's his job :). And the music that I did listen to from in the game, was very good itself.
Suggestions: I would like to see more ability to customize the cars that are driveable. There are a few options, but not near as many options as some other hit racers.
Overall Score: 9.0 / 10
